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I can attest to how well they work, fortunately it was with my the aluminum fence of my incra miter gauge instead of my fingers. Accidentally forgot to check the end of the fence cleared the blade before making a cut. The brake fired, cost me $100 for a new saw blade and $90 for a replacement brake cartridge, but it saved the $20 fence. You can't feel where the blade contacted the fence when you run your finger tip over the spot, the only way you can feel it is if you run the edge of your finger nail over it and then just barely. I also watched a demo with a hot dog and you could barely see the mark the blade made, probably wouldn't have even needed a bandaid if it had been your finger. There's a video out there of the saw's inventor actually purposely pushing his finger into the spinning blade. Fred

Hope your recovery goes well. My fear of this possibility lead me to replace my tablesaw with a sawstop saw a few years ago. Expensive, yes, but I figured a lot cheaper than one trip to the emergency room. Another great safety addon is the jessem stock guides. http://www.jessem.com/CLEAR-CUT_TS_STOCK_GUIDES.html Fred

Try www.sailmakerssupply.com. Fred

Howard was talking about checking a sheet of plywood for squareness (sorry, should have quoted that part of Howard's post), in which case you can have equal diagonal measurements but not have 4 90 degree corners when the sheet has the shape of a symmetrical trapezoid. My point was that if want to know if something is truly square (90 degree corners) you need a good square to check it. or follow the 3,4,5 rule - diagonal measurements can be misleading. Fred Fred

While its common practice to check for squareness by measuring both diagonals, its not a guarantee unless you know at least one corner is 90 degrees. A trapezoid shape will measure equal diagnonals and still not be square. While these are not cheap, they are well worth the money. http://www.woodpeck.com/ott2616square.html Fred

The tools are definitely not for everyone, thankfully there are lots of brands to choose from. The only thing I'll add is don't ever try one, because if you do you'll never go back to the inexpensive brands. I originally bought my sander and vac because of one specific job I needed to do and I agonized for quite a while before I finally convinced myself to spend the money and told myself that's the one and only thing I'll of theirs I'll ever buy. Big mistake, over the last few years I've replaced all my lower cost tools because of how much better these really are. But again, they're not for every one and I'm not trying to convince anyone to buy these, just wanted to share the fact that there are alternatives to working in a cloud of dust. Like choosing a boat, it all comes down to your needs, desires and budget. Fred

Another vote for the Thien baffle, I use one in front of my dust collector. So far I've generated approx 25 gallons of sawdust and have less than a approx 1/4 cup of ultra fine dust in the dust collector bag. I built mine with a side inlet. Dust collector w/ a Thien baffle works great on the table saw, band saw, jointer, etc but for dust collection on smaller tools like a sander, you need a vac instead of dust collector - the hoses are too small to support the air flow needed for efficient dust collection when using a dust collector. I use a dust deputy cyclone in front of my vac. My father is using a Thien baffle in front of his craftsman shop vac and it works very well there. Not quite as well as with my dust collector, but it does work as well as the dust deputy I use in front of my vac. Fred

http://www.bobmarinosbesttools.com/ro-125-t-locct-mini/p/PM571782/ Expensive, but is incredibly dust free, it has to be seen to be believed. The dust I have left after sanding a panel with this sander can be picked up with a single pass of tack rag. Makes sanding far less of a chore, plus the dust collection keeps the sandpaper from clogging, so it lasts far longer than on my Bosch sander. Fred

I currently own an aluminum hull boat and this has been the topic of many discussions on our forum. One of the things that comes up frequently as an "easy" way to limit galvanic corrosion between aluminum and stainless fittings is tefgel. http://www.tefgel.com/contain.php?param=tefgel_infor Fred

Looked at the website above, and happened to notice that they also sell teak. I have a bunch of burmese teak that I bought over 20 years ago, but never used that I'd like to get out of my basement shop. I have 250+ rough sawn boards that in range in size from 1x2x36 to 1x2x60 up to 2x2x48 to 2x4x55 inches. Most are 1x2, 2x2 and 2x3. Its rough sawn as opposed to planed and jointed like theirs is, but would also be a lot cheaper if anyone is interested. I'm located near South Bend, IN. PM me if you have any interest. Fred

Thanks for your insights Scott. I like the settee berths of the PS22 over the v-berth of the Belhaven, but the extra head room is a really nice feature as is the lighter weight. No idea which way I'd go if I decide to build. Haven't ever built a boat, so probably will start w/ a Spindrift just to see what I'd be getting myself into. Fred

Hi Scott, I'm curious as to why you'd extend the Belhaven instead of going with the PS22? I keep looking at both boats and am not sure which I would choose if I were to build a small cruising sailboat. Fred

