# Question Of The Week... ( 2019 week 36)



## ripjack13

*Fast forward 100 years, what is the woodworking world like?




*


**Rules**
There is no minimum post requirement,
primates, woodticks, wood spinners, and leprechauns are welcome to post an answer.
And of course the  and the doc too....


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## woodtickgreg

Hand tools would still be very much the same, but machinery would be much more high tech, computer controlled etc. We already are seeing it with CNC machines. I'm old school and refuse to go the cnc route. I still like traditional wood working even though I use power tools in my shop, I also use a lot of vintage hand tools. My hobby of wood working is for fun and to relaxe me and escape from the world for awhile, not to make money or produce things as quickly as possible. I wont have to worry about 100 years from now though because I wont be here, lol.

Reactions: Like 4 | Agree 1


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## Eric Rorabaugh

The way a lot of but not all of the younger generation is, it may be almost nonexistent. Like Greg said it will be more high tech than what we have now. I know when my grandson gets old enough, I'll have him in the shop letting him work with his hands. As with anything if we don't get the kids doing it, it will become a lost skill.

Reactions: Like 3 | Agree 2


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## Tony

I'd like to think some people will still be doing it similar to how we do now. Greg is right I think, there will be more automation and technological advances, but that's always been the case. There is a resurgence of the craft and a lot of younger people are getting into it, it's a great thing! Tony

Reactions: Like 2


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## Nubsnstubs

I'm going to go out on a limb and acquire the wrath of a few of you, but I think traditional woodworking today will possibly be non existent. With all the environmental wackos whining about us depleting the forests and resources of the world, the governments will place such restrictions as to make it not worthwhile to cut trees for lumber. Almost all furniture will be made of composites of some sort to look and feel like wood that the future general public would probably think is the real deal.

Then, the real wood products made today that are custom made with great care, and is well taken care by the family or customer that had those pieces made will be considered treasures worthy of being museum pieces or pieces only the very rich will be able to afford.

Persons like Brink and Tick will be in high demand as they will probably be the only persons left on the planet that knows what the tools are for. And also, with the wacko's whining about fossil fuels messing up the environment, there might not be any power allocated to anyone with a power saw if they hadn't all been recycled to recover the copper from them as the wacko's have already shut down all copper mining.

Hey, got another OH CRAP! moment. Someone needs to develop a Skilsaw that has a solar panel built in like calculators.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1 | Great Post 2 | Way Cool 1


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## Brink

If I could foresee the future, I’d play lotto and bet on sports

Reactions: Like 2 | Agree 2


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## CWS

I think people will just be brains. No hands and no legs. Every thing will be done by just thinking about it. The earth will be so depleted the brain won't be able to leave the jar he is living in. I'm just glad I am as old as I am.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Brink

CWS said:


> I think people will just be brains. No hands and no legs. Every thing will be done by just thinking about it. The earth will be so depleted the brain won't be able to leave the jar he is living in. I'm just glad I am as old as I am.

Reactions: Like 4


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## Eric Rorabaugh

Nubsnstubs said:


> Persons like Brink and Tick will be in high demand as they will probably be the only persons left on the planet that knows what the tools are for.



You have to remember, @Mike1950 and @CWS will still be here.

Reactions: Agree 3 | Funny 5


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## Echoashtoreth

All said conservationists and restoration will always be a necessity to take care of precious buildings and items.... unless we melt all the icecaps and flood everything  which is where we are quickly headed

Reactions: Like 1


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## ripjack13

Echoashtoreth said:


> All said conservationists and restoration will always be a necessity to take care of precious buildings and items.... unless we melt all the icecaps and flood everything  which is where we are quickly headed



Once *all the ice* is *melted* and added to the global oceans our seas *would* rise by 216 feet as compared to the current level,
and some scientists say it would take more than 5,000 years to melt it all.

In North America, for example, the entire Atlantic seaboard would vanish beneath the waves, along with Florida and the Gulf Coast. Much of California would also be underwater – San Francisco’s hills would become small islands in the Pacific Ocean, the Central Valley would become a huge bay, and the Gulf of California would extend north, past what once was San Diego.

