AMADA'S COBALT 8 SAW BLADE from Western Tool Company

Here is an interesting video about Amada's Cobalt 8 Saw Blade: For Amada Products, visit:
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PARLEC FEATURED ON "THE WORLD'S GREATEST" from Western Tool Company

Parlec Tooling Systems featured on "The World's Greatest" For our complete line of Parlec products, visit westerntoolco.com

CHOOSING AN ORBITAL SANDER from Western Tool Company

Choosing an Orbital Sander

Guest Post By Trevor Kinnick
Most homeowners nowadays appreciate the importance of owning solid power tools. An orbital sander is a power tool that is used to smooth out rough edges and uneven surfaces of wood, plastic or metal materials. Most of the orbital sander tools that are used on wood are electrically operated. Due to the advancement of technology, various types of sanders have been developed and are now available in your local hardware stores. But most of these sanders can only be used for a specific type of job. So, before purchasing a sander, you need to make sure that you are buying the right type that will best suit your needs.
Random orbit sanders are a type of power tool which contain pads that move in a circular manner with a random pattern. Being able to move in a random pattern can allow this tool to work on surfaces in any direction without the risk of scratching the surface of the material that you are working on. The random orbit sander is the easiest tool to use among the wide variety of sanders that are available. And since it can be used on multiple surfaces, this type of tool is an excellent choice for an ordinary home owner.

 For our selection of orbital sanders, click here (Westerntoolco.com)

In purchasing sandpaper, you need to determine the right grade that you will need depending on what you are working on. The grade of the sandpaper is determined by the amount of sand granules available on every square inch of the sandpaper. A sandpaper with a lower grade means that it is courser, while the sandpaper that has a higher grade has finer sand granules. In order to save your time while working on your project, it is recommended that you start with courser sandpaper. As you complete the project, you can switch to a finer sandpaper to give your material a smooth finish. Sandpapers are not cheap, so it is better to ensure that you are working with the right type and grade in order to avoid wasting your money as well as your time.
Due to the vast types of sanders to choose from, it is wise to have your own research as to what type will best suit your needs before making the actual purchase. You can do this either by visiting your local hardware stores in order to have a look at the different sanders, or you can log on the internet and visit the different websites that offer reviews and comments from people who have experience in working with a sander. In one of the reviews available online, the ryobi orbital sander has been cited as one of the cost-friendly sanders that can be purchased, without risking the quality and amount of work that you can do.
In working with an orbital sander, it is important to practice precautions in order to maintain the cleanliness of your workplace and to ensure your safety as well as other people near you. In operating an orbital sander, it is recommended that you wear face masks and goggles to protect your face and eyes from the dust particles that will be produced from your sander. In addition, you should never force a sander. The sander's weight is enough to provide the necessary pressure on your material. Forcing a sander can cause overheating, kickback or burning of your work piece.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Trevor_Kinnick/449090
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SINGLE HEAD WIDE BELT SANDING from Western Tool Company

The Ultimate Primer on Single Head Wide Belt Sanding from Adam West

Surfprep Products From Westerntoolco.com, click here

I will attempt to keep this as short as possible, but there is a lot to learn to really make these machines shine. I am not going to go into trouble shooting the entire machine. Just solid processes for the best quality result possible. For the purposes of this article I am going to assume your single head machine has a combi-head, which is a drum/platen combination in the same head. This is the most common machine in this category. If you just have a single drum the rules all still apply.

Rules for single head machine sanding

 1. Know what you want to achieve.

For most cabinet and furniture shops, you need to sand parts flat, but you also need them to accept stain. This means you need to fracture and tear open the wood with your rougher belts and sand to a very fine scratch pattern with your finer belts, leaving the parts open to accept stain. If you are doing
cross grain you want the sharpest, softest scratch possible, so it will melt away in seconds with your hand sander, instead of taking minutes per door to grind the surface scratches away. You want the least amount of heat and compression of the wood fibers possible.

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2. Know your sander is working right.

