(upbeat music) - Hi, welcome to "The American Woodshop."

Now, last week you saw us build this beautiful conference table for Mr. Wilson, okay?

And Wilson, tell me, what's the name of your company again?

- It's Winans Chocolates and Coffees.

- Okay, so this has to be a bulletproof finish and that's what we're going to do on a tabletop today, two finishes required.

And we'll make a beautiful kitchen stool later today too.

So don't go anywhere.

- [Announcer] "The American Woodshop" with Scott Phillips is brought to you by... - [Speaker] Since 1928, Woodcraft has been providing traditional and modern woodworking tools and supplies to generations of craftsmen.

Woodcraft, helping you make wood work.

- [Announcer] Pro tools for tool pros.

(dramatic music) Rikon Tools.

- [Speaker] "Woodcraft" magazine, projects, plans, and web links designed to help you make wood work.

- [Announcer] PS Wood, home of Timber Wolf, Swedish, silicon steel, bandsaw blades, and super sharp scroll saw blades.

- [Speaker] A bed to sleep on, a table to share meals, a house that feels like a home.

The Furniture Bank of Central Ohio, providing furniture to neighbors in need.

- Now, Wilson, have you ever finished before?

- I have not, Scott.

- Okay, now you're a lawyer, and that kind of goes with the territory, right?

But you shifted gears.

What are you doing now?

- Yeah, so I left the law firm about three years ago to come back to the family business.

So we trace back five generations of bakers and confectioners and sixth generation just arrived as well.

So.

- Okay, well congratulations on Max's birth.

And the original founder that I used to play poker with, his name was Max, so the alpha, the omega, that's awesome, congratulations.

Now we have to make this walnut table shine 'cause it's going into their boardroom.

So two finishes, when you're doing tabletops, Arm-R-Seal, right here is the product.

I want a semi gloss, it's going to make the color just pop.

Doesn't stop there.

Two coats of Arm-R-Seal, lightly sanded between the first and second coat, with 220 grit.

And then once that cures for two days, then it gets high performance flat on top of that.

That way your coffee cups can go on this and it's not going to hurt the table.

And I'm coming by to check, let me tell you.

So here's the deal, be sure to read, understand, and follow all the instructions that come with the tools and products you use in your wood shop.

Work safely.

So we're going to be using a high volume, low pressure spray system today.

Have to wear safety glasses with side shields and N95 masks.

That's an important thing.

We're working outside, it's great ventilation.

And people say, "Whoa, what about the bugs?"

If a bug were to land on this, it'd be rare.

Leave it alone, let the finish dry, then knock the bug off.

That's the solution right there.

But we won't have that problem, temperature's ideal.

So let's get our safety gear on and I'm going to show you how to spray this leg and then this edge.

(sprayer hissing) You got it.

(sprayer hissing) I'd say you are a natural.

Okay, now work this edge.

(sprayer hissing) Okay, we're going to let this dry, sand it lightly, then get another coat on it.

I'll take it from here, Wilson.

- [Wilson] All right.

- [Scott Phillips] All right, are you happy with the color?

- [Wilson] Yeah, it looks amazing.

- [Scott Phillips] Well, it looks like chocolate.

- [Wilson] It looks like chocolate.

- Go figure.

Okay, nicely done, man, put her there.

Way to go, sweet.

Now inside to work on that stool.

According to Suzy, this is the ultimate stool, except it's about three inches too short for kitchen use.

And you can see the triangular shaped top.

Well, you set a compass at 12 1/2 inches and at the point of the seat of an equilateral triangle, you lay in an arc and that creates this really cool shape.

And from that, you make this pattern and you transfer that pattern on gnarly pieces of wood that are at least 13 inches across.

And I brighten that up with a permanent marker.

And now I'm going to use a quarter inch six TPI, silicon steel blade to cut out the seat blank.

It's the shape, everything's the shape, and beefing up the legs a little bit.

So let's make the ultimate stool now, locking that column in place, that's an important step.

Turning on power, getting dust collection on, (saw humming) and let's make those cuts!

Leaving the line.

