Author: woodshoplifepodcast

Episode 51 – Dust Collectors, When To Pull The Trigger, Breaking Bandsaw Blades, & MUCH More!

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Guy

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

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

Sean

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

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

Huy

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

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

Episode 50 – Resaw Advice, Pricing Your Work, Waterfall Miter Reinforcement, & MUCH More!

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Sean

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

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

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

Thanks

Jesse

Guy

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

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

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

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

–  Project: Round breakfast table

–  Wood: solid cherry

–  Size: 42″ diameter, 1″ thickness

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

–  Joinery for the base would utilize the Festool Domino

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

Josh


Huy

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

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

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

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

Keep up the good work.

Dale from Muskego, Wi.

Episode 49 – Shopsmith?, Our Most Useless Purchases, Left vs. Right Tilt, & MUCH More!

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Guy

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

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

Sean

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

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

Huy

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

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

Episode 48 – Paint The Drawers?, 1.5hp or 3hp, Resawing help, & MUCH More!

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Guy

1) Hey guys. Question on horsepower for table saws. I’m slowly moving toward upgrading my table saw (I won’t mention the brand so Guy won’t have a reason to make fun of me but let’s just say I’m looking forward to not dying). I currently have a 1.5 hp older delta contractor saw. My question to you is what hp are your saws and if there is a major difference between 1.5 and 3 hp? I don’t work with a ton of 8/4 or bigger stock so I wouldn’t be putting thick stuff through. Thanks for any insight! Ben

2) First off just wanted to say I love the show! You are all talented and experienced woodworkers but all offer different viewpoints on how you like to get things done.

My question is about table saw upgrades. I’ve had  a Ridgid R4512 table saw for about 2 years now. I enjoy it but I’m wondering about upgrades. I’m specifically thinking about dust collection and the fence. I know I want to get a zero clearance fence but also wondering about over arm dust collection? Would it be worth it for this saw? Any aftermarket over arm set ups you guys would recommend or have experience with? The other upgrade I’ve considered is a fence. I’ve found that at times I feel the fence on this saw might be a little inaccurate and it doesn’t have a lot of adjustments. Do you feel any of the aftermarket fence systems would be good for this saw? Any recommendations?  Or would you recommend possibly saving money to just get a better saw in the future if you felt like the upgrades weren’t worth making to this saw.

Thanks for the time. Again, love the show.

Brian Bingham

Sean

1) I’ve seen a few people online build jointer sleds to edge joint and flatten boards. Can I actually get decent results out of a jointer sled in most cases? I assume using a jointer sled for processing a large amount of lumber would be a hassle compared to using a floor standing jointer, but what are the other limitations to using a jointer sled that I am not considering?  Brock

2) 

Still loving the show. I wrote in once before and you sold me on shellac finish for small boxes, and you made me a believer.

I do have a new question,

I’m building a dresser for my daughter and I’m not sure how to finish the job. The main carcass and drawers are mostly plywood with oak edge banding. I made the base out of oak and the drawer fronts will also be oak which I plan to stain to let the grain show through.

Do you guys normally finish the inside of the drawers in a dresser? If so, what do you use?

Also, I was going to paint the carcass(it’s plywood, don’t freak out), so I’m wondering if you have any tips on how to get that perfect painted finish on the carcass? I don’t have a sprayer, and the budget is tight, so I won’t be buying a fuji anytime soon, but any other tips are much appreciated!

