Shop Lighting, Router Table, Easy Veneering, and MORE!!!

Brians Questions: ​Hello gentlemen, ​I love your podcast. I appreciate the care and detail you put into maintaining a consistent format and clean, listenable audio. Having been a radio production director in a former career, I loathe most podcast audio, so your effort to provide a professional listening experience is apparent. ​In my brief time as a woodworker, I’ve found it difficult to source hardwood. I don't have any woodworking stores nearby—the closest is several hours away. Buying from private parties feels unreliable, and I strongly prefer kiln-dried wood. Furthermore, online ordering is expensive, even for small stock. ​So far, the only hardwood I’ve been able to work with was purchased from big-box stores or salvaged from pallets. ​Do you have any advice for sourcing hardwood in my Southern California area? ​Thank you! ​Todd from Barking Beavers I’m curious your take on shop lighting. I’ve got 12’ ceilings in my garage and I’m on thinking the lights could be far away. Maybe I should focus on task lighting instead or possibly lowering lights on chain but that is a less appealing option. Tyler -What are your best strategies on negotiating time with the wife to be in the shop? Brian Guys Questions: I’ve been listening to your podcast on and off for a couple years now.  I know I haven’t listened to all the episodes but I’m trying to work my way through them on my commute to work.  I appreciate the podcast, I’ve learned a lot.  Thanks for doing it guys! I’m a weekend warrior, with an old craftsman contractor saw. Well maybe not that old, 20 years.  Not old enough to be really sturdy built but it’s been a good saw.  I would like to upgrade to a cabinet saw.   I’m interested in getting a Sawstop for the safety aspect as well as I’ve heard they are well built saws. One convenient feature on my Craftsman saw is it has a built in router table on the table saw wing.  I can get the same setup on the Sawstop.  I’m not a professional wood worker but I do want a good quality table saw and router table set up.  My questions are: 1)  Will the Sawstop be a substantial upgrade to my Craftsman contractor saw or should I consider another brand? 2) Do you know anything about the Sawstop router table accessories such as the router lift and downdraft box. Are they good quality components, anything I should be cautious about. 3) What are the pros and cons to having the router table built into the table saw versus a stand alone router table? Would I be better off getting a stand alone router table? Thanks for the help!  Appreciate the Podcast! Marty I recently purchased a shaper and power feeder to run mostly door profiles and other trim as well.  It's been a huge upgrade from the router table, but I still get tear out if I try to mill for example a shaker style door in one pass (the long edge not the coping cut). I've seen videos of other guys running their shaper in reverse and cutting for profiles with a climb cut but ONLY WITH A POWER FEEDER.  Would this be a case where you would be comfortable breaking the "never climb cut" rule if you had a power feeder in order to produce a cleaner edge? Thanks! Jared I would like to begin my first foray into veneering.  I’m thinking a small table top for a side table or nightstand would be a good first project. How would you suggest a first time veneerer approach this—I don’t want to invest a lot into veneer specific tools (vacuum bags, etc), so any tips for using stuff already laying around the shop would be appreciated. Thanks for the great pod! Andrew

Brians Questions: I currently have a Sawstop PCS 1.75, an 8” Laguna spiral head jointer, a Jet two-stage dust collector, a Laguna 1412 bandsaw, a Bosch cabinet style router table, a Dewalt DW734 lunchbox planer, an entry-level CNC, a Festool ETS125, a Festool dust extractor and various smaller power tools. I’m not particularly happy with the stability, adjustability and fence on my Bosch router table and I feel like my planer isn’t giving my a consistent cut across its width. I’m thinking of upgrading either the router table to something with an Incra lift, or maybe a planer like the DW735 with helical head or similar. However, I’ve also been seriously considering a Festool Domino DF500. Lately I’ve been working on decorative boxes and small furniture like side tables and coffee tables. Who knows what’s next? What would you purchase next and what do you think would make the biggest difference in my woodworking? Thanks, Kevin Westbrooks Hey this is Brooks from BROOKS BOARDS in Utah, I really enjoy the podcast while I work on the shop, and a lot of my questions get answered, but I was hope maybe you could help me understand the best way to round over a board that is a curved shape like my longboards I make, when I use a bearing router bit the issue is that when you flip the board to route the other side where the bearing would ride along the wood it routed off so the roundover is un-even and usually a line is left over, would you guys have a potential solution to this? I would love your suggestion, thanks in advance you guys are awesome. Brooks Guys Questions: When making flat panel drawer fronts I keep running into drawer fronts that need to be just a little bigger than my 8" jointer. Say 9-10" tall. Most of the rough stock I buy is 8-8.5". In this case I have two options, use two boards of similar grain and try to hide the glue joint which becomes a straight grain only situation. Or make a veneer drawer front with some wider stock if i can find it. How do all these European cabinet makers do it with large flat drawer fronts. Do they all just have a 12-16" jointers? Jesse Hi y’all! I’m Chris. I love your podcast and listen to it while I  drive for work. I am on my second round of listening while I wait for the new episode to drop! I will be proposing to my fiance soon and I am making a ring box for her engagement ring. I am going to use White Oak and I have seen several videos of guys using a rub on finish that slightly darkens the wood and leaves a minimal sheen. I am wondering what finish you would use for durability, to darken the wood, and leave no sheen! Thanks and love the show! Chris Huys Questions: I have a Makita Track Saw which I purchased a couple of years ago.  I use it only for cutting full sheets of plywood and melamine, mostly plywood.  Although I haven't used it all that much the Makita brand saw blade is not making clean cuts and leaving burn marks on the sheet goods.  It's a 48 tooth blade measuring 165mm x 20mm. I cleaned the blade hoping that would solve the issue but it hasn't.  The cut quality is the same.  I've considered sending the blade out for sharpening but not sure if it's worth it.  