This Episodes Questions:

Brians Questions:

As a hobbyist who buys wood occasionally, I have never developed the skill of correctly identifying the grain pattern or even the cut type (plain, rift, quarter) in rough cut lumber at lumber yards. It’s all fuzzy and impossible for me to discern. Any tips for a dumb dumb like me? American Bob

Hey guys! I started listening to your podcast a couple months ago, and began dabbling in woodworking only a couple months before that. I can't tell you how helpful your podcasts has been to me, as I don't really have anyone to show me the ropes. I'm usually pretty good at figuring things out via YouTube and Google, but a lot of use concepts are so new to me that I'm not sure what to search for. I don't know what I don't know. I have to admit that I have been cutting off sending in a question to you guys primarily because I'm listening to your podcast while I'm in my fledgling shop and I have a hard time putting down what I'm doing to get on my phone if I don't have to. Having said that, I'm sure that I can come up with enough questions to completely fill out half a dozen podcast episodes, so I'm finally answering the call. Thank you in advance for your answers and insights. I chose to serve with this question because it is an issue I run into constantly. To put it simply, I do not as of yet own jointer or a planer, and I can't afford one for the time being. I have been trying to make do with a number of workarounds, to varying degrees of success. For example, cleaning a board or panel with a belt sander, which is exactly as much fun as it sounds. My recently discovered work around for jointing boards is a jig I made for my table saw. It's essentially a fence I guess, with an outfeed and in feed side. The outfeed side is flush with my saw blade, while the infeed side is offset. The width of my saw blade. I can send you a picture if you are curious. My question is, for a person who absolutely cannot afford a jointer and planer right now, are there any other tricks you can think of to accomplish these essential woodworking processes? Thanks again for your help and all the great information you provide. Zach

Guys Questions:

Hello, this is Zach from Minnesota again. I have a question that has been bugging me for quite some time now. Ever since I learned about water-based polyurethane, it's almost exclusively what I have used to finish my projects. I almost always apply this with my Wagner or HVLP sprayer with a detail nozzle and it has worked great for me. There are a lot of topics in woodworking where people have opposing views. One practice, however, that seems to be universally supported, and strongly so, is sanding between codes of polyurethane. I very, very rarely follow this practice. For whatever reason, on one project I did not do this and it turned out fine, so I haven't really bothered since, and I haven't had any issues, even when I've applied polyurethane over paint. Why is sanding so strongly recommended, and what issues am I risking by skipping this step? Thanks again. Zach

Good morning Woodshop Life Podcast Folks! I am about to finish up my largest commissioned work, netting me a nice little profit.  This isn’t my full time job, so any sort of money I make from woodworking I want to put back into the shop and continue to grow as a woodworker. I have the Dewalt DW735 Planer and a Grizzly 8” Jointer, both with straight knife cutter heads.  If I could only do one for now, Which one should I upgrade first to a helical cutter head? I love listening to you all when I am in the shop, and have grown tremendously as a woodworker because of it!  Keep up the great work! Nathan

Huys Questions:

I just built a router table with a lift.  Was going to upgrade to a 3+ hp router as I have been told “the large bits need 3 or more hp”.   Looking at the routers I can purchase they all come with 15 amp plugs. The 15 amp can only carry 2.4 hp max no matter what the hp of the motor is.  Even if the plug / receptacle is 20 amp it still could not carry the watts/hp of 3 hp.    Just wondering why I should spend the money to upgrade.  Can you enlighten me?

Thanks and love the show. John-Michael

Do you have any tips for drilling the holes in legs to insert leg levelers? I have practiced a few times and I can't consistently get the holes straight. I have avoided using the leg levelers because of this. Thanks Jeff

This Episodes Questions:

Brians Questions:

I really enjoy your podcast.  The information you provide is very informative and helpful.  I am beginning to build more furniture items and considering purchasing a Festool Domino tool for both strength and convenience.  I am having a difficult time, as I'm sure many do, justifying the cost.  My question is: is it that much better and/or stronger than bisquits, dowels, pocket hole screws, fixed tenon, etc., or is this just a "status symbol" tool?  Your opinion will help immensely.  I do already own their CT Midi dust collector and a couple of sanders. Rick

Gentlemen:  I’m a long time listener and can’t thank you enough for all the info you have shared through this podcast.  I am a hobbyist woodworker who is moderately successful with my projects the majority of the time.  I am being requested to make keepsake/ jewelry boxes for my grandkids.  I have not made small boxes before so my questions are: What species of wood should I consider to use.  I have access to  some exotics and have used numerous species on previous projects but are there specific species that would really help these boxes standout?  Any species I should avoid? Should I use veneer and plywood or solid hardwood?  I am comfortable using miters with splines or finger joints but this guy doesn’t do dovetails. What  finish should I use.  I can already hear Guy screaming shellac and amour seal.  Anything else to consider like lacquer? Thanks again Liam Indianapolis

Guys Questions:

Hi gentleman. Thank you for all of your time sharing your experiences and helping to grow woodworking. You have saved me, and many others, countless board feet of mistakes I am have transitioned from carpentry and repairs, to fine woodworking, such as desks, and mechanical puzzle boxes. This involves a lot of very precise measurements and cuts.  I have needed to cut exact angles to fit together, slide, and hide the seams.  You have mentioned using a router bit to cut an exact 45 degree angle, but how do you cut an exact angle other than a 45, such as a  73.43 degree angle? Also, is there a specific finish that will help minimize wood swelling? While expansion is not always a concern with tables or chairs, for example, it is a real problem with mechanical puzzle boxes as the swelling can prevent the mechanical puzzle box from opening. Thanks for your help. George Allan

Hello Woodshop Life Crew, I have a 1-car garage woodshop and want to add dust collection. I'm considering the Grizzly G0861 - 2 HP Portable Cyclone Dust Collector. ttps://www.grizzly.com/products/grizzly-2-hp-portable-cyclone-dust-collector/g0861 My shop is 12' x 24' and my main tools are a tablesaw, a plainer, and a jointer. Do you think a 2 HP system is too big? Too small? This unit has a 7" intake port that splits into three 4" ports, 1023 CFM of airflow, and a 1-micron filter size. A dedicated 30A 220V circuit is at the ready. Given the small shop size, I would be ok with hooking up one tool at a time or adding ducting to all tools. In short, what size of system and ducting would you recommend for a small 1-car woodshop like mine? Thanks as always for the great podcast.- Adam

Huys Questions:

Thanks for the content yall have been bringing the woodworking community. I’m new to the podcast, but have found the few episodes I’ve listened to extremely helpful. I’m living in New Hampshire, and recently moved my shop into a large barn. I have a section for wood storage on the second floor. The barn is open and in an uncontrolled climate. As of right now, I have a lot of pine and white oak, but would like to expand my selection as more projects become available. Do you have any suggestions on how to better control humidity/temperature  to allow for  better moisture regulation? Also, I am looking to upgrade my planer. I’m trying to decide between a 13 inch Grizzly bench top planer (G0940) and a 13 inch Jet bench top planer (JWP-13BT). Please let me know your thoughts on these or suggestions on another option in that price range. Thanks! Caleb

Hi gentlemen.  This is my second question.  I'm still catching up on past episodes and am now in 2024.  I have learned so much from each of you. On an earlier episode, you mentioned that if a drawer glue-up is not square, one option is to break it down before the glue sets and "fix it".  My general question is, can you re-glue parts and still maintain their glue strength?  If you remove any unset glue (assuming PVA) as much as possible, will the remaining glue embedded in the wood prevent a structurally sound joint?  I'm assuming that no further milling is required to "fix" the joint. In other words, the glue-up didn't go as planned. Thanks for this great podcast. Anthony

This Episodes Questions:

Brian's Questions:

Hey guys I have a kinda lengthy question, so new to woodworking and I’ve been listening to your guys podcast and really like it!! Very helpful! Question #1 is it better to have a good table saw blade over a good saw #2 is it better to have a good table saw over a good incra fence!? Back story I have a delta table saw, I got for free from a friend, I was wondering if it’s worth spending the money or save and eventually get a better saw like a powermatic table saw etc. maybe I get caught up in the details of tools and expect them to do the work for me, but I am someone that like to have the right tools for the job. Granted as new as I am it’s hard to justify $10,000 to have all the right tools, just wondering if I should focus more on making something then, on the tools! Hope it all makes sense and it’s not more of a rant!! Thank you for all the work you guys do!! Ivan

I'm making a mantle for my living room out of rift-sawn white oak plywood. 74" long, with a miter fold design. My wife wants it to look the same way it does before applying finish, and I'm not sure how to do that or if it is even possible. I've tested with water-based poly (Minwax), but it causes it to look a bit "golden". Suggestions? Brian

Guy's Questions:

Hi fellas, Love the podcast and all your great advice. I recently glued up a free-standing (liquor) cabinet and was very nervous about it being square, especially since it was difficult to check for square (measuring corner to corner in the front and back) with all the various clamps on.  I ended up making the back panel (which fits into rabbets), which I knew was square, and placed it in the back (without glue) while the glue dried on the various joints (through tenons on top and bottom shelves, mid-shelves sit in stopped dados).  The idea was that if the square back panel fit correctly, it would help pull the whole cabinet into square. 

It turned out perfectly this time (wahoo!), but am not sure if I got lucky or if this is a reliable method to come back to.  What do y'all think?  Does this method make sense?  Any other suggestions on how to check or ensure square with free-standing cabinets of a decent size (46" tall, 26" wide, 16" deep)? Thanks, Bryan

Hi gents:  long time listener here and as I’ve said before, thanks so much for the great content you deliver.  You have discussed your spraying equipment set up in the past but I was hoping you could describe your spray BOOTH set up- obviously Brian is exempt from this question since he doesn’t apply finish.  How do you guys spray volatile finishes in the winter on your garage?  Do you have a spray booth like set up?  Do you openly spray in your garage workshops?  How do you vent potentially dangerous fumes?  Any details you can provide would be appreciated as I would like to do more spraying of shellac and I like wipe on poly both of which are challenges in winter time when you can’t work outside. Liam from Indianapolis

Huy's Questions:

I’ve recently found the podcast and am loving going back and learning from each episode! I’ve noticed that a ton of time has been dedicated to doling out wisdom on different types of finishing techniques and products. I’m sure the best way to learn all of this is through experience, but do you have and resources to recommend budding woodworkers as a go-to guide? With the way my brain works, learning the origins of each finish, their make-ups, and how that brings about their use cases and strengths/weaknesses would go a long way for me to internalize all of the various do’s and dont’s. Do you have a resource you go to when considering applicable finishing materials on a new project? Jeremiah

Love the show, I appreciate you guys giving it the time it takes to make it happen.  My question is about a solid Walnut table that I built for my eat in kitchen. The material was 30yr + air dried Walnut milled down to a thickness of about 15/16" for the table top each board is six to eight inches in width and makes up a 32" wide table top by 5' and change in length.  I used Domino's for alignment titebond two for the glue.  The table base is inspired by conoid table style from Nakashima and is connected to the table top using "buttons and screws" connected to the two rails at top each  of the splayed legs.  I did not add any type of support down the center nor any type of skirting or an apron so there's about four foot in between the table legs of unsupported table top. - I've been using table for a few months now, and every once in a while I'll place my Veritas straight edge on it and check. It hasn't seemed to move at all in any direction but yet I still think about this multiple times a week what are your thoughts? Will this eventually sag in the middle with out a continuous support running the center if the table? Joe R.

This Episodes Questions:

Brians Questions:

Hi guys! Love the podcast, as always. My question for you guys this time is about design. Specifically, it's about design based on that "special" piece of lumber. For example, I purchased a large piece of mahogany in the late 1990's to build electric guitars. I made two guitars from it and was left with a chunk of beautiful lumber that traveled with me for the next 25 years. Two years ago, I bought a mid-sized slab of black locust. I don't make "slab" furniture or use copious amounts of epoxy, so it'll end up getting cut up into a project. I know you guys normally design your projects and then buy the lumber, but have you ever bought (or acquired) that unique board and then had to design a project to do it justice? If so, what was the project? As a follow up question, what is the longest that you have ever owned a piece of lumber that you just couldn't get rid of?

Thanks,  Joshua from The Black Dog Woodworks.

I'm a new listener and your podcast has been a blast to listen to on my evening runs. I just finished a 3-year, gut-to-the-studs home renovation, and my 1 car garage was the renovation workshop. Now that the home is finished I am transitioning the shop into a proper woodworking space. During construction, I used a lot of 16D nails and 3" construction screws and tried to have a variety of fasteners on hand so I wouldn't be running to the hardware store 3 times a day.

This got me thinking. What are some common fasteners you like to keep in your shop? Any common screw sizes? Bolts? Washers? Nuts? Nails? Staples? It seems in woodworking shops that there's always a balance between having so many supplies that you'll never use most of them in 10 years to having so few supplies that you'll be running to the store 5 times a day. What is your approach to hardware consumables? Thanks for the great podcast.  Adam

Guys Questions:

Really appreciate the podcast, i have been listening for about 18 months and am also working through your previous podcasts.   I am starting the dive into spray finishing. I have previously used wipe on or brush on finishes. I like shellac, but often coat with wipe on poly for extra protection. I would picture doing the same going forward.  Question: What are considerations/benefits to using a water based conversion varnish over wb poly?  What type of ppe is appropriate?  I have a relatively large shop which is climate controlled, not attached to house and can set up an area for finishing when needed, what type ventilation would be desirable for occasional finishing in this situation?  I build furniture and smaller items.  Thanks, David at xcuse4tools custom woodwork      Hello everyone. Love the show. Great dynamic between you all and I really enjoy the lack of ego in the question answering. Your answers are efficient, helpful and easily digestible to a beginner woodworker. I recently acquired a Jessem Pocket Mill Pro for loose tenon joints. Like many, I had lusted after a Festool Domino but couldn’t justify the price tag for a hobby shop. The Pocket Mill Pro is a fraction of the cost and does everything I need it to do for my projects. The workstation that pairs with the pocket mill pro can also accept Jessem’s dowel jig. My question to you all is would a dowel jig even be necessary when I have the ability to make loose tenon joints already? Is there any advantage to adding the dowl jig to my arsenal or is it a waste of money when I already have the Pocket Mill Pro? Thanks in advance for any insight.  Jason

Huys Questions:

I'm planning on making a face grain chess board.  I'll use 3/4" MDF as my core and glue the chess squares on top (grain from all squares facing same direction).  Chess squares will be about 1/8" thick.  I assume I'll also need to glue some 1/8" wood on the bottom to balance out the stresses.  I'll orient the bottom grain in the same direction as the top.  My question is, do I need to glue both sides at the same time, or can I glue one side, let it dry, then do the other?  Scott Goldthwait

I love to use my handplanes and can't get over the smooth, glass-like feeling that it leaves on wood. However, many finishing manufacturers reccomend applying the finish to a surface sanded to a specific grit (e.g., Rubio reccomends applying to 120 grit, no higher). What are the advantages/disadvantages to applying finish to a sanded surface versus a hand-planed surface. I would like my handplane to be the last think that touches the wood, but I want to respect the manufactueres' reccomendations since they obvioulsy know information I don't (like what the ideal porosity of wood is). Thanks! Peter Diaz

This Episodes Questions:

Brians Questions

I have a question for you about glueing up table aprons. And I’m mostly referring to large dining tables. The aprons I’m making are generally w 8/4 stock roughly 4” width. I can manage to get the legs and the aprons milled and cut square. All my joinery is w dominoes. Whenever I do the glue up everything is slightly out out square despite everything being square prior to glue up . I have pipe clamps and parallel clamps and have tried both. For some reason I can’t get the clamping pressure or positioning right. Any tips would be appreciated. Bryan

Hello everyone, Wanted your advice on dados and what I may be doing wrong. When I cut the dado and mating piece I make sure to get a good tight fit during the dry fit. My issue comes up when I'm sanding. I'll take all the pieces apart and sand them to the desired sand grit (180 or 220 depending on finish). But when I go to glue up my mating piece is now loose in the dado. Should I be making the dado smaller, should I just wait to sand till it's all glued up or do you have any other advice?

Thanks, Paul at Twin Lakes Workshop

Guys Questions

I have listened to all your podcasts and have very much enjoyed and learned from them. I listen to primarily three woodworking podcasts and Woodshop Life is far and away the best.

I have to confess I am a wood hoarder. I do a lot of small projects (scroll saw, boxes, and the like) and end up with small pieces left over that should be good for something. But how do I organize them and what size is too small, in your opinion, to be useful? The same applies to pieces left over after building furniture or other large projects? Do I just throw everything in the burn pile or is there a logical way to sort and store small pieces of lumber?

And one small criticism: need to update the website with Brian’s information since he is officially part of the podcast. Roger Martin

Hey there fellas! I’m with a small furniture and cabinet shop called Silt Studio in Atlanta. Love the podcast and the great wealth of knowledge you guys bring to the world of woodworking. Guy, don’t let anybody tell you you’re wrong, they’re never right. I have a question about the relevance of our table saw. It’s a Powermatic PM2000 (I know guy loves his)with a 5x5 outfeed and a 36” rail extension. It’s really been a great workhorse for our shop. The space is about 3000 sq ft and we are quickly outgrowing the footprint for the amount of kitchen and cabinet jobs we’re taking on. There are also columns on a 9’x 14’ grid pattern so the space isn’t wide open.  We’re talking about getting a large slider to facilitate speedier and more accurate square cuts. Currently we’re ripping down sheetgoods with our festool track saw then finishing on the table saw. If we get a slider, a large chunk of our milling/cutting space would be taken up. Is it worth keeping the powermatic and just losing the outfeed to save space  or can we do everything we need to on the slider? We’re considering the laguna 12/8 model slider. Looking forward to your thoughts! Thanks so much, Sam

Huy's Questions:

Hello gentlemen. Great woodworking podcast. I am in the market for a drum sander. Currently I have a Jet 22-44. It is a love/hate relationship with all the known issues. The budget would be around 2,000-3,000. I was thinking arbor open ended powermatic 22-44 o it would be better to get Grizzly 24 or 24, or something similar that is closed ended. Also would you recommend single or double. What about finding bigger 37” or a similar from shops liquidations. I know there is wiring and things like that. I have a hobby workshop with some 220 equipment. Like I mentioned it is a hobby now maybe it will grow may it will not. I originally got the openeded sander hoping that I can send wider boards (stupidly table tops) but obviously it is not as easy as it would seems to be. I do not know if that helped on made my question more murky. Sometimes there a good deals on Facebook Marketplace place but those deals do not last long and you need to be ready. There was Grizzly G1066R for $1,300 and now I regret not buying it. Any suggestions would be welcome. Thank you. Derek

Question for the podcast: When using white oak for trim, what fasteners can I use that won’t cause the tannins in the white oak to react to the metal of the fasteners? Thanks guys. Jay

This Episodes Questions:

Brian's Questions:

Hi guys. Long term listener. Great pod cast. I recent have a gotten my first 220 table saw. Grizzly 690. It works great and my router table, wood pecker P2. I have a small shop and space always is tight. I am thinking about buying an infra table fence with the router attachment as I can put it off to one side as my cut requirements are less than 24 inches. Mainly 12-18 inches wide as my happy space is projects within 2 ft by 4 ft. Anything larger is handled on my Yeti Smart bench, 4x8 cutting capacity. Guy is a big fan of incra tools and I just wonder if his opinion on what is best .  Replace a good table saw fence with the incra one that was mentioned before and an added router table attachment or keep things separate? What is your opinions? Thanks for helping out and making 8 quarter effort to help.  Or 200% Paul Mitchell

First off, I really enjoy the podcast. I am a hobbyist woodworker who loves to build custom cornhole boards. I have built some simple furniture like a coffee table using custom metal legs. I would like to make some simple wooden boxes for my adult daughters. I am think about trying box joints for my first attempt. I have most of what I need to do this project but I don't own any chisels to clean up my work. Can you suggest a brand or set that would be affordable yet good quality that could last for future projects? Also, how easy is it to maintain the edges? Should I plan on sharpening them myself or send them out to a pro? Thanks John in Ohio

Guy's Questions:

Great show, I’ve asked a few questions over the years and you always have great advice. I’m having problems when I glue up frame and panels for doors on cabinets and keeping the frame flat. This problem is exacerbated when there are two doors and they are both not flat. My joinery is square, the styles and rails and panel are all square and flat, so I know that’s not my problem.  I’m am guessing that it’s the way I’m clamping it during glue up.  I would appreciate any thought on what I may be doing wrong, or tips and techniques you use when gluing up panels. Thanks for the help and keep up the great work!! Mike Gitberg

Could you give an explanation of your general setup and process for finishing regarding the consumables.  I feel like I am not very efficient and am wasteful during this process. For example, I just finished a shaker end table that I put a sealcoat of shellac on, and followed that with a hard wax oil. It came out looking great but I feel like there is a huge mess to cleanup after. Because of the risk of the oil self-igniting, I laid everything on my garage floor after I was done, so it could to dry.  I see that I used 8 rubber gloves, a dozen shop towels, scotch brite pads, several sheets of butcher paper and the mixing cup for the oil. Also, can I reuse the mixing cup from the hard wax oil? How would you clean out the leftover mix? Thanks for the great podcast! Jeff Hughes

Huy's Questions:

Hey guys, I’ve sent in questions before and always got great responses, but I have a strange one for you today. I’m a teacher, and a bit of an eclectic one. I like to keep my kids on their toes wondering about me. I’ve always wanted to make a throne to keep in the room for me to lecture from, or to let kids sit on. I teach high school, so the kids are full human sized mostly and never careful, so well built is a necessity. Again, I’m a teacher, so budget friendly design is also a consideration. I have some recycled 3” square cedar posts, and other scrap, but I definitely can’t afford to go out and get 4” thick white oak or walnut. I am also a leather worker, so incorporating leather seats or whatnot is within my skills. Not afraid of carving or painting for details. I’ve done some looking for inspiration and it just doesn’t seem folks are building thrones all that often. The only chair I’ve built is an Adirondack from plans. Any ideas, thoughts, recommendations, resources, donations? I’d especially like to at least start with dimensions to keep in mind. Thanks, Peter @Mr.Downing.Woodworking on Instagram

Hello all, I have taken on a commission (from my wife) and have a few questions during my design process. For reference I am replacing and redesigning the Windham Wood Top Kitchen Island Off-White - Threshold from Target. The goal is to create more enclosed storage. I need to balance mobility and weight along with stability. This cart/island is used a lot for prepping food when we have company. I would prefer to construct the case out of solid hardwood panels for a sleeker look but I am concerned about the overall weight. It appears that the logical solution is to use plywood and create frame and panel walls. As I have never used plywood for things other than drawers and shop furniture, I am concerned about color matching the plywood and hardwood. Is this a logical concern? I do not own a truck and would likely have to pay $75 for delivery of lumber from a local lumberyard (I live in Los Angeles). When I normally purchase hardwood, I have the guys cut it into manageable pieces that fit into my VW Tiguan. Lastly, do you have any  ideas for the back wall of the cart? The back panel needs to be attractive as it would often be seen when the cart is moved around the kitchen. Again plywood seems to be easiest option but would require me to order the plywood for delivery. Would a back panel made out of 4/4 material planed down to 5/8 in. create weight distribution issues and risk tipping? Would there be any overall concerns with so much hardwood and seasonal movement. Living in Los Angeles, we don't get seasons but some days are definitely more humid than others. If I do decide to order the plywood, what would be a good thickness to consider? Is 3/4in overkill or will 1/2in suffice? Thanks for any advice or insight you can provide. Jose

This Episodes Questions:

Brian's Questions:

Ashtin here Hey guys love the podcast thank you for putting out good content for all of us to hear

My question is I’m very new to the woodworking community I don’t have a shop or a space I work in I use all mobile equipment I do all my work outside I want to know what projects I can do that will help build my skills in and my confidence I have a DEWALT Dw7491rs Table saw  A Bosch router table Ra1181 A craftsman jointer Cmew020 A wen 6524 spindle and belt sander combo A dewalt Dws 780 miter saw I do have a Incra 1000se Also what blade would you recommend for my table saw for an all around use? I have been using Diablo blades sense I have had it. Ashtin

Brian also gives a nice PSA on shop safety and how thiungs can go wrong quickly

Guy's Questions:

I've been doing some veneering using a vaccum bag.  Mostly just panels for doors and box lids. When I join two pieces of veneer together at a seam I'll use blue painters tape to hold the seem together. My.problem is when I get it out and start taking the tape off I'll get some of the veneer fibers coming off with the tape.  How can I prevent it from happening? Thanks John

Hi guys.  Love the podcast.  I've learned a bunch from you all.  My question is about end grain.  I'm building a cherry night stand that has a shelf that will be 20" long and about 17" wide.  I'm making the shelf from solid cherry as well.  The 17" dimension end grain will show on the left and right sides of the night stand.  I made my own cherry veneer from the stock I have (it's about 1/32" thick) and was thinking I could edge band it to the ends.  But if I do that, the glue holding the veneer will prevent the  wood from moving, right?  I was even thinking about using the banding so that the grain follows the top (like a waterfall).  But it doesn't solve the glue issue.  Am I correct in this thinking?  How can I dress up the ends so that it doesn't look like amateurish?  Or should I just sand the end grain to a very fine grit and/or seal the end grain before finishing so that it doesn't get darker than the shelf itself? Thanks so much. Anthony

Huy's Questions:

Hello Gentlemen,

I’m planning on replacing the cheap hollow-core door that leads from my conditioned basement to my workshop garage.