(saw humming) (saw buzzing) All right, turn that off, let that come to a stop.

And that's the shape, deltoid.

And what we have to do is profile the edges and we could use a planer and do multiple passes, but let's head outside and use a handheld planer to sculpt this down.

That's going to be a lot more fun.

(wood clatters) I love these little portable hand planes.

Couple tips on this, always have two hands on it for control.

This is an irregular surface, so watch how I use it, and make sure your work piece is clamped securely.

And I love these type of clamps.

They were used in the welding industry for years, so I'll set that out of the way, this one's there to stay.

So I'll just work this down.

(tool buzzing) And this is cool, this little lever right here, it lets you throw the shavings left or right, in this case, watch.

(tool buzzing) So work with the prevailing wind, and then when you have (tool buzzing) things the way you want it on one area, let that come to a stop.

Don't be reaching in there until that's completely stopped to get those extra shavings out.

And now I can work this around, just taking my time.

It's a beautiful day, so why not work outside?

Switch it the other way, I'll work this down.

(tool buzzing) So once I have it worked down to a pretty uniform thickness, I'm going to chamfer the edges with this.

(tool buzzing) Boy I love dial calipers.

Now the drilling locations for the legs on this top, once it's been roughed out, outside, you can see how that's shaping up, and I did that on the same, with the bottom, and I'll show you that in a second.

But I've used three strips of double-sided tape on the bottom of this work piece right here.

Now I'm going to clamp that down, and that's going to hold it into position, and this is a jig that you can see is canted at 14 degrees, and I'm going to line up that bit so that as long as I keep this jig flat against the edge of this drill press table, now from the top, this is from the top that I'm doing.

So the best side is up, and the angle, because of the way this table's tilted, the legs will rake and splay out 14 degrees.

Don't even think about doing this without securing your work piece.

Now that needs to go all the way down.

It has a stop on it right now.

Need to keep going until we see white.

We don't want to break through, we want to drill through.

The white will be the light colored plywood of the jig base.

It is sacrificial.

So I'm taking my time, there's the white, that's good.

Want to go all the way down until that stops and we're there.

Now I'll ease out.

That looks really good.

And now what I can do is bring this up and show you how that works.

Now there are a million different ways you could drill that hole.

You could do it freehand, but this is more accurate, and especially if you're making several seats.

Now I will tell you, (exhales) that double-sided tape, that's powerful stuff.

So again, this is the top, canted it out 14 degrees, and there's my sacrificial hole in the jig.

And now, as long as I don't get a lot of, yeah, that's still good, of sawdust on that, I can reuse that.

Now everything's lined up.

Press it down to that double-sided tape, then use this auto action clamp to secure it.

Want to make sure that's lined up the right way, and it is.

So now I can bring this over, bring the jig up, this, stop on this side, squares it up to the table.

I bring the point of the bit down, right there to the layout line, 2 1/4 inches in from the edge.

Okay, everything looks good.

Drill this hole and then I'll do the other one exactly the same way.

You want to secure the jig to the table and keep it square.

(drill buzzing) Now take a look at that, see how those angled holes make those legs splay out so that it's going to be rock solid when it's on the ground?

And so let me show you how to make a leg.

Where do you get the hickory for the legs?

That's what you want.

Go to the hardware store and buy a six foot replacement handle, they're always hickory.

It pays to know your woods.

So you can ID it to be sure, mark it down 2 1/4 inches, and cut it to that 36 inch length.

Put it into the four jaw chuck right here.

Snug it up a bit on the four jaw chuck, on the wood lathe.

And then I have a hole pre-drilled in the very center of this inch and one eighth dowel, just like that, right there.

So I bring up the tool rests, I have this square carbide cutter with a slight curve on it, now watch what I can do with that.

That's solid, I want to check this again.

Whenever you use a four jaw chuck like this, make sure you tighten it in both key positions to center it.

And now let's turn it on, bring it up to speed.

Got a little bit of wobble, but that's not bad.

Face shield down, and looks good.

And now with the cutting edge of that cutter, the carbide cutter, about an eighth of an inch above center line, take nice light passes.

And I want to make sure this ram is locked, and it is.

