Category: Podcast Episodes

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Guy

1)When is the right time to pull the trigger?  I’m currently using an old Grizzly 6″ jointer that works fine but limits me in terms of both width and length of stock.  What measurements or guidelines do you all use to determine when it’s time to upgrade your shop equipment? Joel   

2) Right now I’ve really been trying to take time to learn and be comfortable with the foundational skills; practicing cuts and joinery. Do you have any tips on how to make more accurate angled cuts? For example, I started just making and octagon shaped frame this weekend. Getting all angles and lengths to perfectly match took way too many attempts 🤦‍♂️. Is this something you prefer a miter saw or table saw for? Any tools or accessories you suggest using that can be used to double check your saw blades are at the proper angle? Etc. Right now I have a cheap miter saw and a dewalt jobsite table saw. I know the tools aren’t the best, but I’m sure there are some things I could start doing and making into habits to get better as I start into this new hobby! -Brandon

Sean

1) Hey guys, could you recommend a mobile (2 stage) dust collection system for a hobbyist woodworker? I’m not looking to wall mount as I’m both, in a small space, and not in my “forever” shop. Perhaps DIY (where to start?) or from any brands is suitable. I don’t really know where to begin. Currently run a jobsite table saw, and looking to add a jointer and planer soon. 4” intake is preferred. Thanks! RJ

2) Questions for the podcast: is the Festool Domino worth it? Context: building a bar and stools out of 8/4 ash and need something to quickly join the legs of the stools together, as well as the bar and legs. I originally thought dowels or router out for loose mortise and tenon, but time is money, literally, as this is a project for a client. Should I spend the $1000+ for the domino, and save time, which allows me to get other client projects done (could use the domino on some of those projects too) or, save the $1000k, do it with dowels or a router and then spend the $1000+ on a delta tablesaw and a dewalt 735x planer? Planer would need to be on sale for the numbers to line up (bad at math!). I currently have a 1/2 hp craftsman table saw with upgraded fence. Thoughts? Thanks! Love the podcast! Thelibertycraftsman

Huy

1)Thanks for the time you invest in the podcast. I have been woodworking a long time but I am still learning. I do not make furniture but I still pick up lots of tips from you three. I am new to the bandsaw. I have a Laguna 14 Twelve. I mainly resaw logs for bowl blanks, since I do a lot of turning. I have been using a Laguna Proforce 3/4″ 3 tpi. The blade broke though it is only a couple months old and I have only milled about 3 dozen blanks. What are the causes for such a blade to break? I would appreciate any insight, so as to avoid breaking the new blade. Thanks. -Mark

2)The talk about bringing all sorts of lumber into your shop, like from a pile outdoors under a tin cover, has me wondering about contamination. Basically, were talking about a biodegradable material here, which starts growing microbial life on, in, and off it as soon as the tree dies. So is there ever any danger of bringing wood into your storage which infects your entire stock? Relatedly, should we never machine any rotting material because that would make the fungus etc airborne and infect the whole shop? -Warren

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Sean

1) What method do you guys use for waterfall joints (besides domino) and are biscuits and glue strong enough? Nick

2) I picked up 4 slabs of white oak that measure about 10 ft by 15” wide and 2 1/4” thick. I set up a router sled leveled everything on saw horses and as it turns out a couple of the slabs have a twist of about an 1”. Or a bow of about an 1” at either end. I wanted to keep the slabs as thick as possible and I don’t think a 1” top would look right.  I ripped one down to about 12” to try to reduce the twist and route off a small amount but it still has a fair amount of twist and would require a lot of material to be removed.

 How would you handle these slabs? Flatten one side with the router sled and leave the bottom slightly out to keep the thickness. Rip them down to smaller widths that I could handle on my 6” jointer, in hopes to keep the thickness at 1.5”. BTW this will be a PITA but could be done with roller stands/roller conveyers. Screw it and  leave the twist/bow smooth out what I can with a power planer and go with it. I don’t have access to a large shop with a belt sander.