Any advise on materials? I know MDP is  flat but edges are brittle. Can I use an mdf or plywood core and dress it up with thinner material? How should I go about this while accounting for wood movement? My jointer is the limiting factor, bench-top with only a couple feet in totable bed lengths combined.

Thanks Again, Dave

I’m an “aspiring” woodworker in Harvest Alabama. I have a 1 car garage with a 5x8x6 tornado bunker in the middle of the floor. If you had that, is there any way that you would reuse that space to your advantage? Not just storage space, but actively- like dust collection, or an extra long panel saw. Tom

This Episodes Listener Questions:

Guys Questions:

Hello Guy, Huy, and Brian, Loving the content you guys are dishing out. Keep up the good work!

I have my sights set on a jointer in the near future as I would like to save time and energy squaring lumber. My preference up until now has generally been to buy new tools and the thought of refurbishing/repairing anything used has not appealed to me. However, the cost difference between a new/used jointer has me thinking differently. Also, the jointer seems to be one of, if not the easiest, of the big woodworking machines to refurbish given its simplicity. Correct me if I am wrong in this thinking. Curious to hear your thoughts if you think it is worth my time and effort to buy a used jointer or should I go new? What should I look for if I were to go used? I realize that moving a big machine like an 8" jointer will be challenging, but I can easily get some friends together and rent a trailer to get the job done if the cost savings are great enough. Plus some beers and pizza for the helpers will help. Thanks! -John

Hey Folks, Thank you for for the podcast. I love how quickly you jump right into the questions! Here’s mine: I’m building a set of screen doors for a cottage. The doors will be exposed directly to the weather in  Quebec. The doors will get a lot of abuse. They will close with a spring and slam frequently. The screen will run the full length of the door. I’m hoping to use a domino for the joinery. 3 questions: 1) what glue should I use? 2) what wood should I use? 3) How should I finish the doors? Thanks ! Larry

Gentlemen, First let me thank you for the podcast.  I recently stumbled upon it and you three are now my regular company on my daily commute.  Thank you!  I consider myself a beginner hobbyist woodworker. My shop is the third bay of a 3 bay garage.  My question is about when it is appropriate to use 3/4 inch vs 1/2 inch  plywood. 3/4 inch plywood is so common, I wonder if it is needed as often as it is used?  What kinds of applications need 3/4 inch plywood and what are some examples of when 1/2 inch plywood would be sufficient?  I know that I am often guilty of over building projects and I suspect many woodworkers are. :-)  Thanks for any information you can provide. James Aydelotte

Huy's Questions:

One more quick question, I'm working on getting into proper jointery. Is a nice hand saw worth investing in or is there an affordable option I can go with. I do mostly custom trim work but getting into more furniture grade work so it's not something I will be using all day every day. Arntz Construction

Huy,

I am considering a clearvue and Oneida cyclone dust collector. I know you have the clearvue. What is your opinion of its  performance?  I have heard that it is very loud, what do you think?  Thanks! Don

I've been doing more and more hand tool woodworking, so less and less dust-producing activities, but I still have occasion to use regular power tools for certain things.  I've been striving to get better performance from my roll-around single stage D/C (with add-on cyclone pre-separator) and upgrading my hand-held power tools to ones with better built-in dust extraction... but there are still operations (edge cuts on the TS or with the router) that just spew crap everywhere.  One area I need to probably do better on is wearing some sort of dust mask and/or respirator.  I've avoided wearing them in the past, due to having a beard and knowing that masks get a very poor if any seal as a result.  I'm considering getting something like a Trend AirShield (powered respirator / face shield), and was wondering if you have any other suggestions? Monte

This Episodes Question:

Guy's Questions:

Why hello gentlemen. I have a crazy question for you all. I am about to build a vanity for my bathroom out of poplar. I am leaning towards staining the vanity, but I don’t know what to put on the vanity to protect it from moisture. Do you guys have any suggestions? If so, it would be very helpful. P.S. I am always looking forward to listening to show keep up the amazing advice  Thanks, Ethan Thompson !

Hi guys! Alissa’s question from the your last episode spurred a question if my own.  Alissa asked about homemade box joint  jigs and the consensus seemed to be that making your own box joint jig is more trouble than it’s worth because of the precision required (down to a few thousandths if an inch) and because of wood movement.  I was wondering if you had any thoughts on using 3d printers for jig construction.  My only experience with 3d printing was about 15 years ago when we got to use a primitive 3d printer in middle school woodshop class, so I don’t really know the capabilities of 3d printers today.  Do you guys think it would be beneficial or even possible to 3d print components to homemade jigs (anything from a miter bar to a complete jig)? It seems like 3d printing would give you more precision and no movement, unlike wood.  If it is possible, What jigs do you think would lend themselves best to bring 3d printed? Andrew

After hearing Guy mention Target coatings and Emtech finishes I signed up for their email.  They had a nice year-end sale and I ended up ordering their Emtech spray kit which is the Fuji LX-20 and some accessories.  I'm new to spray finishing.  I'm lucky enough to have a large 80 gallon 5 HP compressor, so I have plenty of air.  I'd like to know Guy's procedure for spraying small shellac projects. I've heard him mention he just whips out his spray gun and it's a quick process.  Do you lay down drop cloths?  Do you do anything for ventilation - I know with solvent and oil finishes you're supposed to, but I'm wondering if you bother if it's a small piece.  Do you have a fan setup to blow overspray away?  I will, of course, wear an organic filter respirator for any spray finishing I do, whether water based or not.  I haven't purchased a respirator yet, any recommendations? Scott Goldthwaite

Huy's Questions:

Hey guys, I've finally got caught up on all the podcasts and look forward to hearing the next one. I have a multiple part question here. I just got a commission on a 12 foot walnut bar and matching 8-10 foot table. My next purchase is going to be a jointer and I was wondering if a 74 or 76 inch bed jointer will be long enough or if I should just cut with my tracksaw and build a shooting board and joint everything with a hand plane? Also what would you use to dye and finish? Do you use pore filler to get a glass smooth surface or just let the finish take care of everything? Arntz Construction

Hello guys, I found your podcast a couple months ago and I’m hooked and really enjoy all the knowledge you share. I appreciate you guys taking your time to produce the podcast. My question is for my Rikon Benchtop Radial Drill Press (Model 30-140). I purchased this drill press a couple of years ago but have rarely used it mostly because of time constraints. But when I do use it, I have an issue with chuck runout. I’ve spent more time working on it then using it at this point. I checked the chuck spindle runout, and it is about .001 and once the chuck is installed, the chuck has .003 to .005 runout, with a new Fisch drill bit installed the runout on the drill bit shank varies .005 to .007 runout. Given the runout I have, I can’t get a decent hole when drilling anything. I’ve followed the instructions closely and cleaned all grease from the spindle and chuck and have reinstalled several times. I’ve tried several techniques of tightening the bit in the chuck which changed nothing. Is this a problem that is common, and do you have a recommendation to fix it, or can you recommend a better chuck? I’m considering purchasing a Grizzley Keyless chuck. Or should I sell this drill press and purchase a different one that would meet the needs of woodworking better? Thank you for your advice and keep up the great job on the podcast.  Daniel Held, Fort Colllins, CO

Hey fellas.  A buddy of mine asked me to replace some bad fence slats on his driveway gate.  The boards are 1/2" thick tongue and groove and look a lot like pine to me.  I have a couple questions.  First, do you think it's safe to use pine to get the best match with the existing boards, or should I just go with redwood and hope that it blends in when the entire fence is restained?  This gate is in Los Angeles, so we don't get much moisture.  My second question is regarding the design of the tongue and groove.  They have a sharp "v" profile and don't look like anything I've ever seen in the big box stores. (Photo attached). Have you guys seen this type of profile on a board before?  Where would you recommend I try to source these replacement boards from?  And do you have any recommendations for how I might go about milling up my own stock if I cannot find a match here in town.  Thanks for all your advice.  Matt Miller

Guy's Questions:

Guys, Recently I’ve been trying to expand my meager wood shop with budget friends older tools. (Most recently a delta x5 6” jointer to fix up and repaint for example). What would you look for when shopping for a used band saw you’re hoping to re-saw with? Where do you look for parts for older/discontinued tools? Any advice on tools that are best to just buy new? Many thanks, Dave

Can you share about your design process? My biggest challenge is coming up with designs or finding plans (or redesigning plans) that are going to come out terrific without being too far above my skills, the tools I have, or my available time.  Do you ever make prototypes or miniatures first?  Do you do your planning in Illustrator, Sketchup, Rhino or ?  Or do you just make notes and sketches on paper?  And where do you keep your notes so you can recreate the same results? For context: I discovered woodworking during the pandemic and fell in love with it.  I'm a senior woman and it's a wonderful hobby for me (not a career or a side hustle).  I'll never make lots of the same item for selling, but making only one doesn't work because I don't get good at it until I make at least 3. Trish

Thank you so much for covering my question about building a Butcher Block. I was shocked that Guy could speak French!!! I should not be surprised as Guy is a French name (pronounced Gkee). However, I am not familiar with the expression he used, but he is excused since he prefaced it with "Pardon my French". Guy, you are forgiven, but if you want to use some really good French salty words to punctuate a thought, I am here for you buddy. We frogs need to stick together. On a side note, I have another question. I would eventually like to purchase a drill press. I really like the Nova Voyager and its direct programmable drive. My question is, what is the advantage of a free standing vs a bench mount drill press. I can see the advantage of a bench mount as it can provide storage space below. But why would any wood worker prefer a free standing unit? I believe I saw in huy's video he does have the Nova drill press. From Thailand, Bert Plourde

Huy's Questions:

Hi guys!  Thank you for the great podcast.  I look forward to listening to half of your show on the coincidentally timed drive to our local Woodcraft, and the other half on the way home.  You put out great information, and humbly have the best show out there. I have a question about sanding mops, and don’t know if any of you have experience with them.  I’m currently making a large batch of ‘Contemporary Door & Drawer Pulls’ based on Larissa Huff & Robert Spieces’s article in FWW issue #289. Using Walnut. One of the last steps in the article says,  “To further refine the shape, and give the pull a nice soft quality, we finish up those hard to reach edges with a flap sander in the drill press.  This sanding tool gives the pull a wonderfully tactile feel…” After looking at the sanding mops in the Klingspor catalog, I’m a bit overwhelmed by the many options.  I’m curious as to which grit (grits) you might suggest to get that oh so important ‘wonderfully tactile feel’.  I also wondered if there is a particular manufacturer you’ve had success with. Thank you for your help! Kevin Long

Hey guys, As a hobbyist I like projects where I have to figure out something new (but not too extreme). Sometimes I will modify a plan to make it more functional, more interesting, or just so I don’t get bored. Most of the time I don’t regret it, but occasionally I do kick myself.  As professional woodworkers how do you balance the need to be efficient and the desire to be creative? Thanks, Chuck

Hello gentlemen, I am in the middle of a remodel that will finish with painting the outside. I am going to make shutters for the windows and would like suggestions on what wood to buy. They will be painted. I live in California and won’t have woods like alder or ash  or southern pine available. The  most common outdoor wood around here is redwood but that is normally stained and not painted. Can you use softwood in that application?  Would even pine work? I would love your thoughts. Thanks, Rick

This Episode's Questions

Guy's Questions

Hey, fellas. Great show. I’ve been listening for a couple of years, and have really elevated my game based on tips from y’all. Guy, thanks for the Incra TS/LS videos. I got the combo version when I moved my router table to the wing of my Sawstop. I really love it. I have a follow up question from the Feb 24 edition: Guy, you were pretty emphatic on your answer regarding connecting 2 Festool rails. I’m curious to know if your opinion was formed on the original style or the new version? If the former, have you had a chance to play with the new ones. I replaced my old set with the self-adjusting version and they seem rock-solid to me. I leave a small gap between the rails in case the rails aren’t exactly 90 degrees. I’m also careful when moving the joined rail from one sheet to another that I don’t torque the joint. Just wondering which version your judgement was associate with? Pat Engel

Hi guys! My name is Elisa and I’m new to woodworking. I have a few fairly straightforward projects under my belt including a crate topper to go on top of my dog’s crate, a few blanket ladders, and a mobile workbench with a spot for my Ryobi 8 1/4 table saw. I’m working on box joints right now. I’ve watched a ton of videos and made a lot of sawdust trying to make a jig and have been unsuccessful. I’m using a single blade with a kerf of .0665 in but I can measure the blade and make several cuts and not get the same measurement between them all, so there’s one problem. I’m trying to set the spacing up to be 1/2 inch but I can’t seem to get it right. The distance I’m off is small but bringing my pin closer or further from the blade seems to change the width of the pins and the slots and I can’t see a correlation between the changes that would help me figure out how to correct it. In addition to the Ryobi saw, I have been using a sled I made, digital calipers, clamps, a set of steel thickness gauges. I’m using a variety of test piece’s including 3/4 in plywood, 3/8 and 1/2 inch S4S poplar and pine. If it helps to know, I have a miter saw, jig saw, a trim router, a regular size router, cordless drill and driver and basic hand tools. I’d appreciate any help you can offer and if you can recommend some really good YouTube videos! Thanks! Elisa Gonzales

Hello all. I have a veneering question. I want to wrap a elliptical cylinder with walnut veneer. It measures 18” inches long and 16” tall with end radiuses that are 4” round.  The cylinder is made with stacked mdf each layer is cut in the elliptical shape and stacked to my desired height. I don’t have a vacuum press.  mdf is notorious for absorbing solvents and water. I’ve ruled out PSA backed veneer since this will be adhered to the cut edges of mdf and most likely would peel away. I am thinking maybe 2 coats of solvent based contact cement on the mdf and one coat on the veneer.  I need an adhesive that will hold those radial ends. Do you think contact cement will be strong enough and if so good recomm ndations?  Also should I seal the mdf  before applying the adhesive?  Maybe with shellac or WB poly. I’d say lacquer but concerned the solvent in the cement would have a negative effect on the lacquer seal coat.  Veneer hammer? Jeff (Maker)

Huy's Questions:

Gentlemen-  Sorry to not have rapped at ya in a while, winter is for snowboarding, and I tend to loose the plot in the shop. But whilst schussing down the slopes, I have been contemplating spring projects, namely, a bridge for my stream/river. The "slash" is because it is usually a stream, but two or three times a year gets very rowdy; the last time it washed the existing 16' long bridge off its moorings 90º, so it now sits parallel to the stream instead of across it. This bridge was made of pressure treated 2x12's, 4' wide, heavy, and chained to pins in boulders, so the water has some force when she's angry.  Instead of trying to lever and pulley the bridge back into place, let's build a new one. You guys know I love black locust and it's perfect for something like this with water and ground contact outside. But I want to get fancy, do an arch (which will also help with the bridge-washing-out issue). For something of this size how would you go about creating the curve? It needs to be at least 16' long (flat length, arch will rise probably 2' on a 20' radius) so steam bending is out. Would you glue up a "panel" of 2x material and then cut the curves out of it (or maybe even just use one big slab), or make a big form and bent laminations? I figure I need to make 2 of these curved beams for the sides of the bridge, and I probably won't paint it, just one more thing to keep up with.  This is one time where I probably won't have already done the thing I am asking about by the time I hear your answer, so I wait with bated breath. @figurawoodwork out. Tom Figgity-Figura 

Good morning from Okinawa, Japan

This one is for Guy mainly I think but hey open game on for Huy or Sean to wiegh in on things. First Japan is not great on space. My shop is large and very disorganized. I run a side business making some regular wood working projects but mainly custom military plaques usign the 2.5 D carving made possible by the yeti and shapeoko cnc. Almost went full time but my own disorginzation, project management, and efficency made things difficult. I havet really been set up to best handle slabs of local woods that I started useing mainly in my prjects. slab milling to directional lumber shop layout spot one 10 by 12 tin can shed yeti smart bench 4x8 cnc spot two (next to the shed) Kreg bench 44x64 table holding a Shapeoko XXL 12 ft miter station (6/8 ft for miter last part open for bench sanders and grinders.) Router table (wood peckers premium) Dewalt 745 table saw on a small cart 12 x 20 co2 laser mounted on a cart (36 x 28 cart) questions I am trying to save space and be more efficent. Have a chance to pick up a used Grizzly 10 inch table saw and new Laguna 14BX (I am 6'5 and i remember Guy saying the saw is low. but its the best band saw I can find out here) Most of my work is taking slabs and turning them into lumber for projects. Guy mentioned he would give up a table saw before a band saw. I can only find a laguana 14 BX in my area from a local online retailer which has a flesmy feence. So would anyone pass the table saw for geting more shop space or buy both and make it work? second question, (using google chrome it will translate the pages to english) Kerv https://www.off.co.jp/category/A02B10/T_3114.html Laguna https://www.off.co.jp/category/A02B10/T_3820.html Otoro https://www.off.co.jp/category/A02B10/AA2014.html These band saws do not have a solid fence clamping to both sides of the table for better resawing and straight cuts. Is there a after market feence that could be used, similar to the incra fence Guy pointed out in the recent episode? future plans tool buying. Would include a 100 watt co2 laser with 24 by 36 working space(foot print roughly 64 by 48 inches). Selling the old co2 laser and shapeoko to make room, moving the 4 x 8 cnc to the outside for keeping the shed a clean engraving and finishing area. Tried to support the show but your button is not working :(

Hey Guys, Every so often I have a great excuse to buy a new tool (usually a valid reason for my wife). What tool(s) have you bought that you found more or less useful than you anticipated? Thanks Chuck Lovelady

Due to the Thanksgiving Holiday, we have taken a week off. Please feel free to listen to any other episode in our vast catalog!

This Episodes Questions:

Brians Questions:

I am a hobbyist that wants to start making more polished pieces but am stuck making most of my furniture out of Douglas Fir or cedar. While these are fine options, I want to get into other species like walnut, ash, etc. but am usually priced out when buying one or two boards. I feel like people buy in bulk or something to make the savings work. Could you offer some guidance on purchasing wood that isn’t the normal big box stuff at a fair price? Thx! Ian

Hi,I'm currently working on a cable railing for my stairs and have been laminating four 1-inch boards together to create 3⅝" x 3⅝" x 48" posts. However, I've encountered challenges achieving the final squared dimensions. My contractor's Bosch table saw is not capable to cut 3⅝" in one pass and doesn't provide a clean cut due to some broken teeth on the original carbide blade. Despite extensive searching, I haven't found a solution that doesn't require using a table saw. My current approach involves jointing and squaring two faces on the jointer, then flattening the remaining two faces on the planer. Initially uncertain about this method, I examined the posts and found all edges to be within an acceptable 90-degree tolerance, attributed to the accuracy of my approximately 70-year-old jointer fence.I'm curious why this method isn't more widely discussed. Could it be because most people don't typically work with this thickness, thus making the table saw seem unavoidable? Keep up the great Vafa

Guys Questions:

I am really enjoying listening to your podcast and, although I have been woodworking for over 50 years, I invariably learn something new from you.  An example is your discussion about the proper way to allow for wood movement on an inside shelf.  I am currently working on just such a configuration and will now look at bread board ends for the shelf. My question is about the advantages using metric in the wood shop.  Canada, where I live, is only partly metric and most of my friends use inches when laying out parts in their shops.  I took a course from Garrett Hack some years ago and said he likes to use metric as there are no fractions to deal with and in his view a millimetre (a 25th on an inch) is a good level  of accuracy. Do you ever use metric measurement when building your projects? Bob

In the midst of reorganizing my shop. My question is about dust collection. I have about 500sqft of 1000sqft garage dedicated to my woodworking projects. Every time I cut something or sand, I coat the bikes, and all the other things stored there. Not focusing on the vacuums, what do you do about cleaning up the air? I am thinking about one of those Grizzly air filters but not sure it will do the trick. Thanks! Ian

Huys Questions:

Curious to hear your experiences with mentorship. Do you think it’s important to have mentors in the shop? (Someone who you can learn from who’s also invested in your progress) Grateful to have your podcast and love to hear the different perspectives from the 3 of you. Such a valuable resource for the woodworking community. Ari

Hi guys, *Thanks for answering my past questions, I have another multi part one for you. I recently picked up a grizzly 5hp shaper, I know it's probably bigger than I need but I traded a few days work for it so the price was right. My first project I plan to do with it was patern cutting some 3.5 inch thick table legs. I ordered an amana 61295 spiral cutter and followed bearing but after setting it up it quite frankly scares the crap out of me. How would you guys go about holding the work piece? Would you cut from one side to the middle then reverse the machine and cut from the other side to prevent cutting against the grain? I'm new to shapers so any other advice would be helpful.  **The other part is I'm looking at a job where I'll probably have to shape a few hundred lineal feet of trim so I'm looking at getting a power feeder as well. I see they range from 1/8 to several hp, how big should I be looking at? I'll mostly see myself using it with smaller shaper bits but that could change as well as possibly setting it up on my table saw when I have to do long miters or lots of rip cuts. I've never used one before and couldn't find much info online, any tips and tricks would be a big help. Thanks, Mike Arntz

This episodes Questions

Guy's Questions:

Hi guys, I’m current up to episode 43 of the podcast and can’t get enough. During this episode you discussed the merits of having a radial arm saw in your shop, or lack thereof in todays workflow. This got me thinking and I wanted to ask: what other tools are you aware of that were once used in woodshops that are no longer in general practice? I’m not talking about rocks and flints from the Stone Age, but rather anything in the past 60 or so years that have gone out of vogue. I can’t wait to hear Guys comments on my use of the word “vogue”. Hope you are well, and thanks again! Jarrett

Gentlemen, Thanks for your thoughtful responses to my questions and observations. This might be a potential topic: Do you think youtube and maker communities have created a renaissance for encouraging young people to get into wood working as a hobby or a profession? I watched some amazing videos of young people making incredibly complicated turnings (among other things). Thanks again. Chuck Have a great day.