I'm thinking my money might be better spent buying a new blade.  I could always buy a new blade and have the Makita blade resharpened and use it only for cutting melamine.  I'm sure track saw blades are not all made equal so I'm looking for your recommendation for a new blade based on your knowledge and experience.   I'm interested in saw blade brands as well as the type of blade such as the number of teeth for making clean cuts in plywood.  Looking forward to your comments and thanks for hosting such an informative podcast. Jack Francis Hey guys, I’m a long time listener and continue to learn with every episode. You’re one of only two podcasts I listen to cause there’s no stupidness and you just talk woodworking and don’t feel the need to waste the listeners time talking about what you had for lunch or whatever other personal garbage every other woodworking podcast seems to delve into. I have a very simple question. Last week I was routing a dado in some oak with a quarter inch straight bit. Nothing unusual about the setup and nothing I hadn’t done a hundred times before. This time, however, the bit managed to come loose from the collet and came up through the work piece and essentially ruined it. Has this happened to you guys? Should I assume that I just didn’t tighten it enough? Should I be constantly checking it as I’m batching parts? This one bugged me cause I don’t feel like I know how to prevent it in the future. Any advice would be appreciated! Bill

Brians Questions: How do I take my woodworking skills to the next level, short of attending an expensive workshop? Up to this point most of what I've learned has been from either your podcast or YouTube videos (special thanks to Guy for all of his router table videos.) I have quite a few small projects under my belt, such as cutting boards, boxes, and a face frame cabinet. I'd like to move on to building small furniture pieces, but I don't feel that I have the skills to figure out how to design or build something of that scale without some sort of tutorial.  I'm sure there are tons of videos on YouTube showing how to build coffee tables and the like, but I don't want to just copy and replicate someone else's design. Most of the videos I've come across have also been using pocket holes and big box store lumber, which isn't really the direction I want to go. What I want to learn are the skills and techniques that go into building furniture so that I can put my own spin on them. If I tried to build a coffee table right now I'm sure it would just be a flat panel with square straight legs.  Thank you in advance for whatever suggestions and insights you are able to offer me. I appreciate all the time and effort you guys put into this show. I hope your projects are going well, and I hope that you're doing even better.. Zach Owens Throughout your time woodworking, have you ever hit a point where you lost your motivation for woodworking? If so, how did you reignite your passion and get back into it? Zach Owens Guys Questions: I appreciate the podcast and look forward to new episodes, keep up the great work.  Here is the background:  I have attached a picture of the front of my workshop. I have the Tablesaw/planer and jointer in a square with a poweratic 1 3/4 hp single stage dust collector with "turbo cone" separator:)  servicing all three using a 10 foot flexible hose with magnetic couplers on the flexible hose and at individual machine ports. This makes aligning dust collection very quick. I am very satisfied with performance at planer and jointer. I still wear an apron and safety glasses when using the tablesaw because of the dust coming off the top of the blade. I have sealed the cabinet of the saw as much as possible. I have used an over blade collector by shark guard which captures most if not all of this dust, however, I remove this most of the time because it interferes with so many operations.  Here is the question: Do you belive there would be a noticable improvement in dust collection,at the tablesaw in particular, by upgrading the dust collector to a product like an Oneida Dust Gorilla or Supercell?  I would still like to use the flexible hoses vs. hard piping to support being able to reconfigure the shop in future.  Every piece of equipment is readily movable.  Thanks, keep up the great podcast.  Dave@ Xcuse4tools Custom Woodwork  I’m a hobbyist furniture maker working in a home shop. I have several kiln-dried ash boards that have visible insect tracks and wormholes — no active infestation, just the character left behind. I’m building a benchtop seat from this material and I want to lean into that look instead of hiding it. What finishing approach would you recommend to best highlight and preserve the insect damage — things like filling the voids, stabilizing the soft areas, and choosing a topcoat — so it looks intentional and high-end rather than defective? Thank you again for the content. Catching up on old shows though I cannot locate the older shows on Spotify! Have a great week. Greg Wolf's Den Homestead  Huys Questions: Hi guys, My house came with a work bench when I bought it. It's nice and sturdy but the Masonite top had seen better days so I'm replacing it with a piece of 3/4" plywood. I just took the top off, and realized that the structure underneath the top isn't totally flat, up to about a 1/8 inch dip in some places. (picture below for reference -- it's about this uneven for the full length). I have a couple of questions: 1) How flat does this need to be? Will the plywood on top make these gaps irrelevant? I understand that a very flat top is important for assembly purposes, although I didn't really notice a problem with the old top. 2) How would you go about flattening this? I have taken down a couple of high spots with my #4 bench plane, but doing the whole table would be quite an undertaking. 3) My plan is to nail the new top on, router the edges flush, and add a coat or two of Danish oil since I have a jug of that lying around. But I'm curious if any of you would do differently. Do any of you use benches with replaceable tops? Thanks! Max My question is this.  I own a high end furniture and cabinet shop and to provide quality I prefer to build my drawer boxes from solid wood (not the bottoms those are plywood). I box joint the corner joints,  but my question is on wood expansion. 1st - when milling the sides to 5/8 thickness I sometimes end up with a 5" wide board. Usually this would cause cupping but it seems like the corner joints locks everything in place.  Would you build with wider boards or cut it into say 2-3" strips and glue back together before milling? 2nd - a lot of drawers now a days can easily be 8-9" deep and up to 14" deep for some of the largest drawers I build. With this width the expansion and contraction of the drawer box concerns me,  especially once you fix the drawer fronts. I mount drawer fronts with the standard 4 screws in each corner and haven't had issues but I'm curious your thoughts.  The drawers are finished with a few coats of water based conversion varnish.  Thanks! Jared

