While I don’t often use paint in my own work, I can certainly respect those who do. So how about you? Do you ever paint your furniture?

One surefire way to increase our safety around power tools is to simply increase the distance between our body parts and the sharp blades. Whether it’s a push block, a push paddle, a push stick, or something as fancy as a GRR-Ripper 3D Push Block, something is almost always better than nothing. So we’re curious, what do you use when feeding boards through power tools?

This poll was created by Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbench.com.

This poll was created by Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbench.com.

This level of accuracy can be enlightening and stifling at the same time. As we know, wood moves. So there’s a point where dialing things in to the Nth degree provides quickly diminishing returns. But where should we draw the line? Sadly, there’s no easy answer and even if there is an answer, it is likely different for everyone. Depending on the tool, the material, the project and the person, the numbers can and will be different.

This article was inspired by a long-time friend of the show, Adam, who expressed his discontent with the level of accuracy he was able to measure with his cross-cut sled. His ability to measure error seems to have exceeded his ability to adjust for it. A problem I have had myself recently. Frankly, this is probably more commmon than any of us are willing to admit.

While making his sled, Adam used the well-know 5-cut method which I demonstrated in my Cross-Cut Sled Video. By making multiple subsequent cuts on the same piece of wood, the method magnifies the error by a multiple of four. This is powerful stuff when you’re looking to dial in your fence setting and if you have the ability to make teeny tiny adjustments, it can be quite effective. But what happens when you can’t seem to get the fence any more accurate. Perhaps every adjustment you make seems to just make the error worse. At what point is it good enough?

For me, the acceptable amount of error is right at the cusp of where I notice it. While assembling a project, if I have an 18″ wide panel that is off square by about 1/64″, would I notice? Would I even be able to see it with the squares I have access to? I doubt it. And I’m guessing most of you wouldn’t be able to spot the error either. Of course not every project involves wide panels, so for everything else we process with a cross-cut sled, such as joinery, the error would be even less impactful.

All that said, if I can further reduce the level of error without driving myself crazy, I’ll give it a shot. But if I think trying to improve on it will simply make the situation worse, I simply stop while I’m ahead and proceed with the acid test: a project. If you don’t notice the error during actual project construction, then for all practical purposes the error does not exist.

A Good Lesson

Here’s a story that might help put things in perspective. When I received my current table saw (the PM2000 with the flames), I started to stress about the flatness of the top. I can’t remember how much of a dip it had but it was more than most of us would consider acceptable. I’m picky, but not THAT picky. So I asked for a new top and the manufacturer agreed that it was a little too much error. Unfortunately, the second top had the same problem. I lost a few weeks of table saw time as a result of this fussing around and decided I had enough. I needed to get back to work. I bolted the top down, calibrated the saw as well as I could and started on the next project. It was bugging the heck out of me that I was going to “live with” this error but I pushed forward. Over 6 years later (or something like that), I have yet to notice ANY negative impact in my work. The final fit and finish of my projects is as good as I expect it to be.

So the moral to the story is, a problem isn’t a problem unless it’s a problem! Whenever I calibrate my tools now, I try to get as close to the ideal scenario as possible. Once again, I do this without driving myself nuts. I can’t afford to spend an entire day tuning up a jointer. Once I feel I have it as dialed in as I can reasonably get, I begin working. If at some point in the future I find that the quality of my work is diminishing thanks to a particular level of calibration error, then I know that for me, in that particular situation, the error was too great and it needs to be adjusted. If I never notice anything and my work meets my personal standards, then there really is no problem at all and the tool is accurate enough.

And that brings us to the poll question: What is your preferred way of sharpening?

This poll was created by Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbench.com.

I think most of you know by now that I am indeed one of those weirdos who likes things to match. Not only does it look good, but it makes organization easier. Clamps are a great example. If you go with a bunch of different brands, you’ll find it a little trickier to organize since the clamp components will likely be sized differently. And while I will go to some length to have things look similar, I won’t do it at the expense of overall quality. Quality is always first in mind, and if I can get a match from that point, I do.

So how important is matching to you?

This poll was created by Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbench.com.

This poll was created by Tom Iovino of Tomsworkbench.com.

The real trick is making sure your joints are all protected from the finish. Of course, finish seals wood and sealed wood doesn’t accept glue. So if you do pre-finish, be sure you tape off all of your joints. Not every project can be pre-finished but if you can manage it, I highly recommend it.

This poll was created by Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbench.com.

In November 2009, I wrote an article for Popular Woodworking Magazine that talks about this exact topic. Taking some influence from Nicole’s Glamour magazine, I constructed a quiz specifically for woodworkers. Answer the questions honestly, and you should end up with a reasonably objective result that tells you whether you should build or buy.

You can download the full article here. And if you want to take the test, download the Build or Buy Worksheet.

For those who might be wondering, this is an older article from the archive, but I now have permission to distribute the article and the worksheet directly. I felt it was worth re-posting.

My personal wood stash primarily consists of project left-overs. I don’t have a huge amount of material simply because I like to run fairly lean. While it’s nice to have a lot of wood, I need to be able to get to it in order to use it. So if the boards are on the bottom of a large pile, I don’t enjoy having to get up on a ladder to move things around. So while I have the propensity to hoard wood as much as the next woodworker, I try to keep it under control.

This poll was created by Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbench.com.

Ever since building my own Split-Top Roubo Workbench, I have been interested in the clever ideas people come up with in terms of hardware alternatives. Matt Armstrong came up with a solution using a steel shaft and a linear bearing that once setup, requires no adjustment. Let’s check it out! — Marc

There are a variety of mechanisms and means to get a leg vise to clamp firmly. All of them, in one way or another, restrict the range of motion of the bottom of the chop in order to increase the force applied to the top of the chop. While a parallel guide and pin are a fine way to approach the problem, they require pin changes to accommodate differing material thickness along with additional complexity in construction. Furthermore, unless you use roller bearings (such as the “glide” system from BenchCrafted, pictured left), you have a fair amount of friction and/or slop to overcome in the mechanism. Alternatives to the parallel guide and pin are numerous – some are highly mechanical in nature, featuring chains, sprockets, gears, cams, and so on. Some of you may also have seen that Benchcrafted is reviving the St. Peter’s cross, a simple scissoring mechanism that keeps the chop parallel to the leg.

My design is nothing more than a hardened steel shaft and a linear bearing. Simple to design, simple to implement, and simple to maintain. I used a 30mm linear bearing and 500mm long shaft which ended up setting me back around $60 for the pair.

A hole was bored into the leg vise chop at a 1 degree angle (more or less) so that the top of the chop is tilted slightly forward. The hardened steel shaft was roughed up with sandpaper and then I used polyurethane glue to secure it in the chop. Another hole was bored into the leg for the linear bearing. The hole for the 1.25″ threaded rod and acme nut was match drilled once the bearing was installed, and then the rest of the steps are like any other leg vise installation (secure the nut to the back of the leg, attach the handwheel to the threaded rod, etc).

How does it work? Amazingly. The linear bearing not only restricts any out-of-parallel racking from clamping pressure, but supports and aligns the entire chop so that its motion is buttery smooth. Best of all, it was cheap and elegant. I saved a decent amount of money and, for once, time. I actually think it looks fairly cool, too!

The precision shaft, acme rod, and acme nut were McMaster-Carr purchases. The linear bearing came from vxb.com, and the handwheel was a splurge- a Kipp from Germany. I used a single sae841 thrust washer between the chop and the handwheel, and a roll pin to secure the handwheel to the rod. Lastly, to keep the threaded rod from binding, I put a bronze bushing inside the leg, similar to the function of the acetal block that benchcrafted sells. It wasn’t necessary, but it makes the mechanism even more precise.

Here are a couple videos of Matt showing off his new vise.

Matt Armstrong is a Wood Whisperer Guild member hailing from the SF Bay Area who is a full time husband, new father, and software release manager. He has butchered thousands of board feet of wood in his garage shop and spends more time building shop furniture than working on the projects he promised his wife he’d do.

And let’s be honest, not everyone wants to spend the money on the hardwoods that look beautiful with nothing more than a clear coat. Sometimes we have to make do with slightly less attractive species and on those projects, stain can work wonders. So how’s about you?

This poll was created by Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbench.com.

So what about you? How far have you traveled for wood?

This poll was created by Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbenchcom.

Finished Bed With Comforter

This project is currently being presented in the Wood Whisperer Guild but I do plan on producing a shorter free version for the regular site, so stay tuned for that. What makes this build a little different than previous is that I focus quite a bit on the evolution of a design and what it’s like to work side by side with a client. Check it out if you’re interested!

So here it is in all its glory! This queen size platform bed features solid Bubinga with a Wenge raised panel headboard that slants back at a 20 degree angle. There were a number of construction challenges along the way but in the end, I am very happy with the finished product.

The Details

All beds have to break down to some extent so it’s necessary to include hardware. My goal was to incorporate the hardware in a way that would have minimal visual impact. After trying a few different threaded inserts, I decided to employ a trick we showed a while back: tapping threads in wood. Bubinga is a very dense wood and threads quite nicely. Once the hole was drilled and tapped, all I had to do was cut a length of threaded rod to serve as my bolt.

On the underside of the rails are a couple of access holes for installing the bent washers and the nuts. Because the space was still a little tight, I modified/sacrificed one of my wrenches and gave it to the client upon delivery. You gotta do what you gotta do! The back of the bed received carriage bolts and although their heads would only be seen from behind, I wanted to make them look a little nicer. Some matte black paint did the trick.

One thing you may notice in these pictures is the oil spotting. I took the photos on the same day I applied pure tung oil to the project and the oil likes to creep out of the pores all day long. So please forgive the appearance in the closups.

One of the biggest challenges in this project was to provide enough support for the bed while maintaining the floating platform look. This was achieved by bracing the rails with extra stock (which also gives the appearance of a thicker rail) and by including a center support rail. The center support rail received a series of notches that interlock with the maple support boards. You’ll also notice the extra support block under the center rail. I convinced the client that for the long-term viability of this design, the bed needed at least some direct contact with the floor. So I constructed two supports that not only support the underside of the center rail, but also the horizontal maple support that rests above it.

One of my favorite details on this piece is the integral French cleat system I used for the center support rail. I really didn’t want to employ hardware on a piece of that size so I created two solid wood cleats that were screwed to the headboard and footboard, and the center rail itself was cut so that it would nest perfectly into the cleat. I also made an effort to have grain continuity wherever possible. So you’ll notice that the vertical headboard legs were cut from a single board and matched back up after cutting the bevel. This minimizes the impact of a cross-grain joint. I did the same thing for the horizontal lower headboard rail, only the cut was with the grain and resulted in a perfect match after the final glueup. It’s details like this that help set your work apart from the crowd, so never forget the power of grain continuity!

The piece was finished off by burning in my initials and the date. I know some folks have much fancier ways of applying their mark to a finished project, but something about the raw nature of the burn-in really appeals to me. I usually use a Sharpie to sign it first and then follow the lines with the burning tool.

This was a great build and it’s one that I’m proud to remember as the first project to come out of the new shop. This client is looking to have an entire bedroom set made to match so there’s probably going to be a lot of Bubinga in my future.

How Much?

One question I seem to always get when I post a finished project like this is “How much did you charge?” I am happy to answer that as best I can. Keep in mind this project was filmed and posted as a project in the Guild. As a result, it took about four times as long to make. Also, because of the filming process I didn’t even bother to track my time. The best I can do is give a VERY rough estimate. I can tell you that the wood alone approached the $2000 mark. If that sounds like a lot, that’s because Bubinga and Wenge aren’t cheap and I needed to buy a lot of it to get the grain I was looking for. If I had charged the customer full price, I doubt I would be able to charge less than $6000. That isn’t what I charged my client, however. The fact that I am publishing the project in the Guild makes me feel a little weird about “double-dipping” with the client. So he received a screaming deal on this one!

So that’s what we want to find out from you with this poll: where do you do your woodworking?

This poll was created by Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbench.com.

If you haven’t heard the buzz already, this week is Get Woodworking Week, an effort by my good buddy Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbench.com to help push new woodworkers out of research mode and into woodworking mode. Blogs and podcasts from around the web are participating by publishing content that aids in the effort.

As I gave it some thought, I discovered that this is a rather difficult thing to do. There are probably hundreds of reasons people who like the idea of woodworking might not be able to pull the trigger. And while I can certainly try to write an inspirational article, it will only be a shot in the dark in terms of actually helping to solve your problem. Not enough tools, not enough time, not enough wood, not enough space? I suppose these will be the most common reasons but I am very interested to know what keeps you from making sawdust. Perhaps, we can discuss it here and find solutions?

So if you do have a reason why you can’t “get woodworking,” post it here and hopefully the community (and I) will be able to chime in and give you some practical advice. Additionally, this will give me a better idea of what to cover in future videos for 2013.

So what’s keeping you from woodworking?

Busy Boy!

It’s going to be a very busy year for me. The Guild is now on a schedule building 4 projects per year. Sadly, that doesn’t leave me with as much time for free content production as I’d like. So I plan on trying a few experiments where we provide heavily edited versions of Guild projects as “episodes” on the free site. Of course we’ll continue to provide technique and product-related videos as well as our Whisper Minis. I am also in the process of getting some help on the business and editing side of things. We have a lot of content just sitting on the hard drive waiting for someone to take the time to edit it down. On deck are the following: a wooden-geared clock project from Guest host Rick Urschel, a tour of the Thorsen House with Darrell Peart, my Clear Vue Cyclone and ductwork installation, and a free version of the Dogon Platform Bed project.

The New Book

Woohoo! I’m writing a new book! This will be a full-size book on the topic of Hybrid Woodworking and it’s backed by a major publisher. So obviously the pressure is on. In fact, I’m writing this blog post when I really should be writing! This project is pretty massive for someone like me and it will easily consume the next few months. If you don’t hear from me for a while, you now know why! I suppose it’s time to put on my hipster glasses and head to Starbucks.

“Free” Videos

I wrote an article in late 2011 about our Video Advertising in an effort to explain our situation. You’d be surprised how many complaints we get each week about the fact that our videos have ads, but I digress. Unfortunately, the video situation is getting worse before it gets better. Our host, Blip.tv, no longer supports direct downloads of videos. Direct downloads bypass their advertising system and consequently, they are now blocking them. This is why you no longer see download links posted with each video. Currently, the only surefire way to get the videos on your hard drive is to use iTunes. If you’re using something else to download the videos, it’s only a matter of time before Blip.tv blocks that too.

This has caused us to start searching for a new way to present and host our videos. No big deal, right? Wrong. You might be surprised to know that our silly little videos are now being viewed/downloaded over 3 Million times a year! With over 230 episodes in the archive and more being added each year, that number won’t be getting smaller any time soon. Further complicating things is the fact that we like to provide not only the standard web version of our videos, but also a high quality HD version for set-top boxes like AppleTV, Tivo, and also local television networks. It’s a recipe for some very expensive hosting bills and it’s the reason why just about any other major player in the woodworking world does not allow their videos to be downloaded. Well, I would imagine the desire to keep people on their website is an even larger driving force, but that’s just not how we work. The sad fact is the days of “free” podcast hosting are dead and gone. The landscape of online video has evolved and we must evolve with it.

I WANT to provide advertising-free videos. I WANT to let you download our videos at any time on any platform. And I WANT to produce oodles of free content for the world to enjoy. But there are now technical, logistical, and financial reasons why these things might not be realistic anymore. We are researching our options and if there is any way for us to continue to allow unlimited free downloads of our videos, without putting us in the poor house, I will.

And just a quick note for those of you who know something about online video hosting and are prepared to tell me about Vimeo, YouTube, or something else. All of these online services have one thing in common: they don’t give you permalink access to your files for direct download. Putting the video into an embedded player is not the problem. YouTube will provide that service for free. The real issue is hosting our video files for direct download.

Well, that’s it folks. Thanks for sticking with us for all these years and I hope this sort of “inside baseball” transparency helps you understand what we do and why we do it. As much as some people like to think we are a big corporation with numerous employees and deep pockets, we are still the same small family-run business we have always been. We are just a lot busier now and our newest employee is still in diapers!

Interestingly enough, if the wood is either quartersawn or rift sawn, I don’t have nearly as much of an aversion to it.

After we carefully placed the bed parts on the floor, I couldn’t help but notice another bed that overshadowed my own creation. In their living room was a hand-carved wooden bed that was impossible to miss. It appeared to be carved from a single piece of wood and was clearly designed for a specific purpose. The tool marks were plainly visible and the piece appeared well-used. The bed had a built-in pillow with some additional features that seemed to only add artistic flair. The client informed me that this was a ceremonial bed used for funerals by the Senufo people of the Ivory Coast of Africa.

After I got over my initial squeamishness knowing that many dead bodies previously adorned this amazing creation, I asked if I could photograph the piece and feature it on the website for everyone to enjoy. The bed is approximately 79 years of age and it is indeed a one-piece carving. While they don’t know for sure exactly what wood species it is, they do know it is no longer legal to harvest the tree it came from. I imagine the original logs must have been massive!

Beds like this one were used to hold the bodies of dignitaries or wealthy people prior to the burial and during the funeral ceremony. Here’s an excerpt from RandAfricanArt.com that I found very interesting.

The complexity of the Senufo funeral rites derives both from the importance of the event and from the danger incurred by the whole group. The spirit of the dead man roams around the village and lingers in the spots he used to frequent. If this force is allowed to roam freely around, it could bring back the original chaos. It is therefore essential that it should be captured. The initiates alone have the power and energy to overcome the dead man’s spirit.

The Tyolobele blow on great horns made out of a single piece of wood. These are the nanaa, and they evoke the roar of a lion. The Poro dignitaries beat on thin, high-pitched drums called tyepingdaana. They are accompanied by the laladyogo, an enigmatic character muffled up in a cotton cloth which reveals only the eyes. On his head he wears a large plaited straw hat decorated with the white and black feathers of a fishing eagle.

The strange procession follows the tracks of the dead man’s soul through the village and up to the bed on which his body lies. One of the kponyungo masqueradors then takes a small armpit drum, jumps up on the bed and stands astride the corpse, all the time beating a rapid beat on the instrument with his fingers. He is assisted by an initiate who shakes iron bells to the same rhythm. The function of this ritual is to stress, with the help of the music, the power of the Poro society, and also to chase the dead man’s soul right away from the village and the cultivated fields and into the region of the dead.

While the overall craftsmanship might be considered “crude” by our modern sensibilities, one has to be impressed with what these folks were able to do with limited tooling and a giant log. What I found most impressive was the fact that this piece was still in excellent shape. I would love to know more about the process they used to create this piece and construct it in such a way that 79 years and another continent later, there isn’t a visible crack to be seen! A big thank you goes out to my client for allowing me to post these pictures!

Upon reading my article, the client was able to supply me with a little more detail on how the Senufo people make these tables. The logs are first air-dried and seasoned. Their carving is mostly done with an adze and finished with a hand made chisel type tool on a dry log. They only have a couple of tools, and they hold the adze like a hoe, stand over the wood and chip away with fairly shallow chips. Because the wood is so hard when dry, they soak it overnight in water to soften the fibers. While the wood is still wet, they do the initial carving, let it dry, and then soak it one more time before doing the final carving. Large objects such as this bed can take months to complete.

So how about you. Where does woodworking fall in your list of hobbies?

This poll was created by Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbench.com.

