March 06, 2026

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

46 minutes

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

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