The Wood Whisperer is sponsored by Powermatic and Titebond.
So I've been doing this
for quite a while. 15 years online
and then 20 years of woodworking
and over that time I have changed my
mind on a few things.
If you go back to my earliest videos,
you will definitely find things
that if you talk to me today,
you're going to see that I'm contradicting myself.
It's just what happens over time when you're
constantly learning. Right? So these are five things
that I've changed my mind about.
Number one is the world of finishes.
When I first started woodworking,
I was trying to amass a clientele.
I was building lots of furniture for other
people and I wanted the most durable finishes
that could be applied quickly.
So I sprayed a lot of stuff,
usually a catalyzed lacquer, you can get into
things like conversion varnish. These are good ways
to make sure you don't get a callback
for damaged finishes. Well over the years I
stopped building for clients and I mostly built
for myself or for family
and I've moved more towards hard wax oils.
They're easier to apply. They're better for you.
Not really dangerous chemicals to work with
and they're very easy to repair.
And this is important because I might have
to do that repair at some point,
but it's in my own home.
So I don't care. All right.
So over time I have just gravitated to
safer, more environmentally friendly and human friendly finishes.
Second is the need for dead flat surfaces.
When I first started woodworking,
I was told that a torsion box is
everything. So I built one
and I made a video on Youtube about
it. And it's great to have dead flat
surfaces. There's really no negative to it.
But do you actually need it? In reality,
I don't think so. I've got a big
old workbench that I built.
I don't know, maybe 10 years ago
and I've never flattened it since the initial
flattening. Does it affect my work?
No, honestly, I don't even know if it's
still flat. You know what,
I don't want to know
because if I know then I'm gonna want
to fix it and I don't need to
fix it because what it really comes down
to is most of the work I do,
if I have a mostly flat,
maybe 2 x 2 foot area,
that's fine for my needs.
I don't need this entire length to be
dead flat. Here's an assembly outfeed table I
made recently. I could have done a torsion
box for this, but I just didn't feel
the need to. So it's just a double
thickness layer of two sheet goods
and it's flat enough. Now,
if you do actually need something that's dead
flat, if you have a table saw,
there's a good chance that your table salt
surface is flat enough. So if you need
to level some table legs,
chair legs, stool, legs, whatever You do have
something in the shop that is close to
being dead flat. Number three is shop size.
You know, in the past I had a
much larger shop and now my shop is
smaller. I'm actually okay with it.
So my shop back in Arizona was 1800
square feet and you know what I did
with it? Nothing, it was just a big
open space. I was really afraid to commit
to doing things to the interior
that would lock me in.
So I did nothing, which is moronic,
but that's how it went down.
When I moved to Colorado,
I moved to a much smaller four car
garage. I'm less than 1000 square feet now,
but it is so much more efficient
and it's mostly because maybe it's a personal
flaw of mine, but I'm much more creative
when I'm solving a problem.
So when I see a space that's like,
well, how do I fit my dust collector
there? How do I fit the wood there?
I come up with creative solutions
and now things are closer,
so I don't have as much space between
the tools. I'd love more storage space,
that's for sure. But ultimately my shop is
now more efficient because it's smaller.
And letter D is putting varnish on a
cutting board. This is something I used to
do all the time. I still think it's
safe and I think if you want to
do it, it's perfectly fine.
But over the years I've started to look
at some of the other oil
and wax finishes. Maybe not as durable,
but I think they let the cutting board
do what a cutting board is supposed to
do that is absorbed some of the liquid,
but then let it dry completely.
And that's what kills the bacteria.
So over time I've gravitated a little bit
more toward polymerized oils,
no nasty chemicals in there,
but they definitely are finishes
that will dry to a film
and they protect the surface,
but it's not completely impervious to moisture.
And that's essential for the natural disinfection
that happens with the wood.
Just use some hot water
and a little soap. What?! And Letter five
is outdoor finishes. You know,
in the past I would try to make
my outdoor furniture bulletproof, that just doesn't work.
Film finishes degrade under the sun.
And I have a video
that I just had recently showing how some
of the furniture I've made over the years
has held up. So go check
that out. But to sum up,
if it's a film finish
and it's gonna be exposed heavily exposed to
sun and elements. I don't think it's gonna
fare very well. I will go with something
that's a little bit more,
let's say it's less durable,
but it allows the wood to breathe
and it's very easy to maintain.
I will use film finishes if it's completely
covered and has minimal exposure to the elements.
All right. So those were 14 things,
I've changed my mind on.
Hopefully you understand why this happens right,
Because we want to keep learning.
We learn from other people.
We get exposed to different things
and you know what? Our tastes change over
time and that's totally okay.
I'd love to hear from you guys.
What are some of the things
that you've changed your mind on as you've
been in the craft longer
and longer? Alright. Thanks for watching.
We'll see you next time.