It’s show #597 - On today’s show, we’re talking about making thin wood without a bandsaw, fixing sticky drawers, Tormek sharpening machine comparisons, and building a rocking chair.

What's On the Bench

• Marc can't move so he is scratching the itch by rearranging the shop.
• Matt just keeps turning...homemade 40 foot swing lathe in the future?
• Shannon broke his band clamp while making picture frames, Marc teases with an out of stock band clamp

WoodTalk Bike Corner

Shannon rants about e-bike which are great for commuting and getting people into riding, but kids making fun of kids who have to pedal is outrageous. Plus, get some exercise you lazy kids!! shakes fist

Kickback and Stuff

• Hans let us know that the black MDF we talked about on a previous show is manufactured under the brand Valchromat and they make a variety of colors.
• Ryan compliments our restraint during Matt's hollow chisel mortiser experience.
• Darren shares a bushcraft video where they use wooden holdfasts.

Listener Questions

• Dianne has some sticky drawers in a chest and asks for advice to address it.
• Seth is a building a Shaker cabinet that calls for tinner stock and asks whether to plane or resaw the material to thickness.
• Harold wants to build a rocking chair to accompany his proposal attempt to his girlfriend and asks about where to start with building it.
• Mark is look at the Tormek for sharpening both shop tools and kitchen knives and wonders about the differences between the models. Marc suggests a specific kitchen knife sharpener which is much easier to use and stays in the kitchen.

Selected Woodcraft Events

In-Store Classes are a great way to make a wonderful holiday gift. Check your local store to see what they have going on.

Here’s just a sampling of what’s going on:

Store Events:

• Cabin Fever Event - Jan 24th at Cincinatti, OH; Roanoke, VA; Parkersburg, WV
• Lots of sales. Demos throughout the day. Chance to win prizes.
• 16th Annual Woodworking Expo – January 24th at Phoenix, AZ
• Vendor demos, Manufacturer Representatives, storewide power tool specials.
• Supreme Bowl Contests – Woburn, MA; Walpole, MA; Richmond, VA; Norfolk, VA; Portsmouth, NH (Separate contests at each store) Submit your bowl to be voted on in a variety of categories. Voting ends February 8th (submission dates and categories vary somewhat by location)

Classes:

• January 23rd – DATE NIGHT: PIZZA & BEER; Turn a pizza cutter and bottle opener
• January 30th – DATE NIGHT: WINE & CHEESE; Turn a bottle stopper and cheese plane.
• Orlando, FL – Lathe Tool Sharpening Made Easy – Saturday, January 17th, 10 to 3.

Ask Us a Question

Our questions primarily come from our generous Patrons. You can also send in questions via the contact form. Or you can hit us up on Instagram at woodtalkshow. And you can even send us an email or voicemail at [email protected]

Finally you can find us individually on Instagram at mattcremona, woodwhisperer, and renaissancewoodworker

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s show #596 - On today’s show, we’re recapping some of our favorite things of the year and answering your questions.

End of Year Wrap

Its our last show of the year so we spend some time talking about our challenges, new products, and specifically stuff we got from our sponsor, Woodcraft.

Kickback and Stuff

• Shoutout to Hamilton Ward on his birthday. His wife wrote in and asked us to recognize him.
• Ryan's comic display worked out great but he asks about when to prefinish and when to skip it.
• Von likes the bicycle talk, in fact when he listened to our back log he got Peloton bike ads.

Listener Questions

• Matt is milling parts for his Guild project table
• Shannon used a power tool to cut up a live edge slab for an architect.
• Marc bought a new bike then lots of NYC pizza.

