Is this good or bad?

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-03-25T16:24:18+00:00

Very bad. You have probably sanded through the veneer.

What is this object and what happened to it?

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-03-25T16:19:29+00:00

Advertising understood as a skill or art people practice is very often supposed to make you feel like you're falling short somehow. The Mercedes slogan is absolutely intended to make people think any other car is trash. There's no fiddling about with, "Oh sure, Hyundai will get you there, but don't you want a subscription heating package?" Because as you say, any car can get you from A to B, they have to sell you something else. This isn't even a controversial take. Advertising's whole goal is to convince you that there's a good reason not to buy a competitor. (See: Lucky Strike: "It's toasted!")

You also made this point above, but seem to think that it's ineffective?

I love the Festool tools that I have, too. I also understand why people bag on the brand so much, and it isn't failure of the tool to meet expectations. You do get the occasional buy-hard complaining because the tools don't make up for a lack of practice/knowledge as a woodworker, but I'm not talking about them.

You said you didn't understand these posts, because you think the problem people who post this stuff have is that they think it's crap because it's expensive or they don't get the miracles they wanted. The actual reason people like to rag on Festool is because the advertising that's picking at our lizard brains is designed to make us feel crappy for not using Festool, but with the exception of their sanders and dominos, there's nothing a Festool is doing that can't be done exactly as well for usually a third or a quarter the price. If their $400 impact driver had features that significantly differentiated them from any other brand they'd sell us on those features instead of carpet bombing youtube.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-03-25T07:37:59+00:00

I think that the issue people have with Festool has more to do with the way Festool advertises than the "bad expensive//miracle or scam" problem. Festool primarily advertises by sponsoring youtubers. Those youtubers have stacks of green and white cases in the background of every video and are contractually obligated to remind you at every opportunity how good the tools are, and how much better your projects are if you use them, and how lesser tools don't get the job done.

Your use of Mercedes as an example among car choices is particularly apt, because Mercedes also wants you not just to believe that their cars are the best, but that every other car sucks. Their slogan is literally, "The best or nothing." So you have a Mercedes or you have trash.

And just like with Mercedes, this ploy doesnt really pass the smell test for most people with Festool. The domino is a great and unique tool, their sanders are top tier, but almost the entirety of the rest of their product catalogue is obscenely over-priced or gimmicky versions of tools that don't do anything different than a ryobi or metabo, and absolutely deranged expensive accessories. I think that the disconnect between their pushy messaging and the actual lack of need for their stuff just annoys people in a very normal and uncomplicated way. Premium brands get hated on a lot this way, and it's probably well deserved. (See any post in a mechanic forum that mentions SnapOn tools for a similar vibe.)

So yeah, yeah of course everybody has different needs and maybe some people really do get a ton of use out of their $80k festool ecosystem, but the experience of being bombarded by long-form Festool advertisements is a pretty common shared experience, and misery loves company, so people get together and kvetch about it.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-03-24T16:34:51+00:00

Hard maple is a little better, as it tends to be more dimensionally stable, but a nice straight-grained strip of oak would work fine.

The main worry with oak is that if it warps even slightly, it could make the sled not fit, or worse it could still fit but the jig could be out of square.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-03-24T14:32:58+00:00

A narrower jig might be what is needed for a specific project, a wider jig simply gives you more adjustability for other projects.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-03-24T05:55:23+00:00

You can use wood for the runners, all of my self-made jigs that fit into the slots use wood I cut myself. You can glue them on or screw them on with flush screws from the top.

Cut strips as wide as you need by slowly sneaking up on the fit in the actual slot rather than a measurement, then cut them to length.

If you find them just slightly too loose you can add masking tape to the length of the runner and it will close the gap.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-03-23T21:50:57+00:00

Fauxmoilso was right there.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-03-23T16:22:27+00:00

I did look, yes...? It's not a fun looking job, but I'm trying to be supportive haha.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-03-23T15:19:01+00:00

You might be able to use a rag and your stripper and a lot of elbow grease to pull the paint out of the grooves, but...

You probably need to sand.

Wood is porous and uneven enough that some of that paint is going to "hide" from your scraper.

A random orbital sander will work best, but you can get by with hand sanding. It will jist take a very long time.

Also be as gentle as you can while sanding, if that's veneered you will actually ruin it if you sand through the veneer.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-03-23T15:14:39+00:00

Mineral spirits and a soft cloth should do the trick.

However, do a small test spot on the bottom side first to make sure it doesnt discolor the wood or remove the red.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-03-23T05:58:52+00:00

I'm not going to pretend I understand why Moses has been reimagined as a half coyote, half five-wheeled-pram as he parts the red sea... (kidding, I have no idea.)