Hi guys,  I love your podcast and have listened to every episode. I spend a lot of time on the road and have listened to many woodworking podcasts, yours is by far the best. I especially admire the work you do at “Purposeful Design “  I’m from Montreal and started woodworking as a hobby 5 years ago. I have 3 kids (9 & 2x6) and I only have limited hours/week of shop time. Additionally, I’m quite sensitive to sawdust… I have a wall mounted 1hp dust collector with a dust separator and a 1 micron filter bag. What is your opinion on bypassing the filter bag and venting outside?  Thank you for your contribution to the woodworking community, Many blessings. Mike

Huy's Questions:

I think that my next tool purchase might be for a tracksaw-like guide for a circular saw or something similar. We sometimes run into situations where we need to rip a straight line. This would actually be more for ‘carpentry’ applications than fine ‘woodworking’. Things like ripping a long 2x6 or 2x8 at an angle, or rip a sheet of plywood in the field (so portability and reasonable durability would be important).  Whatever we buy would be used by a lot of different guys and we’d keep it in our shared workshop. Most of the guys have Dewalt circular saws but several guys have other brands (Milwaukee, Ridgid, etc.). So the track would have to be adjustable for the bases of the various saws. I’ve spent zero time investigating this. Thought I’d start here. Any recommendations?  - Mark

Hello everyone, I was wondering if you could help me with figuring out a process for flattening double angled barstool legs in my shop. Last fall I was commissioned to build a set of saddle barstools for a client. The legs from front and back have a 5 degree angle on them, while the view from the sides had a 6.5 degree angle. I tried running them through my table saw (on the front and back sides) on a cross cut sled but this still produced some wobble from the 6.5 degree sides. I wound up just taking some adhesive backed sandpaper and sticking it on the flattest spot in my shop (my tablesaw) and sanding down for multiple hours. Do you know of anything that I can build or use that wont take the hours of sanding like I did for any future commissions. Thanks, Paul Genereux (Twin Lake Woodshop)

Hey guys, I have a question around piston fit drawers and their longevity and overall use.  I know they are a sign of the highest craftsmanship but how well do they hold up? In the summer will everything swell and the drawers will stick? If you ever moved how would that affect the piece? I don’t have an exact project in mind but debating the idea of trying my hand at this in my next build. So when would you use piston fit for drawers over soft close mechanism, wooden runners ect? Is the juice worth the squeeze? Thanks, Jesse

This Episodes Questions:

Brian's Questions:

I’m hoping to enhance my beginner(ish) skills by going back to the basics and making boxes. Any advice on getting perfect miters for small parts? I’ve got a table saw sled but my small DEWALT job site saw gives me issues finding 45. Any advice on reasonably priced dovetail saws or alternatives? Where do you source small parts like hinges and drawer pulls for a fair price? Many Thanks, Dave

Hi guys, Your podcast is excellent and I have been able to put your advice to use on multiple occasions. I know you have talked edge banding before but I still need a little help. I do quite a bit of plywood with a roughly 3/4 to half inch thick edge band trimmed with a flush cut bit with a vee groove to give it a little decorative look as well as make it easier to sand flush. The problem I'm having is I seem to struggle with getting my edge banding perfectly tight to the plywood so the seem is visible some of the time. I've tried jointing the edge banding but not the plywood because plywood through a jointer seems like a bad idea and that didn't seem to help. When only doing a few pieces I've clamped it to the shelf with slightly better results but often do between 8 and 15 8 foot long boards at a time so I don't have the clamps or space to clamp everything. Currently I glue then pin nail with my 23 ga nailer. What am I doing wrong? I'm hoping guy has some good insight here since he works in a more commercial/ production environment and that's more along the lines of what I do. Thanks, Mike Arntz

Guy's Questions:

Hello all, I recently stumbled on you podcast and greatly enjoy the format. I am recently new to woodworking partly out of boredom during Covid. My initial projects were too ambitious for my skill set, yet I forged ahead and learned more from my mistakes than what I did right. Since I live in Asia, hardwoods are easy to come by and recently someone gave me a 4" thick slab of Padauk. About 6 ft long. I can't imagine how much this would cost in NorthAmerica. I am making a breakfast table out it. Wood looks stunning but I understand it will darken with age. I will eventually move back home and would like to make an old style butcher block. The massive one butchers actually used to cut meat. However, plans or information on how to go about it is very sparse. I was thinking milling logs into 4x4 and fastening them end grain up somehow. I see some use long carriage bolts to hold the thing together. Any words of advice is much appreciated. I imagine this might not be a project you have done in the past, but how would you go about it? Thanks in advance, love your show and listen to your podcast when I go biking. Bert Plourde

I am building a floating shelf bar for my son. It's a 3 1/2" torsion box with red oak ply top and 3/4" redwood edging. It will be stained / dyed dark brown. I am trying to decide on a top coat. Shellac is easy and easily repaired. Oil will look good but provides minimal protection. "Shop" finish (oil/varnish/solvent) would probably work well. Maybe something else? Thoughts? Ron Guritzky

Huy's Questions:

Hey guys, I love your podcast and listen to it all day at work. While I don't do fine furniture work like you do I'm really trying to get better and do more. For a background I was a commercial carpenter turned finish carpenter and am trying to work my way up to fine finish work. I'm doing more built ins and that kind of work and am just curious as to what you recommend for tools. Right now I have a grizzly planer, benchtop jointer, mitersaw, jobsite saw, dovetail jig, and a decent collection of hand tools. I'm going to pick up an older craftsman 113 table saw and am looking for recommendations on an affordable fence. Current I work in both my shop and on site so I need to be fairly mobile but am also working on gearing up to do more shop work. Any additional advice is welcome. I also forgot to add I have mobile dust collection, and a grizzly mobile router table. Check out my profile for some of the work I've done. Thanks for the great podcast. -Mike Arntz

Hey fellas. I’m loving the podcast as usual! Keep up the great content. Here’s my question: one of the best parts of living near Silicon Valley, is the availability of old work benches from defunct tech companies. I got the one in the picture for $40 with the solid metal frame and solid maple butcher block style top. I added the plywood drawers in the bottom and I’ve been using this as a outfeed table and assembly table. However, I’ve noticed that the top is not perfectly flat, and that it is especially lower around the edges. I was considering taking the top off, ripping it into three pieces, so that it will fit through my 13 inch planer, and then using dominoes to glue it back together to try to get it flat. Do you think this is a good method or is there some better way to accomplish the same thing? I was also planning to drill dog holes into the top. However, on a recent episode, you talked about the limitations of many of the dogs on thicker tops. The current thickness is about 1 1/2 inches. Even after planing it down as previously described, I think the top will end up being at least an inch and a quarter thick. Are there dogs available that would work with a top that thick that you can recommend? @firelightwoodworks

This Weeks Questions

Brian: Hey guys, I just discovered this podcast and have been thoroughly enjoying the episodes so far! I am a guitar technician by trade and recently started to build my own solid body electric guitar. I have been studying up on tool safety and learning proper technique, as a beginner I don’t want to develop any bad habits or unsafe practices. I used a router table when creating the guitar neck from a template, but if i'm being honest I am a bit intimidated by it and would prefer to start routing with a hand held router instead. As a guitar player and thumb wrestling aficionado, I would like to keep all of my digits where they belong! With that being said, I have a few questions I’d like to ask specific to hand routers:       1.    When edge routing hardwood, is there anything I need to be aware of that would cause the router to suddenly jump or kickback? Can I do this with a trim router, or do I need a 2+HP router? I am using figured curly maple for the neck and alder for the body. Does that make a difference?       2.    How much wood can I safety remove per pass? (The neck thickness is around 1” and the body thickness is around 1.75”)        3.    Any techniques or advice on how to minimize chipping, tear out and router burn? i.e. speed of push, router bit speed Jordan

What is all the fuss about french cleats?  Have you guys used them in your shop?  Are they the organizational panacea they are made out to be or is there a better way to use wall space to keep your shop neat and your tools accessible? Evan

Guys Questions:

Hey guys, I have a question about finishing.  I am about to purchase a solid Mahogany entry door and I’d like to finish it myself. (Not so much “like” inasmuch save a grand) But I’m not quite sure what to use. I’ve asked professional painters and looked online but get a ton of different responses. I don’t really want to stain it but rather get a color from an oil finish like you’d get from waterlox or Odie’s. From all my research I’m leaning towards Total boat marine wood finish.  I live in the south suburbs of chicago and my door faces directly west. It is covered by about a 4’ over hang and I have a 30 year old oak in front so it wouldn’t see much direct Sun, rain or snow.  Hopefully you get to this in the next couple episodes as I think it’s about a 4 week lead time and we’re ordering it this week.  Thanks! Kurt

Hi gentlemen,

I love your podcast! It really gets me through tough hump days at work and gets me excited to get back into the shop each weekend. I typically create midcentury modern furniture or pieces that are unique and allow some creativity, but I’ve developed a side-side gig of cutting boards and such by request for business to business type orders. Recently, my day job (I’m in biomedical research) requested Missouri shaped plaques with logos and script for visiting keynote speakers. I’ve avoided the CNC and laser world as I prefer hand tool woodworking, but one or the other would be necessary for this project and presumably a great feature in the shop. I’ve done my research and still can’t decide.  This will be an ongoing order so I don’t want to be too cheap, but clearly not industrial due to space. What would you suggest? Diode seems limiting, but it would quickly pay off. CO2 sounds ideal, but pricey. CNC (Shark?) sounds more useful to my main hobby and I could cut out the state shape too. I usually believe in “pay once, cry once”, but this is a significant decision. Deana from Pomegranate Studios

Huys Questions:

Hi. You have a great show. I’m ready to buy my first track saw and am looking at the Festool TS55. I’m looking for opinions on whether the cordless model is worth an extra $170 over the corded. In the shop with a dust extractor it seems like the cord is not much additional encumbrance. Outside the cordless with just the dust bag would be advantageous. Thanks, John

Hey guys, as always, I love the show and how you guys are able to provide excellent information from various perspectives. Today I would like to pick your brains about food safe finishes for a couple different situations. My wife bought me an outdoor pizza oven for my birthday, and because I'm a woodworker, I promptly threw out the wooden pizza peel that I've been using for years so that I could make one. My first attempt was with cherry and spalted maple. The maple ended up being much more punky than I had expected so I made a second one with cherry, hickory, and bubinga. What would you guys suggest for finishes? The peel will be going into a 700 degree oven, and I plan on repurposing the one with spalted maple to a charcuterie or serving platter, so it might have hot pizza on it, but I would like it to be sealed. Keep up the awesome podcast! Josh from the Blackdog Woodworks

Brians questions:

Gentlemen,

Thank you all for the time, effort, and expertise you put into the show.  As many listeners have said before, it really is the best woodworking podcast out there! As a beginning woodworker, I am curious about what projects you have done that helped you learn new skills or refine key foundational skills to progress along your woodworking journey?  Perhaps there are some "benchmark projects" that take a woodworker from sloppy beginner to capable amateur and beyond towards fine craftsmen?  Where do the common projects like a cutting board, a cabinet, a dining table or something else fall along that spectrum? Thanks again for all you do in support of the woodworking community. Kind regards,Evan

One of my close friends just had a baby. I wanted to make the new baby something, but I wasn't sure what. I don't have the time to make any piece of furniture, but I would like to make a little gift or two. Do any of you have ideas for small gifts that the baby could either use/play with, or something they could keep for a long time?Thanks Matthew

Hi all, Hobbyist woodworker working out of his 1 1/2 car garage (it doesn’t quite fit two cars and I share it with house storage stuff). Mobility has been key for me when working. One thing I struggle with is that my garage floor is not level. There’s two different angles and it can be an issue at times. For example my small outfeed table can’t be level with my worksite table saw because at times they may not line up. My work bench is in a fixed location but can’t hold anything round as it might roll off if I have to use it. Any advice for my workshop woes or any sort of leveling feet you might recommend? Since I move things around, leveling a tool or table each time I use it can be a pain. Lifting the end of the workbench doesn’t seem to create stability when I am hand planing wood or chiseling. Thanks, Jose

Huy's questions:

Hey all, love the podcast. Been listening for quite a while and always ready to take notes.   I have a bent lamination/ vaccum bag question. How do you handle epoxy squeeze out? Or any Glue for that matter? My last question is how long do I leave a bent lamination in the bag? Is there a rule of thumb?   I need a really rigid glue line for the tight 3in inside radius I am trying to achieve and think epoxy is my best bet. I'd rather not use urea resin.   I really appreciate the help. Casey the maker

Hey guys: I’m a loyal listener and am very grateful for all the great info you share. I have a finishing question for you. I make wood fishing nets for family and friends and might want to make a business of it. I have been using spar varnish as a finish which looks great but is a pain to apply (I brush it on), takes forever to dry and always seems to be a bit soft even when fully dry. Is there an alternate finish I could consider that would be easy to apply. I am willing to invest in a spray system to up my finish game so that’s not a limitation. Important to note is that I use walnut in all my nets. In episode 115 I learned that walnut will turn orange in the sun- something I didn’t know. So will the suggested finish have UV protection or will I need to dye the walnut to ensure it maintains it’s brown color after sitting on the bottom of a boat for many seasons. Thanks again for spending your precious time educating the less knowledgeable.  Liam, Indianapolis

Hey Guy, and other guys.   How many pocket holes/Screws do you actually need?   I watch people on youtube building stuff with pocket holes and 9 times out of 10 I think to myself, "Surely that doesn't need that many pocket holes." I see guys building something like an end table or maybe a small piece of shop furniture and inevitably they use about 17 to 239 in this relatively small piece of wood and I just don't understand it. Would love to hear the logic or what the general recommendation is. Jacob

Brian's Questions:

Hey guys,   First of all, thanks for the most helpful woodworking podcast around! My question(s) revolve around a home library project. I’m planning on bookcases on all four walls of a small room and wondering how you’d approach that, specifically:   (1) what would you do about the inside corners of the room where two sets of bookcases come together? Just blank them off? Something else?  (2) as far as the cases themselves, for cost reasons, I’m planning to do 3/4 plywood carcasses close to 8’ high with one fixed shelf in the middle (Domino construction) and shelf pins for the rest of the shelves. How wide can I reasonably go without sag in the shelves? Is one fixed shelf enough for stability or do I need two, say? Do I need a plywood back on each case?   Any other general tips on a library project or this type?   Thanks! Mat

What tools you guys do regret to buy? Marcello

Alright fellas first question from me. I finally got a Makita track saw and went for the full 110". I'm going to tear down my old 2x4 oversized work bench and start over with a nice miter saw / work area cabinet wall.   My plan is to go about 30" deep to accommodate my DeWalt sliding dual bevel giant miter saw while also giving me ample assembly area. Maybe an mft style work area on one side, maybe t tracks here and there.   I'm going to leave it a little open ended for you guys to play around with the idea. What would your dream work area like this include? No limits, all the bells and whistles. No one to tell you no.   Thanks for taking my question. Jim G.

Huy's Questions:

Hi Guys,  Really enjoy the podcast and all the useful information. I wrote before about a walnut table I am making. I have a couple of questions. I looked at the walnut at the local lumber yard. Great selection but lumber is pretty expensive. Question 1: The lumber distributor has a great selection. For the table top should I spring for quarter sawn at roughly 1/3 more per board foot? Question 2: I am trying to bring some order to chaos in my shop and am considering some shop cabinets. a) should I consider casters? b) should I spend the extra to install side mount drawer slides or will homemade runners be good enough?  Thanks for your help and the great podcast.  -Scott

Good day guys..My question is probably primarily for Huy.   I am getting back into woodworking after a lengthy hiatus to a career that did not allow me the time. Now that I do have the time, I am diving right back in. I am a lifelong contract mechanical designer, and have been a SolidWorks user/license holder since 1999, dont do the math on how much that has depleted my bank account in the past 24 years, and I am no rocket scientist like Huy, I have only done work on 70 ton vehicles designed outside detroit.   SolidWorks is amazing, and I have designed many projects for my woodworking with it. However I feel it is a bit heavyweight on the design side for the projects I want to do. I want to be working in my shop, and not spending hours designing parts, making assemblies etc. Dont get me wrong, the end results are incredible on the design side, but design for my woodworking shoudlnt be 60% on SolidWorks and 40% on tools. Any suggestions for the best solution for this? I have not spent alot of time researching, but have looked into Fusion360 and other solutions but not greatly as I know there will a thought process change required.   I am just looking for something simple, quick and of course accurate. We live in a 3d world, and that is an important aspect for me.Thank you so much.  Kurtis, DutchMillWorks

Hey guys, Josh here, hope this is the right way to contact you all. My question is, what machine do you think you can get away with in order to produce the most projects? I was thinking a lathe for drinkware, baseball bats and so on depending on a mini, midi or full size lathe. But I'm no expert by any means, I only had a couple years of shop experience in school and most of the terminology has escaped me since, but all the hands on experience is still fresh in my mind and I'm hoping to get this hobby started up again. Thank you. Joshua

Brians Questions:

Hi guys, thanks for such a great podcast. You recently got me through the journey back from a road trip to Montreal, although when my wife heard you guys, she was like, "What the -hell-are you listening to?!" But then she fell asleep so we had no problem (don't worry, she wasn't driving at the time).

My question is about evening out the sapwood and heartwood colour in walnut, so you can maximise the yield from boards and slabs. Do you have a particular process and/or product you'd recommend here? If your solution is to simply cut it off, it seems a shame to waste all that wood... have you found any good uses for it? Phil Evans

Hi - I am building a seating bench out of figured ash. I'd like to give it a gentle brown color and really accentuate the curly figure in the wood. I'm worried that stain won't do much to bring out the beauty in it; should i use dye instead? What steps should I go through to highlight the figure? I don't have a spray solution, so whatever finish will need to be wipe on or brush on. I prefer to avoid rattle cans of finish too, for what that's worth. Mark

Guys Questions:

I recently had the client that all woodworkers dream of. Came to me literally saying money didnt matter and they wanted a high quality coffee table. I loaded it with design features and in the end it became my highest priced commission to date at over $12k for this 42" square coffee table. I say that mainly to encourage others that there's still people who will pay for quality. Anyway my question is that one of the design ideas i pitched this customer was to do a herringbone pattern on the sides of the table using shop sawn veneer. This will be my first time ever making veneer and doing anything with it. What tips can you give me? I have a VERY high quality bandsaw, the Laguna LT18 equipped with a Resawking blade. I do not have a drum sander. I plan to now get a Vacupress 300 for the task. What else should I know about veneering a herringbone pattern? AZ Custom Furniture Bilder

Hi Guys, thanks for the helpful podcast. I’ve been building furniture for a few years now and as a newish woodworker I have tried many different finishes in the pursuit of finding the one and only one. My question is, do you keep a log of which pieces of furniture have which finish so that you can see how they age and for when/if repairs or refinishes are needed? Thanks, Patty

Huy's Questions:

Thanks for the podcast, guys!    My question: I'm building a sideboard for utilitarian storage when entering from the garage.  It is mostly cherry, will have a cherry top and is about 22" deep by 60" wide and 30" tall.    I'm planning to use 8/4 cherry for the top, with a resulting thickness of whatever results from jointing and planing the boards to be edge glued for the top. Would there be any advantage in building the top from 4/4 boards face glued to make up the 8/4 thickness? I will be chamfering the bottom of the top so that any glue line would not be visible.    Thanks so much,  Bob Clark

Hi fellas,  I first want to say thank you for developing and producing this podcast and sharing your experience with the rest of mere mortals of woodworking. I am a nights and weekend hobbyist woodworker, making small projects for friends and family or DIY projects around the house. I am fortunate to have a modest collection of tools and enjoy trying new things and learning how to up my game. My question is really more about the process of using steel wool and vinegar to ebonize some red oak I'm making into a small case with a couple of drawers. The way I understand the process is that the combination of the steel wool and vinegar ultimately reacts with the tannins in the red oak, turning it darker (I'm hoping black). I've also recently discovered Original Tried and True finish (polymerized linseed oil and beeswax) and really like the results I've got on a few projects I've used it on. Would ebonizing the red oak change how a finish like Tried and True works? Is there a better finish in your opinion? How would each of you finish this if black was the end result, and FYI I don't have spraying equipment. Thanks again for all you do for the woodworking community!  -Trevor

Brians Questions:

Gentlemen, Thank you so much for this podcast. I very much look forward to each episode. I primarily work with hand tools making traditional furniture. One of the few machines I own is a PowerMatic 15” bandsaw. Guy’s positive review of it sealed my decision and I’m very happy with it. Fantastic bandsaw. I mostly use it for long straight cuts and keep the Laguna 3/4” carbide tipped blade in it. On the occasions I need to make curve cuts I hate to change out blades. Call me lazy. I’d like to get another tool for this other than doing it by hand. It could be a smaller band saw with a thin blade, the DeWalt DW788 scroll saw, or something else. Mostly cuttin 4 quarter stock but on occasion eight quarter stock. What would you get and why?  I also own a Makita corded jigsaw. Many thanks and keep up the great work. Sincerely Joe Leonetti.

Having two friends recently experience serious injuries while using their table saw, I am continuing to do more ripping using my bandsaw for safety sake. (I, like my two injured friends are in our 70’s- not as quick in our reactions, as good in our judgements or dexterous as when younger.) I’m fortunate to have two bandsaws, one of which I keep a 1/2” blade on for the purpose of resawing and ripping, so it works out quite well. The issue is the rough edge left by the bandsaw vs the smooth “gluable” edge that the table saw produces. What’s the best way to address this? I’ve heard mention of using a jointer after ripping - does this not introduce uncertainty as to the final width of the piece just ripped? For example, if I wanted a piece 10” wide and ripped it to 10 1/16”, I’d have to have my jointer set to remove exactly 1/16 which even if I accomplish that setting, may be hard to achieve and also get a perfect 90 degree edge. As an aside- I’m still considering selling my Powermatic and getting a Sawstop in the interest of increased safety. While some people might scoff at that idea, I don’t care-to each his own. Both of my two friends injuries were ugly, debilitating and expensive. Thanks for the best and most informative woodworking podcast! Tim Deal

Guys Questions:

Hello Huy and Guy, and welcome to the show Brian. My question today is about quoting pricing for inconvenience. What I mean by that is this: if a client comes to you with a request that you aren't really excited about does that affect how much you quote? Do you ever give them a high quote in the holes that they say no, but high enough that if they still say yes, it offsets any frustration you expect to have while building?   Thanks, and I'm still waiting for Brian's social media... and for Guy to say specificity again.   Joshua.

Huy's Questions:

Great podcast guys. I Really appreciate how you guys answer questions based on your individual experiences. I like hearing 3 or 4 different ways to perform a task using a variety of tools. My question: my current home has 1/2” particle drawer boxes and I’m replacing them. What would you recommend for drawer box construction concerning material, thickness, drawer bottom thickness, and finish. Thanks.  -Eric Brown

Greetings Gentlemen,  Thank you for continuing your podcast into 2023. It’s very informative, but in a relaxed and casual format. Also; a welcome to Brian. Sean was a long time co-host and will be missed but Brian has slipped into his slot with ease and is doing great.    My question today is about planing. I’m making a 4x6 ft table top out of true 1-1/8 inch thick x 6 inch wide, rough cut white oak. When dressing down the wood, I plan on jointing one surface then planing the other surface parallel. Finished thickness I think will be between ¾ and 7/8. Here is the question. How important is it to take equal amounts off of each side? Can I just joint one surface and plane the opposite down to my finished thickness or do I have to try to take an equal amount off of both sides. If it matters, the lumber is kiln dried down to 7%.    Terry W.