Woodcraft Store Events

• Rockville, MD - 10 Ways to Cut Dovetails with Bob Van Dyke -Saturday, November 29 and November 30, 10 AM - 5 PM
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• Walpole, MA - Volunteers needed Wooden Toy Truck Build for "Toys-for-Tots" Saturday, December 6, 2025, 9:30 AM - 3 PM

Ask Us a Question

Our questions primarily come from our generous Patrons. You can also send in questions via the contact form. Or you can hit us up on Instagram at woodtalkshow. And you can even send us an email or voicemail at [email protected]

Finally you can find us individually on Instagram at mattcremona, woodwhisperer, and renaissancewoodworker

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sponsored by :

If you want to help support the show, you can do so by going to Patreon.com/woodtalk and signing up to become a patron of the show.

It’s show #595 - On today’s show, we’re talking about what to do when your workbench sucks, Is wood acclimation BS, and running a lathe backwards.

Woodcraft Giveaway

Congratulations to Matt Croyle who won the tap room cutting board kit.

We also heard from Joe, last months lathe tool giveaway and he does actually have a lathe and has already put his new tools to use.

Black Friday Sales

• Wood Whisperer Guild Save 40% with code BlackFriday40
• BackSide Sandpaper, Wood Whisperer Specials are 20% off!
• Hand Tool School 50% with code HTS50for15; black friday but 15 yr anniversary.
• Matt Cremona - Free shipping on Chair Kits and some discount on everything else

What's on the Bench

• Matt is milling parts for his Guild project table
• Shannon used a power tool to cut up a live edge slab for an architect.
• Marc bought a new bike then lots of NYC pizza.

Kickback

Listener Questions

• Von asks how much wood actually acclimates over the course of a few weeks and if that is a myth.
• James asks what to do after he built his workbench and then feel inadequate about it after watching hundreds of videos.
• Joe asks why he would run his lathe backwards because his lathe motor runs both ways.

Woodcraft Store Events

• November 7th and 8th Kreg Demos at every store nationwide.
• November 8 & 9th- Turn for the Troops events nationwide.
• Local Store events: too many to list here this time...wow...Goooo Woodcraft! Check your local store for details

Ask Us a Question

Our questions primarily come from our generous Patrons. You can also send in questions via the contact form. Or you can hit us up on Instagram at woodtalkshow. And you can even send us an email or voicemail at [email protected]

Finally you can find us individually on Instagram at mattcremona, woodwhisperer, and renaissancewoodworker

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sponsored by :

If you want to help support the show, you can do so by going to Patreon.com/woodtalk and signing up to become a patron of the show.

It’s show #594 - On today’s show, we’re talking about finish for a commercial shelf, removable furniture tops and ripply cuts.

Woodcraft Giveaway

For November Woodcraft is back with another giveaway. This time they are giving away a Tap Room Cutting Board Kit and you can register to win by filling out the form on our website here. We will draw a winner and announce at the end of November.

What's on the Bench

• Marc finally finished the built-in desk for Nicole.
• Shannon rants about the quitting perception foisted on him by the market normal.
• Matt started work on the breakfast table

Kickback

• Tom loves his shaper so much he is teaching a class about it at the Alpine Technical Workshops. If you want to learn more about shapers then this is the place.
• Von likes Shannon's philosophy on getting things done and it reminds him of the book "Getting Things Done" by David Allen
• Marc and Matt think how SketchUp handles versioning and authentication is stupid and they complain about it.

Listener Questions

• Ryan needs a finish suggestion for a comic book shelf he is building for a local store.
• Dana is building a TV cabinet that is big and heavy and asks about making the top removable yet structural.
• Rick is sawing Walnut logs with his woodworking guild and they are getting ripply cuts despite changing the blade and doing typical bandsaw triage.

Woodcraft Store Events

• November 7th and 8th Kreg Demos at every store nationwide.
• November 8 & 9th- Turn for the Troops events nationwide.
• Local Store events: too many to list here this time...wow...Goooo Woodcraft! Check your local store for details

Ask Us a Question

Our questions primarily come from our generous Patrons. You can also send in questions via the contact form. Or you can hit us up on Instagram at woodtalkshow. And you can even send us an email or voicemail at [email protected]

Finally you can find us individually on Instagram at mattcremona, woodwhisperer, and renaissancewoodworker

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you want to help support the show, you can do so by going to Patreon.com/woodtalk and signing up to become a patron of the show.

