August 08, 2025

Cleaning Furniture, Moldy Shellac?, Band Saw Belt and MORE!!!

47 minutes

This Episodes Questions:

Brians Questions

Hey guys, appreciate you answering several of my questions in the past, so I thought of a few more. Feel free to separate as they are not related:

1: What do you do, if anything, to maintain furniture you have built? What would you tell a client if they were to ask you. I have always heard Murphy’s oil is a good restorative, but when I looked at a bottle at the store I discovered it’s just mineral oil. I would never recommend that. Or should I? Lemon Pledge Furniture Polish. Joking, but seriously, what is a good answer? Paste wax? Or just wipe the dust off and let it be? Peter Downing

I’m building a dresser and have built the carcass out of cherry plywood. I’ve glued up a panel out of solid cherry that I want to use as the top. I want to attach the solid panel to the top of the carcass. Would you recommend using screws from the inside/underside of the plywood top and allowing for wood movement or is it ok to glue the solid wood top to the plywood carcass top? Eric

Guys Questions

Domino vs beadlock set up from rockler? Same principle...and , in my experience...same outcome. Thoughts? Crafted Carpentry Tampa

When I wanted to learn how to apply shellac, I did a search and found a Youtube video of Guy from the late 70's when Youtube first came out demonstrating his technique involving a balled up rag and a mason jar with a lid to keep it in so it doesn't dry out between coats. That video is fantastic and I learned a lot than just the rag and jar business.

Inevitably, when I'm done shellacking for the day, I leave the rag Guy's Jar. Because you never really know when you are done applying shellac to something until you arrive at that destination, I end up leaving that rag in the jar for a few weeks. It's amazing how well it keeps even weeks later. HOWEVER, on more than one occasion, when I pull Guy's Rag from the jar, it is moldy. This surprised me the first time because I assumed that the amount of alcohol in the shellac would prevent anything from growing.

Does this happen to y'all or is indicative of something amiss. I just toss it and get a new rag.

Additional data points:

Shallac is < 2 months old, made from flakes, sourced from Oregon's shellacshack.com

I'm using Platina colored shellac usually

I'm using "Finishers Edge Shellac Reducer" instead of denatured alcohol because is way more expensive so it must be better right?

Jar is a resealable mason jar with a rubber gasket

Cloth is from the "bag of t shirts" you can buy at your local woodworking store

Shellac still has a strong odor of fresh shellac

I reuse the same jar to store my rag

Because I'm not a proctologist, there is a chance I've misdiagnosed the mold so I attached an image of the rag. Robert

Huys Questions

Gents,

there is a question here, but I wanted to share some info with you first.

In a recent episode there was a bit of a discussion of using Tung oil and how to thin it, etc.

I recently made a walnut desk inspired by the Nakashima style. I've had the good fortune to get my eyes and hands on some of his pieces for inspiration - they are amazing. Anyway, on the Nakashima website they discuss the care of their furniture, mentioning how they use Southerland Welles Tung Oil Wiping Varnish. https://sutherlandwelles.com/product-category/wipingvarnish/

It is really easy to apply and looks fantastic, especially on walnut. I used the Sealer and High Lustre Polymerized Tung Oil finishes. I highly recommend them. (this is not a paid ad!)

Finally, here is my question: Have you ever taken a technique, tool, or finish that is used in another craft for your use in furniture making? An example might be Tru Oil used on gunstocks as a furniture finish? Or a technique used by luthiers that helped you in furniture making?

Thanks again for a great podcast!

Regards, David V.

Hi guy I have a question or re3ally looking for advice. I noticed the tension on the v-belt of my delat 14 inch band saw was lose. It looked like freely wabblying when spinning the balde and I could come reaelly close to touching the two sides together when pinching the belt. Anyways I found the manuel online and it says there should be 1 inch deflection. asuming the maker knows what they are talking about I never seen a belt with that much allowance after being tight, so what do you think? Also Wen mention how much a pain replacing the tires or wheels were, how do you do that (i know google will answer my questions too, but we like hearing you guys talk)? Last part, are these upgrades really worth it, sometime I buy into something that really is not an improvement (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpDA2X6L9Y4) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FOa9EJf91g) Paul Miotchell

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