If you’re like most hobbyist woodworkers, you’ve been lusting after one of those fancy tracksaws for a while now. It all started with Festool and their TS55. They brought us the accuracy of a panel saw with the versatility of a compact plunging circular saw. For many small shop pros, this development was huge. But it came at a fairly steep price tag: currently $550 for saw and guide. A couple of years ago, both DeWalt and Makita stepped in with their offerings. I even had an opportunity to do a little side by side testing of the DeWalt saw that you might want to check out. Both saws made an initial splash simply because they represented the first “real” competition for Festool’s flagship product.

A couple years later, the reception to these tools feels lukewarm at best, judging from general forum/blog chatter or the lack thereof. While cheaper than Festool’s offerings at about $430 – $500, I don’t think the price difference is enough to motivate most fence-sitters. And general consensus seems to be that if you’re going to spend almost $500, why not spend a few bucks more for the version made by the company that lives and breathes this system?

Enter Grizzly

So why should we give a crap that Grizzly is getting into the track saw game? Because it’s going to cost $230! If you happen to be a firm fence sitter, consider this the schmear of vaseline that’s going to help you decide one way or the other.

Unfortunately, the product isn’t out yet and I can’t provide any sort of in-depth analysis or comparison. But I do have a unit on order and will report back as soon as possible. So at this stage, all we can do is speculate and raise interesting questions. I had a few questions of my own and decided to contact Grizzly directly for the answers. I’ll summarize their replies below.

Availability

They are taking orders now, but the product won’t ship until mid to late March 2013.

Festool Comparisons

There will no doubt be many comparisons to the Festool line. The saw looks to feature the same plunging motion and the track looks almost identical. Are any of the accessories and components (clamps, tracks, etc) going to be compatible with Festool’s saw? And conversely, will Festool’s saw work on Grizzly tracks?

Their reply stated that they did not take any measures to ensure compatibility with other brands and they can’t say for sure whether or not they will work together in any fashion.

Low Cost = Low Quality?

Grizzly’s track saw will hit the market at about 60% less than the cost of a Festool saw. How was this done? Are companies like Festool, DeWalt, and Makita simply over-pricing their products or are there areas where money can be saved without sacrificing quality? A lower-powered saw perhaps? Thinner gauge metal used in the track? In my circle of woodworkers, Grizzly has a reputation for being a great bang for the buck in stationary power tools. Obviously this is a very different beast, but this price difference is even more significant than usual. People are left to wonder if the quality is up to par.

Grizzly says that there are some differences between their saw and the competition, but one of the primary pricing factors is cutting out the middle-men. However, they feel that comparing their saw to Festool is a little like comparing a Toyota to a Lexus. They both will get you to the store and back but there are key differences. They are not aiming their tool at taking away business from these other manufacturers. Instead they are hoping to provide an option for those who would not or could not afford a track saw in the past. This allows just about everyone to have a track saw in their tool arsenal.

Personally, I can’t wait to get my hands on one of these bad boys. Many of you know of my affinity for the green Koolaid, but you should also know by now that I am honest and fair. So it should be interesting to see how this tool holds up to a little scrutiny. I have no doubt in my mind that it will be lacking in some key areas. The Toyota/Lexus analogy makes that perfectly clear. The real question we’ll have to answer is whether the quality changes will be worth the cost savings and whether this saw will indeed fill that niche. If it can make clean, tearout-free cuts in just about any sheetgood, then it just might be a winner.

This poll was created by Tom Iovino from TomsWorkbench.com.

This poll was created by Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbench.com.

I have to admit, I didn’t make anything for anyone this year. So, yes, I’ll be on time this year. haha!

This poll was created by Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbench.com.

This poll was created by Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbench.com.

I know many folks are in favor of specialized shoes, such as the type nurses wear, or even a good supportive work boot. But frankly, I find shoes like that to be cumbersome. So I’ll take a little less support in exchange for the ability to run around my shop when the mood strikes me, which it never does. Of course, high heeled work boots do hold a certain appeal! Imaged sourced from Brown’s.

This poll was created by my buddy Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbench.com.

Well finally, with the new shop mostly set up, I can dive back into building a project. Specifically, the Dogon Platform Bed for the Guild. Let me tell you friends, it feels good to get some sawdust under my fingers again! It may sound weird, but I really haven’t felt like myself for most of 2012. It wasn’t until just the other day that the full realization came to me. I had just spent several hours milling up some 8/4 Bubinga stock and it was time to call it quits. Mateo came home from Grandma’s house and Nicole brought him into the shop to say Hi. Such a simple thing, but in the span of a few seconds I suddenly realized my groove was back!

That’s not to say I was in some sort of depression (far from it), but that I really had some serious pent-up creative energy that was now finding a healthy release. Seeing my wife and son walk into the new shop to let me know the work day was over was just the icing on the cake.

Life won’t always be perfect and there will certainly be many more curve balls ahead, but right then in that particular moment, all was right with the world.

Somehow, as long as I can exercise my creativity in wood, everything in life tastes just a little bit sweeter!

This poll was created by Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbench.com.

My plan for scrap storage is very simple and consists of nothing more than a few wall-mounted side-by-side bins. Since my plywood is now stored near the front door, the space under my lumber rack provides the perfect location for this much-needed storage solution.

Lumber Rack Detour

Speaking of the lumber rack, you’ll notice some significant changes from the previous version, primarily the fact that I am now using commercially-available metal racks. I opted for a metal system for several reasons. First, it takes up less space. I can fit more wood on each shelf simply because the brackets are very low-profile. Second reason is strength. While my wood lumber rack was certainly up to the task, metal racks can typically handle more weight. Third, this system is super easy to install. All I had to to was run the horizontal supports where the wall meets the ceiling and drop in the vertical standards in line with the wall studs. The brackets then drop into the standards and are easily adjustable to any height I need. And the final reason for the metal rack is because I already had a bunch of this stuff laying around from our old garage setup (not woodworking related). The big drawback of this system is that the components are not cheap. But I already had most of the parts on hand so I only had to spend a few more bucks to finish out the rack.

Waste Not, Want Not!

Now I know what some of you are thinking already: “This guy is so wasteful! He built that beautiful wood rack and plywood storage cart and now he’s building something new!?!” Well, fret not my friends! You’ll be glad to know that my old plywood roll-out cart was fully disassembled and cannibalized for several new shop projects, including these bins and my clamp racks. Nearly every part of these scrap bins will come from the old plywood cart, including the screws! Norm’s New Yankee frugality has nothin’ on me!

Construction

The dimensions of the bins really aren’t all that critical. Most times, you’ll simply conform to the space you have available. In my case I was also limited by the dimensions of the recycled materials I was using as a starting point. Each bin side was cut to size and notched at the bottom/back corner. The notch allows each piece to sit flush against the wall while leaving room for the baseboards. I also cut a short angle at the top/front corner of each piece for the sake of a nicer appearance and to reduce the hazards associated with sharp corners. I then attached several pieces of 2 x 3 construction lumber to the wall to act as supports. Each bin side was then screwed to the side of its respective 2 x 3. Can’t get much simpler than that!! You might notice that I made a late-game decision to remove the center 2×3, resulting in a larger center bin.

The final step is to attach a narrow foot board. Not only will this stabilize the sides, it will also help keep the scrap wood from sliding out of the bins. Using another scrap piece from my old plywood rack, I marked the location of each bin side with a pencil and used the tablesaw to cut dados in the appropriate locations. For a shop project like this, there’s nothing easier than taking measurements directly from the work itself. The fit was pretty much perfect. Relative dimensioning for the win!

When it’s all said and done, using some scrap material and a single construction grade 2 x 3, I have all the scrap storage I could possibly need……for now anyway!

As always, if you have thoughts on how I might improve the design, feel free to let me know. It might be too late for me to make major changes but for the sake of others who might be searching for a scrap bin plan, it would be very helpful.

*Update* - The first few comments reminded me of one last detail I failed to include in the article. After the bins were assembled, I cut a few pieces of scrap 1/4″ plywood and dropped them into the bottom of each bin. This helps protect the concrete as well as the wood. Moisture isn’t much of an issue in Arizona but I still don’t want the wood resting directly on concrete.

Our polls are created by Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbench.com.

I did a few web searches and came across a thread in the BT3Central Forum that gave me the exact inspiration I was looking for. So I went to the shop, took some measurements, and came up with a quick and dirty plan for my new parallel clamp rack.

The Back and The Shelf

The length of the rack is completely adjustable for as many clamps as you own. Mine is built to hold 26 clamps. You might consider making extra space for future additions to the family. In my case, I was reusing my old clamp rack so I simply based my total length off of it. The first step was to cut the back and shelf pieces. The shelf sit in a 3/8″ dado cut about 1/2″ from the top of the back piece.

Side Pieces

To determine the size of the side pieces, I used my existing rack with a clamp in place to take some measurements. I also decided to cut some curvature in the sides for additional hand clearance a more attractive look. I rough cut the curve at the bandsaw and cleaned things up using the oscillating spindle sander.

Assembly

Assembly is a piece of cake! Simply glue the shelf into the dado and secure with screws from the back. The sides are pre-drilled for countersunk screws and then attached using glue and standard square drive wood screws. The final part of the assembly was to simply glue and screw the old rack into the new shelf system.

The Inner Rack

Obviously, the inner rack system is vital to the design of this piece and although I made mine years ago, I can give you a general idea of how it’s made. As you can see in the SketchUp drawing to the left, all you need are two pieces of 3/4″ plywood. The top piece receives numerous cutouts for the clamp bars. You can easily figure out the location of these cutouts by putting a few clamps side by side with a little bit of space between them. Essentially, position them exactly how you want them to sit in the rack and take your measurements. But just to save some time, you can see the measurements I used in the SketchUp Image. To make the cutouts, I recommend drilling a hole at the back of each slot and using a jigsaw or bandsaw to establish the sides. These don’t need to be perfect so draw yourself some guidelines and go for it.

Mount on the Wall

Nothing too fancy going on here. Simply find your studs and screw the unit to the wall. Of course, you want to make sure the shelf is nice and level before driving the screws home. The end result is a perfectly functional clamp rack with a bonus shelf. Once you think about it, it’s kind of a no-brainer. Now, pretty much everything I need for project assembly can be found in one place! Using this outside the box thinking, I bet we can find tons of other places where we can incorporate new-found storage! Any suggestions?

So here’s a surefire way to drive a woodworker crazy. Give them a tool that serves a critical function in the shop, performs miracles when tuned up properly, and performs like doodie on a stick when out of calibration. Now here’s the secret sauce: make the adjustment mechanism over-sensitive and impossible to make fine adjustments on.

We can argue all day long about whether we really need to adjust our tools to the nearest thousandth of an inch. Honestly, on most tools, I think we tend to fuss more than necessary. But on a jointer, I feel the extra work is absolutely justified. If your outfeed table isn’t in perfect alignment with your cutterhead, the jointer just doesn’t work properly. Just a few thousandths can and will throw it off. So why oh why for the love of Norm do all jointers come with clunky, jumpy, inaccurate adjustment levers?!?! I feel like I’m raising and lowering my jointer bed with a greasy turkey leg! I will get there eventually, but I am constantly pushing and pulling on the lever as I repeatedly over and under-shoot my target.

I am certainly not singling out any particular brand as this problem exists across all jointers I have ever come in contact with. I am sure some are worse than others but this is pretty much a universal dilemma we face.

Personally, I feel that if the tool REQUIRES a certain level of adjustability to function, the manufacturer should be obligated to engineer an adjustment mechanism that is at least more dependable than smacking it with a mallet. Will it raise the price? I’m sure it will. But if it means I can calibrate the tool and get back to work faster, it’s well worth it.

I certainly haven’t used every jointer on the market, so if you have one that is actually easy to micro-adjust, tell us about it.

Whenever I move my shop (which makes me want to cry when I think about how many times I’ve done this), I am posed with a fundamental internal conflict: my desire for a perfect setup vs my need for expedience. I make my living through my shop, so every day I have clamps on the floor or cans of finish in boxes is a day I can’t do my job. So I am constantly making the decision between building something quickly that gets me back to work today, or building something that receives “ultimate” status but gets me back to work next week.

Inspiration

Occasionally, I am able to come up with a compromise that is an attractive and long-term solution as well as a quick and inexpensive project. One such example is my Utilitarian Clamp Rack. This rack was inspired by both William Ng’s clamp rack and the trellis adorning the Thorsen House in Berkeley, CA. William’s rack is designed to hold a massive amount of clamps and is made with off-the-shelf materials. And when I visited the Thorsen House a few months ago, Darrell Peart pointed out the design of the trellis. Both designs feature vertical supports with horizontal members running through the vertical piece at regular intervals. While my rack will use the same materials as William’s, it was the trellis that showed me how something so simple can actually look very cool.

Here’s what you need

- (2) Kiln Dried 2x4s (as straight as possible)
- (5) 1/2″ pipes of desired length (heavy gauge pvc will work too)
- 7/8″ Forstner bit
- 3″ Long Wood Screws or Lag Screws

Construction

This basic rack is about as simple as it gets. The 2×4′s are attached to the wall and the pipes go through various holes drilled into the studs. Have more clamps than I do? Get longer pipes and space your 2×4′s further apart? You basically have infinite configuration options and if you drill extra holes, you can quickly modify the rack to suit your changing needs.

Cut the 2×4′s to about 80″ in length. A person of average height should still be able to easily reach the top row, but feel free to adjust as needed. Clamp the two pieces together and the desired number of holes up the length of the boards. I placed my holes at 8″, 26″, 42″, 60″, and 74″, from the bottom up. I should probably explain when I have the pieces clamped together. While my bit isn’t long enough to drill through both pieces at once, it is long enough to start the hole in the second piece. This ensures that my holes are all drilled accurately in both pieces. After the first board is fully drilled, I remove the clamps and finish drilling the holes in the second board. The forstener bit I used was 7/8″ to accommodate the outer diameter of the pipe. This provides a slightly loose fit for the pipe but doesn’t really impede the functionality at all.

The 2x4s will be attached to the wall on edge, so pre-drill for your screws. My screws were only about 3″ long so I needed to drill a deep counter sink. Not ideal, but I’m lazy and didn’t feel like running to the store to get longer screws. 4-5 screws up the length of each 2×4 should do the trick. Find the stud locations on the wall and screw each 2×4 is directly into a stud. I use the baseboards to help establish the vertical position.

All that’s left to do is feed the pipe lengths through the holes in the two 2x4s and then fill it up with clamps! I now have plenty of space for my F-style clamps as well as the wide array of oddball clamping implements we tend to accumulate over time. The great thing about clamps is that they have handles and are designed to clamp things. So a 1/2″ pipe is really all you need to hang them effectively. Overall, I am happy with the design and utility and as you can see, I need to buy more clamps to fill up the empty space!!

All of our polls are created by Tom Iovino of Tom’s Workbench.

This poll was created by Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbench.com!

Stucco

The stucco was completed in three days. The guys were able to match the existing house pattern perfectly. After a week of dry time, the stucco was painted to match the house. Somehow, in all of the craziness, I lost a bunch of pictures of this part of the build. So all I have is a picture of the finished product with a fresh coat of paint.

Painting

There isn’t too much to say about the drywall (sheetrock, tape, mud, done!) so let’s skip to the paint. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not a fan of picking paint colors. All I know is that I don’t want the shop white and I definitely don’t want it too dark. Additionally, at some point in the future, we are looking to re-paint our house interior. So I figured we could kill two birds with one stone by simply picking out the house colors now, and using some of those in the shop. To save time and effort, I picked up a few of those color brochures and simply picked out a complimentary color family that met Nicole’s approval.

The primary color I selected has a fancy name, but I prefer to call it “light-tannish.” I also had a 12″ border painted with an accent color around the perimeter. The origin of the border is actually kinda funny. While the painters were spraying the ceiling, they used rolls of masking paper to protect the walls. My step-dad walked in and said, “That border looks great!” I laughed and told him it was just for masking purposes, but then realized it actually did look pretty cool. So I asked the painters to include an actual painted border around the entre shop. It certainly isn’t something I’d do in my house but I think it works well in a shop space.

Epoxy

After a long mental struggle, I decided on an epoxy coating for the floor. I laid out my reasons for this in this article in case you’re interested. The material itself is a cycloaliphatic resin epoxy, or so I’m told.

Much like wood finishing, it’s all about preparation. Even a brand new slab needs to be prepped for the best possible adhesion. In many cases, an acid wash does the trick. But that really only works if you have a place for all the liquid to drain. Not to mention, my drywall goes right to the floor. So the alternative is a dry diamond grinding technique. Large grinding machines abrade the surface, which I can only imagine gives the concrete a nice mechanical tooth for the epoxy to bind to. With as much dust as these things must produce, I was glad to see they brought their own dust collection. Otherwise I would have had to hook up a few Festool CT Vacs. Ha!

The epoxy went down over the course of two days. The smell was unbearably strong during the application and after the final coat. Even with a respirator, the guys who do this work must be losing brain cells by the truckload! Amazingly, after 24 hrs, the harsh smell was all but gone. One week later, all I can smell is latex paint.

The color of the floor is called “sand” and is a pretty good match for the walls. Since straight epoxy can be quite slippery in a dusty wood shop, we had a mixture of grit particles and 1/8″ flakes embedded in the final coat.

The Rest

After the majority of the work inside the shop was complete, there were a few loose ends to tie up outside. The area in front of the shop still needed concrete and the torn up driveway needed to be fixed. The concrete pour was uneventful. But I am stoked to finally have an HOA-approved place to store my cargo trailer!

As for the driveway, we were quite lucky to have pavers instead of concrete. While we may have lost a few pavers here and there, the vast majority were saved and re-incorporated into the driveway. Now that the pieces are all in place, the driveway looks seamless again.

The plumber came back to finish the toilet and sink installations. I can’t tell you how excited I am to have plumbing in the shop. Just having a place to wash my hands is going to be a very nice treat! You can also see the final view from the yard. I am very happy with the results and the shop ties into the house quite nicely.

As far as the construction phase goes, that’s really about all there is to show. I have plenty of video footage that I need to assemble into a coherent production and you can expect that sometime soon. Tomorrow is the big tool move and as you can imagine, it will take me quite some time to get everything up and running.

I hope you enjoyed going through this process with me and I truly appreciate all of the well-wishes and “you suck” comments. haha! You folks are great! I know I am very fortunate to have an opportunity like this and I am even more fortunate to have thousands of friends out there cheering me on. I just can’t wait to start producing awesome content for you from this new space. Onward and upward!

Now the one thing I can’t stress enough is that THERE IS NO PERFECT FLOORING SOLUTION! Every option has at least one or two major flaws or questionable characteristics. This is exactly why I went in mental circles for weeks on this decision. So let me cut to the chase here: the flooring I found the least number of issues with was epoxy plus rubber mats in specific zones. Many of you suggested this very thing and in fact, I think it was the most popular suggestion.

Here’s a rundown of the options I considered and why I decided against them. There are two things you should keep in mind if you are using this article to help in your own flooring decisions (or if you plan to give me crap about mine, haha). First, I live in the desert. The dry climate here means that water just isn’t an issue, although we do have a few months of high humidity at the end of summer. Second, there is a lot of room for personal taste. Appearance was a major factor in my choice and of course, we can’t all agree on what looks good. I will try to make sure my opinions are clearly labeled as such.

