Matt's Basement Workshop - Audio

It’s official, the platform bed now has legs to stand on! We constructed and shaped them awhile ago, but finally attached them to the rest of the subassembly just recently. My biggest concern is making sure they’re properly reinforced and can withstand potentially being dragged across a floor or from a leap across the room Superman style (it happens…and not just by my son either…) As has been happening all along, the original plan and design has been altered slightly and we’ll cover a little bit about that too. But I’m happy with how they turned out and satisfied that the design change not only looks better but is more rigid and stable. Help support the show - please visit our advertisers

This year I decided I really wanted to take a class or two on topics that normally I wouldn't be drawn towards. In the past this usually meant something to do with turning, carving a linenfold or leaf and especially nothing to do with hand-hewing a log. It's not that I don't think they're worthwhile topics, it's just up until now my interests at Woodworking in America have been more about bench tools or projects that I see myself doing as soon as I got back to my shop. You know…topics I'm kind of familiar with already. But this year I obviously threw all that out the window! It's pretty safe to say that the majority of my classes went against the grain of normalcy for me. And I can honestly say it was worth it! For today's video it's a visit to Peter Follansbee's "Carved Spoons". I have no idea when I'll ever carve my own spoon(s), but after only about 30 minutes of watching Peter split a log, then shape it into a spoonlike blank, I was hooked. Unfortunately I didn't make it all the way through the class, so I don't have the finished spoon footage to share (it was lunchtime and someone else was buying that day…), but I think you'll quite easily get an idea of what a great class this was. Thanks Peter for keeping me entertained and actually sparking an interest in me for something I still can't believe I'm looking forward to trying sometime in the near future. To learn more about Peter and to checkout all the things he has going on that might be something you'll be looking forward to trying out too, visit his blog at pfollansbee.wordpress.com. Help support the show - please visit our advertisers

At the top of my "woodworking things that intimidate me to tears" list you'll find woodcarving somewhere in the top 5, definitely far below "magnifying glass pyrography". Considering I took the plunge not so long ago and faced my fear of woodturning, and currently I'm alive and not noticeably maimed (thanks to tricky camera angles at least), I figure it's time to start knocking one or two more off the list. Thankfully this year Mary May returned to Woodworking in America and taught a couple of classes on woodcarving. Before I go any further, if you're not already familiar with Mary she's an amazing woodcarver who's taken the time to not only teach her art form at conferences like this or in the occasional class at a woodworking school but more importantly (as far as I'm concerned) she's taken the next step and opened an online school too. But more about that below… The two classes Mary was teaching this year were "Carving Life into Leaves" and "Linenfold Carving". The footage for today's post is from the linenfold class and has been edited to show more of the actual tool work and even Mary's body positioning at the bench to give you a feel for what you could learn if you were to sign up for her online classes. This isn't meant to be a sales pitch by any means, but considering what I learned just from sitting in the audience and watching I can only imagine what I'd learn if I were to start following the lessons with my tools in hand repeating the action she's teaching on the videos. Do I see myself becoming a full on woodcarver down the road? Probably not. But it would be really cool to feel confident enough with my tools and a basic knowledge of the craft to occasionally embellish a component or two on a project! For more information about Mary May including her online school visit www.marymaycarving.com. And if you join, you'll also find this linenfold project as one of the many available lessons to watch and learn about. Help support the show - please visit our advertisers

I have no doubt in my mind that the chance of me felling a tree and then taking the time to hand hewn it is pretty much zero. But that didn't stop me from attending one of my favorite classes this year at Woodworking in America 2013. The opportunity to sit in Roy Underhill's class "TIMBER!!!" to see him demonstrate an aspect of woodworking that is so far out of my scope of accomplishing, was worth every second I sat in the lecture hall. I will admit there was some morbid curiosity as I wondered if something would happen when he started swinging the axe for real, but what I discovered instead was that the more Roy swung a tool, the more I learned. The more Roy sent wood chips into the audience, the more I understood how and why it might be important to learn how to hand hewn my own log…although I still have no idea when I'll ever do it. Perhaps you're into timber framing or just really want to try something like this yourself…because you have a fireplace mantel just waiting to be made out of that pesky tree in the yard?…attending this class was a great way to get my experience at Woodworking in America 2013 off and running. Thanks Roy! Help support the show - please visit our advertisers

