Woodshop Life Podcast

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Huy

1) When using a hold-down clamp to prevent wood movement -for example on the Incra 5000 crosscut sled, I find that often the wood moves veers slightly as I tighten the knob to hold the clamp against the workpiece. Have you experienced the same? If so, how do you deal with it? Would adding some sandpaper to the bed of the jig potentially create other accuracy issues, you think? Great podcast – thanks for all the information! – Tim in North Carolina

2) What tool or machine do you use for something it’s not necessarily  intended for? ( I wanna hear more than I use every tool as a hammer haha.) For example:  buiscuit joiners are intended to align two boards but people also use them to make slots for Z clips. Or table saws to make cove cuts instead of a shaper. Etc. ) I’m curious to hear if you guys have any neat tricks up your sleeve?  As always love the podcast and keep up the great work.

 Nick

Sean

1)With increasingly limited space in my workshop, how do you decide what scraps to get rid of, and which to keep?  Mark

2) I really hope all has been well with you all. It has been a while since I have wasted your time with a question for the podcast. I mean, come on, we all know how the answers that were getting from this podcast are as spot on as much as the MSRP of a new car. Anywho, I was wondering if any of you use your woodworking tools for other materials other than wood. I have always been weary of using my table saw or bandsaw and such for cutting things like acrylic or even aluminum sheets. Since I have made the router sleds I have found myself more and more using my woodworking equipment to cut those two materials in particular. Now, I do not use my expensive woodworking blades for this purpose but I was just curious if any of you have used your equipment for different materials.
Thanks a bunch for wasting your time to keep my interests peaked just enough to listen to every episode in hopes that one day I’ll learn something.
Brent Jarvis
Clean Cut Woodworking

Guy

1) I have a makita corded track saw that I’ve had for about 4 years. I don’t have a table saw, so the track saw is probably my most used power tool, and I’m really relying on it to give me straight, finished cuts I can reference from.

Recently I was cutting some Baltic birch for a jig where squareness of the panels is critical, so I was checking every cut afterwards. I found that my track saw was not cutting straight. I haven’t put A ruler to it, but it might be 1/64 or maybe 1/32 out over 4 feet.

I took everything apart, cleaned sawdust out of every nook, cleaned the grippy strips on the track, cleaned and waxed the top of the track, cleaned the blade, tightened the track snuggers. I checked the back edge of the track against my straight edge, and that appears straight.

Do you guys have any suggestions? The blade I have on it is more than 2 years old, so I ordered a new one. if that doesn’t help, I can reach out to makita about how to check and adjust the blade for squareness relative to the track slot on the saw base. If none of that works, I’ll probably order a 55 inch festool guide rail (Amazon reviews say they work interchangeably with the Makita saw).

Anyway, I find this very frustrating, but I’m glad to have a reason to write in! I love the show, thank you all! – Jonathan

2) I am going to be making a 72”w x 14”h x 14”d credenza with a mitered waterfall edge out of walnut with a finished thickness of 3/4”. (All four corners mitered) There will be 3-4 drawers in it.  My initial thoughts were to do it out of solid wood but I am now wondering if using walnut plywood would be a better choice as it is more stable than solid wood. I plan to use a domino to join my edges but not really sure how to account for wood movement on a large mitered box. 

Love the podcast and have learned a lot from you guys, please keep it coming!

Lindsey

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Sean

1)It seems that no matter what I try its hard to make great mitre cuts.  I have a sawstop with a Osborne mitre gauge,  an older radial arm saw (70’s craftsman) that I’ve tried the broken fence technique on and I seem to still have trouble with mitres.  I do all kids of woodworking from segmented bowls (though rarely) to picture frames to simpler miters.  It always seems to have issues.  Is the solution the Kapex? if its really amazing (as the domino is) I’ll spend the money but is there a better less costly solution?  You guys are awesome!

thanks,

Dan

2) My question is concerning marking gauges, a lot of suggested beginners kits include some sort of marking gauge. When watching youtube very rarely do you see a marking gauge, and even more rare is someone that is putting one to use. While I understand what a marking gauge is and how it functions, i don’t see a place it in my workflow. Do you, gentlemen use marking gauges commonly in your workflow, and if you do when do you use them?

As a related question, do you guys use marking knives? I understand marking knives will give you more accurate results but again rarely do you see YouTubers using marking knives.

-Jim

Guy

1) Gentlemen I greatly enjoy your podcast.  I have a question about stain.  I just finished a large dining table and like most other projects I’m very disappointed in how the finish turned out.  The table is red oak and I stained it a medium brown followed by three coats of General Finish   Armor Seal Satin    .   I don’t go cheap on stain, I forget the brand of stain but it was $35 per quart and was custom mixed at my lumber supplier.  Is there any tricks that you guys can recommend to get a more even end product?  The top is six boards that are different grain patterns so maybe I’m expecting too much.