Rubber Floor Tiles

I broke this option down thoroughly in a previous article, so check that out if you’re interested. There are a number of reasons I didn’t go with rubber flooring. First is the appearance. It became clear to me that I definitely did not want to take any risks concerning the look of the floor. I really have no idea how much impact black flooring would have on light reflection, and consequently, video quality. Light colored tiles are available, but they cost about twice as much as the black/gray tiles and I really didn’t want to spend that much money.

Another factor was the installation. Those tiles are incredibly heavy and I’m going to have my hands full just getting my tools in place, tuned up, and working. I really didn’t want to lose a week just for flooring installation.

The final factor was something I can thank many of you for, and that’s the ‘unknown’. Many of you brought up some great points about tool mobility, workbench stability, solvent reactivity, off-gassing, lighting, etc. All of these things made me realize that this was going to be a very expensive experiment. My gut (and the rubber flooring company), tells me everything probably would have been fine, but at this point in the game, I am not willing to do anything that has even a remotely questionable outcome.

Vinyl

This one was a bit of a long-shot but I did consider it. I had one flooring company come out to give me a price on engineered hardwood, and after hearing my story, the salesman suggested vinyl flooring. He showed me some samples of this nice fiberglass (I think) material that not only looked decent, but had a little cushion to it. This was something I hadn’t even considered before but I was intrigued, so I had him price it out. Now, this could very well be a fluke, but the price was well over $10,000!! And this was a well-known major flooring installer in our area. In addition to the sticker shock, I heard some feedback from folks who mentioned that seams could eventually become an issue with this type of flooring in a high heat environment. With 12′ rolls, we would have three long seams in the shop. So vinyl was out.

Solid/Engineered Hardwood

Generally speaking, solid wood in an occasionally-conditioned work space is just a bad idea. As we all know, wood likes to move. My shop will experience seasonal and daily temperature swings as well and major humidity swings at the end of Summer, and as we are all well aware, this is not good for solid wood.

Engineered hardwood is a little more realistic as it is essentially just fancy plywood. Even then, I had a few installers tell me they wouldn’t recommend this product for an inconsistently-conditioned space like the shop.

In both solid and engineered hardwood, cost was a major factor. If I chose to hire out the installation for the sake of saving time, the cost was just insane. So although this option would have been the nicest to look at, wood movement and cost knocked it out of the contest.

Laminate

I have installed several laminate (Pergo) floors over the years and while they are easy to install and nice to look at, they have a characteristic sound that is very unappealing to me (especially on High Heels Thursdays). Furthermore, a layer of dust on a laminate floor is a one-way trip to the broken coccyx doctor.

Sleepers and OSB or Ply

I know many of you who have this type of floor in your shop and love it. We even posted a guest article on the topic. But there were a few reasons I dismissed it. First, I had serious reservations about popping holes in my brand new concrete slab. I realize a floor like this is supposed to be permanent, but something about that just bugged me. Also, I can be a little lazy, especially when I’m in a rush to get back to woodworking. 1800 sq feet is a LOT of real estate to cover!! And speaking of real estate, the thought of re-sale value did cross my mind. I know it’s crazy to think about that at this stage of the game, but I do like to think ahead. That’s exactly why I had them install a garage door header that I will never use. If I do sell this place one day, it’s a lot more likely to find a “car guy/gal” than a “wood guy/gal”. And a plywood floor probably wouldn’t be very appealing to potential buyers.

Epoxy + Rubber Mats

And now for the big winner. The decision on this came after a visit to my parents house. They have a small one-car garage with an epoxy coated floor. They only have a few fluorescent lights in the garage but whenever you turn them on, the space just looks bright and cheery. In my current garage, I have a crap-ton of light but I just don’t get the same effect from unfinished concrete. So epoxy wins major points for appearance.

I discussed re-sale value above and an epoxy floor is a no-brainer in that area. Just about anyone would prefer an epoxy floor over an unfinished concrete floor.

There is no doubting the durability and protective qualities of epoxy. Professionally installed with high-grade materials, these floors last a long time and I’m sure it will stand up to just about anything I can dish out.

Cost was quite reasonable, coming out to about $2.40 installed. This included non-slip grit and those little flakes they like to apply.

The one area where epoxy fails miserably is comfort. Obviously, it does nothing to soothe my weary bones. So that’s where the rubber mats come in. Just like in the old shop, I’ll use rubber mats around the various tool zones. Perhaps I’ll even do an entire area where I know there will be heavy traffic. This way I can pick up the pads if and when I need to move the tools.

The one caveat here is that I am pretty much done with the cheap interlocking pads from the big box store. They are way too light and flimsy and I would like a more “semi-permanent” placement. So this brings me back full-circle to the rubber flooring company. Their mats are thick, heavy, and aren’t likely to move when vacuumed.

So once again, I appreciate the feedback from everyone. I am sure that many of you may disagree with my decision or even my logic. But that’s OK. If we all agreed unanimously on anything, that would be spooky. I hope my explanations and ramblings help you in your own shop flooring adventures.

So I’m curious if you have ever sold your work. If so, how did it feel? Would you do it again?

Considering this is not only my passion but my livelihood, I’m not sure I could ever give it up. Although for $100M, I could learn to like knitting.

This poll was created by Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbench.com.

Windows and Doors

We had three large windows installed as well as one small window in the bathroom. The door was put in on the same day and it was quite a treat. Something about windows and doors really makes the structure feel like a real building. Maybe it’s corny but I think it’s one of those little milestones that gives you the warm and fuzzies.

Why so few windows? Because like most night-walkers, I hate the daylight! Actually, it has everything to do with filming. Remember, the only reason you are reading this is because I am not just a woodworker, but also a podcaster. Of course from a woodworking perspective, I’ll take all the natural light I can get. But natural light causes me major headaches when it comes to video production. Another thing to keep in mind is that while windows are beautiful, they consume valuable wall space. So even if filming wasn’t a concern, I would still practice some restraint when it comes to windows. Anyway, I decided on three as my absolute maximum, keeping in mind that the front door will let in a lot of light too.

Why not go with light tubes? I think light tubes are a very compelling option. Unfortunately, things moved so fast and the budget was so tight that I didn’t have a chance to do my research on these. From what I understand, they are fairly easy to install even post-construction, so it might be something for the future if needed.

Why no garage door? Primarily because garage doors suck for anything other than vehicles, in my opinion. Reasons include high cost, their general lack of energy efficiency, their tendency to let dirt and bugs in, and the fact that they consume a significant amount of interior ceiling and wall space. Every shop I’ve had to date has had garage doors, so I am ecstatic to see them go. I decided that a good quality double door was the best route for me. At a full opening size of 6′ Wide x 8′ High, I can’t think of anything I won’t be able to fit in there.

Insulation

The insulation crew showed up and finished their work quickly. We had R-38 put in the ceiling and R-19 in the walls.

Once the insulation was in place, the room took on an oddly uncomfortable deadened feel. Anyone who has been inside a building during this phase of construction knows exactly what I’m talking about. Having absolutely no reverberation in a room is a little unsettling. Anyway, while it was great to see progress, I couldn’t wait to get onto the next phase: the drywall.

Why didn’t you go for spray foam? Primarily because of cost. This project is already stretching our budget well beyond our comfort zone, so at some point we just had to pinch it off. This is the same type of insulation used in our home so I’m pretty confident that it will be adequate for my shop space.

Drywall

It was pretty exciting when the “drywall dropper-offer” showed up. That’s the official term by the way, just look it up! I am sure these delivery vehicles are old news to many of you, but for me it was pretty awesome to see as the arm hoisted the 12′ long sheets up and over my house and down to the shop door. The following day, the drywall crew showed up and made quick work of the task. Before the end of the day, the entire shop as well as the patio ceilings were completely covered. The speed at which these guys work has to be seen to be completely appreciated. And yes I did get a good amount of video! With the drywall in place, this shop is really starting to look like something!

Why not use plywood for the walls? I actually prefer the look of painted drywall. As you may recall in my old shops, I like to install tongue and groove boards on walls where the utility and look of a wood wall is preferred. I should also mention that I’m not entirely sure about the code restrictions on something like this. But it wasn’t really of interest to me so I didn’t research it or ask my builder about it.

Stucco

As many times as I’ve seen the process of applying stucco to an Arizona home, I never seem to get used to it. Being raised on the East Coast, the whole concept is still foreign to me. As we know already, the framing is covered with OSB (oriented strand board). As a weather barrier, asphalt-saturated paper was applied everywhere, including around the support poles on the patio. The next step wass to apply styrofoam panels and then a wire mesh. This week, they will apply the actual stucco product known as Western 1-Kote. While it is called “1-kote”, it will actually be applied in three total coats: a scratch coat, a brown coat, and then a finish coat with the final texture. You can read a little more about this stuff here.

In the last picture in the series below, you can see a spot where a patch is being made, giving you a good look at the stucco layer before and after. The reason for the patch (and a few others) is that the patio lights for the shop and the house patio extension are all being tied into the existing switch in our kitchen. When we turn the lights on, the entire patio lights up in one shot. Sweet!

Are you sure they aren’t applying EIFS (Exterior Insulation Finishing System)? Yes. Western 1-Kote is a very common stucco application used here in the Phoenix area (and many other places). I never even heard of EIFS until a recent Twitter conversation with Dyami and Vic. But to answer the question, Western 1-Kote is a real stucco application and not something synthetic like EIFS.

Air Conditioning

The original shop plans called for a standard ducted heat pump system. I wasn’t confident in this choice by any means and after numerous discussions with my buddy Vic Hubbard (a woodworker and energy efficiency consultant), it was clear that a ductless mini split was the way I needed to go. There are two primary reasons: efficiency and noise. Just think about what a ducted system has to do here in Arizona. The air travels through ductwork that resides in an attic where temperatures routinely reach 130-140F! The ductwork then punches through the inner envelope to deliver the cold air. This is very inefficient setup and unfortunately, running the HVAC ductwork inside the shop just isn’t in the cards.

Concerning noise, a traditional system includes a very noisy air handler. Additionally, the sound of the air coming through the vents is quite loud. I am sure you never noticed, but in the old shop, I actually had to turn the A/C off during filming sessions. This meant I was making repeated trips to the thermostat to start and stop the system. This is a ridiculous process for someone who films nearly every day during the Arizona summer.

Thankfully, a ductless mini-split addresses both concerns about efficiency and noise. The units themselves are incredibly efficient and they require absolutely no ductwork. And the noise level is so low that I will have no problem filming with the units set on a slow fan speed.

Now I don’t know if this is the case everywhere, but whenever I ask a local HVAC guy about mini-splits, I get funny looks. It seems most of these guys just don’t like them. I don’t know if it’s a technology thing or a job security thing or what. But with some companies, it’s like pulling teeth just to get a quote. Fortunately, the company my builder uses didn’t flinch at the request and designed a system he feels will cool the space adequately. Vic and I have our suspicions that it might be a little bit overkill, but that’s OK with ductless mini-splits. These systems adjust on the fly and thanks to this “inverter” technology, you don’t get penalized for oversizing. The final configuration is two outdoor compressors (one double stack that you see below and one single stack in the back) and three indoor units. Between the AC and the three ceiling fans, I should have no trouble keeping the shop at a reasonable working temperature.

And before anyone even asks the question, “Why not go for xyz type flooring solution?”, let me say that I am not 100% decided on anything at this point. But what I really want to focus on right now are the advantages and disadvantages of a dense rubber shop floor.

Durability

I am currently waiting on samples to arrive so I can inspect this stuff first hand. The fact that it is made from recycled tires and each tile weighs in a 12 lbs is a pretty good indication that this is some seriously dense rubber. This is pretty much the same stuff you might find in a gym, getting smashed by dumbbells and experience lots of foot traffic. If it can hold up in a gym environment, I feel confident it will hold up in my shop. My only reservation is how well a heavy tool will roll across this surface. I don’t move my tools often, but if I need to scoot my planer or jointer one way or another, will this rubber have too much give? Hopefully the samples will give me some additional insight on this.

Cost

There’s really no way around the shop floor costing me quite a bundle. At 1800 sq ft., anything other than raw concrete is going to be expensive. But these rubber tiles are pretty darn cheap, comparatively, at $2.44 per square foot. Compared to engineered hardwood that usually starts around $4 per square foot. And that doesn’t include the cost of underlayment and professional installation if one were to require it.

Ease of Installation

Installation appears to be dead easy. The tiles are like big puzzle pieces that interlock. At 12 lbs per tile, I’m sure my arms and back will be aching by the end of the day, but there’s certainly nothing complicated about the process. Maybe I’ll bribe some local buddies to help out with BBQ and beer (talking to you Greg, Paul and Ron!).

Another cool feature of the tiles is that if one were to become damaged somehow, it can easily be replaced in seconds.

Anti-Fatigue

Being made of rubber, the floor would have permanent anti-fatigue qualities. Since the rubber is rather firm, it won’t be quite like walking on the soft interlocking tiles I used to use in my shop, but it is going to be 1000x better than concrete. And the firmness should make it easier to move things around. Again, need to see the stuff for myself before I make that call.

Appearance

Frankly, appearance is one of my biggest concerns. Since I make woodworking videos for a living, an ugly floor could be an issue. I have to think about things like light reflection (or a lack thereof) and whether or not it would simply look ugly. But most of my video shots are waist up and never even show the floor. The only time the floor shows up is when filming downward at the bench where the focus is on joinery. And I usually have an anti-fatigue mat in the shot so having black or gray in the background is nothing new.

I should note that this company does make lighter-colored tiles. But the lighter color comes from virgin rubber (teehee) and that results in more than double the cost.

Thinking long-term, a wall to wall rubber floor seems like a gift that keeps on giving. As someone who already suffers from the occasional back issue, I’m thinking anti-fatigue needs to be a major priority in my shop. So thanks to those that urged me to think about this back when I first started discussing the shop.

While I would certainly prefer the look of a wood floor, I am beginning to think a rubber floor trumps all in terms of comfort, ease of installation, and in most cases, cost.

Would you ever consider a rubber floor for your shop? Ridiculous or genius? Curious to hear your thoughts. A good suggestion I received on Facebook is to consider using this stuff in each work area, as opposed to wall to wall. Definitely would save money that way!

In case you’re interested, here’s a link to the specific product I am considering. Strong Rubber Tiles

One of the biggest expenses in this project is the plumbing and electrical work. The primary reason being that both required extensive trenching in order to connect to existing resources. Once I saw the associated costs in the estimate, my initial instinct was to say, “forget about it!” But as usual, Nicole was the voice of reason and reminded me how useful it would be to have a slop sink for things like washing hands and rinsing finishing equipment. Not only that, but I’m one of those people who will let myself be distracted whenever the opportunity presents itself. So every time I go into the house to answer nature’s call, you can bet I’ll waste 30 minutes asking Nicole why the sky is blue and rough-housing with my dogs. Thinking long-term, the bathroom and slop sink are almost necessities. So let’s start digging!

Electrical

For the power, we had two important goals. First, we needed to connect the shop’s 200 amp sub-panel to the house panel. Second, we needed to upgrade the house panel to 400 amps which required a home run to the electric company connection. The trench from the shop to the house panel was only about 40′, but with our compacted soil, the going was tough and often required the help of a jack-hammer. But as you can see, both panels are now connected and we even have some extra conduit installed for things like cable, internet, and phone.

Plumbing

For plumbing, we needed to tie into a water supply as well as sewage. The trip to the water supply was about 110′ and the sewage connection continued on from there another 30′. This trench required the most work as it had to cross the driveway. Good thing we have pavers instead of concrete! The sewage tie-in was made at approximately 4′ in depth! Needless to say, the HOA probably isn’t too happy about my little dirt piles.

When it was all said and done, the interior plumbing was all set for a toilet, a sink, and a slop sink on the shop side of the bathroom wall. The second picture below is of the exterior wall of the bathroom, prior to making the final water and sewer connections. I missed my opportunity to get a picture of the completed work.

I’ll have another post in a couple of days that should bring us up to speed including insulation, drywall, and preliminary stucco work before the trench was filled up again.

I am curious what your thoughts are on reconditioned tools. Are they truly “good as new” or do you find that a faulty tool always has a tendency to be a lemon?

This poll was created by Tom Iovino from TomsWorkbench.com.

Let’s Face the Facts

There are two truths that I think we should consider. First is the true dirty reality of shop safety. Whether most of us realize it or not, there are thousands of shops around the world where a crap-ton of woodworking gets done WITHOUT the standard safety equipment we generally consider mandatory. Of course I am not supporting unsafe work environments but they do exist. The second thing is that a person decked out in a half-mask respirator, ear muffs, and impact-resistant goggles doesn’t exactly make for the most attractive magazine cover. Should magazines be given a pass for things like this or should they be required to strictly adhere to all the best safety practices? Are we really supposed to believe that after nearly 40 years in this business, Fine Woodworking “accidentally” published these pictures? Or can we assume this was just a calculated risk for the sake of better-looking images?

Personal Protective Equipment

Of course I realize that these magazines are in the position of teaching people how to work wood and safety is certainly a major part of their responsibility. I think they do a great job of showing us the safest possible woodworking techniques. But when it comes to PPE (personal protective equipment), do they really need to be so strict? Should there be any allowance for common sense or for how some folks choose do things in their shops? Dust does not make your lungs happy. Wood slivers are not a welcome addition to your eyeballs. Loud sounds will hurt your ears. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that if you don’t know these things, you probably aren’t ready to be in a wood shop in the first place without direct supervision.

Now don’t get me wrong, you folks know I’m a huge proponent of safety (heard of Safety Week?). I am certainly not condoning un-safe practices. I do my best to show the safest procedures in each and every piece of content I produce. I also know I have a lot of younger viewers/readers and it is incredibly important for me to set a good example when it comes to shop safety. But for things like woodworking videos and articles, which are just as much entertainment as they are education, is there a point where we should cut the publishers some slack? Do they constantly need to remind us about PPE, as if we aren’t aware of it? Are they being negligent if they put someone on the cover who isn’t wearing a full set of safety gear? Is it our responsibility to email them when they fail to include PPE in their photos, as if they aren’t already aware of it?

The Police

I have the highest respect for those who use proper grammar and I try to do so myself, but I have a strong distaste for “grammar police.” Similarly, I am a big believer in safety practices and I believe we should try to be as safe as possible in our shops, but I could do without the “safety police”, primarily when it comes to PPE. So my personal opinion is that we should indeed cut content-producers a little slack. Not to mention, while your email may result in a correction or apology, it probably won’t stop it from happening again. What are your thoughts on this?

This poll was created by Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbench.com.

There was a crane scheduled to help hoist the trusses in place. As you can see, he was late. So the crew had to lift them in place manually. Fun to watch, not so fun to do.

The OSB sheathing went up in about two days. You can see they left some spots open for support boards. Once the building was able to stand on it’s own, the boards were removed and the gaps were covered with OSB.

The patio came together rather nicely. I honestly wasn’t sure how they were going to connect the patios so that it would look seamless, while also making the connection to the house. Finally today, the patio framing is pretty much complete and the two patios are now one. That’s a lot of patio space, but it’s something we felt the shop needed for both additional protection from the sun, but also to conform to the existing look of the house (a big deal with our HOA).

The front of the shop certainly deserves some explanation. I have no doubt that if we ever sell this house in the future, a big drawback of the shop will be that it doesn’t have a big garage door. Frankly, there are more “car guys” than “woodworking guys” out there. So I thought it would be worth a few extra bucks to install a header for a potential future garage door. If someone really wanted to, it would be easy enough to demolish my double doors and expand the opening. As you can see in the second shot, my doors result in a much smaller opening and a lot more interior wall surface. The doors will be a set of glass patio doors to match what we have on our house and with both doors open, I should have about 5′ to work with.

