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I'm working with a local artist to develop an idea I've had over the last year. Have you ever seen what's known as a photo collage? It's where hundreds of small pictures are put together, side by side in rows and columns so that they make a larger picture when viewed as a whole. Those photos are always made by software. We'll I'm trying to do basically the same thing except with small wood blocks. The idea is that I'm to make a lot of different small wood squares, I'll say instead of blocks, and the artist puts them together to make a larger picture. The smaller the block the higher resolution the final image will be, just like the pixels on your tv. So, with all this in mind, my goal is to find wood with unique color patterns. After thinking on it for a long time I'm sure just regularly grained wood would be suitable for this new process, and so I've just been sitting on this idea for a minute, until I went to the lumber yard for the first time after having this idea and found cedar! As it turns out cedar can have very unusual color patterns when it's milled down as compared to other wood species. So now my idea is a little more developed, thank heavens. So now I've got a couple questions. I see now how finding wood species with a sharp contrast in color between the sap and hardwoods would work well in my process. Is there any other species out there that has such sharp contrast between the sap and heart wood like cedar? Walnut, maybe, is the only other that comes to mind. Second question...how many ways are there to change the color of cedar. Staining, applying aging solutions are the only two ways I know of, and have very little experience with either, so I don't know what products are out there. So the idea is I want to be able to produce as many variations of color using cedar as possible. What ways are there to color cedar that I haven't thought of yet? Many thanks!

Whenever I manipulate images prior to posting in a forum, one of the steps is usage of the Windows Paint program, then Resize the JPG image so the larger pixel dimension is 800. IMO, that size works perfect for forum posting. (Can't help on chair part...)

Dewalt 7491 Table saw blade height not staying where set when in operation. I’m trying to cut a dado and when the saw is in operation, the blade creeps down and I cannot cut an accurate dado. I can watch the hamdwheel turn on its own due to vibration. Is there an adjustment to ‘tighten’ the screw to prevent this from happening? Thanks in advance

Hey everybody. I'm in the heart of horse country here in Kentucky and I'm lucky enough to have some inroads to some prominent farms. Basically my buddies on these farms know I'm a woodworker and are saying 'show me what ya got.' Secret thing is...I don't really have that much (shhh). Recently I made the garden obelisk pictured below and put it on my buddy's property. What I'd really like to get into is making things, anything they might want for the farms themselves. Does anyone have pictures or ideas about what kind of ornamental structures would be appropriate for horse farms? I don't imagine I could provide anything actually functional because all that stuff is already covered (I assume) so the best place for me to aim is 'ornamental.' I brought the below pictured obelisk out to my buddy's farm but the only place it looked right was in the house yard. I'm def open to your suggestions as to what make and entertain my buddies with. Thanks a ton! PS. I think I spoke too soon because I've already had someone suggest great things I can make that actually ARE useful to daily operations. I suppose I'm thinking along the lines of something one farm owner would see and think, hey, I want that on my farm. I'm thinking something unique, but anything that would sell works for me.

There is now also a small headband rechargeable LED lamp (Christmas present), w/ appropriate USB charging cord, that will plug into my new twin USB surface mount receptacle and a small three AAA battery hand held flashlight, that are carried w/ the tools.

That's such a cool idea! It'd be awesome to have a phone do all that. If you're having trouble finding a brand making one, why not check out some apps or crowdfunding sites? You never know, the perfect gadget might just be on its way to the market. Keep your eyes peeled for tech startups too—they're always cooking up something new!

I am having the same problem with a brand new DEWE 7485. I was making some staggered slit cuts for fingers on the corner of a box. Every time I move over and make a new slit the height keeps decreasing. I read the previous thread and when I turn my saw over I do not see a similar 17 mm nut to tighten the vertical rod. There are no nuts or screws or adjustments of any kind that I can see to help increase the tension. Has anyone found a solution on the 7485 model?

Dewalt table saws get rave reviews and for good reason. They would be high on the list if my current table saw were to kick the bucket. A lot of tradespeople use them daily for years and are very happy with them.

You guys are amazing... I thought I was going crazy not able to get my 3/4 inch dado for a track install on a sled....what am I doing wrong I said, maybe wood working isn't for me I said, then I just turned the saw on and stood back and watched... wheels go round and round, round and round. Bet if I let it go for 10 minutes the bland would be beneath the cutting top..... I'm off to my tools to find a suitable wrench.

