From Joe:

Dear Shop Talk Live supreme, all-knowing individuals:

I’ve been watching Uri Truchman videos on YouTube. Uri makes some cool machines out of brass. It’s got me thinking—many of the machines I have could work brass. Working in metal has some potential appeal, as it seems like a less variable material than wood. Have any of you dabbled in metalwork, and if so, is brass the gateway material? Thanks all.

Wired for Beauty A rotary tool, hammer and a few shopmade tools are all it takes.

 

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From Scott:

I’m a full-time woodworker with a focus on traditional joinery and solid-wood construction. I have a large drill press, a small benchtop hollow chisel mortiser, Domino (the smaller one), and a hammer combo jointer/planer that can also have a slot mortiser added onto. I noticed in a lot of your Video Workshops they use a slot mortiser. Can you explain the pros and cons of a slot mortiser vs. a tilt table hollow chisel mortiser? Or just buy a big Domino?

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From Nathan:

I am about to finish up my largest commissioned work, netting me a nice little profit. This isn’t my full-time job, so any sort of money I make from woodworking I want to put back into the shop and continue to grow as a woodworker.

I have the DeWalt DW735 planer and a Grizzly 8-in. jointer, both with straight knife cutter heads. If I could only do one for now, which one should I upgrade first to a helical cutter head?

I love listening to you all in the shop, and have grown tremendously as a woodworker because of it. Keep up the great work!

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From Brian:

I have been thinking about trying some veneering and thought I would start with some small boxes.

I had always understood that veneered outside edges needed the edges protected—at least for thin commercial veneer, maybe not for thick shop-sawn veneer. I’m sure we all have a lot of experience with inexpensive veneered furniture that has the veneer chipping away from the edges. There would be various ways of doing this—for example, by inserting solid wood edging (say a 1/4-in. strip) into a rabbet in the edges (e.g., “Veneered Boxes with a Twist” video series, 2014), or by having the veneer on a panel which is inserted into some kind of solid wood frame (Doug Stowe, “Make a Veneered Box with Contrasting Miter Keys,” 2021).

But I see that in “Veneered Boxes Made Easy” (FWW #283), Craig Thibodeau does not have any solid wood protection of the box edges. (He does for the faces between the hinge and the lid, which would otherwise be exposed substrate edge.)

What’s the scoop? Is my fear just an old woodworker’s urban legend? CT is a master, so I’m sure his boxes can’t be armed grenades exploding veneer chips when looked at sideways, but I’m still uneasy.