Woodshop Life Podcast

Brians Questions: Thanks for sharing your knowledge and opinions - and answering my previous questions. It's been a great help. My shop is in my single car garage, which I share with household storage. It has a very high ceiling.  I recently got a good deal on a new Jet AFS-1000B Air Filtration System. (note: I do not have a dust collection system, as I try to do mostly hand tool work, but I do use power tools as needed. So there is plenty of dust). The question is: where to locate the device? The options are:  1. I have a shelf that is suspended from the ceiling and could test to see if it will support the Jet unit.  2. There is a metal storage cabinet that I can set it on, and attach to the wall (per Jet instructions). 3. Place it on the lower shelf of my Moravian style workbench.  Attaching it directly to the ceiling is out, as it is too high, and I don't have ladders or scaffolding to get up there. The easiest is option 3 - on the lower shelf of the workbench. Will it be effective down there - about a foot off the ground?  Or should I go for options 1 or 2? Thanks for any insight.  David V. - Baltimore, MD Gentlemen, Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to share your knowledge through the podcast. I've recently caught up on all the previous episodes and really look forward to the bi-weekly insights you provide. It's been a tremendous help as I navigate the early stages of woodworking and material sourcing. I have a question regarding quality expectations when purchasing from regional hardwood suppliers. I've recently started buying from a distributor in the Texas/Oklahoma area that operates multiple warehouses. While I'm still relatively new to this type of procurement, I've noticed a gap between what I expected from a “select & better” grade product and what I actually received. My recent order was for cherry lumber—select & better, RW&L, averaging 6 inches wide, 9 feet long, and 15/16" thickness, graded 90/70+. The issue I encountered was significant end-checking and splitting—some boards had cracks extending 10 to 18 inches. Since the lumber (along with some maple and walnut) was bundled and strapped to a pallet, it wasn't until I got home—over an hour away—that I realized the extent of the damage. I understand that some waste is always part of the equation, but I'm trying to get a sense of what's considered “normal” for a premium grade. Should I have contacted the supplier once I noticed the issue? Or is it standard practice to inspect the order before it leaves the yard? I'd appreciate any guidance or rules of thumb you might recommend for handling situations like this. Thanks again for your time and for all the valuable information you share. It's been a huge help. Best regards, Mark Guys Questions: I'm preparing to build a set of kitchen cupboards from white oak.  The style will be Mission, with some Frank Lloyd Wright Prairies Style touches.  I have several questions.  I'm going to build some assembly tables.  I don't want hundreds of dog/hold-down holes in each, but I will probably drill a few.  I'm wondering about 3/4” (the traditional North American standard) vs. 20 mm (a standard popularized by Festool, etc.).  I know this isn't a black and white choice, but could you share some thoughts on what one might consider before committing to one size vs. another. Darrin    I frequently seem to struggle with keeping the countersink concentric concentric with the screw clearance hole. I have both the multi-flue countersink and the countersink with one diagonal hole but they both want to wander.    I also have a tapered drill bit with set-screwed countersink.   Maybe I should be trying harder to use that type. So my question is - do you have any suggestions for keeping the countersink centered on the clearance hole, and what is your preferred type of countersink. Steve Huys Questions: Hello guys, my name is Jim Rose.  I live in north central Kansas and have a couple of completely different topics for questions. Before the questions, I wanted to say, thanks so much for an awesome podcast.  I have been a listener since Brian came on board.  In fact, the 1st episode I listened to was his 1st episode!!! First off, I have a question about beetle kill pine.  I am currently building a new house and have purchased beetle kill pine to put on the walls and ceiling of a sunroom.  My question is what finish should I use if any so that the blues and reds of the beetle kill pine will show the best and not change colors in anyway.  I have seen different opinions on the internet ranging from a clear poly to nothing at all.  Some have even said that a finish will change to colors which I definitely dont want. Not sure if this is true so thought I would the experts.   Thanks in advance.  Any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again, Jim Hey Fellas' as many say "love the podcast", I've learned a ton and look forward to more as I work my way through previous shows and keep up with new ones. The ask ... you've shared a fair amount regarding adhesive/glues including talking shelf life. How can we tell when an adhesive/glue has exceeded its shelf life and should be discarded and replaced? I mean knowing this is prior to using it and the project failing and pieces not sticking as needed. Thanks, Chris Hudson

This Episodes Questions: Brians Questions:  What are the the most useful 3d prints for a woodworking shop.  I often print out small pattern templates and fixtures for hole placement.  Even storage solutions for various tools etc...  what are your top suggestions? Josh Hi, let's talk about working with laminated plywood.  I just picked up about 25 sheets of 3/4”x 22”x6'  birch plywood that has Formica laminated on both sides from the free pile of a high volume cabinet shop. I want to encourage everyone to find local cabinet or mill work shops  in your area and drive by them often! I do on my commute to and from work.  What kind of design/construction considerations would you make when building cabinets with drawers for my garage using only this 3/4” plywood? It will be for my garage.  I know it's common to make drawers using thinner plywood but I'm not trying to spend money if I have to.   how would you finish the edges? I'm going to make a blanket chest next, The laminate is a fancy textured walnut wood grain that actually looks pretty good. I currently don't have a shop but have some hand tools and hand power tools like a router,  circular saw with track, and a lot of imagination! With the help from your podcast I just recently purchased a biscuit jointer and a large (rather intimidating) 45 degree chamfer router bit. Haywood Guys Questions: Hi Guys, I've been listening to your podcast since the beginning and it's by far the best. There's not even a close second. My question is: I want to make shop sawn veneer. I have a band saw with 11” cut capacity, grizzly 8” jointer, a dewalt 735 thickness planner with a Byrd Shelix helical cutter head, but I don't have a drum sander. I would like to end up with 1/16”  cherry veneer that is 10” wide, but I'm not sure about the process to make it. Would the thickness planer be too aggressive to remove the bandsaw marks or would I need to purchase a drum sander?  Also, after cutting a piece of veneer from the stock, do I need to reflatten the stock before cutting another piece of veneer. In general, I guess what I'm asking is given the set of tools above, how would you go about making veneer? Mike I am building a trestle table out of African Mahogany, more specifically Khaya. I am using 8/4 for the top and 12/4 for the legs. It is going to live on a jalousy window sun room that is not climate controlled in the state of Florida. What finishes do you guys recommend to use to help preventwood movement or warping over time, or is that just going to happen. David Huy's Questions: Hello Gents, This is a bit of a long winded question regarding aftermarket sliders for the table saw and how to best use them. I recently purchased an old Excalibur sliding table from my saw.  This is an older model but from my understanding is almost identical to the current SawStop sliders, as SawStop took over the old Excalibur models (maybe this is incorrect or you have more insight?).  I mounted the slider to the extension table on the left so I get the full size of the TS top and the slider fence is long enough to reach all the way to the blade.  I figured that this way I get the best of both worlds, and I do have the space for it. My purpose for the slider was to help break down sheet goods, manage angled cuts on larger pieces, and to help cut miters on larger case panels.  I've made a few cases in the past with mitered corners and running a long case panel on the TS to cut the miters is a bit of a pain.  I was hoping that the slider would simplify that process as it would allow the long panel to move over the table smoothly while held square to the blade. Here is the kicker, the slider mounts on the left of the saw which is the direction that the blade tilts.  In my mind, this creates a problem as I have to run the panel up-side-down, under the tilted blade, and the offcut would now be dropping on top of the blade where it will create a kickback situation.  In general, I wouldn't run the piece "under" the blade when using a rip fence as it is trapped, but with the slider that's not really true.  Seems problematic for the offcut but gives more accuracy and control on an otherwise unwieldy piece and may be worth rolling the dice.  I figure that with the slider I have plenty of space to stand out of the firing line when that offcut goes flying, but it is probably smarter to avoid the situation in the first place....  What are your thoughts? How are others handling miters with a slider?  It seems most folks in North America have them mounted on the left, and most of the saws tilt to that side. Bojan Hey guys I've been listening to lots of episodes of the podcast lately and find it very helpful me being a beginner. This will be a long one but here is the situation, I'm not far from Indianapolis so a couple of you understand the weather. Earlier this year I cut down a couple of trees from a family property before it got demolished for development. Trees were run through a local saw mill and kiln dried for me. When I picked them up from the local guys I brought the stack back and put it in a barn on the family farm. The barn is generally shut up but it is not conditioned. I do all my wood working in my basement at home that is conditioned. I'm getting ready to buy a used 8” jointer to help me handle all these boards. I will not be carrying a large jointer into the basement to do the work it will be at the farm where the wood is stored. Question is, with an unconditioned barn do you think it will be a problem to joint a few boards there, bring them back to the basement Woodshop and let them acclimate for a few weeks before proceeding to plane/cut up for projects? Would it be better to joint just a couple at a time as I'm going to need them or would jointing most of the boards and storing them unconditioned during the year and moving them to the Woodshop as needed be ok? Thanks for the podcast and all the info you guys provide. I've learned multiple things from you guys already and hope to continue learning more. Drew

