Matt's Basement Workshop

Another great day of classes at Weekend with WOOD and to wrap it up was an open Q&A with the editors of the magazine.

There were a lot of great questions that were asked by the audience, they even answered a couple of mine, but one that really seemed to catch everyone’s attention was in regards to the true unbiasness of the tool reviews, especially advertisers’ tools.

This snippet is the first part of the question and you can see it in its entirety after I get home and have an opportunity to edit ALL the footage from the weekend.

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I’ve never been accused of being a tease, but I’ve tried! The first ever Weekend with WOOD is currently underway and I’m about to head out the door to day 2.

I was able to get some great clips of Jim Heavey talking about spray finishing, finishing your finish (making it look even better when you think you’re done) and then also on choosing a topcoat.

I’ll post more about these much later, but in the meantime here’s a short snippet of Jim explaining the difference between HVLP sprayers and Turbine sprayers…

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On today’s show, we’re talking about die grinders and burrs, PVC pipe, Forrest vs Freud, scraping after tearout, jointer bed length, granite top retrofits, back bevels, blade height, effects of finish on wood movement, and buying wood just because.

Around the Web

• Vic sent a link to a fundraiser for the Robohand

Kickback

Stan – Just had a chance to listen to the show. This is in reference to #131 where a guy wanted to know about a severed finger box. Marc talked about it in his safety kit video. It wasn’t a box, but a baggie with the instant cold pack kind fits the bill. I am assuming that you snap something in the cold pack to mix two chemicals and create an endothermic reaction that makes it cold as opposed to keeping it in the freezer. If he really wants a box to transport it in, he’s a woodworker, right?; he could make one.

Voicemail

Vic has a question about die grinders.

Email

Any thoughts on PVC for dust collection? I’ve heard it could theoretically spark a fire, but I wonder if that is more urban legend than anything else? Its cheap, easy to install and easily sealed so it would seem ideal. Central vac guys have used it inside houses for years, vacuuming all kinds of combustible material (ever set fire to a dust bunny…. good fun) and insurance companies still underwrite policies on those houses….. — Mike

I used to use table saw blades that I would buy from one of the home stores. A couple of years ago I bought a Freud LU83R blade and couldn’t believe what a difference it made in the quality of my cuts. My question is would I get an increase in performance from a more expensive blade like the Forrest Woodworker II? It’s about twice the price of the Freud, so is it worth that much more money? I’m certainly not dissatisfied with the Frued, I’m just wondering how much better it gets. — Matt

If you have a board that you’ve hand planed with 90% of the grain running one way and 10% running in the opposite direction and, in spite, of a sharp blade, wax, etc. you still have tear out, how to you use your scraper? Do you:
1. Plane the board with your smoother and then scrape the areas of tear out only?
2. Scrape the whole thing so you have the same surface?
3. Something else? — Marilyn

I wondering about jointer bed length vs. the material length. Everything I’ve found just says to get the longest jointer bed you can afford or have room for. I have a small shop and most of the time I work with boards that are less than 4 feet. I’m wondering what bed length I could get away with? When I do the occasional desk or table what affect will the short bed length have on the longer boards? I’m considering a short bed being under 60” and the long boards being 6 to 8 feet. — Jake

This is from the insane ideas department, so I figured you guys would be perfect to ask the question to. Matt talked about the granite top on his old tablesaw. I liked everything I heard, particularly how he didn’t have to worry as much about what he set down on it, and the extremely smooth surface. Have you heard of people retrofitting older tablesaw? Is it economically feasible? I wonder if all those local granite stores have the capability to cut in the dado slots, or even area for the blade inset though. I’ve also seen conversation into re-platting old tops with nickle or chrome. Nuts? —- Milo

I’m new to the bench plane world and to help I picked up the Vertias Mk-II honing guide. It clearly has instructions to put back bevels on blades but I’m not exactly sure which tools would need back bevels. Should this be something I use regularly or are back bevels a project specific item? — Thomas

How high should I raise my tablesaw blade above the work? Online I can find two suggestions. Either just barely clear the work, or let the gullets just clear the work. Neither makes sense to me. Just clearing the work seems like the cutting angle would be forward, not down. Factoring the gullets in seems nonsensical since the gullets are clear for 95 percent of the blade circle. The cutting angle seems best to me if the blade is as high as it can go. The cut should push the board down rather than forward, right? Yet nobody ever suggests raising the blade all the way up for cutting 3/4 stock. Why not? Help a new tablesaw owner out here. — Darryl

