STL185: Reading Bob Van Dyke's Mind

STL185: Reading Bob Van Dyke's Mind

Author: FineWoodworking.com March 15, 2019 Duration: 1:06:56

Enter for your chance to win Fine Woodworking's Shop Giveaway: Upgrade to Laguna! The winner will receive a prize that includes:

  • 14|12 Bandsaw
  • F2 Fusion Tablesaw
  • 1 HP Dust Collector
  • REVO 12|16
  • 6″ Jointer ShearTec II

Question 1: From Shawn: I'm working on a Christmas present for my sister.  It's a hallway table with 2 drawers in cherry. This is the first piece I've made with cherry.  Some of the surfaces have a quarter sawn grain orientation and I'm finding them highly prone to tear out. My card scraper seems to be the only tool I've got that can tackle it, and even then I still have to pay really close attention to the changing grain direction. I'd like to hear any recommendations you might have about tools and techniques to deal with tear out, and also about other tear out prone woods you've worked with. I've found quarter sawn maple to be difficult as well.

Question 2: From Joe: To build a bed for my grandson I ordered 50 bd ft of rough lumber,  Black walnut. The wood was beautiful but this is where my confusion began. I got the job done but I don't know if I went about it the best way. The bed with headboard, frame, 6 drawers underneath, and footboard had over 100 pieces. All the lumber was about 8 inches wide and about 10 feet long. Is it better to mill the long boards and then layout all the parts, or layout the parts oversize and cut them out and send smaller pieces through the planer and jointer?

Segment: All-Time Favorite Tool

Mike: 6-in. Combo Square
Bob: Stanley #4–Type 11
Ben: Lie Nielsen honing guide

Question 3:   From Mike: I've come to realize my jointer needs tuning, and i recall you guys saying how you set your outfeed table a hair lower than your cutter head. I can't find the episode that contains this discussion, but i don't recall there being any reasoning for this. I adjusted mine as y'all suggested but found this was causing the trailing ends of the boards to not touch the blades. After reading my powermatic manual, it says to have the outfeed table level with blade, so what's up with your hack causing me this grief?

Recommendations:


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 shoptalk@taunton.com 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.


Ever find yourself in the middle of a project, staring at a tricky joint or a piece of lumber that just won't behave, wishing you could ask an expert? That's the space where Shop Talk Live-Fine Woodworking lives. Hosted by the editors and seasoned contributors from Fine Woodworking magazine, this isn't a formal lecture. It's the sound of a conversation happening right in the workshop, where real questions from woodworkers at every level meet practical, time-tested answers. You'll hear the specifics-discussions on tool tuning, finishing nuances, joinery adjustments, and design problem-solving-all grounded in decades of collective hands-on experience. The dialogue is direct and the advice is applicable, whether you're building your first box or restoring a classic piece. This podcast from FineWoodworking.com pulls back the curtain on the craft's finer points, turning those moments of frustration into breakthroughs. It’s like having a master woodworker right there with you, offering clarity and confidence for your next cut. Tune in for the kind of shop talk that makes your time at the bench more productive and a lot more enjoyable.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

Shop Talk Live - Fine Woodworking
Podcast Episodes
STL186: Machinery Placement Guidelines [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:32
Question 1: From Harry: How can I prevent Camellia from becoming all gummy. After letting a plane set for a few weeks that had been wiped down with Camellia Oil it was next to impossible to get the plane apart. I actuall…
STL184.5: Chris Schwarz [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:41
Chris Schwarz is a furniture maker and writer who works from a German barroom built in 1896 in Covington, Ky. He is one of the founders of Lost Art Press, a book-publishing company that specializes in handwork, and Cruci…
STL184: Is it time to stockpile ash? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:09:21
Enter for your chance to win Fine Woodworking's Shop Giveaway: Upgrade to Laguna! The winner will receive a prize that includes: 14|12 Bandsaw F2 Fusion Tablesaw 1 HP Dust Collector REVO 12|16 6″ Jointer ShearTec II Ques…
STL183: The Call of the Cordless Tool [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:44
Leave a comment on this episodes show notes page to be entered in the giveaway of Craig Thibodeau's book, The Craft of Veneering. Peter Galbert's FWW Live 2018 Keynote Speech - Unsurprisingly, the journey of a windsor ch…
STL182.5 - Veneer Master Craig Thibodeau [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:11
Normally here I post a bunch of links. I'm going to be honest, you just need one link on this, Craig's website. Everything he discusses is easily found on his website, and the site itself is wonderfully done. It's worth…
STL 182: Tiny Scratches On My Blade [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:21
How Ben finished Mike's spoon - Finish Greenwood Spoons Like a Pro by Emmet Van Driesche Question 1: From Fabian: I have a sliding table saw and struggle to convert all the jigs mentioned in the magazine to fit my saw. H…
STL181: Will a Jobsite Saw Cut It? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:05
Check out our newest video workshop, Enfield Cupboard with Hand Tools featuring Chris Gochnour and be sure to help us make our video workshops even better by filling out this quick survey. Question 1: From Dean: I have a…
STL181: Will a Jobsite Saw Cut It? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:05
Check out our newest video workshop, Enfield Cupboard with Hand Tools featuring Chris Gochnour and be sure to help us make our video workshops even better by filling out this quick survey. Question 1: From Dean: I have a…
STL180: Designing Without Drawing [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:31
Question 1: From Cameron: I'm thinking of making a bench inspired by Mark Edmundson's "Modern Danish Cord Bench" from issue #194-Nov/Dec 2007. I'm want to stretch the width to 6' to use at my 7' table. Will the front and…
STL179: Barry's Insane For The Scrub Plane [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:53
Question 1: From Tony: We hear so much talk about Lie Nielsen, Veritas, and Stanley hand planes but, I have a Millers Falls No. 8 that i picked up from an Antique store, that works really well. I don't think I've ever he…