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 1 | Way Cool 1


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## Mike1950

ripjack13 said:


> Once *all the ice* is *melted* and added to the global oceans our seas *would* rise by 216 feet as compared to the current level,
> and some scientists say it would take more than 5,000 years to melt it all.
> 
> In North America, for example, the entire Atlantic seaboard would vanish beneath the waves, along with Florida and the Gulf Coast. Much of California would also be underwater – San Francisco’s hills would become small islands in the Pacific Ocean, the Central Valley would become a huge bay, and the Gulf of California would extend north, past what once was San Diego.
> 
> View attachment 171142



In the last 20,000 yrs we have been warming up. About 400' of rise in oceans. This is fact. Where i live there was 600 feet of ice. In the last 30 yrs the oceans have risen a couple milimeters.... which means a few ants have drowned. 
Solution always seems to be about me paying more to line somebodies pocket. 
USA carbon footprint continues to go down. As india and china go up. Of course cause they are poor babies they among others are exvluded from funding solutions. Sorry , IMO, when you exclude 2/3rds of the people in the world from solutions, you are not looking for solutions. You are looking for $$$$$$$$. 
Cleanest power carbon free power by far are the Nukes.....

Reactions: Like 6 | Agree 1


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## Brink

Mike1950 said:


> In the last 20,000 yrs we have been warming up. About 400' of rise in oceans. This is fact. Where i live there was 600 feet of ice. ....



Those must have been great times to grow up

Reactions: Agree 2 | Great Post 2 | Funny 3


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## Mike1950

And sorta sick of the double standard BS Gore lives in energy hungry 15,000 sq. Ft house. Flys around in fuel no efficient private jet. Could continue through endless list. 
No real solutions have been proposed, but plenty of tax proposals. 
In my state we are spending billions to save one pod of whales. Talking about removing dams and no fishing. But when talk turns to the elimination of 1000's sea lions that have learned to come up river to the dam and devastate the salmon runs everyone is aghast. The sea lions used to stay in ocean.
It is like being out of gas but solution is removing fuel pump. Stupidddddddd

Reactions: Like 3 | Agree 3


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## CWS

ripjack13 said:


> Once *all the ice* is *melted* and added to the global oceans our seas *would* rise by 216 feet as compared to the current level,
> and some scientists say it would take more than 5,000 years to melt it all.
> 
> In North America, for example, the entire Atlantic seaboard would vanish beneath the waves, along with Florida and the Gulf Coast. Much of California would also be underwater – San Francisco’s hills would become small islands in the Pacific Ocean, the Central Valley would become a huge bay, and the Gulf of California would extend north, past what once was San Diego.
> 
> View attachment 171142


I would be ok. My house sits 1000 feet above sea level.


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## rocky1

Echoashtoreth said:


> All said conservationists and restoration will always be a necessity to take care of precious buildings and items.... unless we melt all the icecaps and flood everything  which is where we are quickly headed







wikipedia said:


> The *climate of the Arctic* is characterized by long, cold winters and short, cool summers. There is a large amount of variability in climate across the Arctic, but all regions experience extremes of solar radiation in both summer and winter. Some parts of the Arctic are covered by ice (sea ice, glacial ice, or snow) year-round, and nearly all parts of the Arctic experience long periods with some form of ice on the surface. Average January temperatures range from about −34 °C to 0 °C (−29 to +32 °F), and winter temperatures can drop below −50 °C (−58 °F) over large parts of the Arctic. Average July temperatures range from about −10 to +10 °C (14 to 50 °F), with some land areas occasionally exceeding 30 °C (86 °F) in summer[_citation needed_].



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_the_Arctic 



wikipedia said:


> The *climate of Antarctica* is the coldest on Earth. The lowest air temperature record on Antarctica was set on 21 July 1983, when −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) was observed at Vostok Station.[1] Satellite measurements have identified even lower ground temperatures, with −93.2 °C (−135.8 °F) having been observed at the cloud-free East Antarctic Plateau on 10 August 2010.[2]
> 
> The continent is also extremely dry (it is technically a desert), averaging 166 mm (6.5 in) of precipitation per year. Snow rarely melts on most parts of the continent, and, after being compressed, becomes the glacier ice that makes up the ice sheet. Weather fronts rarely penetrate far into the continent, because of the katabatic winds. Most of Antarctica has an ice-cap climate (Köppen classification _EF_) with very cold, generally extremely dry weather.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Antarctica


Common sense dictates, that if the climate warms 2 degrees over the next 30 years, it probably isn't going melt enough snow on the polar ice caps, to fill your bathtub!