Thanks, Scott

Huy

1) Love the podcast.  Thanks for everything that you put into it.  I recently resawed some 5/4 walnut, about 32″ long, for some drawer faces (shop furniture).  My plan was to resaw this and then glue up a panel to have continuous grain down the three drawers.  The walnut had been in my shop for a few months and I got it from a reliable source, so I was pretty comfortable with the moisture, although I don’t have a moisture meter.  I had milled a face and an edge square, but as I was resawing it, the two pieces bowed significantly, to the point that they would require another round of milling, and getting 3/8″ to 1/2″ final thickness was not possible.  Did I do something wrong, or is that to be expected when resawing something to that thickness? Chad

2) I am using a 3/8″ diameter upcut spiral bit with a 1/2″ diameter shank from Whiteside to make 1 1/8″ deep mortises in some cherry. Whiteside says the bit is good for 1 1/4″ deep. I am using the bit in the Porter Cable 690LR fixed base router. My questions: How deep a cut is recommended per pass? Is there any criteria out there for depth of cut?

Dave

Episode 47 -Injury Prone?, MFT Uses, Buying The Right Tool For The Job, & MUCH More!

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Guy

1) Hey guys,  I have been wanting to switch over to water based spray finishes for awhile, since for the foreseeable future my shop will remain connected to the house. I either use a conversion varnish or danish oil then wax. Doing oil and wax is a great look but too time consuming for any real deadline. That leads to conversion varnish but that requires a nice day outside or for the wife and kids to leave the house for a little while (museum, zoo, park, etc) Neither is practical and plus I want to go to the zoo too.

The argument against water based varnishes is the clear/milky look instead of a rich deep glow. But couldn’t you just spray an amber shellac coat first, sealing and giving the beautiful color that solvents give? Then finish with a quality water based coat, thinking Target Coatings EMTECH line.

Side note, I have used rubio and while I don’t mind it on occasion (I know guy is not a fan), I hate having to mix and the lack of options for sheen.

Thanks team! – Patrick

2) I have heard you all talk about how much you love and use for MFT tables and top and I love mine for those sweet, square, 27″ crosscuts. What I haven’t figured out yet is how to utilize it for much of anything else.  I think one of you mentioned it as an assembly table, but it would be awesome to hear more ideas on how you utilize it your shops.

Thanks! Jeremy

Sean

1) Help me settle a bet with my wife.

She thinks I’m quote unquote “injury prone” in the woodshop. I always have Band-Aids on my hands and arms. She jokes that I am 30% bandaid at all times.  I wouldn’t consider myself injury prone, other than that one chisel incident last summer (chisel into index knuckle, 10 stitches, yada yada yada).

My question is, on a normal day, how many minor injuries do you receive? Cuts, scrapes, splinters, scratches, anything that requires a bandaid. What do you consider the normal course of a day on this kind of thing? I need to explain to her that this kind of thing is just the cost of doing business.

Thanks again! – Eric

2) Hey Guys, Isaac from Teton Woodshop.

I have a question about drum sanders. I recently bought a drum sander because I don’t like sanding (shocker) and I thought it would cut down on sanding time for panels. However I found it left deep scratches in the wood that took quite awhile to sand out with the random orbital sander. I am finding much easier to just make sure my boards are flat, line up the glue joints with dominos and sand with a random orbital sander without using the drum sander. This process seems much faster for me.

Am I missing something in my use of the drum sander? I hear it is a luxury to have in the shop but I find it being more of a nuisance than a luxury at this point. I’d love to hear about how you guys use it to see why you consider it a luxury and I consider it a large space taker in the shop.

Huy

1) Hey Gents, wanted to say you have an awesome show going. Wanted to know if you’ve ever held off on making something because you don’t have a specific tool or upgraded tool? For instance I currently have a Dewalt jobsite table saw so not the most reliable or accurate saw and am saving up for a cabinet saw and think I’ll be more comfortable making things then. Thanks again. – Paul

2) I bought a cordless Dewalt track saw. I picked it because of the two way track and you don’t have to spin the tracks around as much when breaking down plywood. It was my first track saw. Now, I’m realizing that I can’t use the after market accessories available to Festool tracksaw owners like the parallel guides and the 90 degree guide.  Do you think these accessories are worth selling my Dewalt and getting the Festool?  I would like to move to final cuts with the track saw as mentioned by Guy in the last episode. – Brian