Brian's Questions:

I've recently walled off the third bay of my three car garage to give me a smaller space to heat and a wall to work with. I have started thinking about my ~270 sqft shop in three dimensions trimming all the fat and maximizing my functionality.What would you guys do with a nice healthy 11ft ceiling height considering I want pretty much my entire shop to exist is this space. What type of ideas would you have for multi functioning furniture? What would you put on the walls? Everything that can be is already on wheels. I've got most every major tool you guys do. Just curious on your take. How would you cram yourselves into this little space or do you already? Thanks for continuing the podcast. -Jim G.

I am building an outdoor bench using steel legs and a currently  rough cedar top. I plan on sanding the cedar smooth and finishing it. What would be the best grit to sand to, and what finish should I apply? It will get all-day full sunlight. Jason H.

Guy's Questions:

Hi:  As I have said before, this is the best woodworker podcast on the planet!  I enjoy so much the focus on woodworkers questions.  Your personalities shines through as well as your intellect and your skills as a woodworker.  Thanks so much. My question stems from a recent project I started.  I tried to be more exacting.  I designed the project on gridded paper, figured out each exact dimension and then started to calculate the wood requirements.  I figured out the sheet goods by figuring out the rough layout of the parts on a scale grid diagram.  Then I calculated the board feet of each of the solid wood parts using a board feet calculator app a selecting 10% for waste option.  I then added them up and got ready to buy the necessary wood. In the past I just winged it.  I'd have a rough drawing on scrap paper and a guess at the wood requirements which often meant follow-up trips to the store.  Projects often had a few rework, redesign elements on the fly and some issues that hopefully I could only see, hence the change to more exacting. I have a few questions.  How exact are you with your designs?  Is this the process you go through before purchasing wood?  Is there another way?  Do you use any apps like:"BoardFeetEasy" or "SmartCut"?  Do you use any other woodworking apps?  If so which ones?  Is 10% a good waste figure?  Do you adjust the waste figure based on any criteria?  What are the criteria? Thanks again for you're time, focus and insite into the craft of woodworking. Regards,Joe James

Hi, thanks for all the great work on this podcast. Yours is the only one that actually I even have a dedicated podcast app set up for, so that you guys are only a couple taps away for my sausage fingers whenever I have a free moment and want to learn something.  Anyway, my question is about using a dryer plug for 220V machines. I'm planning a couple new tools for my basement shop, and whilst my first choice is to add a dedicated 220 line, I'd rather space things out financially if I can. One option seems potentially to use the dryer electrical socket until I have the cash flow to run dedicated electrics. I'm seeing mixed things in my research and wondering if you have any real world experience on using dryer plugs for tools with an adapter/extension, specifically if it's a hazard and the pros/cons? In my case the tools would be a Hammer A326 and Sawstop PCS 3HP. Thanks for any advice you can offer and keep up the great work. Phil Evans

Huy's Questions:

Hi guys, love the podcast! Thanks for all you do! I’m designing my first piece of larger furniture, an entry way table. I am planning 3 drawers across the top, and below that a cabinet in the center and open shelves to either side. I’m wondering how you guys decide on proportions for a build like this. Supposedly the 1.618 is some kind of magic formula that makes everything perfect, but how do you use it, or do you even bother? What if the piece has to fit a certain space, do you take that into account? Help me woodshop life, you’re my only hope! Matt

Hello all, how about another shop storage question? I’ve been primarily a power tool user for many years, but have started building a hand tool collection over the last 2 or 3 years. Im finding the “hybrid” approach more to my liking and feel it’s certainly improved the quality of my projects with the ability to fine tune fit and finish. Now being the proud owner of quality chisels, a few hand planes, scrapers and so on, most of the tools are in a tool box drawer.  I want to get these commonly used items out of the drawer and in reach, but I find myself starting to plan and build tool holders or storage solutions only to scrap it and move onto something else because I get lost in how simple or complex to make it.  I need to just shut up and do it, I know this. In your opinions, when you need a storage solution, do you just make whats basic and functional and after some use fine tune or remake it when needed? Or, do you spend time laying everything out and aiming for a one and done build? -Mike

Brian's Questions:

Hey Fellas,   I’m in the market for a new table saw. I am coming from a 2hp Grizzly hybrid saw with a broken part I cannot find a replacement for. I’m debating between a 3hp Powermatic or Sawstop. Either of these will be a major upgrade from what I have but do you have opinions either way? The Sawstop technology is great and I understand accidents can happen but I tend to think if your hands are that close to the blade you’ve got bigger problems. That said, the Sawstop is up to $1,000 cheaper than the powermatic depending which add-ons you choose. Do you have any thoughts or are there other brands I’m missing and should look into? Chris  Instagram: @custom_by_chris

Hi guys!  I am a hobbyist/turning professional woodworker based in Portland, Oregon.  I have really enjoyed listening to your podcast and thought I would quickly ask your opinion on rectangular dominos.  I have been creating shop-made dominos to save money.  Creating them is a pain in the butt!  Trying to nail metric round-overs with imperial bits at that level of precision is pretty involved.  It usually takes a bit of time and wasted material to set the router table up correctly in order to batch a bunch out.  Then running a glue groove on everything is another step that takes time.  A thought came to me about creating square edged, rectangular tenons that aren't hitting the radii of the domino mortise.  My thought is that the few millimeters of void wouldn't really affect the strength of the joint and the voids themselves would act as a hydrolock prevention by nature.  Assuming these aren't used for through style tenons, do you see any issues using rectangular stock?  Thanks for doing the podcast and I look forward to future episodes! Sal Al-Sudairy sfapdx@gmail.com @oregon_woodworks    Instagram

Guy's Questions:

Hey Guy’s    I know finishing gets hit often but this is perhaps a different spin. My basement garage is my workshop so odor and chemical safety is a concern.   I’m mostly done with my plywood/poplar painted dresser (thanks for the tips by the way, screwing and glueing without fancy jointery made assembly a breeze Guy).  That being said what is a good low odor option for finishing a paint grade project that’s being painted white? Yellowing and tannin bleed are therefore both concerns.   I’ve heard Ya’ll talk about conversion varnishes but also heard complaints about odor. Would BIN water based primer under enamel paint be best? Should I go the oil based primer/paint route for durability?   I have recently gotten a paint sprayer but am open to rolling if that’s preferable. I’ll attach my budget sprayer below for context.   Thanks so much, this is by far the best woodworking podcast.  -Dave

Hello Huy, Guy, and Brian! You gentlemen, as well as Sean, have been a huge help and inspiration to my woodworking journey. Keep the great content coming! I recently picked up an older Bosch 1615 evs plunge router mounted to an old tabletop with an Incra Intelli fence. While I can find manuals online for both of these discontinued items, I'd like to get your input on how to best set up an older router with this fence. Since this particular router is in its own molded housing, I don't think a router lift is an option. What do you all recommend for setting this router up in a new table? I intend to likely build a stand-alone router table with a top made with melamine left over from a recent project, but I'm open to suggestions. Thanks, -Kurt

Huy's Questions:

Hi everyone,  Thank you for a great show. I've listened through the entire catalog twice, learning a lot.  In Episode #115 (and other episodes) you mention UV light turning walnut orange. I recently built a large dining room table out of walnut. I did not dye the table, even though I knew color change was possible. I have never used dye and the walnut was so stunning, I was afraid I would mess it up.  If my table turns orange, can it be sanded off? How deep does the UV "damage" go into the wood?  If I was to dye the walnut, could you please remind us what color dye you have used that works on walnut? How you have applied it to walnut, and when in the finishing process? hanks again for a great show and a great woodworking education.  Kevin

Hello Gentleman,   Love the podcast. Thanks for all your hard work.  I am considering tackling a Entertainment unit for my bonus room; however I am struggling with material choice. The cabinet finish will be painted, do you suggest plywood or MDF? I plan on building some drawers with plywood boxes and MDF faces but I am concerned about the durability of the MDF when installing hinges if I use it for the carcass construction.  The overall length of this build is 16" long by 8' tall with drawers along the bottom open shelving on either side of that with the TV in the middle. Normally I am not so indecisive ; however this is such a large project and with the high cost of materials I want to start off on the right foot. Any guidance would be appreciated.  - Mike

Brians Questions:

Every time I make a jig I struggle to get the fence square. How do I do this properly. Is this a common problem amongst new woodworkers? Love the show guys keep it up!

Johnny

This is Ben and I’m 8 years old. I would like to make a pocket knife with my dad. What suggestions do you have for making one?

Ben and Nathan

Guys Questions:

I recently found your podcast and have been binging it while in the shop. Guy, I was quite surprised to learn about your passion for 3D printing and various tinkering in his shop. I share the same passion for tinkering that extends beyond woodworking. In my shop I get almost as much satisfaction in discovering/creating a jig or tool to complete the job as I do in the actual finished product. My biggest “tool” build has been the ‘Mostly Printed CNC machine’, which is good enough for cutting various templates or basic v-carves. I can’t justify the price tag for an off the shelf machine to do that work when this one is good enough for me, at least for now. But I don’t think I could ever make something like a dowelmax, when I can buy a quality tool for relatively cheap. Apologies if this has been asked before. My question is about shop built tools and jigs vs. store bought. From your perspectives, with quality and cost in mind, what tools should be purchased off the shelf and what tools can be or maybe should be shop made? (Crosscut sleds, planer jointing sled, flattening jigs, clamping jigs, mobile bases, router tables…the list goes on and on). For reference I’m very much a hobbyist making stuff for the house or family and friends, while selling a piece here and there. So I do not work under any form of deadlines other than those imposed by my wife. Additionally, this is my creative outlet, I’m a gear design engineer the other 40 hours, this is my opportunity to make what I want to make. Keep up the great work!

Caleb Gurd Gears & Grain Woodcraft

Hey guys. You have been kind enough to answer a few of my questions in the past so thought I would throw a couple more your way. I have two questions which fall into the category of finishing. Number one - I'll be building a coffee table out of walnut which is a mix of heartwood and sapwood. I would like to find a way to blend the color of the mixed wood together. If I use a walnut dye on the entire project will the color of the heartwood and sapwood blend together and provide a uniform looking finish? If dying the wood is the solution can you recommend a brand of dye? Should the dye be oil or water based given that I'll likely use an oil based clear coat. I have never used dye in the past so any tips will be helpful. Answered - Second question. Our cherry wood kitchen table, which measures 36"W x 48"L, needs refinishing. I believe the original finish is an oil based pre-catalyzed lacquer. I'll be refinishing just the table top which has several scratches and shallow dents measuring up to 1/16" deep. The legs are painted black so no need to match the color of the top with the legs. Can you recommend a method for removing the original finish? I don't own or have access to a drum sander. Also, can you recommend a durable oil-based finish for refinishing the table top? Is spraying the preferred method for such a large surface area? Or, will a wipe-on poly do the job? Thanks again for all your help and expertise.

Jack Francis Geneva, IL

Huys Questions:

Hello fellas. Thanks for the enjoyable podcast, I've been listening for months but finally asking a question. Where do you look for inspiration when it comes to design for furniture pieces? Any particular magazines or books you like to reference when coming up with designs. Not necessarily looking for how to's , but more on design and style. Thanks again!

A. Torres

Kind sirs- Wonderful job etc. and I hope this finds you well. I posit this question knowing full well that I "overthink things" (according to Guy), even though I am "really intelligent" and have "design style" (according to Huy, your Tom Fan Club membership package is in the mail, including a life-size Tom cutout, suitable for posing with for social media photos.) I need a second desk for a backup office when my in-laws visit. I have a nice 2.5" thick ambrosia maple slab about the right size, and a couple of 4' long, 6" x 8" pine posts. My idea is to wedge-mortice the posts through the slab to create two 30" legs, and then mortice those into the 18" offcuts to make wide "feet". Think two upside down capital "T" going through the slab 3' apart. Would this construction method obviate the need to consider wood movement, since I only have one point of contact between the pieces? My understanding of wood movement is that it is the constraining of movement that can cause issues; in this case I can see the mortices getting 1/16" wider in the winter but if they're wedged, who gives a care? Or, should I hide the mortices and give them a little wiggle room to avoid splitting if the legs swell? Would pine stretching, crack maple? There I go over thinking things again. But thank you for humoring me. I await your answers with bated breath -

Tom the Bomb Figura

This Episode's Questions:

Brians Questions:

Hey guys, I am building an arts and crafts style entryway table that is roughly modeled after a Stickley magazine stand. It will have an upper “shelf” that is surrounded on three side by the rails or stretchers on the side and back and is open on the front. The bottom “shelf” is identical. These two shelves are seated into the four legs. The front legs have a full depth groove cut into them that the shelf seats into and the rear legs have a cutout on the inside corner for the rear shelf support. I will include a link at the bottom showing the piece that I modeled my table after. The original is smaller and has three shelves, mine will only have two and will have spindles between the rear top and bottom stretchers as well. However, the way the shelves are attached will be the same.

My question is this: How can I attach the shelves to the front and rear legs without causing issues with wood movement? The shelves will be somewhere in the 13-14” deep range. Gluing the shelf to the rear legs and letting the shelf slide in the groove in the front legs would work but there is no front rail or stretcher connecting the two front legs so I don’t think that works. Can I glue the shelf to all four legs? Alternatively I suppose I could put a small low profile stretcher under the shelf connecting the two front legs, but I don’t think it exists on the original and I’d prefer not to if I don’t have to. Please feel free to contact me to clarify anything if I didn’t explain well enough. Kellen

I think the thing I struggle with the most in building furniture is laying out where each part is going to come from on the rough boards. All the wood I've bought so far was air dryed from Facebook marketplace, so maybe that has made it harder since the boards are never perfectly straight. I always use straight grain sections for the legs and I try to also use straight grain for any aprons, rails and stiles. This leaves alot of waste. If I have a 8" board and I use say 2.5" from each edge of straight grain, what do you do with the leftover center section that is just cathedrals? When do you not use straight grain on these types of parts? Any other advise on laying out parts on the rough boards? Thanks again for answering my questions and the best podcast. Jeff

Guys Questions:

Hey Guys, I love your show! I usually listen on my commute or while I'm working in the shop. I'm building a hayrake table out of walnut and haven't decided on the finish. I'm looking for something durable, easy to wipe clean (I have kids), and not super glossy.  Any suggestions on what to use and how to apply it? Thank you for all the great tips! Ezra

Thank you for your fantastic podcast! I really appreciate how accessible and practical you make woodworking for both beginners and experts alike. I’ve been woodworking for about two years now, mostly building cutting boards, boxes, gifts and simple furniture out of basic hardwoods. I’ve also dabbled in making furniture with plywood, such as a bedside table for my 11-year-old. I’m fortunate to be a member of a shared woodworking shop at a local arts and crafts society, which is well-equipped with power tools including a SawStop cabinet saw. Our shop uses a shared set of well-worn Freud blades which get pretty beat up, but I’ve had the privilege of using nicer table saw blades loaned to me by the shop keeper, who has been incredibly supportive as I develop my skills. This brings me to my question: I am ready to purchase my own table saw blades and have zoomed in on CMT as a brand for their value. I’m considering three blades: an 80-tooth Hi-ATB crosscut, a 24-tooth flat top grind ripping blade, and a 50-tooth combination blade with ATB and one TCG tooth, all in full kerf. My research suggests that the main arguments for thin kerf blades are that they are easier on low power table saws and produce less waste. Since I have access to a SawStop cabinet saw, I don’t need blades suited for low power saws, and I’m not sure the reduced waste is worth the trade-offs. Are there other advantages or reasons I should consider a thin kerf blade? It seems that full kerf blades offer more stability and cleaner cuts, and as I build my skills, my expectations for precision are increasing. What are your thoughts on kerf size and blade choice for someone in my situation? Thanks for your advice, and keep up the great work! Stuart

Huys Questions:

Hey gents, I'm getting into a kitchen remodel and will be building all the cabinets myself because I'm a glutton for punishment. I'm trying to find a white (tintable base) finish, but am a little overwhelmed by all the options. It for sure needs to be water based, and I have an Airless system as well as a 2-stage HVLP for application. Can you recommend any product for this purpose? I've been experimenting with Target Coatings water based pigmented lacquer (EM6500wp) with their CL100 cross-linker and was just "ok" with the results. I tried spraying it with the HVLP but I'm thinking the finish was too thick to properly atomize with a 2-stage turbine, so maybe I need to shoot it with the Airless? I'm not super keen on any finish with a real limited pot life, since I'll be doing this on the nights and weekends, and feel like that would lead to a significant amount of waste. Thanks in advance for the insight! Travis

Hello guys, I have been a long time listener and I really appreciate all of the knowledge that you guys share with the woodworking community. I have seen the Critter Siphon Gun advertised in the Lee Valley catalog and watched a few videos about it on YouTube. Have you had any experience with the Critter Siphon Gun and how does it compare to other options like HVLP sprayers? Thanks, Daniel

Brians Questions:

Hi guys, I'm a hobbyist woodworker on the gold coast Australia. I have slowly acquired all the tools I feel are necessary to build those pieces that my children will one day inherit/sell in a yard sale 😜 I don't have a bandsaw and have gotten by with a jigsaw in most situations. My major issue is when I have thick lumbar (5/4 for example) and need only a thin board. It's wasteful and expensive to plane it down and I feel a bandsaw is required for a good quality resaw. Is this a good enough reason to purchase a bandsaw? Sam Kruger

Hey guys, Thank you so much for the podcast and as others say in almost every question, I learn the most from your podcast than any other woodworking podcast I listen to. Being from Indianapolis, I have a woodworking buddy who has taken a lot of classes at Marc Adam’s School of Woodworking (not sure if Brian and Guy are familiar). He has tried to get me to join a class but it is quite an investment due to the cost and also other factors such as possibly a week off of work depending on the class you sign up for. While I would love to take a class due to being exposed to new technique’s and tools, I just don’t know if it’s worth the investment when Im just a hobbyist with limited budget and space for tools. Two questions: 1. Have any of you taken a woodworking class like this before? 2. Is it worth the investment for the class, or should I continue to build skills by online research and building my shop with tools? Thanks for the great podcast and being willing to take my question. Jason

Guys Questions:

Hey folks! First off, welcome aboard Brian. You have filled Sean's shoes without skipping a beat. And I particularly enjoy how you engage with extra followup questions too I was thinking in my head! So my question is about Guys favorite bug excrement - shellac. She treated me wrong and I need help from my bros. Ok it's more of a rant, so hang with me.  I've been a shellac lover for a while. She's never been fickle. Used her on a dozen projects. Always great results. Always a good time. Always easy. And I always use a rubber...you know...to be safe. (babum psshh)  This time and I sanded down a second hand veneer 3'x4' table and decided to give it a shellac finish. Using the big box store's version, I grabbed my favorite blonde, got her drunk with half alcohol, grabbed a trusty rubber, and went to town on the table.  Ok. Ok. Enough with the puns. For the life of me, I ALWAYS got streaks on the surface no matter what I did. I tried different cuts, different applicators (rubber, foam brush and paint brush). Sanding between coats. Not sanding. Working super fast, going slow. Light coats, heavy coats. Whatever. I even went to the Google and found an article from 2010 in Fine Woodworking that said dilute with 25% mineral oil and then later wipe with Naphtha once dry. BIG mistake. Won't get into it. Still bitter. Apparently though, it's hard to apply shellac on large surfaces?  So here I am asking the experts. Do I really need to break out my HVLP spray gun and section off my garage? Or am I doing something wrong? Have any tips? Paul

Thanks for delivering this content. I’ve learned a lot and I think I’ve listened to every episode. My question is about which router table to purchase. I have an old Rockler—they’re cheapest model. Looking to upgrade and considering 3 models in particular: Woodpeckers, Incra, and JessEm https://jessem.com/products/ultimate-excel-ii-package I believe Guy has both the woodpeckers and the incra and would like to hear from all of you what you have and what you would recommend. Part 2 of my question is I would like to add dovetail joinery to my repertoire, and was considering the incra router table (with the super system LS17 fence) specifically because of its setup for doing that. Is that a good way to go or should I buy a stand alone dovetail jig and if so which one? The other things I use my router table for are raised panel cabinet doors, dados, and obviously edge treatment. I’m a hobbyist trying to make this a full time job and primarily build cabinets and cabinet based furniture at this point. Have also done a bed and some tables (dining, and smaller). Sorry to be so long winded, I very much appreciate your input. -Austin, AJ Squared Woodworks

Huys Questions:

Hey guys, really enjoy the podcast. I hear you were low on questions and I had a couple so I thought I would send them.  First question. I am looking to build a bed for me and my wife. How can I determine the best wood to make it from? Cost is much more a factor than how it looks. Another factor is we are heavyset people and I want to be sure it's not going to break while we are on it, sleeping or otherwise. ;P  Second question. I want to make the bed in the style that I have seen on my IG feed, with castle joints. My concern is, when you cut the notches, aren't you weakening that piece of wood? I assume you would want the notch on the top for the side rails where some of the weight would be carried. But in a joint like that, I have always wondered if that type of joint would weaken the piece with the notch taken out of the bottom half.  Thanks Gents! -Jacob

Hi guys! Thanks for continuing to put on an informative podcast, always a pleasure to listen to.  I have a question about dovetail jigs. I make a good amount of furniture pieces with drawers and am looking to potentially get a dovetail jig for drawers. 99% of my drawers are made of 1/2” stock. I have no desire to handcut, time and accuracy are important. I’ve heard these jigs can be a pain to set up but I’d imagine once set up it might be worth it. Any recommendations on a particular jig? Thanks! Lindsey

Brians Questions:

Hi again guys, And thank you for contiuing to make THE BEST woodworking podcast. I have an 8" benchtop style crappy planer(jointer) thicknesser combo machine. The cheap ones you find in lots of colors. It has straight blades and quite short in and outfeed tables. I also have an Axminster AT330ST thicknesser, large lunchbox style, 330mm capacity with a spiral cutter head. I generally do my edge jointing on the table saw with a sled. First of all. When do you choose to skip plane instead face jointing the board first? And second: Would you do it differently with my setup. Thanks again, Gøran Eliassen Nomad Makes

Love the podcast, I have a small unheated shop in Northern Canada. I've learned that during the winter months I need to bring in all my glues and finishes as they don't respond well to freezing. I also learned the hard way that my warm glue on frozen wood doesn't work either. My question is, how long should the glue set before I can return it to freezing conditions? I usually try for 24 hours but this can create long delays in projects and fills my house with glue up panels. Also is there a type of glue that would work best in freezing conditions. CA glue works fine, but isn't strong enough for panel glue ups or assembly. - Ben

Thought this might be a fun question. If you aren't familiar with the phrase "the cobbler's children have no shoes," it often means that you are taking care of other's needs before your own. But it can also be used to mean something that everyone expects of you in your field/craft that you have never done. For example, I always hear that everyone's first project is a cutting board, but I was in the craft for years before I made one! And I've yet to cut a mortise and tenon! So, what haven't you made that everyone would think you had, or what skill do you not have that it would be assumed you do? Peter Downing @mr.downing.woodworking on Instagram

Huy's Questions:

Hey guys! I appreciate your podcast and always look forward on listening to the latest episodes! I am a hobby woodworker who has done some commission builds. As my hobby is turning into a side hustle more and more I am wondering at what point do I make it “official”. I live in the Nashville, TN area and there is a strong market for custom woodworking. Whilst I don’t “need” the money, the thought of fueling my hobby and having the extra cash seems viable. Have any of you became an LLC or setup a DBA? Are there benefits on doing so even if my business would stay relatively small? Again, love the podcast and thank you for your contribution to the community! God Bless! -Will