I’m building a solid wood table top and was wondering about how much movement I should expect across it’s width. I’ve been utilizing the woodshop app on my phone along with relative humidity and temperature to figure out how much movement I should expect. I was wondering if the numbers I get are on this app or similar resources online are based on unfinished wood and if I could expect less movement from a finished piece. I assume that the more finished the piece is the less movement I should get. Is this correct? If so, are there any resources you are aware of that take this into consideration? In case it helps, I’m planning on finishing my table top with about 5 coats of Minwax wipe on poly. — Manny

Last weekend I went to a local Woodworking show/expo for the first time and I was blown away with both the price and quality of the wood some mill’s had for sale. Compared to the rubbish I usually get from the home centre here the wood was so cheap and so beautifully figured. I had a bit of a brain overload moment with possibilities running through my head on projects. I was wondering if you guys tend to only go get wood from mills specifically for a project in mind, or do you stock up when you see a really nice piece? Also, what attributes do you look for in terms of picking one board over another? — Clinton

Comments, questions or topic suggestions?

SKYPE – Woodtalkonline.
Voicemail – (623) 242-5180.
Email – woodtalkonline@gmail.com
Wood Talk Facebook page.

Special thanks to our show sponsor: Festool at FestoolUSA.com and SawStop at www.sawstop.com

For the rest of the shownotes including any links, voicemails, and emails; along with contact information and downloads for today’s episode, visit www.woodtalkshow.com.

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Please join me in wishing the Chris and Sharon Bagby, the proud owners of Highland Woodworking, in wishing them a happy 35th Birthday today! It’s hard to imagine that a store that has been such a longtime resource for woodworkers not only in the Atlanta, Georgia area but around the country and even internationally.

To celebrate this momentous occasion please take a moment to read about a little bit about the history of the store by clicking on the picture below. And when you’re done, take advantage of some of the great ONE-DAY sales and discounts to celebrate the occasion.

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Thanks to a generous donation of some amazingly beautiful Teak boards from a friend of the show, I have an opportunity to work with an species of wood I probably would ordinarily not use.

It’s not that I don’t want to use different species, I just have a few that I’m readily familiar with and just haven’t had a reason to step out of my comfort zone before.

So the first thing I’m building with these gorgeous boards is a…shoe rack!

Tools featured in today’s show:
JET Benchtop Oscillating Spindle Sander with Spindle Assortment, 110-Volt 1 Phase
SawStop Cabinet Table Saw
Steel City Tool Works 14-Inch Band Saw
Wood Slicer Resaw Bandsaw Blade
Bora Pistol Grip Clamps
Micro Jig ZeroPlay Guide Bar System

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Very excited about an upcoming event I’ve been invited to participate in, on Wednesday May 15th. The great crew over at ToolSELECT.com are putting together a Google Hangout “Promoting the Trades and Interacting with Fans” May 15th, 8PM EST at ToolSELECT Google+.

I’m hoping you can stop by and join me, along with:

Brian Kelsey – licensed contractor, television host, and creator of ‘Kelsey On The House’
Seth Rosen – President and Co-founder of CustomMade
Joe Sainz – also known as “Joe the Pro” with Bosch Power Tools
Justin Fink – Senior Editor Finhomebuilding.com
Brian Pontolilo – FineHomeBuilding magazine editor.

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I’m only a few days away from heading to Des Moines for the first ever “Weekend With WOOD“. I love the idea that a magazine I’m already a fan of is opening their doors and welcoming attendees to a jam-packed event where you’ll learn so much from some amazing instructors.

I’ll definitely be sharing as much of my experience as possible with everyone. For sure there will be full-length posts when I get back, but there will also most likely be plenty of Tweets, Facebook & Google+ posts all weekend long live from the event.

One event that may not sound like the type of thing you can’t wait to sign up for is the WOOD editors panel discussion on Saturday afternoon. This is an opportunity to ask the editors whatever is on your mind about the magazine.

I imagine there will be plenty of questions about what it takes to put the magazine together each month, but I’m curious to see what you might ask if you had an opportunity. IN FACT…I could be that opportunity FOR YOU?! Do you have a question you’d like to ask the editors of WOOD Magazine? Send it my way and I’ll share it with them and then report back what I find out.

Either leave a comment on today’s post or EMAIL ME.

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On today’s show, we’re talking about restoring a cupped table top, a box for severed fingers, using router bits with shapers, t-slot miter bars, compact table saws, bevel angles on bevel down planes, jointer options, dado blade safety, and designing difficulty.

Around the Web

• Popular Woodworking Build Contest – win an all expenses paid trip to WIA 2014!
• Milkman’s Workbench a good solution for you apartment dwellers.
• Eric sent a link to a video about Harvey Ward of Sidney New York “The Last Shovel Maker.”
• Jim and couple others sent a very cool and amazing stop action creation of a turned segmented bowl.

