No email question this week

January 30, 2007 | Filed Under Blog | 11 Comments 

So I don’t have an email question of the week, but here is an update none the less. I finally got a big project done and installed. Check it out. There were some challenging scribes to do but everything turned out exactly as the customer wanted.

I also did a partial shop reorganization. The new setup gives me much more space. Nothing like a good day of shop projects!!

Today I started working on the new Wood Whisperer episode. The topic will be mortise and tenon joinery. Should be 2-3 parts of content. And a very cool new tool will make a special appearance. Ever heard of the Festool Domino? I know some of you have. Its a new joinery system that essentially creates a real loose tenon joint with the ease of a biscuit joiner. The only tool I know that comes close to this one in terms of simplifying the mortising process is the MultiRouter, which usually sells for about $2700. You can read a write up on Fine Woodworking Online here.

And if you are interested, you can download the promotional flyer here.

Its gonna be a busy week so wish me luck. And by the way, if you haven’t voted for the show at Podcast Alley this month, make sure you head over there. Last time I checked we were in 2nd or 3rd place!! Thats so awesome. Thanks everyone!

Marc

The server switch is complete!!

January 28, 2007 | Filed Under Blog | Leave a Comment 

Good news! We are now firmly planted on the new server. If you find anything unusual, please let me know and I will fix it. Right now, everything seems back to normal. But please forgive any repeat posts or repeat downloads in ITunes. I don’t know how all these changes affect the feed. But anyway, we have essentially done everything we can to improve the speed of the site. So I hope everyone has a zippy and smooth experience! If not, tough noogies.

Marc

Episode 9- Off to the Wood Show (Pt.2)

January 26, 2007 | Filed Under Blog, Video | 4 Comments 

Click Here For The MP4 File
Click Here For The Quicktime Movie


Click To Play

In this episode, we have two more interviews: one with Steve Harris (President of the Arizona Association of Fine Woodworkers), and Mike Van Pelt (owner of American Sycamore Woodworkers’ Retreat and Delta representative). And then some closing remarks by your’s truly.

Marc

A Lesson In Smart Shopping

January 24, 2007 | Filed Under Blog | 10 Comments 

So where do you guys usually buy your hardware? By hardware, I mean hinges, screws, shelf pins, handles, drawer slides, etc…. For years, I did most of my shopping online or at the local Rockler. I really didn’t think too much about the cost of the hardware simply because I didn’t know any better. During a big job last year (a bookstore), a good friend of mine took me to a local hardware supplier called Clyde Hardware. We needed shelf pins, and we needed A LOT of them. I expected the bill to be really high, and much to my surprise it wasn’t. After looking around I realized that I had been overpaying for years. In fact, I was pretty pissed. Ever since then, Rockler is my absolute last resource for hardware. Don’t get me wrong, I love Rockler. They are a great company. But in the case of hardware, they really take advantage of hobbiests who either dont know about or dont have access to a local hardware supplier.

The reason I am bringing this up is because I just made a purchase at Clyde today and I thought it would be a good time to give you an example of the insane price differences. I made a relatively small purchase of 18 Blum 1/2″ overlay hinges and 100 1/4″ brass shelf pins. At Rockler, the hinges are about $3 each and the shelf pins are about $0.15 each. If my trusty calculator is right, thats a total bill of $69 before tax. At Clyde, I was able to get the hinges for about $0.77 each and the pins for about $0.05 each. My actual total was $18.72. So a savings of about $50 on small order of 100 shelf pins and 18 hinges!!!

Moral to the story? Pick up the yellow pages and look for a hardware supplier. You might have to find a friend who has a tax ID number because some of these places might not deal with the public, but some of them do. The potential savings is significant enough that its worth the extra effort to find these places. Spending less money on hardware means spending more money on the stuff that counts……….WOOD!

LumberJocks.com Woodworking Awards Deadline!!

January 24, 2007 | Filed Under Blog | 2 Comments 

Hey everybody. I recently entered my own projects into the 2007 Winter Woodworking Awards over at LumberJocks.com. Martin, the big cheese at LumberJocks just announced that the prizes will increase from $150 to $200 if he gets at least 50 entries!! He also reminded me that the deadline is Jan 31st.
Since I have now entered the competition, please do not go to LumberJocks.com. Do not sign up for an account. Do not submit your project photos. And most importantly, DO NOT enter the 2007 Winter Woodworking Awards. You see, if you do, you will decrease my chances of winning and I really want that $200 gift certificate!! And if I win both categories, that could be up to $400 in gift certificates!! Holy crap!

I know its very easy and will only take a few seconds of your time, but don’t worry about it. This kind of contest comes along all the time, right?? Right?!?!? ;)



Trouble Applying Alcohol-Based Stain- Question of the Week

January 23, 2007 | Filed Under Blog, Question of the Week | 1 Comment 

This week’s question comes from Bill. He writes, “I’m building some extra cabinets that match the kitchen cabinets that I installed last year. I ordered extra stain, so that everything would match. The stain would appear to be a dye in an denatured alcohol solution. How would you apply this stain? I’ve been applying a the shellac sanding sealer by zinser, but the dye mixture has a tendency to pull up the shellac. As long as I keep a wet edge it works (example baseboards), but it isn’t working very well on large panels.”

