Category: Podcast Episodes

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Sean

1)First off I want say how much I’ve enjoyed listening to your podcast over the past year or more.  With the right balance of instruction and interaction between the hosts, it’s both informative and entertaining.

I’ve been woodworking for quite some time and I ran across something I never experienced before and was hoping you might have some insight.  I’m building a floor lamp with three curved legs as a base.  I made a template for the leg profile out of ¼ inch hardboard.  Using a straight pattern bit on my router table, I was able to easily create three legs out of ¾ plywood for my prototype.  Happy with the design I used the template to trace out the legs on some ¾ walnut.  I then rough cut out the legs on the band saw, leaving a 1/16inch of material outside of the line.  From there it was back to the router table where I attempted to flush cut the legs using the template and straight pattern bit. This gave me no trouble at all when routing the plywood prototype legs, but as soon as I carefully eased the walnut into the bit, it would immediately catch and tear out. I purchased a ¼ inch spiral flush trim bit and also used a starting pin but the results where the same. I continued to get bad catches and tear out no matter how carefully or slowly I went.  In all my years of woodworking, I’ve never run across anything like this. Any ideas on what I could do different? Terry

2) Hi guys and thanks again for making the ULTIMATE (remember that episode?) woodworking podcast,

And by the way, thanks for answering my last question.  I live in Bergen, Norway and a small local timber merchant is selling Beech (I guess it is European beech) and Alder (again European alder I believe) at quite a reasonable price. Here in Norway poplar is not readily available.

Given a choice between the two, which would you choose as a secondary wood (for drawers and parts that won’t be seen)? And if you were to make furniture project wholly out of one of them, which would you choose? And of course, why?

Both are rated as perishable. The beech is quite a lot harder according to the janka scale. 6460N vs. 2890N. The beech is supposedly superb for steam bending, but I have yet to get there in my skill set. And both seem to have quite good workability.

I am not sure I appreciate the ray fleck look or the slightly yellow look on the beech that I have seen, but that may be fixed during finishing if the other attributes make it worth while. I have however, little experience with alder. Looking forward to your discussion on this. Sincerely, Gøran Eliassen Nomad Makes

Guy

1) Hey guys. My question is about pricing your woodworking and getting past imposter syndrome. I have recently started making some items for a group of dog breed enthusiasts and I have experienced a substantial growth in demand for items that fall much more into the “art” category than the “furniture” category. As a hobbyist woodworker,  I do not have a huge portfolio of work that I’ve sold, only a few items here and there. Moving forward, I plan on building into a more substantial business. I obviously want to price my work at what it’s worth, but I can be very self conscious about my skills and tend to undervalue what I’m worth. I obviously want to sell as much as I can, but how do I sell my work at a value that gets its out into the world without setting a low bar price-wise for the future? I am my harshest critic. Joshua

2) Hey Guy(s)! Thankfully this question is not very time sensitive, so hopefully you can get to it before I need to take your answer(s) into consideration.

My wife and I are in the process of redesigning our kitchen that is in need of a serious facelift. We plan on contracting out the plumbing and electrical and fortunately aren’t doing any structural modifications to the house itself.

Our current debate involves the cabinetry. I’m a fairly competent woodworker and love a good challenge. Personally, I’d rather take the money we would pay a cabinet shop to build and install new cabinets and make some needed upgrades and additions to my own workshop to do them myself. I’m not a fan of raised panel designs so I’ll probably do more shaker style cabinets. 

I have a Sawstop contractor saw, 14” bandsaw, 13” planer, basic router table, bench top drill press, and an older model Festool track saw, plus various other hand tools

Considering I expect to save somewhere in the range of $5-10K by doing it myself, what additional tools would you recommend? As specific as you’d like to be would be great if you have machines you’ve been very happy with.

Side note: we had to take down a large white oak in our back yard and I plan to have it milled up and kiln dried to continue its life on our property.

Thanks for your time and your continued insight to help us all become better woodworkers!

Shawn @terpax

Huy

1) Aloha Boys!

 I have a question about managing humidity and rust in the workshop.  I live in Hawaii and have my workshop in a detached garage.  Most buildings here including my workshop have jaulosie style windows and I can’t completely seal and temperature control my shop.

 I am spraying or wiping down my larger tools with T-9  and other rust inhibitors,  but many of my other various tools and equipment are quickly rusting.   

 Outside of temperature controlling a shop, any other tips tricks or ideas? Are silicone gel packs a waste of money?   Would it be crazy to put rubber weather sealing on cabinet doors?  Mahalo boys, you are the best! Matt

2)Hey again, love the podcast and the advice you give. Recently you answered why I suck at hinges, and one reason mentioned was the cheap hardware I often use. This lead me to another thought. When do you buy the hardware for a project? Before you begin, or once it’s all made?