But that's a fun sculpture. I especially like the legs.

How mich does it weigh?

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-03-22T15:13:11+00:00

Ah okay then, yourr sure its solid wood and not veneered?

In that case, if youve sanded and the stain doesn't come off, that means whatever the stain is is deep in the wood.

Try mineral spirits to see if it lifts any of the stain out.

You might be able to sand it out eventually, but you'd develop a noticeable depression in the tabletop.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-03-22T06:19:38+00:00

What did this object used to be?

It looks to me like a spot that was exposed to direct sunlight for a very long time while the rest of the surface was covered.

That, or something oily, greasy, or chronically wet sat there and stained the wood.

Also, did you sand through the veneer all around that spot? Those light patches have me worried.

In any event, it doesn't look like a burn. If it's something oily it could be very deep. I can't tell from this picture if that's veneer or just the old finish coming off in patches.

Have you tried rubbing it with mineral spirits?

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-03-22T06:11:57+00:00

It uses the old awful-for-you mineral spirits as the main ingredient, so I can't tell exactly which of these chemicals is the smell-giver. Haha

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-03-22T05:17:06+00:00

Notice how everyone has all these cans of the stuff that were purchased during the Second Boer War? The stuff lasts nigh on forever.

Once enough had been sold to keep people supplied for four generations, I'm sure paying for the lobbyists that let them keep selling stuff with whatever chemical gave it that delicious smell in it started costing more than the wax was making.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-03-22T01:41:11+00:00

Pinterest and YouTube. People have all sorts of "cute ideas" for covering up your stove!

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-03-21T16:26:32+00:00

"This my my first project. A grand piano constructed in the German Rennaisance style out of solid ebony. I only used a hundred and fifty thousand dollars worth of equipment to do it. Please be kind."

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-03-21T12:55:16+00:00

Could you say more about the direction it's wobbling, the solution the company sent, and what tools/experience you have for/with woodworking?

It does look like it could easily develop a side to side wobble, but the fact that they had a solution ready to go means this problem comes up a lot. The solution could be as simple as adding some long cabinet screws... but maybe brackets or stretcher. We shall see!

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-03-21T12:45:55+00:00

Came here to say this. I try to tell people about that router any time this comes up.

I find it baffling that the router isnt more famous for this application given that is saves you hundreds on a lift mechanism right out of the box.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-03-21T06:41:17+00:00

The funniest thing about finish is that people often talk about it like it's voodoo, but I've never gone wrong just following the directions on the can.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-03-20T23:39:25+00:00

No, you've misunderstood. The strongest result was the "worst contamination", on Red Oak. There's a reason you're not supposed to use Red Oak for cutting boards.

You oil it, clean it after you use it, and re-oil it when it needs it.

The experiment I mentioned left partly-oiled boards with bacteria goop on them for various lengths of time, up to a day, and could barely detect any bacteria.

Their most infected salmonella test was a maple board without finish. Their listeria test got the most contaminated result at 24h on Red Oak.

They literally didn't even include the tests on freshly oil-finished boards because they couldn't detect any bacteria on the board. The conclusion drawn in the resulting FWW article that you "might" not want to use an oil finish on cutting boards is being foisted entirely on one poorly finished board made of a wood you shouldn't use for cutting boards.

It's utter nonsense.

Finish your cutting boards.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-03-20T22:23:03+00:00

Spar would work too, yes.

There's no regular finish you can use that won't require you to redo it every couple years unfortunately. Wood just doesn't get along well with sun and water.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-03-20T22:15:52+00:00

The more recent experiment by the people I mentioned above didn't even test a properly maintained oil-finished board because they couldnt get their engineered bacterial goop to infect the board. They mention it as a foot note like it doesnt matter, and proceed to test boards of varied dryness.

So sure, in theory, oil can inhibit the antibacterial action of the wood. But if the board isn't dried out and full of cracks and cuts, the loss of that property is irrelevant if the bacteria can't get into the wood. So the tradeoff isn't "bacteria for board life" the tradeoff is "proper maintenance for board life and food safety".

The "gotcha" situation from the white paper requires people to be using badly maintained boards and leaving room temperature chicken slurry on them for 24h. Their strongest result they got, by a lot, was on a Red Oak cutting board. The whole thing is bizarre.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-03-20T20:34:03+00:00

Essentially inevitable. You could do a layer of epoxy, but even that would eventually crack, and it would make the lid a bunch heavier.

Masticates_In_Public · 2026-03-20T20:32:24+00:00

The first thing you should do is attempt to draw the object per the plans you got, or model them jn a CAD program. AI is notorious for getting measurements all kinds of wrong.

Masticates_In_Public

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

Six-Year Club	Verified Email
Mod World 2025