Okay.

(tool rattling) And what you do is take this down to seven eighths of an inch.

And I have a calibrated eyeball for this sort of thing.

And you don't want that, so you want to walk up on it to make sure that you could see it.

Now that's perfect right there.

So what I'm going to do next, turn on the dust collector, that you can see in the back, and do just a bit of sanding right in here.

And you never wrap sandpaper around your fingers, always keep it loose, and see how all that dust goes right back to that big dust collector?

And this is cut a little bit long.

So once it goes all the way through the seat hole, I can trim it flush.

Okay, so that's what it looks like, right there.

And it's up and into that seven eighths inch hole.

Let's see, like that.

And that is a good, tight fit.

That's what I want.

And down the road, once the whole assembly's done, you just use the razor saw to trim that off, cutting away from you.

But now look at that, I mean it's taller.

Needs to be stout, since it's taller.

Now we need three stretchers.

This is cherry, and these are 36 inch long dowel rods.

So cut in half, 18 inches, with a slight swell in the middle that we're going to turn.

I'm going to cut this to length with a razor saw.

Get it set up.

(saw buzzing) Cuts on the pull stroke, and you want to be very careful with that, hot knife through butter.

And then, I have the center point marked.

I used the center-finding jig to do that, handy thing.

And so there's that point that goes to this live ball bearing center.

And I need to expand the jaws on the chuck a bit.

Turning, if you've never done it, go take some classes, and I can promise you this, it'll be the most fun you have in the wood shop.

Okay, so that's captive, everything's locked in place.

Check your locks, and let's bring that up to speed.

There's a center point, already marked, right there, nine inches up.

And now to create the bulbous form, tapered down to five eighths of an inch on each end.

I'm using a three, or inch and a quarter roughing gouge.

Don't go straight in, drop the handle, rub the bevel until you start getting shavings, like that right there, and you work from the high spot and you go down low.

And I want to leave this center part proud, right in there, and taper that down, make it graceful.

And take it down to five eighths of an inch on each end.

It's very easy to do.

Marry that handle to your body so that you have complete control.

This pivot hand keeps the chisel to the top edge of that bar on that tool rest.

And when you move the tool rest to do other turnings, make sure you turn it off first, slide it down, ease it in so it's nice and close, and now we can do the rest of the turning.

We'll size it, do a little bit of sanding and then I'll show you how to fit the freshly turned spindles into the legs.

(tool buzzing) So what do you think?

Nice and graceful, that taper that goes into the leg assembly.

And I learned this technique from Michael Dunbar.

Clamp up the stool in a way that the legs are locked in position.

Use blue painter's tape to indicate where you need the point of a half inch spade style bit to go, and that's where I have it lined up on the back, and this is lined up on the front, and you use this to set the angle.

So you start this hole like that, lining it up.

That way, this stretcher is parallel to the ground.

Now I've got that hole where I want it with this extension on that half inch spade.

Now I can bring up the short one and line it up so that when you drill the hole, you're sighting down this line, down the shank of the bit, and that way the stretcher will be perfect.

I need to start it off angle a bit.

And now I can swing that around, line it up to the top of that tape.

And on the far side of this hole, (clears throat) I have blue painters tape as well, and that prevents the tear out, no tear out on this backside of the wood, of the hickory.

And that's perfect that way.

I'll repeat this process wherever I need holes so that the stretchers can be married into that area.

So I'll just get set up to do that.

(drill buzzing) (metal clanks) (drill buzzing) Okay, the stretchers are in now, that's just a pressure fit.

Boy, you want to watch those little nubs, you can twist an ankle in a heartbeat.

And then, get those off the floor.

And you do not want your hand in the plane of this blade.

That's good, that's out of the way.

Because it goes through so much faster than you can ever imagine.

And you just keep it flush, trim it off, like that.

Barely need to sand it.

These don't need wedges because when you sit on it, it's a pressure fit.

Did you hear any creaking?

That is rock solid.

And some people like to trim these tenons off.

That's what's going through those open mortises.

But I like it, so I'm going to leave it.

So there we have a good kitchen stool.