Kickback

Nick – Concerning the epoxy scale mentioned in Ep. 130: Marc is completely correct in that the heart of the kit is nothing more than a small scale that can probably be had for a lot less if bought alone. The mix ratio is the same by weight as it is by volume for the faster hardeners (205, and 206), but the weight ratio seems to be different than the volume for the really slow ones.

The scale also has the instructions printed on it, which will be especially handy when years of breathing epoxy fumes degrades my ability to remember basic instructions or do simple math.

Tom – Concerning the thin kerf blade discussion in Ep. 130: If you have a calibrated rule on your fence rail, that is traditionally set up for a 1/8 inch thick blade, changing to thin kerf changes that. If you’ll only use thin kerf, then a one-time reset takes care of it. But if you switch back and forth, the likelihood of getting bitten if high.

Voicemail

Chris has a question about restoring an old cupped/twisted table top.

Med Tech Woodworker is looking for a box to hold his severed fingers.

Roberto wants to know if shapers can accept standard router bit.

Email

I am thinking of building a crosscut sled for my table saw. I have the option of buying spare parts from my saw’s manufacturer to use T-rail slots, what comes with my miter gauge itself. The pro I see is that it will be extra secure in the miter slots. The con is that the sled will not be able to be lifted out of the miter slots, even if I want to, and must be run out the near or far edge. Would this lack of vertical moment pose a safety risk somehow, in a way I am not able to determine? — Curt

I’ve got a 2 car garage devoted to my shop, but one of the bays I use pretty regularly for auto maintenance, so it’s really a dual purpose setup. Since having a car in there, often disassembled, means limited floor space, I’m debating table saw options, or if I really need one. I have a festool track saw and a 17″ bandsaw, but I’m still thinking it’d be nice to have something to make consistent long rips or cut smaller boards. What do you think about using one of the smaller job site saws, like the Bosch 4100 or Dewalt 744? I can make a mount so it will attach to my assembly table in the center of the space, so it gives it a bigger outfeed table, but can still tuck it under out of the way when not in use. Are these saws worth it, assuming I slap on a better blade, given my situation? What would you do? — Mike

Hey guys i was just doing some thinking about bevel down planes. Let’s say you have a 45 degree bedding angle in a bevel down configuration, if you were to sharpen the plane iron to 43 degrees. Because of the bed angle, the effective cutting angle would remain 45 degrees but would have much more “meat” behind the cutting edge it would hold an edge longer…. Right? Am i correct in this thinking or am i missing the reason/s everyone sharpens at a much lower angle. — Milo

I’m currently working and managing a community based wood shop. I’ve been struggling with the place of dado blade and non-through cuts on the table saw in our shop. I can’t seem to find any riving knife/ splitter/ safety guard that can be used in these situations without getting in the way of the cuts. Can you explain to why this is? Also can you make any suggestions/ recommend any gadgets that would increase safety during these cuts? — Ann

***SUGGESTED ITEMS:Featherboard, board buddies, Magswitch products, GRR-Ripper, push sticks

My question has come about while trying to build a piece for the pop wood readers contest. I have chosen to build a bookcase, did a quick sketch up, but I feel like even with prior drawings and plans I can’t get the proportions right. I feel the shelves are to clunky, and I’m a hobbyist and really don’t have the money or desire to make mock ups out of cheaper woods to dial everything in. What do you guys do when building a new piece? Is this just an inevitable truth about furniture building and building mock ups to bring everything together. —- Cory

Comments, questions or topic suggestions?

SKYPE – Woodtalkonline.
Voicemail – (623) 242-5180.
Email – woodtalkonline@gmail.com
Wood Talk Facebook page.

Special thanks to our show sponsor: Festool at FestoolUSA.com

For the rest of the shownotes including any links, voicemails, and emails; along with contact information and downloads for today’s episode, visit www.woodtalkshow.com.

Help support the show – please visit our advertisers

Over the years one question I get frequently is in regards to hand plane maintenance. Especially when it comes to what someone should do to keep their newly purchased hand planes from getting ruined.

The folks over at Lee Valley put out a short but sweet video that hits the most important areas of any hand plane that should be taken care of regularly.

Hopefully you’ll find it as helpful as I did!

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I’ve made mention of it numerous times over the years, but just in case you tune out when I’m talking (just like my wife and kids), I’ve never really worked with anything more exotic than “New England” Pine or “Pennsylvania” Cherry.

