I grabbed a Freud premier fusion and like it a lot. It's on par with the Forrest woodworker II models but I really wanted to see how those triple grind teeth worked for an all-purpose blade. So far I'm really impressed.

The WWII is probably a more precise blade but more expensive and I didn't know if it would have as much versatility.

Yep, looks like basically the same result. I'm sure the fence was there, but I believe it was on the right side, it shot the board away from it. Either way, sounds like that was indeed the culprit.

My buddy's dad has near 1000 acres now and a fire spread across a large portion of it. It killed a stand of walnut trees but didn't actually hurt the lumber. The insurance company still paid him for it. He took the money and bought a mobile saw mill and set it up at his old hey barn, then we cut down the walnuts that had died and he used the mill to re-saw them into rough cut lumber of all sizes.

Ended up using the lumber to build a big covered bridge (beautiful bridge; brilliant guy with a masters in math from MIT; designed/built the bridge himself). That sawmill has been a huge benefit for him.

As for the hedge...I don't recall much in the way of twisted grains but again, that mill made light work of just about anything we needed. Admittedly we didn't get a ton of lumber, but we got enough. And yeah, it burns hot as hell again because of the density and the amount of energy it has on account of it. As opposed to something like cottonwood that is soft, burns in a heartbeat and has no energy to speak of.

We used to take hedge down by piling around it and burning it because it was eating saw blades alive. Once we got some of the smaller stuff down and milled though, we convinced his dad to stop doing that and he's started saving it for later use. He's used it to build a 'deck' on the outside of the covered bridge that really couldn't have come out any better.

Good old random orbit sanders - easily my favorite 'discovery' of the last 5 years or so. I've all but retired my belt-sander and will just hit things with a hand plane before taking some 80 grit on a random orbit sander to smooth things out.

I realized after several years of hating everything that I stained/finished that the reason I didn't like it is that I just don't care for hand-rubbed finishes. They pull out way too much grain and give that colonial look that I don't like. Once I went to harbor freight and got myself a cheap little $10 gravity fed sprayer, I found that I enjoyed my finishes much much more.

May I recommend General Finishes products? I think they make the best stuff out there and their prices are reasonable. Their high performance topcoat has never disappointed me.

And before the guy that's probably the worst woodworker in the room completely hijacks the thread, lemme make one more recommendation to anyone starting out:

http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/

Marc Spanguolo is the presenter; excellent videos. Explains things simply and has projects ranging all across the spectrum. He's really helped me figure out things from knockout jointery to dust collection to how to set up a jointer (now using one correctly is a different subject).

There's a ton of great information at his site.

guarantee that is not you.

I have had two of the orbitals burn up on me in the last two months. I was just out on the Rigid from HD because I didn't have any paperwork and they have discontinued them.. I found a great one at the new Menards and they are guaranteed for two years no hassle. I have already done that once I use it so much.

My planer is max 12 inch and after gluing you end up with 16, 20 and 24 inch wide pieces. I hand block planed the first one after gluing but this new Belt sander with 40 does a better job and grabs the dust real well.

Sure, I will check out the finish recommendation, thanks. I just bought another gallon of the minwax polyurethane from HD last week.

Thanks for bringing the knowledge.

Love this thread. Thanks for starting it! I had a nice little wood shop for several years. Used to make furniture as a hobby. :) Love thewoodwhisperer website!

Woodworking has always fascinated me, and alluded me. I know guys who can work wood like Clay. Me, not so much.

"As good as your tools"?

That's really what's kept me from doing any kind of involved hardwood work.

I'm just not good at 'merging' stock. I'm sure it has a name, but when it's time to glue some 2x6s together to form a table-top and then smooth it all out to give it a finished look, I always end up with something with too many high spots or grooves or just an otherwise sloppy look.

Part of the problem is a lack of good bar clamps. Jet makes the top of the line ones and on Black Friday you can find the rare discount on them, but man alive they're expensive. So I make due with mediocre pipe clamps and they just don't hold the pieces together well enough. My planer's a 12 inch Porter Cable and it's a nice machine but I was an idiot and ran a piece with nails in it through there without realizing it and took chunks out of my blades so invariably, when I need it, it's not an option. I guess I could just loosen and offset the blades to cover for the chunks but again, lazy and stupid.

So I'm pretty much incapable of anything approaching furniture grade at this point because anything with a top on it or even a wide side either requires that I buy ridiculously expensive wide stock or somehow affix a plywood (see: shitty) top.

It's like golf and hitting a baseball - I know what I should do, I just don't seem to be able to actually do it.

As for dust collection, I'm kicking myself for not integrating a downdraft table into my bench. Those are miracle workers for sanding. I think I'm going to try a 'hinged' one with legs I can flip down to use and then hook into my dust collection ducts when in use. But again, that goes on the list behind 5 different projects for my daughter that haven't been made in a year, which is to say it will never actually get done.

Shop classes got me through High School, wood, metal, small engine repair and drafting kept my grade point average up enough to get me into College.

Wood shop made a gun rack, stereo cabinet and corner table.

Metal shop, fixed up a milling machine with new paint and made a part to replace half the missing vice clamp, made a gear shift "Hurst" type for my pickup, welded the bung hole on a 55 gallon drum closed just for practice.

Small engine repair, rebuilt a push mower engine.

Drafting really helped me with my current occupation doing layouts and planning.

All great tools to prepare for life in the real world.

You basically water popped the grain.

150 grit is more than enough for most woods. If you want to get Maple or Hickory to stain dark, a mixture of 50/50 denatured alcohol and water will do the trick. Mix it, spray it on (after sanding), and it should be dry in 1/2 hour and ready for stain.

Water popping before stain will allow it to penetrate across the entire board instead of just the grain. Put a heavy sealer and a couple coats of good finish (I use only floor finish, obviously) and you will have a perfectly smooth finished piece that is well protected.

I usually don't like to pop oak too hard because the grain is so open. I usually mix more alcohol in to minimize opening up the grain too much. If you open the grain too much you will get what's called bleedback and the product will look like shit.

Any finish recommendations for hard wood floors?

I've just started sanding.

Water/Oil Emulsified - Glitza Infinity II

Oil - Primero Poloplaz. Stay the **** away from Minwax finish. Their stain is excellent, but finish is pure SHIT.

Water- Don't like any of it, but Pallman 96x is the best of the worst. Bona is okay, too.

Sealer- Pro Finisher Universal Sealer. Varathane makes it, and a normal dude can buy it at Menards


I don't know if you can find the pro finishes at a store.

Not a clue.

https://generalfinishes.com/waterbas...tains-topcoats

Can't offer any kind of recommendation either way as I've never done any kind of flooring. I kept some faux hardwood/laminate flooring for my kid's playhouse, but that's the extent of my flooring ability.

I've never gone wrong with General Finishes and it looks like they have a product but apart from that, I'm fairly worthless.

EDIT: See, Notorious is much more useful than I am.