PostalTom

I've had good luck with it. Besides, if it was harmful, the government wouldn't let it be sold, right?

I would be curious to know what exposure levels have to be reached before using MDF constitutes a health hazard. MDF is readily available, reasonably priced, and super flat. If I was working with it 8 hours a day and generating a lot of dust, then I might be concerned, but for the occasional shop jig, back-up piece to prevent a tear out, etc., yeah, it has a place in my shop. It's not a good choice for everything, but neither is it a bad choice for everything.

Looks good Gerald. Thanks.

Thanks for confirming that Steve. Reading your post, I realized my friend had also mentioned naptha, I had just forgotten that. I have lost the insert to my band saw, so that will be a good project to try the naptha, or if necessary, acetone, to release my turning from the glue block. Thanks again.

I was told by another turner that acetone would dissolve a hot glue bond. That would be handy for thin turnings. Has anyone tried this?

Sounds like my back!

No problem John. Just giving you a hard time, all good naturedly.

Thanks for sharing. We all need to periodically reevaluate whether we have slipped into the "just this one time" mode.

Who is Peter?

Just to clarify for everyone, I intentionally referred to my tip as a guide stick, and not a push stick, because I absolutely recognize that it is not adequate to be the only tool providing the push of the work piece through the cut. I also use a separate push stick, and the guide stick is intended to provide an extra measure of control. Hope this clears up any confusion I may have caused. I would be very interested in seeing other ideas for push sticks.

Thanks Keith. I have bookmarked that site, and I have a feeling I will be referring to it often.

I use a separate push stick, this is just used when I feel the need for additional lateral control.

When making a rip cut on a narrow piece, I sometimes used to use the eraser end of an unsharpened pencil to help control the path of the wood past the blade until it was engage with the splitter. Even using the pencil, I would not place my hand directly over the blade. LUCKILY!. One day, while doing this, the pencil broke. No injury, but it could have been bad. Since then, I have modified my approach. I bought some 1/2" dowel rod, cut it into 12" lengths, and put some 1/2" table leg caps on one end to provide the grip the pencil eraser was doing. Dowel rod doesn't break with this kind of use, and I have the control I was looking for. Here is what I'm talking about:

I think it is similar to the difference between a dado and a groove. They are basically the same cut, the only difference being the orientation to the workpiece.

Several years ago, I built a box joint jig from a set of plans in Shop Notes. I tried it a couple of time, never could get the spacing right on the pins and slots. This past weekend, I decided I would figure it out, or throw it out. I have recently bought a 7 piece PSI drive center set from our local tool store. This is the set: https://www.pennstateind.com/store/LCENTSET.html. The hardware looks good, haven't tried it yet, but the box it came in was a mess. Flimsy construction, and the bottom had split and was repaired with masking tape. This gave me the inspiration to try to make a new box using that jig. Came out OK for a first effort. I will post some pics once I get it all done. Still working on the top, need to make an insert to hold the various pieces, and have to apply some finish. Made out of poplar, so I probably won't be too picky with the finish. I also received an invitation from a member of our woodturning club to teach me how to turn lidded boxes. I am looking forward to that. As usual I have the normal plethora of doctor's appointments to take my wife to. She has developed a problem with her peripheral vision, so she is grounded from driving for now. So that's my upcoming week.