Great podcast! I am looking for your opinions on a good set of brad point drill bits that won't break the bank. I've been using a set from Harbor Freight, and I would like to step up in quality. I'm a hobbyist who doesn't need the best, just decent quality. Any ideas? -Dan

I think that my next tool purchase might be for a tracksaw-like guide for a circular saw or something similar. We sometimes run into situations where we need to rip a straight line. This would actually be more for ‘carpentry’ applications than fine ‘woodworking’. Things like ripping a long 2x6 or 2x8 at an angle, or rip a sheet of plywood in the field (so portability and reasonable durability would be important). Whatever we buy would be used by a lot of different guys and we’d keep it in our shared workshop. Most of the guys have Dewalt circular saws but several guys have other brands (Milwaukee, Ridgid, etc.). So the track would have to be adjustable for the bases of the various saws. I’ve spent zero time investigating this. Thought I’d start here. Any recommendations? - Mark

Brians Questions:

I hear a lot of talk on forums and social media about buying smaller tools to make more room in your shop. I can see how something like a 52 inch rip fence will take up more room but in my little pea brain it takes as much room to plane and joint a 4 foot board on a 72 inch bed jointer and a 15 inch planer and it does a 46 inch bed jointer and a lunch box planer. Am I wrong? Should I take this into consideration when buying tools? I'm fortunate to have a 1000 sqft shop so space isn't necessarily at a premium but I'll also be shop building large built in closets and wine rooms and such so it may get tighter than I think. Thanks for all the info and keep it up. Michael

I know how to sand through the grits. And I know why to sand through the grits. But how long (in general) should you stay at each grit? Obviously higher grits are easy. I usually stay there until any major imperfections are smoothed out. But as I progress, I’m always thinking I should stay there for one more round. Especially at my final grit. Normally I just keep going until the piece “feels” nice and smooth and flat. So far that’s worked for me. I’m sure I’m overthinking it, but figured I’d ask the experts what they do. I’m using an Orbital sander by the way. Sorry for the long winded question, you obviously don’t have to read all that. I ramble haha. Thanks so much. Mick at Broken Levee Woodworks

Guys Questions:

Hey guys and Guy. I’m building a dining table for a friend out of walnut and quarter sawn WO and am starting to think about applying finish. I’m wondering about applying a couple of coats of shellac to deepen the grain and following up with water based poly for the top coat(s). After hearing Guy tout the water based conversion varnish, I’m considering the General Finishes product that has the catalyst you have to mix in. Is that what you use Guy? As far as the shellac, is that a bad idea? I don’t feel confident getting an even coat, especially on the top, using a hand application so I would like to spray. Does that sound feasible? I also don’t want to change the color, jus deepen the grain so what flavor of shellac and cut should I use? Enjoy you guys a lot. My favorite woodworking podcast. Tom Bigmuddy Woodworks

Hey fellas, I have a question about the Domino 500 and 700. What rule(s) of thumb do you use for when to use the 700 instead of the 500 when it's not an obvious situation? Other than the 3rd's of the stock thickness. Thanks for all of your different points of view on how to tackle situations we find ourselves in. Matt in AL

Huy's Questions:

Where do you find the most objective tool reviews? Have a great day Chuck

Alabama ww said he has done half blind dovetails where you cut thru dovetails and add an 1/8 piece on the front. Could you expand on your process for doing this specifically adding the false front and getting it flush to sub front sides. Thank you, Schatz

Guy's Questions: 

Hi all: First, I love the podcast. I listen to several others as well. This is by far the best, the Premier podcast on woodworking. Your focus on the questions is outstanding. I know that you repeat yourselves often but it it is so helpful to those of us that are trying to learn the craft. I learn something every time I listen. Thanks! My question has to do with spraying a finish. I just bought my first HVLP sprayer. I’ve watched many of the YouTube videos on the basic process with regard to how to tune the gun and the process and motion of applying the finish. Many of the finishes today, especially water based finishes, dry very quickly. So what do you do between coats? Do you always breakdown and clean the gun and all of the other components? Is there some tricks that you use to keep the gun clean and ready for the next coat, without breaking it all down and starting a new? Thanks again, Joe

Hey guys. I've been watching all the New Yankee Workshop episodes as they're being released on YouTube lately. Interesting to see how Norm did things back then, including how some of his techniques evolved over the years. One thing he almost always does is pin his tenons with dowels. I don't see this much today unless it's a draw bore, which I don't see Norm do ever. (This pinning is almost always followed up with one of Norm's favorite phrases, "That's never coming apart!") I guess the question is, should we be pinning tenons? Only in specific circumstances? Only if a draw bore? Peter

Infinity tools pro router table package with 3 1/4 Triton or a Grizzly G1035 shaper that can still run 1/2" router bits. Always lots of talk about router tables but never anything about smaller shapers. I found this podcast a while ago and have made my way through all the episodes, I really appreciate all the great content, keep it up. Mike

Huy's Questions:

Hey guys! I know you asked for more questions so I am going to try to help. I have a question about applying Odies Oil with a buffer. I’ve been using Odies because it’s too much work making a spray booth for spray finishing in my woodshop. I have applied Odies by hand with success but it’s a lot of buffing work. Gem buffers are pretty expensive, has anyone tried putting a hook and loop pad on a car buffer and just put a non woven pad on it? Big Cedar table Co.

Can you give any recommendations of hardwoods you enjoy to make furniture with? Alot of the furniture I've built in my house has been made from Walnut, White oak and cherry and am looking for something new. I'm looking to build some new furniture for my basement (tv stand, coffee table, maybe a dry bar to match species) but am looking for something new to use other than those stated above. Thanks for all you do. Paul Genereux at Twin Lake Woodshop

Hey, guys. Love the show. Appreciate the fact that you answer questions and although there is a little banter between the three of you, it doesn't dominate the podcast as other shows do. I want to attend a "convention" for woodworkers and am curious if you have suggestions on what would be a good convention for woodworkers to attend. Thanks in advance! Greg

Brians Questions:

I inherited my dad’s woodworking tools almost 20 years ago. I’ve upgraded several tools over the years. Most significantly, I replaced his Craftsman contractor table saw with a Sawstop PCS 175 5 years ago. I bought it for the safety mechanism, but I’ve really enjoyed using a cabinet saw. While I consistently use the riving knife, I have seldom used the blade guard cover. I like being able to clearly see the blade meeting the wood. Question/topic: how do you balance safety and convenience in your woodshop? Thank you. Chuck

I inherited my dad’s woodworking tools almost 20 years ago. I’ve upgraded several tools over the years. Most significantly, I replaced his Craftsman contractor table saw with a Sawstop PCS 175 5 years ago. I bought it for the safety mechanism, but I’ve really enjoyed using a cabinet saw. While I consistently use the riving knife, I have seldom used the blade guard cover. I like being able to clearly see the blade meeting the wood. Question/topic: how do you balance safety and convenience in your woodshop? Thank you. Chuck

Guys Questions:

Hey Gentleman (and Guy), Thanks for the great podcast. I'm lucky enough to be able to pester Guy directly with my questions, and he's gracious enough to answer them. Do you have any "Dream Projects"? Something that you have always wanted to build, but just haven't had the time or resources to do it? Think you will ever get to it? Thanks again for sharing all your knowledge, look forward to hearing your answers -Theo

I've heard at least one of you maybe Guy in the beginning say there were quite a few years that went by without a table saw in the shop. I very recently took a big step and got a rikon 14" deluxe band saw as well as the Makita track saw. My table saw is a deplorable early 90's job site Makita. really bad fence zero dust collection tiny arbor. It works but guy has maybe once compared a Cadillac vs a pinto and I own the table saw pinto that got into a wreck and then blew up and Given my two recent big purchases what would you say my big limitations are by not having a serious table saw? Can I get by wanting to make boxes? Can I get by without another big purchase such as a table saw? What do you guys see as limitations given my recent purchases? Jim

Huys Questions:

Hey all, another question. I'm wanting to get into spraying finish, I've seen the option and have heard decent things about the harbor frieght paint sprayer with regulator which is like 30$. I'm wondering what you guys think of it or if any of you have experiences with it? I have a 30 gal air compressor and I'm only looking at small pieces up to a night stand size, so I think that should suffice? I would love to get a 4 stage but that is very much out of the question price wise. Also I'm looking to mostly spray Shelac and conversion varnish. How easy is it to clean? Guy makes it sound extremely easy so I'm curious if Guy or Hue have any videos about cleaning? Sorry I know it's long winded but thank you guys for what you do! Look forward to hearing the answers. Blairswoodshop

I have a question about "refinishing" a shelf. I built a floating shelf out of walnut about 2 years ago and did miter-folded edges all the way around. It's a small shelf, only 32" long, 3" tall face, and 6" deep. My wife would like the same size shelf in white oak. Could i sand back the finish and veneer it in white oak? Or do I need to start from scratch and build a new shelf? Brian

Brians Questions:

Hey guys, Got another one for ya. I have never used real hardwood for a project. Everything I have done so far has been with random scraps, pine or plywood. I was wondering what you guys would suggest as a good first project using hardwood. I do have a small variety pack of 3 species I picked up from woodcraft a while back that was on sale. 3 small boards that are essentially 2' 1x4's. Couldn't tell you what species they are at this point. I had thought about starting out by making a simple wood mallet using these. As a companion question. What general advice would you give someone just starting out. I don't have a planer or joiner so where should I get my hardwood? Do typical wood suppliers have an option to purchase already dimensioned lumber? I know a big box store is always an option. What species would you recommend getting started with? Any other helpful tips for this rookie? Thanks again, Jon

Guys Questions:

Hello gents, My wife creates some really detailed pyrography on offcuts from my woodworking projects. Usually I give them a light coating of linseed oil or tung oil but We’ve found over time, and in particular when in direct sunlight, that the burnt image fades quite a lot. Any ideas on a finish that would help prevent or reduce this fading? Thanks Adam (listener from the UK)

Hey all this is Mason with Blairswoodshop again. I've been thinking of more questions to ask and I have a couple. I'll start with this one and send the others later. I've been seeing a lot of advertising from finewoodworking magazine about some online courses. I'm actually quite interested. I live in a rual area of Missouri and before that I was in a rural area of Southern California. So any kind of in-person class is always a 2-3 hour drive away. I know there is a lot of experience lost with the lack of hands on and in person instruction, but do you all still think there is something to be gained through online live instruction? Most of my experience is through hours of research, reading, listening to this podcast, YouTube, and hands on experience. I feel I could learn some processes faster even through a camera, where my questions can be answered directly at that moment. Sorry about the long winded question, but I am curious of what you guys think?

Huys Questions:

Huy, Guy, Newbie Brian - First off let me apologize for taking a month off from my regular queries. I had to go ahead and dodge a process server after my 7 year old made me get my wife a toilet seat heater for Christmas. Second, Happy New Year to you and yours. May your 2023 be filled with etcetera. Third, I got a hot one for you. Had a 30" diameter beech tree taken down out of my deck (it was growing through it), and saved the bottom 10'. Borrowed my buddy's chainsaw and Alaskan mill and slabbed it up into 8/4. Here is my conundrum. I am 95% sure I will use all but two slabs as milled lumber to make a big dresser. Would you, if you were in my size 13's, mill the lumber to rough size green/now, and then air dry it, or dry it as stacked slabs and then mill it? I can see advantages and disadvantages to both approaches, I'm leaning towards leaving it as slabs only because beech is notorious for twisting as it dries, and I feel like less mass moves easier. But then I consider that if it has innate tension, it's going to move when I mill it, no matter what. I have a whole bunch of other questions but I like a nice lead-in to warm up the audience, so I'll send them individually. You guys breaking trying to break up a multi-parter would just throw off my flow. Love you miss you. Tom @figurawoodwork

I use Odie’s oil. I don’t like it for furniture at all though. I think it looks nice, but I question the durability. That said, I do use it on pens that I sell. You do not get a high shine, but it does leave a nice, natural looking finish with a moderate shine. Plus it applies super easily and seems durable enough for my pens. I was wondering if you guys had a take on hard wax oils for wood turnings. We don’t talk about lathe work a lot. Dillon

Brians Questions:

Does a combination square needs to be a Starrett ($$$$) or we clan go with cheaper brands. Kind regards from São Paulo - Brazil.

Hey guys, quick question for you. I have an old grizzly 20" planer and I want to resaw some wood on my bandsaw down to 1/2" and 1/4" pieces. The bandsaw is from 1943 and doesn't leave the best finish. The minimum thickness on the planer is 1/2" but I see the piece do some shimmying when I put stock that thin through there. What's the best way to finish planing the stock and finishing it off without access to a drum sander? Any tips would be much appreciated. Love the show and keep up the good work! JARED

Guy's Questions:

Hey guys. I have been wanting to ask this for a while now. I have been asked by my wife to build dresser for our bedroom. This would be my first time building drawers. I have the cabinet built and the drawer boxes built. But when I put the slides on the drawers just don’t glide like I would think they would. I mean some of them do. I am just not sure what I am doing wrong. I have checked all my spacing for the openings. Could it be my boxes are not square? What is the best way to get them square? Nick.

I've been listening for a few years now, and have learned a lot. My most pressing question is about finishing. Recently l've built a couple kitchen tables that I really wanted to be special and put a lot of time into them. I thought everything turned out great, but at the final step, topcoating, I got a lot of streaking - more so than I've gotten before (although this is a bigger surface area project than I've ever done). I stained it, then used AquaCoat water-based grain filler (which left a few minor streaks across the grain that I couldn't sand out, but I can live with that), and then 3 coats of ArmRSeal satin. After the 3rd coat I had a dull sheen in one spot and so gave it a 4th coat of satin, pretty thick this time, and the sheen streaking got worse. Am assuming that I need to sand it down (and hopefully not get down into the stain) and start again. Someone suggested gloss or semi-gloss ArmRSeal and then a final coat with satin. Is there an easier solution - buff it out?? Mark Schmidt

Huy's Questions: 

Hello gentlemen. I stumbled across your podcast a few months ago and have been enjoying it ever since. I apologize I have not spent a lot of time going back through older episodes, so this question may have come up already. I’ve been woodworking as a hobby for several years now and enjoy it as my creative outlet. I prefer making smaller pieces as opposed to big furniture but have dabbled with both as gifts and favors to friends. In 2023 I’d like to start turning this into a small business. I enjoy my day job, so this would be more of a side hustle to make enough money to buy more wood and tools (and maybe whiskey 😉). Do you have any tips or tricks for getting started selling projects? Facebook marketplace seems like a dead zone and Etsy seems saturated. Thanks, and I appreciate any advice you have on this subject. Nick Hellman

I am slowly trying to turn my tiny shed into a shop. It is coming along but is not climate controlled. I was recently glueing up some thin strips of wood for an accent on a holiday gift. I live in Oregon, about an hour east of Portland. It doesn’t get super cold here usually, but that week was a bit colder than usual. Anyway, when I went to trim up the strips they came apart where they were glued up. The glue didn’t bond at all. There was just white remnants of dry glue. After asking a friend who is a professional woodworker and reading the label I learned that you can’t use wood glue below 46°. The bottle says not to let it freeze. My friend told me once the bottle freezes it is not good anymore. I bought a new bottle and am keeping it inside the house and doing glue ups inside until the spring. Is this true that once the bottle freezes it’s no good? Any advice for working in the winter in an unheated shop? Should I worry about the wood moving when I bring it inside? Any other products I should worry about in cold temps? Thanks. Happy New Year! Jon Moch

Guy's Questions:

Good afternoon Gentlemen, Thank you for your podcast, I really appreciate it, and you fellows. Long story short, I am a re-engaging woodworker after taking a 20 year hiatus. Due to life requirements and work travel frequency, I was unable to keep up my hobby. I now have the time (and hopefully will NEVER have to fly somewhere for work again) to start anew. Things have changed quite a bit in past couple decades, and so have my interests in terms of wood working. Over my hiatus, I sold some of my equipment in hopes the machines would be used instead of sitting idle and it is time to re-equip my shop needs with eliminated tools and new needs. My tool requirements are also much different today, then they were 20 years ago. One requirement I now have is a drum sander. I don't have the desire to rotate any work (key point), and want to acquire a machine that fits my specific needs, thus an 18" capability is perfect for what my new woodworking interests require. I also refuse to take any advice from boob tube woodworkers recommendations, as it seems that 90% of the creators I find may have started out providing woodworking content, but they mostly all just become prejudiced tool reviewers who conflict each other based on who is giving them free tools or paying them. I have lost a lot of respect for some woodworkers on YouTube who used to be considered by me as inspirations in their early YouTube careers, no longer. With that said, I have trimmed my interest list down to a Jet 1836 and Supermax 19-38. I imagine some or all of you have had experience with both, and would like your feedback. I am not currently considering models with moving/height adjustable belts such as the shop fox/grizzly, however if you have anything to add on those, it would be nice to hear. Glad you have a new host, it seems like he may be a great fit for the podcast. Well wishes to all of you, and Guy, I hope your health is well.

Kurtis Van Kampen

You fellas have filled my head with hours and hours of information. You’re truly the best Podcast I’ve found. So before Guy’s head begins to swell, on with the question. I’ve started watching Nee Yankee workshop again now they I actually have a 520 sqft shop to work out in. In the first season Norm used what he called a panel cutting jig for the table saw. The fence of the jig was located on the blade side rather than the operator side like the modern crosscut sled. This jig is dead simple being made of only three boards. I had big plans to make a modern crosscut sled (not the aircraft carrier) with all the bells and whistles. Now I’m completely rethinking my next table saw jig. Since Guy (like myself) is the only one of you old enough to remember the first episode, this should probably be HIS question. Keep up the great work fellows. I appreciate what each of you bring to the table. -Bryan

Huy's Questions:

I’d first like to say that I listen to a bunch of other woodworking podcasts as well, but of all of them, yours has the lowest level of useless off-topic banter. Keep up the good work. I have a question about the usage of my shop air cleaner. It’s a Jet AFS-1000B, and my ceiling is only 7’6”, so can’t hang it from there. So I have it on a roll-around cart. My shop is 13’ x 17’. I don’t have a central dust collection system, but for the following tools I hook up my shop vac to the tool: table saw, planer, drum sander, router table and random orbit sander. I also have a circular saw, a handheld router, a jigsaw, a drill press, a belt sander and a palm sander. My question is, for which tools should I be turning on the air cleaner, and on which setting? (it has low, medium and high settings) And how long should I keep it on for after the tool has been turned off? Thanks. Steve

My perception is that the people who seem to get hurt the most are woodworking professionals who become too comfortable/familiar with machines. Is that a fair assessment? [I am a hobbyist woodworker.] FYI, on 3 I am just asking for a comment on my observation. Have a great day Chuck

Brians Questions:

First, love the podcast and thank you! Question: I’m building a 28 foot table. I’m thinking that I will essentially build 4 table tops and connect them with ‘double breadboards’ with runners between the tressels (5). Thoughts? Back story: I am a veteran and I run a program that addresses PTSD, Substance Abuse and homelessness in the the veteran community. An essential component is that the veterans cook meals and eat together and as the program has grown, there is an assortment of tables in the house and I want too big a build one. I am an average woodworker and I can do the basics. It doesn’t have to be piece of art, just chunky and uniform. Also, there’s not a big endless budget so I am doing what I can. The vision: I fhave to build it in my garage and put it together on site. 28 feet long, 38 inches wide (the space dictates it). The only way I can work out the jointing is a double breadboard end that joins each section. I thought about end jointing with dowels alternating the lengths of the boards so there was no single joint across the length of the board which was quite the puzzle to figure out. 5 trestles essentially spaced under the middle breadboards with 2 runners supporting the table between legs and one runner connecting the legs 1/3 up from the bottom of the leg. Craig laseur

Hi Guys, I love your podcast. I have listened to every single episode! Please keep them coming! I was listening to Episode 114 about the domino tips and I am now thinking of completing my kitchen cabinet project using dominoes instead of pocket screws for the cabinet construction as I already own a domino. I was curious as to how Brian prefers to assemble cabinets. I have already watched Guy's videos! ;) Do you use the domino? How do you go about end panel construction? How do you finish your cabinets? Any tips you can provide is greatly appreciated! Thanks, Natasha Round Lake, Ontario, Canada

Brian's Questions:

Hey Guys! Love the podcast. Long time listener, first time asking a question! I am looking for recommendations on how to remove saw marks after ripping pieces to final width on the table saw. I recently built a couple rocking chairs for my kiddos, and was looking for a super smooth surface finish on all four sides. My solution was to joint and plane the parts on 3 sides and then rip a 1/32 or so oversized. After that I set my jointer to 1/32 and ran the cut edge back over the jointer to remove the saw. This m I recently scored a router table on Facebook marketplace for $500. Woodpecker PRL 1 lift, Incra jig ultra fence, and Porter Cable 3.25 horse router. 1, what's your favorite lubricant for threaded parts like router lifts and table saw arbor tilts? 2, Other than keeping them clear of dust so they don't over heat is there any other maintenance to extend the life of a router? They don't make the Porter Cable routers anymore so I want to keep it in top condition. - Tylerethod seems to work nicely. I am using a Jet cabinet saw and not matter how much I try to adjust it, I can never seem to get a rip without at least a few saw marks. Just looking for ways to improve my efficiency while in the shop! Thanks again Dylan.

