This is our first ever video podcast.  Starting with this first video I'll be demonstrating the steps I go through when building a project.

Thanks for checking it out...Straight grains and sharp blades, Matt

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This episode is all about glues, we use them in almost every project so it's good to know all our options.  To help us understand the different types of glues out there, I found the following article and rather than putting it in my words I'm just reading it as the author wrote it.

The Six Essential Glues by Scott Gibson - Fine Woodworking Magazine Issue Number 176 April 2005

Regardless of what type of woodworking you do, glue is one of the most crucial tools in your shop. There are, as this article covers, six categories of glues we can use for our projects.

The six categories are as follows:

1. PVA - standard yellow glue, the versatile workhorse good for general assembly work and joinery

2. Polyurethane - ideal for laminations, edge joints and outdoor furniture

3. Epoxy - good for laminations, outdoor furniture and when a structural gap-filling bond is needed
4. Cyanoacrylate - Best for quick repairs of defects, such as cracks, small knots and slivers

5. Hide Glue - excels at veneering and repairing period furniture and musical instruments

6. Urea Formaldehyde - good for veneering and bent laminations

The main points to keep in mind when choosing a glue is not only the above but each glue varies in the following categories:

1. Open time - the amount of time inwhich the joint should be assembled

2. Clamp time - the minimum amount of time the joint needs to be in clamps for the glue to set up so that it's strong enough to stay in place

3. Water, Heat and solvent resistance - is the glue water proof, at what temp. does the glue begin to breakdown and are there any solvents that would dissolve the glue joint after it's setup

4. Cleanup - what do you need to clean up any mess while gluing

5. Health and safety - how toxic is it to use this product?

6. Shelf life - after you buy it, how long do you have to use it before it becomes less effective?

Not all glues are the same so do a little research to make sure you have the one that works best for your needs. 

Free schwag Banner winners - Wayne from Sacramento, CA , Matthew from Winona, MN , Matt Sullivan, Jason from Surrey BC, Canada. Congratulations to this episode's winners and if you're interested in possibly winning some schwag, drop me a line.  Thanks again for listening and staying subscribed to the show.

Straight grains and sharp blades, Matt

Sharpening our own tools can be a very overwhelming task for most beginners, but it's not as bad as we usually imagine it to be. Really there are three very basic steps to the entire process and once the first step is taken care of, the rest of the job is as simple as 1..2..3.

Step 1. Flatten the backside of the blade, also referred to as lapping. You don't have to flatten the entire backside, just the first 1-2 inches depending on the blade. Always start with your coarse sharpening surface, either a 220/320 wet/dry sandpaper or a 800 grit waterstone. Once an uniform scratch pattern has been developed move up to a medium surface to refine the backside, either a 600 wet/dry sandpaper or a 1000/1200 grit waterstone.  The last part of flattening the backside is to produce a mirror like reflection using a fine surface, either 1500+ wet/dry sandpaper or a 4000 grit waterstone.

Step 2. Hone the primary bevel to 25 degrees, for most bench tools. Don't hesitate to use a jig there are many on the market, take advantage of their ease of use and reproducibility of results.  Establish the primary bevel using your medium surface. After only a few passes with minimal finger pressure just behind the cutting edge, the refined bevel should be clearly established and the scratch pattern should extend to the cutting edge. Flip the tool over and run your thumb along the edge on the backside, you should feel a small metal burr. Remove that burr by lapping the backside 2-3 times on your fine surface as you did in Step 1. Repeat this process of honing the primary bevel on your medium surface and removing the burr by lapping with the fine surface at least 2 more times.

Step 3. Hone the microbevel to 30 degrees. The main purpose of the microbevel is to make it that much easier to resharpen your blades, not to mention the few extra degrees really help to make cutting that much easier. By having a microbevel established, when you rehone a dull blade, you only have to worry about removing a smaller amount of material versus rehoning the entire face of the primary bevel.  Establish the microbevel on the cutting edge by using your medium surface. Only a few passes should result in the microbevel being present.  Feel for and then remove the burr on the backside, again using only the fine surface.  Once the microbevel is established with the medium surface, move up to the fine surface and repeat the process. The small microbevel will be as reflective as the backside and the burr will be very minimal, but still remove it.

Congratulations, you just sharpened your first blade!!!! Remember the hardest part will always be flattening the back, but once that is accomplished you shouldn't have to repeat the process again. To rehone a dull edge, simply set up your jig at 30 degrees and repeat Step 3. If you manage to get a major nick in the cutting edge you may have to repeat Steps 2 & 3, but mostly you should be able to go to Step 3 without any concerns.

Important notes about sharpening systems: Always use the correct lubricant to avoid overheating the metal. You can very easily change the properties of the metal and they will fatigue much easier. Comparable grits between sandpaper and waterstones are as follows:

 Sandpaper / Waterstones

220 or 320 / 800

          600 / 1000 or 1200

        1500 / 4000

Don't forget to check out this link for Christopher Schwartz's great article on sharpening. www.popularwoodworking.com/features/sharpening.pdf

Also don't forget to submit your name for free schwag from Delta and PorterCable tools, it's nothing extravagant but it's my way of saying thanks for listening.  Straight Grains and Sharp Blades, Matt

Hey everyone, once again thanks for coming back to Matt's Basement Workshop. For this episode I decided it was time to get away from design and construction for a couple of shows and return to talking about tools. Rather than giving another broad overview of one or two groups I decided to narrow it down. Back in episodes 11 & 12 we talked about hand tools. I broke them into general categories and gave you a somewhat brief outline of each one, but I didn't really make any suggestions about which ones are really essential to the amatuer. Well today's episode is just that, I'm going to talk to you about what I think are the four most important hand tools, human powered hand tools that is, that every amatuer needs to have in their shop.

1. A good reliable combination square

2. A rasp and file, both flat and rounded

3. A very good set of chisels - I recommend buying only the 3 most basic sizes 1/4", 3/8" or 1/2" and a 1" chisel. You can always add more to the set as you need them.

4. A very good block plane - I recommend a low angle block plane

Remember, with all four of these tools a really cheap price on a no name brand will equal a really cheap tool. There are plenty of good mid priced tools that will handle all your needs but there are no good, low priced tools that will ever come close.

Most beginners are very reluctant about sharpening their own chisels and plane blades but it's really easy once you learn the basics. I learned to sharpen mine thanks to an amazing article by Christopher Schwartz at Popular Woodworking Magazine so I'm including a link to a PDF file of the article. Take a look at it, I'm sure you'll learn a lot also. I'm planning on doing a sharpening episode in the very near future based on the article, so if you take a look at it you'll get a sneak peek.

www.popularwoodworking.com/features/sharpening.pdf

Until next time, Straight grains and sharp blades. Matt