And look at the top now, this is just water.

I want you to see what this is going to look like when we get the same Arm-R-Seal finish on it that we put on the table.

And I'd say that's a keeper.

And I guarantee you one thing, there isn't a present on Earth that I could buy that Suzy's going to like better than this kitchen stool.

She'll be cooking on this, some good Cajun food.

Now let's head outside, the people are here to take away the table.

It's all finished, six coats.

Let's go see that.

(wood clatters) Oh, light is a feather.

That reminds me of a limerick, but I shouldn't say it here.

(chuckles) Nicely done.

Awesome, set her down, set her down.

(traffic humming) (shuffling footsteps) So Wilson, you started finishing this, and you did a great job, by the way.

That's your end down there, with all the figure.

And then I put a total of six coats on this, so should stand the test of time.

White rings can happen.

Easy fix on that, I'm your man, call me.

Are you happy?

- I absolutely love it.

It's such a special thing to have Hartzell Hardwoods, Scott Phillips, and now it'll sit in the Winans conference room for generations to come.

We're a fifth generation business and we intend to stay in the family, and we need to make a lot of deals around this table.

- This is guaranteed for several hundred million in the future.

So, I build good conference tables, when you have the right wood.

And you saw that at Hartzell Hardwoods earlier in the show.

So now what do I really work for?

Chocolates.

And the best chocolates, my secret weapon has always been Winans Chocolates.

So off to the factory we go.

- Let's go.

- Now Lucille Ball would want to know what this is called.

- [Wilson] This is called and enrober.

So it enrobes the centers in chocolate.

We have tempered chocolate here at the beginning.

That puts a nice bottom on it, which seals in the piece for freshness.

- [Scott Phillips] Gotcha.

- [Wilson] And then it comes down the line, and then- - [Scott Phillips] Cools and gets hard.

- [Wilson] It cools and gets hard, and then this is the actual enrobing piece of the equipment.

So the rest of it is bottom, and then this is the cooling tunnel.

This is where, you know, the rubber meets the road, where the chocolate meets the piece.

So chocolate comes down and then is tempered in this bowl and then is brought up and and covers the pieces, so.

- [Scott Phillips] In a typical day, how much chocolate do you guys use?

- [Wilson] Hundreds and hundreds of pounds.

- I love it.

- Yeah.

- [Scott Phillips] What would life be like without chocolate?

- [Wilson] It would be a little bit more boring.

And chocolate brings a little brightness to every day, so.

- That is a fact.

And so she's just waiting for the line to finish here.

Where's the chocolates?

Who's been raiding the store?

- So they have to come down nice and slow so that all the molecules align, and so that the chocolate has that nice pop to it when you bite into it.

So it has that fresh texture.

And sometimes the enrober gets a little bit off, and we have a few pieces that are seconds.

- Oh seconds.

- So yeah.

- Am I allowed?

- You are allowed to grab anything you want, Scott.

You know you have free reign at my chocolate factory.

So that's a cookie dough, which is a cream, it's made to emulate a piece of raw cookie dough, but of course without the eggs and without anything that you can't eat raw.

We have some other creams here, some peanut butter, and you can see we make the cookie dough look like a little chocolate chip cookie with the chocolate pieces on top.

- That just might be the best thing I've ever eaten.

Thank you Wilson.

See you next week in "The American Wood Shop."

Eat your heart out.

- [Announcer] Since 1928, Woodcraft has been providing traditional and modern woodworking tools and supplies to generations of craftsmen.

Woodcraft, helping you make wood work.

- [Speaker] Pro tools for tool pros, (dramatic music) Rikon Tools.

- [Announcer] "Woodcraft" magazine projects, plans, and web links designed to help you make wood work.

PS Wood, home of Timber Wolf Swedish, silicon steel, band saw blades, and super sharp scroll saw blades.

- [Speaker] A bed to sleep on, a table to share meals, a house that feels like a home, The furniture Bank of Central Ohio, providing furniture to neighbors in need.

- For more information about "The American Woodshop," you can watch free episodes 24/7 on our website and you can find us on these social media platforms.

(upbeat music)