Guys Questions Hey guys, I really love your show. My question is about food safe finishes. I do a lot of CNC carving and one of my favorite is deviled egg trays. The first couple I made for my wife I just finished with some butcher block oil, the composition of an egg Has something  in it I think and it quickly turned the reliefs in the wood surface black. I talked to my sister-in-law who's a chemical engineer and she told me that polyurethane once it's cured would be fine for this. I have done a few with this and it seems to be holding up OK but I am curious what your guys thoughts are  on the long-term effect of this. Most of my egg trays are made out of a butcher block style material that has lots of maple cherry ash a little bit of oak and various leftovers. Unfortunately, I can't use walnut in my wood shop due to my wife's tree nut allergy again guys. I really appreciate your podcast and look forward to listening to it. Albert Thanks for the great podcast, I learn something from every episode.  I recently made a few band saw boxes for Christmas gifts.  They are a good way to use up some offcut lumber and the family seems to appreciate something handmade.   The 3 drawer box with a curved top and side (pictures attached) caused me a bit of trouble.   Joni had preciously asked for a sideboard style cabinet to place between out living and dinning room areas.  After 2-3 month we still hadn't found a design she liked....until she saw the curved band saw box.  I quote "I love that design and want one like that only much bigger"   My question is what suggestions do you have for making the curved top and sides,  I am thinking the sides could be made using walnut plywood by cutting kerfs and bending the plywood over a frame but I am open to other ideas.   The top has me stumped, I have made segmented arches for a table support  but they were only 4" wide and I cut the arch on a band saw.  That would not work for a wide dresser top. Approximate dimensions would be 30" -35" wide and 45- 55" tall and 20-22" deep Thanks in advance for you help DH I realize this isn't a fine precision woodworking question, but I figure you guys have probably dealt with manhandling sheets of plywood. We have about 140 sheets of plywood that we need to put down on a floor. The median age of the guys doing this is somewhere between 65 and 70. Any suggestions for how to safely handle this many sheets of plywood to minimize strains and injuries ? Thanks,  Mark Huys Questions Good Morning, I appreciate the podcast as I continue to learn its been a great resource, thank you! Quick background. I grew up watching PBS's Norm Abram and This Old House but never had much opportunity to learn wood working. As an adult I started learning both construction building and cabinet/furniture making helping others, reading and youtube etc. Starting in basement workshops with mostly benchtop tools. ~15 years into the journey I am starting to get a decent foundation. Recently I built a house with a planned garage workshop and have started outfitting it. Bones are there, lots of organization needed but I have now have 3hp grizzly table saw, bosch miter saw with large counter style station, 8" Grizzly jointer, 24" Grizzly Drum Sander, Grizzly Bandsaw and dust collector Planer still needs upgrading, have a Ridgid 13" but watching for a used 20" helical head. I have been busy chasing used deals! Also recently setup a 10'x10' popup tent with furnace filter setup tied into 12" exhaust fan as a spray booth, works great! Spraying with a Fuji mini mite 5 stage and PPS cup system.  Space is 32'x32' when cars are out with 12' ceiling, in floor heat. Rural northern New York. Not a Rockler or similar store within a days drive but we have ample local sawmills to find solid wood if your willing to mill it and access to cabinet grade plywood delivered from suppliers. With this shop setup I am now building cabinets, furniture, trim, doors etc for our house. Starting in some areas I don't mind making some mistakes. Two areas that I am struggling to figure out: Finishes-your recent episode had some decent comments but I would love a thorough discussion on when you would choose a certain finish over another. In particular thinking of kitchen cabinets, vanities, built in's, kitchen table. High traffic areas. I have played around with conversion varnish from Woodwright. Seems like very durable stuff and I don't mind cleaning up with solvent but when is that necessary vs going with an easier to work with finish such as Sherwin Williams Emerald? Or middle ground lacquer??I do have Bob Flexners book but would love to hear your experiences/ opinions? If I do use conversion varnish how do you handle any touch ups? I have quite a lot of experience with airless on sheetrock so its not a huge jump but any suggestions on HVLP setups, when to use which tips etc. would be helpful. *Doors- I appreciated the conversation on doors recently. I have several very custom interior and exterior doors I want to tackle. I agree with your comments on buying pre hung for standard doors but between custom nature of what we want and because I just want to do it I am going to try to build my own. I want to buy the festool domino machines in time anyhow and I think that would be a good way to build the doors. I would enjoy hearing a conversation on specifics on how you would choose to build interior vs exterior doors, rail and style material vs. panel material vs jamb material. Is there a way to insulate the exterior door? Finishes? If you had the shop described above and both domino size machines what would you do? Thank you! Matt Wendig This one is a wood selection question. I am looking for a wood that has both good elasticity and shock resistance. I am building a Japanese makiwara board, which is a training tool that provides progressive resistance to striking force by the martial artist. The training board is about 55" tall, 5" wide and is tapered - so thick at the base and gradually tapers to the top. This allows for "flex" when the board is struck. In Japan - Japanese beech is typically used, but not readily available near me. I am thinking along the lines of Ash or Elm for my build. I appreciate your thoughts. Crafted Carpentry Tampa Hello gentlemen and thank you for the wonderful podcast. I live in the niagara region in Ontario Canada and for the last while I've been looking at upgrading my current table saw (Ridgid R4520) to something that runs on 220v for more power  or possibly replacing it all together with a bandsaw.  I have an oversized single car garage that houses my furnace, hot water tank, ATV, motorcycle, mechanical shop and woodshop so space is at a premium and that is the motivation to possibly do away with a table saw all together. I have a router table, mitre saw and track saw so I feel all the functions I may lose not having a table saw will still be covered by these tools plus I have a Ridgid job site table saw (R4518ns) I use for the odd job I do off site. I currently have an older 110v 14" king bandsaw that I find severely underpowered and that I want to replace anyways, so with the sale of my current bandsaw and table saw plus my current budget and with some convincing of my wife I'm thinking I'll have roughly $3000-3300CAD to buy either one bandsaw or have to use those fund to buy both a bandsaw and table saw. I am 6'4" and if my memory serves me correctly guy has said Laguna bandsaw tables are closer to the ground and I've quickly looked at some king bandsaw and craftex bandsaws but I'm not sold on them either. So my question question to you guys is, what would you do? Use all the funds on a bandsaw and if so which one and what type of blades should I purchase with it? Or split up the funds to purchase 2 machines and again which ones? And do you go new or used in both of those situations? Thank you ahead of time for taking the time to read and respond to my inquiry. James

This Episodes Questions: Brians Questions When making trivets, how to cut the grooves - when I cut mine I hogged out half the thickness of the wood in one pass.   That led to some pretty rough cuts and gouges (i.e. scrap).   I assume the answer is a router table with a lift, but of course I don't have one YET.   :)      Also, what finish to put on a trivet (which is used for hot pans)? - different finish than a cutting board?   Tung oil?  Danish oil?   I assume 'not' ArmRSeal. Mark I'm preparing to build a set of kitchen cupboards from white oak.  The style will be Mission, with some Frank Lloyd Wright Prairies Style touches.  I have several questions.  I have a SuperMax style cantilever 25-50 drum sander.  Do you think that this is a feasible tool to level out the boards to remove the planer snipe?  …and avoid having to cut 3” of the end of each piece? Darrin   Guys Questions:   Been enjoying your podcast through several projects. My background is homebuilding, but through my sawmill hobby and unwillingness to pay for overpriced garbage…I have found myself learning about woodworking. My question is about making doors.    I have made one door so far using only groove cuts into the stiles's and gluing  the tenons of the rails and panels into these cuts. I don't have much faith in the longevity of this door, but it's been a year now.   What is the traditional methodology for attaching the individual parts of a simple 3 panel door   Should I just buy a domino and get it done…    Also per your latest podcast episode, what is the best way to midi gate the wood movement at the joint of the rails/ stiles. As these joints are not small nor parallel.    Sorry for the low brow question. Appreciate the knowledge. Lucas Hello esteemed woodworking gentlemen! Thanks for the amazing podcast and the contribution to the woodworking community. I'm seeking some general advice and hope you can help. I was recently watched a YouTube video where someone stated that a track saw blade should always be buried for the straightest possible cut. That made me wonder if I can be causing unnecessary blade deflection on my jobsite table saw and Dewalt miter saw. I often struggle achieving perfect 90 on those machines when crosscutting. As a hobbyist with limited shop time, setting up machines is pain but I understand its necessity. Can you speak on this blade deflection and are there any go to tricks that you have for ensuring your machines are set up properly? Thanks for any help you can provide.-Jose    Huys Questions: A while back my wife and I bought and moved into a house with no dishwasher, then later purchased one after realizing how much not having one sucked. We made the mistake of assuming that we would be fine putting the dishwasher at the end of the counter, because we figured the top of the machine would look like a run-of-the-mill home appliance like a washer or dryer, rather than the monstrosity that it actually is. It is ugly. I think I actually recall my wife crying when she saw it, and not in a good way. Since then my loosely held plan has been finding a way to move or dispose of the contents of one section of our cabinets, then cut a section out of said cabinets big enough for the dishwasher to fit underneath. Recently, however, thanks in large part to your podcast, I have developed enough confidence in my woodworking skills to attempt a different idea. My thought is to make what is essentially an end cap or sidewall, which will match the existing cabinetry, anchor it somehow, and then place a new section of countertop between this end cap and the existing end cap of the cabinets. I would essentially be "extending" the countertop, thereby concealing top and visible side of the dishwasher. From what I can tell, all I would have to make, stain, and finish would be a cabinet side panel, a piece of trim to run along the bottom, and a partial face frame. So here come the questions: do you think this is doable, either generally or the way I am thinking? And what would be the easiest way to tackle this project? Note that I'm not particularly concerned over whether or not I use the same method of instruction as was used for the rest of the cabinetry. For example, I don't particularly care to use particle board with a veneer as the rest of the cabinets may have done if it would actually be easier or cheaper in this instance to just make the side panel out of a solid piece of wood. So long as it looks close, its fine with me. The applicable tools I can think of that I have at my disposal are a table saw with a crosscut sled, a compound miter saw, a jigsaw, fixed base router, various types of Sanders, a pocket hole jig, 15, 16, and 23 gauge nailers, and of course all of the basic hand tools. I would describe my skill level as approaching novice. Sincerely,Z achary T Owens Howdy yall, I'm wondering if you can recommend any smoke detectors or carbon monoxide detectors in the woodshop? I work out of a one car garage in Minnesota so have a gas heater to help me stay warm during our bitter winter months, but am also worried about oil rags possibly spontaneously combusting. When I first moved into the shop I tried installing a regular smoke detector however it kept on getting set off when I had excessive dust flying (thank you router). Is there anything that you know of on the market that won't get set off by dust but that I can keep my home protected and have a little more peace of mind? Thanks,   Paul at Twin Lake Woodshop

This Episodes Questions: Brian's Questions: My neighbor gave me a beautiful maple root ball that is approximately 3' in diameter about 6 months ago. I am currently letting it dry for another 12 to 24 months. I'm thinking of eventually rough cutting it with a large reciprocating saw. The wood will be used for small boxes or knife handles. Am I crazy? Do you have any advice on dry times and using root wood? George Guy, I am making a bow front dresser and plan to use Blum Blumotion undermount slides for the drawers. However, I'm not sure how I should attach the front of the slide to the bottom of the draw, since the draw front will be curved. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also, the draws will be inset, but since the blumotion has a fair amount of flexibility (up/down and left/right)  I am thinking aligning the draw fronts should be doable. But do you have any suggestions to make it as simple as possible? Finally I see Rockler has a “JIG IT” under mount drilling guide. Do you use this jig and do you recommend it? Thanks so much!!! Mike Guy's Questions: I live in Fishers, IN and am new to woodworking and was wondering how to find good places for hardwoods? It's been pretty tough to find anything local without driving a decent distance to a mill on the west side of town. Chayse Bell I'm preparing to build a set of kitchen cupboards from white oak.  The style will be Mission, with some Frank Lloyd Wright Prairies Style touches.  I have several questions. How much planer snipe is too much?  I have a Dewalt 13” model 735 benchtop planer.  If I take a short board—say, two feet—and run it through once taking a 1/16 cut, I get 8/1000ths snipe.  Is this to be expected?  …or should I look at getting my planer serviced or maybe trading up.  (The Laguna Tools PX16 planer looks amazing, but six times the money.) Darrin Huy's Questions: Thank you all for what you do. Like so many other woodworkers, I have accumulated quite a bit of wood through my own purchases and also from inheriting my fathers wood collection after he passed away. I would like to move it out of my two car garage workshop to free up space, and am considering building some sort of dry storage box to store it under a deck in my backyard. (I don't have room for a large lumber shed). Thinking roughly 14 foot by 4 foot by 4 foot.  This box would obviously be exposed to the weather as the deck is not sealed. What are your thoughts on this?  And if you were to build this box, would you seal it relatively airtight or would you simply stack the lumber off the ground and put a piece of tin or something over the top to allow airflow. In the second example, I worry about snow, rain and bugs getting access to the lumber. Thanks in advance for your response. Eric in Lincoln Nebraska Hey gentleman, first of all, thank you for the amazing podcast and the fluff-free format. I've been a hobbyist woodworker for about 6 years and I'm at the point where I'm considering turning my hobby into a side job of sorts. My question is: in your opinion, what separates an amateur woodworker from a professional woodworker? Are there certain skills, techniques, or projects you learned that really elevated your confidence or status in the craft? Thanks again, and keep up the awesome content! Adrien from Toronto (Canada)

