Nothing about this show went to plan. Marc tried a new dual-stream setup so we could go live vertically on Shorts and Instagram at the same time, it refused to cooperate, and we ended up starting over about 15 minutes late on a brand new stream. Then, in the last 15 minutes, a freight truck showed up with a table saw. Live. On camera. Enjoy.
Guild back-to-school sale ends tonight!
Today is the final day of the back to school sale over at The Wood Whisperer Guild. It is a more you buy, more you save deal, up to 40% off, and the coupon codes are right at the top of the site. Winter is coming, the shop gets cold, and a stack of Guild courses on the iPad is a pretty good way to spend it.
Woodworkers Fighting Cancer is now Woodworkers For A Cause
We are bringing back our charity event with a broader name. Same WFC initials, same idea, more room to support the causes that have touched our lives. This year we are benefiting The Purple Heart Project.
Most of the money comes from the auction. Tool companies donate, you bid, and 100% of the proceeds go straight to the charity. There are also experiences that you cannot buy anywhere else: a day in the shop with Marc, a co-host seat on Wood Talk, lunch and a shop tour, meeting Oreo, and Nicole is sewing another quilt out of Marc’s old shirts (the last one was back in 2019). Fuji Spray, Maker Tools, Woodhaven and Oliver Tools have already donated, and we picked up another offer live in the chat.
Everything, including how to build something for the cause, is at thewoodwhisperer.com/wfc. There is a big all-day live event coming too.
The show has a new home
The hub for this show now lives at thewoodwhisperer.com/wms. Contact us, send us something, see how to support the show, and dig through the 200-plus live shows we have done since 2014.
We are not going to Handworks this year, though several Guild instructors will be, including Ashley and Frank Strazza. We will be at the Woodcraft maker resource event in St. Louis on September 26.
How you want the Kreg Edge reviewed
Last week Marc asked what he could add to the pile of Kreg Edge reviews. About a dozen of you answered with the same thought: stop comparing it to the Domino. Review it as though the Domino did not exist. Is it worth it for a weekend woodworker who has never owned a loose tenon machine, and how does it stack up against dowels and pocket screws? That is the direction, and it means the review takes longer, because Marc actually has to build with it.
New in the store: a glue roller, and a free 3D printed holder
The TWW Store now carries our own glue roller. Engraved wooden handle, a genuinely beefy roller, and it lives in the tools section. If you have watched a panel glue-up around here you have seen us use one.
The problem with glue rollers is letting the glue dry on them. So Nicole designed a printable holder that keeps the roller sitting in water on the bench. She is including both lids, the overlay one she likes and the flush one Marc likes, and the STL is free. If you already bought a roller, watch your inbox; she is emailing it out. No printer? Check your local library; a lot of them have one now.
The tool spec lesson: CFM lies
Marc replaced the inline fan on the laser with a 300 CFM unit from Rabbit Laser USA, about 175 dollars, with six-inch ports. On paper that is a downgrade from the 360 CFM inline fan it replaced. In practice, it is not close.
Here is why, and it matters just as much for dust collection. Published CFM is usually measured with nothing attached to the fan. Add duct, a couple of elbows, and an opening into a machine, and static pressure eats that number alive. The little inline fan collapses under load. A properly built blower keeps moving air. When you shop, look for a fan curve or static pressure numbers, not the headline CFM.
The flaming Powermatic came home
Years ago, back when Marc was first building The Wood Whisperer, the Woodworks Store in Ohio built him a fully customized PM2000: cast iron extension wings, custom paint, and flames. It eventually had to go, so it went to a charity giveaway and Marc never saw it again. Then Socheat, who ended up with it, asked if we knew anyone who wanted it.
It arrived during the show. Fully crated, extension wings still bolted on, heavy enough that the delivery driver earned the cold soda Marc handed him. Marc is going to film the uncrating properly, so that story continues.
Greg’s Long View: wider Domino mortises
Greg’s tip this week: the Domino’s width dial only gives you a couple of millimeters, but the scale next to the center line lets you offset your plunge. Line up 10mm to one side, then 10mm to the other, and you have a mortise 20mm wider with all the repeatability of the machine intact. You may need one cleanup pass in the middle. Go slower on the second plunge so the cutter does not chatter along the existing mortise wall.
And a giveaway
The keyword was Powermatic, for obvious reasons. Out of 71 entries, the Guild course goes to Mark Rainer. Congratulations.
Chapters
- 00:00:00 Cold open, take two
- 00:01:48 Welcome and today’s topics
- 00:02:13 How to get your questions on the show
- 00:03:04 Guild back to school sale, final day
- 00:03:54 Handworks and where our instructors will be
- 00:04:19 Woodworkers For A Cause, the charity relaunch
- 00:08:47 New show homepage at thewoodwhisperer.com/wms
- 00:09:25 Live shout out for Bruce Bartlett
- 00:10:17 Woodcraft St. Louis event, September 26
- 00:11:33 Birthday cards for Ava, Marc objects
- 00:12:49 Kickback: how you want the Kreg Edge reviewed
- 00:15:21 TWW Store: Preppin Weapons and the new glue roller
- 00:16:39 Free 3D printed glue roller holder
- 00:20:28 Rabbit Laser exhaust fan, and why CFM lies
- 00:25:39 The flaming Powermatic is coming home
- 00:28:37 Greg’s Long View: wider Domino mortises
- 00:31:59 Q: does the Domino wander in an existing mortise
- 00:32:49 Q: enclosing a Harbor Freight dust collector
- 00:33:40 Q: is a garage dehumidifier worth it
- 00:34:56 Q: shooting boards versus well tuned power tools
- 00:37:02 Q: Baltic birch is heavy, what else works
- 00:39:09 Q: why yellow Preppin Weapons cost more
- 00:40:50 Q: best 3D printer under $1,000
- 00:46:25 Q: blind sliding dovetails for a tabletop
- 00:48:32 Q: wider Domino mortises for breadboard ends
- 00:49:24 Q: custom dust shroud for vintage machinery
- 00:49:49 The table saw arrives, live, mid show
- 00:50:40 Guild course giveaway, keyword Powermatic
- 00:53:34 Q: why use a sacrificial fence
- 00:59:40 Uncrating plans and goodbyes