Wood Talk Online- Episode 13

July 16, 2007 | Filed Under Blog, Wood Talk Online | Leave a Comment 

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The AWFS Las Vegas show is this week so if you’re in the area stop by and say hi to Marc and Nicole at the Festool booth. And last but not least, since Matt couldn’t remember the type of steel to use in hand plane blades as asked in a voicemail by Vic the answer is “O1 steel”. You’ll have to probably do a search to find where to get it. Someone sent in a link for the “Win a Weekend with Norm Sweepstakes”. Matt also mentioned the Podcast Awards. Check it out and VOTE FOR US when the voting opens!

In this episode our two hosts attempt to answer a number of questions about finishes. So many woodworkers have questions and concerns about which finish to choose, what are the differences and why, why, why…

To get the show started off we have a question from Mike in St. Paul, Minnesota asking all of the above. Luckily for us Marc’s taken the time to put together the following information which should be a good guide to help get everyone pointed in the right direction:

1. Evaporative finishes (lacquer, shellac) are usually less durable and scratch easier. They easily dissolve when exposed to the appropriate solvent, which make them easier to repair i.e. a lacquered table with a bunch of scratches can be repaired by simply coating the table with lacquer thinner. When applying these finishes each coat that is applied essentially melts into the previous layer, resulting in one single layer. 2. Reactive finishes (oil-based varnish, catalyzed lacquer) are more durable but they are harder to repair. Each layer of a reactive finish simply lies on top of the previous layer, thus rather than one single layer you have multiple layers making up the thickness.

Oils - one of the first finishes woodworkers learn to love is plain old oil. Usually linseed oil or tung oil. Oils absorb into the wood and polymerize into a relatively soft rubbery material, not a film finish.
Application- best applied by thinning with mineral spirits 50% and flooding the surface. Allow absorption for several minutes, then wipe off the excess. Check again in a few hours to see if oil has come back out of the pores, if so wipe again. Allow 16-24 hrs between coats. Advantages- dummy-proof application, non-offensive odor for most people and it gives the wood a sense of depth that is hard to replicate with other finishes. Disadvantages- very little protection, yellows the wood (linseed oil more so than tung oil), longer cure times. Re-application over time is often necessary to keep the wood looking new.

4. Varnishes - there are numerous types of varnishes and what generally makes them different is the type of resin they are made with. And they all may have different durability, working, and appearance characteristics. For instance, many people feel that a standard polyurethane has too much of a plastic look so they prefer a varnish made with a different resin (just for clarification, polyurethane is a type of varnish). Application- can be applied by brushing, wiping, or spraying (wiping and brushing being the most common). Advantage- very durable. Good heat, solvent, scratch resistance, and easy to apply. Disadvantage- can make wood look “unnatural” and plastic like, and can be difficult to repair.

5. Oil/Varnish Blends - really the best of both worlds. You get the easy application of an oil with the protection of a varnish. This is the finish would I recommend most woodworkers to focus on in the beginning. Advantage- easy to apply like oil, but we get the benefit of the varnish. Versatile finish because depending on the number of coats you add, you can go from a thin topcoat to a nice protective film. Disadvantage- May not be as protective as a straight varnish. Requires longer drying times than varnish. Requires more coats to build up the film.

Episode 21- Pare Essentials

July 15, 2007 | Filed Under Blog, Video | 32 Comments 

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Who is that good lookin’ fella?

July 11, 2007 | Filed Under Blog | 25 Comments 

Nicole has been practicing her PhotoShop skills. Now that I have my headshot, I think I am finally ready for my own PBS show!! What do ya think?

Narrower boards more stable?- Question of the Week

July 10, 2007 | Filed Under Blog, Question of the Week | Leave a Comment 

This week’s question comes from Nicholas. He writes:

I have been making some tabletops for customers lately and have been gluing up 5″ wide board to get the final width of the top. I do this, because I am under the impression that you should not glue up boards wider than that for fear of cupping and warpage. However, in watching a recent episode of The New Yankee Workshop, I noticed that Norm was gluing up cherry boards that were 12″ wide. So, my question to you is this: Is is allright to use wider boards in a tabletop glue up? It would save a bit of time with the jointing and clamping of all the pieces. Thank you for your opinion on this. I appreciate your time.

And here was my reply:

“Hey Nicholas. I suppose there is something to that theory (using narrower boards to prevent cupping). But in reality, with properly seasoned boards, the chances of cupping and bowing are at a minimum. As a result, I would never cut down a large board just for the sake of future stability. If you can get boards wide than 6″, you should show it off with pride. Wide boards are hard to come by these days and your work will look that much better if you use the wider boards. It would be a darn shame to cut them up. So if they are fully dried, flat and stable, I say the wider the better. Good luck.”

Site Upgrades!

July 9, 2007 | Filed Under Blog | 16 Comments 

Hey folks. Just a quick heads up to let you know we will be doing a few upgrades here at TheWoodWhisperer.com over the next day or two. There will be a few visual changes as well as some behind the scenes stuff that will allow for future functionality. The process should be relatively painless but if you come to the site and something just doesn’t look right, that would be the reason. Thanks everyone!