I won’t go into setting up hold down rollers and such, but there is a very easy way to check the level of your machine and get it right. I use two boards a few feet long. I prefer maple around 1.5” to 3” wide and 3⁄4” thick. I will look closely for warp and set them on a table with the warp in the middle of the part up. I use a coarser belt and just my drum to take a light sanding pass on the boards run through the machine together in the center of the machine somewhere, just enough to hit both parts and true up the surface a bit. I then mark one part for left and the other right. Flip them over and take another .010” off, but run them on their perspective sides about 2” off the edge of the conveyor.

Measure only in the center of the boards as this will be the only truly accurate spot due to the warpage. If it matches, your machine is accurate. If not, almost every machine has a way to level the head to get the machine absolutely dead on side to side. Most have that adjustment on the block you remove to change belts.

3. Multiple passes

It will most likely take more than one pass to level out a part and give you the scratch you desire. I could write a book about this part of the process. Running multiple passes on the same grit is a very bad idea. If you use a 150 grit belt to remove a 100 grit scratch, you have to remove .005” to get to the bottom of the valleys in the original scratch. 50% of what you just sanded away was air. The rest was the little mountains of the scratch pattern. This is no problem.

If you sand with a 150 grit, you leave a scratch that only requires about .002” of stock removal to touch the bottom of those valleys. If you then take another .005” pass, you remove that .002” scratch pattern and .003” of solid wood under that pattern. This means you removed 100% to 150% more actual wood from the surface, than if you followed a 100 grit belt, and only removed the scratch pattern alone.

The issue is heat and pressure. The more of both the less consistency in your stain and the greater amount of hand sanding will be required to grind off that closed surface. You are better off taking 2 or 3 passes with the right removal rates than forcing one belt to do it alone. You will see huge advantages to doing it right at the sanding table and in finishing.

How do we do this right? There is a maximum for each grit when it comes to stock removal. This is well known. What is not well known is that there is a minimum to remove a scratch and that is the really important number. This is not the actual depth of scratch, but the amount that must be removed from the top of the mountain to touch the bottom of the valleys without going further into solid material.

Grit       Maximum    Minimum to Remove

60              .035″                        .015″

80              .024″                        .008″

100            .017″                        .005″

120            .010″                        .004″

150            .006″                       .002″

180            .004″                       .001″


4. Drums are for cutting and platens are for the finishing pass only.

A properly set up platen will be just barely lower than the drum it follows. I like to set it up by sanding a part with just the drum head. Then I will stop the machine and run the part back under the head without moving anything. I then drop the platen as I either roll the belt on the head or push the belt side to side with the tension roller released. Once you feel drag on the belt you have your platen set.

This relationship means the platen will never be the primary cutting tool, but will only leave the final scratch pattern. Because this relationship takes effort to master, I don’t like to change the adjustment for the platen when I am not using it. I just remove the platen altogether while I am running just the drum. Some machines have the ability to turn the platen off, but it is only on bladder platen machines or machines set up for veneer. In most machines you can just pull it out quickly and easily.

5. Know your stock removal.

If you use an 80 grit to knock down the surface of a cabinet door (my personal favorite starting grit), make sure all the doors go through the same height setting so they are all the same thickness. This is important to the next step. If you refer to the chart above, you need to remove .008” off the tops of the mountain peaks to touch the valley floor below without removing more solid material. If you put in a 100 or 120 grit belt, all you need to remove is .008” and no more. I would choose 120 grit.

Run your first part on the 120 grit and measure the stock removal. Once you took off .008”, run the entire load on the backside. Then drop the machine .008” more and run the whole load on the face. This is very light work for the machine so you can run the feed speed pretty fast. 25 to 30 fpm is usually no problem.

Once your entire load is at 120 grit and the same size, put your platen back in and put the 150 or 180 grit belt in. Don’t move the height of the machine. Run your first part and see how much comes off. If you look at our chart above, you need to remove about .004” to get rid of the 120 grit. Adjust if necessary, and run the load on the back, then drop the machine .004” and run the faces.

