This Episodes Questions:

Brian's Questions:

I’m preparing to build a set of kitchen cupboards from white oak.  The style will be Mission, with some Frank Lloyd Wright Prairies Style touches.  I have several questions.

 I have a question about milling lumber.  There seems to be a trade-off: keep the boards long and you need to joint more off to get a flat face, hence the risk of falling below your desired thickness.  But cut the boards to length first and you have to allow for more cut-offs on the ends to remove planer snipe.  How should I think about this?  In general, do the three of you cut longer boards to length for parts first and then plane and joint?  Or do you joint and plane the boards whole (mine are 6’ to 8’) and take the perhaps larger losses to thickness but avoid multiple areas of planer snipe?   I know that much depends on the boards, but I'd be interested in your general approaches.  Darrin
 
 Hey guys I absolutely love the podcast, amd have already learned a lot. I recently have decided to do this for more than a hobby. I have been doing small or easier projects like cutting boards and tongue and groove ceilings. I have been wanting to start building entry level tables and furniture but keep psyching myself out of it. How did you guys build up the confidence to move on to more advanced projects? And did you guys get discouraged or frustrated at the beginning?

Thank you David Caraway

Guy's Questions:

Thank you all for such a great show!  I'm an amateur woodworker working out of a 550 square foot two-car attached garage.  We keep two cars in the garage, so all my equipment is on mobile bases.

My question has to do with shop climate control.  I live in southern Indiana, with hot muggy summers and cool-to-cold winters.  The garage is insulated, including the door, and sits under a conditioned bonus room, but the garage itself is not heated or cooled.  Although it never freezes, for a few of the coldest winter weeks, it will be in upper 30s.  Mostly it's at least 45 degrees.
I'm contemplating installing a 1 ton/12,000BTU mini-split for heating and cooling, DIYing installing it for less than $1000.  I'm trying to decide if it's worth it, basically for the few hottest and coldest weeks.  I can also migrate easily to my unfinished basement in the coldest weeks for glue-ups and finishing.  I wouldn't want to run the mini-split all the time, and often I am only out in the shop for short bursts, so pre-heating or pre-cooling seems wasteful. 
$1000, plus the energy to run the mini-split, could buy plenty of other woodworking equipment and supplies.  If this were your shop, what would you do?
Thanks, Kyle Kramer

Always a pleasure listening to your podcast.  Thank you for your knowledge and insight.

I am planning to rip the carpet off my Stairs treads and somehow get a relative match to my wood flooring either upstairs and downstairs.  Assuming the exact color isnt important in my question.
The treads are likely just pine but I haven't pulled the carpet yet to find out.  My thought was to veneer the treads.  Then I would most likely us a transtint dye to reach the color and finish off with shellac washout and water based poly for durable finish.  Is this a good approach or destined for failure?
Thanks for your time. Josh

Huy's Questions:

Thanks for the great podcast. I have learned a lot from all the great content you put out. I really appreciate your advice and perspective. I have a couple questions I was hoping you could answer.

My second question is about compositing saw dust. My wife likes to garden and keep a compost pile. We use saw dust and wood shaving to balance the moisture of the compost pile. I occasionally use MDF and plywood  and I am wondering if all the bad stuff in those materials are bad to use in the compost. I guess I'm pretty sure they are not good. I've heard that most of those chemicals breakdown form the heat of the compost but I am skeptical of that. I use an oneida dust separator. Do you think it is worth trying to partition two dust bins, one for raw wood and one for everything else? Do you think a blast gate under the separator would accomplish that or would it mess with the air flow of the separator?
Thanks. Keep up the great work. Jon Moch

A lot of people talk about spraying water on wood when changing sanding grits, to raise the loose fibres and get a smoother finish.

I have taken to spraying isopropyl alcohol (I think you would call it rubbing alcohol) between grits. I can spray it quite heavily and have it evaporate within a minute so I can continue sanding without having to wait.
I doubt I'm the first person in the history of woodworking to think of this (I'm no rocket scientist, Huy), but I never hear of anyone else doing this. That makes me think there may be a good reason to not do this.
So what do you blokes reckon? Is there a reason why I shouldn't be doing this, apart from water being free and alcohol being expensive?
FYI, I usually work in recycled jarrah (an ultra hard Western Australian wood) and finish with Tung oil when using the alcohol
Thanks fellas, love your work!
Jim