STL185: Reading Bob Van Dyke’s Mind
Bob, Mike, and Ben discuss tear-out prone woods, milling long vs. short pieces, jointer blade height, and Mike and Ben prove that they know Bob a bit too well
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.
- Video: Taming Tough Grain with a Bevel-Up Plane by Bob Van Dyke #264-Nov/Dec 2017 Issue
- Video: Get Sharp Fast by Bob Van Dyke #254–May/June 2016 Issue
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:
- Ben – Apple Music’s Wes Montgomery Essentials playist
- Mike – Pickles from Rein’s Deli in Vernon, CT
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 [email protected] 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.
Comments
I've been listening for a long time to STL, and it's one of the key reasons that I keep motivated to get into the shop regularly and make things with wood. The banter is almost like having a woodworking club despite not having many other woodworkers in my area.
Mike, your book is great, and I've been using it to spread the woodworking bug with coworkers. The excellent photos, clear organization and general philosphy you put forth are great for bringing new woodworkers into the fold.
The one thing I'd request for the podcast is an update to the 80's-CASIO-keyboard-sounding drum track that's layered over the ads - Ben, I challenge you to come up with something modern :)
Anyway, keep it coming, the guests and hosts are an inspiration!
-Pat
Log in or create an account to post a comment.
Sign up Log in