Ask the Editor November 2013

Readers like you submit questions to us every day. Here, our woodworking expert George Vondriska answers your questions and offers helpful solutions to your woodworking problems.
George, you made a pair of Kitchen Tongs, where do you purchase maple or cherry wood 1 1/8″ thick?

-Terry
George: In my area, Wisconsin, it’s pretty easy for me to get hardwoods that are 5/4” (1-1/4”) and 8/4” (2”) thick from my hardwood supplier.
I did a Google search for “wood turning blanks” and there were lots of matches. Turning blanks will be thick so, if you can’t find a hardwood supplier in your area, you can order turning blanks to get thick stock.


What can i do too prevent my timber from splitting open? We manufacture furniture in south africa – Cape Town then we transport it up country as soon as the furniture is delivered a month after that our turned legs craps open.We use a glue called balcotan 100 which is the best glue here in cape town.What can we do too prevent it from happening.
-Clinton
George: Having spent some time in Africa (I lived I Swaziland for three years) I think you have a humidity problem. The humidity at the Cape is high. If your products are going up toward Jo-Burg or Pretoria the humidity is lower and the wood is reacting. It’s hard to overcome wood movement. If it wants to move, it’s going to move. You’d have to deal with this by controlling the environment where you’re manufacturing the furniture. Can you lower the humidity in that environment to match the humidity where the product is ending up?

Saw your video on finishing wood pens with CA and stick buffing compound. My question is this: what type and brand name is the buffing compound I should use?
George: You can find stick buffing compound at most woodworking retailers, and also on line. Check out amazon.com for white buffing compound sticks.

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11 Responses to “Ask the Editor November 2013”

  1. Bert Miller

    HI! I'm trying to get my shop organized in the very near future. I am disabled, so have to sit to do many of my wood working tasks. My question is, how much space do I have to have between my work tables for my chair? I use an ordinary folding chair. I have every thing drawn out and have 20" between tables the way I would like for this to work. Is this enough space? Thank you for whatever help you can give me.

  2. Thomas

    I glued up a frame and one of the 45's opened up during glue up is there a way to repair it?

  3. dneighbo2

    I would like to make a place to hang 6 robes before getting into the hot tub. It would have to be free standing. Where would I find plans?

  4. noelnochim

    George, I recently saw a simple broom handle hanger made from wood. It used a dowel trapped iin a sloped space between two boards to pinch the broom handle but required just a little tap to release the broom. The details are a little hazy to my mind and I was hoping that you might point me to a source for plans to build some.

  5. grandpab

    George, I have a CNC router and bolt 3/4" MDF to the CNC bed as a spoilboard. To insure that the MDF is coplanar to the CNC, I use the CNC to take down the MDF about 0.008" to 0.010". Of course the MDF's hard surface is removed. Will moisture absorb into the MDF and raise the surface, and if so what would you recommend to seal the surface?

  6. Kelly Craig

    Another thing not mentioned, but which can reduce wood movement, is sealing every side of the wood. For example, drawers and the insides of cabinets are, generally, left unfinished. If you can can finish every surface, you will slow the loss or gain of atmospheric moisture. I made burl tables back in the day. One sat in front of a fire place for several decades, but didn't crack or split from the loss of moisture content. The reason was, I flowed Varithane Plastic Oil on every surface I could access. When applying this finish I kept adding more as soon as the wood absorbed the applications. After a while, the wood saturated with the Plastic Oil and I'd just add a bit more throughout the day. In later years, I began doing the same with highly thinned poly, to reduce expense. Sometimes I would add a little hardening oil to the mix, which made the finish more flexible, but also made it softer and less resistant to wear.

  7. Jonny

    Is there an article an Laminating? formers? hardwood? glues? machines used ect?

  8. Joseph McGrath

    My son would love to be a professional woodworker. George, where did you get your formal woodworking training? I know other professional woodqorkers on T.V. went to the Bennet Street school in Boston. Is that where you went? Thanks

  9. Tim

    I have a large spalted maple slab that I am making into a small table. The slab has a large knot hole that I would like to fill with a clear epoxy that can be sanded and take a lacquer finish. What product should I use?

  10. aaron

    how would i ask a question