Matt's Basement Workshop - Audio

Over the years, I've done my fair share of experimenting with sharpening. From the early days of sandpaper on glass to waterstones and now on to my Tormek, I had one goal in mind...to create the scariest sharpest edge anyone could ever imagine!!! I won't claim to have achieved that dream yet, but I've managed to create edges that were sharp enough to draw blood with very little effort, usually also at the worst possible moments too. In today's episode I'll show you some of the tools and equipment I've used over the years to accomplish this goal. It's not an episode on HOW TO SHARPEN but instead an episode on options for WHAT TO SHARPEN WITH. From sandpaper to power sharpening and a few in between, I'll show you what I've tried in the past, what I'm using now and a little bit of why on each method. Just like our woodworking, sharpening methods are a personal thing, there's nothing wrong with experimenting until you find that one technique that's right for you.

I'm really getting bad at this, I almost forgot to remind everyone of the schwag drawing this month! Not that many of you have forgotten about it, but just in case you have here's a nice little reminder to whet your appetite and ensure you stop by our SCHWAG SIGN-UP PAGE and enter your name for this month's drawing.

At the heart of my workshop's redo is the massive Bench Dog Router Table system I reviewed with ToolSelect.com - see the review HERE. Compared to previous router tables in my shop, this version is a beast! Of course it's not really a fair comparison, given its predecessors were all bench top models, but that's beside the point. The Bench Dog ProMax RT router table system provides woodworkers with a number of great options for customizing their own version. The system in my shop is a cast-iron top on an enclosed cabinet, but it could easily be a phenolic top instead. Or I could choose to have either one of those tops on an open stand. For me, what really makes this new router table system so invaluable in my shop IS the cabinet. The enclosed cabinet has enough storage space built into it that it's become my all-in-one router center. All my router bits, router accessories and even my routers can be stored in it and there's still room for more. What it takes up in floor space, it makes up for with overall storage space…I actually have some empty shelves…I wonder what I can put on those? The beauty of the system is the fact it has options! And speaking of options, one that will be making a dramatic change in my operations at the router table is the addition of a router lift. In the realm of router table upgrades this one is like going from a bicycle to a jet plane! See my review of it on ToolSelect.com HERE. Everyone who's used a router table knows the frustration there can be when dialing in just the right height between cuts. Having a router lift allows you to raise or lower your router from the top of the table where you can easily see what's happening versus the old method of reaching underneath and often blindly making the adjustments. How many times have you done this only to realize the bit is much higher or lower than you wanted? Router lifts are pricey, and to be honest I always had one on my list but I never considered it a necessity as far as I was concerned. But after using this one just for some test cuts and demonstration purposes, I wouldn't hesitate recommending it get bumped up to the top of the list for anyone who uses their router table frequently. The accuracy and ease of adjustability it provides will dramatically help with router operations in my shop. And then there's the fence system. Regardless of which table top, base or whether you choose to go with a router lift or traditional insert plate, if you don't have a good fence system it won't matter. The Bench Dog Fence system is worth the money! Links for items mentioned in today's show: Bench Dog 40-300 ProMax RT Bench Dog Tools 40-150 ProLift Bench Dog Featherboards Kreg PRS3090 3" Dual Locking Caster-Set

Following up on the last episode, where I revealed recent changes made to my shop to improve work flow and efficiency...at least in theory...,today's show is a closer look at some of the "accessories" and little shop helpers I've added all around it. We've all heard the cliche "it's the little things that matter". In this case, it really IS the little things that make all the difference...in how I feel about working at my various tools. As much as we want to justify buying all kinds of new fangled jigs and shop accessories the one issue we run into eventually is where to put them, and more importantly, how will we find them when we need them the most? Being organized shouldn't just refer to having a set of well thought out plans to build a project. Being organized should also refer to where and why things are laid out also. I don't know the statistics off hand but I think it's safe to say that many of the shop accidents that occur regularly each year, both big and small, probably have to do with someone not taking the extra time to use a safety accessory simply because it wasn't close at hand. Surprisingly, it doesn't cost a lot of money to get well organized, nor does it take a lot of time. The accessories I talk about in today's episode took me longer to figure out exactly where to place them than it did to purchase OR put them in their new homes. You don't have to go as far as building fancy cabinets or caddies (although that could be fun) when you decide "now I'm ready to be organized", being organized is a state of mind and a way of life. The payoff at the end of the day will make a huge difference in how we work in the shop. Of course the second half of being organized is remembering to put things back in their place...but that's for another episode!

