WWGOA LIVE! May 2018

Winter in Wisconsin has (finally) ended. A beautiful evening, and great night in the shop answering questions and running tools. Here’s what we did:

1:57 Wood identification
3:47 Mix dewaxed shellac?
5:40 Jointer use for flat glue ups
11:53 Finishing products in Columbia
12:30 Rabbeting a dowel
17:34 Finish on a mesquite coffee table
19:14 Core quality on plywood
21:43 George’s tattoo
24:06 DeWalt and Wen planer
26:40 Router lift education
31:45 Jointer or planer for parallel faces?
33:11 Spraying primer and top coats
33:43 Sears router table review?
34:15 Good beginner projects
35:46 Finish for a log candle holder
36:45 Upgrade to helical cutter heads?
38:04 Door thickness? Material for paint grade doors
39:22 Preventing chipping when cutting veneered material
47:20 Uses for butternut
48:13 SketchUp
49:13 Parallelogram vs dovetail way jointers
52:40 Storage on cabinet doors
55:30 Plans for shop storage units
57:57 Tablesaw choice
58:30 Snipe on planers
1:01 Scheduling of live events

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Reply to George Vondriska
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100 Responses to “WWGOA LIVE! May 2018”

  1. Pete

    So love these live shows. You do a magnificent job for someone like me. I’m a strictly amateur woodworker.

    Reply
    • George Vondriska
      George Vondriska

      Great!! Glad you enjoy them, and thanks for the nice comment.

      Reply
  2. Sam Robbins

    I also downloaded Sketchup 2017 in the past couple of weeks. They were pushing the web version but still offered the Sketchup “Make” 2017 free.

    Reply
    • George Vondriska
      George Vondriska

      Yep, you’re right. It’s still available. Thanks for confirming.

      Reply
  3. Gary

    George, If you are using CA glue what can you use to ensure clamps or cauls won’t stick to it?

    Reply
    • George Vondriska
      George Vondriska

      Put waxed paper between the glue surface and the clamp or caul.

      Reply
  4. SPENCER HARRIS

    What are the top five Woods a new person to woodworking should use

    Reply
    • George Vondriska
      George Vondriska

      There’s no good answer to this. It depends on what look you want, what woods are available in your area.

      Reply
  5. Craig Terhark

    Do you use and what type of of wax or lubricant do you use on your machinery tops?

    Reply
  6. Marvin

    For highly figured wood, is a drum sander an alternative to a planer to avoid the grain tearing out

    Reply
  7. Richard

    Hi George, looking at plans for outdoor patio furniture—what is your personal choice for species to use? Was looking at African Mahogany but stock could get expensive.

    Reply
    • George Vondriska
      George Vondriska

      Mahogany, white oak, western cedar, ipe, jarrah man-made deck boards like Trex.

      Reply
  8. Will

    Hi George, Got started woodworking in the mid 90s. I remember reading your articles back then and you’re still going strong. You are the unsung hero of woodworking writers/teachers. After all these years, here’s what I really want to know, how tall are you? Take care, Will in Maine

    Reply
  9. Mark

    Making a small wood table for outdoor use – to place near the front door for my mother whom wants to have her mail left on the rather small table. She would like it pained white – plan to use pine…..recommendations for finish and paint so grain doesn’t show and whatever makes it the most protected for outdoor use – from Maryland…..we have four seasons. Thank you…

    Reply
    • George Vondriska
      George Vondriska

      I’d work with poplar instead of pine as the grain won’t raise as much. If pine is a must, put on a coat of dewaxed shellac first http://amzn.to/2nkCopB and then put your paint over that. You may still get a little grain raising, but the shellac will minimize it. Any good outdoor paint should be fine.

      Reply
    • George Vondriska
      George Vondriska

      Costs less. Requires less power from the saw. Most likely cuts sufficiently deep for most joinery.

      Reply
    • George Vondriska
      George Vondriska

      SawStop, because it’ll save your fingers tor hand if you ever have an accident.

      Reply
  10. Dennis buchanan

    Is there someplace to find the correct angles to sharpen your chisels and turning tools that you know of,thanks Dennis

    Reply
    • George Vondriska
      George Vondriska

      Sorry, but no. I haven’t see a general work sheet on this.

      Reply
  11. Stan

    you spoke of spraying, I have the equipment except I am limited to spraying out in the garage during the summer. Unfortunately i do most of my woodworking in my cellar shop during the VT winter. Any ideas for spray booth without sucking all my heat out the shop, and also I have concerns with temperature warm enough for the finish to cure.

    Reply
    • George Vondriska
      George Vondriska

      There’s no great work around for this. You need ventilation if you’re spraying, and it has to be warm enough for the finish to dry. There may be air scrubbing systems that filter the air in your shop, rather than blow it out, but I’m not familiar with them.

      Reply
  12. chiefflip

    I’m getting small divots at the end of my planer cuts. I’ve made adjustments in and out but still have the issue. Any suggestions?
    Steve

    Reply
  13. TheDuck

    What bandsaw blades do you recommend for re sawing, General purpose, and for bandsaw boxes

    Reply
    • George Vondriska
      George Vondriska

      I use Timberwolf blades, available here http://www.pswood.com 1/4″ 4 tpi is my general purpose blade. 1/2″ 3 or 4 tpi for resawing kiln dried wood. Blade selection for bandsaw boxes depends on the size of the box and thickness of material. The folks at PS Wood are very helpful and can also guide you toward the best blades for your saw and your projects.

      Reply
  14. Allyn Taylor

    Love the information. Great site keep up the good work. I’m just now getting my shop together and your videos and articles have helped in a lot decision making

    Reply
  15. William

    From Riverside California With regard to router lifts, Rockler just introduced a new model with two lift “sockets” One for rapidly raising the router for bit changes; the other for fine tuning.