Also Guy I heard your comment a few episodes back about only using pipe clamps and kind of snickered but in gluing up this table top which is 7’ x 42” my Besseys couldn’t begin to compare with the old reliable pipe clamps.  I used dominoes for alignment purposes and it took a pretty good squeeze to pull everything together.  I’m a believer. -Tom

2) Hello again (you said you needed questions so submitting a second today)

Like most woodworkers, I started out with pre-milled lumber at mostly 3/4 inch. Once I got a planer, I found myself often planing lumber down for aesthetic reasons. I make mostly smaller projects, and 3/4 is just too thick for my tastes.

My question is, beyond looks, when do you worry about thickness choice? Is there a weight determiner, length of boards, etc. Ever made a mistake and went too thin to suffer later?

As a slight followup, do you ever purposely buy thicker material with the anticipation of re-sawing over planing down (like from 3/4 to 1/2″) and just wasting material?

Peter       

Huy

1) Hey guys, love listening to the podcast and was hoping you could help me out with a problem I ran into. I put a nice new glue line saw blade on my table saw and when I went to switch out the blade to my multi purpose, I physically can’t get the blade off the arbor. It is not the arbor nut, that was removed easily, it is the blade itself that is stuck on the arbor. Has this ever happened to any of you and what would be your solution. I have been thinking about heating up the blade to expand it off the arbor but wanted to see if you had any other options. Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thank you again for the awesome podcast!! Seanvella designs

2) Hey guys, Have any of you taken a chance on wood species that are uncommon both in wood working and lumber yards. Their are many local species in my area (north Arkansas) that I could get, but wonder if people don’t use them because there garbage or their just not good for commercial sales. Some of the trees are black gum, Osage, paw paw, pecan, cotton wood, dogwood

 Tyler

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Sean

1) Second question: This question is for Sean, mostly. I’m getting ready to make a blanket chest with frame-and-panel front, sides, and back, out of cherry and walnut, but the recipient wants the wood from a single source. So for the first time I’ll be making the internal panels out of resawn cherry rather than plywood. I remember that you said you had a problem with trapped hardwood panels in a set of end tables (I think?) you made for your parents a while back. I can’t quite find the episode, but I was wondering what how you would go about doing hardwood panels for a frame-and-panel cabinet now — what would you do differently to keep the wood movement under control? Any tips for making thinner, 1/2 inch panels in general? Thank you all — I love supporting such a great conversation.
Adam

2) Hi guys! Another quick question – I’m making a small table and the base will be ash, ebonized with India ink. What would be a good choice for topcoat over the India ink? I was thinking of using a water-based poly, but it seems to “reactivate” the ink. Maybe shellac would be fine? Thanks!!
Dan

Huy

1)I was recently setting up to rip 60 facets to create a hexagonal column that is 1.5 inches across the flats. I have a right tilting arbor on my table saw. With my rip fence on the right side of the blade the blade tilts toward the fence. This would mean the top facet would be cut with that geometry and the the work piece would be pinched against the fence. I could move the fence to the other side which would allow me to cut the bottom facet and the work piece would not be pinched against the fence. I have never ripped on the left side of my blade. I ultimately decided to do this on the bandsaw which worked fine.
 
This brought up the question as to which is the preferred tilt direction for the table saw? Do we need one of each or is one direction more useful than the other. I would like to know your thoughts about this.
 
Thanks,
 
Dave Pollatta
Ontario, New York

2) I rarely hear mention of woods like Cumaru and Ipe for exterior use in articles, podcast or see it used by woodworkers I follow on social media, is there a reason? Weight and hardness Im sure factor into the decision as they can be difficult to work, but are they still worth a mention?

Guy

1) Question: I prefer 3/16” solid wood edge banding over the veneer, have to ask your opinion?
Harder to install, but better I think. Glenn

2) Hey guys! First off, I have to say, glad to have fellow metalheads in the woodworking community! I wanted to follow up on something good ole’ Guy said a while back about how he makes his own Danish Oil.
Poly, BLO, and…. Naphtha? The Naphtha threw me for a loop seeing as how every YouTube video says to use Mineral Spirits. Well, I gave it a side-by-side test and yep, I liked Naphtha better! Good call!
So, my question is, what other chemical tricks do you guys have up your sleeve? Anything out of the ordinary novice woodworkers may not know? I pretty much have one of each and only a little used from each. So I’m looking for inspiration!
And lastly, we all hear the combustible chemicals need to be stored in a metal cabinet. Why? It’d have to cram in next to all my other wooden shop cabinets anyway.
Keep up the great work!
Paul

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Sean

1) Shop router table or store bought. Pros and cons -trszki

2) Hi guys, I’m curious as to whether you guys use metric or imperial. I’m thinking it makes sense to switch to using metric for fine woodworking. I’m curious your take, what you are using and if you are using metric how was the switch and what are your pointers on making the switch. Thanks and I love the podcast.
Trent

Huy

1) I’m planning on replacing my melamine kitchen cabinet doors/drawer fronts with Shaker style I make. I’ll be using Whiteside’s Shaker Rail and Stile set in a router table and the doors/drawers will be painted.
 