Thanks

Jesse

Guy

1) Hi guys! Been listening since the beginning and love the show, but I’m still a beginner and recently got a bandsaw (Rikon 10-326, brand new 3/4” Timberwolf resaw blade) which I’m trying to use for resawing. A friend gave me a bunch of purpleheart to resaw for him, and … it didn’t go well. So my questions:

1. Do you prefer to resaw using a “point fence” or just the bandsaw’s normal fence?  The normal fence gave me an awful lot of drift with the purpleheart.
2. Is it better to keep the piece you’re resawing off (the piece with the thickness you want)  next to the fence or on the side of the blade without the fence? The former seems preferable for repeatable cuts, but it seems like you quickly lose a reference surface on the third cut?
3. Is it possible that I had so much trouble because I was resawing a hard wood like purpleheart and dulled my blade really quickly? Or is resawing a lot more fussy than you all make it look on YouTube? 🙂

Thank you, and for what it’s worth, I’ve followed the Snodgrass advice on setting up the guides and I’m pretty sure I got that right. – Adam

2) Guy, as I’ve improved as a woodworker, I’m getting more requests for building custom furniture, or recreating a design someone has seen online. This means I need to get serious about cost. You guys have discussed cost of various projects in a previous episode, which was helpful, but still vague enough to leave me scratching my head at times. I recognize that you don’t want to tell the podcast how much you might make on a project—I get it. So, I’m going to list a project here (not one I’m currently making), hoping to hear you think through materials, time, etc. As a professional, what would you charge for this piece? What should an amateur charge for this piece?:

–  Project: Round breakfast table

–  Wood: solid cherry

–  Size: 42″ diameter, 1″ thickness

–  Base: something like what Andy Rawls made here, just not as beefy: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg9tf4_jyRr/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

–  Joinery for the base would utilize the Festool Domino

–  I live in SE Texas, and rough cherry is around $5 bd. Ft.

Josh

Huy

1) Hey guys…I am making a Morris chair out of cherry. Being a novice woodworker, this is my first substantial project. I’m having problems with snipe with my delta 22-555  13″ planer. I keep adjusting the infeed and outfeed tables , but still getting the darn snipe. Any suggestions? Also, how much thicker should pieces of wood be, to obtain a desired thickness?

https://woodgears.ca/jointer/planer_snipe.html

Also, the arms of the chair are a gentle bent lamination. I built a bending form and 

wondering if you can go through the process, from resawing (what thickness), to assembly, clamping, what glue you use, etc. Final thickness of the arm is inch and an eighth thick.

Keep up the good work.

Dale from Muskego, Wi.

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Guy

1) I’ve recently upgraded/downgraded from a Delta 3 phase 5hp unisaw right tilt (mucho power, not much safety) to a Sawstop 3hp left tilt (less power- more safety ). Is there any difference in approaching cuts for the left vs. right tilt? My crosscut sled has to be remade, I have to rework the mitre bar on my Delta (Buick sized) tenoning jig, etc. In the past, I’ve used the mitre bar on the left side for crosscutting -so the blade tilts away from the support fence. Do I start using it on the right side of the blade so it tilts away from the support fence? Eric

2) Since I’m planning to soon purchase some of these tools I would like your thoughts/recommendations for purchasing all Incra, all Woodpecker or a mix of both.  I would also like to know which five or six measuring devices you would recommend if it were for your own shop as I’m not exactly sure what I need.  I realize this may not be a fair ask given that Incra and/or Woodpecker are sponsors for some or all of you. Jack

Sean

1) I am gluing up 3 boards, each board being 1” thick x 8’long x 6” wide. I do not have a flat surface that big to do a glue up on. Do you have any recommendations on how to ensure a flat glue up? Nick

2) What’s the most useless thing you’ve bought for your shop? I’m not even going to try to explain this one. You know you bought something that you haven’t touched since you bought it. Guy…. you’re old… you know you have things you’ve bought for that one job and didn’t even use it then. What is it?  Brent Jarvis

Huy

1) For everyone: It seems that all three of you work in your garage. What are your best storage saving tips? Josh

2) Hi guys. I really appreciate everything you guys have put out. I’m a beginner to wood working. Been doing this about 4 years. I have a to. Of questions that I’d love to get your perspective on. I have a shop space that is 24 x 30. When I first started woods working I was out of a garage 1/4 of the size on was very intrigued by the Shopsmith. What are your thoughts on a 5 or 7 in one machine? I really enjoy the option for a lathe. And a quick flip to a drill press. – Kyle

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Guys Questions:

1) Really enjoying your podcasts. I am new to podcasts, and it’s a new avenue of learning for me. I have shied away from instructions, not on purpose, just too busy doing it, I guess.

I have had the same sears 12” RAS since 1970, 4th motor. I make boxes and toys in my small under the garage shop, where the RAS is my main tool. On one side of my shop I have the RAS on the rear of a 3.5’ x 7.5’ table. In the middle of my shop , I have a rolling table of the same height. I can process 4×8 sheets with this set up. Pictures at https://www.treetobox.com/TreeToBox-Shop-pictures All of my projects are small to large. Business card boxes to rifle cases.

I am interested in your views of RAS vs table saws.