I tend to wait until after the project is made, and unfortunately that also means I sometimes struggle to find hardware that will work. I’ve been known to buy many different sets of hinges to take home and see how they look on a box, or even carried boxes into Rockler to try there.

I’ve also ran into the issue of fit. I recently made a shoe-shine box, and when I planed the lumber, i just ran it through until I thought it looked good. I didn’t measure at all. But when I went to buy hinges, the odd sizing left me with hinges that were either too big and stuck out, or not strong enough for the weight of the lid/shoe support. I ended up with external hinges that I didn’t like, and 3 of them for strength, all because I didn’t plan ahead. My wife likes it, but what does she know about design?  Peter

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Sean

1) Jolly good day Guy, Huy, and Sean. I’ve always found the imperfections in wood like knots, funky grain, and discoloration to be interesting. I have decided to try and start using them more as design aspects in my projects. I am tackling using a knot for the first time and other than “use epoxy” I am at a loss as to what brand, type and tints. There is a myriad of options. Any recommendations on products, methods and tints for an end table top knot in mixed clear/brown yellow birch? As always, thank you for sharing the knowledge! – 

I want to Stabilize mostly, but I have heard that clear epoxy yellows. Should I tint darken to handle that? Daniel Stickman Woodworking

2) Thank you guys for everything you do with the podcast. My question for you is about table top flattening. My current situation is with a 42”x90” dining room table that went a little wonky during the glue up. A couple of the boards came out of alignment with the rest and so now the top is not flat. I know where I messed up and how to prevent this in the future, but I’m wondering what your suggestions would be to flatten a top of this size back to everything being even. I am currently using my router sled to do this and it is very time consuming. Thank you  in advance for you answers. Sincerely, David Glowacki

3)Hey guys.  I love the podcast.  I learn something new from each episode.  Thank you for answering my question and all the hard work you put into your tube and podcast.

I’m currently working very hard to increase my brand recognition to try and make wood working a full time thing.  I know none of you have your own “Full time woodworking gig”. and I feel that is a choice. It seems like you guys could break out full time.  Any advice on how to increase my reach to people to start bringing in more business would be super appreciated. 

Scott Bonin @tomrarwoodworks

Huy

1) Thank you for the great podcast!  I listen to it all the time and get so much out of it! 

I just recieved a free delta unisaw with sliding table.  Two question on this table saw:

1: This saw does not have a riving/splitter.  Thoughts on adding one??

2: I want to rebuild my shop around this saw.  Right now my table simply butts to my work bench which is also my out feed table. I would like to attach the bench/outfeed table to the saw but the floor is not level.  (garages shop). Would you build to level?  ie, level the saw and build everything to that plane or build to square with the floor. 

Great pod cast! Great people!  GREATEST INFO! Scott

2) Hi folks – I am moving in the next year, and am hopeful that I can sell many of my current stationary tools and move up to some used industrial-scale equipment. However, I have never purchased equipment that I couldn’t transport myself or simply have dropped off with lift gate service. I am interested to hear any advice regarding the transportation of large tools back to the shop after winning them at auction far from home (for example). I love my Toyota Tacoma but I’d be limited to picking up one tool at a time, which would be a real scheduling nightmare. Does one hire riggers to load a truck, have the truck driven to one’s own place, and hire riggers to get the stuff off the truck? I don’t have a forklift or anything like that (yet), and as much as I would love to I would rather direct my funds at tools vs material handling equipment. I am simply an enthusiastic amateur looking to get into large equipment for both the fun and the machines’ capacity. Andrew

3) The amount of information you all have given to the community has helped out so many folks and I’d like to say thank you for your knowledge and dedication.

My question is in the concerns of a L fence. I have been hearing about them lately and would like to know if any of you have used one. From what I have seen and understand is it increases the safety of making certain cuts. Could you help us understand what an L fence is and if it’s worth making.

Again, thank you all for the information you have given to us all.

Brent Jarvis Clean Cut Woodworking

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Sean

1) Hey Guy,Huy,& Sean.  I just picked up a pair of Mitutoyo calipers.  I use a straight edge and feeler gauges to set up machines like my jointer.  Do you guys use precise tools like calipers,feeler gauges, and straight edges.  when your building furniture, it seems like they could be really useful.   All 3 of you have that engineering type of brain. (Huy being an actual engineer).  If you do use them in your furniture.  What do you use them for?  Or are tools like calipers overkill for woodworking. Cheers, Nate

2) When you bring a new tool into the shop do you find yourself using that tool as an excuse to rearrange your shop, even if it’s an upgrade from a tool you already have?

I’ve found myself rearranging my entire workflow every time I introduce a new tool even if the one I’m upgrading one that’s been in a certain spot for years.