This Episodes Questions: Brian's Questions: I'm preparing to build a set of kitchen cupboards from white oak.  The style will be Mission, with some Frank Lloyd Wright Prairies Style touches.  I have several questions.  I have a question about milling lumber.  There seems to be a trade-off: keep the boards long and you need to joint more off to get a flat face, hence the risk of falling below your desired thickness.  But cut the boards to length first and you have to allow for more cut-offs on the ends to remove planer snipe.  How should I think about this?  In general, do the three of you cut longer boards to length for parts first and then plane and joint?  Or do you joint and plane the boards whole (mine are 6' to 8') and take the perhaps larger losses to thickness but avoid multiple areas of planer snipe?   I know that much depends on the boards, but I'd be interested in your general approaches.  Darrin    Hey guys I absolutely love the podcast, amd have already learned a lot. I recently have decided to do this for more than a hobby. I have been doing small or easier projects like cutting boards and tongue and groove ceilings. I have been wanting to start building entry level tables and furniture but keep psyching myself out of it. How did you guys build up the confidence to move on to more advanced projects? And did you guys get discouraged or frustrated at the beginning? Thank you David Caraway Guy's Questions: Thank you all for such a great show!  I'm an amateur woodworker working out of a 550 square foot two-car attached garage.  We keep two cars in the garage, so all my equipment is on mobile bases. My question has to do with shop climate control.  I live in southern Indiana, with hot muggy summers and cool-to-cold winters.  The garage is insulated, including the door, and sits under a conditioned bonus room, but the garage itself is not heated or cooled.  Although it never freezes, for a few of the coldest winter weeks, it will be in upper 30s.  Mostly it's at least 45 degrees. I'm contemplating installing a 1 ton/12,000BTU mini-split for heating and cooling, DIYing installing it for less than $1000.  I'm trying to decide if it's worth it, basically for the few hottest and coldest weeks.  I can also migrate easily to my unfinished basement in the coldest weeks for glue-ups and finishing.  I wouldn't want to run the mini-split all the time, and often I am only out in the shop for short bursts, so pre-heating or pre-cooling seems wasteful.  $1000, plus the energy to run the mini-split, could buy plenty of other woodworking equipment and supplies.  If this were your shop, what would you do? Thanks, Kyle Kramer Always a pleasure listening to your podcast.  Thank you for your knowledge and insight. I am planning to rip the carpet off my Stairs treads and somehow get a relative match to my wood flooring either upstairs and downstairs.  Assuming the exact color isnt important in my question. The treads are likely just pine but I haven't pulled the carpet yet to find out.  My thought was to veneer the treads.  Then I would most likely us a transtint dye to reach the color and finish off with shellac washout and water based poly for durable finish.  Is this a good approach or destined for failure? Thanks for your time. Josh Huy's Questions: Thanks for the great podcast. I have learned a lot from all the great content you put out. I really appreciate your advice and perspective. I have a couple questions I was hoping you could answer. My second question is about compositing saw dust. My wife likes to garden and keep a compost pile. We use saw dust and wood shaving to balance the moisture of the compost pile. I occasionally use MDF and plywood  and I am wondering if all the bad stuff in those materials are bad to use in the compost. I guess I'm pretty sure they are not good. I've heard that most of those chemicals breakdown form the heat of the compost but I am skeptical of that. I use an oneida dust separator. Do you think it is worth trying to partition two dust bins, one for raw wood and one for everything else? Do you think a blast gate under the separator would accomplish that or would it mess with the air flow of the separator? Thanks. Keep up the great work. Jon Moch A lot of people talk about spraying water on wood when changing sanding grits, to raise the loose fibres and get a smoother finish. I have taken to spraying isopropyl alcohol (I think you would call it rubbing alcohol) between grits. I can spray it quite heavily and have it evaporate within a minute so I can continue sanding without having to wait. I doubt I'm the first person in the history of woodworking to think of this (I'm no rocket scientist, Huy), but I never hear of anyone else doing this. That makes me think there may be a good reason to not do this. So what do you blokes reckon? Is there a reason why I shouldn't be doing this, apart from water being free and alcohol being expensive? FYI, I usually work in recycled jarrah (an ultra hard Western Australian wood) and finish with Tung oil when using the alcohol Thanks fellas, love your work! Jim

This Episodes Questions: Brian's Questions: I know planing before face jointing is sacraledge but I was recently visiting with an older experienced wood worker who noted he never face joints. Planes both sides then edge joints and it's fine. Thoughts? Thinking if you want it dead flat perfect or board is not great to start with jointing certainly makes sense. But anybody just plane it? Perhaps starting with a decent board it would work for most applications? My 20” planer is a breeze to put wood through, the jointer is great but takes more effort/time if it's not needed would be a nice step to drop. Curious on your thoughts, Matt Wendig I'm preparing to build a set of kitchen cupboards from white oak.  The style will be Mission, with some Frank Lloyd Wright Prairies Style touches.  I have several questions.  I need to cut up a lot of 3/4" plywood.  I have a good track saw and a cabinet tablesaw with side and outfeed tables.  When watching videos of some people constructing kitchen cabinets, I'm surprised that they cut the sheet goods with the track saw but then cut them again, to final size, on the table saw.  I imagined myself using the track saw only—to do very precise cuts to final size and not cutting the panels twice.  What is your process?  Any advice on maximizing my chances of getting near-perfect panels with the track saw only and avoiding the two-cuts process? Darrin    Guy's Questions:    Hey guys, love the podcast. I'm making a screen door for the porch out of cedar that is 1.5” thick, 36” x 84” with 5.5” wide stiles and rails (top, middle and bottom). I have a festool DF500, if I used 10 x 50 dominoes for the joinery would that be strong enough or should I use traditional mortise and tenons? I've read that cedar is pretty dimensionally stable. I was thinking about just staining or oiling the door (I don't want it to turn gray) but does it need an actual topcoat to help keep it from warping? Just don't want to use a finish that is going to flake off and I will have to sand and refinish every year or so. If it needs a topcoat could you recommend a finish? Thanks, Scott in Birmingham. Throughly enjoy the pod cast. I am almost up to date on all past episodes and they hve been quite informative. Little back story on my question. Had a client contact me about repairing a dinning table they had built for their home. For clarity I didn't build the table. The top is a solid wood glue up with breadboards on the ends. On one end of the top the breadboard sticks out about 1/16” past the rest of the top. On the other end 2 boards have a split between the glue line  that stretches roughly 2 feet along their length. I'm sure it is from the wood contracting. Any pointers on how to repair the issue?  I'm 99.9% sure the table top is made from southern yellow pine. It is stained with a top coat of poly acrylic. Robert Huy's Questions: Hello guys, I love the podcast and have learned a ton from you. Keep up the great work and thank you for your time.  I have a question on how you store your tools that require precision/calibration. Specifically, I have an Incra 5000 cross cut sled. When not in use, I store it standing on its side on the shop floor. Is there a better / more correct way? Similar question goes for any other shop made sled / jig that you expect to use over and over again. How do you store it? Max Greddie Woodworks It was mentioned that one of you repalced the wheels on his band saw, do to it wearing out and it was a pain. I have bought a used 14 inch delta bandsaw, and I have no idea how to know if parts are worn out beside the obvious part being the blade. So how can I figure out parts are worn out, sources to shop for replacements ( no home depo in Okinawa) tips and or youtube videos on how to do these maintainance tasks? Oh and what you do to increase the function of a band saw, like would you buy a bow system fence for it? Many thanks, Paul Mitchell Oki Mitch Crafts

This Episodes Questions: Brians Questions: Hi Guys love your podcast.  I have a quick question regarding table saw blades.  Can you give me a recommendation on a good quality 10" table saw blade that I can get re-sharpened when needed.  I keep blowing through blades and I'm tired of buying new ones.  Also, do you send the blades back to get re-sharpened or take them to your nearest local blade sharpening place thanks in advance Dave I'm making an ash table top (never used ash before) and had a few questions. How should I edge join the boards for glue up (domino or biscuits), what's the best finish for ash when used as a desk to avoid feeling the grain on ash. I don't have a sprayer but could be a good excuse to get one.  What edge profiles do you guys like to use for tables and/or desk that get lots of use and also look good? Chayse Guy's Questions: My latest project is an Arts & Crafts sideboard made in quartersawn white oak. I'm at the point in the project where I need to start thinking about how to finish the piece.  Its my first time working with this wood and I'm considering fuming the piece with ammonia as I've read that this process will really make the grain rays stand out.  People seem pretty divided on whether its worth the time and risk of working with harmful chemicals and I wanted to get your collective thoughts and experience.  Have you used an ammonia fuming process? Do you think its worth it?  Any tips or tricks to share?  I'm in the northeast so the current low temps add some complexity as I've learned that colder temperatures slow down the process. Regards, Adam I'm working on a veneered box. Normally you'd glue a similarly oriented veneer on the back surface to prevent warping. For the veneer, I'm planning on cross cutting small strips and then gluing them together, roughly like how inlays are made. I'll then be cutting thin slices from the resulting laminated assembly. I'll be using the thin slices as the veneer, like a mosaic or a quilt. The grain of these thin slices will run in different directions. Do I still need a backing? If so, in which direction should the backing grain run? Lauris Huy's Questions: The topic of wood movement comes up pretty regularly on this show. When it does, however, it is typically related to questions on how to account for it in regards to a specific project or joinery method. Meanwhile, I'm sitting here wondering what wood movement actually is. I understand that humidity and temperature cause wood to expand or contract, but that's about where my understanding ends. Why is it important to account for wood movement? What happens if you don't? What is this business I've heard mentioned about projects exploding? On a related note, often when questions about mitigating wood movement come up the answers to those questions are something along the lines of "If you use __________ (type of joinery, layout, etc) you shouldn't have to worry about wood movement." As someone still very new to the principles of woodworking, the question I always have is: why? Why will using such and such method or assembling your project in this or that manner mitigate wood movement? Zach Hey guys. Love your podcast and appreciate the help you've given me over the years with your knowledge and experience in the craft. I have an entryway table I'm building out of walnut and cocobolo. The top will consist of a glue up of the two woods. What glue should I use for the glue up since cocobolo is very oily? And what sort of finish would you recommend for this application? Thanks again and take care!  Ryan of Mountain Custom Woodworks

This Episodes Questions: Brians Questions: I am making a toy box for my grandson out of white oak. The dimensions will be 38” width, 18” depth, and 30” high. The front will be 4/4 quarter sawn, while the back and sides will be 4/4 flat sawn lumber. I plan to attach the front and sides, and the back and sides via dovetails. Since quarter sawn wood will move less than flat sawn, should I be concerned about the wood moving at different ratios?  Also, can you recommend hinges that will prevent the top of the toy box from crashing down on my grandson's fingers? Mike My question concerns the router table that I built myself out of out of MDF and 2x4s last year. I'm pretty satisfied with it overall. I am by no means an expert, but I'd have to say having the router in a table seems to be roughly 1,000% more effective than using the router freehand. Having said that, I've been struggling with the fence, especially When I'm trying to edge join a board. My approach for securing the fence has been to clamp down each end of it with a trigger clamp, placing an additional clamp on the support frame or what have you at the rear of the router table. I've included a picture of my setup for this as well for clarity's sake. Here's the problem I'm running into: I position the fence, clamp it down, then check it again to make sure it hasn't come out of alignment. When I initially begin running boards over the router table, it works great. However, before too long, sometimes as soon as the second board, I find the fence is no longer properly aligned. When I check it I always find that the fence has shifted back towards the far end of the router table, usually by a 32nd of an inch or so. As you are all aware, this small difference has a pretty significant impact on how my boards come out, particularly when edge joining. My assumption is that this shift is due to my exerting pressure against the fence while feeding material through to keep the work piece tight against it. Do any of you have any suggestions regarding how I can secure my fence more effectively? Part of me wonders if I am just applying too much sideways pressure to my work pieces, but I also feel like I am applying just enough pressure to keep it from wandering away from the fence when passing the bit. Zach Owens Guy's Questions: I'd also like to hear about your process for organizing your shop space and how often you revisit the layout of your shop. As a follow-up to each question, I'd be curious if organizing and maintaining a shop are aspects of woodworking that you enjoy? Or loathe? Or maybe just tolerate? Marc I think there is a good question about red vs blue. red corner is woodpeckers, the YouTube influencers certified measuring and layout tools. Then there's the poor humans with affordable blue corner igaging. I believe woodpeckers is rated in their accuracy to .002 inch and igaging is .002 inch. So, I wonder if that .001 would make my skills somehow greater?? I think honestly that having a set of tools that I can use without each being a different measurement, as tape measures often would be. I also think about cost, even with a higher shipping fee due to my location I nearly outfitted my shop with all the marking and measuring tools at roughly $300 instead of $300 for one ruler or square. Thanks for the ongoing pod cast hope you all have a great year. Paul Mitchell Huy's Questions:  On the face of wood, there is clearly a right and wrong direction to plane. Going the wrong direction causes gouging, chipping, and/or a time tough pushing the plane across the wood. How do you tell the correct direction to go with the plane, without having to risk messing up the piece by potentially going the wrong direction across the face of the wood with your plane? George  I just made my first attempt at cutting dovetails for a small box with dividers that my wife asked me to make her for work. I cut them using a router table that I made just for the occasion. It went fairly well, meaning that they all fit and there aren't any unsightly large gaps. Starting with test pieces was definitely the way to go. I did have one issue, however. I'm not sure what the appropriate name for the different pieces of a dovetail are, but when I was cutting the female pieces I kept running into an issue where the router bit would jerk the work piece away from the fence, resulting in a somewhat crooked portion in my otherwise straight dovetail cut. I tried feeding the work piece into the bit from each side to see if one direction worked better than the other, but that didn't seem to help. I know that typically the recommendation is to make several shallow passes, but obviously this is not possible with a dovetail. Do you have any guesses as to what I might have been doing wrong? Should I have been pushing the work piece more firmly against the fence? Thanks in advance for your answers and insight. Can't wait to hear your next episode. Sincerely,Z achary T Owens  

