Daniel in California - Shop of the Week

April 30, 2008 | Filed Under Blog, Shop of the Week | 1 Comment 

Anybody who works job sites or in clients’ homes can appreciate Daniel’s “shop”. Daniel is not just a road warrior, he is also the owner of 7FootSwing.com and produces… what else? Seven Foot Swings! Let’s hear from Daniel:

I know you like to see how other guys set up their shops or their layout and since I am a carpenter/woodworker on the go, I thought I would send you a couple of pics of my “command center”. It’s a chest that originally belong to a woodworker that worked on airplanes , and it’s rumored that he worked on “Air-force 1″ ( I don’t believe it) . I bought from a friend here in Borrego, and it was the best $50 bucks I ever spent! The chest was set- up for mostly hand tooling, and it took a while for me to find out what each little custom holder originally held, but I realized that I needed to retro-fit the chest to my needs starting with the removal of the casters. Now it serves as command central from the back of my truck, and I make dozens of trips to it everyday. What I am able to fit into this chest is amazing. All of my hand power tools, hand tools, and a modest hardware store ( that lives on the top) all fit snugly in the chest.

Wood Talk Online - #35

April 30, 2008 | Filed Under Blog, Wood Talk Online | Leave a Comment 

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Topics:

Marc’s visit with Popular Woodworking and the Wood Werks Supply Inc., and Woodworker’s Safety Week. Voicemails about bandsaw blade sparks, flattening waterstones, and vacuum veneer press systems.

We also discussed a really cool woodworking event coming up: Woodworking in America- Hand Tool & Technique Conference: Nov. 14th-16th in Berea, KY. Appearances by Roy Underhill, Frank Klausz, Michael Dunbar, Adam Cherubini, James Blauvelt, Robin Lee, Thomas Lie-Nielsen, Larry Williams and Don McConnell, John Economaki, Konrad Sauer, Wayne Anderson, Ron Hock, and Mike Wenzloff.

If you are interested in attending, please visit the web site that is dedicated to this conference at WoodworkinginAmerica.com and sign up for the conference’s newsletter. You’ll then be the first to be notified of when registration will open (it will be before July 1) and the pricing for this event.

Then we took on tons of LIVE CHAT QUESTIONS. Because the show turned out to be so long, I didn’t include our normal after-show comments. So expect a bunch of those next week including advice for setting up shop for $2500 (a question from last week).

Related Links: Joewoodworker.com, Veneersupplies.com, Vacupress.com, inspensive vacuum pump

If you want to leave us a voicemail: 623-242-2450

Lumberjocks/Wood Whisperer Safety Video Challenge

April 30, 2008 | Filed Under Blog | 2 Comments 

Once again we’ve teamed up with Lumberjocks.com for a great contest giveaway! Only this one is specifically for Woodworker’s Safety Week. Your task is to record your own woodworking safety video and post it on your personal LumberJocks Blog. The video can be anything regarding workshop safety, whether its personal tips, safety equipment or simply a list of do’s and dont’s. This is not just an chance to win a prize, its an opportunity to perhaps save a fellow woodworker from getting hurt. Speaking of prizes, three random winners will be selected to receive a Lumberjocks T-shirt, a Wood Whisperer T-shirt, and a copy of my new DVD, A Simple Varnish Finish. For all the details about the challenge, please visit Martin’s Blog over at Lumberjocks.com.

FesCool Giveaway Reminder - Last Call For Entries

April 29, 2008 | Filed Under Blog | 2 Comments 

I know I’ve been quiet this month about our contests, primarily because I was out of town most of the time. And although there is no Wood Whisperer Giveaway for April, there is still a chance to win the Fescool Giveaway. Another ETS125 5″ Random Orbit Sander (the most-used sander in my shop) is up for grabs! So head on over to the Fescool Giveaway page, answer the Challenge Question, and that ETS125 sander could be yours. And just between you and me (hehe), the entries are lower this month because I didn’t mention it much, so your chances of winning are even better than usual. ;)


LIVE Wood Talk Online

April 29, 2008 | Filed Under Blog, Wood Talk Online | 6 Comments 

I’m not sure why. I’m not even sure we should. But what the heck, it sounds cool! So on our normal Wood Whisperer chat night (Wed. 8pm Eastern), Matt and I will convene for a live Wood Talk Online episode. Just go to our TWW Live Page, and you should see our smiling faces. We are trying out some new things and this will really stress our internet connections, so let’s hope everything works. At the very least, it should be very funny to watch us flounder with all the technology, the chat room, and trying to do a show at the same time. And for those of you who can’t make it, we will of course record the audio portion and release it like we always do.

