This episode of Shop Talk Live is sponsored by The Taunton Store.

01:00 – Question 1: 

I have a garage shop that frequently has the door open. My lumber yard is only a few miles away and stores there lumber in warehouses with large open garage doors. In my situation I doubt there’s much difference between the climate at my lumber yard and at my shop.

Should I still allow my lumber to acclimate? Also, when acclimating lumber should I rough cut my project pieces and sticker the parts, or allow the whole board to acclimate first?

-Cameron

08:56 – Question 2:

I am planning to make a traditional wooden cabinet with flush-mount drawers.  I would like an even reveal on the sides, top and bottom of the drawer fronts but I’m not sure how to create the reveal on the bottom.

Is the bottom reveal created by simply chamfering the bottom of the drawer front?

-Kenn

13:00 – All Time Favorite Technique of All Time… for this week:

• Matt – Using the flat back of a chisel to your advantage
  • Tim Rousseau – Strategies for Squeeze-out
• Mike – Spacer-block
  • Tim Rousseau – Spacer Blocks Make Double Mortise-and-Tenons Easy
  • Tim Rousseau – Float the top
  • Alan Turner – Speed up your work with spacer blocks
• Tom – Cleaning your shop

28:50 – Question 3:

I’m making several end grain cutting boards from cherry, birch and other hardwoods for gifts. Generally, mineral oil is recommended for sealing, but it darkens the wood a lot. I have tried a wash coat of shellac which seemed to help a little. Do you have any recommendations on how to keep the surface lighter in color?

-Marsh

33:35 – Question 4:

I just started making boxes and am having problems with squeeze-out inside the mitered corners. I know that miters aren’t a very strong joint, so I try and make sure to use enough glue. Most of the boxes I make require sawing the lid off, and when I accidentally use too much glue, the squeeze out inside is dry. Most of the time I wind up ruining the pre-finished areas in my attempts to clean it up.

-Douglas

40:30 – Smooth Moves

• Mike – Loosing track of his reference surfaces then moving a stop-block before he should have
• Matt – Using bad hide glue
  • Matt should have listened to Patrick Edwards
• Tom – Turning the drill press on with the chuck key still attached

 

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Tom McKenna Editorial Director	Mike Pekovich Creative Director	Matt Kenney Special Projects Editor

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Every two weeks, a team of Fine Woodworking staffers answers 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! Our continued existence relies upon listener support. So if you enjoy the show, be sure to leave us a five-star rating and maybe even a nice comment on our iTunes page.