Mark

You also might want to look into some forums where people discuss things like fishing and hunting. You might find a few folks that make lures and other items that will see a lot of outdoor use and handling. And I am sure this is an issue they have to address all the time.

Good luck!

That said, I cringed at the thought of doing a “dropped, stopped dado” on the table saw. The only major injury in my school shop came when someone tried to lower a workpiece onto a spinning blade. Some suggestions:

* If you absolutely have to do a plunge cut on a table saw (and that’s a huge if), lower the blade, secure the work and then stand back while you raise the blade. Measure the final height and keep count the number of turns of the handle it takes to reach that height.
* That said, there’s a much safer way to do what you described. A stopped dado is nothing more than a through dado with plugs at each end. Keep the piece flat on the table, push it all the way through and then glue small slips of wood into the ends. You also end up with perfectly square corners inside the groove, meaning that cleanup is done with a flush saw and block plane, rather than digging stuff out with a chisel.

Start with ten. End with ten.

I have, however, now noticed that the urethane has substantially yellowed over time, and in areas where I’ve used acrylic paints it looks BAD. Is this “Epifanes” that you talk about the best answer? I need something forgiving, that will work over acrylic paint, and that looks like a clear candy shell when I’m done.

Thanks, Bryan