Update Time - On my 2x4 office desk project!

[ApplicationError]

Hopefully I'm now posting this in the right place. Sorry about posting in the other forum last time. So exciting. I've got the legs built and I'm getting soooo close. Here some pictures:

And more info and pictures and stuff at www.insuredapple.com. I'm already planning more stuff. Woodworking + technology is really awesome.

 

[MU_Engineer]

It looks like this is coming along nicely.

The joint you were cutting is a notch joint. A half-lap would require cutting part of the thickness out of both the stringer and the base. You notched the base to accept the stringer, which you left full thickness.

With your tools, I would have used the sliding compound miter saw (SCMS) to cut the notch. I would have started by cutting the ends of the notch first and then hogging out the rest by moving the piece over a blade width at a time. Reciprocating saw blades have a lot of flex and won't cut an extremely square notch compared to a circular saw blade, router bit, or other thicker, sturdier cutter. If you have a tablesaw, a dado blade is perfect for that task.

 

[ApplicationError]

It looks like this is coming along nicely.

The joint you were cutting is a notch joint. A half-lap would require cutting part of the thickness out of both the stringer and the base. You notched the base to accept the stringer, which you left full thickness.

With your tools, I would have used the sliding compound miter saw (SCMS) to cut the notch. I would have started by cutting the ends of the notch first and then hogging out the rest by moving the piece over a blade width at a time. Reciprocating saw blades have a lot of flex and won't cut an extremely square notch compared to a circular saw blade, router bit, or other thicker, sturdier cutter. If you have a tablesaw, a dado blade is perfect for that task.

Thank you! I will update the post with the "notch joint" correction.

Dado blade, I've heard of these magical blades. I will need to investigate. I'm not overly keen to switch the blade on my table saw, just one of those nasty tasks I dislike. I wonder if I can somehow limit the cutting depth of my mitre saw, because that would have been much better than the silly circular saw!

 

[MU_Engineer]

Thank you! I will update the post with the "notch joint" correction.

Dado blade, I've heard of these magical blades. I will need to investigate. I'm not overly keen to switch the blade on my table saw, just one of those nasty tasks I dislike. I wonder if I can somehow limit the cutting depth of my mitre saw, because that would have been much better than the silly circular saw!

This is a good example of a good dado blade. A good stack dado like the one I linked has two blades, chip cutters, and spacers that you stack on your saw's arbor. You will need a dado insert for the top of your saw as a dado blade set is much wider than a regular single blade and would not fit through the hole in a standard insert. Many tablesaws come with one, but if yours doesn't, you will need one to use a dado blade set.

I am not aware of the ability to limit the depth of cut with a sliding compound miter saw. Since now we know you have a tablesaw, that would have been the tool of choice to cut your notch.

 

[ApplicationError]

Thank you! I will update the post with the "notch joint" correction.

Dado blade, I've heard of these magical blades. I will need to investigate. I'm not overly keen to switch the blade on my table saw, just one of those nasty tasks I dislike. I wonder if I can somehow limit the cutting depth of my mitre saw, because that would have been much better than the silly circular saw!

This is a good example of a good dado blade. A good stack dado like the one I linked has two blades, chip cutters, and spacers that you stack on your saw's arbor. You will need a dado insert for the top of your saw as a dado blade set is much wider than a regular single blade and would not fit through the hole in a standard insert. Many tablesaws come with one, but if yours doesn't, you will need one to use a dado blade set.

I am not aware of the ability to limit the depth of cut with a sliding compound miter saw. Since now we know you have a tablesaw, that would have been the tool of choice to cut your notch.

Thanks for your help - again. Like a broken record.

I think I found out how to set the depth on my mitre saw. There is an adjustment "bolt" that I can turn... next time I'll give that a try.

 

[MU_Engineer]

Thanks for your help - again. Like a broken record.

I think I found out how to set the depth on my mitre saw. There is an adjustment "bolt" that I can turn... next time I'll give that a try.

You're welcome. I easily spend more time out in my shop woodworking than having fun with computers any more, although I spend about 60 hours a week using a computer for work.

I don't have an SCMS and have only very briefly used one. I don't remember there being a cut depth limiter but I didn't look for one. I do have a 1980s non-sliding compound miter saw which is so old that it is still made out of cast iron and uses a 10" blade. There is no cut depth stop as it would be useless on that saw. I rarely use it as it is a much noisier, much messier, much less versatile, and much harder to square up and MUCH harder keep in adjustment machine than my cabinet saw. I used it a little bit to cut some deck lumber but I still did about 80% of the cutting for deck lumber on my current deck with my cabinet saw. I carried the boards the extra 50 feet to my shop and cut them with the cabinet saw; it was beautiful.