Hey guys, You said you needed more questions so here ya go... I have a couple hundred bucks left over from my December birthday and Christmas haul that I plan to spend on woodworking supplies/tools. I keep a running wish list throughout the year of various woodworking things I "need" So there is no shortage of things I could spend it on, however I don't want to waste it. That has encouraged me to just sit on it for now and I feel like I'm at a bit of a crossroads. Do I simply save it and put it towards a big more expensive tool down the road (for example I don't currently have any kind of planer or joiner). Or do I use it to buy some of the less sexy but more useful day to day items that every shop should have (i.e. better bits, blades, consumables, jigs, etc...) For reference: At this point in my woodworking career I do mostly hobbyist/DIY level work. I have either budget or second hand versions of most basic hand and power tools and the basic bigger tools (Benchtop Drill Press, Contractor Saw, Miter Saw) I would love to delve in to the more serious side of woodworking one day, so I do have a goal of getting a planer and joiner down the road. But realistically I know if one fell down from the heavens in to my shop tomorrow it wouldn't get used immediately. Regardless of my own personal decisions I thought it would be cool to get y'alls take on what you would consider the top small ticket items that every shop should have. I think we all get more excited about big expensive tools, because frankly it's more fun, but for people like myself just getting started on this journey it can be easy to miss the basics as a result of that excitement. Thanks for being so awesome, Jon

Guy's Questions:

Good day fellas, Been listening for a while, and really enjoy the podcast. Here is my problem/question. For Christmas this past year I made a few cutting boards as gifts using Maple, Walnut and a few pieces of Purple Heart. In my design process I managed to make one of the cutting boards slightly too big to fit (on first glue up) through my Dewalt DW735 planer. In order to save some time, I just ran the piece through the table saw to get the over width down to just under 13". On the first pass through the planer, everything went as planned. The second pass through didnt go so great. At around ¾ of the way through, the planer dug into the piece and put some pretty nasty snipe into the piece. Id say around 4-5" from the end of the board, and almost 1/8" deep. What would cause that to happen? Narrower pieces that ive ran through after havent given me any snipe since. Is it due to me using the entire 13" of the cutter head? Because of my snipe issue, im really hesitant on running anything wide through the planer now. I want to experiment using some cheaper wood, but just havent found the time to do so yet. Thanks for the help. - Dwayne

Hey guys, heard you are in need of some questions from the last show, so thought I would send one your way. What do you think is the best paint for furniture that will see use and abuse? I’ve been experimenting with some different options and haven’t found anything that I think I will stick with, and I do not want to put a clear coat over the paint. Looking for something very hard and durable, as the next time I need it will be for chairs. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Huy's Questions:

When does something cross the line between being 'handmade' and 'machine made'? My nephew had a CNC machine and advertised the products as 'handmade.' Is this all subjective anyways? Have a great day Chuck

Brians Questions: 

Hi Friends: I really enjoy every podcast you guys put out. Thanks to Brain for stepping up to be the third host. He seems to be a natural with podcasting and teaching woodworking techniques. My question is related to tool choice. I am currently planning to build out a router table into the black phenolic extension table for my sawstop PCS 175. I have the 36inch cut capacity. I have seen videos on modifiying the extension table and dropping in a router lift. It seems like a great shop space saver. I have two questions for you guys. Do you think there is any value in having a stand alone router table? or is modifying the phenolic table a reasonable approach. I plan to build a custom fence to attach to the sawstop fence. My second question is - how important is it to buy a full size (3.25hp) router versus just getting a mid size router (2.25hp)? I currently have the milwaukee battery powered palm router (1.25hp) which has been useful but I want the accuracy and stability of a router table. The bulk of my work is edging and dados, but I would like the capacity to do raised panel cabinet doors and even to take my router out of the table and eventually build a flattening jig for large slabs. Is 2.25hp enough for these tasks? I am a hobbyist and don't have any production needs for this setup but don't want to be limited. Accuracy is important to me so I am going to go with a lift rather than buying a router with a base that can be screwed onto a table (like the triton). One issue is that a lift + router setup for a 2.25hp router is about $350 and for 3.25hp, I'm looking at $800+. Thaks in advance for your thoughts Sincerely, Jeremy Los Angeles, CA

ey guys I just wrote in and submitted a question but I do have another which I hope can be answered I’m building a kitchen table, 36x60” with a 1.5” top. The table is being made out of Rustic Rift Sawn White Oak Question is what is the best or a best method to ensure the top stays flat. This is in San Diego, Ca so weather/ humidity changes are the quite mild. I was thinking maple cleats across the bottom/ not glued but screwed allowing for movement. Any suggestions would be great Thanks and can’t wait for the next episode Nicholas

Guy's Questions:

1. What are the best responses to people who want you to make them something (usually for little or nothing)? [Most people are clueless regarding the effort and expense it takes to make something nice.] Have a great day Chuck

Hello all, the WoodMech here, I just purchased a ts55 festool tracksaw with the 55” guide rail for my kitchen remodeling project. I was wondering how accurate joining two tracks together compared to having the longer track? I was thinking about getting the guide rail with the shelf pin spacing holes and using that as the extension for cutting length wise on sheets of plywood. What are your thoughts or experiences? Thanks for the great show! Jeff Baran

Huy's Questions:

Gentlemen and Guy :) Have been listening for about a year and this is still the best woodworking podcast out there. I'd also like to thanks Sean for his contributions and welcome Brian to the show! My question is, there are so many woodworking content makers out there today. Who are the woodworkers that you guys follow ?? Second question... Assume you have become retired and now have lots of time on your hands. What woodworking projects would you work on? Would you go into production work and sell your goods, custom furniture??? What would be your ultimate retired woodworking project??? Thanks ! Liam Indianapolis, IN

So I'm having trouble with bubbles. Both when I'm using epoxy and fast drying/instant glue (Starbond) any advice on how to avoid them? I'm not doing large pours, this is simply some gap filling and knot hole stabilization. With the Starbond I do use their accelerator, but I've done it with and without, and it doesn't seem to make a difference w/r/t the bubbles. Also, how do you get the glue/epoxy down into a pin hole? Mark Bett

This Episodes Questions:

Brians Questions:

I have a question for you about glueing up table aprons. And I’m mostly referring to large dining tables. The aprons I’m making are generally w 8/4 stock roughly 4” width. I can manage to get the legs and the aprons milled and cut square. All my joinery is w dominoes. Whenever I do the glue up everything is slightly out out square despite everything being square prior to glue up . I have pipe clamps and parallel clamps and have tried both. For some reason I can’t get the clamping pressure or positioning right. Any tips would be appreciated. Timber Tables

Hi guys! Love your podcast and listen for over a year during my early walks in the morning.  I’m always picking up a tip or two. Keep up the great work! My question has to do with designing a bowling ball rack shelf system for my granddaughter. She is an outstanding bowler with well over 20 balls so my little ball rack is only going scratch the surface. My plan is for a 12 ball bowling rack with three shelves with four 15# balls on each shelf. Each shelf will be made of 3/4 poplar (to be painted with college colors) and is 46” wide, 10” deep and will have 3” chamfered holes for each ball to sit in. So the shelf has to support 60# in bowling balls! I’ll be fastening the shelves to the upright side with through tenons. Do you guys think 3/4 poplar shelves with through tenons and chamfered holes to be enough to hold 60#? This is the first time I’ve created anything requiring that much weight to support.   Any suggestions welcome. Thanks! Pappy

Guys Questions:

Hi all. Looking for recommendations for entry level laser engraver to be used for making router templates / engraving logos and simple designs on my woodworking projects such as cutting boards, wall decorations, etc. Are there any alternatives to a laser engraver that would do the same in a similar lower price point? thank you for a great show! Max

Hello gents, as always, the podcast is one of the best out there. My question for you is about pivoting. What I mean by that is, what do you do when something happens during a project that causes you to take a different direction? Recently I completed a humidor for a friend. He gave me the rough dimensions that he wanted, and his only specification was that it had some contrast and some nice looking grain. I made myself a plan and began working on making the box sides with alternating maple and cherry. My original intent was a 4 corner grain match. Unfortunately, my miters did not come out well, so I changed to a corner post design using mahogany. Since the client did not know the original plan, this was an easy change to do in my shop. Have you guys had to change your plan mid way through a project? How did you handle it and how well did it work out? As a side note, sometimes I appreciate the original plan going sideways because it forces me to think of viable alternatives. Keep making sawdust and sharing what you love. Joshua from The Blackdog Woodworks.

Huys Questions:

Hi guys, I have a question for the best woodworking podcast around. I bought some beautiful air dried white oak from someone who had it sitting in a barn for 20 years.  I have two 4/4 boards that are 8 foot long, 10.5" wide and almost dead straight.  I would like to use them for the top of a dresser but there are several lighter shaded bands going across the boards (on both sides).  I believe these stains or marks are from stickering.  I did a light pass through my planer and it doesn't appear that it made a difference.  Are these boards totally ruined? I am not confident that if I keep planing them this will go away, plus they are just north of 4/4 in thickness and I was hoping to keep them as thick as possible.  Jeff

Thank you for your informative podcast, enjoy the experience and diversity you bring to woodworking enthusiasts.   I was recently installing drawer faces on a nightstand. The drawer boxes were just slightly inset so soft close slides would pull the drawer tight when face installed. The drawer faces are proud of the nightstand cabinet. I wanted to have very tight/consistent reveals between the two drawers and wanted the sides to line up perfectly flush with sides. This requires very precise holding of drawer fronts while securing from the back side of drawer box.  I was able to get the drawer fronts flush with sides and use a 1/32 shim between drawer faces for the gap, great so far. The drawer face handle is a flat rectangular(lip style) wood pull at the top of the drawer face so there are no holes in the drawer face like there would be be with a more conventional pull. I attempted to use thin double sided tape to hold face securely in position until it could be attached but it was not secure enough to ensure the precise geometry for the drawer face until it could be attached. I felt thicker double sided tape was too flexible for desired outcome. I end up using pins strategically placed under the pull which works but the pins were barely visible. I find wood filler draws attention to pins so left them unfilled reasoning that no one would notice. My wife of course noticed right off the bat. Here is the question: What other methods of holding drawer face in place before securing to drawer box which doesn't leave evidence:) Thanks, Dave at xcuse4tools custom woodwork

Brians Questions:

Good evening everyone, Wanted to reach out to you about time in the shop. Im expecting my second child in a matter of days and was curious how you all find/found time in the shop with little kids running around and being constantly tired? My second question is a follow up regarding a question you all read regarding "Box Materials" on October 20th. Loved the double answer but was looking for Drawer box material to use. BB (or whatever you can find now) or a hardwood? Thanks, Paul at Twin Lake Woodshop

Hey guys love the podcast. I have been listening for a while now and hear you need some questions. What has been your favorite thing to build and why? something you’ve built in the past or even something you would like to build in the future. Please share how you built it (or want to build it) and what it was (or will be) enjoyable about the project. Thanks for all the great content and hopefully I’ll bring some more specific questions in the near future. -Nicholas

Guys Questions:

Long time listener, first time caller. You guys have mentioned water-based conversion varnish and that you can get it pigmented. I hate painting woodworking projects, but the wife wants what she wants. Why do you prefer conversion varnish and is there a certain product you prefer? I have a five stage Apollo sprayer, so spraying shouldn't be a problem. I live on the southside of Indianapolis so it isn't the easiest place to get supplies. Thanks, Geoff

Hi Fellas, I found the podcast a few months ago and have been really enjoying it. Thanks for the great content and knowledge. I am very much a novice woodworker so I have lots of questions. Sounds like you need questions and I would love some answers so maybe we can all come out on top here. Probably me more than you. Question #1 of 2. I have a little doweling jig, I think from Rockler. It gets the job done, but just barely. I would really like to upgrade to something that is more efficient but more importantly, that is more versatile. I want something with adjustable height and that can do acute angles. I would love a domino but its out of my price range right now. I saw that grizzly, triton and mafell all make a doweling joiner similar to a domino. Yes, one of these things is not like the other. The mafell looks incredible but it costs more than the domino. The triton and grizzly look fine and are very reasonably priced but the reviews tell me they probably aren’t worth spending the money. The dowelmax system looks great but its only does 90° and 45°, and you have to buy the 45° adapter plate. After all that, I may as well save a little longer and get the domino. My questions is: should I risk it with the triton, get a biscuit joiner (which I’m worried won’t have enough strength for certain applications) or just keep saving and get a domino down the road? Or is there another product I don’t know about? Thanks. Happy New Year! Jon Moch

Huy's Questions:

I have been given a mission to make a wooden serving dish. The shape is basically an elongated oval. Dimensions are 21" x 9" x 1 1/2". My patron (hum hum) called the design a fish platter. Wood will probably be walnut. The walls of the dish are to be sloped and just slightly curved. With some hand work I think I can achieve the outside wall of the dish. The issue creating the most questions for me is how to do the inside wall of the dish. I have seen plenty of bowl and tray bottom router bits. All cut a vertical wall. Bevel router bits I have seen have a bearing on the bottom. The bearing would interfere with the bottom of the dish. Because of the inside and outside curve of the wall I doubt if making a custom scratch stock would yield good results. I don't want to get into the CNC rabbit hole. Any thoughts? You have a great podcast and provide a valuable service to the wood working community. Cheers, Bob

On one of the kitchen tables that I made I used mortise-and-tenon joinery, which turned out well, with everything plumb, and then to make sure it was strong I also put in a corner brace cut at 45-degrees, screwed into the skirt on each side, and then ran a cabinet screw through that corner brace into the leg. I left a small gap, about 1/16" between the corner brace and the leg. When I tightened up the braces the legs splayed out a little bit, making them not quite plumb. My concern with seeing the leg move is that I may have stressed the tenons (although I didn't hear any cracking). Is the best practice to omit this corner bracing when doing mortise-and-tenon tables? Mark Schmidt

Guys Questions:

Hey guys. I just finished listening to your latest podcast, really good information and insight as usual. I'm still a novice user of the Domino so really enjoyed the tips and tricks you provided in answering a Domino related question. You mentioned being very short on questions so I'm going to send a similar question to one sent a couple of months ago that didn't get answered. I built an outfeed table a couple of years ago to use solely as an extension of my table saw. Now I find that I use it for glue-ups, as an assembly table and just about every other task. The table is roughly 44" x 44". I would now like to rebuild it as a true multi-functional table with the proper hold-downs and clamping devices and could use some design advice from you based upon the pros and cons you find with your own MFT's. One particular area I'm interesting in is the size of dog holes to use (imperial vs metric) and some recommendations on the type of dogs and clamping devices I should buy to get the best use of the MFT. Thanks again for having by far the best woodworking podcast available. And Brian, welcome to the team. Jack Francis Geneva, IL

Happy New Year Guys, and welcome Brian. Guy and Huy have been kind enough to answer a number of my questions in the past (and Huy has always been helpful in making me spend money lol). With my last question you helped me convince myself to invest in a CNC which is on order now, and after watching Guy’s video on his 3D Printer (and he was kind enough to answer a question on the video for me) I was wondering if you three would expand on your thoughts on CNC, 3-D printing, and Lasers in the wood shop for the hobbyist woodworking. I foresee having all three in my arsenal at some point in the near future. Thanks as always and I look forward to your insights, Doug

Brians Questions:

Fellow travelers on this path of wood- First off, there has to be a better way of saying that. Secondly, I don't think I have told you recently how much I am enjoying the podcast, and your new addition Brian. At first I was like "two hosts from Indiana and I don't even believe that state actually exists," but you've won me over. On to my question. I find myself wanting maple doors for my house, but I need...13 to start for the upstairs. And I want them to be curly maple. So, because I got into woodworking to save money (duh), I'm going to build them myself. 4-panel Shaker style interior doors ranging from 24" to 36" wide. Would you recommend using maple ply for the panels, or glueing up stock? Honestly my concern isn't so much wood movement as the P.I.T.A. it would be to make all those panels (Pain in the...). And while we are on the subject of pains in the posterior, would you recommend a Domino or Lamello, save me a few minutes on those mortice and tenons, or just jig it up? Unfortunately I think the hand tools have to sit on the sidelines for this one. Thank you for your sage advice. Excelsior! - Tom Figura

Hi Guy, Huy, and Brian, Thank you for the very informative podcast, I’ve been listening for years. The knowledge that I’ve gained from the Woodshop Life podcast helps me make my limited time in the shop way more efficient. Thank you for generously sharing your wisdom. Question for you guys about sheet good selection. What sheet goods do you typically use for the projects in your shop and what is your thought process when deciding if if a particular project should use Baltic Birch, common 7 layer plywood, MDF, etc.? Baltic Birch is the premium grade option, but do you use it for projects such as shop cabinets, sleds, and fixtures? Thank you, Dominic Santa Cruz, CA

Huy's Questions:

Hello. My question is regarding the placement of a dust collector. I have a 250 SF shop so every SF is precious. I am a hobbyist woodworker/DIYer. My current dust collection is a shop-vac with a dust-stopper bucket separator in a cart. 1 hose, all my tools and multiple converters to fit each tool. The cart doubles as an outfeed table for the table saw. I have an open rafter ceiling with a storage floor in it (currently filled with crap I should get rid of). I am considering a more powerful collector and ducting to 2 machines (miter and table saw) and to a boom arm that can be used for miscellaneous tools (skill saw, drill press etc.). I'm looking at the Jet DC-650MK or something similar (1 -2 HP, $600 - $800ish ranges. So finally, my question: Could a system like this be mounted in that attic storage above the shop and function correctly? Any obvious issues I'd run into? I have simple pully system for getting the full bag from there to the main floor. A couple of concerns are performance issues based on the elevated height, safety (I don't really have any concerns, but this is totally a "I don't know what I don't know" situation) and???? I love the podcast guys. I binged all of your episodes during the height of the pandemic (summer of 2020) and just loved it. I took a break for more than a year but I'm back, and I'm so glad you're still here! Best regards, Michael

Hey Guys. Ive been woodworking for a couple years now and really enjoy the show to learn the fundamentals. I’m currently planning a walnut tv stand build and have a question about box bottoms. The piece will have two support legs (one on either side), a low shelf and a 8 inch deep box on the top spanning the 48 inch width between the legs. The box on the top will have a lid opening from the top similar to a blanket chest and be used to hold exercise dumbbells which collectively weight about 200 lbs. my question is… how should I make the box bottom so that it can support so much weight without any extra supports across the 48 inch span? Hardwood? plywood? Dado a groove for the bottom? From what I can tell online, it might make the most sense to use 3/4 ply and a 3/4 dado however my understand is that the recess below the dado should be the same width as the ply which will leave a 3/4 deep recess under the box that might be noticeable since it’s floating above the lower shelf. Also in a 8 inch tall box, I will be losing precious storage space quickly. I was thinking about cutting a rabbet in the ply to insert only a 1/2 inch in the groove and fill some of the recess under the box bottom but I’m not sure about strength. Maybe I could get away with just 1/2 inch ply in that case? The carcass of the rest of box will be made of solid walnut. I hope that all made sense. Thanks a lot for your thoughts. -Tyler

Guys Questions:

Hey gentlemen, welcome Brian. I have a commission for a big walnut slab table that will live in a nook with windows on 3 sides (lots of UV exposure). What do you recommend for finishing. I seem to recall Guy mentioning some walnut finishes don’t hold up well to UV exposure. I’m probably a month out from delivery so hopefully this makes it to the show before then! Sincerely your accidentental woodworking fabricator. Will

In the past I’ve done a few small veneering projects and am currently working on one which will require a few larger panels- about 24”x 31”. Previously I used a train-load of clamps and cauls to press the veneer but now I want to step up my game so I ordered a vacuum press. Thanks to a few of Guy’s videos the process seems pretty straightforward but I do have a question on the glue. For veneering my only experience is with Titebond cold press veneer glue with good results but in some videos I’ve seen some folks recommend Urea-formaldehyde glue - especially for larger panels. Do any of you have experience with this stuff? Sounds a bit nasty but if it’s better for the application I’ll give it a shot. Thanks! Jeffrey

Brians Questions:

Been listening to the podcast for a couple years now, and while I'm sorry to see Sean step away for now, I'm happy that you found someone willing to chip in! Two things, both mainly for Brian. One, you've mentioned that you don't have much of a social media presence or any way to really show case your work. While a lot of people do turn to Facebook, Instagram, etc. for this... I wonder if maybe simply an account on SimpleCove.com (Sean's website) might be a good fit? Two... work bench. Lots of questions - what style are you planning (Roubo, Nicholson, Moravian, Shaker, hybrid, something else?), size, what kind of wood are you thinking of using - fancy with hardwoods, or something simpler ala Siemensen's Naked Woodworker bench or Schwarz's Anarchist Workbench (both 2x construction lumber)? I think you'd mentioned still being up in the air about vise hardware - are you leaning towards wood screws like Lake Erie Toolworks, or metal like Benchcrafted? Maybe Hovarter, which has some quick-release options? And then the really big question... dog holes. Round or square? Answer carefully ;) I'm one of those people who has to fight the urge to build almost every bench design I see. Started with a Nicholson, but kind of went off in a weird direction with it and didn't like how it turned out. Deconstructed it and re-purposed most of the lumber for other projects. Couldn't make up my mind what I wanted to build next (not enough room for one of each!) so I put some inexpensive import (Yost) vises on a utility bench in the shop, and have been living with that for now. Not ideal, but it's letting me work out a few ideas on a trial basis before I have to commit. Very much looking forward to hearing (or seeing) more about your bench project! - Monte

Thank you all for spreading the knowledge and answering questions. I find myself building more cabinets lately out of plywood and I'm edge banding them with solid lumber (I go with 5/16 on the banding). I cut the banding a little wider than the sheet goods, glue it on and then trim it flush. I'm running into some issues during the trimming that I'm hoping you guys can chime in on. Often times, when I'm trimming the banding I get a little gouge here and there on the face veneer. It's not a huge deal on paint grade stuff but when I'm using something like walnut, cherry or white oak ply, it becomes a problem. What tips do you have for trimming the edge banding cleanly and efficiently without damaging the veneer? Below are some things I've tried and some of my experiences with these methods. I'm curious if you have other methods, or if you have some tips to improve what I'm already doing. Things I've tried so far: - Router balanced on the edge - so far the worst method. Too tippy and additional supports can take a while to set up, with ocasional slipups still. - Router jig - I saw Fredie @periodcraftsmen share a jig for flush triming the edge banding and I copied it. The jig has a flat wide reference face that rides on the panel face (laid flat) and it has a 90 degree fence that holds up a trim router horizontally. Using a downcut bit, the router is adjusted so that the bit is almost flush to the reference face and it trims the edgebanding protruding above the flat face. I hope you can picture that. This gives good results but I ocasionally run into issues at the start and end of the panel where the jig may want to tip a bit and bite into the face. - Tall fence on the table saw - using it kind of like an L-fence, the sacrificial face is set up above the blade and flush with the outer teeth. The panel rides the fence vertically and the edgbanding rides under the fence where it gets trimmed off. This so far gives the best results especially when I went to an extra tall fence to give it more of a bearing surface and not let the panel tip. Ocasionally the panel is a bit bowed which gives it a bit of trouble and it can be a bit unwieldy if the panel is large. Can be hard to keep it flat on a long panel. It is fast though. - Hand plane - using a block plane carefully work it down. I have still bit into it a few times when not careful but this is overall the most accurate method. It is slow though and can be a pain if there is a lot of trimming. - Bojan

Huy's Questions:

When you're building a piece of furniture (like a dresser), do you follow a specific order? Like cutting everything first, arming (make sure that everything works), disarming. Karel

I love your podcast. You try hard to fully answer questions asked and not provide flippant answers like other shows do. That’s what makes this show great. Now to my question. I have been wanting to upgrade my sanding game. I want to reduce the vibration, have it stop quickly, and produce a great result. I would love to hear your thoughts on what you look for in sanders such as the size (5 or 6 in), pad types (soft through hard), brands you have used and liked, and what brand of paper you buy. I’m starting to realize no one sander does it all anymore, so do you have a progression of sander purchases you would make for a simple furniture maker? Thanks you for anything you provide. - Brian Russell

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Guy's Questions:

Hey guys, Have a, “what is your favorite finish” question. While this has been asked and answered a thousand times, I’m struggling to find a good answer for my scenario. I’m putting up a pine tongue and groove wall in a small bathroom. What would you suggest for the best and easiest application for finishing a wood bathroom wall with irregular surfaces? I want a slightly amber but not darkening, matte to approaching semi-gloss finish. I prefer to prefinish the uncut boards and cut to fit. Preferred options for finish application are either my electric spray gun or wipe on finish…although with the irregular surface I don’t want a difficult wipe on finish option. -Zack

Hey guys, I enjoy the podcast. I recently got a festool domino. I wanted to see if you guys could provide some tips that would help a new user. Also if you have bought or made some jigs that you would recommend. Thanks, Scott Birmingham, AL

Brian's Questions:

Hello! I hope you all are doing well! I live in the great state of Alabama just up the road a short bit from Huy in Toney. I greatly enjoy your podcast as it is definitely the best one on the subject of woodworking! I would consider myself a hobbyist woodworker although, I have built some commissioned pieces. I have a Ridgid contractor saw mounted to the mobile stand that it came with. I use this saw for all sorts of projects, including ripping full sheets of plywood. My question is concerning the riving knife. Are there any benefits to the dang thing? I may have bent mine during a previous operation but, it seems to me that it just gets in the way and prevents me from being able to move material smoothly through the blade and is causing burning in some or most of my cuts. Also, I am using the blade that came with the saw. Should I swap to a different blade? Is the brand of blade as important as the type of blade? Thank you very much for answering my questions and I look forward to listening to many more episodes of the podcast. Juston Bohannan