One other thing no one has mentioned is what tool(s) you use for sanding. I own a number of Festool sanders that have to be seen to be believed when it comes to dust collection. I sanded old dried up carpet adhesive off a plywood floor inside a closed up 32' boat once and didn't have any sanding dust to clean up and was able to talk to my wife in a normal voice while sanding w/ the vacuum going. That said, you'll spend in the neighborhood of 800 to 1100 dollars for a sander and vacuum depending on which sander and vac you buy. I'd recommend a Rotex 90 or Rotex 125 sander and CT26 vac for a small boat or the Rotex 150 for a larger boat. Pricey, sure, but you won't be breathing or cleaning up but a tiny fraction of the dust you would otherwise. The other downside to the Festool brand is, if you appreciate very high quality tools, over time, it will cost you far more than what you spend on the first purchase, as its hard to stop buying them. Fred

Scott, Take a look at the Bayfield 25 for more ideas. This was my first "large" boat and it was very comfortable for 2 people. I think we enjoyed that boat more than any of the larger boats that followed. It packs a lot of living space in a what is essentially a slightly less than 24' hull - the stated 25' length includes the 1'+ "bowsprit". Starboard settee berth is longer than it looks as it has a foot well that extends into the area underneath the head sink. The settee back rests are hinged and swing up to provide a wider and more comfortable berth. I'm 6' and could stand upright under the companion way slide and could stand in the rest of the cabin but did have to bend my head down. The one downside to the ample head room in the cabin is the dog house is a bit tall which made it hard to see over while seated in the cockpit. http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=487 Fred

Ok, you got me there :-), sanding is still a pain, but it is less of a pain than it used to be. Fred

John, Nice write up on your build. The reason you hate sanding is you've got the wrong sander. I don't mind it nearly as much since I bought a Festool RO125 sander and CT22 vac. Less work, paper lasts far longer, and very little sanding dust to clean up. The downside is that you've got to get over the purchase cost before it feels any better. They're so darn expensive. Fred

Based on my experience with my O'Day 28, I'd say the most likely thing you're likely to run into is wet and/or rotted wood core in the decks, cabin top, or cockpit sole. A royal pain to fix, very time consuming but not really all that difficult. Go over it with a moisture meter and you're likely to get a pretty good idea of what you'll need to deal with. The other weak point in my O'Day was an excess of gel coat cracks. Those were cosmetic, but would very difficult to deal with if you want to eliminate them because of looks. Fred

Greg, Here's another hold down option that I like: http://www.amazon.com/Jorgensen-1652-Hold-Down-Clamp/dp/B00005LEYM Fred

The sander and vac were my first (and at the time, intended to be the only) puchase of Festool tools. I now have about a 6' high stack of their systainer boxes. The only hard part is getting over the purchase price, but I've never regretted any of the purchases. They've completely changed the way I do woodworking. There's just something about using a high quality tool that can't be beat. Fred

I bought a Worksharp 3000 last year and, at least for chisels, it works very very well. I normally tend to make them duller when working with stones, but I can put an edge on a chisel that I can shave with in 2-3 min with the WS3000. Haven't tried to sharpen anything else with it yet. Fred

Chuck, I'm not sure whether I should say congrats or apologize for helping you start down the path :-) Just like potato chips, its very hard to stop after one tool. There's a great forum forum for Festool at: http://www.festoolownersgroup.com/ Fred

Greg, Here's what I've been using the last couple of years for mortise and tenon. Not cheap, but amazingly quick and accurate. Fred

Fein and Festool are both very quiet vacs for the amount of power they have. The tools make more noise than the vac. Fein is a bit quieter than Festool, but Festool has the advantage of variable suction, which makes a large difference for sanding. Too much suction and the sander sucks down onto the work piece and jumps around - too little and you leave more sanding dust. Another benefit of sanding w/ a vac is that I find my sandpaper lasts far longer because it doesn't clog up as fast. Fred

I used both Porter Cable and Bosch sanders before I bought the first Festool sander and I can tell you w/ absolutely no hesitation I would never go back. You just can't believe the level of dust extraction until you've actually seen it first hand. And its the same for all their tools (sanders, routers, circular saw, loose tenon cutter, jig saw). I recently drilled over 50' worth of 5mm holes (a hole every 32mm) for shelf support pins using a Festool guide and router and had zero dust to clean up. The tough part is definitely the price. Sander and vac with HEPA filters will set you back around $900. The good news is only hurts until you get it paid off :-) Fred

Festool's Rotex sanders have amazing dust collection and versatility. I once sanded the plywood floor inside my closed up 32 footer and never had to clean up any sanding dust. They function as both a rotary sander for rapid material removal and as a random orbit sander for finish sanding. The only down side is cost. Well there is one more downside - don't buy any of their tools if you are into wood working tools and don't want to buy a lot more tools. Once you buy one, its hard not to want more. http://www.festoolusa.com/products/rotex-sanders Fred