These are two of my favorite shots. The interior skeleton and the yard view. So far, I’m very happy with the progress and I continue to be impressed with our builder. It won’t be long before I’m moving those tools out of storage and into their new home!

Let’s face it: some woodworking DVDs and videos are the perfect sedative. Others may pass on enough information to keep you awake, but they don’t do much to inspire you. It’s a rare occasion when a DVD escapes the typical traps and leaves you with a renewed sense of creativity and purpose. That’s what this DVD did for me. Maybe it was the smell of wood smoke and spice rub, or the sweet taste of my Dr. Pepper, or perhaps the fact that David was and still is my mentor. But my mind was racing with new ideas, not just in marquetry, but in furniture in general. I can’t guarantee you’ll have the same reaction I did, but I’m thinking you probably will.

In this 90 minute DVD, David gives us every detail we would need to know to successfully create a marquetry image using the double-bevel technique. Since I did take the class in person, I can honestly say that the DVD holds nothing back. In-person classes can be great. But for folks who don’t have the budget, time, or desire, a DVD like this really fits the bill and has the added advantage of being re-watchable. So if you have ever felt your artistic side calling out to you, I highly recommend learning the marquetry technique which is essentially “painting with wood”.

I have a policy of NOT reviewing DVDs from folks that I have an ongoing friendship with. It just gets too messy. So this isn’t meant to be a review. I’m not going to give this DVD a “grape soda rating” and I won’t be dissecting it like I do on the Wood Talk Online Review Show. What I can do is tell you this is a worthy purchase. There aren’t many resources out there for double bevel marquetry and I believe this is a technique anyone can master, if you have the right teacher. I highly recommend you let David Marks be that person.

You can pick up your copy today right on David Marks’ website. You can thank me later.

1 – Does this pink half-mask respirator make my face look fat?
2 – Are you seriously going to make that circular saw cut with no guide?
3 – My .5mm pencil keeps breaking while marking for these studs, can I borrow yours?
4 – Did anyone bring a jointer so I can straighten out this 2×4?
5 – You do realize that’s an end-grain to long-grain joint, right?
6 – I brought my nail gun from home. 18 gauge should be OK, right?
7 – Sheesh, don’t people make houses WITHOUT metal fasteners anymore?!?!
8 – Seriously?! No glue on that joint?!
9 – Don’t these guys know that cabinet-grade plywood holds up better than OSB?!?!
10 – Are you kidding me? No WiFi?!?!

There are so many more I could come up with. So what would get you kicked off a construction site?

This poll was created by Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbench.com.

The guy took a look at the situation, pulled out his handy pricing guide, and told me that it would cost about $400 to replace the faucet using the new faucet I already purchased. He also said he would replace the cold water shut-off for $250. I thanked him for his time, paid the $60 trip fee, and decided that I was going to have to figure this crap out myself.

My step-dad, who has much more plumbing experience than I do, promptly came over to serve as my wing man and we had the job done in less than an hour. Turns out it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be although my back certainly didn’t enjoy the endeavor! So let’s assume I did pay the pro to do the job. If I could do it in about an hour, he sure as heck could have done it in half the time. Billing me $400 for the job would make his rate about $800/hr!! Yeah, chew on that for a while.

So the point of all this is not to diminish the value of our friendly neighborhood plumbers, but to encourage you to charge what you’re worth! If you happen to be in the position to sell your woodworking, please do NOT undervalue your time. Just because you enjoy doing it doesn’t make it any less valuable. I think that’s where many hobbyists/part-time pros get hung up. We see a paying job as something to help us break even. Well pardon my French but screw that! You should be charging for not only materials, but your time. And don’t forget about the elusive x-factor called “profit”. Every project you sell should absolutely bring in a substantial profit. We can’t compete with big box store prices and we shouldn’t even try. People who buy cardboard furniture are not our customers anyway…..yet. The pieces you create will outlast your lifetime and many more to come. We stand in defiance of the disposable society we find ourselves in. Take pride in that stance, build great furniture, and if you sell it, charge appropriately.

So how do you store your chisels. If you have a picture, feel free to link to it in the comments section below.

This poll was created by Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbench.com.

Fast-forward to the present and we have the concrete poured for both the shop and the attached patio. The shop patio takes a 90 degree turn near the house and eventually connects to our exiting patio. Part of our HOA requirement is that the shop look exactly like our house and we thought the patio was a nice touch, especially given the fact that the overhang would provide lots of relief from the sun.

You can see some of the details below including the plumbing, electrical, and floor outlets. I was surprised to see that the slab gets poured even before any trenching is done for utilities. But I suppose once everything is in place, you can simply make the connection outside the slab and you’re good to go. You’ll also see a shot of the floor outlets. I am having them install two clusters of two 220v outlets as well as one cluster of 110. The 220v is for the big power tools in the back and the 110 is for my Festool MFT setup toward the front. It’s a bit of a gamble trying to predict where I am going to need those outlets, but I just couldn’t resist the opportunity. I used my SketchUp drawing for reference so I can’t be THAT far off!

Lucky for us, the Arizona weather turned to rain this week so I’m saving a few bucks on my water bill, as I try to slow down the cure time of the slab. So far, so good.

And if you’re interested, you can jump into a discussion we’re having in the forum about shop flooring options.

The Site Plan

Since I first made the announcement about the shop last week, I received several requests for more information about the build including plans/drawings. So let’s dive right in. The site plan shows the basic layout of the shop and house. The shop itself will come in at 60′ x 30′ (1800 sq. ft.). We are very fortunate to have about an acre of land to work with, so there’s plenty of room for the new shop space. Our HOA (Home Owner’s Association) requires that the shop look exactly like our home, so all of the finishing touches really jack up the price. You’ll notice that we are also tying in the shop patio with the existing patio which will look pretty cool, but again, increases the cost. The shop is set back from our existing fence line, giving me some space to store my cargo trailer and perhaps enough room for a future basketball hoop for Mateo. Then again, if he plays basketball as poorly as I do, we might leave well enough alone.

The Floor Plan

Here’s a quick look at the basic floor plan. Although this version shows a garage door at the front, we will actually be installing a set of double doors and removing the front/side door. One of the things I am most excited about is the bathroom. In my opinion, that is one of the nicest creature comforts a shop can have. And for me, it also means I’m going to be more productive. I can’t tell you how many hours I waste going into the house when nature calls. Not because of the act itself, but because I have a really bad habit of letting myself get distracted. “Hey, let’s see what Nicole is doing.” “OMG! Someone screwed up the spice rack’s alphabetical order! Must fix!” or “OH schnap, my PS3 has an update. I need to take care of that right away!” So if I can avoid going into the house AT ALL on a work day, I will be a much more productive woodworker.

Good Problems to Have

Planning a shop from the ground up is a dream come true, and also very stressful. Personally, I have a lot of trouble deciding where things might go before ever stepping foot into a particular space. My goal is to remain as flexible as possible. I’ve said about a thousand times that the workshop is always evolving. If I lock myself into an arrangement because of receptacle locations or dust collection, I might regret it down the road. So I want to make sure there is some redundancy built-in. I’m basically building a giant rectangle with a bathroom, windows and a door. I am not running any dust collection ductwork in the concrete slab, for the reasons mentioned above, but I am installing a few floor outlets. Having outlets in the floor will be a real nice treat (fewer cords to trip over), but of course, I need to be careful about their placement. So I decided to take my old shop SketchUp drawing and use it to roughly model the new space. Nothing is in stone but this just gave me some initial ideas of what the configuration COULD look like. If you want to download the Sketchup File and have some fun with it, be my guest.

Documentation

I am indeed documenting the entire build process. What the final feature will look like and how it will be presented is still up in the air. I am taking video and still every day and we even have a live cam for you to check out. That should be available during regular working hours right on the Live Page.

FAQ

I tend to get a lot of the same questions via email, Twitter, and Facebook. So I figured I would collect them here for future reference.

• How big will the shop be?
  60′ x 30′ (1800 sq. ft.)
• Are you doing any of the work yourself?
  Nope. I want it done properly and quickly.
• When will the shop be completed?
  Approximately 3 months
• Will you have A/C?
  Absolutely. The building is being insulated and treated as if it were a house. That includes A/C and extra attention paid to energy efficiency.
• What will you do in the mean time?
  Read comic books. Seriously though, I have some material to edit and if I can get the interim garage shop in good enough shape, I might be able to pull off a limited tools project or two. I am also in the process of writing a new book.
• Will you have a finishing room?
  Most likely in the future. But this is one of those things that I would rather do after living in the space for a while.
• What you install wood floors?
  Perhaps, although it isn’t in the plans right now. We are already over-extended with our budget so this is definitely on the “nice to have” list.

This poll was created by Tom Iovino at TomsWorkbench.com.

Apparently, Evan is now getting into woodworking and built his first project: a bed frame. The experience inspired him to create a strip called “Building Stuff With Wood” and it is full of awesome. I thought you folks would enjoy it so with Evan’s permission, here it is. Be sure to visit AugustLovesMay.com to enjoy more of Evan’s work.

The students ranged in skill level from complete newb to solid intermediate. Two of the students were unfamiliar with basic milling operations and needed a little more guidance throughout the project. At the beginning of the class, I ask each student about their experience and comfort level so I know how much to assist/teach/intervene. So if you are completely new to the craft, you are always welcome in one of my classes! Learning while building a project is one of the most productive ways to advance your skills.

This project came from the Wood Whisperer Guild and I never taught it in this format. So I did my best to estimate how much we should get done each day. The problem with Greene & Greene furniture is that you need at least a full day just making and installing your ebony plugs. This really only leaves four days for the general construction of the chair! That’s a lot to accomplish in a teaching environment. Fortunately, this group was highly motivated: we started early and stayed late every day.

Only two of the students had a fully-assembled chair on the last day. The rest were very close to assembly and simply flat-packed their parts. Thankfully, most of these guys have a shop at home where they could finish their project in their own time.

Now here’s a little story that really goes to show how awesome woodworkers can be. The student pressing the hardest to reach the finish line happened to be the one with the least experience. In fact, the guy owns little to no tools and never did ANY woodworking prior to the class. So finishing the project at home just wasn’t an option. On the final day, several of the other students stopped working on their own projects and starting working on ebony plugs, assembly line style, just to make sure he would have a fully-assembled chair by the end of the day. That’s what I love about the woodworking community! These people are always willing to help one another, even if it means slowing themselves down. Does me proud just being a part of it.

When it was all said and done, I think these guys were happy with the class. William reminded me that the ultimate goal for these classes is NOT the completion of a project. Instead, the focus is on learning. If you happen to go home with a fully assembled project, that’s just icing on the cake. We aren’t there to assemble a kit. We are there to learn and practice. So that’s something to keep in mind when attending this type of class in the future. You may be heading out the door with homework.

I would like to thank this excellent group of guys for attending the class and making me a part of their woodworking journey. I had a blast and I hope to see some of you in future classes.

I mentioned to Ron that I probably wouldn’t use them for anything with significant weight. He was quick to show me just how sturdy they are! And while I don’t recommend trying this at home, I do recommend pulling out a camera when your friends do something foolish as long as it isn’t life-threatening. Thankfully Ron and I both survived the ordeal.

So what will I use these for? Finishing. Every time I finish a project via HVLP, I find myself scavenging cardboard boxes from the trash or spanning a few 2×4′s across two garbage cans. These sawhorses are perfect for supporting work for finishing. If I cut a couple of long strips and notch those as well, I’ll have a nice long finishing rack. Perhaps the best part is that I won’t get upset when the horses receive frequent baths from various stains and finishes. I can also take them apart and pack them flat when not in use so they won’t take up much space. Not a bad use for some sheetgood scrap!

For those who requested it, here is the dxf file: Download Now!

So out of the list below, what projects do you consider to be the most challenging? Have something that ins’t on the list? Leave a comment with your thoughts.

A funny observation about pocket screws is that many folks see it as an all or none situation. Either you love pocket screws or you abhor them. Is there no room for a middle ground? They are just screws, right? And even folks who prefer wooden joinery can still find a need for a mechanical fastener now and then. So I am of the opinion that a full shop setup isn’t complete without at least some version of a pocket screw jig. Someday it just may save your butt!

This poll was created by Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbench.com.

I typically go to the William Ng School twice a year: once to teach and once to be taught. And if you can believe it, the experiences are not all that different. Even when I’m wearing my teaching hat, I am still interacting with other woodworkers and learning in what I can only describe as a collective/collaborative teaching environment. I’m not there to show anyone the “BEST” way to do something. Instead, I want to show them the way I find most useful. They, in turn, are invited to tell me how they might improve the process or what other ways they might get the job done. This is what I like about taking classes from folks like David Marks, Darrell Peart, and William Ng. These guys really know their stuff but they are always open-minded about new ideas and have a humble presence. This is what I aspire to be as a woodworker and an educator.

I can recall a criticism that was thrown my way a couple of years ago. I think it was a YouTube commenter who said something like, “I don’t like your teaching style. You never seem to know what tools or techniques to use. Every show you try something different. I’d rather watch an old school pro like Frank Klausz who always knows the BEST way to get the job done and the BEST tool to use.” I gave this comment much thought and decided that this person was actually correct, to some extent. I am indeed constantly exploring new tools and methods. This is part of what I find fun and compelling about the craft. In my opinion, there really is no BEST way to do anything! The truth is, if someone tells you that their method is the best, that just means they have stopped looking for something better and this is the best method they know of. That is NOT to say their method isn’t a bowl of awesome soup, but they clearly found a method that works for them and ceased the active search for something better.

Of course, I can’t say which type of instructor is better as they both have merits. I think it really comes down to the personal preference of the student. My personal preference, in case you couldn’t tell, is for the collective/collaborative environment. Now I don’t want you to get the impression that this is education by committee in any way. The class is guided by the knowledgable hand of the instructor, but instead of simply being told what to do and doing it, the student is encouraged to explore all available options and ask the tough questions such as “Why?”. If a problem arises, a discussion ensues about the potential fixes. Essentially, the student is allowed to branch out and explore the craft while bouncing ideas off the instructor and their fellow students. Thinking back on my college days, it reminds me of “topics” courses where you move beyond the standard 101 content and into a very detailed and higher level exploration into the field of study. Instead of a lecture, it’s a conversation.

It is only natural that the more time you spend in this craft, the more likely you are to get comfortable with your favorite tools and techniques. I certainly have the highest respect for those of us who have been in the craft long enough to develop absolute and final preferences. But I hope to push off that chapter of my story off for as long as possible. You know how we frequently say that building a woodworking project is more about the journey than the destination? The same can be said for the craft itself. I plan to stay on my personal journey for as long as possible. If I’m lucky, I’ll never reach the destination.

As students of the craft, what type of learning environment do you prefer? Has this changed as you gained more experience?

I know for me, safety is a constant concern. Really, it should be on all of our minds 100% of the time when we are in the shop. But in my case, I have the additional concerns of documenting everything I do and then sharing it with the public. If I do something that is unsafe, I could very well endanger thousands of other woodworkers. So the pressure is always on for me. And for that, my fingers are quite thankful!

Lloyd’s Kickback

I was working with a piece of pegboard 96″ long and about 20″ wide, and was cutting about 18″ off one end of the board. My saw is a large 10″ contractor saw mounted on its own portable frame. At the time I was not using the riving knife because the mount had slipped out of adjustment and tended to bind piece of wood between it and the rip fence. My blade was set about 1/4″ above the wood. After pushing this long, flexible piece of wood through the saw, I left the saw running with the 18″x20″ piece between the blade and rip fence. While i stepped back with the 78″ piece (at the time i was more worried about letting that piece flop onto the floor), the piece between the blade and fence shifted enough to bite into the back of the blade, and the thing shot out like a spinning pegboard of death. At this point i was walking back to the saw and about 4 feet from it when the pegboard ninja star was making its way towards me. For whatever reason I had my hands down in front and the piece caught me on the wrist of my right hand, as opposed to more important appendages front and center. I was shocked and couldn’t feel my hand for 2 hours. My wrist swelled probably an inch or so. I could move it, so it wasn’t broken, but it took several months before I regained full motion in it. You can see the pictured taken right after the accident, and a picture from today almost 6 months later. You can still see the scar at the base of my hand.

So why did it happen? Because I’m an IDIOT! Rather than take the 5 minutes to fix the alignment problem with my riving knife, I just took it out and went about my merry way. I probably should have had the blade higher as well.

How did I fix it? I DID NOT go ballistic and buy a saw stop. It wasn’t the saws fault, it was mine for being in a hurry. First I didn’t go back in the shop for a month. Once I got the nerves to go back in, I fixed the riving knife alignment and its now standard policy to never run the saw without it for through cuts, as well as use the anti kickback pawls and saw guard when possible. I’ve also purchased a pair of GRR-IPPERS from Microjig and use them on all of my power tools.

It could have been a lot worse, but this was as close a call as I hope to ever have for the rest of my woodworking career.

Russell’s Kickback and Chisel Slip

Well I think I can definitely contribute to the goal of keeping safety at the forethought of every fellow woodworker out there. I am unfortunate enough to have had not one, but two separate incidents in the shops. My first was in my senior year of high school working on a solid oak firewood storage bin for my parents home. My dad has a nice production shop setup building butcher blocks that I could work in. I had built some 5inch square “feet” for the box that would raise it off the ground by about 2-3 inches. This provided us the ability to move it around easier. Upon final construction, of course, one foot was a little too thick making the box rock back and forth… just annoying is you ask me. So, in the heat of the moment (combined with jamming to some tunes in my headset) I fired up the jointer and made a pass using just my hand pressing the short piece to the table. In hindsight, I cannot believe I was even able to accomplish this one with no real excitement. I tested the foot and of course found that it needed one more pass. Well (you can see where this was going) on this pass the front end of the foot tilted forward right as touched the blades. This shot the piece right out from under my hand and my right index finger dropped into the blades. This incident ended up shattering my finger and I lost about 1/4 – 1/2 inch of bone and all. Luckily they were able to reconstruct the nail bed and after a year or go I regained all motion in it. Obviously most woodworkers should know the two mistakes I made (too small of a piece on that machine and not using some paddles). To those not extreamly familiar with a jointer just know that they recommend a certain length piece for a reason. Just take your time and really think about what you are doing. Oh and the foot was catapulted across the room a good 12-15 feet and put a really good dent in some wood cabinets my father and I had set up.

Now, a few year later, I have finished college and started my career. This has given me the distinct pleasure to setup my own shop in my townhome’s one-car garage. To start with, I did everything by hand (now I have a table saw and miter saw that make things sooo much easier) but still managed to make a crucial second mistake without these big tools. I was making a set of drawers for a cabinet I was constructing for all my tools and was working on paring out some dovetails with a simple handsaw and a set of good, sharp chisels. I made the simplest of split second mistakes by putting my other hand down the workpiece in front of the cutting edge to support the material when I saw it moving a little under my clamps. In hindsight, I should have just tightened the clamps… duh. But no. Once I put more pressure on the paring stroke, the chisel slipped and landed right into the thumb of my left hand. Needless to say it took the entire side of my thumb off in a split second. This one has not healed so nice and I have lost some of my movement in this finger. The main reason I bring this up is that people forget how dangerous even the simplest of hand tools can be when you forget the basic safety rules you are taught as a child. Just be careful, slow down, and take the time to enjoy this wonderful hobby.
I have attached a few pics of the healed injuries just as further enforcement to keeping safety as the number one item on your mind when woodworking.
Thanks for letting me share this. Hope it at least helps someone out.

