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
STL308: Cold weather woodworking [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:12:01
Larissa Huff joins Vic and Ben to discuss working in the cold, dovetail layout, fancy tape measures, and if spokeshaves are in fact worth it. For more information about our eLearning courses - http://www.finewoodworking.…
STL307: Old-school resawing [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:06:31
Bill Pavlak and Dan Faia join Ben to discuss inspecting historic furniture, resawing by hand, and sharpening drawknives. For more information about our eLearning courses - http://www.finewoodworking.com/elearning For mor…
STL306: Be kind to the cast bro! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:14:11
Woodsmith's Phil Huber joins Mike and Ben to discuss taking care of fine furniture, making tools and jigs, and the new home of Fine Woodworking. For more information about our eLearning courses - http://www.finewoodworki…
STL305: Be nice at the lumber yard! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:07:19
Gary Rogowski joins Vic and Ben to discuss lumber yards, ungluing a chessboard, weird router bits, and hybrid sharpening setups. For more information about our eLearning courses - http://www.finewoodworking.com/elearning…
STL304: All roads lead to Becksvoort [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:47
Mike, Anissa, and Ben discuss Shaker furniture, fixing a bench top, oddball shelf joinery, and the conversation comes back to Christian Becksvoort over and over. 0:00 - Intro 1:31 - Random chat 11:12 - Becksvoorts Shaker…
STL: Digital woodworking with MatterHackers [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:10:31
MatterHacker's Dave Gaylord joins Ben to discuss the plethora of digital tools available to woodworkers. This episode is sponsored by MatterHackers Check out MatterHackers on Youtube here: @MatterHackers You can find lin…
STL303: Oops! All bandsaws!! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:18
Well, not ALL bandsaws, but Rollie Johnson joins Vic and Ben to discuss the weird noises your bandsaw makes, resawing wood by hand, and flattening boards with handplanes. 0:00 - Intro 3:19 - Bandsaw noises and setup 40:3…
STL302: Broken tenons and shattered dreams [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:09:59
Anissa and Ben welcome David Johnson onto the show to discuss his work repairing furniture in LA. For more information about our eLearning courses - http://www.finewoodworking.com/elearning For more information about our…
STL301: Those goggles ain't gonna cut it [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:07:17
Mike, Vic, and Ben discuss vacuum bags, coping saw blades, and ammonia fuming. 0:00 - Intro 3:03 - Catching up with Vic 10:52 - Vacuum bags 25:05 - Coping saw and fret saw blades 37:38 - Segments 50:54 - Fuming with ammo…
STL300: A tricentennial celebration! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:51
Not really, it's really Mike, Anissa, and Ben discussing jointers and planers. For more information about our eLearning courses - http://www.finewoodworking.com/elearning For more information about our Woodworking Fundam…