If the logic in those polar temperatures not being even remotely affected by a 2 degree rise in temperature escapes you, rest assured, the oceans are not rising any time soon... Barack Obama just spent $15 million of the money he received in the Uranium One deal on a oceanfront mansion in Martha's Vineyard.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 3


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## rocky1

Nubsnstubs said:


> I'm going to go out on a limb and acquire the wrath of a few of you, but I think traditional woodworking today will possibly be non existent. With all the environmental wackos whining about us depleting the forests and resources of the world, the governments will place such restrictions as to make it not worthwhile to cut trees for lumber. Almost all furniture will be made of composites of some sort to look and feel like wood that the future general public would probably think is the real deal.
> 
> Then, the real wood products made today that are custom made with great care, and is well taken care by the family or customer that had those pieces made will be considered treasures worthy of being museum pieces or pieces only the very rich will be able to afford.
> 
> Persons like Brink and Tick will be in high demand as they will probably be the only persons left on the planet that knows what the tools are for. And also, with the wacko's whining about fossil fuels messing up the environment, there might not be any power allocated to anyone with a power saw if they hadn't all been recycled to recover the copper from them as the wacko's have already shut down all copper mining.
> 
> Hey, got another OH CRAP! moment. Someone needs to develop a Skilsaw that has a solar panel built in like calculators.




 Exactly my thoughts, before ever reading your post Jerry. You won't be able to cut down a damn tree in a hundred years., if one dies and acts like it's going to fall on your house, you'll have to buy a permit and move the house.

Reactions: Agree 1 | Funny 1


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## Blueglass

all working with composite materials. Just kidding, I hope we plant enough trees and conserve well enough there is still plenty to work. Hand tools for the real men!


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## ripjack13

CWS said:


> I would be ok. My house sits 100 feet above sea level.



Umm....if my maths is good, you'll be 116 ' under water....

Reactions: Agree 3


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## Mike1950

ripjack13 said:


> Umm....if my maths is good, you'll be 116 ' under water....


Only the first 7' will matter....

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1 | Funny 3


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## ripjack13

I forgot to look to see where he lives. He's safe.....


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## Bob Ireland

I'm thinking that our selection of wood species will be limited due to invasive insect and diseases wiping out more and more species. In the Northeast US we better get used to using BOx Elder and other soft Maples (as nothing seems to kill them). I agree the many woodworking practice seem to be dying arts and the average age of woodworkers seems to be getting older every year. At least in New York, there are very few schools that have much regarding woodworking anymore.

Reactions: Like 2


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## rocky1

Mike1950 said:


> Only the first 7' will matter....




Maybe 8' if Curt's standing on a chair!

Reactions: Like 1 | Sincere 1


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## Pharmacyguy-Jim

Going to be fewer species to work with and I don’t blame “environmental wackos”. We (human beings) tend to view natural resources as “inexhaustible” and view conservation attempts as some one else trying to tell us what we can and cannot do. We are horribly short sighted. We routinely overestimate a species ability to withstand harvest, and underestimate our ability to irreparably damage it.

When the initial surveyors saw the white pine forests of Michigan they figured it would take a century, at least, to log it all. It took less than 20 years. Grayling, Michigan is named after a fish that was so ubiquitous, newspaper reports talked about people catching them by the bushel. There haven’t been grayling in Grayling for at least 100 years or anywhere in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. I live by Sturgeon Creek in Midland Michigan. That creek hasn’t seen a sturgeon in 100 years at least and it’s never going to see another one. Blue pike, a walleye species native to Lake Erie were a fish fry staple in the 50s. They are now extinct. American Chestnut, Red Bay, and Ashes, are basically gone or on the way out. The woolly adelgid is taking down hemlocks. Here in Michigan if you trim an oak during the summer it is as good as dead from oak wilt. That’s just stuff I know about because I live in Michigan and got some nice Red Bay from a guy on this website. What’s it it like in other countries? What invasive species are decimating native forests in Asia and Africa?

Reactions: Great Post 1 | Informative 1


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## CWS

ripjack13 said:


> Umm....if my maths is good, you'll be 116 ' under water....