    Reply
  16. tom from Oregon

    I see what looks like a storage/glue station behind you. Is there plans for this on the WWGOA site?

    Reply
  17. Mark

    What router brand and model # would you suggest – please and thank you

    Reply
  18. John

    I built three bathroom vanity’s, and my wife has asked for some mounting system on the cabinet doors for small boxes, baskets or plastic containers. I have some pegboard, but looks… yuck. I scavenged some metal strips and magnets with small metal baskets. Are there other options? Also, will I need a third hinge to handle the weight?

    Reply
  19. Stephen

    What are your thoughts on a Parallelogram Jointer vs a standard dovetail way jointer?

    Reply
  20. Paul

    I downloaded the Sketch-Up tutorial. Once I started itm Sketch-Up had moved from the free desktop version to the browser version. The browser version seems a lot less functional than the one presented. Any suggestions on which product to get? (The old free desktop version is no longer available.) Also, is there a plan to update the tutorial?

    Reply
  21. Scott

    I recently acquired some butternut, wondering what might be a good use for it?

    Reply
  22. Jon

    Building speakers out of cherry veneer ply. I am nervous about the corner joints for the speaker box, and any chip out caused by the saw blade when cutting the 45 degree angles. Do you have any advice?

    Reply
  23. John

    I built three vanity’s and my wife wants to mount small boxes and other mounting systems on the cabinet doors. I have some peg board, looks … yuck. I have some metal strips and am thinking about magnets. What other options are there? I will build some full extension drawers, set back for the door mounting systems, so thin, is better than think mounting. Also, will I need a third hinge for support? These are lower cabs, so typical size.

    Reply
  24. Andy

    I am in West Central Minnesota. I was going to build shaker cabinet doors. Would it be best to use 1/2 with rabit or 1/4 inch center panel, and what material would be best for painted doors.

    Reply
  25. Steve

    George, Steve from very Hot Tucson AZ. Is updating my jointer and planner with helix cutting heads worth the money?

    Reply
  26. Dwayne

    from saskatchewan Canada.
    My son made a candle holder from a log. He left the bark on the bottom 5″ and lathed down the rest. What would be the best treatment to seal the wood without damaging the bark?

    Reply
  27. Stephen Barnes

    Greetings from Acworth Georgia. Just started taking up woodworking (using more hand tools than electric) and was wondering if there were any good beginner projects that may help me practice useful techniques.

    Stephen

    Reply
  28. Skipper Brown

    Complementary angles are two angles with a sum of 90

    Supplementary angles are two angles with a sum of 180

    Reply
  29. Michael

    Have you ever reviewed Sears router tables? I think they are worthless.

    Reply
  30. Tony

    Making cabinets for a master closet. When finishing I start by brushing a primer and then spraying the finish with sanding in between. I can see brush strokes in the finish. Any suggestions?

    Reply
  31. Bob

    Does a planer parallel faces ok. Do u need a jointer for this or just planer. Canada
    Canada

    Reply
  32. Dave Mesarchik

    I am in the market for a router lift…is there one you prefer and if so why ?

    Reply
  33. Tom

    Im looking to purchase a table top planer, currently researching the Wen Vs. the Dewalt. Thoughts?

    Reply
  34. Chris

    Follow up to the last couple of months regarding trouble with finding quality sheet goods. I finally found one cabinet supplier in town that would sell me a few pieces here and there. However it’s not baltic birch. They called it chinese vs domestic, and they seem to say the chinese was better. Could you go into some detail about how to determine the quality of the core material of plywood that isn’t baltic birch? For instance the plywood at my local lumber yard (that sells mostly construction grade material and has only a limited supply of “cabinet grade”) seems to be better. Home depot cores look like it’s made of some kind of compressed particles, while the lumber yard cores have grains. Is that a good indicator? Thanks again for any input.

    Reply
  35. Stephen

    I’m building a bathroom vanity out of veneered walnut plywood what are some good finishing options to keep water from damaging it?

    Reply
  36. John Slaughter

    Good evening from the Idaho panhandle.
    I am looking to make some picture frames out of 3/4″ to 1″ dowels. As far as I can tell there are essentially two ways to do this. The simplest way is to rip the dowels and then rabbet them. But, I think they might look better to retain the full round by rabbeting the dowel. I don’t quite know how I’d go about the second way. Any thoughts?
    Thanks.

    Reply
  37. BILL

    Bill from rural Colombia I need to know finishing materials available here

    Reply
  38. stan

    I think I saw Bessie K-body clamps in the back ground, I have had a set of Jet K-body for years and love them, Just got 2 Besse clamps for christmas and really love the quick adjust feature, so I tend to grab them before the JET. I have had 2 instances recently where I’m edge glueing and the Besse tend to bow the piece down which is unnoticeable from the top, but leaves a slight gap between the pieces on the back. have you seen the same ? any Wisdom?

    Reply
  39. Stan

    I know that de-waxed shellac followed by Laquer is your go-to finish. I assume that you mix your own shellac? have you ever done any video’s on that? Any quick tips, preferences etc.?

    Reply
  40. Domingo

    GEORGE;

    A neighbor had a tree knocked down and I kept a few pieces because I found it intriguing that the core is a deep yellow and it oozes a yellow liquid.

    I have no idea what type of wood it is and would love sending you a photo for you to identify it for me. Is there any way I can do so?

    Dom

    Reply
    • Stephen Barnes

      The tree was possibly a maple. Apparently the have a yellow sap when they are about to bud. This is also the time to stop drawing sap if you are trying to get maple syrup.

      Reply