This Episodes Questions:

Brians Questions:

I am making a toy box for my grandson out of white oak. The dimensions will be 38” width, 18” depth, and 30” high. The front will be 4/4 quarter sawn, while the back and sides will be 4/4 flat sawn lumber. I plan to attach the front and sides, and the back and sides via dovetails. Since quarter sawn wood will move less than flat sawn, should I be concerned about the wood moving at different ratios?  Also, can you recommend hinges that will prevent the top of the toy box from crashing down on my grandson’s fingers?

Mike

My question concerns the router table that I built myself out of out of MDF and 2x4s last year. I'm pretty satisfied with it overall. I am by no means an expert, but I'd have to say having the router in a table seems to be roughly 1,000% more effective than using the router freehand.

Having said that, I've been struggling with the fence, especially When I'm trying to edge join a board. My approach for securing the fence has been to clamp down each end of it with a trigger clamp, placing an additional clamp on the support frame or what have you at the rear of the router table. I've included a picture of my setup for this as well for clarity's sake.

Here's the problem I'm running into: I position the fence, clamp it down, then check it again to make sure it hasn't come out of alignment. When I initially begin running boards over the router table, it works great. However, before too long, sometimes as soon as the second board, I find the fence is no longer properly aligned. When I check it I always find that the fence has shifted back towards the far end of the router table, usually by a 32nd of an inch or so. As you are all aware, this small difference has a pretty significant impact on how my boards come out, particularly when edge joining.

My assumption is that this shift is due to my exerting pressure against the fence while feeding material through to keep the work piece tight against it. Do any of you have any suggestions regarding how I can secure my fence more effectively? Part of me wonders if I am just applying too much sideways pressure to my work pieces, but I also feel like I am applying just enough pressure to keep it from wandering away from the fence when passing the bit. Zach Owens

Guy's Questions:

I'd also like to hear about your process for organizing your shop space and how often you revisit the layout of your shop.

As a follow-up to each question, I'd be curious if organizing and maintaining a shop are aspects of woodworking that you enjoy? Or loathe? Or maybe just tolerate?

I think there is a good question about red vs blue. red corner is woodpeckers, the YouTube influencers certified measuring and layout tools. Then there’s the poor humans with affordable blue corner igaging. I believe woodpeckers is rated in their accuracy to .002 inch and igaging is .002 inch. So, I wonder if that .001 would make my skills somehow greater?? I think honestly that having a set of tools that I can use without each being a different measurement, as tape measures often would be. I also think about cost, even with a higher shipping fee due to my location I nearly outfitted my shop with all the marking and measuring tools at roughly $300 instead of $300 for one ruler or square.

Huy's Questions:

 On the face of wood, there is clearly a right and wrong direction to plane. Going the wrong direction causes gouging, chipping, and/or a time tough pushing the plane across the wood. How do you tell the correct direction to go with the plane, without having to risk messing up the piece by potentially going the wrong direction across the face of the wood with your plane? George

 I just made my first attempt at cutting dovetails for a small box with dividers that my wife asked me to make her for work. I cut them using a router table that I made just for the occasion. It went fairly well, meaning that they all fit and there aren't any unsightly large gaps. Starting with test pieces was definitely the way to go.

I did have one issue, however. I'm not sure what the appropriate name for the different pieces of a dovetail are, but when I was cutting the female pieces I kept running into an issue where the router bit would jerk the work piece away from the fence, resulting in a somewhat crooked portion in my otherwise straight dovetail cut. I tried feeding the work piece into the bit from each side to see if one direction worked better than the other, but that didn't seem to help. I know that typically the recommendation is to make several shallow passes, but obviously this is not possible with a dovetail. Do you have any guesses as to what I might have been doing wrong? Should I have been pushing the work piece more firmly against the fence? Thanks in advance for your answers and insight. Can't wait to hear your next episode.

Sincerely,Z achary T Owens

This Episodes Questions:

Brians Questions:

Hello Guy, Huy, and Sean,

What are your woodworking goals for 2025? Brian

Guys Questions:

Hey Guys,

As always thank you for the podcast and sharing your knowledge.  This one may be mainly for Guy as I know he’s a proponent of the Lamello Zeta P2.  Like Huy I’m a bit of a tool junkie, and can't pass up a new one.  I was never happy with my old Porter Cable biscuit Joiner, so I gravitated to the Domino DF500 which has been a great tool.  I came across a deal where someone was selling a complete Zeta P2 system so I picked it up.  I’ve watched a number of the videos guy posted using the Zeta P2 and so far she seems like a great machine, but now I have some questions that I was hoping you could point me in the right direction:

Huy's Questions:

Hello gentlemen, since you have been asking for questions, here are some for you regarding tools for projects, projects for tools, and tools AS projects.