Brian's Questions: Gentlemen, I thoroughly enjoy your podcast, so thank you for all that you do. What is you opinion on dog holes in the workbench? If you use them, how?  Include favorite accessories. Thank you again. Josh What is the best way to accurately put dog holes in your workbench without buying a $300 one time template tool? Josh Guy's Questions: Hi guys, Thanks for the awesome podcast, I learn new things with every show and for that I am so appreciative! I’m in the early stages of designing/building a dining table made from quarter sawn ash (just purchased a bunch of 4/4 lumber). I’ve designed the table based on a picture my wife showed me for inspiration. It is a trestle style table in which the two uprights are 16” wide by 4” thick. The ‘feet’ or ‘bases’ will be 30” wide by 6” thick, while the ‘trestle tops’ which support the table top will be 34” wide by 6” thick. The thickness of these trestles concerns me both in how much they are going to weigh, and how much material they are going to require. I’ve read about the strength of lock miter joints and am intrigued by the idea of glueing up a panel and essentially creating a hollow ‘box’ for the upright portion (boards would run vertically). I’ve read that these types of joints are very strong and I imagine they would be sufficient for this application (correct me if I’m wrong). I also like that they may give the appearance of using ultra thick 4” lumber. My question is whether you believe there will be enough wood movement in these hollow uprights to cause concern, as they will be constrained by both the feet and tops of the trestles? I just don’t have enough anecdotal experience to have a good feel for how much movement is likely to occur. Are there any good “rule of thumbs” regarding how much movement is expected to occur? I know there are a million variable (humidity swing, plain sawn vs quarter sawn, species, etc.) Thanks for your consideration and response to my question! Evan Hi, I recently upgraded my benchtop planer from a straight-knife Ridgid model to an Oliver 10045 with a helical head. I was excited by all the reviews raving about the ultra-smooth finish, but I've been disappointed. I'm getting noticeable scalloping from the inserts, even after removing them all, thoroughly cleaning the inserts and seats, and properly re-torquing them with a torque wrench. It's still requiring way more sanding: starting with 80 grit (which takes forever to remove the scallops), then 120 grit (longer than with my old planer), before progressing normally. My old straight-knife Ridgid needed far less sanding overall. From my research, this scalloping seems pretty normal with standard helical heads. I've heard one temporary workaround is to run boards through 2-3 extra passes at the final thickness setting, offsetting or skewing the board slightly each time to better overlap the cutter paths and reduce the scalloping (making sanding easier). I plan to try that soon. I was saving for Grizzly helical-head jointer and planer upgrades, but now I'm worried about the same increased sanding time. A few questions: Is noticeable scalloping typical with most helical-head planers, including Grizzly and Oliver models? I've read that the Silent-Power spiral cutterblock on the Hammer A3 series produces a much smoother surface with minimal ripple or scalloping, requiring far less sanding than standard helical heads. Is that your experience? I'm now leaning toward a Hammer A3-31 combo machine down the road. I wanted separate jointer and planer for better workflow and time savings, but I can't deal with doubling my sanding time. For those with 12" combo machines like the A3-31, do you ever regret not going for a 16" model (e.g., A3-41) for the extra width capacity? Thanks for any insights. You guys are my go-to for real-world tool advice! Jeffery Hiughes Huy's Questions: Gentlemen, First let me say how much I appreciate your podcast for it's practical woodworking advice. I have a comment and question. The comment is in response to the podcast of yours that I listened to today regarding the future of reclaimed wood. I wonder if the future will include recycled wood products designed with the look, feel, and workability (or close) of natural wood? Just a thought. Anyway, here is my question: My workshop is an unheated 3rd bay of a garage. It is not insulated. I use a shop vac in conjunction with Home Depots dustopper for dust collection. Better than nothing but not perfect. The cold is a deterrent to want to work out there and am wondering about safe budget conscious heating options. What are the safety considerations to take into account (dust, fumes, other?) I have a Mr. Buddy Propane Heater that has some nice safety features but don't know if it's safe to use.  Do you have any recommendations on how to safely heat up a workspace?  Thank you.  James Aydelotte (aid-a-lot) Hello great podcasters, and fine woodworkers. :-) I am looking to replace the "Deluxe" fence on my 18" Jet bandsaw, since it is not parallel to the blade but is to the table, isn't adjustable, and will no longer clamp tightly to the rail. Do you have a recommendation for a replacement bandsaw fence that makes it easy to resaw and cut small pieces. Also, I am looking for one that is adjustable to ensure it is parallel to the blade. One under $200 would be ideal. Thank you, gentlemen!  George  

