Off to the Podcast and New Media Expo

September 26, 2007 | Filed Under Blog | 2 Comments 

Well, Nicole and I are taking a little road trip to the Podcast and New Media Expo in Ontario, Ca. Should be a very good time. Since it really has nothing to do with woodworking, we don’t plan on taking any Wood Whisperer footage. But for those of you who are interested, Nicole and I will be sending out updates through Twitter. And just for the heck of it, you can get those updates to the left. So we’ll be back by Monday and I plan on putting out another Wood Whisperer show early next week. Thanks everyone!

***Update***- We are back in one piece. Just a bit tired so I might be a little behind on my normal scheduled posts. So bear with me as I get my act together. Have a great woodworky week!

Best place to store lumber? - Question of the Week

September 26, 2007 | Filed Under Blog, Question of the Week | 3 Comments 

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

Alright, I have another question: I live in South texas and well.. its humid. I hear a lot of people talking about how you should bring lumber into your shop to let it dry and acclimate, but what if you work from your garage and its probably more humid there than anywhere else? Are there any storage options short of keeping it in the house?

And here was my reply:

“Hey Stu. The bottom line with wood storage is that you should store it in conditions that closely match the final destination whenever possible. So if your shop is more humid than outside, you are probably better off storing them outside. Incidentally, why is your shop more humid than outside? You may want to pick up a cheap humidity gauge to confirm this.”

“For that reason, some people do store project wood inside their house for a few weeks just to make sure the moisture content is right where it needs to be. Obviously that doesn’t work for everyone. So the real question becomes, what are your options for storage? Most people have no choice but to store them in the shop. Just plan for shrinkage (or expansion) when you build your pieces. And if you have some space in the house, dont be afraid to take all the wood for a project and store it under the couch for about a month before you start the project. Good luck.”

Episode 28- When the Dust Settles

September 23, 2007 | Filed Under Blog, Video | 36 Comments 

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So how do you spend your time between projects? For me, its a great time to tune up my equipment, wax the cast iron tables, touch up the chisels, and do some general cleanup. And nothing is more inspiring than a nice clean workshop at the beginning of a new project. So watch the video and you will see some of the things I like to do between big projects.

Relevant Links:

Shapton Ceramic Stones

Saw Blade Cleaning Kit Saw Blade Cleaning Kit
Faster and better cutting blades! Includes a quart of pitch and resin remover, a brass wire bristle brush, and a saw blade cleaning pan and wash basin for router bits.Extra pitch and resin remover mi..

Saw Blade Cleaning Kit

Sticky Finish. What gives?- Question of the Week

September 19, 2007 | Filed Under Blog, Question of the Week | Leave a Comment 

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

I put two coats of Seal-a-Cell clear on a piece of cocobolo, then a coat of Arm-r-Seal urethane top coat, gloss. Three days later, it’s still slightly tacky. Will this ever cure enough that I can continue applying coats of Arm-r-Seal? What gives?

And here was my reply:

“Hey Schuyler. What you describe is a classic problem for wood finishers. Your finish is just not curing. Fortunately, there is a good explanation for it and it can easily be avoided in the future. Cocobolo is one of many naturally “oily” woods. It shares this property with rosewood, teak, ebony, and padauk, just to name a few. The natural oils in the wood prevent the finish from adhering properly and curing. The solution? Sealing off the oil. I have referred to shellac in the past as a nearly universal binder. And it is perfect for this job. A seal-coat of dewaxed shellac (1-2 lb cut) will not only adhere to the oily wood, but it will seal off the oils and provide a good binding surface for your topcoat of choice, be it oil-based varnish, water-based poly, or lacquer. Just be sure to first remove the excess oil by wiping the surface down with either acetone, lacquer thinner, or denatured alcohol before applying the shellac.”

“I forgot to mention what you might want to do to clean up the current situation. Give the piece a good scrubbing with mineral spirits to get rid of most of the uncured finish. Let that dry for a few hours and if the finish is still on the surface, you might consider scraping and sanding to bare wood. If the surface is nice and smooth and you have all the finish off, just give it a light 180 grit sanding in preparation for the sealer coat and you are good to go. Good luck.”



Wood Talk Online - Episode 17

September 18, 2007 | Filed Under Blog, Wood Talk Online | Leave a Comment 

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The end of summer is not only traditionally the time of year when school starts back up, it’s also when most woodworkers head back into their shops and start cranking out all those projects that were neglected because of too much summer fun and frolicking…or perhaps heat.

