December 12, 2025

Temp Vs. Humidity?, Planed or Sanded Surface?, Removing Rust and MORE!!!

47 minutes

This Episodes Questions:

Brians Questions:

Just a question to ponder about the future of our favorite material. As old buildings get torn down there seems to a great supply of reclaimed lumber for our current generation. But as we know this is a finite resource. So with that said will the next generation be turning to our generation’s slab furniture for their reclaimed lumber? Doug

Hey!

Sorry if this has already been addressed in a previous episode.

I’m in upstate NY, and I have a full wood shop detached from my house.

The woodshop is insulated, but the temperature changes outside are pretty much the max, 100 degrees in the summer, and it will live at 20 degrees in the winter.

In the winter, should I keep materials I’m working on in my house, bring them out to the shop when I’m cutting, and then bring them back in? It seems excessive, but it's really huge temperature changes.

I’m mostly dealing with walnut. Is the temperature the bigger issue, or is it really humidity?

I could maybe install a heat pump, just yah know it's a lot of energy.

If I went that route, do you have a recommendation for a temp I should keep materials at?

Thanks again for making such a great show

-Mohamed

Guys Questions:

Hello and thank you for the wonderful podcast.

I was hoping for some insights on builds for high moisture environments. My fiancé and I just moved into our first house and need to update the bathroom vanity. Rather than spend hundreds of dollars on a a shoddy big-box-store model, I would like to take a crack at building one myself.

I have enough experience with woodworking and building cabinets that I feel confident with the actual construction, but am concerned about the high moisture environment.

I plan on making a carcass out of prefinished plywood with face frames and drawer fronts out of a yet-to-be-determined species (likely red oak).

What advice and considerations do you all have for these high moisture environments? Do I need to use special finishes or some sort of sealant for the hardwood components? Do I need to worry about sealing or finishing the edges of the plywood even though the faces are prefinished? Do I need any special considerations for moisture or even mold build up between the face frame and plywood carcass?

Any and all advice on this is greatly appreciated

Thanks as always! Andrew

Hey Guys,

I love your show. Hearing 3 sets of opinions with different levels of experience really helps me learn.

I've heard so many different approaches to sanding that I'm coming to the experts for guidance. To what grit do you sand to for Oak, Walnut, Maple, and cherry.

Do you think a planned or card scraped surface is better than a sanded surface? Does it take the finish just as well?

Thanks for all you do! Ezra

Huys Questions:

Another question... I recently had a small tornado that took the roof off of my shop. As a result, all of my tools got wet and the power tools - table saw, jointer, band saw, drill press etc - all got wet and rusted. They've been in storage since March of this year. I have new shop being built and hope to have it done by the end of this month. What suggestions do y'all have in terms of getting the rust off of the tools and checking for any other possible water damage? Thanks. Ron Brewer

I’m making a walnut bench that I want to route headboard sides (legs) on and I’m not sure how to go about it. I’m not sure if a straight edge/track with a router and at pointed round over bit would be the best route or if I should do it on the router table. I plan on using a 3/8” or 1/2” radius point cutting round over bit for the beading. The end two end panels are 16”x18” and 1.5” thick. I have a festool 1400 router and an Incra router table as possible options. Also, once I get these panels made what’s the best way to sand the beads since they come down to a tight point in the middle. Sanding seems like it would be a huge pain and not sure if the router bit would leave a good enough finish to apply finish without prep work.

Thanks, Chayse

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