It’s show #591 - On today’s show, we’re talking about first aid kits, why no shapers?, when is enough, enough?, our favorite distractions when we have a creative block, and an alternative for table saw blade height adjustment.

Woodcraft Giveaway

Woodcraft is back with another giveaway for the month of October. This time they are giving away a 5 piece turning tool set and you can register to win by filling out the form on our website here. We will draw a winner and announce at the end of October.

What's on the Bench

• Marc wasted time flattening a block plane sole.
• Shannon has started holiday turning.
• Matt has started designing a trestle table, specifically the base.

Listener Questions

• Dave asks about our first aid kits in our shops.
• Marc's first aid kit
• Quality Tweezers
• Tom has a shaper in his shop and loves it and can't figure out why no one has one or talks about them.
• Erica asks the questions every woodworker asks at some point: how flat is flat enough, how smooth is smooth enough, etc.
• Tom asks what we do when we hit a wall with a project and are ready to throw it out.
• Eduardo wonders if an answer to our table saw height adjustment issue from a previous episode could be solved by a scale placed on the fence. This suggestion fires up Marc and Matt and they decide to launch an entirely new form of table saw that will cost loads more and be less safe.

Woodcraft Store Events

All stores:

• October 17 and 18th JessEm Demos at every store nationwide.
• October 11th and 12th- Anniversary sales and open houses at the following stores: Baltimore, Virginia Beach, Pittsburgh, Birmingham, Lexington, Clearwater, and Richmond
• October 12th - Virginia Beach: Make a 3D Stairstep Cutting Board with Alex Snodgrass

Ask Us a Question

Our questions primarily come from our generous Patrons. You can also send in questions via the contact form. Or you can hit us up on Instagram at woodtalkshow. And you can even send us an email or voicemail at [email protected]

Finally you can find us individually on Instagram at mattcremona, woodwhisperer, and renaissancewoodworker

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sponsored by Woodcraft! https://www.woodcraft.com/start

And by the generous contributions of our patrons: https://www.patreon.com/woodtalk

Today we’re talking about

Don't miss your chance to win a Wood River Mini Turning Tool Set: https://woodtalkshow.com/giveaway/

What's on the Bench

- Marc started the install of Nicole's builtin desk.

- Shannon blew off the world and went bikepacking.

- Matt is cleaning up to do more sawmilling.

Kickback

Last episode we had a question from Simon about loss of grip strength and how he should deal with it. We got some good suggestions:

- Brian suggests "Hand-i-craft" also has nerve damage in their hand, leading to them coming up with some interesting approaches to woodworking: https://www.youtube.com/@hand-i-craft

- Tommaso suggests: check out Essential Craftsman channel, he has a friend he works with who is an exceptional woodwork. The guy suffered a stroke and lost control of his dominant side, and theres a few videos on how he's dealing with it.

- Marc suggests @delbasidtimbers on IG - https://www.instagram.com/delbasidtimbers/

- Butch is impressed by how hard we work when we are actually getting paid to do the show.

Listener Questions

- Tom is making small, 3" ish circles with a router and template and seeks advice on a safe and clean way to do it. Marc suggests a sanding jig instead of a router and referenced this video from Bob Lang: https://youtu.be/m6FfXUAPx1w?si=XuydD01MByNN83DH

- John is building a workbench and asks about getting quartersawn material vs flatsawn material.

- Brandon is looking for a resource to help him identify trees so he can buy logs and know what he is getting.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sponsored by :

If you want to help support the show, you can do so by going to Patreon.com/woodtalk and signing up to become a patron of the show.

It’s show #590 - On today’s show, we’re talking about… Tools we wish existed, shopping for a grinder, Why don’t you buy another super expensive, super specific tool??