This Episodes Questions: Brians Questions: Since my work typically uses traditional joinery, I cut a lot of tenons. I’ve tried all kinds of methods, but I am really looking for that one method that works for all size boards (cutting bedrail tenons on the table saw isn’t going to happen) and is quick to setup – something that corresponds to the ease and simplicity of cutting mortises using my floor standing mortiser: using your layout lines on the workpiece, you walk up to the machine and start cutting. Easy. For that reason, I really gravitate to the idea of using a radial arm saw with a dado stack for tenons. Norm makes it look so simple: with layout lines already on the board, simply set it against the fence and set your depth of cut, and zip zip, flip, zip, and done (insert Guy’s sound effects for simple operations here). No clamps (unless it’s a small piece), no moving long unwieldy parts across a table, no complicated jigs. And best of all, you see the layout line while you make the cut – it’s not upside down as in a table saw or router table. It looks so simple, and easily a one-size fits all if you have the floorspace for a dedicated machine. But I know radial arm saws have fallen out of favor. I hear about the danger of the saw “walking” toward the operator (can’t you just stand to the side? It can only go so far, right?), and perhaps even more vexing, they are really only available used – and I don’t have time to tinker with vintage machines, as fun as that’d be in retirement one day. I’ve heard that the ubiquitous Craftsman machines on FB Marketplace and Craigslist have a lot of deflection and the bearings and tracks the saw rides in usually didn’t wear well with age, and that the real old DeWalt’s are the best. But again, I’m hesitant to buy something that old without having the time or knowledge to refurbish it. But maybe a week unpaid to refurbish one is worth the long-term labor savings I’d get? An alternative I’ve imagined is a router fixture (possibly even as a stand-alone table), where the router rides along a fixed fence and atop a flat reference surface, and where the workpiece is placed under that surface. Using the same router, bit and fence setup every time, I’d have reference marks on the fixture that help align the workpiece’s layout marks for consistent results. I’d walk up, insert the workpiece, align it and clamp it, set my router depth and route the shoulder of one face and then the edge facing me (yes, the router has to be held horizontal for this edge), and then route the additional meat left at the end of the tenon (if any) - then pull the piece out, flip it, align it, readjust depth if needed and route the other face and edge. The idea is to mimic the action and simplicity of the radial arm saw as close as possible, where the cutting tool is what moves rather than the workpiece, and the workpiece is quickly and easily aligned using its layout marks without complicated one-off jigs. My questions: Is using a radial arm saw for this task as wonderful as it looks? Is it worth the time likely needed to get one reliably working? Given the safety concerns I hear, as well as the commitment required of an old machine, which of the two alternatives above would you go with? Again, with the amount of tenons but of varying kind I do, I want something easy and simple and consistent from project to project – just walk up to the machine and, referencing layout marks on the piece, start cutting. Thanks! Michael Do you guys use anything in your shop that is not intended or marketed for wood workers? Right now my favorite is a fabric cutting mat, i used it once to measure the angle and length of a step stool and it has lived on my MFT ever since, it covers the holes nicely and it’s pretty satisfying bringing small pieces of wood to the mat to confirm measurements.  Thanks you for a great show, Heywood  Guys Questions: I have been driving more than usual for work and find myself listening to several episodes throughout the day. Thank you all for making my abnormal seat time enjoyable! I am contemplating purchasing a sliding table for my Harvey Cabinet saw, specifically the Harvey Compass ST-1500. Do any of you have any experience or insight with these types of "add-on's" versus a dedicated machine? Would this be a valuable tool for breaking down sheet goods to final dimensions instead of a track saw? I have used a track-saw in the past and do see how valuable it is, but for my situation, I would prefer to manuver large sheets through the table saw. Thank you, Nick Halverson Hi guys I have listened to all your podcasts and thank you for all the great material.  I have a couple of questions about a walnut desk I am making for my wife. I was wondering what is a good wood choice for the drawer sides?  And can I use that wood on all four sides with dovetails and then glue a piece of walnut on the front so it appears as a half blind dovetail and if so how thick can that front piece of walnut be? Thank you enjoy the podcast while driving tractor on the farm. Paul Huys Questions: I am a new woodworker and have built a few furniture pieces. I've been hooked into your podcasts. I always have you on on my commute. I've learnt a ton from all three of you. Keep up the great work. My wife has asked me to build a coffee table inspired from the following: https://www.potterybarn.ca/products/palisades-wood-coffee-table/?subGroupId=palisades-wood-coffee-table-SPAF-color-remainder&group=1&sku=706535 I'm building it from white ash. The top and shelf are 3/4 stock and the legs are laminated from 1 3/4 inch board. I have the legs and the panels already done. I'm going to build up the edges with the extra length that I already cut from both end grain and side grains of the panels (I have 8 matching strips one for each side) As you can see from the link above this table has no aprons and the panels are attached directly to the legs while being enclosed by the legs fully. Even the top is enclosed and the legs end grain would show. Here are my questions: 1) I plan to glue the panels on one axis to  one side of the legs( let's call it north south axis) and the other axis is all going to be hardware that allows for wood movement. The idea is that since nothing but the glued panels restrict the legs the expansion/contraction of the panels would just transfer to the legs and they can move with it. How crazy am I? I spent days debating this with ChatGPT. Am I misunderstanding how it will work? 2) I'm now in the step of cutting square 5x5 in notches in each corner of both panels. But I'm very concerned about accuracy. It feels like this setup is not very forgiving. For example if I make the smallest errors on the top and bottom of the same leg it may throw off the whole table where I might have gaps between the leg and panel later. I also have no band saw or a jigsaw. I want to tackle this with a track saw ( also have a table saw but this table is 42x42 and my sawstop jobsite isn't good to handle this size). Many thanks! Amin Hey guys, love the show, I've been meaning to send this question this question in for 3-4 years but I'm always listening in the car and forget by the time I get to my computer.   So, a few years ago I moved and added a bandsaw to my shop so I could start resawing lumber and my first project to incorporate that was a humidor. The resawing went great, but my table saw was out of alignment, so the mitered corners on the box looked terrible with gaps on the outside corners. To fix that I decided to add a contrasting strip along all the edges. The carcass is birdseye maple and I added padauk by routing out a 3/32" square on all outside corners, added 1/8" strips of the padauk and then trimmed it flush.  This looks great, but with one issue. The 4 vertical corners are all cross grain between the carcass and the corner banding, so seasonally while the box sides move, the banding doesn't change length, so it either protrudes or retracts a bit (maybe 1/32") from the top and bottom.  This is only a cosmetic issue on this box but I was wondering how I could plan for this in the future, as I could see a situation where all the movement is at the lid side and prevents it from fully closing which could compromise the seal on a humidor.  Some of my thoughts were only gluing the middle portion of the banding down, only doing this when the carcass is a veneer over a more stable substrate, or sucking it up and getting better at mitered box corners and not needing this at all. I have some pictures from this build at https://imgur.com/a/humidor-build-iaXKQLI Jonathan