Huys' Questions:

I thought these two might lead to some good conversations. 1. If you were to build a set of dining chairs. What is your absolute tool you couldn’t do without. Would it be a domino or would you spring for a panto router. Maybe a shaper origin. 2. Besides a captured veneered panel could you get away with 1/16 veneers on one side and 3/32 backing veneers on the other side on a panel? Essentially would you veneer a panel with different thickness of veneers on either side. Reason I ask I might make a builtin shelving unit with 1/16” veneer on the front and some 3/32 backing veneer on the back side that faces the wall. It would be captured with the cabinet carcass dado so I would assume it wouldn’t potato chip. But who knows. Jesse @ beechlandfurniture

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Guys Questions:

Hello fellas. I greatly appreciate your show, as its the only one that I haven’t gotten tired of over the years. I’m making a chimney cupboard for the most difficult of clients – my wife. She really dislikes, frame and panel doors and wanted solid doors. So there will be two 40 inch high by 20 inch wide – full overlay doors. I’m using beautiful air dryer sinker Cypress for the entire piece. I’ve convinced her that big slabs of solid wood doors would potentially bow or twist overtime, so I have developed an idea of making each door like this - I’ve sourced a 26 inch wide 8 foot board. after milling and cutting to 44 inch pieces, I cut the middle out to be the panel and will use the adjoining pieces for the rail and styles. The panel will be tongue and grooved to sit flush with the front with the styles - with an 1/8 inch gap. Therefore, it will be a frame and panel door, but out of one piece of wood that looks solid. My question is relating to the inside panel and its thickness. It seems if I leave it thicker (currently 5/8”) it will be more prone to twisting the frame, where if I bring it down thinner like 3/8”, it may be more prone to splitting. Please let me know your thoughts . Thank you so much. Mike Sibley

Hi Gents. Love the show. I've invested in a 3 stage sprayer and have been trying it out, getting the hang of it. Any General advice to a new sprayer user? Also, while a perfect coat is the goal, would it be better to put down too much, or too little of 'sprayables'? It seems too little is much easier to fix. Usually just add another coat after it's dried. Thanks for the great show! Mark Bett

Brian's Questions:

Guy’s, I love the podcast and listen often but haven’t caught completely up yet. What is a good method of making mortise and tenon jointery with a router only? I’ve got a Bosch 1/2” router and intent to buy a router table too. I’ve seen various jigs on the market but was wondering what the best option is for the money having only a router, and small DEWALT 8.5” lunchbox table saw. I intend to build smaller household furniture such as side tables, nightstands and a dresser. Thanks for the advice, love the show, Dave Huffman

I would love to get a subscription to a woodworking magazine for my fiance for Christmas. He's a big fan of your podcast. You have mentioned one before but now I can't find it. What are your suggestions? - Lauren Zontini

Huy's Questions

I have a Dewalt 733 planer and the blades are starting to go dull. I saw online where I could build a jig out of a 2x4 by cutting 2 slots at 42 degrees angles and placing my blades inside the slots. You would then run the blades over a sharpening stone to give it a new edge. Is this a good method for sharpening my blade or should I be looking for another method. Keep making this podcast and I am sure that all of us out here listening will continue to tune in and keep asking questions. Happy Holidays to all of you Cory

Sorry if this is a repeat only mostly caught up. The wife wants a painted double dresser. I dislike painted furniture and prefer to work with maple or walnut but we compromised… so the wife’s getting a painted double dresser. I intend to use plywood since it’s a paint grade project but don’t have much experience with it. What’s a good construction method for plywood? I’ve got a small table saw, 1/2” router, kreg jig and hand tools. Can I get way with using the kreg jig and but joints for carcass construction? How about plywood drawers? I intend to use latex paint, should I add a top coat over it? Many Thanks, love the podcast Dave Huffman

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Guys Questions:

Hello fellow wood shop enthusiasts! I was recently watching Guys YouTube videos of the secretary with tambour doors. He made a comment about sanding the door to I think 350, but also made a comment about treating the end grain differently so that it would not take on more oil and I assume darken it more then the face. He did not really elaborate on the technique. How is end grain treated differently when applying oil finishes and when staining? - Unkown

Hey guys this is Mason from Blairswoodshop again. A follow up from the first question I asked about the jet 16-32 conveyor belt, I did what you said and now there is no more constant adjustments and it seems to work great now thank you for the help! Now for the next question. I have some really nice looking spaulted maple, as you know it's not structurally the most sound. I was thinking about maybe making it into thin veneer for box lids and things like that. I have no veneering experience or a vacuum pump, what is a cheap way to start veneering with out breaking the bank? I've been spending so much on tools last thing I need to do is go to the wife saying I need more tools haha, Thank you all for what you guys do! Look for to hear what you guys suggest. P.S. I do have everything to make the veneers just looking for diffrent ways to attach it to my work pieces. Mason Blair

Brian's Questions:

1- I have a Dewalt dw735 planer and so far so good, But I noticed that if I try with a wide plank the planer makes a noise that sounds like it's too much for him to handle, how do you guys use a planer? One dimension several passes with 32s increments? - Karel

Any advice for someone trying to start their own woodworking buisness? I do small crafts currently, but I plan to start selling furniture in the near future . Feel free to check out what I’m doing at the moment. - Dillon

Huy's Questions:

Hey guys, Do you know where I can find information on guidelines for building furniture? (i.e. website or books) For example, I'm looking to build a queen size platform bed frame with 20 inch legs and use castle joint joinery to connect the four sides to the legs. I'm trying to figure out what the minimum size the four sides, feet should be and how deep should the castle joints be? Deeper than my 10 inch table saw can cut? Thanks for all the great help. - Matt

I would like to monetize my woodworking as a side business, if possible, in the future. Honestly, I am not sure if that means cutting boards or commissions, but I am leaning towards some simple stuff and seeing where it goes. I’ve thought of adding some sort of CNC to the mix. I am on the fence if I should go the route of a Shaper Origin as I can use this to make patterns for furniture projects, aid in doing some repetitive work, and do some custom accents on small items to personalize items for people or do I go the route of getting a Onefinity or other similar sized DIY CNC machine? The Onefinity would obviously take up much more room and cannot be brought to the project but could work on its own so to speak so if I am going to try and make money it can be working on something while I am doing something else. So, the part two to this question is if I go this route do you think I should get an add on laser attachment again for decorative personalization of future items to be made?

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Guy

1) Hi Guy, Huy, and Sean. I have a question about prefinishing and glue. I know that the generally recommended best practice when prefinishing is to tape off any surfaces that will later be receiving glue. However, I'm building a project that is going to have basically a grid of cross lap joints, and taping off all of those surfaces sounds really annoying. If I use epoxy as my glue instead of yellow wood glue, could I get away with not taping off the glue surfaces? The joints I am making should be pretty strong, so the glue is really just there to stop things from shifting. Thanks! Matthew

2) I'm curious what you do when your local lumber store doesn't have what you want or need?  We have one hardwood dealer in town, and the next nearest supplier is 3-4 hrs away (each way).   The local place has a lot of the most common stuff, but every once in a while I hit a wall when looking for something they don't carry.  I've heard of people ordering lumber either over the phone or online and having it shipped to them.  I think Guy has mentioned calling his local store and having them deliver it to his door; I don't know if this would be a similar process, or something else entirely. Thanks, Monte

Sean

1) Hi Guys,

Thank you for all the hard work you put into the podcast. It is extremely educational and very helpful.

I am sure you discussed it in some form previously, but I wanted to ask if each of you can describe the equipment you use for spraying, does it handle different type of finishes (i.e. paint, poly, etc.) and would you buy the same equipment again or switch to a different one? Thank you again. Omer

Huy

1) Hi Guys, (and Guy),

I wrote you a few weeks back about a glue up question. The advice that you gave was spot on. Thank You for clearing up the questions that I had on that topic. Once again, YOU GUYS ROCK!

And Guy, you mentioned to place my Cherry boards outside in the sun for a day to darken them up, WOW did that do the trick! It is tips like that, that really make you guys stand out compared to other podcasts.

I am on to another project now, and that is building my grand kids toy dump trucks for Christmas.

Here I have another glue up question. A neighbor gave me a quart of Titebond Cold Press for Veneer glue. I was gonna try and use this like regular wood glue. I do not think this would cause any issues but I thought I would run it past all of you to see if I am missing anything. Is there an issue  with using Veneer glue like this? Cory

2) Hi guys! Awesome podcasts, as always, and thank you for answering some of my previous questions. I really appreciate the feedback that you have been able to provide. My question today is about mobility versus stability. I do the majority of my woodworking out of one half of a two car garage and I often switch between power tool focused projects and hand tool projects depending on the project. My project list, both for clients and for my wife and myself, is always changing so it seems that my work flow and my shop setup changes on a regular basis. My bench and assembly table are built on locking casters making them easily mobile, but not stable enough for serious hand tool work. How do you balance stability with mobility? Also, how do you incorporate adequate dust collection with the power tools when they are mobile? I have a 3 1/2 HP Harbor Freight dust collector with 4" hose, but I have not yet installed any fixed piping in my shop, I'm currently moving it from machine to machine. Would you recommend putting it in a corner and running pipes along the ceiling to drop down to the machines? Thank you guys, Joshua The Blackdog Woodworks

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Guy

1) Dear Guy / Huy / Sean - First off, thank you for the podcast you produce.  It is the only podcast I listen to that I have to pull over in the car to take notes on the way to work.  I wish I lived closer to any of you to interact with you on a personal level instead of only podcasts.  Anyway...my question has to do with needing advice on what to do with a crazy looking piece of burl.  I have been helping my parents move out of their lifelong home and have "inherited" lots of wood from my Dad.  The most interesting wood is a wild piece of knobby burl (not sure the species).  I'm struggling with what to do with it though.  It's roughly 6" per side but has many 'branches'.  I can send a pic if needed but wasn't sure how on the website.  I have essentially all the needed woodworking equipment including a mini-lathe but cannot figure out what to do with such a weird piece.    I would love to make something unique but cannot figure out what to make out of this crazy wood.  I would appreciate any creative advice you can give.  P.S. - Guy - the desk you built was jaw dropping and I saved several pics.  That desk is the inspiration for my someday desk.  I wish I lived in Indiana to work alongside you as it seems like you have a dream job.  Huy - similar story to you as well.  As an engineer, I tried to get on with NASA but that path is not for me it appears.  Sean - I'm not sure what your personal life is like as you seem somewhat reserved but I feel like we have parallel lives!  We would make good neighbors / friends I think.   Thank you all for that you guys do.  Keep the saw dust flying!  Cheers, Greg

2) Hi Gents,

Thanks for the great podcast and constantly sharing your knowledge, war stories and humor every 2 weeks.  It's always a good day when the Woodshop Life shows up in my podcast feed.

That's enough about how great you all are - onto my question.

For the 8+ years I've been wood working I've constantly  heard that you should lightly spray your project with water to raise the grain and sand back before applying finish.  So my question is what's the advantage of using water to raise the grain?  Why not apply a light coat of Shellac or poly to raise the grain and then sand back and you're a coat of finish further on?  Is there any advantage to using water?

Thanks again for everything you do.

Regards, John McGrath, Houston, TX

3) Hey Guys, love listening to your podcast while in the shop. As an Asian American who does woodworking, really appreciate seeing, and hearing, from other Asian Americans like Huy who share the same interest in this space. My question for you guys: I am making a round dining table. The top will be glued up walnut planks with a 51 inch diameter. The base will be pedestal style base with a diameter of around 22 inches. It will be constructed out of bent plywood (using kerf relief cuts and veneering the outside with walnut) and hollow inside except for some cross braces for rigidity. I plan on sealing the bottom with either (1) a 22 inch diameter plywood( or solid wood) base to cover the bottom and add weights inside the base to make sure the top doesn't tip over or (2) a larger than 22" diameter base. My questions is if I do the first option, is there a calculation as to minimum weight is needed to make sure the solid walnut top of 51" won't tip over?

Or if I do option 2, how large of a bottom base to do I need to prevent tip over? Is there a calculation for that? I think option 1 is a cleaner and preferred look, but I don't want to risk tipping over and crushing a child or a toe.

Thanks in advance and look forward to listening to the next podcast. Dennis

Huy

1) Almost done with the nightstands I have been working on and asking questions about the past month. Made from two hand sawn walnut logs I salvaged etc. Out of logs. Drawer front is 1/2" too narrow side to side. Solution is to put a 1/4" edge band on the drawers. Problem solved. But I decided to make it complicated. Want to do 1/2" edge band on the top as well. Should I just glue this on or attempt to make the smallest breadboard ends ever? By my math I would have 1/2" strips- 1/8" shoulder 1/8" peg 1/8" tenon past that and 1/8" on the strip covering it up. Is this necessary, feel like I am making dollhouse furniture here after the shed and 10' long bookshelves I just finished. Edge banding would run across the grain, 14" x 12.5" x .625" (5/8) top, ripped and glued as per my question a month ago, picture below for reference. Tom

2)

Thanks for the amazing podcast.    You fellas have answered my questions and were very helpful!  I”m having trouble centering my hollow chisel mortiser.  I used the “X” method.  Mark a horizontal line and then two opposing 45’s to get center.  I have used a marking gauge, and kept adjusting till it lands on the same mark.  I then adjust my x and y axis table to hit center, then it’s not center.  

Any thoughts would be great!  Thanks so much!

Scott Bonin

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Sean

1) Wanted to start off by saying how much I enjoy listening to all yall! Been learning quite a bit from the 3 of you. My question seems fairly simple but I know it can turn into a can of worms depending on who you ask. Anyways, considering the woods: Walnut, Red Oak, White Oak, Paduk, and other species similar to those listed. What would be each your top 3 finishes and why? Finished look that I'm not after is shiny or "plastic" looking. I feel it looks really tacky. I'm more towards flat and matte.

Thanks for everything yall do!

2) Hello everyone, Wondering what materials you prefer using when building boxes? I see many people using BB ply but wondering if you prefer using solid wood over the ply (soft maple, poplar?). Thanks, Paul at Twin Lake Woodshop

Guy

1) I am a hobbyist woodworker and constantly battling kids' clutter and vehicles in my shop.  All my tools are mobile but, one challenge that I come across is finding level ground to set up my tools on.  My garage has a floor has a  drain in the center of it and the floors all slope inward accordingly making it difficult to set up level and flat,  ie: Dewalt Contractor saw and outfeed table.  Any suggestions that you may have other than re-pouring the floor or building it up would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again, and keep up the great work. Mike from Calgary Alberta Canada.

2) Just recently started listening to your podcast.  I was hoping you guys could discuss a topic I am wrestling with called glue creep. 

Last year I completed 2 table top projects using Titebond 2.  1 project I used 8/4 white oak and the other was 8/4 hard maple (both dried ~14-17% MC in SE Indiana).  At the time of project completion, both tables were sanded smooth and finished (1 with a stain and water based poly, the other with briwax).  However, after a year I can feel the glue seam of both tables with my fingernail which I am learning is a condition called glue creep. 

I am not sure if it is because the wood is shrinking and the glue isnt, or if the glue is expanding due to joint stress?  The joints seemed rather tight from the jointer and I used dowel rods (triton dowel joint tool) to align them.  Curious if its the glue or joint stress from either not tight joint faces or dowel rods that are not aligned perfectly causing joint stress.  I do find that some dowels are not perfectly aligned when I clamp because the tool has a ton of issues, I just recently bought a domino jointer XL so I hope this helps with alignment.

I would like to know how to avoid this as it poses a threat to the quality of my project.  Thank you ! Ty

Huy

1)  I've had the bad fortune of being burned by a few clients, the common denominator in these experiences being that I either didn't ask the right questions or set the right expectations in the intake stage of the process.

For instance, one client refused to pay the balance he owed on a Murphy bed because it took too long to finish. The reason it took so long, however, was that the bed I built for him was too big to fit up his staircase, so I had to build a second that could be assembled on site. On other occasions, I've had clients request a custom quote or design, then balk at the price and vanish on me, leaving me out several hours of work designing a piece I no longer have any intention of building.

I'd love to hear what your intake process is from the moment you receive a request to when you start building so you can anticipate and sidestep potential issues such as these. I modify my intake questionnaire each time I have one of these experiences (e.g., charging a design fee, asking whether there's a clear path to the landing site, etc.), but I worry there's icebergs I don't see and would love to benefit from more knowledgeable peers. Thanks again, Patrick Bock PDB Creations

2) I recently finished a console table and had some questions about the joinery. The table and legs were 2-3/4” thick and 15” wide solid poplar. For the joinery I planned on using dowels and my mastercraft drill guide. My first plan was to use 3 each leg 1-3/8” diameter dowels but when I practiced the drilling with the guide I could not get repeatable 90deg holes. I ended up using a simple guide and drilling 1/2” dowels but still had some small issues with alignment so on the second leg I made a template and things went much smoother. Anyways I was wondering what you all would do without having a high end drill guide, drill press, or domino. The legs were to big for me to feel comfortable making a Traditional tenon on my contractor saw so that’s why I went with the dowels. Anyways the table turned out great just trying to think of new ideas for next time.  Thanks in advance. Big fan of the show. Adam

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Sean

1) Hi fellas. I found your podcast a few months ago and I'm working my way from the start to get all caught up, so please forgive me if you've addressed this question before.

For the last few years, I've been mostly focused on turning, but my wife would really like a new bed frame and has asked me to design and build one similar to one from a local wood furniture shop. I'm planning to make it out of solid cherry. I hear a lot of talk about wood movement, and particularly how it is problematic in cross grain situations. I was planning on using the domino to attach the horizontal pieces of the headboard and footboard to the posts, but that creates a cross grain situation. Is that a mistake? Any tips for making that joint and accounting for movement?

Thanks for the great content. For someone who hasn't made furniture in quite some time, it helps to give me reminders of all of the things I've forgotten. - Firelight Woodworks

2) Hello, thank y’all for the awesome podcast. I am looking at moving from south texas to mid-Tennessee and I worried about the change in humidity. I have many projects on the agenda that I can either push to completion or wait until after the big move.  It is extremely humid here in Texas and I have already purchased all my raw materials. So I will have to move all the materials to my new shop (space undetermined at the moment) or risk the humidity shift in the completed furniture. Joshua

Guy

1) Hello guys, always love the show and I tried out the Guy’s tip of the flat cart at Lowes to haul plywood. Not easy still but easier for sure, I had never thought of it!  That got you a new Patreon Subscriber and glad to support you.

My latest challenge in the shop has been the quality of cut from my bandsaw. Please don’t laugh. I’m working with a 14” Delta clone from overseas that I bought in about 1986. It has always needed a concrete block on the base to keep it from waddling out of the shop on it’s mobile base when it’s running so I would never call this precision balanced machinery.  I do have the guides and blade tension well dialed in, or as much as you can dial in a 35 year cheap bandsaw.  I have replaced the tires and the blade I’m currently using is good quality and sharp. Motor is 1HP 120V that have never seem to have bogged down. I typically use 4 or 6 TPI ¼” blades because I’m just too lazy to swap blades.

The saw tracks well but the cut has never been smooth. It’s not rough like a 10 tooth circular saw blade would be on particle board it’s more like a washboard surface with consistently spaced ridges on all the surfaces. This happens with any kind of wood, every feed rate I can try and It happens when I’m cross cutting or ripping. I have made it work over the years with sanding it all out but I wanted to bounce it off you guys to see if you’ve ever experienced that and been able to pin point it’s cause.  Vibration is present in the saw but I always figured I got what I paid for and I can’t remember if the saw made that kind of cut when it was new.

I am studying reviews to buy a new bandsaw but I wanted to pass this one down to a beginning woodworker and would love for it to be cutting smoother.

Thoughts? Thanks Bob

2)  G'day fellas, I found your podcast a couple of weeks ago,  and I have since binge-listened to every episode (I operate mining machinery in 12 hr shifts,  so I have a LOT of listening time). I'm a motorcycle enthusiast, currently fitting out a new workshop in my spare time. I decided to fit out the workshop myself,  and in the process of researching that,  I have become obsessed with woodworking. I'm in the position of having a large, new space to develop as I see fit. It consists of 55m² (about 700 square feet) in total,  with a 1200mm high retaining wall along one wall (I have excavated an 2.4m (8ft) high space under the house,  and had to leave a metre along one wall for the stability of the foundations),  resulting in a floor space of 45m², and a 10m² "shelf" along one side. Up until listening to your show,  I intended to use the space on top of the retaining wall to build workbenches, in order to make the space usable. However,  you all seem to value mobility of your workspaces,  so I am now considering my options,  and think that I could be better off using the majority of the space on top of the retaining wall for storage,  with a mix of cabinets and shelving,  with a relatively small space for a workbench along that wall,  and keep the rest of my bench space mobile. What do you blokes think? If you had this much space,  would you continue to value mobility of workstations,  or create more permanent areas? What other tips for setting up a space like this can you give me,  keeping in mind that sawdust is the natural enemy of shiny bikes? Keep up the great content,  and thanks for all keeping me awake through the long night shifts! Jim

Huy

1) Hi Fellas, love the podcast. The value and knowledge us woodworkers get from your content is unmatched. Great mix of personalities and experience. I have worked hard over the last five years to renovate my shop and acquire tools. I have a small space (260sqft) but fully dedicated. Insulated wires everywhere with multiple 240 circuits. I have midrange tools, 6” jointer, 13” planer, table saw, router table, bandsaw, drill press, 14” radial arm saw(yet to rebuild but plan for a joint miter armsaw station. A friend of mine is getting into woodworking and just bought a house that came with a fully loaded cabinet shop. 1600sqft fully loaded. This shop is 5 minutes from me. With access to this, what would you change to your workflow and small shop? I do really like having a full shop so I can work at night when kids are asleep.

 Second question, got a pile of zebra wood from an estate sale, I have a 8/4 12” wide 4’ long piece. What would you do with it? Robert

2) Got another one for ya. I know you all have talked extensively about finishing on multiple different occasions but I have a question regarding top coats after painting and I don’t recall that officially being discussed.

I made my son a lofted bed during the pandemic. Really basic construction grade lumber piece ( go easy on me Guy). At the time I stained it with a dark oil based gel stain and followed up with an oil based poly top coat. I am now repurposing the bed for his younger sister. I’ve disassembled it and plan on giving everything a good sand because frankly I didn’t do a good enough job with that the first time around. I’m planning on painting the bed white so right now I’m thinking I’ll need to prime it and seal it before using a basic latex paint and then finish it off with a water based poly. Thoughts? My guess is y’all aren’t painting very many pieces, but when you do what kind of top coat do you use, if any?