Second, projects for tools. As I started to improve my skills as a woodworker and more tools became available, I felt the need to add tools to my shop. To help justify the purchases, I found myself coming up with projects that would be easier if I had that "special tool/bit/blade."  Have you every made a project specifically designed to justify a tool purchase, or is it just me? If so,  what was the project and what was the tool?

Third, tools AS projects. A few years ago I started to get more into hand tool woodworking after inheriting some of my grandfather's collection. I also began frequenting a couple of used tool stores in Maine while on vacation where I picked up some vintage panel saws and most of a Stanley 78 rabbet plane. With some cleaning and sharpening I began to really appreciate the use of hand tools and began looking for a used router plane. I don't know if it was just the area that I live in (New England), but there are very few used router planes to be found, and the few that I did find were almost as much as a new one.

Hello again gentlemen.  You guys are the best at answering questions.  My third question involves making two 11" by 11 3/4" panel doors that slide left and right in a groove cut into the top and bottom of the frame.  The door panels are made of 1/2" MDF but with a 3" wide piece of Poplar that is glued to the top and bottom ends of the MDF.  This is to allow for cutting the rabbet into wood instead of MDF.  The rabbet will slide in upper and lower grooves in the frame.

I created my own veneer of Walnut in the front face and Poplar in the back face because I'm cheap and the back won't show.  Both veneers are 7/64" thick and the long grain runs left to right (same direction of the door travel).  I used Titebond Veneer glue and glued both faces at once. I sandwiched the assembly between two pieces of plywood and clamped and weighted the whole thing.

After 24 hours, I removed the clamps and saw that the panel had cupped in the direction across the grain (the same as a 12" wide board would cup).  I don't understand why it cupped as I thought MDF wouldn't allow that to happen.  I did use too much glue on the walnut side as there was a lot of squeeze-out.  I backed off the amount of glue on the Poplar side.  Was the veneer too thick?  Should I have ran the back face veneer perpendicular to the front face instead of in the same direction?  Did the two 3" wide Poplar pieces somehow contribute to the cupping?  I am waiting on doing the second door panel until I hear your opinions on this.

Hello all,

We are taking a one episode break for the holidays and all three of us are dealing with some kind of cold/flu. See you again in two weeks!

This Episodes Questions:

Brians Questions:

I'm in the market to upgrade to a cabinet saw that I want to last for a long time. I've been using a Powermatic 64A contractors saw for the past two years that I bought used and have done my best to tune up. That saw still has its flaws though, and it's time to move on. I'm setting a budget of roughly $4000. I want a new saw with a 3 HP motor. 30" rip capacity is enough for me, as I can break down sheet goods using other methods, it will also fit better in my shop.  I'm currently considering the Powermatic 2000B or the Sawstop 3 HP cabinet saw. Which one would you choose, and why? What other models would you consider? Love the podcast! Thanks for your advice! Mike K.

Hey guys!

Guys Questions:

I am a relatively new woodworker. Still learning skills, techniques, and patience with woodworking.

Hey Gents! Canadian listener here, I found your podcast about a week ago and i have been listening every day now. Thanks for the content.

Hello from Australia!

This Episodes Questions:

Brians Questions:

Hola fellas,

Hello guys,

Guys Questions:

I am looking to build a dresser.   

It's rather simple or basic, actually.  When I first entered this school shop, it had been a while since there was a dedicated teacher.  As such, some of the equipment was in need of some maintenance attention.  Specifically, the tops or working surfaces of various pieces of equipment (3 table saws, planer, jointer, sanders, band saws, etc. - hopefully you get the picture).  I purchased a can of Johnson's paste wax, a couple of wax applicators and went to town.  Now, in the present, I can see the bottom of my can of wax - AND THERE IS NO JOHNSON'S PASTE WAX TO BE FOUND (except for certain websites that want an near fortune for the stuff).  I know there are other products that companies have dedicated time and money to develop just for this purpose (various sprays and the like) but am wondering a couple of things.  Should I, because according to the company, it isn't coming back so I should just embrace the change and just use the new stuff - OR - is there a similar product that can accomplish the same objective and is a simple solution?  Will any paste wax work?  I have seen a product called Shop Wax made by Bumblechutes and am wondering if that will work.  I understand that I want to provide work surface lubrication without imparting anything to the surface of the material that could later hinder the application of finish.