You are on the [email protected] I forget a lot of things like the last zero. That happens a lot when your older than @Mike1950

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 1


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## Mike1950

Pharmacyguy-Jim said:


> Going to be fewer species to work with and I don’t blame “environmental wackos”. We (human beings) tend to view natural resources as “inexhaustible” and view conservation attempts as some one else trying to tell us what we can and cannot do. We are horribly short sighted. We routinely overestimate a species ability to withstand harvest, and underestimate our ability to irreparably damage it.
> 
> When the initial surveyors saw the white pine forests of Michigan they figured it would take a century, at least, to log it all. It took less than 20 years. Grayling, Michigan is named after a fish that was so ubiquitous, newspaper reports talked about people catching them by the bushel. There haven’t been grayling in Grayling for at least 100 years or anywhere in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. I live by Sturgeon Creek in Midland Michigan. That creek hasn’t seen a sturgeon in 100 years at least and it’s never going to see another one. Blue pike, a walleye species native to Lake Erie were a fish fry staple in the 50s. They are now extinct. American Chestnut, Red Bay, and Ashes, are basically gone or on the way out. The woolly adelgid is taking down hemlocks. Here in Michigan if you trim an oak during the summer it is as good as dead from oak wilt. That’s just stuff I know about because I live in Michigan and got some nice Red Bay from a guy on this website. What’s it it like in other countries? What invasive species are decimating native forests in Asia and Africa?



DO not agree- we are changing but... good read
https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/w...-trees-than-there-were-100-years-ago-its-true

Reactions: Like 2


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## Mike1950

If you have been in NW- it is hard to imagine getting rid of the trees. Idaho wilderness areas are bigger than lots of states

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Echoashtoreth

Asia? People... makes me sick to see piles of ebony sliced as coasters and (untreated, unprotected from weather) left to trash in heaps at flea markets..... from one market alone could fill a sears husk..... and elsewhere using great hardwoods for pallets and burning them (to get the nails) or trashing it while living in grass huts and burning cow dung for fuel..... 

I will never forget driving hours through a barren landscape, women cutting thorns off trees for food, but there is human litter everywhere! Burn that crap in ur fire! Just disgusted me...


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## FranklinWorkshops

Mike1950 said:


> DO not agree- we are changing but... good read
> https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/w...-trees-than-there-were-100-years-ago-its-true


Great article. I have read several others like this. I even read somewhere (can't find it now) that if we planted 2 billion trees in the USA, they would consume all the CO2 we humans generate in the USA. That is doable if we really believed that CO2 levels were going to cause the earth to melt like some are saying. But we really don't believe that, of course, we just want to talk about it and raise money from the gullible kiddies who can't figure out the whole think is a scam.

Back to the topic, I think there will always be a place for hand made furniture and people like us who will be doing it for the fun. Sure, equipment will evolve and become safer to use, hardwoods like we have will still be available due to managed forests. Hand tools will still be used like they were 100 years ago because people like to use them. I'm still using hand tools made during the 1900-1930 time period. Is summary, the more stressful and complicated and technically advanced our society becomes, the more people will seek the comfort they knew in the old days when things were made by hand by people who really cared and had fun doing it.

Reactions: Like 3 | Great Post 1


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## Mike1950

FranklinWorkshops said:


> Great article. I have read several others like this. I even read somewhere (can't find it now) that if we planted 2 billion trees in the USA, they would consume all the CO2 we humans generate in the USA. That is doable if we really believed that CO2 levels were going to cause the earth to melt like some are saying. But we really don't believe that, of course, we just want to talk about it and raise money from the gullible kiddies who can't figure out the whole think is a scam.
> 
> Back to the topic, I think there will always be a place for hand made furniture and people like us who will be doing it for the fun. Sure, equipment will evolve and become safer to use, hardwoods like we have will still be available due to managed forests. Hand tools will still be used like they were 100 years ago because people like to use them. I'm still using hand tools made during the 1900-1930 time period. Is summary, the more stressful and complicated and technically advanced our society becomes, the more people will seek the comfort they knew in the old days when things were made by hand by people who really cared and had fun doing it.



Everything but the big pines in background I planted. Did it to make backyard private. If you look very careful you can see a tiny bit of road. We are net + on the net co2 ox thing , well unless we are eating chili!!

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## FranklinWorkshops

Mike, I don't see the photo you mentioned.


