Vlog #73: Shellac & Tool Tote Tool Tray

Video Notes:

  • A day late and a dollar short.
  • The mallets are not available. Thank you all for your interest. I will not sell them.
  • Shellac is a great convenience finish. It dries super fast and you can reuse the same brush over and over without cleaning it out. Just put the brush back into the shellac solution and it will dissolve back into the finish after 20 minutes or so.
  • Longer videos seem to perform better. I enjoy making them as well. Let me know what you think.
  • I rotated the workbench and put my tool tote in the pipe clamp vise and instantly have a tool tray that is out of my way and yet still super easy to remove to use the vise as normal.
  • Mission style dining table is what I’ll go with. The final details will come as the build progresses. I’ll start on the top tomorrow.
  • Mini router table video below. It’s nothing special. Just a laminate router upside down in a bench vise with dust collection.
  • I gotta mow my lawn now. Keep it real homies.

16 COMMENTS

  1. Yes please on the longer more detailed vids.

    Did you stain the mallets before you shellacked them?
    Or did the shellac render the darker hue?

    Thanks as always,

    Ross M.

  2. Hey Jay, just an FYI; I clicked on your Instagram icon at the top of this page and it took me to a jay bates page, but it’s not yours.

  3. Longer videos is like asking me if I would like have another hundred bucks for free.
    Jay if you don’t mind and have the time longer and more detail is great .
    Always Educational / Entertaining no matter the length .
    Besides it not how long it is ,It’s how you use it.
    Haha
    Your friend
    Gregg from NY
    Aka: The Voice of Reason

  4. My vote for longer videos too.

    I just purchased a load of 2x10s to make a workbench, similar design to yours but with slightly different joinery. I know you finished yours with boiled linseed oil, did you see any advantage with that over shellac? I was going to try de-waxed shellac with a top coat of poly for protection.

    • You can put the poly on top of regular shellac. People on the internet will tell you its a bad idea, but I’ve been doing it for about 5 years and have yet to see any of the pieces show signs of poly failure, discoloration, peeling, etc. I think the “common wisdom” that you have to dewax the shellac is from many years ago when poly was less robust.

  5. Hey Jay, have you thought of running two “supports” under a trestle-style table? You could locate them at 1/3rd locations along the end supports (how about using a dove-tail end) just underneath the table top. That way, they would be located further from the edge, but would lend needed support so the table top would not sag. Just a thought…..

  6. I’m all in for longer videos. Don’t forget Norm’s videos were all 23 minutes. Like you said that you can better explain things. I would rather see a 30 minute video than to see, part 1, part 2, and part 3. This is just my take on things; I’ll watch whatever you make.

  7. Jay,
    I have to agree with others. Making longer videos that go further into the details of a build is better than just short stepping the build and leaving one to guess. You are my inspiration to start doing my own videos, along with Nick and April. I finally have the shop lit up enough to shoot them using LED lights. :)

    • Not sure if the Dewalt grip clamps you bought are the same as the ones I bought on your recommendation. But my large ones, have a push button release that will allow them to pass through the assembly table.

  8. Thank you for yet another great video and Yes for the longer ones they are more informative. Please relay to your wife my deepest thanks for her service and to you for being the great guy wanting to support her and choosing to spend time with her and not making a video I think all your fans can understand that.

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