John’s Saw Blade Kiss

Hey Marc! I hope you and your family are well bro! Since its safety week, I thought I’d share what happened to me on Sunday 4/29. Feel free to post to your site… Just don’t make TOO much fun- lol… Love what you do bro…

I did something foolish, and I knew better, but I had done it several times before, so hey, what’s one more time….. riiiiiiiight… My “luck” finally caught up with me. I was guiding a piece of stock with my left hand and using a push stick between the blade and fence with my right hand. Big deal- that’s how it’s done (SOMEtimes). But, That isn’t the issue here (big eyes- lol)… I was cutting a small piece of 1 1/2″ stock (8-10″ long) on my table saw as a “test piece” for my project, ripping it in half. When the piece went through the blade, at the end of the cut, the blade grabbed the stock, on the FRONT of the blade and pulled my finger in TO the blade!

At first, it didn’t hurt. Kind of felt like a paper cut. I looked at my finger and said, “why is it bleeding so much”? I walked in the house and ran my finger under cold water and said, “oh my! That is NOT a paper cut! That is cut off!!”

Scared my wife a little, and, I was a little in shock too…

I said all of that to say this- don’t be stupid; I was. I knew better. I don’t care how “good you are”, that table saw will win E V E R Y time… makes me wish I had a SawStop, but SawStop can’t fix foolish…

Skip Evans
Never reach into the Soffet.

One Saturday morning I was working on a building I am constructing. The chore for the day was to install the soffits. I was working on a ladder installing one of the panels for the soffit. Being on a ladder I reached inside the soffit to steady myself while nailing the soffit panel. Well, guess what. Not realizing (not thinking) I pressed the trigger on the nail gun and instantly knew I had done something wrong. I must have projected this error with my look because my wife, standing below me asked, Did you just get your finger? There I was, nailed to the building with nowhere to go. I tried to pull my finger off the nail, but the ridged nail shank was not cooperating. Luckily, a neighbor was home. I did not know he could run so fast. My wife had barely hung up the phone and he was there. I was able to pull back the Hardy Plank panel in order to expose the head of the nail. Using lineman pliers we were able to cut the head off the nail and then pry the nail through the OSB. Now that I was free from the building, to the emergency room we went. Luckily the nail missed the bone. after a few needles full of anesthetic, the doc pulled the nail and sent my on my way. I was back to work the next day.

So once I began woodworking, I found myself with a bit of a conflict of interest. But there was one thing that completely changed my perspective on wood: exotic hardwoods. It was really all thanks to David Marks from Woodworks. He would routinely use exotic hardwoods on the show and I was fascinated by the stunning array of colors and grain patterns provided by Mother Nature. I began to use these woods in various projects and just like that, my furniture began to find a permanent home in my own house. Since then, I have since grown to appreciate even the mundane “country-style” species my parents were so fond of. Ironically, my mom now has a taste for Greene & Greene, something I can completely get behind. So with questions of environmental responsibility and stewardship aside, there will always be a soft place in my heart for exotic hardwoods. What say you?

This poll was created by Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbench.com.

This poll was created by Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbench.com.

Thanks everyone for making a solid effort toward improves shop safety!

Stu’s Shed – Dust, Guards/Kickbacks, PPE, Misc. Shop Safety, Safety Costs
Woodworker’s Guide – Safety Tips for the Wood Turner Part 1 & Part 2
Julien Lecomte’s Blog – Safety Week 2012
Renaissance Woodworker – Safety Week 2012 Kickoff
Tom’s Workbench – Overlooked Safety Tips
Matt’s Basement Workshop – The Accident

I own several safety devices for my tablesaw and I use them in various combinations depending on the task at hand. Nearly every cut is done using the riving knife. I try to use my blade guard as much as possible too but I must admit to forgetting on occasion. And I very rarely send a piece through the saw with my bare hands. Push sticks help to keep my hands at least 8-12″ away from the blade at all times.

This poll was created by Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbench.com.

Polls are created by Tom Iovino of TomsWorkbench.com.

A drill press was one of the first tools I ever purchased for my shop. Why? Because Lowe’s carried one for a reasonable price and I remember seeing David Marks use one once. Of course I needed one! As a result of this not so well thought out logic, I didn’t wind up using my drill press all that much. But over the years, the value of this tool has become clear to me and I wind up using the tool for just about any project that requires drilling.

There are two aspects that I really like about this tool. First, it keeps the bit perfectly perpendicular to the surface with the workpiece clamped in position. This makes for much more accurate hole placement. The second factor is drillings speed. Not just the adjustable rotational speed but the level of control you have over plunge speed.

So while I didn’t use it all that much initially, the drill press has become a very important tool in my shop.

The Traditional Joiner

If you are into hand tools, not only do you need to learn how to use the tools but also tune and sharpen them. How many of us toiled away for months or longer trying to figure out how to use a plane that was never sharpened properly? I remember vividly the first time I took a few strokes with a friends finely-tuned smoother. What an epiphany! I felt like such a goober because I always blamed my poor results on my lack of skills. I honestly never suspected that the tool itself was at the heart of the issue. No wonder it chewed up my work like a Labrador puppy!

If you’re using Grandpa’s old tools or some flea-market finds, you’ll need to become fairly competent at tool rehabilitation too. The sharpest iron in the world won’t help you if the sole is shaped like a banana. Just ask my buddy Matt Vanderlist.

The Machinist

If you choose to incorporate power tools into your shop, you now need to learn the ins and outs of tool setup and calibration. If you think you can un-crate that shiny new tablesaw, plug it in, and be on your way to wood-cutting bliss, think again! Every tool needs to be calibrated properly before use. Taking measurements down to the nearest thousandth is common practice (sometimes unnecessarily) and for those of us with failing eyesight, that’s never any fun!

Once the tool is up and running, of course you need to learn how to use it. While most power tools don’t require the same manual dexterity as their hand tool counterparts, there is certainly some nuance to it. Tools like the tablesaw and jointer require much more in the way of body movement than simply “passing the wood over/through the blade”.

The Safety Officer

Regardless of which tools you use, safety must be the number one priority. Learning to work safely is not quite as easy as simply reading a manual or watching a basic instructional video. What you need is time: time to familiarize yourself with the normal operation of the tool, time to gain enough experience to be able to identify abnormal tool operation, and time to use the tool in various ways in order to gain confidence in its many potential uses. Keep in mind that time does not automatically equate to increased safety. It’s how you spend that time that determines how often you put yourself at risk on a typical shop day. I have seen many “experienced” woodworkers doing very stupid things with tools.

The Finisher

Once you are comfortable with your tools and you begin cranking out projects, you eventually realize you need to educate yourself on finishing. If that isn’t a can of worms, I don’t know what is! In my opinion, finishing is one of the most needlessly over-complicated areas of woodworking. That’s exactly why I wrote a book in an effort to simplify things for the newbie. “What type of finish should I use on my project?” is the most common question to hit my inbox, and for good reason. There are so many choices out there and they all promise you the world! Fortunately, this is one area where you can truly keep things simple and not sacrifice the quality of your work. Don’t get caught up in the marketing hype and don’t be tempted to try a new finish on every project. Pick a finish that initially appeals to you and take the time to become skillful at applying it.

The Electrician

How about the workshop itself? Once you start to get into the more beefy tools, you no doubt will require 220v power. If you are somewhat comfortable with basic home wiring and you’re cheap like me, you will most likely tackle this work yourself. Whether you should or shouldn’t might be the subject of a different article in the future. Aside from new outlets, you probably want more lighting too. Who doesn’t?! So you may as well run an extra circuit or at least extend the current one. What gauge wire should you use? Should you use romex? Should you tap into the old drier outlet for easy 220? How many wires can you safely fit into 1/2″ conduit? These are all questions that I used to wrestle with until I wised up and called in a professional. Unless you have a background in electrical work, the cost of hiring a professional electrician is well worth it if you can rest easy knowing you won’t inadvertently burn your house down.

The HVAC Specialist

I was standing in my shop recently pondering my dust collection system. My ductwork needs some serious help and I couldn’t help but think, “I should hire someone to do this!”. As long as I’ve been doing woodworking, I still make major mistakes when it comes to designing an efficient system. I’ve read articles, blogs, and books, and I still screw it up. It should be simple right? Hook up the sucky thing to the stuff thank makes dust and you’re off to the races. Unfortunately, its just not that simple. Each tool has its own required CFM (cubic feet per minute) rating and you need to calculate the air movement and how much pressure you lose with your various drops. You then need to install the ductwork with minimal leakage as well as minimal twists and turns. To make matters worse, researching dust collection will make your head spin within minutes of hitting the enter key.

Ahhh! I just want to be a WOODWORKER!!

I’m not bringing all this up to discourage budding woodworkers. Quite the opposite in fact. Consider it a form of commiseration, if you will. We’ve all been there before. If we’re not puzzling over some complicated woodworking technique, we’re trying to figure out ways to improve the shop. As people who build furniture instead of buying it, I believe it’s in our nature to want to do everything ourselves. But frankly, it’s a little silly for us to think that we can master all of these aspects of running a shop.

Becoming a productive and functional woodworker, even at the hobbyist level, is quite an accomplishment. So if you’re new to the craft and you feel overwhelmed, remember that most of the folks you hear from have been at it for quite some time. Eventually, much of this information will find its way into your brain whether you want it there or not. And keep in mind, it never hurts to call in a professional when you aren’t sure about something (especially electricity).

I should also mention that simplifying your tool collection will go a long way in reducing the learning curve. If you decide to favor hand tools, you pretty much knock out electricity and dust collection from your list of crap to worry about.

I know we have lots of experienced woodworkers in the community and I’d like to hear what advice you might have for the folks just coming into the craft. What did you do to make the whole “becoming a woodworker” thing easier?

Passing judgement on yourself is no simple task. Some of us think we are way better than we are and others consistently downplay their skills. But I encourage you to take some time and think critically about where you fall on the scale of woodworking craftsmanship. Then think about where you would LIKE to be on that same scale. This exercise may very well make it easier for you to plot out your personal path to woodworking greatness! So where exactly do you rate yourself as a woodworker?

You may remember Carole Rothman’s guest article A New Approach to Beautiful Bowls where she discussed her method for creating amazing bowls without a lathe. Well now she’s turned her attention to boxes with her new book Creative Wooden Boxes From The Scroll Saw. And as you’ll see below, her work is simply….delicious! Carole was kind enough to offer up a copy of her book for this month’s giveaway. So get those comments in! In the mean time, let’s learn something from Carole!

When you think “box”, what comes to mind? Probably something square or rectangular, with mitered corners, dovetails, or box joints. Nice enough, to be sure, but a bit predictable. And even the simplest boxes take a fair amount of time, care, and precision to complete, along with appropriate tools and jigs. But what if you could make a box that was unusual, creative, and eye-catching, yet quick and easy, and looked like a pumpkin? Following my conviction that fine woodworking needn’t always be complicated, I set out to design an assortment of boxes that were different and attractive, yet within the reach of most woodworkers. I began by looking at the “best of the best” in the world of boxes, to see what top flight woodworkers were doing and to learn more about the shapes, woods and techniques they used. I looked for themes that could be developed, such as boxes that looked like food or furniture. And I looked for projects that were quick to make and easy to customize—both useful for those who sell their work I established four working principles: First, my boxes could be any shape at all. Second, they could not use conventional joinery. Third, they would require no staining or painting. Fourth, only the scroll saw, drill press, and various sanders could be used for their construction.

My first project was a radical departure from “square”. It consisted of a six-section box disguised as an apple tart. Inspired by a cookbook illustration, it was made of a bottom “crust” with fluted rim, covered by a lid of aspen “apples”, and garnished with slices of real cinnamon stick. Encouraged by this success, and intrigued by the food-like colors of many woods, I merged my love of baking and woodworking to create a “bakery”. The apple tart was followed by a cupcake, which was followed by a pineapple upside-down cake, coffee cup, ice cream box, and Linzer tart.

Forsaking convention frees you from being tied to “the way it’s always been done”, and challenges you to find better and easier solutions. Take the cupcake box, for example. The inner recess, created with a Forstner bit, and the outer profile, cut at a steep angle with a scroll saw, satisfied my desire for simplicity. But my stroke of genius (well, not quite genius, but pretty darn close!) was the discovery that an oversized spiral scroll saw blade made it a snap to cut perfect indentations on the sloping cupcake sides. The use of the Forstner bit for the cupcake box worked so well that I starting thinking “drilling”, rather than “cutting”, for other projects. Larger bits proved ideal for the recesses of ring and jewelry boxes, and were a reliable way to make smooth inside curves in wood too thick to cut easily. Small bits made quick work of the fidgety smaller curves found in bow loops, hard to cut evenly, and tricky to correct.

I also did some “tweaking” of the band saw style box, sensing untapped potential in its simple design. By adding overlay drawer fronts, a beveled top piece and compound-cut base, I created a dollhouse-sized chest of drawers. Delighted with my results, I pushed further, and overlaid an entire box front to make a bookcase. Then, to complete the “suite”, I added a hutch to an overlaid base to create a china cabinet. Feeling the need for a personal touch, I decorated my furniture with mini scans and tiny objects, doing in wood what I had once done in sugar on my custom decorated cakes.

My discoveries were many, but two stand out. The first is a new appreciation for the vertical belt sander. Using it to even out surfaces of boxes and lids is obvious, but that’s just the beginning. I discovered that it was by far the best and easiest way to make bevels, both decorative and functional, like those needed for barrel hinges. It made quick work of truing up small strips of wood, sanding to a line for precise fitting, and shaping loops and tails for bow top boxes.

The second discovery was the unexpected usefulness of veneer. Added to glue-ups and laminations, it lent a touch of class with minimal cost or work, and when dyed, provided drama and accent not otherwise possible. When the last project was done, I relaxed and smiled, confident that I had met not only my stated goals, but a larger, ongoing one: to help woodworkers of every skill level make projects that please the eye and warm the heart.

When I’m in the shop, I usually listen to podcasts or audio books. Once I exhaust that supply or when I need to pay more attention to the woodworking, nothing beats Pandora. I fire up some of my favorite bands and just let Pandora pick the tunes for me.

Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE MY TABLESAW, and mine isn’t going anywhere any time soon! I use it on just about every project. It also has a flame paint job and as a result, it is probably the coolest tool in my shop. But given the current state of things, it would certainly be an interesting exercise to think about how we might otherwise accomplish some common tablesaw tasks. And before you knuckle-dragging Neanderthals (said with love) start throwing rocks at me, I do realize there are hand tool equivalents for every tablesaw task. I can also ride my bike to New Jersey and back but I’d rather take a plane – RIMSHOT! So what I’m really looking for are alternative methods that are just as fast, just as clean, and just as easy as their tablesaw equivalent (and that doesn’t exclude hand tool methods). So I’ll throw out some ideas below as a discussion starting point, but what I really want is to hear from you guys. What tasks would you find hard to do without your tablesaw? Or maybe you have some obvious solutions that might benefit others. Share ‘em with us!

Rips

Nothing rips a board quite as easily and cleanly as a tablesaw. And nothing in the shop can launch a board into outer space with as much gusto as a tablesaw! Consequently, this is something I already use my bandsaw for. Far too often while ripping long boards, I notice the board cupping in on itself. If it weren’t for my riving knife, I certainly would have experienced numerous kickback events. At the bandsaw, the cutting force is applied downward into the table surface, so even if the wood warps and pinches the blade, it will NOT fly in your belly or face. The safety benefits here are unquestionable. But what about cut quality? Most bandsaw blades will leave a rough edge. The blade may also drift during the cut drawing your workpiece away from the fence. Any thoughts on how we might overcome these two issues? For sheetgoods, look no further than the circular saw. Outfitted with a good quality blade and a nice clamping tool guide, you can make some seriously high quality rips in plywood. You could also take it to the next level and pick up a tracksaw!

Cross-Cuts

Whether you use a miter gauge or a cross-cut sled, the tablesaw is incredibly well-suited for cross-cuts. But what else could we use? For smaller boards (and if you don’t have a lot of cuts to make), a hand saw seems like a perfectly reasonable alternative. You might need to clean up the edge afterwards, but if you own a decent hand saw you probably also own a hand plane and a shooting board. Of course the miter saw is a good alternative for cross-cutting narrower boards too. A circular saw and a track or other guide could certainly be used for wider boards. If you don’t mind a rougher cut, you could also use a jigsaw. And while the bandsaw will work in some cases, I have never been a fan of using it for cross-cuts……maybe it’s just me.

Dados

The only reasonable substitute I can come up with for dados is the router. Even in a fully outfitted shop that includes a tablesaw, the router may very well be the preferred dado-maker. But when you are making cabinets and you have a bunch of dados and grooves to batch out, is there anything faster than a dado stack in the tablesaw? I am really curious to hear your thoughts on dados and grooves.

Tenons

The tablesaw is my go-to tool for tenons. Even as the proud owner of a Festool Domino, I still tend to make my tenons with a dado stack and a miter gauge. So one obvious alternative here would be the various “joinery systems” like the Leigh FMT, the DowelMax, and the Festool Domino. These are most definitely a “pricey” alternative but they work quite well once you live within their ecosystems. A more basic alternative might be to simply use the router table.

Miters/Bevels

For miters, which are essentially just angled cross-cuts, the miter saw is a perfectly reasonable alternative. That is, assuming you have a good quality blade and a well-calibrated saw. Bevels, or angled rip cuts, are a little trickier. We might be able to use the bandsaw with the table tilted at an angle, but we would still have all the same ripping concerns mentioned above. Additionally, we have the challenge of fighting gravity due to the tilted table. A circular saw and a guide can be used to cut a long bevel too, but on narrower workpieces this can be a precarious affair.

I am really interested to hear your thoughts on these common tablesaw tasks. What alternative solutions can you come up with and could you actually live without your tablesaw?

Further Reading

Are Tablesaws “Essential”? – Adam Cherubini
GWOT – Global War on Tablesaws
A Year Without a Tablesaw – OldWolf Workshop
Can You Live Without a Tablesaw – WTO Forum

No one ever accused a Roubo workbench of being skinny! This beauty features some rather beefy 5 3/8″ x 3 1/2″ legs! That’s just how I roll. Each leg receives mortises for the short and long rails as well as large tenons at the top. These tenons will help us locate and secure the top to the base. Interestingly enough, this is one case where we cut the tenons first (most times I like to cut the mortise first). After the base is assembled, I’ll flip everything upside down, mark the locations of the tenons, and then cut the mortises in the underside of the top. This technique really saves me a lot of headache. As massive as these legs are, I was still able to use a fairly standard tablesaw/miter gauge/dado blade setup to cut the tenons.

Although the original Benchcrafted plans call for knock-down joints using some massive hardware, I opted to drawbore all of my base joints. So at the drill press, I drilled two 3/8″ holes through each mortise. The right front leg received a few extra holes for the holdfasts as well as a large finger hole which will later allow me to access the one dog that winds up centered over the right leg. I used a 3/4″ Power Bore bit from Rockler for the 3/4″ holes.

