On today’s show, we’re going to share some great links from around the web and we’ll answer a bunch of your emails. It’s all about the email today baby.
What’s on the bench?
Shannon: is very proud of his compound miter (hopper) joint!
Matt: attempted to sharpen his Craftsman saw and actually had good results!
Marc: just had a great interview with Paul Schurch in the Guild and the house just received an upgrade to 400 amp service.
Around the Web
Check out the Table of Contents from Bob Lang’s new compilation of Craftsman Furniture Shop Drawings.
Lie Nielsen posted this crazy saw on their Facebook Page. Roy Underhill’s custom single-stroke dovetail saw.
First off, Awesome show. I am new to woodworking and my future wife has FINALLY given me permission to build a couple of simple tables for our upcoming wedding. However, she would like them to look old and antique. Through minor research I have seen people using a solution of vinegar and steel wool to distress wood. I am pretty sure I can take some aggression out on the wood to make it look old, but I am lost when it comes to finishing. How do I make these tables look like they were made 100 years ago.
— Seth
I’m building a tea box for my nana and i’ve been trying to cut dovetails in some scrap soft maple. i’m using a crown gent’s saw but no matter how careful i am i can’t seem to get the cut without gaps (mostly further down in the cut). Is it me pushing down to hard and causing the blade to move preventing a nice plumb cut, or is the gent’s saw blade simply too flexible? In a way i’m hoping it is so i have an excuse to buy the Veritas dovetail saw haha.
— Greg DiMarzio
I am in the process of building a baby doll cradle out of plywood scraps that I had leftover. I’m trying to use templates and a flush trim bit in the router table to get consistent curves in the front, back, and sides. First attempts have just been awful. I expected the usual plywood tearout, but I am finding that once I remove the template from plywood, the veneer is actually pulling off completely about 2 – 3 inches from the edge in a few spots. Add to that the process of removing double-sided mounting tape from already peeling veneer, and I’m sure you can get the picture. The bit is relatively new and sharp. The plywood is birch veneer from a hardwood dealer with thicker veneer and much nicer plys than the home center stuff. Do you guys have any thoughts on what I might do to prevent (or at least minimize this) before I attempt the other pieces? The router is set to the highest speed. Should I slow it down? What about template fastening methods? Anything that might be easier to remove than double sided mounting tape?
— Kevin
Shannon mentioned his Plywood Pricing and Grading Article
12 replies on “WT102 – You Don’t Need A New Saw!”
Hi Dudes,
as you were once more talking about but crack, one clever german guy finally found a solution.
Marc, coming from somebody who recently had a house built…..I would strongly advise that the answer to your plumber’s hose bib question be EVERYWHERE. Trust me, no matter how many hose bibs you put in, you will be kicking yourself for not putting in enough….When in doubt, add more. Whether it’s a house or a woodshop.
Mathias Wandel (woodgears.ca) just did an article a couple weeks ago on compound miters for making “splayed side” bowls. He includes a chart that is more oriented toward working with power tools – table saw or miter saw – but I’m sure that one could adapt it to hand tool use. His chart does go down to the hundredth but he gave a piece of advice that I used and got great results from – use the general rules of rounding to get to the next degree. I have a project, not a bowl, that I hope to share in the near future that I used his chart on with great results. I might try playing with it a bit to see how useful it might be with hand tools.
The custom LN dovetail saw for Roy is AWESOME. It’s like the aircraft carrier of dovetail saws. Hadn’t seen it prior to listening to the podcast and had to see it when I was done. Thanks for bringing the awesomeness…
one way to take care of the corners is to use what is called a california corner that does allow you to insulate outside corners. The easiest way to explain it is to nail 2/2×6 perpendicular and than nail one 2×6 to the inside of the L for a sheetrock nailer. this allows you to insulate the corner. Let me know how I can put a drawing in here and I will draw it for you. With our higher end homes we use solid corners. In other words, where a 2×4 interior wall connects to a2x6 outer wall we use 6×6 and where there are outside corners we use a 6×8, If that makes any sense. The solid corners also make for a much more rigid house.
I wouldn’t mind seeing a picture although it is definitely too late for me. 🙂 To post a picture you need to upload the image to an external site and simply post a link here.
Hey guys, another great episode. I came to the shop notes looking for the link on glues. Do you still have it?
Thanks!
Yup. That was discussed in the previous episode #101. Here’s the link: http://pdgood.us/drumshed/glues.html
Ahh — my bad! Thanks!
I did end up getting the Veritas saw and man is it a good saw. It’s just tough to get used to locking your arm in a certain position so you stay square. Thats the most challenging part of cutting dovetails. I find it relaxing though.
Angling the board in the vise and the lighter grip did the trick. Thanks for all the advice guys.
this woodtalk was put up a while ago so i don’t know if this was addressed since then, but one method of “greying” many woods is using iron sulphate dissolved in water, soak for i believe 30 mins and let dry (not sure if you rinse first) you can get this stuff at any garden supply, $5-10 for more then you will ever need. only works with some woods though, but this is the method which is used to make harewood veneer, English sycamore turned grey i believe, pretty stuff worth looking up if you have never seen it before. little research and you can correct me if I’m wrong, also some people will soak there wood in a tea, not sure what kind or type, never had tried this since I’m not a tea drinker and never have any on hand to try. I know it wont help since the tables were probably build last year+ but for anyone else that might wanna know 😀