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On today’s show we’re talking about a durable kitchen table finish, sanding curves, sharpening a saw, and our favorite shop gear that has nothing to do with woodworking.
What’s on the Bench?
- Marc is scared to make veneer so he is procrastinating waiting for a new tool.
- Matt is making photo clip boards for his wife again.
- Shannon is building the Woodworkers Fighting Cancer table and chair project and getting fancy with a raised panel.
What’s New?
- Marc shares an old video on bandsaw set up but a classic
- Preston shared an article about some great woodworking education going on in Oregon and Colorado
- George shared a video about LED vs CFL shop lighting.
- Huck shared a video about a homemade table saw
Kickback
- Stephen was surprised we didn’t mention the Fidgen Kerfing plane in our conversation about resawing at the table saw and bandsaw. Shannon ranted a bit about the origin of the Saw rebate plane and will be building one soon just to test it out.
Voicemail
- A “second time caller” wants to know about using a bandsaw for scrolling work.
- Nate is wondering if he can recoat a lacquer finish on his table with Polyurethane
- Thom is building a rocker and really struggled smoothing out the rocker parts
- Pug wants some advice on sharpening saws.
- Jared wants to know what non woodworking stuff we have in our shops that we can’t live without
How You Can Support Us
Use the links in the left column and sign up for a recurring donation, kick it up a notch and wear a Wood Talk T-Shirt, or leave us an iTunes Review
13 replies on “WT281 – Woodworking Started in 2010”
LED lamps are the way to go. If you can get past the initial cost vs. florescent you’ll be happy. They are more efficient, provide better light and you don’t have to worry about those damn tubular bulbs.
I’m in the middle retrofitting my new shop space now and did a comparison first. It was obvious without too much science that LED lamps would be best.
Really enjoyed this episode, and I was inspired to go back and listen at various speeds. Try it – you sound hilarious at half speed (to my European ears).
Try playing it backwards…trippy.
Marc, Matt, & Shannon,
What flat bottom spokeshave do you recommend? With prices ranging from $45 on the Stanley to $100+ for Lee Valley it is hard to know what is a good spokeshave to start with that will last a longtime. I am a firm believer in buy the best you can afford up front so you don’t have to pay more to replace later on.
I have an antique stanley and a few Veritas versions. I’ve had luck with both, but the key to any success I’ve had was always in the sharpness of the blade.
I like the ease of adjustment I’ve had with the Veritas, it’s been much more accurate to dial in.
But really the only thing that matters when I’ve used a spokeshave is getting the right depth of cut and knowing when to change the direction of my cut.
That doesn’t actually answer your question, but for myself it’s more about how to use one versus which one to use.
Thanks Shannon, I appreciate you telling me that. The first time I picked one up was a few weeks ago at woodcraft and I played with the Stanley and Pinnacle. The pinnacle seemed to cut so much easier and I think it is time to add one to my Arsenal so I can get more into curves. I will look at the low angle from Veritas. Thanks.
The most versatile spokeshave out there is a low angle shave so the Veritas low angle would be my suggestion if you don’t have a spokeshave at all. That being said it can be more finicky when it comes to finishing cuts with it. Then I would pair it with the Stanley 152 variety (or the LN Boggs Shave). I’m not a big fan of the screw adjusters as I feel they get in the way and overcomplicate adjustment.
Thanks Matt!
For not losing where you are in sharpening a saw, would machinist blue help? That would give you a clear visual note of what teeth you have filed or not.
I use a black sharpie marker on my chisel and plane blade edges all the time to act as a visual guide for where I’m removing metal, so I can’t imagine it wouldn’t work.
I’m with Matt I use a Sharpie, I know many who use Machinist fluid but I have never gone out and bought any so I’m still rockin’ the Sharpie
A little late, but I just wanted to thank Shannon for pointing out that Peyton is closer to Colorado Springs than Denver. You should have heard me in the car (ironically as I was driving back home from Denver). And Marc, many of us from the Springs don’t like being lumped in with the Denverites. Although granted sometimes we don’t even like being lumped in with people from the Springs.. or even people in general. Wait, where was I going with this? That was a really cool article anyways. Maybe I need to choice my kids into the Peyton school district (you know when they are old enough to start kindergarten). They could be like the woodworking twins instead of the doublemint twins.
Gotta respect the boundaries! Otherwise those Denver punks will start claiming Garden of the Gods as their own and buying up the books at Poor Richard’s