But thanks to a very generous friend of the show, Jim Noller, I received an amazing stack of Teak “cut-offs” to have some fun with. The pieces Jim sent where the perfect size for a couple of projects I’ve been kicking around.

I don’t know a lot about Teak, but I do know it’s a great wood for outdoor projects or even items that need to stand the test of time from being exposed to wet environments.

So in my mind, amongst the many other things I could dream up, the one that I’ve been wanting to build for a long time is a new shoe rack for the back room of the Vanderlist Household.

During the long winter months and then into the rainy springtime around these parts, we need someplace to set our shoes and boots that gets them up off the floor and allows them to dry properly.

So coming up in the next project video, to be released next week at the latest, we’ll be making a simple shoe rack from Teak. As you can see in the pictures above, it’s almost ready for assembly.

The next question is…what should I do with these awesome 1″x1″x6″ cutoffs???

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Congrats to our April Schwag winners! There was an amazing number of entries this time, in fact almost double the usual number. Of course that also means there will be quite a few folks who will be a little bummed they didn’t win this month.

THE GOOD NEWS IS…the May Schwag drawing isn’t very far away. I’ll post more information about the great prizes we’ll be giving away at the end of May, including a new schwag donator we’ve never had before!

APRIL SCHWAG WINNERS AND THEIR PRIZES

HIGHLAND WOODWORKING WOODSLICER BLADE – 2 Winners – Ed Masson & Jesse Taggart
Micro Jig Zeroplay Guide Bar System – 3 Winners – John Coogan, Dave Kozel & Stephen
“Build an 18th Century Workbench” & “The Workbench” DVDs – 1 Winner – Dan Housley
Review Show No. 5	Review Show No. 7
“Building Kitchen Cabinets Made Simple” – 1 Winner – Tom Noesen
“Blanket Chests” – 1 Winner – Linda H.
“Stots Dovetail Maker & Router Bits” – 1 Winner – John
“3-Flute Profile Bit” – 1 Winner – Sean Rubino
“Milescraft Stubby Drill and Router Bits” – 1 Winner – Joshua

Postage is handled directly by many of the schwag sponsors, but it’s still a big expense for those that aren’t. Please consider a small donation to help offset the expense: Matt’s Basement Workshop Postage Donation.

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On today’s episode I’m sharing my full review of the 110V, 1.75HP SawStop cabinet saw I received as part of an advertising deal back in October of 2012. As I had mentioned in the previous video “Hello New Saw”, I wanted to spend a little time with the saw before I shared my opinions about it. And that’s exactly what I do in this episode.

It’s been a little over 6 months and I’ve had a chance to build a few projects with the new saw, this has allowed me to get a “real world” feel for whether a saw like this is worth the investment for a home woodworker or serious hobbyist.

Of course what would a SawStop review be without firing off the braking system? So we do that today too, in fact we do it TWICE just to show off that flesh isn’t the only conductive material that could set off the system.

Interested in purchasing a SawStop or SawStop Accessories for your woodshop? You can find them at the following locations:
Highland Woodworking
Woodcraft.com
Amazon.com

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Safety day is Wednesday May 1st this year. What started out as a week long reminder of the importance of Safety in the workshop has come down to a single day full of articles and videos covering a wide variety of topics.

But regardless of the breadth of posts and personal stories, the fact remains that safety is an every-day event. Not one that you should only think of once or twice a year.

To help kick off the build-up to Safety Day 2013 I’m including this playlist of videos I’ve created over the past several years. I’m sure many of you have seen them before, but it never hurts to be reminded of a topic we all take seriously (even if my presentations aren’t all the time).

Don’t forget to come back and visit on Wednesday when I release the full review of my experience with the SawStop cabinet saw. And what would a SawStop review be without firing off a brake or two?

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I promised back in October of 2012 that I’d do a full review of my experience with the SawStop table saw I received as payment for an advertising deal.

This weekend I’m wrapping up the final shots and putting it all together for Safety Day 2013 on May 1st.

I invited the family down into the shop to experience what it’s like when the braking system is engaged. They filmed me filming it for the upcoming episode. I don’t know what’s funnier, my reaction or theirs?

For more on the SawStop in my shop, checkout the first two videos I posted about it from October 2012:
“Hello New Saw” & “SawStop Bypass System”

Planning to get a new SawStop? Checkout the models available at Highland Woodworking.

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On today’s show, we’re talking about Nordfab ductwork, European style saws, availability of quartersawn wood, round vs square dog holes, thin kerf blades, smoothing expensive wood, cutting up burl, and graduating from shop projects to real furniture projects.