The Rails

In addition to the legs, the base is made up of six rails. Each receives a tenon on both ends. Once again, the tablesaw/miter gauge/dado blade setup makes this job easy. Since the mortises were all cut on the router, the ends of the mortises are round. So instead of chopping all of those mortises square with a chisel, I opted to round over the tenon using a chisel and a rasp.

Bench Flattening

When contemplating the flattening of the workbench, I decided to go the power tool route using a router sled. Why? Primarily because I am lazy, but also because I think it is an under-represented user-friendly technique. I have been meaning to demonstrate it for years and this was my opportunity. I should also mention that I certainly didn’t invent this method. If I’m not mistaken, it was first demonstrated by Tage Frid in an old publication, but don’t quote me on that. While I know there lots of us who think flattening a workbench is a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon, I am not one of them. Fortunately though, there are crazy people like Shannon over that the Hand Tool School who seem to thrive on this form of torture. I asked Shannon to do a demonstration of his flattening technique and he obliged. So in the video series, we’ll be showing BOTH techniques.

So here is how the router method works. The router sits inside a very simple plywood sled and rides along two parallel rails. As you move the sled back and forth, a big honkin’ router bit chews up any high spots. The best way to think of this is like a poor man’s CNC machine.

The router sled itself is constructed from three pieces of 3/4″ plywood that are custom fit for the router. The rails are made from construction grade 2×6′s. I jointed one side of each rail at the jointer before attaching them to the sides of the workbench using clamps. Now here’s the only tricky part in the technique. The goal is to get the two rails not only parallel to one another, but also parallel to our bench top. Fortunately, there’s a trick that makes this pretty easy.

I start by making sure the rails are roughly parallel to the bench top by measuring at all four corners. I aim for them to be about 1/2″ above the bench top surface. I then attach two pieces of coated wire from corner to corner creating an X-pattern on the workbench. You can use string for this too but I find using a more substantial wire with a bright colored coating makes it easier to see and thus, more accurate. When attaching the wire to the rails, I used a screw and a washer to ensure a good grip. Notice that the wire is wrapped around the screw in a clock-wise orientation. This is so that as the screw catches, it will actually help to tighten up the wire making it nice and taut.

If those two rails are perfectly parallel the two wires should intersect at the center, essentially traveling through one another. But obviously, the wires touch and the laws of physics prevent that from happening. To get around this, I take two cut-offs and place them under the top wire at each corner. This raises the top wire by one wire thickness. So now we know that the two rails are perfectly parallel when the two wires just kiss each other at the center. Using a hammer, I tap the corners until not only the wires touch, but each rail is approximately the same height above the bench top surface. If your bench top is really out of whack, its a good idea to first know where your high and low spots are and that should help you determine the best setup prior to routing. At first glance, this method might not seem all that accurate. But if you actually try it, you’ll see that just the slightest tap at one corner is all it takes to separate those two wires at the center.

Once the rails are parallel, the wires can be removed and the clamps tightened up. Now it’s time to make some wood chips fly! I like to plunge the bit down through the sled until it makes contact with the workbench at the lowest point. By moving the sled around with the bit extended, you can get a feel for what section represents the lowest spot. Anything that is higher than the lowest spot will be routed away. The process took about 10 minutes and as you can see, it made quite a mess. Even though it looks like I removed a lot of wood, I didn’t take much more than 1/32″ – 1/16″ over most of the surface. The one exception was the back left corner where a some fairly significant twist resulted in the loss of about 1/8″.

Over time, my bench will likely go out of flat again and the minor seasonal changes will be easy enough to correct with my trusty #7 jointer plane. For this initial flattening process though, I am very glad I went with the router method. Furthermore, one of the great bonuses to this technique is that the sled is re-usable. If I ever have a large slab of wood that is just too unwieldy for the jointer and planer, I can achieve a dead flat surface using this system. It’s a handy jig to have around the shop! I highly recommend getting one. They are so choice!

Gap Stop & Shelf

The final treatments for the bench include a lower shelf and a gap stop. The shelf consists of ship-lapped 3/4″ boards sitting on ledger strips that are attached to the inside edge of the rails. This shelf is completely optional and some might prefer not to have one at all. But personally, I could always use the extra storage. And to be honest, I think the bench looks more complete with a nice shelf.

The gap-stop is a pretty neat feature of the bench. It not only fills the gap between the two slabs but also serves as full-length planing stop. When not in use, it sits flush with the bench top. If so motivated, you can actually use the gap stop as a tool rack for your chisels and saws while working on a particular project. This is much better than having them roll around precariously on the bench top work surface.

The Rest

In the heat of battle, I sometimes forget to snap pictures. So we’ll be skipping over some details like the leg vise assembly, the roller brackets, the shaping of the leg vise chop, and the sliding deadman. You might notice that I opted to pay homage to Greene & Greene with my design choices. Even though it is “just a workbench”, there’s absolutely no reason it can’t reflect my personality and tastes. Below is a current picture that shows the state the bench is in today. I’ll be resuming progress on Monday. There are still some finishing touches to do before we can call this bad boy done, but clearly the finish line is fast approaching. I can’t wait to use this beast!

In the last month, I have injured myself more times than I have in the past few years! Now we’re not talking hospital visits here. Just small cuts and scrapes (mostly from hand tools) and a couple of close calls. Enough for me to take a step back and seriously evaluate how I feel before I step into the shop. If there is one thing I learned about myself, it’s that I have NO business being in the shop when I’m tired.

The problem with fatigue is it’s a little like being drunk. You may be a little more complacent than usual. You might make slightly more risky cuts. You might not set up all the proper safety devices. The phrase, “Its just one cut” will likely come out of your mouth. Even something as simple as having a weaker grip on your chisel or push stick could have dangerous ramifications. Basically, all of our safety training goes out the window if you compromise your ability to make good decisions and execute properly.

With this new appreciation for the effects of fatigue on safety, I am happy to say I have been making the decision to stay home much more often than usual. I guess I’ll just edit more video. Like my good buddy Ice Cube says, “Check yo self before you wreck yo self!”

The reason I am bringing this up is because I recently made a purchase at Clyde Hardware and I thought it would be helpful to show you an example of the insane price discrepancies. I made a relatively small purchase of 18 Blum 1/2″ overlay hinges and 100 1/4″ brass shelf pins. At a popular online retailer, the hinges are about $7 each and the shelf pins are about $0.30 each. If my trusty calculator is right, that’s a total bill of $156 before tax. At Clyde, I was able to get the hinges for about $3 each and the pins for about $0.05 each, giving me a total of $59. So that’s a savings of about $97 on small order of 100 shelf pins and 18 hinges!!!

Moral to the story? Pick up the yellow pages and look for a hardware supplier. You might have to find a friend who has a tax ID number (if you don’t have one) because some of these places might not deal with the public directly. The potential savings is significant enough that it’s worth the extra effort to find these places. Spending less money on hardware means spending more money on the stuff that counts……….WOOD!

“I am building a bar top from 8/4 Walnut for my son’s new home, and he wants to have a very natural finish on it – no film finish allowed. My first thought was to use BLO, but some research has led me to think that Pure Tung Oil might provide better protection. Is Pure Tung Oil a better option than BLO for an open grained wood like Walnut?”

Tung Oil and BLO

When it comes to protection, boiled linseed oil (BLO) and pure tung oil are pretty similar. One important thing they have in common is that neither one offers a great deal of protection. If you have to choose between the two, I would say to go for the BLO since its cheaper. BLO does is said to “yellow” a little more over time when compared to tung oil, but that is a moot point with respect to walnut.

Now obviously your son is the boss here, right? But indulge me while I make a small suggestion. An pure oil finish will certainly be better than nothing at all, but for a bartop, your son might regret this decision after the first few spills. I can totally understand why he doesn’t want a film finish though. Personally, I hate the look of those super thick bartop finishes (epoxy). If someone wants that much protection, they should just put down a piece of glass or simply use something other than wood (can you smell the contempt? hehe). But keep in mind this isn’t an all or none proposition and you can achieve a compromise between the highly protective plastic look and the barely protected natural look.

The Oil/Varnish Compromise

So my suggestion would be to try to achieve the best of both worlds. Give the bar top a very natural-looking finish, while imparting a great deal more protection than what you would receive from an oil alone. There are a few products on the market today that contain oil and varnish together, like Watco Danish Oil. Because there is so much oil in the mix, you would have to put on about 4 or 5 coats before you really start to get an appreciable film. However, if you apply 2-3 coats, the wood will retain the natural look while protecting the surface with at least some varnish. If you go with a matte or satin formulas, I think your son will be even happier with the end result as it won’t have the eye-glaring reflective qualities of a typical gloss concoction.

One of the great advantages to using an oil/varnish blend is you can monitor the surface after each coat and simply stop when you have the look you want. Dilute the mix with mineral spirits if you want even more fine control. Also keep in mind that you can actually make your own oil/varnish blend by mixing 1/3 mineral spirits, 1/3 BLO (or tung oil), and 1/3 polyurethane.

Either way, make sure you sand lightly between coats to keep the finish nice and smooth. After the final coat, either sand with 1200 grit paper or buff with 0000 steel wool. The wood will not only look natural, but will easily repel the occasional spill.

Related Resources:

Oil Finish Basics (Video)
Make Your Own Oil/Varnish Blend

The Dog Strip

“The Dog Strip”…..sounds like it should be a street in Las Vegas. Just me? OK, focus Marc! The dog hole strip is made with the aid of a routing template and a pattern bit. The dog hole itself is positioned at a 2 degree angle to offset the force that will be applied to the dogs when in use. The dog holes also feature a small “shelf” that essentially serves as a depth stop so the dogs don’t go too deep into the bench.

After routing, a strip of 3/8″ thick maple caps it off. The end result is a perfectly-centered series of dog holes that are now ready to be glued to the bench top. Notice that the dog hole strip does not run the full length of the bench. This is so that the tail vise can do its job and the movable dog block will have some room to travel. The strip is glued to the bench with the aid of Dominos for alignment.

Front Laminate & Dovetails (Condor Tails)

The bench top is finished off by attaching the front laminate strip. The only tricky part about this is the fact that we need to tie the strip into the end cap. There are several options for how to accomplish this, including something as simple as a butt joint and lag bolts. But that’s no fun! So I decided to aim for the fences and make the connection with dovetails. I followed Jameel Abraham’s method, published in an article called “Condor Tails” in Popular Woodworking Magazine (August 2011). The method is right up my alley as it makes good use of both hand and power tools. The tails are cut first at the bandsaw. The pins are then cut into the end cap using a clever combination of chisels and a pattern bit in the router. You’ll have to buy the back issue or join the Guild to get the details on this method. The picture below shows the dovetails in the “rough state” with pencil marks and all. After it was glued into place and cleaned up, I was truly impressed with the results. A near piston fit! Kudos to Jameel on coming up with this method for what would normally be a pretty daunting joint.

Finishing Up The Tail Vise

With the front laminate glued into place, we can now route the grooves for the tail vise rails. The rails are then screwed into place and the dog block slides cleanly in the rails. It is interesting to note that the metal nut block shouldn’t make contact with any wood. If everything is working properly, it should slide back and forth making contact with the metal rails only. I didn’t mention it earlier, but when making the dog hole strip I was careful to include one extra dog hole. That one was reserved specifically for the movable dog block, which is installed here in the final step. The vise has incredibly smooth action and travels quickly. I think I’m going to like this!

The Dog Breeder

The only thing missing from my new bench top is the dogs themselves. They are fairly easy to make but it can be time-consuming. So I figured I would save some time by making a makeshift routing jig that I affectionately refer to as “The Dog Breeder”. Once the shape is cut, each dog receives a piece of 1/8″ stock that serves as a spring. A little fine-tuning with my smoothing plane and the dogs slide in and out of the dog holes with ease. When full retracted, you can see they sit just below the surface of the bench.

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This article was written by VitalBodies, a Wood Whisperer community member. If you like music, you’ll enjoy his story. Here’s a short bio:
From countless wood shop classes to contractor to fixer to starting to create a home shop. For the fixer I have been doing everything from fences to architectural planter boxes to refinishing furniture and more.

It all started by attempting to write a comment on TWW site to thank Marc for his scraper articles I found so handy while working on an antique writing desk. Meanwhile, I had also been asking folks of all ages for at least a week “what songs really lift you up and get you moving?” I told the folks I asked, “it does not matter what decade, era, genre or whatever, but WHAT GETS YOU DANCING?” I was testing dancing to some of the songs in between writing the comment. Does not matter if you are in the kitchen, shop, club or on the dance floor, what is the song(s) that sets you to flight?

Today I started working on an antique writing table. Not knowing antiques all that well I thought “U can’t touch this” but since it was only the top that needed work, I thought, “well maybe I should”? I mean, this is not the Antique road show is it?

I needed to refinish the top. It could have been hickory or oak, I was not really sure. I used a Dewalt Random Orbital Sander (ROS) with a VERY aggressive Bosch 40 grit disk, connected to a full blown HEPA vac. Even then, the wood was so hard I realized it would take hours and hours of sanding, in Uggs in a cold shop.

I then remembered I bought a card (cabinet) scraper and a burnisher! I heard about them from The Wood Whisperer and used his Amazon Store (you can too!) to buy them to support the show. Thanks Marc and all, even Mateo!

But, was the scraper sharp? And how to sharpen it? Although I did not have the sharpening, grinding or polishing stones, I did have the burnisher mentioned, ya! And it was not hard to get that baby lookin sharp, Like can you handle this? I feel like dancing on the table like a superstar!

Wow, when that scraper is sharp, it is nice and it moves! Like drop everything and check it out! Even then, it took quite a while as the scratches in that top were, what, Rolling In The Deep? Oddly enough they looked like someone put “Black or White” ink (mostly deep black) in the deepest parts – Old English or perhaps they were painting the town, or burning the place down?

There were small stains, large stains, other major artifacts plus the wood was so so hard. The stains were like Blood On The Dance Floor. Like, how do you get those deep scratches out, a 7″ knife?

There were artifacts that looked like they could have been from a “Fire Burning” or perhaps Dynamite, like they were trying to rock this club? I can tell you, with knee deep shavings, I was the last one standing.

It took hours of scraping, but at least that might help me be a bit more bootylicious and in better shape. I noticed it also took rhythm to get into the groove, like as in “Rhythm Is A Dancer”, I mean, you had to work it. As you know, Rhythm is a dancer, it’s a soul companion, people feel it everywhere, lift your hands and voices, free your mind and join us, you can feel it in the air, it’s a passion…

Every now and then the the whole writing table would jump forward with a Boom Boom Pow kind of sound, when the scraper would grab, and ya, it would grab like you never felt before.

But I Gotta Feeling that I will get this top right, although not sure what century that will happen!

The other way of doing this, you know, with the ROS, dust collection, ear protection, and dust mask could Make Me Want To Scream.

The wood, even still, was so hard that sharping the card scraper needed to happen about every 5 minutes! But that was easy with the burnisher. As you know, if you get dull, you have to sharpen up, like Bust A Move when the time calls for it!

Planing to Thickness

After the tops were glued up, it was a pretty simple affair bringing them to final thickness. Thanks to careful milling and a few Dominos, things were already pretty darn flat. A few passes through the planer were all that were needed to bring the tops to a final thickness of 4″. Since both top slabs are under 12″ in width, this is an operation that can be done with pretty much any planer, which I think is pretty cool. But a word to the wise: if you ever build a workbench, be prepared to ask for help. I DO NOT recommend trying to move slabs of this size by yourself. Seriously, unless you want to blow a gasket or wind up with a hernia.

Trimming to Length

Once the thickness was established, I needed to trim the rough ends of the slabs. Seems simple enough, but at 4″ thick, this operation required a little extra planning. The Benchcrafted plan mentions that they use their miter saw for this task, making a pass on one side and then flipping the slab to make a pass on the other side. That’s defintely one way to go about it, but for slabs of this size, I prefer to bring the tool to the wood. Out comes my trusty Festool TS75! Since this was a two-part cut, I wanted to make sure I had an accurate knife-line all the way around the slab. With any luck, I would be able to line up my circular saw and guide with the knife line for both cuts and end up with a nearly flat surface. The end result was almost perfect! The small bit of offset material was easily removed with a block plane and a little sanding. And before you give me crap about how it must be nice to have a tracksaw (which it is), this same operation can be done using a piece of MDF as a guide with a standard circular saw.

The Tenon

The right side of the front slab will receive an end cap as part of the vise installation, and as a result it requires a big fat honkin’ tenon. The tenon is cut using a similar technique as the previous trimming operation. The big difference is instead of cleaving off the entire end, we are setting the saw’s depth so that it leaves a centered “tongue” on the slab. Once the shoulders were established, I simply made a series of kerf cuts to remove the bulk of the waste. The tenon doesn’t run the full length of the slab, so I used a handsaw to trim a portion of the tenon away. Chisels and a rabbeting block plane did the rest of the cleanup work and finessing.

The Stopped Rabbet

The screw of the Benchcrafted tail vise needs a place to live, so the next step was to cut a huge stopped rabbet into the slab. Using a piece of scrap to help support my router, I took multiple passes with a 1/2″ spiral bit. Eventually, the colossal rabbet was revealed!

The End Cap

Next up was the end cap. The end cap came from a big old piece of 12/4 stock. Admittedly, this part gets a little tricky. But one step at a time, right? First up is the open mortise. The end cap needs to fit over the tenon we just cut into the slab and the router was the tool of choice. With no workbench to work on (part of my personal challenge to pretend I don’t already have a bench), I relied on the slabs and some clamps to keep the work secure. After a little finessing of the tenon, the end cap slid on with a few taps of the dead blow. Bada bing!

With the end cap in position, a paper template was used to locate several holes on the outside face. These holes are for the bench screw, the associated hardware, and the bolts that fasten the back of the end cap to the slab. The holes for the vise parts need to be drilled in just the right locations or the vise will not function correctly. Once I triple checked myself, had some coffee, then checked my marks again, I took the end cap over to the drill press for some fancy drillin’. The various through holes, elongated holes, and counterbores were made with a variety of forstner and brad point bits. You do have a set of each, don’t you?

The two bolts that hold the back of the end cap to the slab are secured using captured nuts. Basically, these are nuts that are inserted into carefully placed holes in the underside of the bench. If located properly (and with a little luck), the nut slides into the hole and interfaces perfectly with the bolt. Since the idea of a flat washer and a flat nut sitting against a curved surface just bugs the heck out of me, I decided to use my sweet LN mortise chisels to flatten one face of the hole. The hardware seems much happier now. At least that’s what I’m telling myself.

Test Run

With the end cap complete, I was able to take the tail vise for a little test spin. Even without the guide rails in place and nothing screwed down, the vise operates as smooth as silk. I guess that’s why it costs so much money! But hey, you get what you pay for!

One thing I really enjoy about doing these Guild builds is the fact that we can spend so much time on all of these little details, and the various work methods available to reach our goals. As you can see, the projects employ a healthy amount of both power tools and hand tools. We become most efficient in the shop when we stop thinking about hand and power tools, and simply start thinking about tools. Corded or not, some tools are simply better, faster, or more pleasurable to use. So I encourage you to find what you like and don’t box yourself into a category. Because ultimately, other than other woodworkers, no one gives a crap what tools you used to make your projects. All they see is the end result of your craftsmanship.