Thin Strips More Stable? - Question of the Week

April 28, 2008 | Filed Under Blog, Question of the Week | 7 Comments 

I starting my first real project. It is a mission style sofa table of my design constructed with semi rough cut oak. I am very pleased with the results so far. The wood is turning out great, the mortise and tenons are good (room for improvement here), and the overall look is just what I want. I have finished the four legs. Sooner than later I will have to make the top. The dimensions will be roughly 17″ x 50″. The wood I am working with is 15/16 thick and in widths of 7″-9″. I will plane the wood down to just over 3/4 thick. The guy I bought the wood from suggested that I rip the top to 3″ strips and alternate the end grain to help prevent warping of the top. I agree totally, but thought that 3″ widths was excessively small. I see photos of other people work that is much wider than this and it seems to work. I will be using a couple of biscuits to edge glue the top together. I was hoping to glue it up in about three 6″ planks. I think that six 3″ strips would cheapen the look. What do you think?

And here was my reply:
Hey Luke. Not doubt that 3″ strips would stack the cards in your favor in terms of stability. But wow, does anyone really want their table to look like a gym floor??? The bottom line is, if the wood is kiln dried and properly seasoned, it should not cause you any unexpected MAJOR issues over the course of time. Not to mention it will be secured to the base which will help keep it flat. And on a table of this size, I think the 3″ strips would be completely unnecessary. Think about how many beautiful dining room table tops are out there with nice wide boards and overall widths of about 4′, and those are nearly as flat as the day they were glued together.

I always use the widest boards my jointer will allow. And if I find a nice wide plank of 12″ or more, it would be a travesty to cut that board down under the hopes of increased stability. Wide boards are harder and harder to come by these days so furniture made with wide boards is more elegant and more appealing, in my opinion. So if I were you, I would go with your gut and assemble the top from three 6″ boards. And as long as it doesn’t make the face grain look bad, go ahead and alternate the growth rings. Conventional wisdom says that will keep the top balanced. Good luck.

What are YOU up to???

April 27, 2008 | Filed Under Blog | 43 Comments 

Happy Monday everyone! I have a fun idea to get this week started with a bang. I wanna know what projects you folks are working on. I asked this question in last week’s chat and I got answers: about 50 in a row, lol. Needless to say, I wasn’t able to keep up. So let’s try it again. Feel free to post a quick summary about the project you are working on currently (or planning to start). And if you have pictures, go ahead and post links so everyone can check out your handiwork. April has been all about traveling for me, so I want to live vicariously through you guys. :)

I’ll go first. This weekend Nicole decided it was time to convert the basement into a fun beach/tiki themed game room. My weekend was spent ripping up carpeting and carrying it up to the shop where it is waiting to be disposed of. Wonderful. As for woodworking, I will soon be starting another collaborative project with Fine Woodworking (a modern low entertainment center), as well as a personal project (coffee table for Chez Spagnuolo).

Assembly Table - Project of the Week

April 26, 2008 | Filed Under Blog, Project of the Week | 29 Comments 

This week’s project comes from Patrick. My poor little assembly table is cowering in the corner with its tail between its legs. lol. He writes:
This is my take on your assembly table. I had been contemplating what to do for a replacement bench for a couple of years. It was not until I saw the assembly table you built that I decided to combine the features of a work bench with the features of an assembly table. It was this idea that actually ended up saving space despite the fact this new bench is larger than the two it replaced combined. It measures approximately 81” x 51” x 36.5”. The base is walnut, the panels are birch ply and the joinery is mortise and tenon. The top is a seven inch thick torsion box, wrapped in walnut, and includes two vises with the requisite bench dog holes. The bench dog holes presented a problem because I did not believe MDF would be substantial enough for the dogs to react against. Therefore, I glued walnut blocks in wherever a hole was intended. Blocking the dog holes also had the added advantage of not turning the top into a time capsule for every small part I set on the bench. Finally, I have a surface big enough to assemble a large project without the assistance of shims and saw horses.
**UPDATE** Patrick sent in a Sketchup file that details the construction of the torsion box and the role of the solid wood dog hole supports. Download Sketchup File

Episode 47 - Turning Water into Oil

April 26, 2008 | Filed Under Blog, Video | 23 Comments 

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I get quite a few questions about water-based finishes and how to make them look more like oil-based. Its a common problem since water-based finishes are “water-white”, which means they don’t impart any color to the wood. This can be great in certain situations, but not so great when you want your project to have that warm glow to it. In this episode, I use dye, shellac, and boiled linseed oil to try to spice up our water-based finish. I also packed in a bunch of related tips and tricks as I went through each process.

Related Links:
Hock Shellac Flakes
Charles Neil’s Shellac Video

As requested, here is a hi-res photo of the test boards:

Busy, busy, busy……

April 24, 2008 | Filed Under Blog, Video | 14 Comments 


Its been a busy month. Too much to type so here is a quick video update. Topics include: Festool grand opening, visit to the offices of Popular Woodworking, Wood Werks Supply, our new DVD cover (designed by our friend Langly, the FesCool Giveaway, safety week, new project with Fine Woodworking, a Live WTO experiment, new coffee table project, the new Festool routers, and birthday wishes for Nicole.

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