This Episodes Questions: Brians Questions: Hello Guy, Huy, and Sean, I have two questions. 1) I'd like to hear your thoughts on your workshop maintenance routines. Are there yearly, monthly, project-ly routines to the maintenance and cleaning you do in your shops? Marc What are your woodworking goals for 2025? Brian Guys Questions: Hey Guys,  First, thanks for the fantastic podcast.  I always enjoy  listening to you gents so much so that I've managed to get through the entirety of your past episodes. A little background: I work in a small space and am consider going with a combo jointer - planer can leave me some room for something else. I am not a a professional woodworker but an enthusiastic hobbyist.  Right now I have a bench top 10" jointer (I definitely understand why Guy pretty much hates these things) and a DeWalt 735 planer.  I'm happy with the DeWalt, but the jointer can get finicky if it's moved or looked at. I believe I heard in a past episode that Huy is using a Hammer A3-31 jointer-planer combo.     Huy - are you in fact using a Hammer combo machine?  And if so, are you happy with it?   Is the fence pretty solid?  If you were to buy again, what else would you consider?  My other option is maybe a non-combo mid-price point  Powermatic or Grizzly jointer.  Any other brands to consider?  It's a tough choice - spend more money but use less space or spend less money and use up more of that limited space.  Would appreciate hearing from each of you on this topic.  Apologies for my long winded questions,  but this feels like a big decision.  Thanks again for the excellent show. Ron As always thank you for the podcast and sharing your knowledge.  This one may be mainly for Guy as I know he's a proponent of the Lamello Zeta P2.  Like Huy I'm a bit of a tool junkie, and can't pass up a new one.  I was never happy with my old Porter Cable biscuit Joiner, so I gravitated to the Domino DF500 which has been a great tool.  I came across a deal where someone was selling a complete Zeta P2 system so I picked it up.  I've watched a number of the videos guy posted using the Zeta P2 and so far she seems like a great machine, but now I have some questions that I was hoping you could point me in the right direction: 1)      Is there any reason to keep my old Porter Cable Biscuit joiner?  2)      I have the knock down domino accessories that I've used on some builds in the past.  Do you have a guide line or any thoughts on when you would use the Domino vs. the Lamello? Thanks again, Doug Huy's Questions: Hello gentlemen, since you have been asking for questions, here are some for you regarding tools for projects, projects for tools, and tools AS projects. First, tools for projects. Thinking back my early days in woodworking, there were many times when I would have an idea for a project that exceeded the capabilities of my limited tool collection. Some of these were a basic as ripping a board or making an accurate cross cut. I managed to get by with the most basic table saw that I could afford and an old circular saw. Since a lot has changed in the 30 years since I started, like track saws and set-ups like MFT and Kreg's table setups, what would you guys recommend for the basic tools for someone starting out? Second, projects for tools. As I started to improve my skills as a woodworker and more tools became available, I felt the need to add tools to my shop. To help justify the purchases, I found myself coming up with projects that would be easier if I had that "special tool/bit/blade."  Have you every made a project specifically designed to justify a tool purchase, or is it just me? If so,  what was the project and what was the tool? Third, tools AS projects. A few years ago I started to get more into hand tool woodworking after inheriting some of my grandfather's collection. I also began frequenting a couple of used tool stores in Maine while on vacation where I picked up some vintage panel saws and most of a Stanley 78 rabbet plane. With some cleaning and sharpening I began to really appreciate the use of hand tools and began looking for a used router plane. I don't know if it was just the area that I live in (New England), but there are very few used router planes to be found, and the few that I did find were almost as much as a new one. Determined to add a router plane to my arsenal I went online, found multiple different options for making my own, and then settled on the Paul Sellers' kit for the hardware and using hickory and cherry for the base. I found out to be a very fun project that taught me some new skills, and I use the tool very frequently. Have you guys done similar projects to make a useful tool that also improved your skills? Thank you for you time. Joshua The Black Dog Woodworks Hello again gentlemen.  You guys are the best at answering questions.  My third question involves making two 11" by 11 3/4" panel doors that slide left and right in a groove cut into the top and bottom of the frame.  The door panels are made of 1/2" MDF but with a 3" wide piece of Poplar that is glued to the top and bottom ends of the MDF.  This is to allow for cutting the rabbet into wood instead of MDF.  The rabbet will slide in upper and lower grooves in the frame. I created my own veneer of Walnut in the front face and Poplar in the back face because I'm cheap and the back won't show.  Both veneers are 7/64" thick and the long grain runs left to right (same direction of the door travel).  I used Titebond Veneer glue and glued both faces at once. I sandwiched the assembly between two pieces of plywood and clamped and weighted the whole thing. After 24 hours, I removed the clamps and saw that the panel had cupped in the direction across the grain (the same as a 12" wide board would cup).  I don't understand why it cupped as I thought MDF wouldn't allow that to happen.  I did use too much glue on the walnut side as there was a lot of squeeze-out.  I backed off the amount of glue on the Poplar side.  Was the veneer too thick?  Should I have ran the back face veneer perpendicular to the front face instead of in the same direction?  Did the two 3" wide Poplar pieces somehow contribute to the cupping?  I am waiting on doing the second door panel until I hear your opinions on this. Thank you for a great podcast.  I hope you all keep it going. Anthony

Hello all, We are taking a one episode break for the holidays and all three of us are dealing with some kind of cold/flu. See you again in two weeks!

This Episodes Questions: Brians Questions: I'm in the market to upgrade to a cabinet saw that I want to last for a long time. I've been using a Powermatic 64A contractors saw for the past two years that I bought used and have done my best to tune up. That saw still has its flaws though, and it's time to move on. I'm setting a budget of roughly $4000. I want a new saw with a 3 HP motor. 30" rip capacity is enough for me, as I can break down sheet goods using other methods, it will also fit better in my shop.  I'm currently considering the Powermatic 2000B or the Sawstop 3 HP cabinet saw. Which one would you choose, and why? What other models would you consider? Love the podcast! Thanks for your advice! Mike K. Hey guys! I've recently started scroll saw portraits (ex. Newton Makes Art or Scrollsaw Scribbler). So far I've stuck mainly to using pre-milled 1/4” stock, but I would like to add some dimension to the pieces and get even thinner stock, down to 3/16” or 1/8”. I recently added a planer to the shop and was thinking of taping stock to an MDF board to thickness the stock further. So my questions, first do you think this is safe? I have fears going this thin may lead to things getting ripped apart on the planer. Second, is there any other ways you'd recommend getting boards this thin? PS I do not have a drum sander to help with that last bit of flattening. -Trevor Guys Questions: I am a relatively new woodworker. Still learning skills, techniques, and patience with woodworking. Last year I made a pair of bar stools using cherry wood. It was my first real project of any significance, and overall I am really proud of how they turned out and how they have been holding up to daily use. This is a two part question because these are the two issues I struggled with the most during the build. 1. I made the legs of the stools splayed, and raked. I used blind mortise and tenon joinery to attach the rails to the legs. Since the legs were splayed and raked, I had to cut my mortise and tenons joint on an angle to accommodate the legs not being vertical. I used a forsner bit on the drill press and angled the table to roughly the proper angle, then used a chisel to square the holes. But I really struggled to do this accurately, especially when using the chisel to square the angled hole. What advice would you give to get precise angles, and to keep that angle while chiseling the holes square? Part 2. What would you suggest for attaching the seat to the base of the stool? I pre drilled holes into the bottom on the seat  and used screws from underneath. You can't see them unless you foil the stool upside down. but I felt like a bit of a hack doing that and would have preferred to use some sort of joinery instead of screws. Thanks again for providing the woodworking community with your knowledge and for the great entertainment. Braden Hey Gents! Canadian listener here, I found your podcast about a week ago and i have been listening every day now. Thanks for the content.  I love the look of pure oil finishes like tung oil but I can't handle how long it takes to dry. I have heard you can thin it to help. Is this something you guys do from time to time and if so what do you thin with / what ratio? Tyler    Huys Questions:    Hey Guys, As I'm working on building a new shop this summer. I'm getting a little closer to figuring out dust collection for the big machines. I ended up putting two 6” runs in the slab. But I'm stuck on which DC types work best. I built a large storage shed off the back of the shop that is walled off and the plan is to store the DC, lumber , air compressor, etc. I know a cyclone with a hepa filter is the gold standard in removing fine dust, which makes sense if the DC is inside the conditioned shop. But I already have a dual bag setup from Shop fox W1687 (3hp DC with separater and bag filters). I think this setup may get better  air movement than the cyclone. And since it's housed “outside” of the shop I think the  filter requirements could be reduced. Shop specs: 470 sq, all the normal machines to process rough lumber. Jesse Hello from Australia! I've been an enthusiastic hobbyist woodworker for about 18 months. I use mostly hand tools except a budget circular saw, which I hate, and I just got a 12 inch bandsaw, which I love. So far I've build a joiners bench, several planes, including a 52 degree smoother from a broken Stanley no.3. And I'm most of the way through a small bookshelf made from Tasmanian oak. As you know a lot of Australian wood is hard and can be challenging to work with. My next wood will be Austrian blackwood, which is moderately hard and has a high silica content. But it is also filled with glow and once oiled looks amazing. I also have some reclaimed floorboards which are some kind of gum tree. I would like to use them at some point but the boards are determined to remain in their current form. They are difficult to work with and if my no.5 plane is not super sharp it will just skip over the wood. Can you share any tips and knowledge on working with hard woods? Thanks for the show, I've learnt a lot from it Kind regards Jeremy