Huys Questions:

I've enjoyed your many insightful answers.

Love the show and I really enjoy listening to you all give your unique perspectives to people's questions. I've learned a great deal over the last year or so since I found your podcast and wanted to say thank you, so...thank you!

This Episodes Questions

Brians Questions

 I was at a big box store the other day getting a new toilet. As I passed the lumber section, I saw what looked, from far away, like a piece of walnut. On closer inspection, it was a piece of rainbow poplar in with the ugly, green big box poplar for the same price as the regular poplar. Of course I bought it. My question is: was that awesome and, if so, how awesome?

Hey Gents! Canadian listener here, I found your podcast about a week ago and i have been listening every day now. Thanks for the content.

Guys Questions

I have a question regarding the drum sander. I only swear while doing two things, playing golf and using my drum sander.   I bought a new Supermax 16-32 and had nothing but problems with it and had to send it in for warranty repair.  I sold it and upgraded to a Powermatic PM2244 which I believe Guy has.  I definitely have had better luck with the Powermatic but still have issues with burning at times.  I do make end grain cutting boards for friends, family and donations.  I know the end grain is extremely hard.  I take very shallow passes, usually .002 to .004 per pass running the conveyor at 4 FPM and no matter how careful I am I still will get burning and grooves.  It doesn’t matter the grit of the sandpaper.  I’ve experimented with feed rate with no luck.  I know the glue does create heat and builds up on the paper so I clean the sandpaper often.  Do you have any recommendations or should I start a swear jar to raise money for charity?  Thanks again, Matt

Good evening, gentleman!  Thanks for this amazing podcast and all the info!  I had a quick question on blades for a cheap table saw.

Huy's Questions

EH gentlemen from the Niagara region in Ontario Canada, been listening to your excellent podcast for some time now and thoroughly enjoy it so thank you for that. My question concerns urns and specifically how it seals.

I have a question about types of glue for veneering projects.  In the past I’ve used Unibond 800 with good results.  The problem I have is the very short shelf life for someone who does 1 or 2 veneering projects per year.  Are you aware of any other solutions with longer shelf life without resorting to some PVA glue?

This Episodes Questions:

Brians Questions:

I have a question on wood storage I have a smaller shop and lots of tools so wood storage space is tight.  I purchase my wood based on what I have planned for the next 2-3 projects and try not to stock many extra boards.  I store them on end leaning against an outside wall.  I often clamp several boards together to help avoid bowing.  So far no problems but I am fairly new to full time woodworking as I retired 2 years ago. 

I’m just finishing up building all the cabinetry for my Seattle home and decided to take on the interior doors as a new challenge. I’d like the doors to appear as if they’re made from 5-6 vertical wood boards, with a small 1/8” kerf between each board (I’ve attached an inspiration image). I know that a large glue-up of solid wood would expand and contract undesirably for a door, so here’s my current plan to keep things stable:

 I would like your thoughts on the depth/ratio you prefer for cabinet or bookcase dado's for shelves - for example if using 3/4" plywood for a cabinet, or 3/4" hardwood a bookcase. It is my understanding that 1/4" is a good depth overall. I am planning on building both some cabinets this fall, but my current project that I am preparing for is a hardwood Scandinavian bookcase. I am considering fixed shelves installed via dado. Each shelf will have an offset vertical shelf divider, also installed via dado. John Sanchez

I am contemplating a (non-epoxy) dining table build using some soft maple slabs I have acquired. I will mill the slabs into as wide of boards as I can and glue them up and get them surfaced so that my final dimensions will be about 84”x35”x2.5”. I want to add a fairly significant under bevel, leaving about 3/4” on the edge and cutting at a 16 degree (or 74 degree, depending on how you measure it) angle, so that the bevel ends about six inches from the edge on the bottom of the table. My question is: How the heck do I do that? I have a table saw, but I don’t think I’m lifting this whole tabletop and running it through my table saw (the blade isn’t long enough anyways). I thought about getting a track saw, but it turns out they use dinky little blades. Do I make an angled sled for my router? Do I use my 4” handheld power plane? Is there another solution I am not imagining? Thanks! Jon

I'm building a couple of nightstands for my daughter based on an image she gave me.   She needs the diameter of the round top to be between 15 and 17 inches. The legs are 2 panels, one is 13 inches wide and one is 10 inches wide, the 10 inch wide panel will be cut at an angle and attached at 90 degrees to the 13 inch panel.  I made a template with MDF, and the table works fine with the top width of 16 inches.

