WT110 – Favorite Pie!

Special thanks to our show sponsors: Bad Axe Tool Works and Benchcrafted!

On today’s show, we’re talking about granite vs steel, choosing the right gloves for finishing, wood handled tools in dry climates, fixing a blunt plane iron, bevel angles for chisels and plane blades, and transitioning from hobbyist to pro.

What’s on the bench?

Shannon is searching for a new camera and may fall behind on filming. Matt has some nice new saws just waiting to be stolen! Marc is laying out parts for the big bed project. He’s also playing with some new Graco Airless Sprayers and Cabinotch Cabinets.

Around the Web

Brian Grabski – Awesome video that makes woodworking look cool!
Powermatic’s Black Friday Sale 15% Off Machines and 20% Off Accessories.
Peachtree Woodworking 50-70% off black friday sale.
Bell Forest Products will have 25% off on Friday only. You have to visit the site on Friday to get a special code for use at checkout. Website orders and handpicked boards only.

Voicemails

A caller wants to know what the primary differences are between granite and steel for tool surfaces. Matt boils it down to two things: babies and beverages.

Email

Billy from Billy’s Little Bench wants to know what our favorite pie is?

I’m doing some finishing with an oil based varnish. I’d rather not get oily goo all over my hands, so I use gloves. Latex or Nitrile gloves, I don’t know which. Well, they start out all stretchy but after awhile (10 min) the fingertips get hard and then the finish soaks into the glove. What kind of gloves should I be using? woop, woop…. Woodtalk Style —– Bill Levering

The Rocky mountains are a great place to live, but the climate is very dry, and for the most part it doesn’t present a problem. As we all know, the dry can cause some severe shrinkage in wood. Which is fine if you allow it. What I’m concerned about is how the shrinkage will affect wood handled tools, like chisels and planes. I’d like to get a nice set of socket chisels, but I’m afraid the handles will never seat well once they’ve adjusted to the local humidity? Thanks for the help. —- Blake Keller

Matt recommends Blake take a look at the hairspray trick published at Popular Woodworking. Marc recommends he use AquaNet specifically.

The blade edge on my #5 Stanley Baily Jack plane was in horrible condition, so I laid the blade flat and used my sanding station to square the blade. This left the blade blunted on the end and I cannot get it back to a razor sharp edge. Im using water stones and a jig set at 30 degrees but am not getting good results.

My next question is are all planes supposed to be sharpened to 30 degrees? I have a cheap stanley low angle block plane but i can’t find a definitive answer on what angle it should be sharpened at. I keep seeing 25-30 degrees everywhere but i dont know which is best. —– Larry Locke (Lamar Bailey also asked about 30 degree bevels on chisels and whether it increases longevity)

I am after some advice regarding a business start up. I am a keen hobbyist and I am always being approached to build/turn items for people but i have some concerns about making it my living. How do I still generate an income between commissions and as my shop is at the bottom of the garden how do you separate work from home? Cheers for your help. —— Taff

iTunes Reviews

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Call for Clips

Have a tip or trick you’d like to share? Want to do a regular segment on the show? Send us your content and we’ll play it at the end of the show. Email your audio files to woodtalkonline at gmail.com