This Episodes Questions: Brians Questions: Hola fellas, Been a minute since I've bothered you, I've been busy with rebuilding my 1000 sqft deck with black locust I am milling from logs. It's taking a while, and most of my families patience with me. I took a detour to rebuild my music studio, so now all my neighbors get to listen to death core metal. I need to mill up this beech tree for a giant dresser but that's a topic for another time. Lot going on around here. I got a hot one for today: Some unbridled genius at my kids' day camp decided it would be a good idea for me to teach young children woodworking. I tried to explain that I have a company to run, am really irresponsible with other people's kids, don't know how to keep myself safe, etc. but they're pretty insistent. I talked them down from me being an actual camp counselor, to doing one or two workshops a week with different age groups from 6 up to 12 years old. I have a ton of scrap that can be used, a box of screwdrivers and crab mallets, 20 little glue bottles, and a bunch of sandpaper. Now I need some projects. Any ideas? I have the standard bird house / solid wood cutting board / pencil holder type stuff you can find online but I want something more exciting. What else can I do with young kids, that can be glued, nailed, tied, or screwed together from pre-fabricated parts? I want to get them to decorating whatever we make as quickly as possible, I've found with my kids that's when they get really excited. I should mention the camp has offered to purchase some tools for the kids, and materials, so I'm not limited there, but I think i want to keep power tools out of it. Make me a hero here gentlemen and I will be certain to share the accolades with WSLPC (WLP?). Happy Thanksgiving / Holidays / New Year's. Big Tom Hello guys, Is there a material / construction method that I should be preferring for making jigs if I want them to last a long time? Max Greddie Woodworks Guys Questions: I am looking to build a dresser.    Tentatively, I am thinking zebrawood main structure, which I would stain to match a cinnamon-brown stained maple desk that will be sitting beside the dresser.    I am thinking about doing the drawer fronts in Bubinga, which also looks similar in color to the maple and zebrawood, when finished.  The top of the dresser, I was thinking of quartersawn Sapele.   Sapele is relatively inexpensive and I love the ribbons and chatoyance of Sapele.    The mirror surround material I am still undecided on, but probably Sapele. Is this too many wood types on one piece ?    I have a few more bedroom pieces to eventually make and it seems like I risk having every species in The Wood Database in my bedroom, but my last couple of pieces have been Sapele and Khaya, and although I like the look, it's time for a change. Stephen It's rather simple or basic, actually.  When I first entered this school shop, it had been a while since there was a dedicated teacher.  As such, some of the equipment was in need of some maintenance attention.  Specifically, the tops or working surfaces of various pieces of equipment (3 table saws, planer, jointer, sanders, band saws, etc. - hopefully you get the picture).  I purchased a can of Johnson's paste wax, a couple of wax applicators and went to town.  Now, in the present, I can see the bottom of my can of wax - AND THERE IS NO JOHNSON'S PASTE WAX TO BE FOUND (except for certain websites that want an near fortune for the stuff).  I know there are other products that companies have dedicated time and money to develop just for this purpose (various sprays and the like) but am wondering a couple of things.  Should I, because according to the company, it isn't coming back so I should just embrace the change and just use the new stuff - OR - is there a similar product that can accomplish the same objective and is a simple solution?  Will any paste wax work?  I have seen a product called Shop Wax made by Bumblechutes and am wondering if that will work.  I understand that I want to provide work surface lubrication without imparting anything to the surface of the material that could later hinder the application of finish. Speaking of finish, that will be my next question - I understand that you guys just LIVE for answering questions about finishing! Warm regards and keep up the great work, Rob Harrison Huys Questions: I've enjoyed your many insightful answers. We are having our first grandchild in a couple weeks (yah!!!) My main Fall project is to make a high chair for this little girl. She won't be in it until early in 2025. I have my in-laws old high chair that they used for their children and the first couple grandchildren. I am going to use it as an inspiration for a new chair. However, I think having a set of modern plans would also be helpful. In my visiting the local Rockler and Woodcraft stores I have not found anything useful. I've also search close to a dozen websites.  [Rockler.com, Woodcraft, NewYankee, fixthisbuildthat, wood, etsy, woodsmith, shopnotes, popularwoodworking, amazon, ebay, etc... I have not found anything very useful. Do you all have any suggestions to improve my search for useful plans? Thank you, Chuck Love the show and I really enjoy listening to you all give your unique perspectives to people's questions. I've learned a great deal over the last year or so since I found your podcast and wanted to say thank you, so...thank you! You asked for questions, so I thought I'd submit something and see what you all thought. It's a strange one, so hang on! I started woodworking during the pandemic and fell in love with it. I had zero experience but after watching some YouTube videos I made a few shelves, then some cabinets, then moved to building furniture. Recently, I thought I'd try to elevate my skills and build more elaborate pieces using joinery like dovetails using hand tools, chisels, hand plane, dovetail saw, etc, and have been really enjoying the challenge. I have forced myself to use my hand tools almost exclusively to accelerate my skill building with some success, but I am looking to speed up the learning process. To that end, I was hoping that you guys could suggest any "drills" that I can use to improve the basics of hand sawing, chisel work, and hand planing. I tend to break down a task into its sub-components and work on mastering each of those skills to improve as fast as possible. For example, hitting a baseball, you can break down into small sub skills like loading, stepping, indexing, swinging, follow through, etc. I'd spend hours on getting each piece perfect and then bring it all together for an excellent swing. Anyway, I was looking to apply the same process to hand tool skills, but I don't know what I don't know, hence the (way too long) question. For example, before I attempt to saw a tenon or dovetail, I'll put a bunch of lines on a scrap board and practice staring a cut on a line a bunch of times, then make the cut down the lines, or next to the lines, etc, just to get warmed up before I cut my work pieces. Chisel work is brand new to me and where I really need help, so I'd love to start there, but welcome any sawing or planing drills as well. Any suggestions on skill building exercises I could use to level up? Sorry this question is so long, and I hope that it makes sense. Feel free to edit this down if you do happen to use it on the podcast, I know it was long and rambling. I appreciate any help you can offer as well as all you do for the community. Cheers, Tobias

This Episodes Questions Brians Questions  I was at a big box store the other day getting a new toilet. As I passed the lumber section, I saw what looked, from far away, like a piece of walnut. On closer inspection, it was a piece of rainbow poplar in with the ugly, green big box poplar for the same price as the regular poplar. Of course I bought it. My question is: was that awesome and, if so, how awesome? Thanks, Sincerely, American Bob Hey Gents! Canadian listener here, I found your podcast about a week ago and i have been listening every day now. Thanks for the content. I started woodworking this year and just built a new workbench using Paul Sellers plans. It has a laminated 2x3 top with a well so it's quite heavy. I use both power tools and hand tools. The main point of making this new bench was to make it heavy so it doesn't slide during hand planing, but it still slides!!! Any tips on how to prevent workbench slide? My workbench needs to float away from the wall so i am looking for a solution that isn't "put something behind it". Any tips would be greatly appreciated! Thanks again! Tyler Guys Questions I have a question regarding the drum sander. I only swear while doing two things, playing golf and using my drum sander.   I bought a new Supermax 16-32 and had nothing but problems with it and had to send it in for warranty repair.  I sold it and upgraded to a Powermatic PM2244 which I believe Guy has.  I definitely have had better luck with the Powermatic but still have issues with burning at times.  I do make end grain cutting boards for friends, family and donations.  I know the end grain is extremely hard.  I take very shallow passes, usually .002 to .004 per pass running the conveyor at 4 FPM and no matter how careful I am I still will get burning and grooves.  It doesn't matter the grit of the sandpaper.  I've experimented with feed rate with no luck.  I know the glue does create heat and builds up on the paper so I clean the sandpaper often.  Do you have any recommendations or should I start a swear jar to raise money for charity?  Thanks again, Matt Good evening, gentleman!  Thanks for this amazing podcast and all the info!  I had a quick question on blades for a cheap table saw. I used to use the newer delta contractors saw (miss it so much..best saw I've used)   unfortunately, had to down size.   So I'm back to my ryobi cheaper saw.   I keep the blade and adjustments true, so it cuts well....for what it is.   Yall mentioned a few weeks back, thin curf blades vs regular 10".     Question: I use a smaller circular saw blade in my table saw. Have you? Have you noticed more power and better cuts?  Because I have.  In all saws I've used.  Would you recommend using a smaller blade in a cheap table saw to get more power to the blade?     I'm just kinda wondering your thoughts on that.  I'm a one man backyard shop   that mostly is building cabinet doors out of poplar and barn doors out of pine,  and poplar.   Thoughts?    Thanks in advance!  Keep up the amazing programming! Crafted Carpentry Canada Huy's Questions EH gentlemen from the Niagara region in Ontario Canada, been listening to your excellent podcast for some time now and thoroughly enjoy it so thank you for that. My question concerns urns and specifically how it seals.  For context, my wife's grandmother has recently passed away and I was asked by my wife's family to make her urn. I don't own a lathe but I very carefully using an angle grinder with a shaping disc, orbital sander and an excessive amount of hand sanding created a typical tapering cylindrical urn that is fatter about 1/3 of the way down from the top, tapering upwards and downwards from there and I used segmented layers to achieve this. The urn is made of blood wood and has soft maple accent rings. The lid I created was a simple circle that I used dowel pins and magnets to secure it to the top of the urn. I am extremely happy with how the urn turned out and how the lid looks on the urn but I am not 100% happy with how the lid I attached and sealed. So after all that my question is: how would you guys go about creating and attaching the lid? In my research I did see most urns have a threaded component on the bottom of the urn and that's how they seal. Apologies for the long winded question, any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks James I have a question about types of glue for veneering projects.  In the past I've used Unibond 800 with good results.  The problem I have is the very short shelf life for someone who does 1 or 2 veneering projects per year.  Are you aware of any other solutions with longer shelf life without resorting to some PVA glue? Thanks and keep up the good work! Jeffrey

This Episodes Questions: Brians Questions: I have a question on wood storage I have a smaller shop and lots of tools so wood storage space is tight.  I purchase my wood based on what I have planned for the next 2-3 projects and try not to stock many extra boards.  I store them on end leaning against an outside wall.  I often clamp several boards together to help avoid bowing.  So far no problems but I am fairly new to full time woodworking as I retired 2 years ago.  Do you see any problems with this method that I haven't experienced yet?  With the cost of hardwood lumber I don't want to be surprised with wood that I cant use. Thanks Dean I'm just finishing up building all the cabinetry for my Seattle home and decided to take on the interior doors as a new challenge. I'd like the doors to appear as if they're made from 5-6 vertical wood boards, with a small 1/8” kerf between each board (I've attached an inspiration image). I know that a large glue-up of solid wood would expand and contract undesirably for a door, so here's my current plan to keep things stable: I'm planning to veneer 1 1/2” by 5 1/2” TimberStrand engineered studs with 1/8” shop-sawn veneers in a vacuum press, ending up with a 1 3/4” stile. Then, I'd edge glue the 5-6 stiles together, reinforcing each joint with Dominos. Once glued up, I'd add the 1/8” kerfs with a track saw. My questions are as follows:         1.        Would you recommend using the largest 14mm x 140mm Dominos between each stile, and if so, how many and at what spacing across each 8-foot section?         2.        Do you have any tips for gluing the doors up flat?         3.        Does this seem like a viable method to achieve a flat, stable door with the look I'm after, or is there another approach you'd suggest? Thanks for your input and for all the time you put into creating such a great show! Best, Sam  I would like your thoughts on the depth/ratio you prefer for cabinet or bookcase dado's for shelves - for example if using 3/4" plywood for a cabinet, or 3/4" hardwood a bookcase. It is my understanding that 1/4" is a good depth overall. I am planning on building both some cabinets this fall, but my current project that I am preparing for is a hardwood Scandinavian bookcase. I am considering fixed shelves installed via dado. Each shelf will have an offset vertical shelf divider, also installed via dado. John Sanchez    Guys Questions:    A few years ago I refinished our oak dining table. It may be close to 100 years old.  My mother used it in her youth, and I am now 61 years old.  To refinish it, I used - sorry to say - MinWax - stain and water based satin Polycrylic.  We use this table everyday for any meal we eat at home.  Well, the finish has gotten gummy where I rest my arms on the table. Now I need to refinish it again.  I had recently applied Osmo Polyx-Oil hard oil wax on a guitar neck that I finished, and really like it.  Would this be a good, durable finish for an oak dining table that sees daily use?  And not gum up again? Thanks, David Vespoint I am contemplating a (non-epoxy) dining table build using some soft maple slabs I have acquired. I will mill the slabs into as wide of boards as I can and glue them up and get them surfaced so that my final dimensions will be about 84”x35”x2.5”. I want to add a fairly significant under bevel, leaving about 3/4” on the edge and cutting at a 16 degree (or 74 degree, depending on how you measure it) angle, so that the bevel ends about six inches from the edge on the bottom of the table. My question is: How the heck do I do that? I have a table saw, but I don't think I'm lifting this whole tabletop and running it through my table saw (the blade isn't long enough anyways). I thought about getting a track saw, but it turns out they use dinky little blades. Do I make an angled sled for my router? Do I use my 4” handheld power plane? Is there another solution I am not imagining? Thanks! Jon I'm building a couple of nightstands for my daughter based on an image she gave me.   She needs the diameter of the round top to be between 15 and 17 inches. The legs are 2 panels, one is 13 inches wide and one is 10 inches wide, the 10 inch wide panel will be cut at an angle and attached at 90 degrees to the 13 inch panel.  I made a template with MDF, and the table works fine with the top width of 16 inches.  I'll be using knotty alder and I can get it in 5" 7" 8" and 10" widths.  My question is: when I get the boards to glue together to make the correct sized panels for cutting into the legs and top, should I use all the same widths of boards I buy, or can I vary the widths to use the wood most efficiently? It's an aesthetic question more than an functional one.  Do table makers use the same width of boards for the top and the base of tables?  If you don't, does it look odd? If I could attach a photo this might make more sense.  Thanks! Trish