Around the Web

• Sent in from Ken on Facebook The Project Gutenberg EBook of Woodwork Joints
• Todd Butler starter tools giveaway “The Butler Did It Woodworks”
• Lorenz – I am trying to get a tool database off the ground and could use some feedback. A few years ago I had trouble finding a good table saw . Since Google did not let me search everything there is I decided to build by own database; who wouldn’t? I was wondering, if a resource like this is useful to you all. www.hingmy.com

Kickback

Nick – This is in response to episode #129, where Shannon mentioned that he didn’t like using epoxy because of the expense, and furthermore the fact that you end up wasting a ton of epoxy because of the “one big pump + one small pump” mixing method. I first used West System Epoxy a year or two ago when I needed to fill some knot holes on a beautiful piece of Walnut that I was gifted.

I ran in to the same problem with wasting of epoxy – I found that I was creating a lot of epoxy casts of my mixing cups, and wasting a lot of money in the process. Not long ago, I serendipitously found this product in a boating store in Jamestown, RI:

The small scale allows you to create any size batch you want, eliminating the wastage problem. The only downside that I see is that if you have a basement workshop like me (and Matt), someone peeking through the windows might mistake your shop for a meth lab.

Don – (Follow up to his Buck Bros chisel) I heard you wanted the results and Matt helped me trim out the scary data. I unfairly compared Buck Bros yellow handled chisels to my new Stanley Sweetheart 750 series chisels and some used Stanley Bailey 16-401 Series Bench Chisels.

The test I did was simply using a hammer, using the same number of strikes each, chopping on a piece of old red oak like I was mortising. I tested three angles: 25, 30 and 35 degrees each with microbevels.

At 25 degrees, the Buck Bro’s actually ‘appeared’ better, however both Stanley’s cut much much better. The differences in visual damage and performance diminished incrementally as the angles increased as one might expect. In the end both Stanley’s exhibited better cutting performance throughout (better steel one might presume).

One key difference is that I could never get the Buck Bros chisels sharper than say “utility knife sharp”, that’s sharp enough the scrape some stubble off your face, but the Stanley’s I could get “surgical sharp”, which is where the hair just falls off your face as you glide the chisel over it. (Yeah that’s for you Marc.)

Voicemail

Michael – asking about opinions on Nordfab ductwork or an alternatives.

Email

I’m looking at a European-style tablesaw (Hammer, if you must know) and I’m wondering what are the advantages of an ETS? Safety, perhaps. No sleds? Fewer jigs? Just wondering what the boiled-down reason might be for considering them? Generally they are more expensive, but look to be of better quality and there are claims of better/repeatable accuracy. What’s your $0.02? — Tom

I’m planning to build a solid maple Roubo style workbench complete with a leg vice and a tail vice and I’m stuck on whether I should put round holes or square holes in it for holding projects. Veritas offers various accessories for round holes but most of the traditional benches I see have square holes. What do you suggest? — Dan

To your knowledge, do sawmills regularly quarter saw species other than oak? If so, where does it all go? Or do they just flat saw everything because there is less waste that way? I ask because it seems that quartersawn lumber is the panacea for wood movement issues. Given its stability, I would expect there should be demand for quartersawn lumber, regardless of species. However, I can only regularly find it in oak, sycamore, and domestic beech. — Mike

After many years with the same table saw blade it’s time to spring for a new one. I have traditionally used a narrow kerf blade for one reason it’s what I had! Any thoughts on the advantages and disadvantages of regular vs. thin kerf blades. Looking at the Forrest blades they have a stabilizer, is this a must have? — Richard

My wife bought me a piece of curly Koa while she was in Hawaii. I want to get the most out of this expensive piece of wood, so I am going to cut it into veneer, but I am concerned about cleaning up the faces. I can see tear out on the wood from the mill, so I am scared to put it on my jointer or planer for fear of getting more tear out and ruining a layer of two of veneer. This may be an excuse to buy that Lie Nielsen 4 ½ smoother. Do you think it will work? Do I need to also buy a second 55 degree frog or a toothed blade? This would be stretching the budget, so a not-so-wide belt sander is probably out of the question. Any thoughts and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. —- Tom

I have been given a maple tree with a large burl to harvest. We plan to cut the tree down shortly, and we will leave several feet either end of the burl. The questions is how to process (cut) this thing. What is the best way to instruct the saw mill to process this for making book matched table tops and such? (I actually had someone at Woodcraft suggest I make a bowl out of it…seriously? LOL woodturners…what a scary lot). So what do you think? Plane sawn, quarter sawn? And how thick? 8 quarter, 12?. — Don

I’ve been woodworking for about 18 months now and I’ve found that at least 80% of my projects seem to be things for my workshop. Am I the only woodworker that struggles with actually producing functional useable furniture for the house/better half? How do you guys keep on track and find the time to stop trying to perfect your workshop and get onto making such nice stuff? — Clinton

Comments, questions or topic suggestions?