Faster feed speed is your friend for keeping the parts and belts cool. This is easy work for a sanding machine. 25 to 30 fpm is no problem.

6.   Understanding your scratch pattern
Your parts may look rougher than you are used to, but this where the magic happens with your hand sander. That scratch will be long and very shallow. The fact that it looks sharp is because the wood has no polish on it at all. That is the softest scratch pattern you will ever try to sand. It melts away under your random orbital sander. I usually follow with either a 150 or 180 grit disk.Only sand until the scratches are gone. The point at which the scratches are gone and the surface is level is the point at which the sander will start to dig into the now flat surface and try to peel up new wood. This is where orbital marks come from. If you stop sanding at the moment the scratches are gone you will see almost no orbital marks at all.

7.    Two pass process
If you only have a small amount of stock removal you might be able to get away with a two pass process, but this is where most operators lie to themselves. If you measure the stile or rail of your product and only sand off .010”, a 120 grit will handle that okay. The problem lies in the joints that may be .010” to .030” thicker than the rest of the door. You can pretend you are only taking off .010”, but you aren’t fooling the sanding belts or the hand sanders who have to fix your damaged, compressed wood.On planed solid wood it is easy to just remove .005” or .010” of material. This is when it is acceptable to just do a single pass or double pass. You can keep the sander moving quickly so you don’t need to take much time doing it. Use the platen for your final pass for anything where hand sanding is required or going right into stain. Most of the time, when good finish is required, multiple passes are better than one.I hope this article helps you better understand the capabilities of your single head machine. Using these techniques will yield results that can match any machine out there for quality of result. Patience is required, but this is not meant to be a slow process. You can run stacks of material very quickly using this process. You just need to understand the steps to get through it quickly without fighting the final product. You will soon forget what a burned up belt looks like and your abrasive life will skyrocket.-Adam West

excerpted from surfprep.com

WESTERN TOOL COMPANY: PROUD DISTRIBUTORS OF MAJOR INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY BRANDS, Arvada Colorado

Western Tool Company proudly distributes the following brands (and many more in our catalog!) click here to view our entire line of industrial supply and MRO products.  
Brands include:Chemetall, Flexovit, Sev-Cal,Kyocera,Highland Carbide, Radiac, Buffalo Abrasives, Waterloo, Dormer Pramet, Gemini Industrial Coatings, Morse, Hermes, Dayton Lamina, Danly, Micro 100, Reiff and Nestor, Ultra Dex, Fowler, Camel Grinding Wheels, Supply Pro, Tool Flo, Surf Prep, Abrasive Technology, Dorian, Parlec Amada, Fullerton, Mitutoyo, Pferd, Lindeman, Starrett, SuperAbrasives.  We have many more items in our catalog and we ship all over the US!

Western Tool Distributes Major Industrial Supply Brands, click here for more

CHEMETALL'S CODAC SYSTEM COOLANT TRACKER from Western Tool Company

Here is an informative video about Chemetall's unique CODACS sytem coolant tracker which helps with visibility:

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THE IMPORTANCE OF WORKSTATION, TASK AND MACHINE LIGHTING from Western Tool Company

Putting Light Where It's Needed: The Benefits of Task Lighting

by Mark Hogrebe, PhD(this article appeared in the National Assoc. of Independent Lighting Distributors, Inc. News)
There is a renewed interest in task lighting. "Renewed" because task lighting was all the world had known before our dependence on high-output overhead fixtures. Prior to electrically powered lighting fixtures, seeing at night was accomplished through the use of "task lights" such as candles and oil and kerosene lamps. When the power of electricity was first harnessed, it was applied to crude incandescent "task lights."
For many years, task lighting continued to be the best option for seeing indoors. It was a long time before overhead fixtures would make a significant impact on how work areas were lighted.
First, the technology had to be developed so that overhead fixtures could produce adequate amounts of quality light. For buildings that had been built prior to the application of electricity, it was difficult to integrate overhead lighting into the old structures. Finally, architects had to discover how to efficiently incorporate overhead lighting into new buildings.
Despite obstacles to subduing our need for task lighting, America was convinced that task lights were not necessary in the presence of powerful overhead fixtures. We were shown that adequate foot-candles on the desk top could be produced from overhead lighting - but at what cost? In recent years we have begun to discover some of the costs of total reliance on overhead lighting to illuminate the work surface. The key is total reliance. The best approach for designing an energy-efficient and visually comfortable lighting installation is effective integration of overhead and task lighting.