This Episodes Questions: Brians Questions: Have been listening to your podcast for awhile now and the more I listen to more questions come to mind. Here is my current one for a walnut waterfall bench I’m working on. The dimensions are approx 58”L x 18”W x 16”D. How should I join a shelf to this bench where the grain flows continuously from the legs up through the bench top? The shelf will also be a glued up panel with the grain running the same direction as the bench top. If I attach the shelf to the inside faces of the legs using a mortise and tenon joint, do I need to account for wood movement? The legs, benchtop, and shelf are all 1.75” thick. I would assume that given they’re all the same thickness and technically the wood grain is in the same direction as the legs, just perpendicular, it would expand and contract together, and I could just glue the tenon. That said I don’t want to guess and hearing Guy talk about furniture exploding has me concerned. If wood movement is a concern then what’s the correct way to account for this movement? Should it be treated like a breadboard end with dowels through the tenons, installed through the bottom of the legs (the shelf sits 2 inches off the ground)? Or would it be better, and stronger, to use floating tenons/Dominos for this joint instead and just not glue the outside dominos and cut them loose to account for the expansion and contraction while gluing the center domino(s)? Thanks, Chayse Bell Thanks for the great podcast, I discovered your channel about a month ago and now listen all the time traveling to and from work. I've been woodworking a little over a year now and currently working on a dining table made from ash and have picked up all sorts of pearls that have helped with the glue up, apron design, finishing, etc., so thank you for all that. This question is directed to Brian, as he has mentioned that his shop is in his basement. I currently work out of my two car garage that I share with my wife's car. We just built the house in 2024 and I'm kicking myself that I didn't insulate the garage. These cold Northern Indiana days are making working in the garage pretty uncomfortable. I know I could just insulate it, but HVAC isn't attached to the garage either so to make it truly comfortable would be a big job/cost. So, Brian, can you share a little more about the layout/design of your basement shop? E.g. was it a room that existed that you converted into the shop or you framed the room specifically for a shop? How do you take extra precautions to make sure your family isn't affected by dust, as this is my primary concern. Obviously, I know of dust collection and dust filters, but it still concerns me to think I'd be working in the basement. Do you have anything you wish you did differently? We have an unfinished basement that is very open, so the sky would be the limit for me in the future before we finish it. Thanks, Evan Guys Questions: Somewhat recently I made a gift for my wife using White oak. I had predetermined that for a finishing schedule I wanted to first apply Danish oil, then seal it with shellac, and minwax performance series varnish for a top coat. I ran into an issue when I began to finish the piece. Not knowing a thing about wood porosity, I liberally applied watco Danish oil, and as a result I had a big problem with seepage. Now, my research had cautioned me that I would need to keep checking on the piece periodically for the next several hours after application to wipe up any seepage that came up. Even so, you this went on for so long that it became an issue. Two full days after application I was still wiping up seepage. I would wipe the piece down before bed at night, and when I'd check it in the morning there would be spots on the surface that took a considerable amount of effort to buff out. I couldn't keep up with it, and after a few days the surface was covered in spots, which meant that I had to start over.  As I mentioned previously, I could not find any information online regarding how to deal with this problem. Just to see what would happen, I decided to try aiming a heat gun at the work piece after it had been drying for a couple of hours. This worked phenomenally, and I could not have been more thrilled. Of course the heat didn't dry out the wood any faster or anything, but what it did do was vastly accelerate the seepage process. The oil was rapidly drawn up to the surface of the wood, where I could wipe it away, and after treating both sides in this manner for a total of perhaps 10 minutes it seemed that all of the excess oil had been drawn out. I wiped the work piece down and had no more issues.  Of, like with any application involving a heat gun, I had to keep it moving, otherwise it would start to bake the spots of oil onto the surface. Anyways, I just thought this was a neat trick that might come in handy with oil finishes if seepage is ever a huge issue. I hope you guys found this interesting. Zach Owens Hello from Chico, California! I have recently started listening to y'all's podcast while researching inspiration for reconfiguring and refining my workspace. I thank Guy for highlighting the importance of drawers, I realized that I previously had none. I am a hobbyist woodworker looking for advice on air filtration for my two car garage shop. It is approximately 3960 cubic feet, 22' x 20' x 9'. While working, the garage door and access door (detached garage with no climate control) is usually open, weather permitting, and tend to have good airflow and supplement with a box fan when needed. I have a Harbor Freight 2hp Dust Collector for my machines, cabinet saw, planer, jointer, and router table and do feel that this my be slighty under powered for my system. I do notice a fair amount of fine dust