I'm not a fan of New Year resolutions. I vow to stop making them every January 5th, which usually coincides with the same day I give up on the diet/exercise program I started on January 1st. However, this year I decided to give it one more try and announced on Wood Talk Online Radio that by the end of the year I'd give my shop a much needed facelift. This is nothing new in the basement workshop, in fact it's something I had been vowing to do for a long time. For a long time now I've been getting frustrated with how cluttered my shop was feeling and even more frustrated at my inability to get work done without having to constantly move things around just to accomplish a single task. To be quite honest, the extra time it was taking me to clear a spot to plane a board or to set up a tool for a cut that should take only 30 seconds to accomplish was becoming too long. Not to mention that I was constantly losing small items and tools in the ever growing piles. In other words...SOMETHING HAD TO CHANGE! Today's episode is a tour of my new shop layout. I have yet to put it through its paces on a project, but there's room to tweak it for optimal flow and efficiency when I do. A huge thanks to the folks over at Port-A-Mate for their help with a few new items to make the shop a better and safer place to work.

I'd love to tell you we're starting a new build project today or I had a new tool or two to share (which I do, but that's for another day) but instead this is just a quick "heads up" of what's happening and NOT happening with the show. Unfortunately the warm days of early summer draw me out of the basement and in to the fresh air and sunlight. But luckily for the show, coming in the next several weeks, that same fresh air and sunlight will be SO HOT I'll be retreating to the basement to enjoy the rest of my summer months. So new content is just around the corner, I swear! Off on a tangent...in honor of Father's Day I have a couple of great titles written by Jack McKee of www.woodshop4kids.com. "Woodshop for Kids" & "Builder Boards" are two books filled with great ideas and projects to help you introduce your kids, grandkids, nieces or nephews...whoever they are...to woodworking. Because Father's Day is next weekend (as I'm posting this) I'm offering copies of these books to one winner next Sunday. How do you get entered? Either email me a picture of the project you built with your young woodworker, or a description of it, or even leave a comment about it in today's shownotes at the website.

Woodworking In America 2012 isn't until mid-October, but it doesn't hurt to start planning now if you'll be attending. I have it on good authority there's still plenty of openings for woodworkers to sign up, and attend what has become a perennial destination for anyone passionate about woodworking. This year's conference has a little twist to it. Rather than one big weekend, the folks at Popular Woodworking Magazine have taken a gamble and are offering two full weekends of some of the best woodworking lectures, vendors and get-togethers modern woodworkers have ever known. For the past few years, attendees and those who wanted to be attendees, have been asking for Woodworking in America to travel west of the Mississippi river. This year they're doing just that by holding the first of the two weekends in Pasadena, California. And as everyone knows, out west they do things they're own unique way. The West Coast WIA conference will be no different! With speakers and events specifically planned for the first of the 2012 conferences you'll find seminars and a few vendors you won't find any where else. But not to be outdone though, the 2012 Midwest WIA conference promises to be equally amazing and filled with all the best speakers, vendors, events and of course all the things we've come to expect from Woodworking In Americas in the past. For more information, visit the Woodworking In America website where you'll find everything you need for both venues. And if that still doesn't answer all your questions you can also email Megan Fitzpatrick [email protected] (or any of the Popular Woodworking Editors) to get information on both the event and anything woodworking related. ...Of course listening to today's episode isn't a bad idea either!