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Some of the major impacts of rediscovering task lighting for our work environment are discussed below.

Benefits for individuals.

Task lighting and productivity. Much research has been conducted on the relationship between lighting conditions and worker productivity. Surveys continue to find that poor lighting and eyestrain are frequent worker complaints. Although it may be difficult to demonstrate a direct cause-and-effect relationship between lighting and performance in real world settings, we can make some common sense observations.
First, we must be comfortable to maintain productivity over the course of a day. There are enough demands and distractions that compete for our energy and concentration. Straining to see should not be one of them.
Seeing should be effortless and automatic. We spend a great deal of time and money trying to make ourselves comfortable so that we can be more efficient and productive. Yet frequently, proper lighting is neglected. If lighting is so poor as to make workers uncomfortable, then efficiency is going to decrease over the long term.
However, once lighting reaches a "critical comfort level," better lighting above and beyond that level will probably not increase productivity. Once lighting surpasses the critical comfort level, many other environmental factors interact to influence productivity.

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Task lighting and vision differences.

Our ability to see differs from person to person, and within ourselves, on different occasions. When we are tired or sick, we may see less well than when we are healthy and fresh.
The visual capabilities of individuals of the same age can vary greatly. Older people need substantially more light to see than younger people. Research indicates that the visual performance of those in their 20s is about eight times better than those in their 60s, and almost four times better than those in their 50s.
This increased need for light is due to a number of biological facts in the aging process. For example, the muscle in our eye called the iris, expands and contracts to control the amount of light entering our eye. As with all our muscles, the iris loses some of its flexibility in the aging process, and doesn't open as wide. More light is needed to compensate for the reduced ability of the iris to open wide.
Not only are there obvious vision differences between people, but different tasks have unique lighting requirements. Lighting demands for a video display terminal (VDT) operator are different from a proof reader, which are different from a graphic artist working at a large table where accurate color perception is critical.

Task lighting gives user control.

The major advantage of an adjustable-arm task light is that the user controls the lighting of his or her immediate work environment.
The key is "adjustable-arm" task lighting to give the user maximum control of the light level for optimal comfort. Our posture changes during the day. Our tasks vary to some degree. If we have windows, light in the room changes from morning to evening.
In response to these changing conditions, we need to adjust the lighting levels directed on our work in order to reduce eyestrain and fatigue. By raising, lowering, and tilting an adjustable-arm task light, the user determines how much light is needed, and the best angle required, to avoid direct glare and reflections.
A task light permits an individual to compensate for fluctuations within one's visual acuity from time to time, as well as for variations in ambient lighting.
Further control is provided by task lights that use a parabolic louver to direct light onto the work surface. The louver light control system is ideal for use around computers where you want to eliminate light "spill" onto the screen. The parabolic louver directs light output onto the source document and prevents "wash-out" on the computer screen.
A major advantage of a louver light control system versus the asymmetric method (directing light from the reflector at one angle) is the elimination of direct glare. With the louver system, you cannot see the bright bulb when the lamp head reaches eye level.

Task lighting mounting systems.

There are a variety of options for mounting task lighting in the work setting. Popular methods include a clamp base that attaches to the edge of a desk/table, and the weighted base that sits on top of a desk. Task lights can be mounted on stationary pedestal floor stands or movable caster floor stands.
The newest mounting systems attach task lights to the vertically slotted channels in workstation wall partition panels. Wall partition mounting frees-up valuable desktop space and eliminates the problem of "lack of edges" encountered by clamp-on versions. One option is a single-mount holder which the user places in the channel closest to the work area to be illuminated.
Another mounting option is a track-mount which provides greater illumination coverage for the work surface. The track spans the width of a wall panel and mounts in the slotted channels on both sides. A movable pivot holder for the task light slides along the track length to the desired position. The key factors in selecting a wall partition mounting system are ability to fit the many styles of standards and deep partitions; ease of installation; firm and sturdy mount; versatility to mount more than one specific task light model; a cord management system; and compatibility with standard track accessory items such as hanging paper trays and file folders.