The Platform Bed build is just getting underway. This first episode is the construction of the "undercarriage" or support system for the slats that will be used to keep the mattress from falling through the middle of the platform frame. Because it's being hidden from view I decided to not use the same wood species as the rest of the bed frame, in fact the secondary wood is just Poplar. It's plain, simple and more importantly in my neck of the woods, inexpensive. The design of this support system is very straight forward and there are a number of options for constructing it. The joinery choice for me came down to something that was pretty simple but very strong, a corner lap joint. And to take that lap joint even further, the joinery for the long middle support is a half-blind lap joint. How I constructed both of these joints is something I share in today's episode. There's different ways to construct each and my choice is the one that works best for me. But if you want to learn more about what the various options are for this joinery and many more, a great resource for the power tool user is the book "Classic Joints with Power Tools" by Yeung Chan. Help support the show - please visit our advertisers

Once in a while I have a few crosscuts that exceed the capability of my table saw miter gauge or my crosscut sled and since I prefer to use my table saw for crosscutting versus my miter saw, because of it's accuracy and versatility, I found a technique that works and is super accurate. There are any number of ways to attach an extension arm to my sled so I could clamp on a stop block to make multiple cuts that are repeatable and equally accurate, but they can get in the way and or even just clumsy. This technique is as simple as they get and can be easily adapted for use on just about any miter gauge or crosscut sled and requires nothing more than a pencil. Help support the show - please visit our advertisers

Shortly after the release of the most recent video featuring the new photo boxes I'm making for my wife's business I received an email from an audience member asking if I was concerned about the expansion and contraction of the box's bottom panel effecting the metered corners of its sides? In truth, not really, or at least not nearly as much as I would be if this was a different project and with larger dimensions and maybe even different materials. Of course, it's not just the dimensions and materials that make confident against the wood movement having drastic effects on the boxes, there's also a few other things too that make me feel confident about my decision. In today's video I discuss these topics in the hopes that I answer the audience member's concerns and maybe some others from folks who were thinking along the same lines. Items mentioned in today's post: Timber Check Moisture Meter Lee Valley Wood Movement Reference Guide Help support the show - please visit our advertisers

Every year I try to help my wife's business by making wedding boxes for her clients. They're simple and plain and are made to hold a few pictures and maybe a CD or other archive of the images from their happy occasion. This year we changed things up a bit, and went with a new design. One that's easier for me to build and batch out, often using not much more than some smaller scraps and off-cuts that normally might be thrown out or burned in a campfire. The joinery for this easy to build box is also quite simple. Grooves, rabbets and a miter are all there is to it, all joinery that can be accomplished on a table saw alone or with a variety of tools if you prefer. Simple and understated, this box can be built completely for utilitarian purposes or dressed up for something more elegant. Enjoy! Tools featured in today's video include: Bessey Web Clamp Kreg Bandsaw Fence Whiteside Router Bit Steel City Tool Works 14" Band Saw Bench Dog ProMax RT Bench Dog Feather-Loc Double Featherboard Milescraft Push Stick SawStop Cabinet Saw Help support the show - please visit our advertisers

While working on the new wedding boxes for my wife's photography business www.shuttersam.com (shameless plug I know...because I love her) I discovered that the 1/8" diameter straight cutting bit I was using to route an important groove didn't seem to be adequately surrounded by my smallest diameter throat plate in the router table. No big deal really, but I didn't want to take the risk of the material catching or splintering or tearing out or...whatever could go wrong. So better to be safe than sorry, I broke out a customizable insert plate and made one that would work perfectly for this task. Tools featured in today's post: Bench Dog 40-300 ProMax RT Complete Bench Dog Tools 40-150 ProLift Router Adjustment System Bench Dog 40-136 Zero Clearance Insert for Large Bench Dog ProPlate and ProLift 1/8" Downcut Spiral Bit Help support the show - please visit our advertisers

It has been awhile since I’ve given out schwag and the guys over at Centipede Tool have convinced me it is time to break that streak with a contest to win one of the first Centipede PRO Sawhorse Kits to ever be made. To enter this contest, they ask that you submit one of two entries: 1. Tell us about how traditional sawhorses have failed you in the past. 2. Tell us about why you can’t wait to get your hands on a Centipede Sawhorse of your own. Pictures, videos and some passion in your entry is a plus! Send your entries to me, in the comments section below, or to the Centipede Tool team at [email protected] or post it to their Facebook, Twitter or campaign comments page. We’ll assemble the entries into a poll on August 12th and you can vote for your favorite entries until the last day of their crowdfunding campaign on August 15th. I can't wait to see the entries, so get started right away! Help support the show - please visit our advertisers