So in this episode of Wood Talk Online, we have fun and frolicking of our own as we share with you some of the most recent articles posted on the website, including Joe Woodworkers veneer article, Tom talking about ‘Old Ugly’ and many others. As always, the listeners of Wood Talk Online share with us their experiences and have some great feedback for when we go off on a tangent or two and miss the mark on a previous question.

Allen wrote in to share his hard learned lessen on a new use for Boeshield’s T-9. MoparDude sets us straight on why there are multiple sizes of flush trim bits. And speaking of questions we have a few of those too! Roberto’s question about half blind dovetails vs through dovetails sparks a near all out disagreement between our hosts (the first ever!!). Larry wonders how he can dry a huge haul of Mahogany that he’s come across. Matt suggests checking out John Wilson’s site at ShakerOvalBox.com. Evan in Japan ponders the question of “do I really need a cyclone dust collector?” And we have some voicemails too!

For your comments, questions and feedback send them to woodtalkonline@gmail.com or leave us a voicemail at (623) 242-2450. Also don’t forget the giveaways too. To win a Highland Woodworking Woodslicer Bandsaw blade email us at WTOpromo@gmail.com and to enter the FesCool Giveaway at The Wood Whisperer, send your correct answer to Festool@TheWoodWhisperer.com

LumberJocks Happenings

September 14, 2007 | Filed Under Blog | 2 Comments 

Its been a while since I mentioned LumberJocks. The community is getting bigger each day and continues to be a great resource for woodworkers around the world. They are currently running two new challenges:

Virtual Dining Table Challenge- The object is to use SketchUp to design a dining table. Participants will win prizes from Popular Woodworking and a Pro License form the Google SketchUp team is up for grabs.

Fall Philanthropy Challenge- A great idea for a good cause, “Save the Children”

So head on over to Lumberjocks and have some fun.

Grrr!! Dust in poly finish!!!!- Question of the Week

September 12, 2007 | Filed Under Blog, Question of the Week | 6 Comments 

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

No one has ever answered this directly for me, and you are becoming my trusted source! :) It has to do with finishing and dust getting on the finish…I mainly use tung oil now and that fixes the problems since it soaks in and doesn’t sit on top of the wood, but in the past whenever I used polyurethane when it was dry the board felt bumpy and looked bad b/c of all the crud that settled in the finish…I have tried cleaning up the shop to the best of my ability and I can’t seem to keep dust out when using a poly or something similar…And if I sand it out and recoat, it is just back again…How do I get rid of this damn dust in the air???? Is there some trick I am missing, it drives me crazy and actually I stopped woodworking for a long time b/c I could never seem to get a decent finish which frustrated me to no end…I now have a better shop and I do have a Delta air filtration unit, should I leave that on when finishing??? I just figured it would stir up the airborne dust particles more…I thought maybe finishing in a different room, but even my bedroom has dust particles floating around, I can see them in the rays of sun coming through the windows…And my house isn’t dirty or anything, I always figured some dust is just normal always in the air…Help a frustrated brother out, lol…I appreciate any help you could give me on this subject…

And here was my reply:

“Hey Jason. Take a deep breath. We all deal with these issues so don’t get too uptight. There are a few tricks and some standard practices that should help you out. First, you should try to reduce the shop dust as much as possible. Vacuum the area thoroughly and turn on your ambient air cleaner the night before a finishing day. You are right about keeping the cleaner on while finishing. That will only stir the dust up and create more problems for you. Now if you really want to get crazy about it, you can even wet the floor down around the finishing area. This will cut down on the dust created when you walk around. I never really do this though.”

“Once the prep work is done, you can start your finishing. When using poly, you have a long cure time right? And that’s the problem. While the finish cures, dust settles in it. So one thing you can do is start using a wiping formula (if you are not already). The wiping formula is thinned with mineral spirits, and will dry faster than full-strength varnish. You may have to apply more coats to get the finish thickness you want, but that’s a small price to pay for less dust-nibs. Now once the finish is dry, you should lightly sand with 320 grit and apply the next coat. Repeating this process, you won’t have a problem until the final coat (as you found out). For the final coat, I typically thin the varnish as much as 75% with naptha instead of mineral spirits. The naptha flashes off quickly and dries before lots of dust has time to settle. If you can spray this coat with an HVLP system, you are even better off. Now once this last coat dries, it is inevitable that you will have an occasional bump. I take care of these with a light touch of 2000 grit automotive sandpaper. The 2000 grit is aggressive enough to flatten the nibs but fine enough not to scratch the finish. Don’t rub too hard. Just a few light passes will do the trick. That should leave you with a nearly flawless finish. And with practice, the results get better and better. Hopefully that will put you on the right track. Good luck!”