I hope all has been well with you and your families. Please continue with the fantastic content! Thank you for your time. Brent Jarvis Clean Cut Woodworking

Huy

1) Hey my name is Mike from odd materials woodworks I have been really enjoying your podcast.

I have been following all three of you for a while.

Anyways in listening to some of your past podcasts you have discussed the mft with the flip up arm and how you don’t use it anymore.You just use a set of dog with the rail clip which I have been thinking of switching to. My question is how would you approach making repeatable cuts on an MFT style table? Thanks again Mike

2)What is your method for fixing drift when re-sawing with a fence on your bandsaw? Michael

Guy

1)Hi Guys, love the show and the chemistry between you guys, I’m fairly new in the woodworking world with previous experience as a finisher, now I moved to making my own furniture line. I have three questions for you guys:
1- Any tips for crosscutting plywood?
2- How do you guys keep the shop organized with the leftovers of material?
3- If budget weren’t an issue what would you buy first a Festool Track Saw or a Sawstop Cabinet Saw?? (I mostly work with sheets of plywood) Thank you and keep up the good work, Karel
 

2) Hope this is a quick one for ya – I’m stumped on something and it’s making me crazy.  I’m making cutting boards, I’ve got about 10 under my belt at this point.  Most of my quality priorities are improving nicely with time and experience but I have a problem with finishing; specifically grain that raises on my finished product shortly after the board gets put into use. 

For context I’m talking about edge grain boards.  I get a great glue-up, scrape them down, finish plane, then onto sanding.  I take it to 180 all around, then I raise the grain.  I take that down with 220, then I raise it again.  I really thought that raising the grain twice, incrementally, would give me an extra level of redundancy against surface issues moving forward.  I finish with 320, then go with a generous treatment of mineral oil followed by the 4-1 oil/beeswax routine. 

The “fuzziness” isn’t across the entire board, but there’s enough of it there to both mystify and frustrate me.  I really put a lot of work into these and I’m trying to get the highest quality that I can achieve.  Everyone expects a board to need care, but my gut says that sandpaper shouldn’t be involved.

What am I overlooking here?  Any assistance will be greatly appreciated; love the show, keep up the great work.  collin

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Sean

1) I’ll save you the airtime by not mentioning how awesome y’all are and how awesome your podcast is because you already know that. If Huy and Sean didn’t know that already just ask Guy… he will talk for hours!  Hahah
Two part question is… when contemplating buying a new tool do you let the space you have for that tool determine if you’ll be getting one over the other?  Also, when you bring a new tool into the shop do you find yourself using that tool as an excuse to rearrange your shop, even if it’s an upgrade from a tool you already have?
I’ve found myself rearranging my entire workflow every time I introduce a new tool even if the one I’m upgrading one that’s been in a certain spot for years.
I hope all has been well with you and your families. Please continue with the fantastic content! Thank you for your time.
Brent Jarvis
Clean Cut Woodworking

2) Hey fellas, I’m looking into a new drill press.  I’m looking to spend about 500$.  I noticed the rikon radial arm drill press is the same price as the standard drill press.  why wouldn’t I buy the radial arm drill press? 

Thanks Scott

Huy

1) Howdy from Madison, AL!  I’m pretty new to woodworking although 
I have been building (and finally finished) our kitchen cabinets including 43 drawers!  Now I’m getting into ‘finer’ woodworking and am building a 2” thick (6’x4’ oval) walnut/maple kitchen table.  My question is about building a base for the table – any idea how to prototype the build so that I can see if the base will actually hold all the weight of the table?  I can build it in Sketchup but that really won’t tell me how much weight it will support… I also thought about building a ‘tulip’ style base as our home has very contemporary styling… 

Adrian Abshire

2) First off, this MAY be a repeat (I’ve sent it to SOME podcast but who can keep them all straight ?). I’m making a high chair for a friend, which I hope to complete before the kid goes off to college, from box store mahogany so I’m thinking it’s sapele. I’d love suggestions on how to finish so it’s both durable and safe for a tiny human to gnaw on
Jason

Guy

1) Hey guys I’ve been listening from the start. Awesome podcast and has been super informational so thank you for all you do. My question to you guys is, is it worth upgrading my dwelt 734 to a helical head or buy a new 735 four post and upgrade the head later on?(money reasons for later on) The 734 has worked great for my for about 3 years. My only complaint is the knives are crap. They don’t last very long. My question is it worth upgrading the old 734 Vs getting a new four post and upgrading later. It’s a better machine so maybe it will last longer in the end. Thank you for your time!  Mike

2) Hello. My brother-in-law’s house flooded during a recent hurricane. They have a heavy duty metal circular staircase that had carpet covered plywood stair treads that were trashed. I’ve made new stair treads with red oak and was planning to use Osmo to finish, but now they say they want them “dark”.
What product would you recommend to both darken and seal that would hold up long-term to foot traffic. I’m thinking a stain with Osmo might eventually wear off leaving an uneven color.
Thanks in advance, Mike Sibley Sibley Manor Woodworks

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Sean

1)Hi all, Love learning from y’all, though your podcast has cost me a bit of money since I hear about some great things that I HAVE to buy!