The other day I had a chance to sit down with Eli Cleveland to discuss what seemed to be our differing views of the online woodworking community. It's no secret that recently there were some raw nerves exposed over what has been perceived by many to be a slap to the face of woodworking bloggers and podcasters. It appeared to many of us that our legitimacy was being questioned and we were being branded in a negative way. The resulting volley of comments back and forth regarding this most current statement, and even ones previously, have served as a rallying cry for many to say online woodworking is stronger and more united than ever. But is it? As one of the first woodworking podcasters on the scene back in 2006, I heard a lot of less than nice things about how stupid or crazy I was for trying something like a woodworking podcast. At the time, I would reach out to "established" media resources to ask for permission to use content or ask for advice and quite often there was never an answer or even more frequently, a lot of skepticism of what I was attempting to do. But I didn't let that stop me. I knew deep down, if I wanted to see an online show(s) like what we have today, I probably wasn't alone. I could either sit back, wait and hope someone would come along to start it or just get the ball rolling myself. So after 6-1/2 years of growing my audience, making SO MANY new friends and at the same time learning and then turning around and sharing as many of my experiences as an amateur woodworker with anyone who was willing to watch an episode. To hear something that sounded like it was calling into question everything I had done...it cut straight to the bone. My first reaction was to see red and as I mention to Eli in the show, I like to think I can let cooler heads prevail, but it's hard to contain that animal instinct when you feel like your being attacked. And that's some of what you'll hear in today's episode. Let me set the record straight before anyone jumps to a conclusion about today's show. It's not meant to re-hash old grudges and continue to beat a metaphorical "dead horse". Our discussion was an opportunity for two woodworkers who feel passionate about the craft and want to see the online community building up around it grow stronger. Strength comes from trust and understanding, but to have trust and understanding, you have to be willing to realize not everything is perfect. Being able to recognize your perceptions and understandings on any given topic, aren't necessarily the right one, is a bitter pill to swallow. When I first invited Eli to come on the show, it was meant as an opportunity for me to tell him how I thought he was wrong about both his comments and also his views of the online woodworking community. After emailing with him to get things set up and then during our conversation before, during and even after the recording, I discovered we came together thinking we were ways apart in our views but ended up realizing we had more in common with what we want for this community than we may have realized.

We're now about halfway through Safety Week 2012 and hopefully you've found that one or two golden nuggets you'll carry with you every time you step in the shop. Regardless of what it is, the most important thing is to take what you've learned this week and turn it into the kind of habit that becomes second nature. Because it's those kind of habits that one day could be the difference between a close call in the shop or a trip to the Emergency Room...or worse. Woodworking to me is the kind of past time and lifestyle that is probably best learned by observation and learning from our mistakes. No one makes perfect dovetails the first time out and no one WON'T have a close call or two in the shop over their lifetime. The real responsibility of every woodworker when it comes to safety is to develop a set of best practices they can count on to greatly minimize the chance of an accident occurring. Because the truth is, there will never be a way to completely eliminate them. Last year while working on a project for the show, I had one of those accidents that could have been life altering. I made a number of mistakes that in hindsight leave me feeling embarrassed and angry at myself. On today's episode you'll see footage from this accident. I won't lie, it's graphic so please consider that before you watch. But the big lesson for today will be about what went wrong, what I could've possibly done to prevent it and hopefully you'll learn from my mistake so you don't make one just like it or worse.

Without a doubt, home ownership is probably one of the biggest catalysts to propel people into woodworking. Even if you grew up with a woodworker or took shop classes in school, being a homeowner reignites that spark and grows into a passion for tools and creating projects intended for in and around the home. Most of the time that spark occurs because once we take ownership of a house, we immediately want to make it our own. Whether it's replacing trimwork, adding crown mouldings, maybe even tackling some repairs to unsightly fixtures or features that would scare off some people. Whatever the task it suddenly means it's time to get some tools and dive headfirst into those projects. Recently a friend of ours approached me with a problem she's lived with for several years, a broken louver door to a bedroom closet. As soon as she walked in the door with it I had flash backs to when we bought our first house. It was a project I couldn't resist, especially because I knew it was one I would have been intimidated by all those years ago. On today's episode, join me on a trip down memory lane as we set aside some of our regular woodworking shop projects and tackle a little home repair.