This Episodes Questions:

Brians Questions:

Hello Guys,

I am looking to build a shop building on my property. What is the minimum square footage you would recommend for a home hobbyist? I will have a miter saw, router table, table saw, and eventually a planer and dust collector. And of course a work bench with a saw vise.

Guys Questions:

I know you guys have referenced putting shellac under water based finish so you can have the richer look in the wood but ease/quick timeline of water based. I typically use an airless sprayer to apply General Finishes High Performance. I have some projects with walnut that I would normally finish with Arm-R-Seal to get the rich walnut tone. Id like to try the shellac coat first and then High Performance on top. I was wondering what is your standard application practice when you do this. Do you apply shellac (by hand or spray) and then wait a few hours/a few days/a week? Thanks for the advice and looking to avoid any pitfalls in the process being that Ive never done it before. 

Do you have any tips for glueing up mitered-corner boxes to ensure they are square/plumb, etc.?  I've had a hard time with this. Thanks David Vespoint

Huys Questions:

My local Rockler shut down and I found myself purchasing the Dark Half Tung oil from the real milk paint company at a steep discount. Never used the stuff but I’ve heard that dark tung oil can help give cherry a patina look without aging. I’m wondering if it can help walnut preserve its dark color over time?

All of my furniture pieces seem to have glue creep on all the table tops and panels. I switched from using titebond pva to titebond hide glue thinking this would solve the problem. On some newer pieces I built with the hide glue, I can now slightly feel the glue seams after a few weeks. The tops all have biscuits for alignment as well. Could this be a matter of temperature and humidity change from my shop to my house? About 40% humidity in my shop through the use of a dehumidifier. Temperature ranged from in the 50s this past winter to now it's in the 80s. Would you sand the seam lightly with 0000 steel wool or very high grit sandpaper? And any tips for future builds to avoid this again? Thanks guys! Jeff

This Episodes Questions:

Guys Questions:

Gentleman, Chris here @custom_by_chris on Instagram. My shop is a single car garage roughly 11.5’ wide by 22’ long. I’d like to build a miter station along the front wall for my Kapex. Will I regret confining myself to that 11.5’ width? I would position the saw so I have at least 8’ of cutting capacity to one side. I am not doing regular trim work  so don’t frequently deal with long stock.  Lastly, when designing and building the miter station what features would you  consider must-haves or things that aren’t necessary? It’s easy to get sucked into the YouTube rabbit hole of miter stations so please guide me back to the light. Chris

Zach from Minnesota here. I recently constructed a box using box joints for the first time (thank you, I hold the applause.) As the tutorial by wood magazine suggested, I cut the fingers a little long with the intention of trimming them later rather than risking them being slightly too short. I have come across numerous suggestions regarding the best way to trim flush these protruding fingers, and as with most things to do with woodworking every suggested method also includes a comment claiming that following any of the other suggestions will ruin my work piece. What method do each of you prefer to use when flush trimming your box joints? Thanks in advance.

Hi Guy and other guys,

Huys Questions:

Hey guys, longtime follower and still enjoy listening to the podcast. Guy, it seems like you’ve fallen out of love with woodworking a bit and moved onto 3d printing? Is that just because you’ve been doing it forever haha? Always good to have a change. 

Hey guys thank you for all the information in the podcast and your previous answers to questions.  For the most part I make sawdust.  I build some furniture pieces, picture frames, boxes, etc.  I also build some shipping crates for my real job which helps offset some of the cost of this hobby.  The crates use 4x4, 2x8, 2x10 & 2x4 construction lumber and plywood.  I've been using a sliding compound miter saw to cut up the boards.  I'm reorganizing my garage and was thinking of selling the miter saw and going back to a Radial Arm Saw.  I do not do any type of trim work or anything like that.  Am I making a mistake wanting to go to the radial?  It would just be for breaking down the boards to length. Thanks, Doug

Hi everyone,