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Little did I know that one day, while channel surfing on my sweet self-installed DirecTV system, I would come across a half-hour woodworking program that would change the course of not only my career, but my life. That show was Woodworks with David Marks. Being a relatively handy guy in general, I would frequently stop to watch an episode of New Yankee Workshop in much the same way I might watch a cooking show. It’s just cool to watch someone craft something with their hands, be it food or wood. But there was something special about David’s work that resonated with me deeply. Part of the allure was that he didn’t look like your “typical” woodworker and his projects certainly didn’t look like “typical” furniture. I was immediately intrigued by his tools and techniques. And after years of watching Norm, I was amazed to learn that you can build furniture out of more than just pine or mahogany! To say Woodworks opened my eyes to a whole new world would be an understatement.

One of David’s pieces that really captured my imagination was his Bubinga Veneer Coffee Table. The design was fairly simple and the choice in materials was superb! The maple legs and aprons act as an unassuming canvas that frames the real showpiece: the figured bubinga veneer! I understood the procedures David demonstrated and even with no real furniture-making experience, I honestly felt like I could make the table if I had access to the proper tools. This table would serve as a deeply planted seed that wouldn’t germinate for another year or two.

Eventually, Nicole and I were able to buy our first home: a small fixer-upper in Temecula, CA. Project after project, my DIY skills, confidence, and interest level were growing rapidly. I even managed to accumulate a modest collection of tools, including a Craftsman tablesaw and miter saw. But before I knew it, pretty much everything was scratched off of the to-do list and our fixer-upper was fixed. By this time, my desire to fix old things was quickly morphing into an even stronger instinct to create something new. With several seasons of Woodworks under my belt, I felt confident enough to venture into building my very first project from a plan: a night stand. The rest is history and you can read more about my descent into woodworking madness here if you’re interested.

I have been fortunate in that I was able to eventually forge a friendship with my virtual mentor. During my most recent trip to Santa Rosa, David showed me where he keeps some of the old Woodworks projects. For a long-time fan like me, this was a surreal experience. We came across the coffee table from the show and I told him how much impact that little table had on my woodworking trajectory. Fortunately, we were able to work out a deal and I am now the proud owner of the Bubinga Coffee Table. The table arrived a few days ago carefully wrapped in a crate that was truly worthy of the prize nested inside. Anyone who spends even a small amount of time with David will experience his meticulous nature. Apparently that extends to his packaging too. You just can’t be too careful when shipping a finished piece of furniture and thankfully, the coffee table arrived without a scratch or dent. My step dad helped me unpack the many layers of padding and packing material and as you can see, he had way too much fun.

The table now resides in my bedroom, right next to my comic book reading chair. Yes, the table will be used to hold and display comic books. And some day, it will hold and display my son’s comic books. Truth is, I really don’t need another coffee table. But this table deserves a place of honor in my home and my “relaxation area” is perfect!

I know we all have different inspirations and reasons for getting into the craft and I’d love to hear yours. Have you ever had an opportunity to acquire a piece made by someone you admire? Or do you feel a little weird owning a piece of furniture built by another woodworker? I would bet that more than a few of you keep at least one piece of furniture that you really don’t need, just for sentimental value or because it was associated with an early influence. I’d love to hear your tale!

Our projects are usually simple, designed to give the students experience with various aspects of woodworking, such as using different tools and following plans. Past projects have included birdhouses and keepsake boxes. This year, I wanted to try something new, and I had a plan in mind to build toys to donate to a holiday toy drive. Then I saw Marc?s announcement of the Charity Build rocking horse project, and I realized my students could contribute in more ways than one.

Every Christmas season, Blanchet?s students sponsor families in need, providing them with food and presents. I proposed to the students in my class that we build enough horses to provide one to each family with young children. My class of 12 would have to build 10 horses. To my delight, the students jumped at the idea.

The students threw themselves into this project with focused dedication. In order to make 10 horses with as little fuss as possible, I attached the patterns onto 1/4″ hardboard, and the students used these to trace out the different parts of the project. Working together, the students turned sheets of pre-laminated pine into heads, tails, and rockers. I took great pride in my students, their enthusiasm, and their charity. The end results are several beautiful rocking horses, two rocking unicorns and one rocking zebra!

Not only did they grow their woodworking skills, they also contributed to the Livestrong cause and helped ensure that 10 needy children will have a happier Christmas. Thanks, Marc, for sponsoring such a great event. I hope that the project next time will be equally appropriate and fun for my students!

From Rough to Ready

The Split-Top Roubo, as the name suggests, features a top comprised of two separate slabs. I used 8/4 stock for everything so there was quite a bit of milling to do. As you can see, I made a wee bit of sawdust. That’s about two loads from the dust collector.

The boards for the top are cut to about 4 1/4″ Wide x 96″ Long while leaving the thickness as thick as possible. Obviously the thicker the boards, the fewer we’ll need to make up the slab. I wound up needing 7 boards for the rear slab and 5 for the front. Later, I’ll have to mill up a couple more boards for the front slab’s dog hole strip and the front strip.

Alignment Help

When gluing all these boards together, it is imperative that we find some way to stop them from sliding past one another. After all, the flatter they remain during the glueup, the less flattening we’ll have to do later. You can certainly use dowels, splines or biscuits for this, but I’m opting for Dominos. Joint strength really isn’t an issue here and alignment is our only concern. And very few things will align two surfaces quite as accurately as a Domino! So I made 4 mortises per joint and slathered on the glue. I really didn’t worry about getting glue in the mortises. A small paint roller made quick work of the task.

Never Enough Clamps?

Once the glue was applied and the stack assembled, I began adding clamps every 12″ or so. The good thing about using such thick stock is that it acts somewhat like its own caul. The clamping pressure is fairly well-distributed so you don’t necessarily need an insane amount of clamps. Well, I guess that depends on your definition of “insane”.

Next step is to plane the top slabs to final thickness and then trim them to length. Stay tuned!

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The front slab of the Split-Top Roubo has a nice thick end cap that facilitates the attachment of the tail vise hardware and also stabilizes the front apron.

Option #1

The original Benchcrafted version features a beautiful massive dovetail. The dovetail is glued to the end cap and the slab tenon is secured to the end cap using bolts. The back bolt is in an elongated hole so the top can expand and contract.

A well thought out design to be sure, but there was one thing that bugged us. One of my favorite things about this bench is that both top halves can be sent through a planer for flattening. Wouldn’t it be great if you could do this not only during the initial build, but again 5-10 years down the road? Of course, if you’re handy with a jointer plane and you have an afternoon to spare, you can flatten the bench the traditional way. But again, we like options. So this was the primary concern we addressed with Option #2.

Option #2

Somehow, we needed to allow the end cap to be removable. Sending that slab through the planer with the end cap attached would result in disaster! So that means the dovetails would no longer receive any glue. No problem there since dovetails don’t necessarily need glue to perform their intended function. But we had one other obstacle to overcome, and that was the main slab tenon. In Option #1, you can’t slide the end cap off because the tenon is completely surrounded by the mortise. So a simple solution was to make a little more room in front of the tenon. We also opened up the back of the mortise so it acts a little more like a breadboard end. Removing the end cap would be as simple as removing the bolts, tapping the cap toward the back to release the dovetail, and then pulling the cap off the slab. The front slab could then be sent through the planer for cleanup.

Option #3

Aaron suggested this version as a way to really simplify things for folks who might be a little intimidated by the big honkin’ dovetails. It is every bit as strong as options 1 and 2 but instead of a dovetail, the front apron is attached to the end cap with a mortise and tenon joint. Since we want the cap to be removable, a third bolt could be added to secure the front apron completely without the aid of glue.

I should clarify that we are in no way questioning the validity of the original Benchcrafted design. But like any plan, things can be modified to suit your own needs/wants. So this is just some food for thought. I’d be curious to hear what you think about the changes and whether or not you would include them in your own version of the Split-Top Roubo. And if you’re not already a member of the Wood Whisperer Guild, now is a great time to join! Learn More!

As you can see by looking at the underside of the top piece, we are going to have to do some careful routing in order to get these parts cut properly. One rabbet will be for the calendar slot and the other will be for the 1/8″ backing board. The rabbet at the top is extra wide because it creates a deep slot that will allow the calendar to be pushed up over the lip at the bottom. This will all be explained better in the video and should make more sense at that time. But for now, think of the way a sliding door is inserted into its groove and that should give you an idea of what I’m going for.

The frame parts will be joined via half-laps. If you ask me, half laps are severely underrated in the woodworking world. All that long grain glue surface results in an incredibly strong joint. I’ll be making the joints at the router table using a very simple setup consisting of a fence, a 1/2″ spiral bit, and a backing board. The backing board not only allows me to run a long and thin piece across the bit, it also helps prevent tearout. The router bit produces a nice clean surface and the half-laps are pretty much perfect.

The project video will be released later this month and if you’re quick, you’ll be able to build a few for the holidays. I hope you build along with us!

Ben Hendricks sent me a link to this video of his friend’s woodworking business: Campbellsville Handmade Cherry Furniture

It warms my heart to see a small family-owned businesses like this thriving as they adhere to a high level of craftsmanship.

Description from YouTube Page: The Campbellsville, Kentucky area has long been known for the fine furniture that has been turned out in the region. Unfortunately, this skilled craftsmanship is becoming lost art. However, if you look to the McMahan family, you’ll find a fourth generation of fine furniture builders that are turning out family heirlooms.

Personally, I like soft maple for this project. I feel it’s a nice compromise: not too hard and not too soft. My old bench was made from hard maple which served me well. But the more I thought about it and the more folks I discussed the issue with, I realized soft maple would probably be the better choice since it’s easier to plane. 8/4 stock runs about $3.20/BF here so that’s a price I can deal with. Considering the bench requires around 150 BF (if not a little more), price is a very important factor. What you’re looking at there is about 125 board feet. Looks like I’ll be making a second trip to the lumber dealer.

Recently in our DVD Review Show, we took a look at two workbench DVDs. I made a point of discussing whether or not the host built the bench with or without the aid of another bench. So I thought it would make for a better presentation and an interesting challenge if I completely removed my workbench from the shop. Before milling any wood, I propped one end of the bench on a furniture dolly and scooted it out of the shop. Now where did I put those sawhorses?

All in all, I am really excited to get this build going. I also realize I am racing the clock since Nicole’s due date is right around Christmas. That said, I am promising myself that I won’t rush this. A workbench is absolutely NOT the project you want to build at a fast pace. Maneuvering these large pieces is dangerous and takes patience. I will have to keep telling myself that repeatedly as I start to hear echoes of little feet pitter pattering in my head.

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Since I first expressed dissatisfaction with my workbench several years ago, I have received numerous requests for a workbench project. My canned response was always, “Sure, some day!” Well, that day has finally arrived. I am proud to announce the next Wood Whisperer Guild Build: The Benchcrafted Split-Top Roubo Workbench. The Roubo is a proven design that will serve as a “career workbench” and will never need to be replaced. Whether you’re into hand tools, power tools, or both, this bench will serve all of your work-holding needs.

The bench and its hardware are, without a doubt, what I would consider “top of the line”. Last year at Woodworking in America, I had a chance to use the Benchcrafted hardware and I was blown away by the quality. I knew immediately that my next and FINAL workbench would include this gear.

Pricing

Now I’m not going to kid you here folks. As presented, this is going to be a very expensive build. But we are doing everything we can to keep the costs down and the value high. As part of our partnership with Benchcrafted, the hardware is being offered at a special discounted rate for Guild members. The discount is being offered immediately and will be valid up to 6 months after the build is complete. With the holidays coming, I wanted to give folks enough time before and after the build to make their purchases. My recommendation would be to buy the hardware now so that you have it on hand and ready to go for the build in January. And as a special bonus, if you do decide to purchase a hardware kit, you’ll receive a 3-month add-on to your Guild membership. Buy your Workbench Hardware Kit today!

Schedule

The build will take place in January 2012. Between now and then I plan on having some interviews and events that will help set the stage for this fundamental build. On a personal note, I would like to explain some of what is happening behind the scenes. I plan on building and filming this project well before Christmas. In January, I will release the videos to the Guild every Friday until the project is complete. The reason for this has everything to do with Nicole’s due date being Dec. 23rd. With a newborn in the house in January, I don’t plan on doing much actual woodworking. So you’ll have to forgive me for not building “in real time” on this one. :)

Join the Guild

For a limited time, you can join the Guild for 10% OFF any membership. Simply use the code BENCHCRAFTED at checkout. And if you buy the hardware, you get an additional 3 month bonus to your membership. I can’t forget to add that every new membership comes with a digital copy of my book Finishing: it ain’t over till its over for free! So if you’ve been sitting on the fence, now’s a great time to join! If you want to read more about all the features and benefits of membership, check this out!

Please enjoy this guest post from graphic designer and woodworker, Mark Loughran.

Introduction

Although I am only a novice woodworker, I have been a graphic designer for over twenty years, have been through art college, and I have taught drawing at third level. So while I am not a furniture designer, I have experience in design. And although its a different discipline, I feel there are some things that are shared in common with woodworking design.

Generally I see a lot of articles on the internet on how to use drawing applications like Sketch Up, but I have not seen many articles for traditional drawing for woodworkers, so I hope this might be of some interest.

As we get more used to using computers to generate drawings, I feel that we could lose touch with a very important part of the design and creative process ? the pencil sketch. Of course computers are a powerful tool, and can be used to great effect (I use a computer to develop all my designs), but I believe the humble pencil sketch can be the best way to start the design process, before moving on to a computer. And in the long run the quickest. The advantage here is the speed in which you can get a thumbnail sketch of your idea on to a page, ready for further development.

The 1st Tool of the Shop

Often you will see a woodworker with a pencil behind their ear, or in an apron. I believe that the pencil can be the first and most important tool in the shop.

Where to Start

Start with a thumbnail sketch on paper. A napkin or the back of an envelope is fine too. Wherever and whenever the idea comes to you. Don’t get me wrong, computer applications for drawing are a huge step forward, and are a massive benefit, but there is nothing quicker that a pencil sketch, and that can capture the essence of a design. As when the inspiration or idea comes, its best not to lose it. It is important that as computers become more a part of design, that we don’t forget the traditional design skills like sketching with a pencil. Its not something to keep just for the sake of it, I feel it has real benefits for the designer. I guess woodworkers will probably be the first to appreciate traditional methods, while embracing modern technologies also.

What to Use

Pencils are probably the best thing, no great surprise there. Markers and pens are fine to draw with too, but sometimes its handy to be able to erase part of a drawing that’s not working, or just to adjust a curve. Use a soft pencil like a 2B up to a 6B, its softer graphite so it gives a darker line. The harder pencils are more suited to finer plans and drafting applications. With a softer pencil graphite, you may need a softer eraser too.

Keep it Rough

Leonardo da Vinci did large numbers of rough sketches which went towards making each one of his masterpieces (you don?t need to worry about matching his skill level, I know I won?t ever get there), so do lots and lots of sketches. Keep them quick. Don’t be too precious, no need for expensive art paper. Sometimes it can actually get in the way of creativity, as we tend to be too careful using it. Inexpensive copier paper is fine. Try to avoid lined paper though, as the lines get in the way, and distract from what we are drawing. Be as free as you can. Make a mess! It will actually help in freeing up the drawing process. (See more on Leonardo_da_Vinci)

Practice

Some people think they can’t draw, but anyone can if they practice. It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece, it just has to capture roughly the design that you have imagined. And only you need to understand it. Some great designers are not great artists, and don’t have to be, but the more you practice, the more useful a skill your drawing will become.

Relax

Practice relaxing your hand before drawing. Squeeze it tight to feel what it feels like when its tense, then relax it. Lift your palm up off the page when drawing, and its easier to draw larger curves. Use your elbow or shoulder as a pivot point instead. Elongate your hand, and push the pencil further out than the normal writing position. Too much tension can get in the way of good sketching. Don’t worry if quality doesn’t look good immediately, keep practicing. Often people will hold the pencil in the same way they would if they were writing, but if you can practice a more relaxed position, with the tip of the pencil further away from your finger tips, and your palm up off the page, this can help. But for the very small thumbnail sketches this is not as important, it’s more important when the drawings become larger in scale.

Draw in Context

If you are designing a chair, draw it with a person sitting it in, see if they are sitting upright to eat, or reclining to relax. You can use a Wooden Artist Sketch Poseable Mannequin to help with drawing people. If its a set of lockers for each side of a bed, sketch in the bed and the room setting straight away, so its in the context it will be used. If its a computer desk, draw it with the computer and keyboard in position. This approach will help to iron out an issues before they arise. A lot of time can be saved in eliminating problems before making the piece by drawing it in context from the very start.

Keep Your Sketches

Sometimes your initial thumb nail sketches can capture the design so well you can benefit by constantly referring back to that original sketch. If you are moving to computer to finish the drawing, you can even scan the drawing in, if you have a scanner, or take a photo of it with a digital camera. Keep all your sketches, and build a file of all your drawings, not just the finished ones, keep everything! Something you decide not to build now, may become relevant in the future, and its nice to keep all your ideas for the future. Its also interesting to look back on the sketch you did for a piece you have made, and see how the design developed on paper, right through to the finished piece.

Its Quicker in the Long Run

You may want to get straight into building your project, as you have a clear picture in your mind, but by spending a little time drawing at the start, it can actually save you time in the long run. By ironing out issues and drawing the piece from different angles, you can work out details that save you time in the long run.

Scaling it Up

If you are not using a computer for the final drawing, you can do a scale drawing. 1 to 12 is an easy scale to use if you are using feet and inches, so each inch of your drawing will represent a foot in your actual piece. But if you are using metric, 1 to 10 might be easier, so 1cm can equal 10cm in your final piece. Just add a zero, its easy. Draw a grid on a page, with squares, and you can map out your piece to scale.

Keeping a Scrapbook

Keep a scrapbook of pictures you like, designs that appeal to you, and let it build over time. You can mix your own sketches in as ideas develop. If you see something online that inspires you, keep it in a digital scrapbook.

Make it Fun

Sometimes the design part of the project can be a lot of fun, and with good drawing skills, it can be even more enjoyable. Taking an art class can be a good way to kick start your interest in drawing, and you may also find that you can discover things in your surroundings or in nature that will inspire you in your design choices for furniture design. And also by looking at art that interests you, you can find another great source of inspiration.

Hopefully this brief set of tips, can be of interest to my fellow woodworkers. Although my grandfather was a carpenter, I am only beginning a journey in discovering the pleasure of working with wood, but with inspiration from great teachers like Marc Spagnolo, as I am a big fan of The Wood Whisperer, I hope to improve my skills and increase my knowledge of woodworking, and right now just practicing my skills is good fun. I don’t think my shop will feature on any shop tour on Marc’s site though, as its only a six by eight shed, but who knows :-)

Mark Loughran runs a small graphic design studio, Identikit.ie, with his wife Tanya in Dublin, Ireland, for over twenty years. He has two daughters, Emily and Isabel, who are budding artists. Hobbies are cycling and woodworking.

Now here’s where the fun began. I tilted the armoire back onto my hand truck and started moving it out of the bedroom. I could see my tires were low on air but I was pulling slowly and making good progress. I should also note that my air compressor is now at the shop. One of the things I have been struggling with recently is the prospect of owning TWO of just about everything garage-related. I’m no Frugal Yankee but that’s something I have trouble accepting. Consequently, I have to deal with things like flat tires and a limited range of screw drivers.