suspended in the air after milling operations and breaking down sheet goods on the table saw and a noteable layer of dust across the entire shop. I think that adding an air filter could help reduce fine particulate and could potentially allow me to work with doors shut when it is too hot or too cold. Do you think that adding an air filter makes a significant addition to air quality or should I look further into optimizing dust collection? If you feel an air filter is a worthwhile addition, what would you reccomend for an approximately 4,000 cubic foot shop? I have been looking at the WEN 3410 unit due to claimed CFM and cost. I have also contemplated building one with a second hand blower from an old furnace. I am mechanically inclined and competent with electrical. I also feel that timers and variable speeds are not needed. I would also add that whatever I decide, the garage is detached from the main house and there is a studio above that is rented out to a seperate individual and would like noise and resonance to be kept to a minimum. The only real estate I have available for air filtration is the ceiling. Thank you for your time. Nick Halverson Huys Questions: Longtime listener. Truly enjoy the podcast. I am considering upgrading my table saw to a contractor or cabinet model. The choice are really overwhelming. I get a lot of advice on different brands, phase of motor and should I buy new or used. Any advice appreciated. Greg I recently bought a small bandsaw mill (Woodmizer LX30) and am becoming an amateur sawyer, exclusively to supply lumber for my own projects.  Once I have dried lumber to an acceptable moisture content, what is the best way to store a few thousand board feet?  My kiln guy says I should store packs of dead-stacked lumber horizontally, wrapped in 6-mil plastic.  That sounds like a pain.  I'd prefer to forgo the plastic and store the lumber horizontally, on edge, in a rack, in my unheated pole barn - which, I should note, sometimes gets a wet floor in heavy rains.  Then I'd bring pieces into my shop for a few days to acclimate before machining.  What do you recommend for long-term lumber storage? Kyle

This Episodes Questions: Brians Questions: Just a question to ponder about the future of our favorite material. As old buildings get torn down there seems to a great supply of reclaimed lumber for our current generation. But as we know this is a finite resource. So with that said will the next generation be turning to our generation’s slab furniture for their reclaimed lumber? Doug Hey! Sorry if this has already been addressed in a previous episode. I’m in upstate NY,  and I have a full wood shop detached from my house. The woodshop is insulated, but the temperature changes outside are pretty much the max, 100 degrees in the summer, and it will live at 20 degrees in the winter. In the winter, should I keep materials I’m working on in my house, bring them out to the shop when I’m cutting, and then bring them back in? It seems excessive, but it's really huge temperature changes. I’m mostly dealing with walnut. Is the temperature the bigger issue, or is it really humidity? I could maybe install a heat pump, just yah know it's a lot of energy. If I went that route, do you have a recommendation for a temp I should keep materials at? Thanks again for making such a great show -Mohamed Guys Questions: Hello and thank you for the wonderful podcast. I was hoping for some insights on builds for high moisture environments.  My fiancé and I  just moved into our first house and need to update the bathroom vanity.  Rather than spend hundreds of dollars on a a shoddy big-box-store model, I would like to take a crack at building one myself. I have enough experience with woodworking and building cabinets that I feel confident with the actual construction, but am concerned about the high moisture environment.  I plan on making a carcass out of prefinished plywood with face frames and drawer fronts out of a yet-to-be-determined species (likely red oak).  What advice and considerations do you all have for these high moisture environments? Do I need to use special finishes or some sort of sealant for the hardwood components? Do I need to worry about sealing or finishing the edges of the plywood even though the faces are prefinished? Do I need any special considerations for moisture or even mold build up between the face frame and plywood carcass? Any and all advice on this is greatly appreciated Thanks as always! Andrew Hey Guys, I love your show. Hearing 3 sets of opinions with different levels of experience really helps me learn. I've heard so many different approaches to sanding that I'm coming to the experts for guidance. To what grit do you sand to for Oak, Walnut, Maple, and cherry. Do you think a planned or card scraped surface is better than a sanded surface? Does it take the finish just as well? Thanks for all you do! Ezra Huys Questions: Another question... I recently had a small tornado that took the roof off of my shop. As a result, all of my tools got wet and the power tools - table saw, jointer, band saw, drill press etc - all got wet and rusted. They've been in storage since March of this year. I have new shop being built and hope to have it done by the end of this month. What suggestions do y'all have in terms of getting the rust off of the tools and checking for any other possible water damage? Thanks. Ron Brewer I’m making a walnut bench that I want to route headboard sides (legs) on and I’m not sure how to go about it. I’m not sure if a straight edge/track with a router and at pointed round over bit would be the best route or if I should do it on the router table. I plan on using a 3/8” or 1/2” radius point cutting round over bit for the beading. The end two end panels are 16”x18” and 1.5” thick. I have a festool 1400 router and an Incra router table as possible options. Also, once I get these panels made what’s the best way to sand the beads since they come down to a tight point in the middle. Sanding seems like it would be a huge pain and not sure if the router bit would leave a good enough finish to apply finish without prep work. Thanks, Chayse

