Every two weeks, a team of Fine Woodworking staffers answer questions from readers on Shop Talk Live, Fine Woodworking’s biweekly podcast. Send your woodworking questions to [email protected] for consideration in the regular broadcast!
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Shop Talk Live 24: Wicked Weapon for Terrific Tenons
On this week’s edition of Shop Talk Live, editor Asa Christiana and senior web producer Ed Pirnik are down a man, as the 2013 cold and flu season hits Fine Woodworking hard. No worries though, Asa and Ed take a selection of questions on thickness planer technology, building a traditional workbench with minimal tools, and much more. Plus, Ed sings the praises of his new favorite tool for tenoning.
Links from this Week’s Show
Segmented Cutterheads Change the Game
A Slick Tenoning Jig
Ed’s Tenoning Jig
Strengthen Cope and Stick Joints with Dowels
Easy Finish Ages Classic Cherry Piece
Is it a Waterstone or an Oil Stone
Comments
#24 I have great difficulty following a chat without any video. I stopped listing after the first minute.
Really didnt like the format. Hard to just listen without video .
Also, presented like a folksy radio show. Would suggest that you just focus on the subject. I dont want to hear about who has the flu, and the problems of old age- I just wanted to get instruction on improving tenons
I can tune into the radio for the other stuff.
I Like Fine Woodworking, but this doesnt work for me.
Thanks guys for picking up my question in the last podcast. How cool was that to be working in my shop listening to my ipod and to hear you guys start answering my question. The show is great and I like the relaxed style.
As to the workbench I am working on right now I just wanted to give you some feed back as I am plugging away on it right at the moment. I am building it in the general style of Ed's not so big work bench. Great video series!
I realized there was no way I was going to be able to build a top for it without a jointer. So I have a plan B for the time being. A very flat and very heavy fire door salvaged from our local hospital. Then when I do get my jointer I can replace the top. I tried doing a small project once with a similar top only much much smaller and ended up throwing the top away. As Asa(?) said there really is no way to get good glue joints at all.
Also Asa is absolutely right. I have had to fit all the joints by hand, trial and error because thing are not perfect, but I have been happily surprised with the results. Tenons fit nice and snug and chopping the mortices has been fun.
One caveat that I didn't mention in my question post was that the reason I was resawing for the posts and stretchers is that it was free dunnage from a local wood post yard 4x6 posts (that and I read the article about tuning up your bandsaw with the correct blade etc so had to try it out). So the posts and main framing is a type of pine I believe.
As an aside I really don't think you can beat the drum of the price and return for what you get with an online subscription to hard. The access to all the article is a staggering resource for the price. The price is not even worth thinking about with the quantity of quality you get.
Thanks again for the help and one day I will have my 8 inch jointer!
Adam Canfield
In light of all that has happened recently in your own community, I feel that your wording in the title of "wicked weapon" when referring to a tenoning jig is totally inappropriate. as a responsible gun owner, woodworker and fine woodworking subcriber for most of my life, I would hope that you would think more about what you print in the future.
merrillgtrs
Liven it up when regulars are out of commission - by using Skype or Google Hangout to bring in out-of-town FWW contributors - Rollie Johnson, Garett Hack, Steve Latta, etc into the conversation.
Great podcast as always! Asa and Ed did a great job holding down the fort but a third host was missed, darn flu. Keep up the great work guys.
Nate
I look forward to your podcast every other week and love listening to it on my drive home.
I was a little surprised though in #24 when you're jointer recommendation didn't include the option of obtaining and using hand planes such as a #5 jack or #7 jointer plane. I started woodworking with an inexpensive jack plane and then got a #7 Veritas jointer coupled with a 48" straight edge and a 12" planer machine. I milled the boards for three beds and a Mike Pekovich designed dresser using these tools. Hand jointing even long boards is not that hard- it's just a little time consuming. I don't think people realize that all you need to do is knock down the high spots enough to minimize bow, cup, and twist before running the stock through a planer. It's an iterative process that's fun and a good workout.
That said, I do now own an 8" jointer machine, following advice I received from Tommy Mac at a woodworking show. I purchased it two years ago in preparation for making kitchen cabinets and a bunch of stair treads in my new dedicated shop/out building. I have no regrets about my sequence of purchases. Hand planes + 12" planer can handle any milling job very well.
P.S., Thank you for not recommending the purchase of a 6" jointer. With all do respect to those on a budget, either save your money for an 8" or spend your limited cash on a few good hand planes.
For the guy with the cherry and picky wife. Sand to a very fine grit. Add a couple coats of oil. If it color is too light start adding glazing coats of arm r seal and transtint(rather than starting with transfast). You can mix the colors as needed and even change color if the glazing needs to be adjusted. Of course, in a perfect world, he would take some scrap and make a test board. You might have to use more dye than you expect and mix well. Then mix a little more. The color of the mixture will tend to get darker as you use it. I'd wipe on the varnish for thin even coats. Let it cure, check the color, adjust if needed.
Yeah I tried the prodcast too. Didn't make it past the 1 minute mark. Without video it just don't make it. For me anyway.
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