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## Mike1950

FranklinWorkshops said:


> Mike, I don't see the photo you mentioned.



......... crap

Reactions: Funny 1 | Useful 1


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## Pharmacyguy-Jim

Michigan isn’t a small state and it was covered in white pine. Lot of lumber barons back in the day in Michigan. 

Good article Mike. I wonder about the methodology. Do the the numbers reflect losses due to invasives? What is the quality of the forest that is growing now? We aren’t getting back American elm or Chestnut in any commercially viable way. Ash will soon join them. Laurel wilt and oak wilt are taking a noticeable toll and will continue to spread. Are there equivalents decimating native forests in South America, Asia and Africa? How long until we convince the developing world that “sustainable harvest” vs straight exploitation of natural resources is the way to go? (A tough sell even if we actually practiced it as much as we preach it.) 

Anyway off my soap box. I hope you’re right and I’m being a pessimist.

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## FranklinWorkshops

The American Chestnut Foundation is trying to bring back the tree. https://www.acf.org They are having some success and are working with several universities in the effort. A few years ago, I bought 600 bf of a hybrid Am chestnut that had been crossed with another chestnut species as part of one of these programs. A long story about how I ended up with the wood so I won't bore you with the details. Have sold some of it but still have a few hundred feet. To me, it looks like Am chestnut but is a more dense and heavy wood, probably better for furniture than the original. I sent Paul a photo of it for his website http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/chestnut.htm

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## trc65

I've got an American Chestnut out front. Granted it is only 2 ft tall right now, but I have hope. Got it from a nursery in WI that obtained seed from mature chestnuts that have so far survived. No guarantee that it has resistance, but for a few bucks was worth it to watch it grow for however long.

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## FranklinWorkshops

trc65 said:


> I've got an American Chestnut out front. Granted it is only 2 ft tall right now, but I have hope. Got it from a nursery in WI that obtained seed from mature chestnuts that have so far survived. No guarantee that it has resistance, but for a few bucks was worth it to watch it grow for however long.



In 1981, we bought a house and five acres of mature forest here in PA. To my shock, we had a large Am chestnut tree in the forest still dropping nuts in 1983. It died soon after that when the blight got it. After it died, I cut it into sections that I could handle and slabbed into boards on my 18" bandsaw. Still have a few sections of it and they are 14 inches in diameter. So this tree survived long after others around it died out. Hope yours can do the same. They are beautiful trees. 
Here is a bit of information on a university program in Tennessee https://www.tnhomeandfarm.com/agriculture/saving-the-chestnut-trees/

Photos from before the blight hit in 1904.

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## rocky1

I actually looked at planting a few chestnut trees down here. Found a nearby nursery that is growing them and supplying them to Lowes, Home Depot, and Walmart among others. Have a pretty decent write up on the work to reintroduce the Chestnut tree. 

https://chestnuthilltreefarm.americommerce.com/store/pg/76-The-Dunstan-Chestnut-1.aspx

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## Echoashtoreth

Aboout the planting... my first trip to Beijiing in 2010 you could literally punch the air and break your fist- pollution was that bad. They started aggressive green spacing projects that year and when i went back next in i think 2016 you could already see the difference in the city's better areas... in fact for the first time i looked out our office window and saw the buildings next to them! Went back that summer and there was a good day we could see all the way to the mountains and blue sky -- this sounds silly but for them it's so rare they were walking around filming the sky and then the sunset we took the opportunity to go get some good shots! This is the Temple of Heaven

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## FranklinWorkshops

Last time I was in China was 1998 and the air pollution in Shanghai was awful. I wore a normal business suit to meetings with Chinese bank officials and when I returned to the hotel at night, the exposed cuffs and collars of my white shirt were gray. I'm amazed that the locals could live very long in that situation but they did. Hope it's better now.

Reactions: Informative 2


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## Gdurfey

I think in a 100 years there will be fewer enthusiasts. The ones that exist may be more passionate but due to many of the reasons cited in other comments I believe there won't be as many of our types around. It is refreshing when you meet someone younger that has the woodworking bug they seem to be very passionate about it and they seem to show great interest. It might also be that in contrast to their peers they just stand out; folks you genuinely want to be with vs. those you want to avoid at all cost. And yes, will Saw Stop make a bandsaw in the future that will stop when it hits a hot dog.......

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