Thanks,

Glenn Nief

2)  I just built a table for myself, 8×4 red oak.  I used titebond 3 and once again, I have glue creep.  In one spot, it actually pushed the polyurethane finish up and caused the finish to chip.  So incredibly annoying! Background on the milling, I have a helical head grizzly jointer that I joined the all boards with.  The seams were essentially perfect with zero gap whatsoever. I’m starting to think that it’s the titebond 3, but I’m looking for your advice.  Thank you. Logan.

Sean’s Questions:

1) Hey guys! This is Josh Uy from the Philippines. Love the show and podcast, I appreciate the way you three tackle questions from different perspectives. 

My question is on wood movement: if you finish wood with a film finish, say polyurethane, does that mean that there is less of a chance that moisture from the environment could enter the piece and cause the wood to expand? Here in the Philippines we don’t have a big swing in temperature/humidity throughout the year so we don’t need to worry as much but I’m just curious. Thanks again! Joshua

2) Hey guys, question about stickering. How important is stickering through the later stages of a build process? I know it’s important as you’re killing material but should I be doing it while cutting joinery? I see some folks sticker even the smallest pieces of a build which doesn’t seem to make much sense. I guess I’m asking if and when you can just stack boards without concern with uneven evaporation. Thanks! Ben

Huy’s Questions:

1) In episode 24, you talked about not using the dominoes fence for alignment but instead using your flat work surface. This makes sense to me, except for when you’re joining two pieces that aren’t the same thickness. How would you address that? Chad

2) Hi Sean, Huy, and Guy. As always, I love the show. Answering a bunch of questions while keeping it light and fun makes for a perfect woodworking Podcast. Though I disagree with the other listener who described Guy as “beautiful”. He’s more ruggedly handsome like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson or Christian Becksvoort. Question: what sort of warranty do you offer a client when you build a custom piece? What do you think are reasonable customer issues and where would you draw the line? Should custom furniture always be final sale? This can be a delicate subject so I’d love to hear your different takes on it. Thanks! Kevin at Quill Woodworks.

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Guy’s Questions

1: I am making a table top that is 7feet long and I needed to joint the edge of the boards. I have a 6 inch jointer and the total bed length is 46 inches long. After jointing the edge of the boards and placing them next to each other I noticed that some of the jointed edges were concave over the 7 feet and the concave was much too large for a spring joint. To solve for this problem I put the boards together (face to face) then using my #6 flattens the sides. Although this worked, I would have preferred that the joints were not concave off of the jointer. Do you think the concave boards was caused by my technique or is my jointer just too small. If it’s the jointer, what size jointer would have eliminated this problem. I know an aircraft carrier would take care of the problem, but given I am a hobbies and have a budget what would you recommend? Mike

2: I would like to hear your thoughts on sliding table saws vs traditional cabinet saws and if any of you have experience with one. Most online posts (in the US) consider these saws as industrial and/or for production shops working with sheet goods only and not for making furniture. 

I have been comparing the PM2000B and the Hammer K3 Winner. I’m aware there is a huge price difference between the two saws $3400 vs $5800 and that a slider needs more floor space to accommodate the outrigger. Neither of them is a Saw Stop so I will probably die shortly after cutting my first board #YOLO

In short, if you had the money and space would this be a saw you would consider? Oscar

Sean’s Questions

1: Hey guys! I have a question regarding dust collection. Ever since I started getting serious about it, it feels like a never ending spiral for the quest of a “dust-free” shop. Is such a thing possible? Where is the line that you mark as “good enough”? Do you have a daily clean up routine that helps with this? My shop is an attached two car garage, and my wife would love for me to stop dragging sawdust into the house! Thanks guys, love the show and keep up the great content! Antoine

2: I have been practicing with shellac on shop furniture. I have been using premixed off the shelf stuff. I am not getting a smooth finish. I have used both a cloth and a foam brush.  I am thinking that it is the wrong viscosity and I would be better off mixing my own. Can you talk about how you mix shellac? Rick

Huy’s Questions

1: I have a 3hp 15″ planer. The question is when should I be concerned about changing the gearbox oil and other deep maintenance (besides waxing and blade changes)? I just purchased a Grizzly knockoff that was manufactured in 2003 and never plugged in. I’ve ran about a hundred board feet through it so far. Besides some rust, it runs perfectly. I think it needs new belts, but wondered if I should go deeper with the maintenance? Thanks, Dave with Matter of Fractions

2: How much glue should you use on glue ups? I typically put too much I think and have a lot of squeeze out. I worry about a strong joint though. What amount is strong enough? A light film of glue, a little puddling, or flooded? Thanks Matt