SKYPE – Woodtalkonline.
Voicemail – (623) 242-5180.
Email – woodtalkonline@gmail.com
Wood Talk Facebook page.

Special thanks to our show sponsors: Festool at FestoolUSA.com and Hardwood To Go at www.hardwoodtogo.com!

For the rest of the shownotes including any links, voicemails, and emails; along with contact information and downloads for today’s episode, visit www.woodtalkshow.com.

Help support the show – please visit our advertisers

From the Back of the Case

MAKE A PRECISION TOOL WITH HAMMER, FILE & FIRE
You might imagine it takes high-end production machinery to make precision woodworking tools. But as our ancestors showed centuries ago, you can produce delicate and dead-accurate instruments with the most basic of tools. In Forging A Compass, master blacksmith Peter Ross walks you through the steps–at the forge and the workbench–to create a reproduction 18th-Century square-head compass. Working with a coal forge, an anvil and a handful of files, Peter uses traditional blacksmithing techniques to first forge the pieces, then assemble them and file the surfaces to create a beautiful, functional woodworking tool.

Our Thoughts

When it comes to woodworking DVDs it’s always nice to have a wide range of options. Not only in instructors to teach the topics woodworkers want to know more about, but also in the breadth of topics themselves.
Unfortunately we don’t think this title adds much to the woodworker’s knowledge base they can use in their shop on a day to day basis. It’s purely, for the lack of a better term, tool porn. More specifically hardcore luddite tool porn for the individual who is serious about replicating vintage tools.
Nothing wrong with this kind of passion, but for the vast majority of modern day woodworkers, the reality of making your own compass in a forge isn’t a reality at all. But if you want a peek into a historical replication and can appreciate it, this probably is a DVD you want to pick up.

Visit our show page and listen to the episode by CLICKING ON THIS LINK

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It’s turning out that April Showers is bringing more than anticipated May Flowers, especially if you live near a body of water or a low-lying area like some unfortunate folks not to far away from my home. I’m wishing everyone effected by the flooding in recent days the best of luck and hoping the damage was minimal.

But what does that have to do with why I haven’t posted any new project videos recently? Not a lot really! I guess I’m trying to pull a little bait and switch on you to stop by the website and see what’s new…JUST KIDDING (kind of…)

Actually the truth is simply that there are months throughout the year that just end up being busier outside of the shop than in it. I’m sure you can all relate to that, so I know you won’t be too angry at me when I say I’m still working on some new content and it should be posted in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, I’ve been combing the internet and looking for some new ideas and hopefully some videos to share with everyone to keep you inspired and motivated to get in the shop even if I can’t.

One such video I just rediscovered and wanted to share with you was something from the folks at Osborne Wood Products. If you’re not familiar with them they’re a company who pre-make project components like table legs, corbels, moldings, etc. One product they produce that you might consider making yourself are a set of table slides for extending the length of a table with a couple of leaves.

I say you might consider making them yourself, but in actuality I’d probably prefer to purchase a set that I know will work as soon as I install them and frees me up from having to re-engineer something that someone else took the time to figure out for me.

Some people might consider purchasing pre-made table extension slides or pre-turned legs cheating, but as far as I’m concerned if it’s something that helps me achieve a finished project that looks as good or better than I imagined…I’ll happily cheat to get the look or action I know I won’t regret.

How do you feel about pre-made products? If it helps you to achieve the look without having to worry about wasting materials or taking you too far out of your comfort zone are you willing to do it?

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I’m a little less than a month away from heading to the offices of WOOD Magazine for the first ever “Weekend with WOOD” woodworking experience.

WOOD Magazine was probably the first magazine dedicated to woodworking that I ever picked up from the newstand. It was the first one I purchased a subscription for and I have a feeling it was the magazine that one of my first projects or jigs I ever built came from. So having the opportunity to travel to Des Moines, Iowa to attend this inaugural event is pretty exciting!

Being an experienced woodworking conference attendee I already have some expectations of what I’ll be experiencing that weekend.

1. Sitting in a room with a bunch of like minded folks who hope they’re going to learn that one or two little golden nugget that makes all the difference when they get back to their own shops.
2. Pinching yourself because you can’t believe you’re within arms reach of a woodworking superstar who you’ve only read about and never thought you’d have a chance to meet in person.
3. Trying something new that pushes you out of your comfort zone just enough that you’re glad you did, but wonder if you’ll be able to repeat it when you get home.
4. At the end of the day you’ll be hanging out with new friends and just glad you made the trip!