Thanks RobinNC. I will try that. Dewalt helpline were not overly helpful.

I had the same problem. Thanks RobInNC

Awesome, thanks for sharing and glad the techs helped out.

I recently bought the DWE7491RS table saw as well, and put my dado blades on this morning to make some cuts for cabinets I'm making. Had the same issue with the blade height dropping. It took a couple of calls, but found the answer! The Dewalt factory service techs were outstanding. The height adjustment knob is attached to a horizontal rod that connects to a vertical rod under the table top with a pair of sprockets (or pinion). Immediately below that pinion on the vertical rod is a nut. Tighten that nut with a 17mm wrench a bit while holding the height adjustment knob. Don't over tighten, or the knob will be difficult to turn. That took care of it.

Started experiencing the same problem with blade height slippage today on my Dewalt DWE7491RS table saw that I've had for about two weeks. Nothing in the manual regarding blade height adjustment. I lower the blade to the lowest setting, raise it to the height I need, start the saw and can watch the height adjustment handle slowly turn counter-clockwise thus lowering the blade. No dust on the gears underneath as it is basically new and I don't see anything else that can be tightened really. Called the Dewalt number on the manual, but of course, they're closed and now I get to waste my weekend not getting any work done. Would love to know if this is just a faulty unit or if there is an actual fix.

I have not had the blade height wander but I am having a related issue. The blade height on my DWE7491 is stuck at the maximum height. This is a saw that only has about 60 minutes of use so corrosion should not be the problem. Nevertheless, I sprayed WD40 on the two shafts and was able to get a little movement up and down. I don't want to put too much leverage and was hoping someone has had a similar issue. This happened after I was ripping some rock maple which is surprisingly dense. The saw did not overheat or bind.

Was there a resolution to this issue? Same saw, same problem. ☹️

No, couldn't find anything but would love to know what is causing that.

Adding anything to the inside changes the resonance. Same with routing. This type of repair is tricky to do because the body of the guitar is part of the acoustics. So if it's just an appearance thing (it just hangs on a wall) then a lot of options are possible. If you care about the acoustics find your local professional musical instrument shop (not guitar center) and go from there. If you reglue need to duplicate what the manufacturer used AND it's not that easy. Another approach is a professional restorer. These guys are pros at putting almost anything back together but again not easy to find. This may sound odd but call a local moving company or two. They know who to call because if something gets damaged in shipment they are on the hook to get it fixed if there is insurance involved. But they're more the cosmetic specialists usually, but might know someone. The people you are looking for don't advertise very much and the ones you want don't advertise at all. It's 100% word of mouth. A crack in anything sets up a high stress at the microscopic level that you cant see that acts to push things apart and increase the crack size working against the remaining glued material pushing it together...The crack wins. A common mistake with partial cracks is not addressing the crack tip that you cant see because right now it looks solid. This problem though is basically considered "fatal". Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

Thanks for the tip. I was looking at that nut thinking that might do the trick, and sure enough, it worked great! Better to have some tension and have to use a little muscle to adjust the blade height than to have the blade move while using the saw!

Same here! This is my first attempt at a cabinet and I calculated everything out so carefully, but then when I cut my dados the panels didn't fit together as expected. Kind of forced them together but then when I tried to cut the tenons on the door rails it just wasn't working. I got the tenon on the test piece to fit perfectly but they wouldn't fit when I cut them on the actual rails. Then I watched the wheel slowly turn and the light bulb went off. This fix worked, thanks so much!!

I have the same issue with maintaining height adjustment. I reported the problem to Dewalt. They want me to check that all linkages are tight under the table. I have heard that this problem is common with contractor saws due to high vibration levels.

There is a solution. Buy a Makita

D Angst, you guys find a solution to this? i have the same saw and have the same issue when cutting a dado. Thanks!

Great question. We were just talking about that with another saw. There has to be something and we were going to check next week with the saw we are working with. I don't have the Dewalt in front of me, but wondering if there is a cap on the middle of the handwheel that can be taken off and tighten. Not sure if that will just tighten the handwheel or fix the problem.