Thanks again.Jonathan

This Episodes Questions:

Brians Questions:

Hey guys thanks for the best podcast You knowledge and wisdom Thanks for answering my last question about what project would help build my skills My question now is I’m looking for a set of chisels and I don’t know what brand to get i’d save up to buy the brand that to get recommended cause I want a set that lasts Thanks for your help and guidance wise ones Ashtin

I hope you can help me: I made a 58 inch round table top out of 3/4 inch, good quality plywood. It's meant to sit on top of smaller round table (48 inches) to add additional seating for occasional use when extra guests are coming to dinner. I've done it before with good results. To make it manageable, and because it's quite heavy, I cut it in half.  I use a rug pad between the smaller table and the 'topper' table to keep the 2 halves from slipping.  I fitted it and made sure it worked in the space and was stable before doing the finishing.  All good so far. My problem is: I finished one side with stain, lacquer and wax and it looks great.  Then I turned both halves over and repeated the same process on the other side.  When both sides were all finished, I noted that one of the halves had developed a slight bow, thus making the fitting together of the 2 halves a little wonky.  But, when I turned only the bowed half over, the 2 halves fit together perfectly.  YAY!   BUT - here's my problem.  With both sides lining up perfectly, and laying flat on the rug pad on top of the smaller table, the stain color is slightly different on the 2 halves. Thinking about how this happened I realized I had to open a new can of stain part way through staining the 2nd side. I must have mixed one of the cans poorly. Or maybe different batches can be slightly different? What are my options? I don't think any of these will work. Do I:1. Try to clamp the bowed half of the table topper (plywood) for awhile hoping to eliminate the bow? 2. Try to refinish the halves that fit so they match? 3. Come up with a latch of some sort to eliminate the bow when using the table topper? Since the lacquer is on and wax is rubbed in on both sides, I don't even think I could paint, or add a veneer. Am I stuck with a harlequin table topper? Trish O'Neill

Guy's Questions:

In contrast to some podcasters who seem to think we are interested in listening to them talk for the sake of talking,   you guys have the best podcast as far as communicating tips and techniques for woodworking so thank you for all your hard work. I have been been working and building things wood for many years but within the last year have dove into making more fine woodworking type of projects, with nice woods like Walnut and Cherry for example. I have been using shellac as well as 1:1:1 mixtures of BLO:Polyurethane:Turpentine and Beeswax:BLO:Turpentine for finishing so far.  Wipe on, wipe off technique...  What finishes are considered best to really highlight the chatoyance/beauty nice figured woods?  It seems like the finishes I have used so far are not doing it justice that or maybe I am just too critical. Quinn

Hey guys! Thank you so much for your hard work on the podcast. I love listening to how much fun you guys have and getting answers to questions on various woodworking topics. Great content! We are running a woodworking company, mainly doing cabinets, out of our 500 square foot garage. We have a Hammer 12" planer but would like a sander to assist with uniform door sizes. When it comes to sanders, what would you recommend? Would it be worth getting an open-ended wide belt sander (Grizzly 15" or something) for the extra horsepower and belt size, or would a drum sander be sufficient? Within the realm of drum sanders, would an open model (such as Supermax 2550) running on 110v be sufficient, or would you recommend a closed model with greater horsepower? More capacity, less power, or vice versa? Just want to hear your thoughts on width capacity, motor power, belt size, machine footprint, and which you think is most important. Sorry for the long question, and thanks in advance for your help on this! Gavin

Huy's Questions:

Hi, I have a question about applying finishes in cold conditions. My specific situation is that I have a bunch of drawer boxes for a desk I’m building, and I’ll be finishing them with a few coats of Zinsser Bullseye brand spray shellac. The only instructions on the can pertaining to the spray conditions say to apply it with "the can at room temperature”. Based on my experience it does tend to smell up the house a little (or so my wife says), so what I’d like do is to spray them outside. The workpieces and the spray can would be brought outside to the 40 degree weather, then I’d quickly do the spraying, and then bring everything inside to dry. Although there will be some smell from the outgassing of the solvent, at least there won't be any smell from any overspray. What do you think about this plan? And is there any limit to how I can safely have them outside after spraying, before things would be adversely affected by the cold? Thanks. Steve Feldman

Gentlemen, First I would like to thank you guys and Guy for the podcast and and for sharing all your knowledge. About 6 months ago we had a large multi truck red oak tree fell down in the front yard. Being so frugal, I cut it up myself for later use. I painted the ends to help preserve the wood. Now I’m looking to bring it to a sawyer. My wife/I are not a fan of the cathedral 80’s look nor the live edge. We both agree that quarter sawn would look nice. We have a large space for a table and my kids are starting to have kids so a very long table would be nice to have.If I don’t have enough wood post kiln drying, how can I extend the table length to 12’. *Breadboard ends?*Hardware to insert multiple leafs (any recommendations)?*butcher block some boards glued end grain to endgrain staggered? The available logs I have vary from the biggest in diameter 15”-24” and length 8’-12’. The thickest being the shortest unfortunately. While the longer ones are curved. I have limited woodworking outside of lots of endgrain cutting boards, the usual kitchen wares and a few boxes. This is one project I can afford to mess up.I don’t currently own a domino, but would be willing to buy one if needed. I have a 20”hh jet planer , 8”hh Laguna joiner, 8’ JLT panel clamp the big industrial type. Jason

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Sean

1) I’ve found some really nice walnut burl veneer  that I would like to use on the tambours. I plan on veneering these on to solid walnut in the hopes of both accounting for wood movement in the veneer, and not seeing an ugly MDF substrate when opening the doors. Am I going overboard by using solid walnut for the backing substrate, or is there a way to hide the edges of the MDF as to not see them when moving the doors? And would using MDF as a substrate cause issue with the veneer moving over time? I plan on using the heat lock veneer glue to adhere the veneers to the substrate.

2) Hello Sean, Guy, and Huy. You guys always make one of the best podcasts and i love hearing your different outlooks on topics. My question today is about design and encouraging creativity. Obviously, this will be different depending on whether or not there is a client involved, but how do you decide on a direction for the design of a piece of furniture? How do you begin, with the design or the materials? Have you ever looked at a piece (or stack) of lumber and designed your project to highlight something special about it? On the other hand, have you ever designed a piece, and then had to find the perfect piece of lumber to make it with?

Thank you,  Joshua from The Blackdog Studios (finding beauty in former trees)

Huy

1) So I've heard of some folks making the decision to not have a table saw in their shops. 2 main reasons cited being safety (IF ITS NOT A SAWSTOP YOU WILL DIE) and also space. Personally, I understand their position, but don't think I could do it. I simply like my saw too much. Would any of you consider it? Additionally, what operations does the table saw perform that you could not duplicate on/with another machine? I realize this is more of a thought experiment than question, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

thanks for the great show!

Mark

2) Hey all, thanks for the great show. I notice I have been getting diminished quality cuts from my full kerf glue line rip blade on my table saw. (That is- minor saw blade marks, occasional burning)  in addition, I notice a touch of increased resistance as I begin to exit my rip cuts, and the blade seems to make contact again as the board moves past the blade.

To address these issues, I have adjusted the blade to about 2 thou to the left (I cut on the right of my blade generally) and adjusted my fence. I have an older , beat up Powermatic 64B  contractor saw. I have noticed the plastic faces of the fence are a bit wavy (again, a few thousands, maybe about 10-15 thou variation throughout) but I have the extreme front and back of the fence perfectly aligned. My rips aren’t perfect when I cut from the left of the blade, but the resistance feels more consistent and predictable.

I am currently transitioning from hobbyist to full time and would like to solve this annoyance, as it occasionally affects my panel glue ups, and cutting board season is nearly upon us. I think for now, I will clamp on an MDF fence to see if that can help suck out the issue. If it is a fence face or alignment issue. Do you think I should maybe invest in a better fence, or should I consider replacing my glorious Powermatic saw with a  SawStop Cabinet  saw exclusively to spite Guy. I do have 220 in the shop now powering my heater and  big Grizzly bandsaw, with amperage remaining for a 3hp cabinet. It would also be great to have a table saw with dust collection.

Side note:

Sorry for the length, y’all always ask for more details. And a replacement cabinet saw wouldn’t have to be a SawStop, but I think it may be good insurance when I can afford to hire an employee. That said, this would be an upgrade maybe 3-8 months down the line if I’m making consistent money. Longer if I can get the Powermatic figured out. I do a range of things. From small CNC projects, shelves, cutting boards, and  plan to move onto selling furniture.

Dillon

Guy

1) Got one more question for ya. Shorter this time. I recently popped open a can of water based poly that I’ve had in storage for a while. The top 3/4 of the can was great but when I got to the bottom 1/4 it had turned in to a thick gel like substance. I did some quick googling and found a forum post where somebody suggested creating CO2 gas by mixing baking soda and vinegar in a jar and “pouring” that gas in to a partially used can of poly. The CO2 will displace the oxygen in the can and then you seal it up. This preserves the leftover poly as the reaction with oxygen is what hardens it. Obviously it’s too late for my can but have you all ever heard of this? If so have you ever done it? Thought it was pretty interesting regardless.

Thanks,

Jon

2) Hi guys love the podcast.  My question is this ,  is it of absolute importance to have a dead flat assembly table to glue up your work square and keep it square?

I ask because I built a dresser and glued it up checked it for square and moved it to my floor which is steel plates, rechecked it for square and it was fine.  Came beck the next morning and took it out of clamps and out of square it was had to disassemble and re glue very frustrating.  So now looking to build an assembly table that is flat and level so I want to know how flat does it need to be.

Thanks keep up the good work.

Fred clarke

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Guy

1) Thanks for the great podcast, I’ve learned a lot throughout the episodes. I’ve been a wood turner for twelve or so years but now getting into fine furniture making.  A shout out to Sean as I’m a fellow Kentuckian (Louisville).

My question is: I’m working on two shaker side tables right now that are 20”x20”.  As I think about the drawer construction, I’m at a bit of a crossroads with the bottom of the drawer. I could get high quality 1/4” plywood  for the drawer bottom and put the plywood in grooves. However, I don’t like the thought of putting plywood into my tables if I were to be honest. I’m sure it would be structurally fine and I wouldn’t have to worry about wood movement. However I’d like for the bottom to be made of poplar like the sides and back of the drawer. How do I make a drawer bottom from 4/4 lumber? My planer says I can’t plane anything thinner than 1/2” and I don’t have a drum sander. What is the best way to thin a board to 1/4” or 3/8” for a drawer bottom? I’d rather not use hand tools as I have arthritis in my hands. Is this a job for a planer sled?

Thanks much, John

My shop tools:

Router & table

Lathe

Drill press

Bench

Shaper

6” Jointer

13” planer

14” Bandsaw ( Jet Euro style)

Small Saw Stop (still alive!)

2) Hey guys! As always, I love the podcast, appreciate your individual takes on questions, and hearing about what's going on in your shops, except for Guy, he's too busy working to have anything going on in his own shop.

My question is about learning from your mistakes. Throughout your woodworking adventures, I'm sure you have all had that project that did not come out the way you had planned or expected. I recently found some very old woodworking projects that I made somewhere in the late 1990's. Instead of throwing them out, I put them in my shop to remind me of two things. Where I've come from, and what not to do. Do you guys have anything like this in your shops? What do you use to remind you to do better?

Thanks

Joshua from The Blackdog Woodworks

3) Hi guys, Thanks for the great, inspiring and sometimes intimidating podcast, because you guys are so good. I have a couple of questions. I have been asked to build a dining room table for my daughter. My first question is about design. The table will likely be a trestle style, made of walnut, a wood I have never worked before. The table will be about 6 feet long by 40" wide to fit into the space available. Is there a reason to glue the top along the long edge or along the short edge, or is this strictly or primarily an aesthetic decision? It seems like I would be likely to get a better edge to joint a 40" edge rather than a 60" edge. Second question if I can be presumptious, how do you keep focused on completing a project? It is always exciting to start a new project, but then as the time it takes stretches out, the endless sanding continues, the fear of applying a decent finish,  the excitement diminishes and I get to the point I just want to get it finished. Thanks again for the great information and terrific format.

Scott

Sean

1) Hello sirs.  Thank you for providing the best woodworking podcast bar none!  I am building a couple of side tables for my living room to go on either end of my couch.   I am using 8/4 walnut slabs for the table tops.  I'm wondering what kind of finish you would recommend for these slabs?  Bear in mind that I'm assuming my wife and children are not going to be too keen to reach for a coaster every time they want to put a glass of water down.  I prefer more of a matte finish, so don't really want to use epoxy or anything that's going to look like a layer of glass is sitting on top of the slab.  So what products

do you suggest to achieve maximum water protection without compromising a matte look?  And please include any specific application techniques, ie: number of coats, levels of sanding, etc.  Many thanks.   Keep up the amazing podcast!

2) Good evening, I'm Mason with blairswoodshop. Before I ask my question I just want to mention I love the podcast! It's awesome for my morning commute i think I'm about 80 episodes compete and look forward to more. Thank you guys for all the hard work on the podcast!  Just had a question for Sean. I see he has the performax 16-32, I just acquired a same style Jet 16-32. My question is if you have ever had issues with the conveyor belt tracking? I can't seem for the life of me to get it to track straight. No matter what I do it always tracks to the right, it has already took a chunk out of my brand new maveric abrasives conveyor belt. I know I'm not the only one with this issue, but no one seems to really have a fix. The only thing I've seen that might work is to buy a rubber conveyor belt which is upwards of 125$ plus shipping. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

3) Good afternoon, good evening and good night gentlemen. Wanted to hear your preferred method of table top attachment to a base. (Z clips, figure 8s or oversized holes or any other method you can speak on that you prefer)

Paul

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Huy

1)I recently got a new 12x16 shed and am planning on shifting all of my woodworking tools out of the multi purpose garage and creating more of a dedicated shop space. I may have more questions on that in the future but for now I’ll start with a simple one. 

I have a few different battery tool platforms and I know it’s bad for the long term battery life to expose the batteries to lots of temperature and climate changes. As a result I have all of my batteries and chargers in our laundry room for now. I ( and my wife) would prefer to store these in the shop but I’d rather not sacrifice the batteries well being if I don’t have to.

I know yalls workshop space is climate controlled so you probably don’t have this issue. But I wanted yalls thoughts/opinions on the issue in general. Would making some kind of insulated storage cabinet be worth trying. Or is that just poppycock. Ha. For reference I live in NC so the winters occasionally get down to the teens and the summers often the 90s. Thanks for all you guys do. Respectfully, Jon

2) I have been practicing cutting dovetails by hand because I'm silly Using the Veritas dovetail saw I'm pretty sloppy But using a Veritas rip carcass saw I'm pretty on point Is it possible my big rock biter hands are better suited to a larger saw and that offers a better advantage to my end result, than the specific size and toothing of the dovetail saw?

These used to be such big strong hands. I know a girl who dated Atreyu from Never Ending Story. Apparently, very short. But I digress. Thank you for any insights before I drop some serious change on Bad Axe or Lie Nielsen saws.

These Veritas saws are all from the annual scratch and dent sale. Which is why I have a rip carcass saw oops.

I guess I should also say that my other thought was that the Veritas saws are too light and that's why I'm having a problem with the really small dovetail saw it has no mass. Tom

3) Thanks for making ‘Woodshop Life Podcast’ part of my life! It’s a great mix of styles, knowledge and a little snark - from Guy’s aged wisdom. My question takes off from the last podcast, and the ending talk on an eco-friendly woodshop. I work primarily with reclaimed woods, being involved in that part of the industry since the late 1990’s, so was caught by the subjects lead in the podcast No. 103 marquee.  I wasn’t disappointed or surprised that reclaimed woods did not make it onto any of the short lists - though Sean did  trail off the session with “and like the wood - recycle it” - though I imagine that it referred to using shop scraps, but possibly other types of salvaged wood material.

So my questions is mostly an open ended one on any experience that you all may have in using reclaimed material - or why it can provoke different reactions among woodworkers, whether used for it’s original or rustic surfaces or resurfaced?. Huy, working in Alabama, must come across some antique pine, though I think he mentioned taking a pass on its uneven grain and amber tone. We’ve sent regular tractor trailer loads of this salvaged old growth material to Alabama - or maybe back to Alabama, as it covered large parts of the state until the mid-1800’s. My perspective on availability can be off, as there’s a lot of the old buildings here in New York City framed with the old softwoods. The longleaf pine is getting harder and more competitive to acquire, but there’s often the Northern softwoods - like less desirable spruce, hemlock and fir, but still old growth in quality. along with the signs that are witness to it’s history - nail holes, stress cracks, aged surfaces, etc. And even if it’s among the local woods available, the mix of species, sources and not least, embedded nails can cause woodworkers to barricade the shop doors.

Also - myself and my business partner Klaas Armster, put out a book a short while back ‘Reclaimed Wood: A Field Guide’. We’d be happy to send along a copy and/or some boards of salvaged wood (dry and de-nailed).

Thanks again for reclaiming the tradition of woodworking in America - the craft itself seems at the heart of an eco-friendly workshop, despite any type wood that is used. Alan

Guy

1) Hi Guys, I want to start by saying that you all Rock. I listen to a few woodworking pod casts and yours is the best at passing along knowledge.

Thank you for helping all of us out with your insights on wood working.

I am very new to this hobby and am in the process of building my wife a cabinet. It will be used for holding potato's and onions and a few other things that clutter our kitchen up.

My question has to do with the glue up for the top of the cabinet. I am glueing 3pieces of 3/4 cherry together to make the top and I am concerned about it ending up flat. I am wondering if I should use dowels to help with this. I am thinking about buying a dowel jig from rockler and want to know if this is worth it or should I try a different technique.

I would like a good jig but do not want to break the bank because it will not be used too often.

Also, what type of finish would be good for cherry. I am thinking some stain and then a poly. Thanks again, Cory

2) Hey guys, Jared from Houston here. Really appreciate the podcast!

I'm making a wall-hanging cabinet intended to store a couple whiskey bottles and glasses. The cabinet will be solid cherry with one door and maybe a drawer on the bottom. I'm moderately experienced with wood but woefully beginner with finishes. I typically would finish with shellac only and wipe down with steel wool to a matte finish. However, due to the likelihood of contact with alcohol, I believe another approach might be wiser. My favorite idea right now is to put two coats of shellac then follow with a coat of spray can lacquer. What do you guys recommend? Also, to what grit do you sand before applying your first coat of finish? Last consideration on these questions...I'll be donating this to auction at a local school fundraiser and do not want to get called for finish repairs down the road!  Thanks for any advice you can offer! Jared

3) Hello guys (and guy), thank you for delivering an awesome podcast!

I know this topic is taboo, but I was wondering what y’all’s thoughts were on veneering one side of a panel when it is already in its frame.

I am planning on building a tool cabinet (loosely inspected by FWW Mike Pekovich  tool cabinet) the door in question would be a traditional frame and panel door with a 1/2” plywood panel set into a 1/4” groove. The back of the door has a case style frame attached to the back to give the hinged door some depth to house tools.

The reason I am wanting to only veneer one side is due to lack of material, (the door frame will be made of mesquite, and the panel shop sawn veneer out of spalted hackberry) I know I could veneer the back with another material but I am also trying to save on weight/ thickness of the panel.

Hopefully y’all will have some advice / experience on this topic. I am planning on doing this project in about 6 months. Thanks in advance, Josh

Sean

1) Hey fellas. Hope this finds you well. I’ve come into a work bench that needs some tlc. I’d like to rehab it if I can. It has a solid steel tube base (clearly store bought) with a butcher block style top  that is  2’x4’. It’s laminated strips of what I believe to be maple. (Sorry; my janka hardness test machine is on the fritz, but I can’t dent it with a fingernail). It’s got a significant bow from front to back (across the 24” dimension) of at least a 1/4”.   Whats the best approach to flatten it? I’d like to save the thickness as it’s about 1 1/2”.  It doesn’t need to be dead flat. It would be a secondary work area (aka a horizontal surface that collects all manners of various and assorted things. )

Thanks for all that you do and keep up the good work! Mark

2) Hey guys. Don’t want you run out of questions, so here’s another one: When and how often do you sharpen your hand tools? I don’t really like sharpening and find myself going through chisels to find a sharp one and using that favorite plane although it’s not sharp anymore because I’m telling myself that it’s not worth it yet to get those stones wet. What’s your balance? Should I just buy new tools when they are not sharp anymore? Just kidding, although I would love to. Jonas

Guy

1) Hello gentlemen, love the podcast and I took your last advice to heart and have been staining some of my projects with polyurethane with great results.  Thank you for the encouragement.

My question today is on handling full 3/4" plywood sheets from the store to the shop.  I have not built much carcass based projects as I've been a little too impatient to get everything square then find myself disappointed in the outcome.  As I approach 6 decades on earth I find myself slowing down and enjoying the craft a little more leisurely instead of a to do list and punching a task list as complete approach.  That being said I have built 2 projects now out of plywood starting with full 4 x 8 sheets and they have been fun challenges but I find myself not planning another project because of the challenges of getting a 4 x 8 sheet of 3/4 ply to my shop. It seems like plywood has gotten 1 pound heavier every year that I have aged. I enjoy solo working in the shop so it's not really easy to get somebody to help me go to the big box store and load a single sheet of plywood.

I was wondering what are some of the tricks and tips you guys use for handling big heavy sheets. I use the foam board insulation as a backer when breaking it down into panels and I use a cheap cordless circular saw with a homemade fence. It's cheap and slow but that part works fine.  I have one of the handle things that you hook under the plywood to carry it with a handle but that doesn't make the panel any lighter.  I do have a utility trailer so hauling it isn't a problem.

Any other other tips, tricks or tools you would recommend for heavy sheet goods? Thanks

2) Hey there, OK so this is a pretty simple question but you did say you need some so…

I have a Delta 14” bandsaw, pretty typical and I have had it for about 35 years (holy cow, I just realized how old I am!). Anyway, its pretty basic, and lacks any feature to keep the tires from gumming up as I am cutting. Do you have any advice on devices, brushes etc. that I can add to keep them cleaner as I use the saw? I do connect a shop vac to the dust port, that helps but I still find I have to scrape the wheels. Using you instead of google or Pinterest for this one ;)

Huy

1) Hi guys, I recently had a walnut tree taken down, brought the log to a sawyer and they cut into 4/4, 8/4, and 12/4 boards. I cannot air dry the boards on my property so I am planning on drying them in my basement. My basement is dry, and of course little to no air movement. After about a year, I am considering completing the drying process by putting the boards in the attic above my garage. There is Sheetrock under the rafters in the attic, so there will be very little air movement again. Should I be concerned with the heat in the attic adversely impacting the boards when they are not completely dry. I live in CT so the attic can get well over 100 degrees in the summer. Thanks for any word of wisdom you might have, Mike Gitberg

2) Hey guys I've got a door construction question for you. I've been tasked  with making an extra large sliding barn door for my house. The door will need to be 8' 10" tall by 48" wide by 1.75" thick. The kicker is my shop is in the basement and I can't fit that large of a piece up the stairs. I have an empty room on the 1st floor that I can assemble and possibly use a vacuum press. My thoughts were to make an outer frame(walnut) with a torsion box interior made from 1/2" ply or possibly 1/4 ply and filling the void with rigid foam. I was going to skin each side with 1/4" MDF and then veneer each side with commercial 3/32 walnut veneer. Some of the issues I think I will run into. This would require a 6'x10' vacuum bag (which I would have to make), I'm not sure if my pump can pull a bag that large down and hold. I have a 3 cfm and according to Joe woodworker a max size for that pump is 4'x9'.   

After I've pressed the veneer down I have some clean up and and sanding to do, which I'm not fond of doing this on the 1st floor. Also there's finishing which my only option is a hard wax if I finish it inside. Or carry the damn thing outside and spray under a pop up tent.

 I've been thinking of instead of one large panel making a series of say 3  horizontal panels pressing and finishing them in the shop, sanding and pre-finishing then and then installing them to the frame with some sort of 1/16" shadow line or maybe a brass inlay between each panel.

Or do I just scrap the idea and find a garage to assemble, sand and finish in and bring it to the house for install. Granted this garage will not be climate controlled.

I'm concerned about weight, I have a 200# max on the door hardware. I'm open to other ideas for assembly. Also I can't spilt the door into two separate ones, the opening will not allow a door to rest on either side of the opening.

Thanks in advance for the advice and keep up the great work with the podcast!!

Jesse