A New Tool In My Shop

[Bill Grumbine]

Hi guys

Well I am cheering up a bit, but part of that might be the fact that I am done working for the day, and I am sitting here with an adult beverage close at hand.

Alan, I was given authorization to get the table ground flat. I cranked and cranked on the leveling bolts as instructed, but all I did was put a bow in the table. So now I have a super flat table, but you are right about the pain. Get it off the saw (and it ain't light by a long shot!), drive 70 miles round trip to the closest grinder, or at least the closest grinder of good repute. I was referred to the company by a friend of mine from church whose company builds machines that weigh in at 400 tons! I was also fortunate that I caught them just before a machine setup change. They got the table done in 24 hours. If I had called one day later, it would have been three to four weeks. But, it was 140 miles, and over 1/2 day of time to get it right.

Then the thing did not have all the right parts to use the smaller blades, so I had to call for them. And then call for them again after a week! And then call AGAIN when the wrong ones were sent. It appears that I now have all the right parts, and the saw is sawing as it should. I still do not have it connected to the DC yet, as I am not quite sure that where I have it is the best place for it. But that is minor.

Jason, I am impressed, but shouldn't you be working on a sermon or something? I've got to work on one for Mother's Day. When Mom calls and invites me to preach on Mother's Day, how many answers can there be to that question!?!

To the rest of you, I am cheering up a bit, and not just from my adult beverage, although it is helping (...and wine that maketh glad the heart of man...). The saw cuts well, but I am dreading my next contact with a certain cretin who has some standing with the company. Hopefully it will be a loooonnnnnggg time before that comes up - like never.

You know, I got to thinking while I was up in the shop this afternoon after posting on this. My last posting on a new tool was about the Shelix cutter and all the problems I had with those folks. It was eventually resolved, but I am getting to the point where I have to wonder, am I turning into a curmudgeon? Are my expectations of competence unreasonably high? I know that everyone makes mistakes, and I am in that group myself, more often than I care to admit, but it just seems that lately I have had a run of encounters with people who do not know, do not care, and wonder why I do. Maybe I should go out and buy some more tools to test my theory, but I am not sure that my heart could take the stress!

Bill