This Episodes Questions: Brians Questions: Hey all, great podcast, thank you for doing what you do. What are some favorite Christmas gifts to make with scrap wood? Specific context for me:  been woodworking for a while, hobbyist, been giving gifts to people for years and now I've lost track of who has gotten what.  Just trying to get some ideas for this year.  Time is easier to give to a project than money.  I also like the lathe for scrap projects.  Have found a good glue up can make a good looking bowl. Follow up/more specific questions: What are some favorite scrap wood projects that are not kits from Rockler (or similar companies)? Other than a bowl, what are some other gifts that can come off the lathe? What are some non kitchen items to make from scrap wood?  (I believe I've given too many cutting boards, charcuterie boards, cooking utensils over the years).  Jim Hello friends,  I haven't submitted a question in a hot minute, as the kids say, but I finally have a good one for you and it's regarding something I'm truly stumped about. After hitting you guys with question after question about, "How do I do _______ without a jointer or planer?" I finally got myself a thickness planer. It's louder than all hell, and it's nothing fancy, but I'm glad I have it.  There's only one issue that I'm having with it, and I can't figure out what's causing it. When I'm getting ready to Mill down some stock, I first set the height of the planer blades so they aren't taking off any material at the start. The depth of cut indicator is at "0". I'll even send the board through with the blades at this height sometimes just to make sure the gauge is accurate. I then lower the blades by 1/64", aka a quarter turn of the handle. I send the piece of stock through, it takes off some material, whatever. So far, so good. Here's what's throwing me off: after I've fed that board through the planer, I can feed that same board right back through, with the blades still set at the same height, and the planer will take off about the same amount of material, from the sound of it. This doesn't only happen on a second pass, either. I can feed the same board through the planer six, seven, or eight times, without adjusting the cutting depth, and the planer continues to remove material at each pass. Unless I'm missing something about how planers work, I would think that the material should have been planed down to thickness on the first pass. I can't figure out why it continues to remove material after multiple passes when I haven't changed the settings. This happens to me every time I use my planer. Not sure if this is relevant but I have a Ridgid #R4331 planer. I also attached a link to a very loud video demonstrating this phenomenon. Thank you in advance for your help and expertise, and thank you for continuing to take the time to put out this phenomenal woodworking podcast. I hope your projects are doing well, and I hope you're doing even better. Sincerely,  Zachary T Owens Guys Questions: Hello, Thank you for the great podcast and for answering my questions. I have a question on using Transtint dye. I heard Guy and Huy mention they use it. Not sure about Brian. Anyway, I screwed up 2 projects when trying to apply it. In both cases I mixed it into Zinser Sealcoat shellac. Firs time applied with foam brush on elm. The second time wiped on on maple plywood. In both cases, the color was very inconsistent. I ended up throwing away the plywood and sanding the elm back to bare wood.  My question is, is it ok to add Transtint dye to shellac? If so, what could be my problem? More importantly, can you tell me the process you follow to apply Transtint dye? The dye I was using is Transtint Dark Walnut. Max I have owned my Sawstop cabinet saw for nearly a year now and I have consistently been impressed with the quality of the machine. One thing that has bugged me since I got the saw is the occasional binding I get when I do a rip cut especially. I have meticulously aligned the fence with the blade/miter slots and with a dial indicator jig to be parallel. I thought it may be internal stresses in the wood but I have the same issue ripping plywood or MDF. I finally figured out the problem. I am using Freud thin kerf blades which have a kerf of 0.091" inches according to the manufacturer. My riving knife is a few thousands thicker than this . Sawstop offers a thin riving knife but I have seen mixed opinions and wanted to get your guys' take on it since I know at least one or two of you have the Sawstop cabinet saw. Have you ever had this problem? Thanks! Adam Huys Questions: Dear Woodshop Life Podcast Senseis, Thank you again for your awesome podcast.  New listener.  Finally finished all podcasts and now going back and listening to them all again. This is my second question submitted in the past few months. Just as I prefaced in my last question/submission, I am in the process of setting up my workshop in a one car space of a three car garage. One of the first things I built in my current workshop was a miter saw station using 2x4’s and plywood.  I’m glad I used relatively inexpensive materials, because after only a few months I realized that I allocated too much space to an immobile monolith in my small workshop. I plan to build a mobile miter saw station with collapsable wings to replace my current miter saw station.  The wings when extended will support longer material and when folded will create a smaller footprint. I recently watched Guy’s video entitled “Build This Small Sturdy Workbench” on his YouTube channel.  The base of the workbench gave me an idea for the base for my miter saw.  I’ll add retractable casters to make it mobile. I want to buy a hollow chisel mortiser for this and future projects.  Based on my budget of $600, I think that limits me to a benchtop model.  Are there any benchtop hollow chisel mortisers in my price range that you might suggest? Thank you again for the great podcast and thank you in advance for your advice. Best, Darryl Noda (Wildfield Workshop) I discovered your podcast earlier this year and have now gone back and listened to the entire back catalog while making sawdust in the shop. I appreciate all the knowledge you are sharing with the entire woodworking community. A question I have recently started thinking about is what would happen with my workshop if something happened to me. I have invested a considerable amount of money in tools from a Sawstop, Laguna Pflux dust collector and Harvey router table, to planes, chisels, and way too many Woodpecker tools. But neither of my kids nor other family members are interested in woodworking, and they wouldn't know what to do with a workshop full of tools. Have you made plans for how to sell or donate your tools? I have created a Will and Trust for my house and financial assets, but I think having a solid plan for the Workshop would be very helpful for my family, but I don't know where to start. Any ideas for community groups that could be donated to, or how the tools could be sold to the right audience? I happen to live in the Indianapolis area as well, so any specific suggestions would be welcome, as well as general ideas.Kevin

Due to some tech difficulties, we won't be uploading an episode this week. See you next time!