Giveaway Winner!

Nathaniel Snell is the winner of the WoodRiver small shoulder plane. We had over 500 entrants and thank you for everyone who entered. The great new is Woodcraft likes the idea and there will be more of this to come.

What's on the Bench

• Marc is make cat collar tags with a laser and avoiding drywall.
• Shannon used his new WoodRiver shoulder plane and admits it might has a use in his shop despite years of hating on shoulder planes.
• Matt finishing clearing out after sawmilling just in time for more sawmilling.

Kickback

• Jim visited Woodcraft while listening to the show and spent $1000 on stuff he doesn't need. Goooo Woodcraft!

Dining Table Discussion

We talk about the double edged sword of specialty tools: gimmick or useful?

Listener Questions

• Simon had a tough medical procedure and is looking for advice on how to move forward with his woodworking with lack of grip strength.
• Tommaso asks what tool we want that doesn't currently exist on the market.
• John is shopping for a grinder as he is tired of resetting the bevel using stones and sandpaper.
• Gary asks Matt why he doesn't have a chipper for all the offcuts and waste from his saw mill.

Ask Us a Question

Our questions primarily come from our generous Patrons. You can also send in questions via the contact form. Or you can hit us up on Instagram at woodtalkshow. And you can even send us an email or voicemail at [email protected]

Finally you can find us individually on Instagram at mattcremona, woodwhisperer, and renaissancewoodworker

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sponsored by Woodcraft!

On today’s show, we’re talking about using beeswax in finish, cleaning up an old saw, and can I run these through planer??

Hey Hey Hey! Shoulder Plane Giveaway!

Marc has an extra WoodRiver small Shoulder Plane and he is going to give it away to one lucky person. Fill out the form here and take your chance to wind a shiny, steampunk looking shoulder plane. Hurry, because we will select the winner on the next show.

What's on the Bench

• Marc is still working on the builtin desk for Nicole.
• Shannon did some dock repairs up in Maine and de-rusted his tools.
• Matt stacked and stickered wood.

Kickback

• Von wants Matt to talk more about his saw milling decisions too.
• Michael likes Matt's radio style reading of Woodcraft store events.
• Cliff does all his project modeling on his iPad with his Apple Pencil and Shapr3D software.

Listener Questions

• David got some beeswax and wonders about mixing his own finishes.
• Brandon has some old hand saws from his grandfather and great grandfather and he wants to clean them up to display them.
• Sandflex Blocks and Wizards Metal Polish
• Ben has some old Oak flooring and a butcher block top that he has concerns about running through his planer.

Woodcraft Store Events

• All September - Parkersburg, Cincinnati and Roanoke Woodcraft stores are having a Box Making Bonanza. Submit a box for a chance to win a Woodcraft gift card!
• Woodcraft of Hawaii is having Vendor Sale Weeks all month in September, including brands like Makita, DeWalt, Milwaukee, Stabila, and Bosch just to name a few.
• Sept. 5th - 7th, Omaha Woodcraft is having their Whale of a Sale - 15% off RIKON tools & accessories, 10% off select tools & accessories, 20% off wood, 15% off nearly everything else. Free demos & door prizes on Saturday, September 6.
• September 6 at Seattle Woodcraft, they’re having their 7th annual Tool Swap.
• September 6, Woodcraft of Indianapolis will host Family Day. Projects for kids, 15% off storewide, giveaways, food and special guests from Central Indiana Woodworkers, Fishers Makers Playground, Circle City Carvers, Festool & WoodMizer.
• September 13, 10-2 Woodcraft of Grand Rapids will host a Tool Swap & Shop
• October 4-5: Pacific Northwest Woodworking & Maker Expo Presented by Woodcraft held at Expo Idaho in Boise. Woodworking vendors, makers selling handmade goods, educational seminars and a tool sale. Tickets and details available now at https://www.woodmakerexpo.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.