And here was my reply, “An alcohol based dye is actually best applied by spraying, but that may not be an option if you dont have a spray setup. The problem is that the alcohol evaporates too quickly and you dont have enough time to even out the color. And to further complicate the problem, your alcohol based dye mix is redissolving your sanding sealer. If you cant find a way to spray, I would recommend getting a little creative.”

“First, I assume you are using Zinsser SealCoat? Or are you actually using a true sanding sealer? If its sanding sealer, I say skip it. Get yourself the Zinsser SealCoat. SealCoat is a dewaxed shellac and will be a great sealer. Now instead of applying the sealer and having your dye mix mess everything up later, I would recommend adding some shellac to a portion of your dye. Since the dye is pretty much all alcohol, it will dilute out the shellac. I would say fill a container halfway with your dye, and fill it the rest of the way with the Sealcoat. This will give you a solution that is dilute enough that you should have time to apply it evenly. Consider using a brush. When the alcohol evaporates, you will be left with a sealed surface that contains some of your color. But since you diluted the color, it might not be intense enough. If thats the case, just sand lightly and apply another coat. Keep in mind with shellac, you need to move quickly and only do one or two strokes. Any more, and it becomes smeary.”

“Now this method isn’t perfect, but it should give you alot more control. Make sure your try this on an inconspicuous area first. If the color is too intense, then apply a diluted coat of the Sealcoat alone first, sand, and follow up with a coat or two of the mix I described earlier. Good luck!”

Fine Woodworking and Me: A Love Story

January 22, 2007 | Filed Under Blog | 2 Comments 

It was a stormy night. I saw Fine Woodworking sitting in the corner across the room. I knew one day I would make them mine…… Well, it was kinda like that.
Actually, Fine Woodworking Online (one of our sponsors), is now featuring clips from the show on their website. How awesome is that?!?!? Pretty awesome if you ask me.

You can see the video clip here.
And you can also read the announcement about it on the editors blog.
I was flattered by the write-up. And I was glad to see Nicole mentioned too since she does all the work and I usually sit around all day watching The View. Hopefully you guys know I’m kidding. I only watch Oprah.

And if you haven’t had a chance yet, make sure you check out the links I have posted at the bottom of the left column of my site. Fine Woodworking Magazine has been one of the best woodworking resources in print for years, and Fine Woodworking Online is basically an online interactive version of the magazine. It’s definitely worth a look. There is even a special subscription link if you are interested in subscribing to the magazine.

So in the famous words of Forrest Gump, thats all I have to say about that.

Marc

A sexy new look! And new sponsors!!

January 21, 2007 | Filed Under Blog | 6 Comments 

Well, maybe it’s not sexy. But it is new. The old site was not meeting our organizational and spacial needs so it was time to make a few changes. The biggest difference is the organization of the columns, with the content in the dead center. The left column contains all the helpful links and show-specific information as well as links to our new sponsors. And now you can access all the older episodes of the podcast through either the Archives or the Categories links.

Oh and by the way, we have two new sponsors. That is EXCELLENT news for the progress of the show. So if you have time, take a look at what Festool and Fine Woodworking Online have to offer. And just to make things perfectly clear, I will never take on a sponsor who’s products I don’t stand behind. And I certainly stand behind both of these companies. I have been a customer of both long before this podcast was a twinkle in my eye.

So I hope you enjoy the new layout. Bear with me as I iron out the last few wrinkles. And please let me know if there are any major issues. I know some of the old entries need to be reformatted, but the content is still intact. Thanks guys!!!

Marc

Episode 9- Off to the Wood Show (Pt.1)

January 18, 2007 | Filed Under Blog, Video | 9 Comments 

Click Here For The MP4 File
Click Here For The Quicktime Movie


Click To Play

One of my favorite events of the year has got to be The Woodworking Shows. If you’ve never been, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Its basically a huge convention focused on everything woodworking. From major power tools to router bits to shop consumables, its all there. And if shopping isn’t your thing, there are ton of free demonstrations and seminars. In addition, there are a bunch of paid seminars that you can sign up for on the website at www.thewoodworkingshows.com. In part 1 pof this episode, I give you an idea of what to expect at a woodworking show and we even have a few interviews for you to check out. I hope you guys enjoy it. To find out when The Woodworking Show are coming to your town, check out their website at www.thewoodworkingshows.com.

Curved Cauls?- Email Question of the Week

January 15, 2007 | Filed Under Blog, Question of the Week | 2 Comments 

Gary writes, “Awesome job on the podcasts!! Had a question on the cauls used for the cutting boards. Are they flat, or do you put a curve. If curved, what’s the best way?”

And here’s my reply, “Hi Gary. The cauls I used in the video were simple and straight. The only time I use curved cauls is on a long glueup where I cant get a clamp in the middle. Fortunately, the small cutting board allowed me to place a clamp directly in the middle.

If you need to make a curved caul, I think the easiest and safest methods are with a belt sander or with a hand plane. To make it, simply mark the center of the caul, and draw straight lines out to each end, representing the material you want to remove. You don’t really need more than 1/8″ difference between the center and the edges. On longer cauls you may want to go as far as 1/4″. Once you have your lines drawn, just clamp up the piece of wood in your bench and start planing or sanding to the line. Once I get close to the line, I like to smooth everything out by carefully passing the caul over the jointer, one half at a time. Also note that I usually use 2×4 lumber for my cauls since they’re cheap, accessible, and also relatively soft and non-marring.”

Here is an article that pretty much says the same thing I said above, but with a picture:
Fine Woodworking Article



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