Actually there’s a few more things I know I’ll be experiencing, especially when it comes to some of the classes I signed up to take. Not only is there the standard power tool and hand tool basics such as “Hand Tools in a Powered Workshop” & “Table Saw Techniques” but there’s a number of classes on Turning, Marquetry, Veneering and especially on Finishing!

All topics I’ve been interested in learning more about from an experienced instructor so it makes the anticipation even greater!

For more information about “Weekend with WOOD” visit www.weekendwithwood.com. And if your going, let me know!

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On today’s show, we’re talking about one plane to rule them all, leaving dovetail scribe lines, the difference between some common saws, inspecting an old table saw, using B-grade wood, fixing a warped chair seat, and using epoxy.

Around the Web

• Daniel, a Guild member, started a new woodworking community site www.woodscommunity.com
• Mark sent in a link to Moore’s Stabilizing Services which specializes in dying and stabilizing wood and various other materials for the knife, gun and wood turning industry.
• Adam sent a link to a HUGE Bowl!
• Tom Buhl sent in link to Stony Lamar’s current retrospective exhibit at the Asheville Art Museum.
• Wilbur Pan is giving a talk on Japanese tools to the NYC Woodworkers Guild on April 22.
• Tony sent in a link to a Sam Maloof interview on “Hand Made in America”.
• Brad sent a link about Adam Savage from Mythbusters attempting to do hand-cut dovetails.
• Shannon found a video for a monsterous treadle lathe design.

Kickback

Graham – Regarding “Hardwax Oil”. To my knowledge it’s nothing like Polyurethane varnish diluted with white spirit. We stock this brand www.fiddes-usa.com/CONTENT/HARD-WAX-OIL.html . Although it seems targeted at flooring we use it on so many items that require a natural finish in place of Danish, Tung or Linseed Oil. It’s really easy to use and you can have glassy finish or a more rough and ready if you want. Perhaps one of you guys could give it a try (and then say how much you hate it !)

Nic – I just wanted to chime in the Osmo Polyx Oil finish that you mentioned in the last show. I work full time as a production woodturner and one of my regular jobs is turning handles for espresso machines. Each handle is sanded up to 400 then gets three coats of Osmo which gives a great depth and shine to the wood. The finish is durable even in the hot/wet conditions that the baristas subject it to. I can’t compare it to General Finishes as I’ve not used them, but I highly recommend Osmo.

Voicemail

From Med Tech WW’er, what do we think of the ShopSmith?

Email

Steven – I’m relatively new to woodworking and I’d like to start building my hand tool collection. I already own a basic stanley block plane and I’ve was doing some research on the different kinds of hand planes to start off with when I found this article from fine woodworking: http://www.finewoodworking.com/tool-guide/article/one-bench-plane-can-do-it-all.aspx

From a price perspective the Lie Nielsen 62 seems like a great idea. It would also save on storage space (i’m currently confined to an apt!). But, it also seems like a bit much since I don’t really do any milling by hand at this point. So my question to you guys is: should I go for the multi-purpose Lie Nielsen or stick with individual planes and build my collection as i need them?

Thanks for the help, love the show!

Barron – Looking at photos in woodworking magazines and online, I see nicely done dovetails and very clear knife lines left over from marking out the boards. I don’t seem to see these knife lines on antique furniture.

Is this just a modern technique to prove the piece was handmade? Is it just that many antiques have been refinished and the lines erased by that process? Or is it simply too much trouble to eliminate the lines before finishing? Anyway, do you leave your marking lines, and if so, why?

David – I know the difference between a crosscut and rip saw but what are the differences between: dovetail saw, tenon saw, carcass saw, sash saw?

Tony – There is a chance that I will be receiving a mid-60s Delta cabinet saw from my father-in-law. He has all of the parts and it runs very smoothly, but I am concerned that there are things unseen I might need to tune up or work on. I currently have a Delta Hybrid table saw and I strongly dislike the exposed motor. ((His son leaves stuff in the motor belt, so this has added to his safety check before each work day)) The cabinet saw would fix all of these problems, and adds a bit of Art Deco feel to the workshop. Should I be concerned about the saw? What should I look for to determine if it is truly working correctly? Any safety features it would be missing that make it simply unusably unsafe?

1. Examine power cord and connection to motor
2. Test the motor
3. Check for loose bolts.
4. Make sure the tilt and height mechanisms work and are free of obstruction
5. Test the fence
6. Look for safety devices and strategize how to make the saw safer (after-market)
7. Enjoy your new saw!

