Question 1:
From Kyle:

Thank you all for the many hours of great conversations and illuminating insights. I have undoubtedly gained most of my woodworking education from fine woodworking and understanding the concepts in more detail has come directly from this podcast.

I have thought many times about making speakers for a turntable. I assume that like anything that seems relatively straightforward, there are probably many aspects that I haven’t considered. Ben, with your background in audio, along with the expertise of the other guest on the pod today my question is the following:

If you were to make a set of medium to large speakers what material and construction would you use? Are there techniques the average woodworker would not think to use to enhance the sound? What types/combinations of speakers would you use inside the case?

While I have seen a large amount of info on the topic in the usual course of searching online, I thought it might be interesting to hear input from someone who has experience in both fields.

Mike recommends:
https://www.parts-express.com/

Question 2:
From Harry:

I always feel guilty planing thick stock way down to make thin stock. Feels like “valuable” wood has now filled my dust collector bag. Your thoughts on planing both faces and then resawing the 8/4 down to a planer pass or two away from the final 1 3/8″, and still having a 1/2″ + board left for drawer sides or some future project.

---

---

Segments:
Anissa – Tip-Roll your gloves up to keep out the creepy crawleys.
Mike – Blade fiasco leading to equal is more important than exact
Ben – Mitutoyo 530-101 Vernier Calipers

Question 3:

From Spencer:
I am putting some funds together to pick up a new machine, and I want to know your thoughts on the need for jointers. I have the space and the money for one big machine, either a power planer or a combination planer jointer. I have so far been prepping stock with my collection of hand planes and a small lunchbox planer, but want something quieter and with more capacity for a couple of upcoming projects. My question is, at what point do you think having a jointer becomes so important that you would opt for the combination machine, versus continuing to joint by hand and having a dedicated planer. Ben, I think you recently sold your jointer, so I’m curious to hear your perspective on this as well as that of your guests. Is there one project where you were so so glad to have a jointer (chest of drawers maybe)? Does it allow you to take on projects that you wouldn’t otherwise?

Question 4:

From Doug:
I wanted to get your thoughts on knives for my Dewalt 735. For the most part, the 735 does a great job for me. However, the knives suck and often get nicked from a knot.

Example: I recently replaced the knives and was dimensioning soft maple for internal drawer parts. The knives wore out pretty quickly and started to leave some minor machine marks. Nothing that can’t be handled by a smoothing plane or scraper but it’s frustrating. Dewalt advises against sharpening and to me it seems to be a waste of money to keep replacing the knives.

I’ve researched a few options:

1. Infinity sells HSS knives that are thicker and they claim to be superior for about the same money.

2. Infinity also sells carbide tipped knives for about $250 that they claim last 10x longer, but are only one-sided.

3. Upgrade to a Shelix helical cutter head for $450.

At some point, I will upgrade to a standalone unit with greater width capacity but timing is uncertain and somewhat dependent on how the 735 continues to function for me.

---

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.