This Episodes Questions: Brians Questions: Love the podcast fellas! I have a simple question: When I use my table saw, I usually just check if the blade is "high enough" i.e. any height higher than the wood piece. Is there an ideal blade height for a given wood thickness? Thanks! Matt What is the most difficult project you've ever done? Brian Guys Questions: I’m wondering how thick is too thick to veneer onto a plywood box. I’ll be making a treasure chest for my daughter’s wedding (for cards and such) and lining it in leather. I have some wood I’d like to use for the outside as “veneer”, but it is a 3/8” thick. The species is morado, and they were a “special buy” thing at a Woodcraft I got a while ago.  Basically, I have them and I’d like to use them if possible rather than buying something else. My bandsaw isn’t always the most reliable, so while I would feel comfortable splitting them and then planing them flat again, that might be as thin as I’m able to do. I’m guessing 1/8” thick once all the processing is done. Is that too thick to use as veneer? Is there a glue that’s better for a thicker veneer than a thin one? Thanks, Peter I recently bought a small bandsaw mill (Woodmizer LX30) and am becoming an amateur sawyer, exclusively to supply lumber for my own projects.  2 questions, here's the first: 1. In what use cases, if any, would you use air-dried lumber for your projects, assuming it is stickered properly, outside, with a rain cover on the top, for a year per inch of thickness?  I was told by a friend who operates a kiln that air-drying in southern Indiana will never get the moisture content much below 13-15%, it will dry unevenly throughout the board, and it won't kill powder post beetles and other insects.  His conclusion is that for any indoor woodwork projects, I should only use kiln-dried lumber.  Do you agree?  Why or why not?  Fortunately, he's well-respected, trustworthy, and at $.35/bd-ft dried, affordable.  But I can air-dry for free, so I'd be curious to know when, if ever, that may be workable. Kyle Huy's Questions: I have another good fundamentals of woodworking type question for you. Could you explain the differences between grain density and porosity? For a while I thought I knew what at least one of these meant. That was until I heard Guy describe oak as a tight-grained, open pore species. That whole description goes more or less right over my head. I'd really appreciate it if you guys could explain what grain density and wood porosity look like visually, as well as what effects these attributes have on working with a particular species, finishing it, etc.  Thanks for all of your time and for sharing your expertise with all of us. The Fridays when you guys have new episodes are my favorite days of the week. Zach Hello Friends, I have a woodshop at my house in the PNW.  I’m somewhere between a beginner and not a beginner. If you want to answer this question on your fantastic podcast, you can of course skip the preamble.  I offer it here so you can understand the context and environment in which my question lives.  Because we are friends, I care what you think, so I hope you don’t arrive at the conclusion that I’m impractical.  I’ve tried to create a shop environment that incorporates a whimsical and creative aesthetic because that is how I aspire to be in this space. I built an entry door and carriage doors for my 500sq foot detached woodshop.  Doors guts are constructed from poplar frames, 1.5” ridged insulation in the voids, MDO skin on the exterior side trimmed in the craftsman style with ¾ cedar.  The interior side of the doors are skinned in plywood and laminated with orange counter top material.  The orange is the same color as those orange shirts people who work hard wear.  I like to wear these shirts to give my wife the impression that I too am working and not just fudging around.  I wanted my workshop to feel likewise.  Door window sills and trim are walnut.  On the entry door, I’ve installed a commercial style stainless steel handset modified for a 3” thick door.  Carriage doors are hung with 4 heavy duty sealed ball bearing hinges per side.  For the carriage doors, I had custom astragals and a threshold plate fabricated at a local metalworking shop, and used stainless steel cane bolts that plunge through the threshold plate to hold the doors tight against the weather seals and another set of cane bolts at the top to complete the seal.  The carriage door handles are two of my favorite axes.  I designed mounting hardware, built by the fabricator, with a quick release pin system so I can pull them off when I need them for axe related business.  Inside the shop, I’ve installed antique reclaimed maple flooring on the walls.  The flooring was recovered from a factory that used to make steam powered tractors for hauling giant old growth redwood trees out of the forests on the west coast in the late 1800’s.  It seemed like a fitting retirement for these floors.  I didn’t resurface the flooring (which is now walling) so it retains all of its history, factory floor markings, old holes for mounting machinery etc.  Now that the doors are in, I need to install interior trim around the frames that is worthy of the walls and doors.  I went to Goby (https://gobywalnut.com) to procure materials.  They specialize in Oregon hardwoods such as Oregon Black Walnut, Big Leaf Maple, Oregon White Oak, Madrone, and Myrtle.  I came home with some burled live edge Big Leaf stock.  My idea is to trim the door frames in maple, with the inside edge (nearest the door) all squared and straight, and the outside edges of the left, right and top trim pieces being irregular and strange.  Preparing and finishing these trim pieces is the nature of my questions: I have a ten-foot long 12/4 burled and figured maple board with a live edge on one side.  The board ranges from 9” to 18” wide.  My plan is to resaw it into a two 1.5” ish boards and dimension them down to about 1 ¼ to make the parts for my project.  Before I do that, I need to clean up the burled protrusions on the live edge side because I think it will be easier to do that before I resaw it. My first question is how do I clean up the live edge burls?  Some of the live edge is typical, but other sections have a lot of terrifying spiked peaks and valleys where a burl has boiled out of the tree.  It looks like the surface of the sun right before it’s getting ready to disrupt our global communications system for a few hours.  If it helps to understand what I’m dealing with, my wife saw the board when I brought it home said things like “your wood is being a drama queen” and “it’s trying to do too much” and “how much was that”.  To experiment, I took a wire brush to a small section just to see what would happen.  It worked well from the standpoint of clearing out debris, removing bark and burrs.  But I suspect this isn’t the best method for ultimately prepping this for finishing and is probably a crime. Once I get the edge cleaned up, I’ll resaw and dimension my parts.  Getting this 10 foot 12/4 stock up onto my bandsaw and perfectly slicing it into two equal pieces will probably go great.   Then I’ll sand the faces to 220.  That’s where my extensive experience runs out.    Rather than give up at this point, what can I do to bring out the wild figuring on these boards?  Fesstool made me buy higher grits of sandpaper like 400, 800, 1000 etc that I haven’t used.  Is this why I have these grits? Unlike everything else in my life, I don’t want to overthink this, but I’m starting to wonder how much that twisted, gnarled bubbling burled edge is going to drip finish on the rest of the board after I spray it.  Should I consider frog taping the faces, spraying the live edge first and then shoot the face as a second operation after the edges are done?  Can one of you come over? I’ve never used shellac before, but I’ve listened to every one of your episodes so I feel like I’m probably an expert in shellac and pound cut related activities.  I have a 5 stage Fujispray system that I’ve used in the past to drip finishes on the floor and all over myself and my work pieces.  I also have some rags. Robert