Suggested resources – www.popularwoodworking.com/video/delta-unisaw, www.vintagemachinery.org, www.OWWM.org

Mike – What do you guys think about “character” grades of wood? I saw the Bob Taylor video posted on shannon’s company’s site and it really struck a chord with me. Strangely enough I’ve been frustrated because I have a hard time finding “b grade” wood. For example, I wanted to build a copy of a farm-style dining table we saw at a store and really liked. It was built from white oak that was fully of tight knots and small cracks. A trip to by local hardwood dealer only revealed highly pristine white oak. Similarly, my woodworking friends have warned me against the perils of cherry sapwood, as if my project might self-combust if I used the stuff. To me, it adds beauty. If I wanted something homogenous looking it would stain or paint it. Ultimately I’ve found I need to go to a local, small scale sawmill to get wood that looks like…. wood.

Video link www.mcilvain.com/bob-taylor-says-b-grade-is-worthwhile

David – I have been asked to make new rockers for an old Windsor style chair (aprox 80-100 years old)… my problem is that the seat on one side has warped upwards by about 2 inches and has therefore caused the leg on that side to come off the ground. Is there any sensible way to straighten the seat. (the seat appears to be made of elm) and is aprox 5 quarter thick.

I have thought of taking the chair apart steaming the seat and putting it in a clamp until it is straight..I have also considered kerfing the underside of the seat the seat to bend it back into shape.

Would either method be sensible or likely to work. Is there some other solution?

Manny B. – First off let me say that several years back when I first had the desire to start woodworking I came across Marc’s videos on youtube and it gave me a fun, informative resource that was instrumental in my development as a woodworker and I wanted to thank you. Matt and Shannon, you guys are cool too.

Some time ago I finally made the investment and purchased a couple big tubs of West System epoxy that I needed for a complex glue up and have since been using it almost exclusively for my furniture glue ups. Are there any concerns beyond the increased price that you think I should look out for? How often do you guys use epoxy?

Special thanks to our show sponsors: Festool at FestoolUSA.com and Hardwood To Go at www.hardwoodtogo.com!

For the rest of the shownotes including any links, voicemails, and emails; along with contact information and downloads for today’s episode, visit www.woodtalkshow.com.

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The new website is up and running…obviously…and I have all of you to thank for making this happen. Not just those of you who donated to the fundraiser but to all of you who visit from time-to-time.

If you’re a frequent visitor and remember the layout of the old site hopefully you can see a huge difference in the way things are laid out on this current version. I really like the layout of this new site and have ongoing plans to make it more informative and easier to navigate, so you’ll see the occasional tweak from time-to-time.

As part of my thank you to the many donators that made this happen you’ll find your name listed below…it’s the least I can do to show you my appreciation for your generosity!

Thank you to each of you (listed in no particular order):

Zac Higgins Gunnar Olsson Brander Roullett Fr. Thomas Bailey, OSB Jim Ligon Richard Law Mitch Roberson Brian Glendenning Marilyn Guthrie Chris Schwarz Bill Schenher Chris Michalek Jeff Peterson Scott Bassin Dave Hart Tom Collins Randy Peterman Steve Brassard Larry Thayer Chris Nichols Jack Coats Jim Ashley Rik Minnich Chet Kloss Dyami Plotke Frank Bivins Tony Hamm Neal Becker Walter Keast Pierre Forget

Bobby Slack Toby Sauer Shaun Wellert Erik Van Joe Wiener Richard Hall David Ulschmid Tobias Eklind Dick Moffett Mac Lyle Allan Grant Brett Watson Mark Loughran Ben Strano Jim Mossoney Alan Anderson Brian Brazil Eric Fortin Mick Montgomery Wes Fullenwider Big Cheese Stefan Gmoser Rick Gable Mike Tuxen Wilbur Pan Jon McGrath Jon “Dozer” Mendoza Jack Jacobs David Beecher Chris Birkland Scott Blanchette

David Lankford Todd Clippinger Tom Hoffman Tom Pritchard Eric Wolf Daniel Gardner Matt Robinette Shannon Rogers Ben Minshall Jonathan Szczepanski Mike Llewellyn Jay Tennier Ron Hock Tobias Sauer Kevin Van Deusen Ken Goodell Andy Gartzke Dennis Rozak Scott McClaury Cliff Merrill John Verreault Vic Hubbard Christopher Landy Marc Spagnuolo “Drunken Woodworker” Ron Shoemaker Elaine Andersen Stephen Glaesman John Laffoon Robert Teague Ernesto Segovia

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