However, my spouse says that we are running out of room in our tiny 16.5 x 8.75 foot garage and has put their foot down on a thickness planer. They pretty much use a lathe and other machinery to help support their lathe work (benchtop bandsaw, sander, drill press, job site table saw), and have no stated need for a thickness planer. I am interested in moving more into furniture and cutting boards, so I thought a thickness planer, and possibly one day a jointer, would be helpful in my woodworking. I found plans for a jig that I could use my router on but didn’t know if this was a sufficient substitution. Have any of you used such a jig for planing and if so, how did you find it compares to the thickness planer? Also, do you have any suggestions to efficiently plane or joint wood without a planer or jointer? Thanks in advance for your help. Adrien

2) I see and hear people referring to how many hours they have in a particular project – 50 hours for this, 100 for that, etc. and so on.  More so for people doing commission work than just personal stuff, I guess, but it got me wondering… how do you generally figure the hours for a project?  Do you keep track of your shop time, or is it more of a ‘best guess’?  Do you count stock prep?  Tool sharpening during the course of a project?  Building jigs necessary for the project? Time spent waiting between coats of finish?  How deep in the weeds do you go on this, and how does it differ between ‘individual’ projects that you do at home, vs. say projects done at work (in Guy’s case)? Thanks! Monte

3) Two things.

#1 – for the listeners… there seems to be only 58 Patreon members. This is a great resource and I hope more of them contribute, as $5/month is a bargain.

#2 – for the gentlemen, can you please talk about when you do your edge details in relation to sanding. For example, if you’re doing a small chamfer with a block plane, I would think this happens after all sanding is complete. But if you’re looking to blend in a top and bottom roundover, I assume you do this before any sanding, but at the risk of losing some symmetry. Look forward to your thoughts on this topic.  Thanks, Glen

Guy

1) Hey guys, recently found love the show. I started at the beginning and am nearly caught up, but forgive me if this has been discussed already.  I’m planning to build my wife a very large craft desk/work area. She wants it to be ‘U’ shaped so she can rotate in place and complete each operation of her projects. Due to the shape and size, I naturally want to assemble this in a manner that it is easy to disassemble to allow for future relocation.   Aside from basic, but strategically located, screws or bolts for assembling each section to one another, have you guys used any sort of “knockdown” hardware.  I have used connector bolts on cheap throw-away furniture pieces before, but not on pieces that I have built.  I can foresee some difficulty in accurately locating the various holes to be drilled when using that type of system.  Any thoughts on products and/or approach for such an application?

Ps. I have seen a couple of neat options using the Domino and Lamelo biscuit joiner. I have a Dewalt biscuit joiner, but neither of the two other tools are currently at my disposal.  Perhaps this is my excuse to invest in the Domino? Thanks and keep up the good work!  Jason

2)Hey guys.  I really enjoy the podcast.  Thanks for sharing your expertise with the woodworking world.

I’ve decided to upgrade my sharpening media by moving away from Norton water stones and purchasing two of the DMT Duo Sharp diamond plates (220/325 mesh and 600/1200 mesh) and the 6000 grit Shapton Glass Stone for final honing.  It’s my understanding the ceramic on the glass stone will require flattening but not nearly as often as the Norton stones which I flatten after every use.  Can you tell me how to best determine when my 6000 grit glass stone will need flattening especially since it will be used primarily only for final honing?  Also, can the DMT diamond plates be used for flattening the glass stone?  If so, which grit/mesh do you recommend.  Thanks again and keep up the great work.  Jack Francis – Geneva IL

3) Question mainly for Guy: ive heard you talk about your love for the Incra 5000 many times. I have one myself for a few years. One part i wanna pick your brain on is how you claim to be able to square it up in seconds. I will preface this by saying that i hope i am missing something in my own experience. But I find i still need to do 5 cut methods for mine every now and then because when the fence gets bumped… you can no longer trust the registration marks until its squared again. Aside from this, theres also so much play in the outer end of the fence before you lock it down so how do you ever truly trust the angle? I find myself only setting it to 90 and still occasionally find its misaligned. I wouldnt dare trust it for angles like 45 etc because of the play of the arm and the other factors. What am i doing wrong? (I have made sure everything is tight) – tree of life woodworking