This Episodes Questions: Brians Questions: Hello Guys, Love the show so much great information. I have recently got into scroll sawing. I am a comic book fan and I want to start scrolling the comic book art that I love. As you may know comic book art is very colorful. My goal is to start getting enough exotic wood to try and cover as much color as I can. In the mean time I would like to start using stain to color the woods. Are you all aware of any stains that have a good color spectrum. Thanks Korey from Independence KY I am looking to build a shop building on my property. What is the minimum square footage you would recommend for a home hobbyist? I will have a miter saw, router table, table saw, and eventually a planer and dust collector. And of course a work bench with a saw vise. I have plenty of room on my property, so that isn't a limiting factor. My biggest concern is not spending money that I don't need to on a building that is larger than needed. What are some things you recommend that I plan for when building? Power outlet locations and qty, ceiling height, lighting type, etc.? Thanks in advance! Kyle Guys Questions: I know you guys have referenced putting shellac under water based finish so you can have the richer look in the wood but ease/quick timeline of water based. I typically use an airless sprayer to apply General Finishes High Performance. I have some projects with walnut that I would normally finish with Arm-R-Seal to get the rich walnut tone. Id like to try the shellac coat first and then High Performance on top. I was wondering what is your standard application practice when you do this. Do you apply shellac (by hand or spray) and then wait a few hours/a few days/a week? Thanks for the advice and looking to avoid any pitfalls in the process being that Ive never done it before.  Thanks and keep up the good work on the podcast. Pete from Uncarved Block Woodworks, Madison, WI Do you have any tips for glueing up mitered-corner boxes to ensure they are square/plumb, etc.?  I've had a hard time with this. Thanks David Vespoint Huys Questions: My local Rockler shut down and I found myself purchasing the Dark Half Tung oil from the real milk paint company at a steep discount. Never used the stuff but I've heard that dark tung oil can help give cherry a patina look without aging. I'm wondering if it can help walnut preserve its dark color over time? Tung oil is supposed to be a pretty durable finish on it own. Have you guys tried using it as part of an arm r seal mix? Thanks again for the help! Jose All of my furniture pieces seem to have glue creep on all the table tops and panels. I switched from using titebond pva to titebond hide glue thinking this would solve the problem. On some newer pieces I built with the hide glue, I can now slightly feel the glue seams after a few weeks. The tops all have biscuits for alignment as well. Could this be a matter of temperature and humidity change from my shop to my house? About 40% humidity in my shop through the use of a dehumidifier. Temperature ranged from in the 50s this past winter to now it's in the 80s. Would you sand the seam lightly with 0000 steel wool or very high grit sandpaper? And any tips for future builds to avoid this again? Thanks guys! Jeff

This Episodes Questions: Guys Questions: Gentleman, Chris here @custom_by_chris on Instagram. My shop is a single car garage roughly 11.5' wide by 22' long. I'd like to build a miter station along the front wall for my Kapex. Will I regret confining myself to that 11.5' width? I would position the saw so I have at least 8' of cutting capacity to one side. I am not doing regular trim work  so don't frequently deal with long stock.  Lastly, when designing and building the miter station what features would you  consider must-haves or things that aren't necessary? It's easy to get sucked into the YouTube rabbit hole of miter stations so please guide me back to the light. Chris Zach from Minnesota here. I recently constructed a box using box joints for the first time (thank you, I hold the applause.) As the tutorial by wood magazine suggested, I cut the fingers a little long with the intention of trimming them later rather than risking them being slightly too short. I have come across numerous suggestions regarding the best way to trim flush these protruding fingers, and as with most things to do with woodworking every suggested method also includes a comment claiming that following any of the other suggestions will ruin my work piece. What method do each of you prefer to use when flush trimming your box joints? Thanks in advance. Sincerely, Zachary T Owens Hi Guy and other guys, Thanks for the great podcast. I have learned a lot from all the great content you put out. I really appreciate your advice and perspective. I have a couple questions I was hoping you could answer. Recently I was rubbing a beeswax and tung oil finish on a little box I made for my mother in law. I was using a white scotch bright pad. I guess I didn't softened one of the corners enough because the pad caught the grain and torn out a little piece of edge. My question is what do you do if something catastrophic happens while finishing? Do you sand it back repair it and then finish again? Do you have to sand the whole thing back or just the piece you are repairing? Or is there some trick to repairing finished wood? Or do you just trow it in the fireplace curse a lot and start over? Thanks. Keep up the great work. Jon Moch Huys Questions: Hey guys, longtime follower and still enjoy listening to the podcast. Guy, it seems like you've fallen out of love with woodworking a bit and moved onto 3d printing? Is that just because you've been doing it forever haha? Always good to have a change.  I wanted to ask you guys about pigmented conversion varnish. I often hear you talk about it and I've never heard of it mentioned here in the uk across the pond, the only thing I can find online is it's potentially the same as what we call acid catalyst? Is it dangerous to spray? Here in the UK acid catalyst (or commonly called AC) is quite toxic and you have to be in a proper booth with serious fume extraction and prober PPE respirator. Is this the same stuff? I'm guessing a pigmented conversion varnish would be a paint finish? Such as a solid colour? Any info would be great. Keep up the great work guys, Mike Hey guys thank you for all the information in the podcast and your previous answers to questions.  For the most part I make sawdust.  I build some furniture pieces, picture frames, boxes, etc.  I also build some shipping crates for my real job which helps offset some of the cost of this hobby.  The crates use 4x4, 2x8, 2x10 & 2x4 construction lumber and plywood.  I've been using a sliding compound miter saw to cut up the boards.  I'm reorganizing my garage and was thinking of selling the miter saw and going back to a Radial Arm Saw.  I do not do any type of trim work or anything like that.  Am I making a mistake wanting to go to the radial?  It would just be for breaking down the boards to length. Thanks, Doug Hi everyone, Pretty much a novice woodworker with some questions on sapele. My primary question: I have a sapele front door that I inherited that has a finish that has not done well even in dappled sunlight. Fortunately, the door is completely structurally solid, so no repairs needed there. But my question is about how you would refinish it? I kind of like the look of a Danish oil or tung oil with a really solid coat of Total Boat marine finish to protect it. I have also seen people use Eipifanes as a protectant. But with little experience, I am guessing what the outcome will be. I would love to hear the team brainstorm what options I have to both enrich the beauty of the wood and the protect it. What should I optimally do to produce a nice piece that will last with regular care. Any suggestions on products? More generally, we have some sapele accents in a refinished kitchen. Nothing too fancy or complicated - panhook bars and similar. I would like to build a few more simple pieces. Any thoughts on working with and finishing this type of wood from a broad perspective? Great podcast. I love how you name brands and don't beat around the bush on advice. As a "maybe I can do it someday" woodworker, I find each episode valuable! Thank you. George

This Episodes Questions: Brians Questions: Hey guys!  Another quick question that I get from others in our field. And I'm interested in your input.   What making basic shaker/frame and panel  cabinet doors, I use the big box, larger ridged router with the FREUD T&G bit set.  I'm tired of cutting the tongues and having blowouts..even when using a backer board when running the rail through the router.    I've leaned in to using the BEADLOCK system from rockler.  It's been great so far.   Would you suggest that loose tenon joint, or stick to the TONGUE in the groove? For durability? Crafted Carpenter What are some tool under $50 that you (or listeners) love. My examples: -The Rockler or Milecraft center marking tool -Temtop S1 Indoor Air Quality Monitor (cheap, accurate, see what's actually happening in your shop instead of guessing) -Any router coping sled George Guys Questions: Hi guys In two pervious shows you mentioned two things. One. You would give up your table saw in favor of a band saw. The question is what can you do on a table saw that you can not do on a band saw. The only thing I can figure is a Dado joint. Many thanks, Paul Mitchell Oki Mitch Crafts Good day gentlemen Long time listener (3-4 years) and still feel your the best woodworking podcast.  I build a variety of wood project from band saw boxes to use up scrap pieces  to some furniture.  I have a Domino DF 500 and use it often.  You talk about a biscuit joiner being a different animal and used for different things.  Can you give us examples where a biscuit joiner is the best choice?  The examples may answer this question for me but do I need a biscuit joiner?  Which brand(s) would you recommend? Thank You Dean Huys Questions: Where do you purchase your shellac flakes? Do  you use unwaxed? Thanks Mark Moeller Hey guys. As always, appreciate the podcast and the information shared. I thought as a topic you might discuss what glues you keep on hand (types more than brands) as well as what specialty glues you'll acquire for a specific project or technique. For example, I keep regular wood glue (partial to Gorilla Wood Glue) for most usage, but I always have liquid hide glue for any sliding joint, like dovetails or box joints. I keep 5 minute epoxy and CA glues, but use them less often (and often wish I hadn't because they're usually to fix a mistake).  Thanks again. Peter

