This episode is brought to you by Maverick Abrasives.

Shop-Music Playlists

Sorry, we weren’t able to get these ported over to Spotify… if someone knows a non-sketchy way of doing that let me know. Playlists in the order they were received.

• • Ben’s Playlist
  • Mike’s Playlist
  • Anissa’s Playist
  • Barry’s Playlist – Oh no, big surprise Barry did three…
    • Shop Tunes
    • Sunrise Shavings
    • PSA: No Dancing

Question 1:

From Max:
I found a workbench on the side of the road. The top is a bit warped and the legs rack quite a bit. Since this bench is so old is it ok to plane the bench back to flat and build new legs? I currently use a bench that is built into my basement . Rebuilding this bench would be my first priority, but is there any reason I shouldn’t? Lastly, can I just flatten the top or should I flatten the bottom first and then the top, thank you.

Question 2:

From Keith:
I was listening to STL181, and I was surprised when Anissa mentioned her run in with a radial arm saw. I wasn’t surprised that she was injured by one as that’s somewhat common; however I was taken aback by the mention of the rule that you never rip on a radial arm saw. My father has been ripping stock on his 10 inch Craftsman radial for over 30 years now and has never had any problems with it. Granted, there is an enormous amount of setup involved, but the Craftsman has performed admirably and has a riving-knife style separator on the shroud that helps prevent kickback.

	9-in Dewalt Radial Arm Saw At $125 it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
	Is the Radial Arm Saw on its Last Legs? Has the tool gone the way of the Model T or T-Rex?

	Ep 2: Machine Setup – The Tablesaw In this episode, Ellen Kaspern takes you through all the steps to setup a tablesaw to perfection
	How to Tune Up Your Tablesaw Make the shop workhorse run like a champ

Segment: Smooth Move

Barry: Not prefinishing after telling everyone else to prefinish

Strong and Stylish Dovetailed Dividers Three options for these classic components of casework

Ben: Mis-sawing a fret slot because he forgot about the depth stop on the saw

Anissa: Not paying attention to the directions when assembling something designed to be assembled by non-furniture makers

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Question 3:

From Tanc:
I’ve been woodworking for two years. It’s been a steep learning curve, but one I’ve enjoyed immensely. l try to learn 1-2 new skills per project, with a focus on not repeating myself or staying in the “safe zone”. I like results and try to churn out a furniture piece every 4 weeks or so. That said, I can’t will myself to trying more challenging methods of joinery such as mortise and tenons.  So far, I have exclusively used the Dowelmax for all of my joinery. Piston fit, quality dowels with generous amounts of glue. Am I a hack? Is there anything wrong with dowel construction? Am I being impatient or lazy by not taking the time to “slow down” and learn tried and true fine woodworking methods, or is it OK that I focus on the parts of woodworking that I enjoy? The inner conflict is strong!

	Designer’s Notebook: The Passage of Time Celebrating trees as natural timelines and storytellers is a thread in Jeremy Zietz’s work and is exemplified in this 300-Year Mantel
	The Dowel Joint Why round tenons fall out of round holes, and the elastomer compromise

Question 4:  

From Travis:
In Chris Gochnour’s recent article, Build a Contemporary Sideboard, I noticed that the case construction requires a piece of white oak that is approximately 9′ long and over 15″ wide. Any recommendations for how a hobbyist, with a benchtop planer that maxes out at 13″, might go about milling this? Don’t love the idea of ripping it into thinner pieces, milling and gluing back together, but is that the only (best) option?

	How to Mill Lumber with Handplanes Learn how to mill lumber by hand, and you’ll never be limited by your milling machinery
	How to Surface a Large Slab Use handplanes to flatten and thickness beautiful wide boards
	Creating an Attractive Tabletop, Part 3 Flattening, dimensioning, and smoothing

Recommendations:

Ben: The Lock Picking Lawyer

Barry: Brittany Howard’s record, Jaime

Anissa: Benchcrafted’s Swing-Away Seat

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Every two weeks, a team of Fine Woodworking staffers answers questions from readers on Shop Talk Live, Fine Woodworking‘s biweekly podcast. Send your woodworking questions to [email protected] for consideration in the regular broadcast! Our continued existence relies upon listener support. So if you enjoy the show, be sure to leave us a five-star rating and maybe even a nice comment on our iTunes page.