I would like your opinion on material. I was thinking poplar for the rails and stiles and MDF for the panels. 
 
Also, do you have a preference on type of hinges and brand? My  current plan is to use European style, using jigs for drilling and mounting. I’ve never used European hinges, so any tips would be greatly appreciated if you agree this is the way to go.

2) Good morning fella’s.  I have a question about timing a unique finishing option when assembling an outdoor closet (used for storing shovels, rakes, etc.).  I’m making the closet out of white oak and it will be hanging off of the back of my brick outdoor fireplace.  Lately the internet cannot decide what to call the finish I want to use, so I’m just going to say that I want to do a burned/charred wood finish.  The question is, when to do it.  I want to do traditional mortise and tenon assembly where the bottom is mortised into the sides and the sides into the top.  Do I burn all the wood first then cut the joinery?  Do joinery first then burn while avoiding the joinery locations?  Or assemble the whole thing and burn as one piece?  Any help would be appreciated and keep up the great work.
Garrett

Guy

1)Hi there, I’ve written in before and appreciate you answering my questions.
 I have another question that I would love some guidance on. I was wondering if your had any tips on cleaning up glue squeeze out on inside corners. The majority of my work I’m using titebond 2 glue. Ive tried letting the glue gum up and scrape it, and also tried wiping it right away w a wet cloth.
 The orbital sander doesn’t full clean out the inside corners, and sanding the corners by hand and the rest of the piece w an orbital sander tends to show a subtle difference in how those areas take the finish. Any tips would be a huge help. Thanks again, Bryan

2) Thanks for the best woodworking podcast on the web! I know it’s best to joint and turn “downhill” in regards to grain direction. How does one tell which end of a board was  closest to the top or bottom of the tree ?
 
Thanks again,
Tim in North Carolina

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Sean

1) Do you sand inside surfaces before or after gluing dovetailed parts together? Sanding before = potentially changing the fit and sanding after = having to sand inside corners. TheRoaringWoodwork

2) Do you buy your hide glue or make it yourself? Leather by Dragonfly

3) Would you guys ever want to build a wooden bathtub? Keith

Guy

1) So I’m new to veneering. I finally purchased a vacuum pump and bag. I love the fact that you can arrange veneer  into different orientations to get the look that you desire. I want to make a modern credenza and want the grain to run in the same direction and match from the vertical carcass pieces to the horizontal carcass pieces. What’s the best method to ensure grain matches. Robert Couch

2) I recently got an old school desk and am planning to repair and refinish it so that my kids can use it. I’m starting to think about what kind of finish to use since it will obviously be getting some abuse, but I don’t know a lot about finishes. I’ve just kept it simple and have always used Arm-R-Seal for my projects so far. I know finishes is a huge topic, but could you talk a bit about if certain kinds of finishes are better for pieces that you know will get abuse (e.g. desk, table) versus projects that are more accent pieces? Is it simply a matter of applying more coats to get a more durable finish or are certain types of finishes really better? Lastly, does the sheen (satin vs glossy) make a difference? Maybe nicks and dings wouldn’t show as much with a satin sheen? Thanks in advance and keep up the great work. -Billy

Huy

1) After reading Bill Pentz’s website, my eyes have been opened as to the proper way of setting up a dust collection system. I’d like to run a 6” main run coming directly from my Oneida dust collector inlet. Pentz’s suggests maintaining the duct sizing and reducing right up until the tool. He also suggests keeping the ports as large as possible as well. However, almost all of my tools have a 4” port. For the bandsaw, it makes sense to have 4” ports since there are two of them (one right under the lower roller bearing and one in the lower cabinet). However, my table saw only has one 4” port. Wouldn’t it be better to increase the port size to 6” to get more airflow? Do you think it would be worth increasing the port size to 6”? For context, I have a SawStop 1.5hp PCS. Moser Woodcraft

2) I’m very new to woodworking. I have a modern chair piece that I’d like to build with lots of angles. I have it modelled out in SketchUp and everything looks great. However, when I start cutting the test pieces on the miter saw or on the table saw with a miter gauge, I can’t get the angles just right and I end up with small gaps. Everything will be joined with floating tenons. Are there any techniques or methods that might solve my gappy joint problem? All.Woodworking