This Episodes Questions: Brians Questions: Hello guys, Love the podcast. Thank you for your time and expertise! Question on making drawer boxes and other situations where butt joinery is used. How much of a difference would it make if I do not use any glue and rely only on pocket screws / regular screws? Main reason I am asking about skipping glue is because I usually use 2 side prefinished plywood to make drawer boxes so unless I figure out how to remove the finish where the joints are, it will not really stick.  Follow up question. What's the rule of thumb on how to space pocket screws? Let's say I have a drawer box that's 12 inches high. How many  pocket screws would I put on each butt joint? Max Greddie Woodworks I'm building a very large display case for a museum, about 15 feet long and 4 feet high and 6 inches deep. Kind of like a giant shadow box. It will contain a canvas replica of the Shroud of Turin, with LED backlighting behind the shroud canvas and a ¼” glass front (2 sheets of glass with a seam in the middle). The back panel will be either 1/4" or 1/2" plywood. We will have legs under it to support the weight across the 15 foot length, as it will be very heavy once fully assembled on-site. Here's my question; is it realistic to plane, cut, and sand a 15 foot long 6/4 board, about 6 inches wide?   Am wondering if I could realistically handle such a board, and if so, would it remain flat and straight over time.   Or, would I be better off making two 7-1/2 foot long boards and somehow joining them together to make one 15 foot long board. If two boards, what's the best method for end-to-end joining of these boards to get a barely-visible joint and a perfectly straight assembly. Do I need to be concerned with sag in the middle if I have a plywood back panel? Mark Guys Questions: I have recently started using Arm-R-Seal and I am new to using finishes with long curing times. I have been prefinishing all my parts because I assume it's near impossible to get a nice finish after glue up. Is this correct? How long should I wait after applying the finish before glueing? Also, if the piece of furniture was for a customer, would you wait the full 30 days of cure time before delivery? Jeffrey Hughes I teach a beginning woodworking class at a High School. I will be receiving two Bambu Lab X1 3D printers for one of the Engineering classes that I teach as well. I know that 3D printers can be very useful for woodworking and was wondering what ideas you would have to share for helpful tools or accessories that could be made using the 3D printer? Also do you have a specific website where you go to find premade tools and accessories that is trustworthy? Thanks in advance for any information that you could provide. Scott Kirkman Huys Questions: Hey it's me again, I have a 10” Metabo contractor saw I use for my house projects and finer pieces. It's a quick and dirty saw that I can set up and knock down and roll into the corner. I love the wide table of it but it's starting to feel wobbly when making cuts. Thinking of building a box around it to have out all the time and catch dust and shavings. Maybe on wheels? I'm no contractor so maybe I should just invest in a cabinet saw… love to hear thoughts. Ian Hello, I am getting ready to build a box beam to wrap an exposed LVL beam in the great room of our vacation home.  It's a horizontal beam with about 2" protruding from a finished wall (drywall).   The span is about 14', and the beam is about 4 1/2" tall.  I will be using knotty pine to create a 3 sided box beam with mitereed corners.    My challenge is that I cannot built and transport 14' beam, so I need to build 2 7' beams. Each end of the beam will butt against a wall, so there isn't much room.   So my question for you all is what type of joinery would you use to seam the 2 beams together on-site? Thanks, and I appreciste what you all are doing for the woodworking community. John

Brians Questions: I craft Shaker Furniture and then donate it.  I am often gluing up tabletops.  I have seen many discussions around "how to properly joint" the edges of a-joining boards. Am typically using plain sawn cherry. After rough dimensioning, jointing, then planing the individual pieces, and arranging the pieces so they look nice, and hopefully having  the grain run the same way (I finish the tops with a smoothing plane), it comes time to joint those edges that are to be glued. There in lies the question....does one 1) rip them on a table saw, or 2) joint the edges such that there is a slight bow to allow compression in the center, or 3) take the pair of boards to be glued and joint them together in a book match style.   I usually do 3)  I then clamp them using  footed bar clamps and cawls over the top. How do you all handle this part of the process.   1), 2),3)....something else?? Secondly, I use hide glue to glue the joinery, but have had trouble using it for table top gluing up table tops --not enough open time...use titebond instead....have you had success in using hide glue for tabletop glue up?? thank you, John Hi, I am a hobbyist woodworker who uses a mix of hand tools and power tools. I see a lot of people nowadays using track saws where I would normally use my table saw or my circular saw with a guide. What am I missing with the track saw trend? Won't a simple plywood guide and cheap circular saw do the exact same thing as a track saw? Thanks Adam Guys Questions: Hi, I enjoy the podcast, it is favorite woodworking podcast where you get right to the point and answer real questions without a lot of wasted time.  Keep it up! I am currently working on a fairly large cabinet & desk built-in.   It will be an "L" shape, run along one wall for about 18 feet, and then wrap around and extend out about 6 feet, with the  corner being the desk section.  I've already completed the base cabinets, so the next step will be the desktop, followed by all the shelving. My question is about the desktop(26in deep).  My plan was to build this in 6 foot sections, which I would then join to span the whole wall.  I've been going back and forth over whether I build this out of solid wood(thinking 8/4 rough sawn which I would mill down to maybe 1-1/2in), or using veneers.  I planned to join each section using a Lamello Zeta P2.    I have access to the tools(6cfm pump from Veneer Systems) to do either method, but am not sure if one is really much better.  I'be been leaning towards solid wood(Walnut) as I have that on hand, but not sure if that's more of me shying away from using veneers as I don't have a lot of experience on bigger projects.  This is for my home so may be an opportunity to get more practice using veneers without worry of it being a customer piece.  I'm interested in what you would recommend. Thanks! Frank Also a dummy, thank you Bob for opening the can of worms. Who cares if it is 1/4 sawn or 1/64th sawn? When is it important to know? If riff sucks…then why use it or if  plane is plain to unstable to use why use it etc. Strengths and weaknesses for price versus application might be interesting to discuss, especially if opinions can vary. What is the wheelhouse for the different boards?  I imagine it's a combo of beauty, price and stability. Can you guys flesh out this conversation a bit? Benjamin Huys Questions I use Kreg work bench system so my benches are mostly straight and strong with the factors I stated above. I also am lazy or forgetful about putting down paper before glue ups. replacing the top of the work bench I have considered finishing it with thin layer or epoxy to allow a non-sticky surface for the wood glue or finishes I use.  I am also going to make match fit dove tail clamp system ( would finish with epoxy then have the cnc redue the job to clean the channels ) maybe also with dog hole. is the epoxy finish a good way to make a more permeant bench top ? should I just lay down plywood top and replace when needed? Am considering ordering a butcher block top to make the bench so it looks nice and is more lasting. bench is 44 square and supported by wood beams in the center so it doesn't dip. Thanks folks Paul Oki Mitch Crafts Okinawa Japan Hi, thanks for answering a couple of my questions in the past. I have another one now about using loose tenon joinery to glue up boards to make a panel, such as a tabletop. One feature of a Domino or a biscuit joiner is that they reference off of a face of the board, assuring a perfectly flush (or close enough) show surface. I don't own a Domino, but I have a biscuit joiner and a dowelling jig. I would like to use dowels on occasion, but I only have a simple dowelling jig that is of the self-centering type. If all my boards are of the exact same thickness then this in theory should give good results too, but sometimes I am using 3/4” boards right from the lumber yard that I have edge jointed but have not milled to a common thickness, since I don't want to go any thinner than the 3/4”. So the thicknesses might be off by small amounts. So in light of this, I was thinking that I should upgrade to a higher end dowelling jig, one that references off of a face surface. Does this seem like a worthwhile idea? If so, are there certain other features I should look for in a product, and do you have specific product recommendations that you can make? Thanks. Steve

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: 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 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

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

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

This Episode's Quesions: Brians Questions: I plan to build a handtool workbench in the future, maybe in a year or so, but as of right now, I do not have any workholding devices.  I have a large assembly table that does have an overhang and the top is 1.25" thick.  I have been using clamps to the top as a stop for planing and it does not work very well.  I also need a way to hold the wood for using chisels, and I haven't bought any dovetailing tools yet because of the lack of workholding devices.  Are there any good vises that don't require cutting a hole in my assembly table or makeshift ways to hold the wood until I can build a proper bench? Thanks Jeff When sanding end grain, say when you've got a panel where you've chamfered or rounded over the edge, which direction should you sand? I'd imagine you continue to follow the grain direction from the adjacent face grain but I'm not sure. Can you sand across the grain? Thanks for the great podcast, you guys really do have the best wood working show out there! Eric Guys Quesions: Hey Guys I am looking to set up a shop in my  unheated garage. I live in Canada so the weather is inconsistent. Very cold in the winter and very hot and humid in the summer. I am thinking of setting up a small workbench in my basement to cut joinery and do glue ups/assembly. I would keep all of my big power tools( table saw, planer etc.) in the garage. This setup would allow me to work comfortably through the year. My question is with wood movement. If I stored wood in my air conditioned basement and just took it out to the garage for a few hours at a time to plane and cut to size and then brought it back inside to cut joinery with hand tools, would the few hours spent in the humid or cold garage be enough time to warp the boards after I brought them back in? Heating the garage isn't  a realistic option right now as I have two young children and would probably only be able to get a few hours in the shop a week. (Not worth the cost) Thanks for all of the help. This podcast has been a huge influence in helping me to get started with woodworking. Derek I have a small benchtop jointer that a friend gave me for free and a Dewalt 735 planer. For anything but pretty small parts, I use a sled to joint lumber in my planer. I'd like to upgrade both of these eventually. I have a big shop with plenty of power, so neither of those are an issue. My budget is generally the limiting factor. I do plan to keep using standalone machines for the convenience of maintaining settings and flexibility of workflow.  I'd like to get a big jointer first and keep using the 735 while I save up for a big, heavy 220v planer. My question is about 12 inch combo machines. I keep seeing decent 12" combo machines come up used for way less than I can find a standalone 12" jointer. I've seen a few of the Jet machines for $2k-$2500 and a friend recently got a Hammer A3 31 for $3500. Even new, combo machines seem to run way cheaper than a 12" jointer. Why? I understand the beds are shorter, but other than that, what is the disadvantage. Is it ridiculous to buy one if I have no long term need of the planer function and don't plan to use it? Parker Huys Quesions: Hey guys, Thank you for your many thoughtful responses to the questions you receive from your listeners. I  tend to get bored after I've made the same type of project several times (ie pencil boxes, pens, etc..). If I am not in a time crunch,  I like figuring out how to do something to make a project a little more challenging and interesting. I like looking at projects to give me some inspiration on how I might make a new project.  Early on in my woodworking journey I gained a lot of positive inspiration from watchin 'New Yankee Workshop'. The way Norm broke down processes in his projects was very helpful to me. However, there are some projects I've seen which are incredibly intimidating.(ie  highboys, Maloof rockers, etc...).  While I admire these types of projects,  I don't think I would tackle them without taking a specific class.  Where do you guys find inspiration for you projects? Are there any type of projects that intimidate you? Thank you for your responses. Have a great day. Chuck I am designing a dresser which will be 48” high and 72” wide and a chest of drawers which will be 60” high and 40” wide. I would like to join the carcass sides and top with dovetails. With the sides being 48” and 60” and the width being 72” and 60”, how should I clamp the sides and top/bottom to my bench and stand in order to cut the dovetails by hand? I'm only 5'8” and have never cut dovetails up by my head. With a dresser and chest of drawers being the above sizes, would you recommend another method for my joinery? Love the podcast, keep up the great work!! Mike

