Everyday Woodworking

A woodworking podcast that manages to add value to a very visual hobby. Each episode so far (about a dozen) is bite sized and targeted at someone like me with a bit of experience but far short of being a professional.

Benchtop Planers episode was way more verbose than it needed to be...with lots of asides and, eventually, an admission (i.e., disclosure) that Mr. Tennessee had used only one planer: the DW734 (which I owned years ago after buying it brand new and dealing with noise and snipe then gave away). Did I not stay around long enough in this episode to hear about Byrd Tool’s Shelix (not “helix”) carbide and quiet cutterhead ? Or was it completely absent from Mr. T’s ramblings ? Want to appear to be professional? Then Write A Script and read it (no TelePrompTer required!) Shoddy attempt even with a Patreon-located spreadsheet. [See Fine Woodworking Magazine for an actual usage-based comparison.]

So first - The sound is too bass balanced hard to hear the words. But now to the heart of the matter. I listened to the episode on benchtop planers. Basically a comparison of the stats of the routers in question. Ricky seemed confused on the matter of Rotations Per Minute (RPM) and Cuts per Minute (CPM), and seemed not to be clear which stat he was being offered for any given machine. He understood that there was a relationship, but couldn't articulate what that relationship was. So let's make this simple: Where N is the number of blades, CPM=N*RPM and RPM=CPM/N. Just like Ohm's Law, but for planers. Ricky cites the Bauer as running at 18,800RPM, but Harbor Freight's data sheet reports 18,800 CPM for 2 blades, leaving us with an RPM of 9400. The DeWalt, on the other hand reports 10,000 RPM at the cutter head, which, with 3 blades gives us 30,000 CPM. If you're going to be comparing multiple tools in this manner, it's important to note which manufacturer is reporting which stat, and convert to the stat you are using for your benchmark, which would be CPM here. That Ricky did not take this into consideration betrays a carelessness that calls into question the reliability of his research and the trustworthiness of the information delivered.

I just listended to be podcast about making woodworking your business. Loved it. Packed full of awesome advice. Please keep them coming!