****Update***
Looks like most of the site is up and functional. We still have work to do on the header and some little fixes here and there, but we are 95% there. Boy am I glad that’s over. :)

Episode 20- One Small Step

July 5, 2007 | Filed Under Blog, Projects, Video | 35 Comments 

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Its been about a month since my last video post and I am excited to release another video. The last couple of months have been crazy with the major commissions I have been working on, and now its time to prepare for the upcoming AWFS Fair in Las Vegas. As I’ve mentioned before, I will be working at the Festool booth all four days and my goal is to build some cool projects with Festool tools. The step stool in this video is just such a project and is designed to show off the power of the Domino system. Thanks for watching!


What Tool Brand is Best?- Question of the Week

July 5, 2007 | Filed Under Blog, Question of the Week | 7 Comments 

This week’s question comes from Shawn. He writes:

Hey Marc, I really enjoy your web site, keep up the great work. I’m thinking about going into woodworking full time and my shop now has more table top tools than big industrial tools. If money was not an issue which manufacturer of tools would be the best for a woodshop and why? I’m really torn between people saying this tool is better even though it’s cheaper than another or vice versa. Thanks in advance for your response, have a great day.

And here was my reply:

“Hey Shawn. The best piece of advice I can give you is not to get too hung up on brands. Even well-respected brands make a bad tool now and then, and budget brands occasionally make a show stopper. So the important thing is to be brand blind when shopping for tools. Now you might notice that I do not practice what I preach. Most of my tools are Powermatic. This is because, like many woodworkers, when I have a good experience with a tool, I tend to gravitate to that brand for future tool purchases. Its only natural that we do this and it makes sense. But depending on which brand we had a positive experience with, we all wind up being faithful to different companies. And this is why you will see devotees in each brand camp trying to convince you that their favorite brand is the best. And you know what the truth is? They are all pretty good. The key is to simply avoid the tool that has well-documented flaws. Even still, deciding which brand to go with can be tricky. So here is what I usually do. I read the Amazon.com reviews. I usually throw out the worst reviews and the best reviews and see what’s left. I also check out the latest reviews in the magazines (taken with a grain of salt of course). And if after all of that there is no clear winner, then I simply pick the color I like the most. And for me, that’s yellow (or is is baby poop color?). I have an unusual need for all of my tools to look the same. And I trust Powermatic based on my previous experiences. But I have heard great success stories from people using General, Steel City, Delta, and Grizzly tools as well. So if you want the best tool in each category, do your research and forget about brands. If you want to simplify your life, pick a color and do enough research to make sure you aren’t buying a dud. I am sure you will be happy with the results either way. Good luck.”

Wood Talk Online- Episode 12

July 1, 2007 | Filed Under Blog, Wood Talk Online | 7 Comments 

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Welcome back to another episode of Wood Talk Online … a little late … or early depending on your point of view. This week’s episode starts out with Marc and Matt sharing their most recent experiences from the past week, some shop related and others not so woodworking related. We received some fantastic emails from many of you and just want to let you know, we may not get back with you right away but we’ll do our best to answer your questions as soon as possible. So for this week, let’s start with a neat looking video of a recreation of Leonardo DiVinci’s lathe design that was sent in by JY click here to check it out stuartking.co.uk/articles/leonardo.htm .

The next big discussion was inspired by an article sent to us from Herman regarding “Ground PVC and other Dust Collection Myths”. The reason for the article was as a follow up to our first voicemail for the epsiode sent to us by Herman asking about recommendations for ductwork (metal vs PVC), how to get the fittings to match up, and recommendations for cyclone collectors. The next voicemail was from Rob, who had a follow up suggestion for a spray finishing book. “Best of FineWoodworking Book Series- Spray Finishing and Other Techniques”. Other voicemails for this episode include Alex who shares his finishing disaster with us, Mike who asks about any recommendations for finding hardwoods to practice on without breaking the bank and another international listener Joene from Belgium who asks about plywood cutting softwares. Marc’s recommendation for Joene is to checkout cutlistplus.com and Matt turn’s to a favorite standby for finding timesavers and possible software, woodbin.com .

Our emails this week include a rather lengthy discussion of a 5 part question trying to uncover which tools do we favor the most, which are essential and which can we do without. Also which are ones we wish we had from day one to which ones do we wish we hadn’t. Jason from New York asks about suggested methods to overcome wood rot on outdoor furniture, even though he’s using Western Red Cedar he’s concerned that this rot resistant wood may need a little more help. Marc found an article at plowhearth.com/magazine/woods.asp to help shed some light on the question. Then Keith sends a little note about his inheritance of a couple of older Powermatic tools… was it just bragging or a legitimate question? Matt suggests that if anyone is interested in finding out more about their older tools to check out Old Woodworking Machinary.com at owwm.com . And to round us out this week is a question and a story from Ron. Ron asks about what are the differences between the various veneer backings available and then a nail gun story, not a good one either. Remember if you have a question, comment or suggestion send it to woodtalkonline@gmail.com or leave us a voicemail at woodtalkonline.com.

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