But I digress. Everything was going peachy until I reached the carpeted play room. At this point, I was pushing the armoire instead of pulling and I began to realize that one tire was significantly lower on air than the other. Consequently, the armoire started to tip to the side. This was one of those times when things seem to go in slow motion. I knew there was nothing I could do to stop it, so I decided to lower the back of the hand truck in an attempt to help it drop gracefully. Mission accomplished! The armoire dropped a total of about 6″ and then rolled on its side. It was quite an amazing thing to see and I was quite proud of myself. I assumed that any damage would be minimal and easily repaired, or so I thought.

I stood the armoire back up and noticed that there was significant damage. Certainly much more than I would expect from the short fall it experienced. As you can see, the unit is primarily comprised of particle board. Now it should come as no surprise to you that particle board isn’t the best choice for building material, but these pictures do a great job of showing you why. When a nail or screw is stressed, it simply pops out a full divot of material. The lack of grain characteristics means that mechanical fasteners have very little true holding strength. And as you can see, the cabinet couldn’t even sustain a small drop and essentially buckled under its own weight.

I’m sure we all have commercial furniture like this in our homes. I don’t know about you but it is a personal goal of mine to make sure I replace every piece of crap furniture we ever purchased with something I made. In fact, folks who saw me make the Chest of Drawers in the Guild were able to see my critique of a dresser that was from the same set of furniture as this armoire. Now all I need to do is figure out a way to break the bed and the nightstand and we’ll be all set!

Even though I don’t do much turning, I still wanted to try this stuff out. A waterborne product that claims it can be wiped on is quite intriguing to me. So I tried a small test board. I applied about 6 coats to a small mahogany cutoff using nothing more than blue shop towels. After two coats, I lightly smoothed the surface with 320 grit and then continued adding coats. Within an hour, I had a reasonable build and a very pleasing finish. Having used General Finishes EnduroVar line in the past, I can say that this stuff is definitely thinner. I imagine that is what allows for wiping as well as faster-drying coats. But ultimately, I was quite impressed and I wouldn’t hesitate to use this stuff on a turning or a small box project. Unfortunately though, I have little experience with how this finish compares to those typically used by the target audience: turners. So I asked my buddy Bill Akins to give me his opinion on the product. Here’s what he has to say:

Bill’s Review

I have been enjoying wood working as a hobby for about 5 years now and I have been turning bowls and pens for 3 years. For finishing my turnings I have used a wiping varnish, but I don’t feel it food safe and takes too long to dry between coats. I have tried salad bowl finish which is expensive thinned down shellac. I have even used BLO with a coat of wax. My favorite go-to finish is a quart of shellac that I thin down with alcohol. As I apply this finish, I hold my application device (a square of old t-shirt) firmly against the spinning bowl until it heats up and it dries within 2 to 5 minutes. Next I lightly sand with a high grit, possibly wet sandpaper and follow up with a coat of EEE Polish. I finish the project with either a coat of Shellawax Cream or Renaissance Wax, buffed to a high sheen.

I was very excited when I was asked to test General Finishes new Wood Turners Finish (WTF). My first project was a bowl turned from an apple tree cut from my Aunts yard in the North Georgia Mountains two years ago. Here is a video of me applying the finish to this bowl:

I applied 6 coats of WTF, sanding with 400 grit after 2 and 4 coats. After 6 coats I sanded with 2000 grit wet sand paper. I then used EEE Ultra Shine and finished with a coat of Shellawax Cream. I also tried WTF on red cedar, walnut and cocobolo pens. Also with polish and wax. A week later I turned 20 pens at the Mountain Heritage Festival using WTF, polish and wax.

All of the items turned out beautiful. I learned a few things about WTF while using it. An application rag works well, a paper towel disintegrates. It takes a few more coats than I am accustomed to applying. By wiping on a coat and rubbing it in while turning to heat it up doesn?t work well as in a friction finish. Apply a thin coat and allow it to dry on its own which is extremely fast. I am very sensitive to strong odors, which is why my wife can?t wear perfume and I leave the house on cleaning day, and I had no problem using WTF without a respirator. It claims to be food safe which is always a bonus.

All in all, I recommend trying General Finishes Wood Turners Finish.

Bill Akins

So there were three primary goals this week: finish the wall cabinets, build a new assembly table, and build a new outfeed table. None of these projects were dramatically different than things we’ve done in the past on the show but I’ll point out some of the changes and my reasons for them.

The Cabinets

The cabinet carcasses were milled up by my buddy Ron on his CNC machine. I basically brought all the parts home and did the assembly, but there was still quite a bit of work to do, including drawer construction and edge-banding EVERYTHING. I used maple strips for the edge-banding and attached them with glue/clamps when I had the patience, and glue/brad nails when I didn’t. Norm would have been proud!
Once all the parts were edge-banded and sanded, I slapped on a few coats of General Finishes High Performance (satin). Even though its a water-based finish, it did a fine job of highlighting the contrast between the alder veneer and the maple edging. I think the contrast looks good and honestly, it wasn’t intentional. It was simply based on the materials I had on hand and thankfully, it turned into a happy accident.

The Torsion Box Assembly Table

One of the most popular projects on our site is the Torsion Box Assembly Table. The original design was borrowed from David Marks and the table served me well over the years. During the first shop move, I needed all the space I could get so the assembly table was given to my buddy Greg. Now that I’m back in the old space, the need for an assembly table is greater than ever! Doing the Adirondack chair build without it was a huge pain in the butt!

Instead of simply rebuilding the old version, I decided to scale things down a bit and customize the base to my current needs. The first change was the overall dimensions. Instead of going 48″ x 72″ for the torsion box, I scaled down to 42″ x 60″. Truth is, I never really needed as much space as a 48″ x 72″ top provides. Instead of being useful workspace, it usually became a place for collecting crap. So instead of a three compartment base I went with a much simpler two-compartment design. On the one side, I have room for my compressor and a pull-out drawer for my pneumatic guns, and on the other side I have a little garage for my Festool vac or a shop vac. Each side also features a shallow recess that will be used for either adjustable shelving or clamp storage. The sides of the base will also be used for hanging things like hammers and small clamps. So its not 100% complete yet, but you get the idea. A few extra details for you. The height was strategically made to be the same as my Festool MFT3, providing extra support for really long stock. And the material I used was ultralight MDF, which was MUCH nicer to deal with than standard MDF.

Perhaps the biggest change with this project was the method and materials for the torsion box. One thing I have learned over the years of doing this woodworking thing is that many of us over-estimate the importance of “dead flat” surfaces. So I knew that as long as my torsion box was mostly flat with no twist, I’d be a happy camper. Instead of working up some complicated saw horse leveling technique, I simply used another surface that I knew was already mostly flat: my workbench. And during the grid assembly, I used scrap pieces of MDF on edge to ensure that the skins remained flat and true, trusting the workbench to help keep things in order in the long dimension.

The grid itself was a little different too. Instead of creating a perfect grid, I decided to stagger the short pieces which made the process of nailing them in place MUCH easier. Everything is held together with glue and once the skins are in place, I don’t think there is an appreciable difference in strength using this technique. Especially not on a torsion box that will be completely supported. You also might notice that I have no replaceable skin on this one. I guess I’ll just have to keep it clean. Yeah right!

So you’re probably wondering just how flat the top is. In the long dimension it is nearly perfect. Along the short dimension, it’s pretty much dead flat in the middle and I have a slight dip at the last 6″ at each side. Probably by about 1/32″ or so. I can absolutely live with that. Any time I use the table for true reference, I will make sure I’m using the center of the table.

So is this woodworking blasphemy?? Not worrying about things being dead flat? Nope….its reality. By the time you are assembling a project, there are many other factors at play that will dictate whether your project stays flat, square and true. The primary one being joinery. So flatness becomes much more of an issue on the tools that you use to make your joinery, including your workbench. So if you have good square joints and consistently-milled parts, a dead flat assembly surface is not really necessary. Don’t get me wrong here. If you can get a dead flat surface, why not, right? Better is better. I’m just saying that if your assembly table isn’t dead nuts flat, don’t worry about it. Figure out where your “flattest” part is and keep that in mind when you are assembling parts.

The Outfeed Table

This was another long-overdue project. I have been using a roller stand as an outfeed support for a while now and let me tell you, that’s for the birds! There really is nothing like have 100% full support for just about any piece that comes across the tablesaw. The design is pretty much the same a my previous version, with the only major difference being the top. Instead of recessing the top into the base for a flush fit, I now have a top that overhangs the base significantly. This allows the top to nestle right up against the tablesaw which minimizes the gap. The top itself is made from two sheets of birch plywood sandwiched together. This gives the unit some serious weight and really helps to stabilize the entire thing. The shelf on the bottom provides some much-needed storage for various tablesaw doo-dads and dingle-hoppers.

The Levelers

Both the outfeed table and the assembly table required precise height adjustments. This was fairly easy to do. I simply made sure the final height was about 1/4″ below what I needed it to be. Then I used these heavy duty levelers from Rockler. What I like about them is that they hook underneath the cabinet side rather than simply screwing into the face. All of the weight is being supported in a way that won’t result in screws ripping out at some point. With a level and a straight edge, I had both the outfeed table and assembly table adjusted perfectly in minutes.

So that’s what I did on my “summer vacation”, and I’d do it all again this week if I had the time. I need a turning tool rack, a fancy tablesaw auxiliary fence, and a few storage units for various things around the shop. But these projects will be made into full episodes for the show. I can’t wait! Now if you want to learn a little more about the projects I reviewed in this article, make sure you stop by for some of our upcoming live events. On Sept. 14th at 6pm Eastern I’ll be doing a quick live discussion/Q&A about the assembly table. And on Oct. 5th we’ll be doing one on the outfeed table. All events will be recorded for later viewing but its a lot more fun if you can participate in the chat. So I’ll see you there! And be sure to check the calendar for all of our live events and video releases coming up.

Now I’ll be honest here in that I have a hard time differentiating between the higher quality blades. Many folks ask me if the Gold Medal blade is better than Forrest. If both blades cut cleanly and they both last a long time between sharpening, I’m a happy camper. But I can safely say that the Gold Medal series is every bit as good, if not better, than the Forrest WW II.

Please enjoy the original review:

As many of you know, I recently hung up my much-adored Forrest Woodworker II blade in an effort to give another brand a shot. That brand was Tenryu. I have heard great things about their blades so I was excited to give them a chance. Specifically the MP-305100AB in my miter saw and the GM-25540 in my table saw.

Let me start by saying the MP-305100AB has found a permanent home in the miter saw. Never have I had such glass smooth cuts from that tool. To be fair though, I upgraded from a stock blade. But what an amazing upgrade it was!

As for the tablesaw blade, I have to say that the blade cuts beautifully. Since my Forrest blade is several years old and has been sharpened a few times (and is in need of sharpening now), a true side by side cut quality comparison was not possible. But I have used my Forrest for years and I am quite familiar with its cut characteristics. And if the Tenryu produced a perceptible difference, I would have spotted it. And to be honest, there wasn’t much difference at all. Of course in a controlled side by side test, with microscopes and lab jackets we might be able to choose a cut quality winner between these two. But seriously folks, in my shop (and most likely yours), both of these blades kick butt and produce top notch cuts. Since the blade is so new, factors like how well the blade holds a sharp edge over time have yet to be determined.

The only real problem I had was that I was under the impression that this was a full-kerf blade. So during the testing, I noticed binding and other indications that this blade had an odd kerf width. Come to find out it is actually being billed as a thin-kerf blade. And it happens to be one of the thickest thin-kerf blades on the market, which is why I didn’t immediately notice the size difference. Unfortunately, this is a deal breaker for me since my setup is for full kerf. Both my splitter and my zero clearance insert would be useless with this blade.

Verdict: Tenryu is a top-notch company that produces a premium blade. The cut quality certainly justifies its cost. If Tenryu could manufacture this blade with a full 1/8″ kerf, they would have a customer for life.

After every major project, I like to take some time to recharge the batteries. Even if I don’t feel like I necessarily need it, I force myself to take a 3-4 day hiatus from the shop. During that time, I read comics, watch movies, play video games, and run around the backyard making the dogs chase me. This is my life. But I find that after a forced break, I begin having trouble focusing on anything BUT the shop. I have a thirst that only sawdust and varnish can quench! But before immediately jumping into a furniture project, I usually do something to improve the shop space. After all, there’s ALWAYS SOMETHING that can be improved. This not only buys me more time to get those creative juices flowing, but it also helps me get more organized. And maybe I’m weird, but for me there is no greater hindrance to creativity than disorganization.

Hobby-Fading

Now I know most of you are hobbyists or semi-pros, and some of you may be suffering from what I call, “hobby-fading”. Your heart tells you that you need a break from woodworking, but your brain is afraid that a break is a sign that you’re losing your passion for the craft. Well frankly, that’s just nonsense and I’m here to tell you, its OK to take a break! Go enjoy some of your other interests: reading, gardening, golfing, or whatever else you find fun. The shop will be there when you come back, just as dirty as it was when you left it. And when you do come back, start out with a simple shop improvement project: a clamp rack, a sandpaper organizer, a push stick, or a rack to hold rolls of tape. Anything that doesn’t require much creativity will do the trick. These projects will help you get back in the game and get those creative neurons firing off. Once you feel that spark come back, dive into the next project. If you adopt this habit of taking breaks (even if you don’t feel like you need one), you are setting yourself up for a life-long love affair with this craft of woodworking.

I’m curious how you folks deal with this. Have you found breaks useful? I’m actually really curious to know what you all do in your off time.

So let’s discuss some of the key areas where rushing will really bite you in the butt. I’ll go first. For me, most of these issues are toward the end of the project so that’s where I’ll focus. I will also provide some suggestions for avoiding these common pitfalls.

Surface Preparation

When getting parts ready for finish, I have a fairly standard sanding regimen: 80 grit – 120 grit – 180 grit. But there are sometimes when the evil dude on my shoulder tells me I can get away with just using 180 grit and calling it a day. Do you know what happens every dang time I do that? I regret it! If you use power tools to mill your stock, like jointers and planers, you are guaranteed to have milling marks on the surface that are barely discernible. Usually they appear as light and dark stripes across the width of the board. Sometimes you can actually feel the washboard effect and sometimes not. So its really important to sand the board thoroughly at a fairly low grit to ensure these marks are removed. To make matters worse, if you do just sand with 180, the surface might look great initially. That is, until you put several coats of finish on it. Sometimes you can’t even see it until the light hits it at just the right angle. Usually that angle happens to be from the most common vantage points in my house. So don’t skip grits. And even if a surface feels smooth, be sure to sand thoroughly with each grit in your regimen for the best results. Better yet, start using your card scraper and smoothing plane more. They are faster, cleaner, and you look cool using them!

Glueups

When its time for assembly, I sometimes dive in head first slathering the joints with glue and banging the parts together. Unfortunately, as soon as glue is involved, joints suddenly seem to tighten up and all hell breaks loose. The end result is a crooked project, open joints, and worse yet, busted project parts because you had to use a hammer to separate them. So instead of jumping in blindly, do at least one dry assembly. Work out your clamping strategy ahead of time and make sure all your clamps, glue, glue brushes, rollers, rags, and anything else you need are within arms reach. You don’t want to be running around the shop searching for a caul while your joints are swelling from the moisture in the glue. You should also consider using a glue with a longer open time on those really complicated glueups. No harm in giving yourself a little more breathing room.

Finishing

I probably don’t even need to go into detail on this one do I? We’ve all done it. Rushing any part of the finishing process is just a bad idea. Putting coats on before previous coats are dry, not sanding between coats, trying to cover problems with more finish instead of fixing them, using an inappropriate finish just because its easier or your more comfortable with it, and the list can go on and on. Do a little research, pick the right finish for the job, practice on scrap, and then finish your project.

Finishing the Finish

Nearly every project I make receives at least some post-finishing treatment to smooth the surface to perfection. I know my shop conditions are not perfect, nor are my spraying, brushing and wiping techniques. Fortunately, I know how to buff the surface after the fact so no one is the wiser. But the trick is, you need to give the finish some time to cure. If you can wait a few days before doing this final buffing, you’ll be rewarded with a nice smooth finish that will even make other woodworkers stop and wonder how you did it. I usually bring the project into the house for a couple weeks. This way I get the immediate gratification of seeing the completed project in my home, while buying myself some valuable curing time. A couple weekends later, I can bring the project back to the shop or simply do the post finishing treatment in the house.

There are many techniques for doing this final smoothing ranging from a complicated series of rubbing compounds to simply rubbing the surface with a brown paper bag. My favorite method involves abrading the surface with a Festool Platin abrasive pad and some lubricant (water, mineral spirits, mineral oil, etc..). Since this is more or less a “wet-sanding” method, you can actually get away with doing this procedure inside the home.

What areas of the woodworking process have you found yourself rushing though and how did you stop the madness??

So let’s break things down into the simplest terms possible. When it comes to outdoor finishes, you essentially have three broad general classes to consider.

Nothing

Believe it or not, some woods are perfectly happy aging naturally. Woods that have a high rot resistance like cypress, redwood, and cedar, can actually survive for quite a while in the buff. In fact, some folks really prefer the natural aged color that these woods take on after years of enduring the elements. This method is not one of my personal favorites, but it is certainly something to consider.

Advantages: Easy to apply, because there’s nothing to apply.
Disadvantages: Wood will gray quickly (may not be a disadvantage to some) and most likely won’t last as long as a comparable piece with finish on it.
Maintenance: None. Until you get a splinter in your butt. Then you’ll probably have to do something about it.

Film-Forming

On the opposite end of the scale, we have film-forming finishes. These concoctions attempt to envelop the entire project in a protective bubble, essentially blocking out the elements and preventing the absorption of moisture and deteriorating UV rays. Basically, its the finish taking the beating instead of the wood. Incidentally, paint would fit into this category along with clear coats.

Advantages: Thick protective barrier keeps the wood safe and offers a strong first line of defense against the elements.
Disadvantages: When film finishes fail, they tend to flake off and look like crap. So its not only bad for the wood, but the item can quickly become an eyesore if problems arise. Also, products in this category vary widely in cost and quality so its difficult to know which product is right for the job.
Maintenance: Re-coating every few years should keep the finish looking fresh, but continues to build the thickness of the film. And at some point, the finish may fail completely. The only option then is a complete re-finish. Yuck!

Oil

Oils represent something of a compromise. There are lots of different formulations out there but essentially the oil absorbs into the wood and dries within the fibers. After numerous coats, the wood has a decent amount of moisture protection while still maintaining a natural look and no film. If you don’t like the “deck rail” look of a thick film finish, oils are probably your best bet. Just keep in mind this finish will require more frequent attention in the future.

Advantages: Easy to apply. Wipe on, wipe off Daniel-san.
Disadvantages: Less protection and more frequent maintenance.
Maintenance: Possibly a yearly re-application. Fortunately though, you should never have to completely strip and refinish. Just clean up the surface and re-apply the oil.

So the point of this write-up is not necessarily to tell you what to use. Instead, I’d love to hear what specific products you’ve used in the past, what your climate is, and how the products have held up over time. I know there are lots of folks out there making outdoor projects who would LOVE to hear what you have had success with.

Want to learn more about outdoor finishes? Check these posts out:
The Global Warping Effect (Video)
Desert Outdoor Finish (Video)
Difference Between Spar Varnish and Regular Varnish
A Better Way to Apply Spar Urethane?