Woodshop Life Podcast

Guys Questions:

I am going to be adding a 25/50 drum sander to my shop.  I can’t afford a powermatic so it is between the Jet and Laguna Supermax.  I went to AWFS this past year to see them in person and Jet was not at the show and Laguna only brought their large tools.  I called one of the nationwide woodworking stores that sells both brands and asked the employee which he thought was better and his response was “ they are both great tools, but if you have a problem with either one of them Jet will take care of the problem immediately, and Laguna will eventually take care of it but it will take a while”.  Laguna also charges a $199 shipping fee where as Jet does not. I would appreciate any advice on which one you would recommend.
I always look forward to listening to the podcast.  Keep up the great work gentlemen! Tom

Hello Fellas
On my third round of listening to all your episodes. Thanks for all you contribute to the community. I am getting ready to move my shop from the garage to the basement. I want to keep the dust down to a minimum. I was looking at getting a Grizzly T10113 - Universal Overarm Blade Guard for Table Saws. Have you used or this or something similar. It is very pricey do you think it's worth the money. If not do you have any alternatives. Thank you and keep up the good work
Korey Griffin, Independence KY

When is a drawer too wide, specifically for under mount slides? I keep seeing these huge kitchen drawers that look to be almost 36-48" wide. How do they account for the large amount of weight that could potential be in these drawers. Do you guys have any experience using the blum tandem stabilization bars? They state they can be used up to 53" but that seems widely wide. How would you go about building drawers that are over 36" wide? Jesse

Huys Question:

Hi Woodshop Life Podcast Team,
Thanks for all the great content—new woodworker here (not a cheap hobby by any means and I mostly blame you guys for this), I went in deep with about 50K in tools but so worth it as I love the idea of building things for people that they will have when I'm gone. I'm a Power Engineer by trade, and I learn a ton from the podcast.
Quick question: I’m in Sylvan Lake, Alberta (-40C to +35C weather) and store a decent hardwood stockpile (Walnut, Wenge, Maple/Figured Maple, Zebrawood, Rose Woods—kiln-dried from a reputable Calgary seller) in a 14’ x 10’ room in the back of my heated oversized 3-car garage. Winter RH is usually ~22–25% and summer can swing much higher. I could add a small humidifier in the storage room but that's about it. Storage room has air flow, in floor heat and wood is sitting off the concrete stored vertical on ends. Whole home humidity control is hard to achieve in Alberta without creating a lot of condensation on the windows in winter months which is not good. So we just except the cracked bleeding skin during the winter months.
Would you leave it alone and accept seasonal humidity movement, or try to hold the storage room around ~35% RH? If you would control it, what’s a practical target range? Part B - Is cutting wood stored at 22% RH a good idea - I assume it will swell so much in the summer months and assume 22% is way to low to store wood long term over a couple years.
Thanks for the wicked podcast - I'd love to come on, I'd have so many questions during each show.
Thanks!
Trenton (Sylvan Lake, AB

I started a stripping project of my redwood door. It’s old old old! So I am trying to be thoughtful of the contours and the soft wood. I need some guidance since the paint is fighting me and Ive kind of hit a wall. Ian

 I have another closet door that my kids have forcebly pulled the screws from the hinge. Not sure how to approach fixing the holes for screws other than cutting a chunk out of the door and glueing and sanding a new piece in. Any thoughts would be helpful. Ian

Brians Questions:

My sister and brother-in-law would like to recruit/hire me to install/build built-in bank of drawers and shelves for them for their new home. The only relatable experience I have with this type of woodworking is building a face frame cabinet and constructing some under the bed drawer storage, each of which I have done exactly one time. The remainder of my woodworking experience has involved making small knick-knacks such as cutting boards, boxes, etc.
Considering your experience with built-in shelving and closets, I was hoping you could lend me your expertise in regards to the following questions: 
1. What's the easiest way to go about coming up with accurate calculations for the amount of materials I'll need? I might need a very dumbed down explanation. 
2. How do you price projects like this? Do you estimate the time it will take and give the customer a set price, or do you use a time + materials structure? I want to help my sister do this for significantly less than she would pay someone else, but I also don't want to be committing an undetermined amount of my time for free.
Thanks in advance for all your help. Zach Owens

I have a question about Sawstops and the brake cartridge. I recently tripped my brake last night after changing from a Forest Woodworker blade to a Diable blade. Not sure why it happened. They are both 10" blades. Any suggestions for how to prevent this from happening in the future? Mark

Guys Questions:

I've had this question in my mind for a few months now. How do I know when I'm qualified and ready to teach others how to woodwork? For context, I am a teacher by trade, and have only been woodworking for about 2 and a half years. I am single and have no family, so I do have a lot of time to myself. I primarily use hand tools though I occasionally break out my track saw for sheet goods. I don't have any experience with power tools like a table saw, bandsaw, jointer, planer. My dovetails range from "functional-but-ugly" to "decent", I can chop out mortises with chisels, I can joint my edges with my hand plane, and I can get my surfaces to be "flat enough".
With all that said, is there a point where you know you can effectively teach others how to woodwork? Down the line, I wouldn't mind being able to teach some hand tool woodworking classes. I do want to hold myself to a high standard and to be able to teach everyone proper technique without seriously hurting themselves. Thanks in advance for your input, Jose

1. Over the past a couple years I have gotten spoiled by building with a bunch of rift sawn white oak veneer, large slabs of walnut where I can cut parts out as I see fit.  Now I can't go back to flat sawn boards!! All I see is the glue line, cathedrals that don't match, or kinda do and just a jumble of boards that just kinda go together. Am I doomed to only hunt for the straightest best grain board? How do you guys incorporate flat sawn (cathedrals) and other wildly grain boards into your work? Or are you only trying to select straight grain for table tops, and use flat sawn stuff for lesser seen parts? Jesse


Huys Questions:

My question is about moving my shop.  My wife and I are moving from California to Washington - about 800 miles north of us.  I'm going to upgrade from a 1 car garage shop to probably twice the space.  
We're going to hire professional movers but I'm wondering how to prepare and ship certain machines.   The ones I think most about are the Sawstop, the Festool Kapex 120, the DeWalt 735 planer, and my Laguna 14" bandsaw also with wheels.  
The Sawstop has an extension table.  Would you remove that or let the professional movers move the fully assembled saw?  I would remove the blade and cartridge.  How about the Kapex, planer, and Laguna bandsaw?  Any special precautions or recommendations there?   
For my planes and handsaws am thinking lots of bubble wrap and packed into boxes. 
Would appreciate your thoughts.  Thanks for the great show guys!
Ron Novato, CA  

Hi guys, I am relatively new to the podcast so maybe it has been talked about before, but I had a question about Maloof inspired rocking chairs. Have any of you attempted making a chair with a Maloof inspired design? If so, did you use/purchase a pattern and do you have any recommendations? I have found several patterns out there, but some of them are a bit pricey and I don’t want to commit to a specific pattern without doing my research. I consider myself an intermediate woodworker and this would by far be the most difficult project I have attempted so any advise is appreciated. Zach

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