Task lighting and magnification.

Do we need a task light if we have magnification? The answer is yes, because magnification is only half the solution for achieving good vision. Proper lighting is of equal importance. Take an extreme example. How much good would magnification do in the dark? The benefits derived from visual aids such as magnifiers and prescription glasses are entirely dependent upon the lighting conditions in which they are used.
Proper task lighting allows us to get the maximum benefit from a visual aid, and may even allow for reduced magnification. Increasing the amount of light (brightness) directed onto a task will help compensate for small print size or poor contrast. Examples of poor contrast include faded print on white paper, dark print on a dark background, or dim characters on a computer screen.

Bottom-line benefits for business.

The use of a lighting system which integrates task and overhead lighting can have a direct impact on the bottom line by lowering utility dollars.
Instead of trying to maintain proper lighting levels on desktops from overhead fixtures, task lights can do a better job in providing adequate foot-candles. A task light using an 18-watt compact fluorescent will consume far less energy than a typical overhead lighting fixture.
A work environment can maintain lower levels of overhead light by illuminating desktops with energy-efficient task lights. For examples consider an office with 16 workstations illuminated by 16 overhead fixtures each with four T8 32-watt fluorescents. The total wattage when all fixtures are operating is 2,048. If each fixture used two T8 instead of four, and each workstation was equipped with an 18-watt task light, energy consumption would be reduced by 36 percent!
A recent example demonstrates the energy waste that occurs all too frequently. An office manager remarked that, "we don't need those (task lights) to control glare on our computer screens. We installed these filters on the screens to block out glare." This makes no sense in terms of cost reduction and energy conservation. First flood the room with light and then block it out with filters. It is like turning the heat up to 90 degrees in the winter and then opening the window to maintain the right temperature.
Other ways in which the use of task lighting can help control costs are by reducing maintenance costs. Task lights are easy to install, keep clean, and change bulbs. When offices made from wall partition furniture systems are rearranged, task lights are easily moved. Proper lighting is achieved without much worry about the location of overhead fixtures.

Environmental benefits.

Finally, task lighting can have a significant environmental impact by reducing energy consumption of a building's lighting system.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) "Green Lights" program has brought the need for energy-efficient lighting into public awareness. The EPA estimates that lighting accounts for 20 to 25 percent of the electricity used annually in the United States. Lighting for industry, offices, stores, and warehouses represents from 80 to 90 percent of the total lighting electricity use. If energy-efficient lighting were used everywhere it was profitable, the electricity required for lighting would be cut by 50 percent, and aggregate national electricity demand would be reduced by 10 percent. This reduction in demand would significantly reduce power plant emissions, pollutants, and wastes.  Many past issues of NAILD NEWS have devoted articles to the environmental impact of lighting and specifically, how to calculate savings in environmental pollutants (NAILD NEWS, December 1990).
In summary, a system that integrates overhead and adjustable-arm task lighting makes good dollar sense for business and the environment.
Task lighting makes good psychological sense by giving individuals control over their own workspace lighting.
If you have any questions about the task/ambient lighting approach, please call the Green Lights Technical Hotline at 202-862-1145.
About the Author:Mark Hogrebe is the former president of Dazor Manufacturing Corp., a leading manufacturer of task lighting. His primary interest areas include the psychological impact of lighting in the workplace, especially as it relates to individual differences in visual acuity and comfort, and worker productivity. Other interest areas include the role of task lighting as a significant component in energy-efficient lighting installations. Hogrebe holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Georgia, a master of arts degree from the University of Akron, and a bachelor of arts degree from Quincy College.