STL 164: Sometimes you can blame the tools
Mike, Matt, and Ben discuss jointer setup, bad bandsaw blades, plywood workbenches, and Japanese chisels and their all-time favorite techniquesQuestion #1
More often than not, my edge jointing has been resulting in too much material being removed from the last few inches of the board. The void is enough to slip a playing card underneath. When I try another pass, I end up with a very pronounced gap, much further along the edge. I have tried altering my technique, referencing off the infeed and outfeed table, changing my grip and flipping the board end-to-end. Nothing seems to work. This doesn’t happen every time, and the jointer in my shared shop was recently tuned up by a pro furniture maker, so my guess is operator error. What am I doing wrong? – Jon
Question #2
I just purchased a new bandsaw blade. When I installed it, I couldn’t get a twist out of the blade no matter how much tension I added or how I adjusted the bearings. Is this an issue of setup, the bandsaw or the blade? -Andrew
- If you’re interested in more bandsaw knowledge direct from the master, check out Rollie’s book: Taunton’s Complete Illustrated Guide To Bandsaws
All-Time Favorite Technique of All Time… for this week
Mike – Using a cabinet makers triangle to keep everything straight
Matt – Gluing fabric to the bottom of a box before the bottom is glued into the rabbet
- To learn more about Matt’s box-making techniques, check out his book 52 Boxes in 52 Weeks
Ben – Simple Dovetailing Box-Vise featured in issue #268
- Workbench Tips and Tricks – #268–May/June 2018 Issue
- Video: Two DIY Woodworking Vises by Ben Strano #268–May/June 2018 Issue
- New-Fangled Workbench, Revisited by John White #190–Mar/April 2007 Issue
Question #3
I’m thinking of building a bench top with 3/4-in. plywood, on edge. I would need 3 full sheets to make a top 4-in. thick, 24-in. deep, and 6-ft long. The thought is, that gluing up 3/4-in. strips will provide for a more stable top. Is this a horrible idea? Do you think it would hold-up well? I have all the necessary tools and skills to mill boards, but I’m kind of enjoying the idea of this top and the looks of it, as well. – Steven
Question #4
I recently purchased a set of Japanese chisels. Can you discuss the pros and cons about sharpening Japanese chisels on the Tormek? There seems to be opposing opinions online and I don’t want to harm these superbly crafted tools. – Layne
Listener Comments:
In reference to STL 161: The Lightning Round
This session was great, better than normal. I enjoyed a wider range of topics versus a “typical” STL podcast. I recommend you continue loading more questions in an individual session. Surely the types of questions will influence the time taken for them. I am following the video cast. I find it odd that you guys do not talk to the camera, therefore not to me. Why that is? -user-6581589
Via YouTube:
From Seb R: I love to take my coffee on Saturday mornings with STL. Thanks for this piece of fun!
On iTunes, an always appreciated 5-star review from atogrf1 who says:
The Best of the Best Woodworking Podcasts – Less is more!!!!! Keep it up!!!!
Recommendations:
- Ben – Evaporust
- Matt – Taklon
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.
Comments
To the jointer question:
It might be that there is some slight sag in the outfeed table. This will cause a deeper cut when beginning the cut, and when the workpiece reference shifts from the indeed to the outfeed, it rocks slightly away from the cutter, and the cut gets shallower.
Yes, the question refers to the "last few inches of the board", but whether that refers to the start or end of the cut is unclear. I'd check the tables for parallelism.
I'd like to suggest that you move to headphone mounted boom mikes instead of the monstrosities you are currently using. Perhaps the current setup gives some amazing increase in fidelity that is useless for a podcast, but at the very least the supports block the video screen for those of us sitting in the audience.
The boom stands are much nicer to sit in front of, but I agree, we need to figure out how to frame the table and screen better. Keep in mind, the overwhelming majority of our audience is audio-only, so that is, and will probably always be the priority. That said, we are working on ways of improving both.
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