Woodshop Life Podcast
Woodshop Life Podcast
Woodshop Life Podcast
Shop Lighting, Router Table, Easy Veneering, and MORE!!!
46 minutes Posted Mar 6, 2026 at 2:25 pm.
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Brians Questions:
​Hello gentlemen,
​I love your podcast. I appreciate the care and detail you put into maintaining a consistent format and clean, listenable audio. Having been a radio production director in a former career, I loathe most podcast audio, so your effort to provide a professional listening experience is apparent.​In my brief time as a woodworker, I’ve found it difficult to source hardwood. I don't have any woodworking stores nearby—the closest is several hours away. Buying from private parties feels unreliable, and I strongly prefer kiln-dried wood. Furthermore, online ordering is expensive, even for small stock.​So far, the only hardwood I’ve been able to work with was purchased from big-box stores or salvaged from pallets.​Do you have any advice for sourcing hardwood in my Southern California area?​Thank you! ​Todd from Barking Beavers
I’m curious your take on shop lighting. I’ve got 12’ ceilings in my garage and I’m on thinking the lights could be far away. Maybe I should focus on task lighting instead or possibly lowering lights on chain but that is a less appealing option. Tyler
-What are your best strategies on negotiating time with the wife to be in the shop? Brian
Guys Questions:
I’ve been listening to your podcast on and off for a couple years now.  I know I haven’t listened to all the episodes but I’m trying to work my way through them on my commute to work.  I appreciate the podcast, I’ve learned a lot.  Thanks for doing it guys!I’m a weekend warrior, with an old craftsman contractor saw. Well maybe not that old, 20 years.  Not old enough to be really sturdy built but it’s been a good saw.  I would like to upgrade to a cabinet saw.   I’m interested in getting a Sawstop for the safety aspect as well as I’ve heard they are well built saws. One convenient feature on my Craftsman saw is it has a built in router table on the table saw wing.  I can get the same setup on the Sawstop. I’m not a professional wood worker but I do want a good quality table saw and router table set up. My questions are:1)  Will the Sawstop be a substantial upgrade to my Craftsman contractor saw or should I consider another brand?2) Do you know anything about the Sawstop router table accessories such as the router lift and downdraft box. Are they good quality components, anything I should be cautious about.3) What are the pros and cons to having the router table built into the table saw versus a stand alone router table? Would I be better off getting a stand alone router table?Thanks for the help!  Appreciate the Podcast! Marty
I recently purchased a shaper and power feeder to run mostly door profiles and other trim as well.  It's been a huge upgrade from the router table, but I still get tear out if I try to mill for example a shaker style door in one pass (the long edge not the coping cut). I've seen videos of other guys running their shaper in reverse and cutting for profiles with a climb cut but ONLY WITH A POWER FEEDER.  Would this be a case where you would be comfortable breaking the "never climb cut" rule if you had a power feeder in order to produce a cleaner edge? Thanks! Jared
I would like to begin my first foray into veneering.  I’m thinking a small table top for a side table or nightstand would be a good first project. How would you suggest a first time veneerer approach this—I don’t want to invest a lot into veneer specific tools (vacuum bags, etc), so any tips for using stuff already laying around the shop would be appreciated. Thanks for the great pod! Andrew