The FESCool Giveaway

September 10, 2007 | Filed Under Blog | 20 Comments 

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The Wood Whisperer and Festool are proud to announce The FesCool Giveaway. Every month, we will have a drawing for a free Festool tool! I’ll wait for you to recover……

At the end of every month, Festool will send a lucky Wood Whisperer viewer one of their innovative tools. Most months, it will be a ETS 125 5″ Random Orbit Sander.

ets1ets2ets3

But occasionally throughout the year, Festool will offer up one of their other tool-icious items from their menu. We’re talking things like the TS-55 Circular Saw, The RO-150 Rotex Sander, and The TRION Jigsaw.

ts55rotexjigsaw

All you need to do is answer the Monthly Challenge Question which can be found on the FesCool Giveaway Page. You can get all the details there.

****Please note that the contest is only available to US and Canadian residents. One household entry per month.

Proper Drum Sander Use- Question of the Week

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

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

I’m interested in how you utilize your drum sander in the shop. Do you use it for thicknessing or finish sanding? How does it fit into your work flow when making furniture. What grit do you leave on the drum and do you change grits or just stick with the one? Have you had any luck sanding larger table tops through the cantilevered sander in two passes?

I’ve had the good fortune to acquire a drum sander and want to make the most of it’s capabilities. I understand how most woodworking machines fit into the workflow but this one is more of a mystery….

Thanks for your insight.

And here was my reply:

“Hey Rick. Its probably best if you only consider the drum sander as a finishing tool. Trying to use it as a stock removal tool will result in burnt sandpaper, blown fuses, and a messed up board. I usually leave 80 or 120 grit paper in mine and typically use it after the stock comes out of the planer. It gets rid of milling marks and allows me to dial in the thickness of the piece I am milling. Now, I might change the grit to something like 120 or 180 before I do my final assembly and run all the pieces through. But in many cases I just start sanding with my random orbit sander and progress up through the grits. The other common use for the drum sander in my shop is making very thin stock (either for shims or edge banding). So any time I need to make something that is less than 1/4″ thick, the drum sander is vital. That also means I am able to make my own veneer. I take thin 1/8″ slices right off the bandsaw and run it through the drum sander to smooth out the rough side.”
” To answer you other question, I usually dont run really large pieces through the unit in two passes. There is nearly always a ridge to deal with regardless of how perfect it is set up. So I have done it, but with the knowledge that there will be a nice ridge to sand away with my hand sanders. Despite that one flaw, it really is a valuable tool and I would be lost without mine. Good luck.”

Episode 27- When Dovetails Cry

September 3, 2007 | Filed Under Blog, Video | 73 Comments 

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Most of you know by now that my schedule has been a little packed lately due to a long series of commissions. I promised you that once they were over, I would be able to focus nearly all of my efforts on The Wood Whisperer. And now its time to deliver. I am finally on the last of that series of projects and will be done within the next 7-10 days. This particular episode represents a taste of whats to come. With some new editing software, a new camera, and a little more knowledge and experience on my part, we are able to offer higher quality videos and higher quality content. The new format of the show represents what we would like to think of as “Season 2″. I hope you enjoy it.

I would have to say the most commonly requested episode so far has been dovetails. Handcut, machine cut, through or half blind……..you guys love your dovetails! Well, I have held off for a while because I wanted to make sure I did the process justice. This particular episode is a glimpse into the world of machine-cut through dovetails. Even though the episode is 30 minutes long, I feel like I just barely scratched the surface. The devil is in the details! And each jig differs in those little details. Fortunately, there are some common elements to all these jigs that make this episode useful to anyone, regardless of what jig you use. I happened to use what I consider to be the best jig on the market: the Leigh D4R.

No matter what jig you use or even if you cut them by hand, there’s no denying the “cool factor” surrounding dovetails. If you haven’t made them yet, they are easier than they look and it is certainly worth your time to learn the process. So watch the video and find out what it sounds like, when dovetails cry……….

***Error note*** Thanks to Steve and Brian in the comments section for bringing this to my attention. During the filming of the podcasts, I was using “props” for my cuts and consequently was not as careful with my organization as I should have been. Now you see why I use props. lol. I accidentally reversed the pins and tails. My rule is to cut the tails in the sides and the pins in the fronts and backs. I did the opposite in the video. I guess thats what happens when you are focused on filming and getting the right shot, instead of making proper dovetails. So don’t get confused. As long as you remember the rule (and you don’t try to make a show out of everything you do), you should be fine.

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