{"id":1519,"date":"2012-02-12T01:56:27","date_gmt":"2012-02-12T06:56:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/?p=1519"},"modified":"2018-01-14T19:54:25","modified_gmt":"2018-01-15T00:54:25","slug":"the-table-saw-i-really-wanted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/12\/the-table-saw-i-really-wanted\/","title":{"rendered":"The table saw I really wanted"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

The machine’s 7 1\/2-inch blade<\/strong>, powered by a motor claimed to develop one horsepower, could cut 1 5\/8″ thick wood on a table 14 inches deep. Its shipping weight was all of 31 pounds. Sears was selling it for $70 in 1970, and though now it hardly seems an enviable tool, back then<\/strong> I wanted it.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While returning home from competing in high school indoor track meets in New York City during the winter months, I would get off the public bus and browse the tool department at the local Sears store as I waited for a ride to complete the trip. I studied that little saw and imagined exactly how<\/strong> I could use it to make things from wood that would exceed my basement output at the time. I had been carrying in my head a scene from a few years earlier when I saw a man, a real woodworker<\/strong>, cut parts for a box I was making. He used a cabinet saw to do this more easily and precisely than I could ever hope to by hand. Much later, in recollection, I could identify his machine as a Unisaw.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Oddly, having now found, through the wonder of the internet, a picture of that little saw in a pdf of the 1969 Sears catalog<\/a>, I clearly feel a glimmer of that long ago desire. (Page 26 of the catalog, bottom right corner.) I never bought the saw. But I kept making things from wood<\/strong>, and it’s OK now, life worked itself out and I’ve got a very nice top-of-the-line cabinet saw along with lots of other tools. The love<\/strong>, and that’s just what it is, love, endured and evolved.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It must be about push and pull.<\/strong> The way life is, we spend so much of our time and energy pushing ourselves to do the things that must be done<\/strong>. No complaints, and all that. There are, though, a few special things that call to us. These pull us<\/strong> and don’t let go, not for a long time, maybe never.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Heed that pull. Follow, if you can. It\u2019s<\/strong> your soul calling<\/strong>\u00a0– and it’s important.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Happy woodworking.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The machine’s 7 1\/2-inch blade, powered by a motor claimed to develop one horsepower, could cut 1 5\/8″ thick wood on a table 14 inches deep. Its shipping weight was all of 31 pounds. Sears was selling it for $70 in 1970, and though now it hardly seems an enviable tool, back then I wanted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ideas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1519"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5173,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519\/revisions\/5173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}