This Episodes Questions: Guy's Questions: With mothers day around the corner, I plan on knocking out a couple of small jewelry boxes. Mitered corners and book matched grain for a seamless look. 2 questions leading into this project. The first is more likely for Guy. In the past my boxes have been cut to 45.1 degrees to ensure a closed outside corner. My table saw is a jobsite saw and setting a precise angle is extremely difficult. I recently set up a router table and have seen guy use a 45 degree chamfer bit to cut miters this way. How close to 45 degree do these bits actually get? Is there a brand you recommend for better accuracy? How bad is the tear out? 2nd question. In the past I used a wiping poly to finish the boxes. However VOC's are a concern for these boxes. I'd like to finish the boxes with a base coat of shellac and finish with beeswax top coat. I purchased a block of beeswax but didn't really think about how to dissolve it for quick finish. Seems like mineral spirits are the leading candidate but I'm curious if anyone has used natural oil citrus solvent for the same task (I'd likely by the version from milk paint company). Jose Gentlemen, thank you for all you do to support and educate the woodworking community through this podcast and other platforms.  I'm planning out a full kitchen remodel for our home and will be building the cabinets myself.  The style of cabinets will be frameless/euro style which means all the plywood will need to be edge banded.  The plywood will be pre-finished, but the doors and drawer fronts will be painted.  How would you recommend finishing the edge banding to match the door and drawer front color?  Would you do hardwood edge banding and paint it?  That seems like it would take a lot of taping which leaves room for lots of error.  Is there such a thing as custom colored edge banding for cabinets that is either iron-on or peel-and-stick?  I don't have an edge banding machine so that probably limits my options.  Thanks in advance for your help! Joel Hi guys, Thanks for providing some great knowledge for fellow woodworkers. My question is around drum sanders and the usefulness of them in a hobby shop. When do you use a drum sander and what type of projects are you using a drum sander on? I just purchased a 20” bandsaw and would like to start resawing veneers for projects. In the past I would buy 1/16” thick veneers from a commercial veneer shop which worked well. But I question if a drum sander is actually required/desired  for this operation. I've read a bunch about troubles with drum sander's and really question if it speeds up the work. Could I just joint a fresh face, resaw. Then joint another fresh face and so on. Then glue up the panel. And either clean up the panel on the planner or ROS? In my  future I probably have a set of kitchen cabinets and various built in cabinets(which I would either buy plywood or use commercial veneer and glue my own). I normally make freestanding furniture as well. This isn't a production shop, and I have all the normal tools for dimensioning lumber, TS, Jointer, and planer. Feel free to summarize my question, just wanted to give you guys enough context. Thanks,Jesse Beechland Furniture Huys Questions: Hi Guys Have known of & liked Guy's YT channel for a number of years and recently came across this podcast which I'm really enjoying as I go through the back catalogue. I must be on similar wavelength to you Guy as I love (& own a lot / most of) the Incra stuff, saw your MFT style outfeed which I'm about to build a copycat of (just awaiting delivery of the aluminium extrusion) and am in the midst of milling the timber to start building your mini workbench, the plans for which I recently bought. I then happened on your YT channel the other day Huy and whilst watching the 6yo shop tour video was interested to see your boom arm. Could you tell me a bit more about it. Is it bought as is, or built up from tubing etc? Keep up the good work. Thanks Andy I love your podcast, particularly that you spend the time talking about woodworking without a lot of jibber-jabber about unrelated stuff.  I'm sorry to hear about Brian's accident, and appreciate very much that he was willing to share about it so we could all learn.  Could you possibly send me the 10 safety rules from the Purposeful Design shop?  Also, here's my question:  are there any general rules for how much clamping pressure is advisable when doing a glue-up?  Is it just enough to close the joint?  Or does glue work better when extra clamping pressure is applied?  I realize this is a broad question and the answer may differ depending on the situation, but any guidance you can provide would be much appreciated.  Thanks for all you do!  Jimmy B, Los Angeles CA. Hello Guys, I recently found your podcast and I love it. Great content and great chemistry between you all. I will be sad when I catch up on all the past episodes because then I will have or wait to listen to new episodes. I am new to woodworking and I currently use a Dewalt 8 1/4 inch job site table saw. For my 50th birthday I am looking to upgrade to a larger table saw. I am economically challenged so my budget is around $1000. I am looking at 2 different saws the first one is the Delta 36-725T2 for $699 and the other one is the Laguna Fusion F1 for $1080. Is the Laguna worth $300 more? Do you have any other suggestions? I would prefer to buy new. Thanks you all are awesome have a great day. Korey

This Episodes Questions: Brian's Questions: I'm so curious about the Laguna bandsaws that Guy used at work. Long time listeners of this podcast could easily believe that Laguna bandsaw tables are at knee height and unusable. But I have a Laguna 14/12 and the table is at 35", which seems really normal, and I'm pretty tall. All the other Laguna saws I've used or been around seem about in the same range. Is this not normal? Is Guy freakishly tall? Or an advocate of chest height bandsaw tables? Parker I haven't felt like my woodworking really justifies a jointer yet.  I don't generally mind using a planer sled to get flat faces and a jointer sled on the table saw to edge joint boards, but I've never tried to use those workarounds on long stock (over 4'.)  With that being said, this dinner table project that is looming ahead of me seems like it might be the moment to finally take the plunge and buy a jointer. Do you think its possible to get the table top glue-ready without a jointer? I trust my planer sled to get flat faces, but I'm wondering if you think edge jointing such long boards is possible with an extra long table saw jointer sled jig.  Any tips on milling and glue up for this table top would be very appreciated.  Part 2: Or maybe you guys can give me the nudge to consider this dinner table project as the moment to finally buy a jointer.  I suspect that a bench top jointer wouldn't give me much (other than efficiency) over the work arounds that I already use for milling.  Do you have any recommendations for a first jointer? I don't have major space limitations but I do like to save money, so I'm curious if you guys would send a case like mine to scour craigslist or facebook marketplace for an old delta 6". Thanks as always for your contributions to the woodworking community!  It can't be said too often: you guys really do make the best woodworking podcast there is!! Evan Guys Questions: Hey guys, I'm new to woodworking, really enjoying listening to the podcast!! I have a question, would you guys be able to go over what you use your 3/4, 4/4 etc lumber!? I often think that you need thick lumber for projects. I don't have a project in mind but I bought some rough saw lumber that I plan on using for trim in the house but I bought enough to have plenty left over. Ivan I want to build a cherry coffee table for my house. We've got a couple of cherry pieces that I've made. I really love watching them darken and get more beautiful with age. The other pieces I've made don't really see much direct blasting sunlight so the process is subtle. The coffee table however, would get some direct morning sunlight every day (or at least for the three months of the year that we get direct sunlight in the pacific northwest). I'm worried about uneven color change and sun shadows on the top where there would be decorative objects or books or things left in one spot for a period. If I pre-darken it by leaving it in the sun for some hours or a day or two will that slow the process enough to alleviate this? If so, should I do it before or after finishing? Is there anything else I can do to help, besides not putting stuff on top of course? Parker Huys Questions: Hi Fellas, I recently purchased a horizontal crown bit ( ref: Yonico 16172 ) to apply a soft dimple to the drawer faces on my tool cabinet. I will be recessing the drawer pulls within them. The challenge that I'm facing is that the drawer faces are a little small, 5 1/2" x 3 1/4", and without being overly creative on work holding, I'm not seeing a safe way to plunge the face onto the bit in my router table, or plunge the bit into the face with a hand held router. My plan is to chuck the bit into my drill press and use that to apply the cut.  What experience, tips, or words of advice might you have in using a drill press with router bits? I have a Grizzly G7943 which only spins up to 3050 rpm. Thanks in advance, and for all that you guys do for our craft of woodworking! Justin I have a 16' PVC board (8" tall * 3/4" * 16') that needs an edge profile added . The edge profile needed is to mimic a skirt board (this board installs at the bottom of an exterior siding). I purchased the 6" wide boards with the profile cut by the mfg, but they did not have an 8" so I'll need to cut this myself. The profile is a 1/4" tongue that is 1" in length with a 45 degree cut underneath. This allows the skirt board to slip underneath the bottom row of siding (the 1/4" section) and still have the rain/water drip off (the 45 degree portion). How would you cut this profile? I am thinking on a router table, but appreciate your input. Thank you, Mark Moeller

This Episode's Questions: Brian's Questions: Gentlemen, First, I hope you all know that the sounds that pop through occasionally from your families in the background don't make a bad podcast; they make you human and THAT is part of what makes your podcast great. On the subject of families, I have 3 young sons (6, 4, 2 years old) that love "helping" with woodworking projects and learning about tools.  The family has outgrown our current dinner table, and I've been tasked with building a new one.  I'm planning a 6.5'x3.5' dinner table that doesn't need to be an showpiece heirloom dining table, but I'd love to produce something that will look nice and can handle the inevitable mayhem of a young family.   Can you recommend a wood species and some finish options that will stand up to these demands? I can feel white oak calling me here, should I answer the call?  (For context, our kitchen cabinets and floors are all darker wood tones so more dark might just blend into the background too much.) Thank you as always for your contribution to the woodworking community.  Your knowledge, experience, and unique characters make this truly the best woodworking podcast. Evan Hey guys! Love the podcast and appreciate all the work you put into it. My wife and I have been planning a remodel of our kitchen for a few years. I really want to build the cabinets, but also recognize that my time is pretty limited with work, and my wife doesn't want a partially completed kitchen for months. I'm currently designing the kitchen in Sketchup to a pretty high level of detail because we have some restrictions with the space that I need to ensure I take into account. The goal is to work through as much as I can in Sketchup to reduce guesswork, decisions, and time once I start  building. We have currently decided that I will build the cabinet boxes and face-frames since it will be easer to custom design and build for the space, and I'm researching options for outsourcing the drawer boxes and drawer/door fronts. We are planning on using rift sawn white oak with inset door and drawer fronts. The drawer boxes seem like a pretty easy option to outsource, but the fronts seem like they could pose some challenges that I may not be considering. Should I be worried about significant color or grain differences between the outsourced supplier, and what I can get locally to build the face-frames? Since they will be inset, do you have a recommendation on sizing when I order? For example, I'm planning on a 3/32" reveal between the face-frame and doors/drawers, should I order with 1/16" or the full 3/32" oversized so I can trim to the exact opening once the cabinets are installed in case something shifts? Thanks for the help! Jason Guy's Questions: Hi guys. Love the podcast! Wish I could find a fishing podcast as good. Life would be perfect. I made the move to a Fuji Sprayer.  I bought one with the gravity feed gun but now think I made a mistake. I think it would be easier to hold finish in the cup between coats. What is your preference and why? Thanks so much. Joe Hi Guys, I recently asked a question concerning how to glue up a frame and panel so it's flat. I took your advice and it worked great. Thanks so much!!! I have two unrelated questions: I recently purchased expensive hinges from Horton-brasses. When I received the hinges I made a jig out of MDF so I could simply rout out the mortises for the hinges to sit in. As usual, I make the jig so they are a perfect fit for the hing. I tested the jig on a piece of scrap and the hinge fit perfectly. I then used the jig on a cabinet I made and the hinge did not fit. I tried the various hinges I purchased and only one of the hinges fit (the hinge I used to make and test the jig). After measuring the hinges, I discovered that they were all different sizes varying by about .01”. I contacted Horton-brasses and explained the problem and they told me that their acceptable tolerance is +/- .05”. With some simple math this means that their tolerance is about 1/16”. I have purchased hinges from other manufacturers and never had this problem before. My question is: am I being too picky to expect the hinges to be the same size or a lot closer than +/- .01? When you make jigs for hinges, do you leave a little extra room for hinges that are off a little? Finally, where do you recommend purchasing hinges and other hardware from? Mike Gitberg Huy's Questions: Hi fellas, I would love to hear some advice regarding sanders. I have a small hobby business of selling large wood slabs that I mill with a chainsaw mill. I know this isn't traditional woodworking but it is enjoyable and brings me enough money to buy new tools and gain experience with real woodworking. After each slab is dried I plane it down with a TrueTrac router sled system. It works great and only leaves minor ridges to sand out except on knots, crotch grain, curl and all the other "defects" that folks like in slabs where I get some tear out. I usually run 40 grit over each slab with my Dewalt random orbit but this can take a long time to get the tear out sanded. I have an old Makita belt sander but no matter what I do that seems to dig in at the tear of the belt and leave grooves in the wood. If I were to buy a dedicated sander for just 40/60 grit first pass of slabs what do you recommend? A better belt sander? Or a wider diameter orbit and high quality sand paper? Thanks for the great podcast, keep it up! Jeremy Westra I've been woodworking for a few years but I'm still fairly new. Recently I've been building chairs that are either heavily influenced or loose copies of some famous Hans Wegner designs. So far I've built these chairs for friends and family but I'm getting more and more unsolicited requests. While I don't think making chairs for family and friends is an issue, I suspect posting and selling chairs online that are obvious copies of classic designs (like Wegner's ch25) could be patent or trademark infringement. What do you think? Also, its worth mentioning, many large retailers like Target, Walmart, Wayfair, etc. are selling obvious knock-offs based on famous designs while not mentioning the original. Apparently this is ok since I'm sure their legal departments reviewed the issue. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Earl

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 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