Thursday, November 23, 2017

Makes Cutting Carpet Pad a Breeze

Rockwell RW8943 Sonicrafter Sonishear Scissor Attachment


A couple of years ago my wife gave me a Rockwell Sonicrafter as a Christmas present. The model 5140 came with a handful of attachments, some of which I’ve already used in projects. In particular, the little cutoff saws have proven very useful for working in tight places.

Not long ago, I had an occasion to use another attachment, the Sonishear Scissor Attachment (model RW8943). All the rugs and runners in the house were slipping hazards on our hardwood and tile floors, so that same wife picked up a big sheet of Mohawk’s rug pad. The problem, of course was that the pad was about 8 x 10 feet, but the rugs were… well, let’s just say “smaller.” The upshot? We needed to make four cuts in the thick mat, a total of about 26 feet of slicing. The rubber-backed fiber padding was far too thick (about ¼ inch) to cut with regular scissors and while my attempt to cut it with tin snips was successful, I figured it would take a couple of hours (and some very sore hands) to finish all that cutting.

Sunday, November 19, 2017

Darned Near Perfect Miter Saw Stand

DeWalt DWX723 Heavy-Duty Miter Saw Stand


For years, I had my beat-up old Delta chop saw bolted to a piece of plywood, which I would then clamp to a couple of 2-by-4s set on a pair of sawhorses. Besides tying up my sawhorses when I was using it, this arrangement provided crappy support for anything more than a couple of feet long. That’s probably why some of my cuts are just a little beveled…

That was before I received a DeWalt DWX723 Heavy-Duty Miter Saw Stand, though. Once I’d set up the saw, this stand proved to be pretty much the greatest thing since sliced bread! Here’s what I mean: