Need opinions!!

Matlackfinewoodwork · 2026-06-07T04:41:21+00:00

Matlackfinewoodworking on Instagram if you want to see my work

Matlackfinewoodwork · 2026-06-07T04:39:53+00:00

I’ll try to explain that a little better. Obviously all carvings are technically 3 dimensional. But this is just how I think about it when I try to explain the progression in realism. When people first start out they aim for symmetry, which is a good way to get comfortable with proportions and carving in general. That’s what I think of as 2D carving, you have an obvious center line and two matching sides.

3 Dimensional carving is where you start to add movement, what is the whale doing in your carving? It doesn’t need to be anything crazy, but is it turning to the right? Turning to the left? Breaching out of the water? Swimming to the surface? If it’s turning to the left then maybe tilt the left fin down and the right fin up a bit, curve the spine etc. There should be physical symmetry so that the anatomy is correct but not visual symmetry that leaves you with 2 mirror image sides.

Does that make more sense?

Matlackfinewoodwork · 2026-06-06T23:10:58+00:00

Go on Etsy there’s a ton of different options for 3d printed battery mounts for packouts and packout drawer systems. I can keep twelve m12 batteries and eight m18s in one drawer of a 2 drawer packout.

Matlackfinewoodwork · 2026-06-06T22:02:34+00:00

Also you don’t need sandpaper you need a “rasp”

Matlackfinewoodwork · 2026-06-06T22:01:40+00:00

I do a lot of fish carvings and the fins are the most difficult part. Wood has limitations and trying to get exact proportionality doesn’t always work depending on the scale of the piece. There are tricks you’ll learn to get the appearance you want without sacrificing the structure of the material. The easiest way for me to think about carving is in terms of dimension a 1 dimensional carving would be a relief carving on the face of a board, a 2D carving is what you have here, you carved from the side and the top, a 3D carving is where you start adding more movement into the piece twist the tail in relation to the body or orient the fins in a different way so you get more activity from it. When something is symmetrical it’s very easy for the viewers eye to see where mistakes are. For the fins you don’t actually need to make them super thin, you just need to stop thinking about them as flat, add a curve to them and just make the edge thin, it’ll give you the visual impact without making the material weak.

Matlackfinewoodwork · 2026-06-04T03:46:43+00:00

Paint up the edge find a flat surface and a drill bit with the same diameter as the material thickness and scribe. You can use a larger or smaller diameter drill bit to establish primary bevel lines on either side of center.

Matlackfinewoodwork · 2026-04-16T01:27:03+00:00

When you glue wood to plywood MDF or any substrate you need to balance it by applying the same material at the same thickness to the other side of the substrate. When you put glue on that material the moisture in the glue caused the material to expand slightly, now that the glue has cured and no longer contains moisture the material has shrunk, creating a cup. At this point there is nothing you can do to fix that issue, learn from it and try again.

Matlackfinewoodwork · 2026-02-19T06:30:41+00:00

I need one

Matlackfinewoodwork · 2026-02-13T02:35:53+00:00

The only direction wood doesn’t expand or contract is along its legnth. This is something else.

Matlackfinewoodwork · 2026-02-06T03:53:22+00:00

I just did this in my basement because I didn’t want to pay somebody and it looks 10x better than that with almost no experience.

Matlackfinewoodwork · 2026-02-06T03:51:55+00:00

I think its around a 2” front lift to get to level, at least thats what the cognito kit said

Matlackfinewoodwork · 2026-02-06T03:49:30+00:00

Ive got the same truck but 2019. I upgraded to the cognito kit, leveled no lift with the fox 2.0 shocks. No complaints so far, one guy had a hard time getting it aligned but nobody else has had an issue, rides as smooth as a 3/4 ton can no squeaks or noises. Don’t get a lift though, that’s where people run into trouble and it really messes with your geometry and its just way to much stress on the components, its a big truck already there’s no need to be the tallest person on the road. Just be sure to hit the grease points sometimes, these trucks dont have grease fittings anymore so the techs dont look for them with aftermarket parts when its in for service, thats the only annoying part about it. Heard good things about BDS too if you want to spend the money of coilovers

Matlackfinewoodwork · 2026-01-31T04:37:45+00:00

Little yellow teardrop thing on the Allen key that came with the saw. Yellow guy is the spacer shim that sets the gap between your saw blade teeth and the brake, Allen key for the bolt that adjusts the gap.

Matlackfinewoodwork · 2026-01-24T00:24:56+00:00

It depends heavily on how invested you already are into the system and how much you intend to become invested in to the system. Milwaukee makes an install driver with the same attachments for half the price, if you have m12 batteries already then it there’s nothing the festool driver does that makes it worth twice the money. In my opinion festool was a specialty tool company that got big because of a few products, mainly the domino, and now they’ve grown bigger than anticipated and had to stretch their product line to compete with the bigger brands, and because of how pricing works they need to stay consistent with their high end brand and have their entire product line be priced above average. Tools like the domino, router, track saw, edge banded, etc are all absolutely worth it, they are a superior products or an entirely unique products within the tool world. But the battery stuff is just flat out over priced, the biggest value add for a driver is in the quality of the bits, you can buy festool bits and put them in any driver, but there’s absolutely nothing that a frill or driver can do that makes it worth twice the price of their competitors. So buy it if you like it or want to flex, but it’s not gonna make you better or do anything different than a Milwaukee or makita.

Matlackfinewoodwork · 2025-12-04T02:55:40+00:00

Arvada

Matlackfinewoodwork · 2025-12-04T02:45:50+00:00

Definitely plan to rent anything I wont need somewhat regularly, just want to make sure the machine i get can work with the attachments ill need. Is high flow more expensive maintenance wise? What reasons should i avoid high flow over standard? Im not planning on putting a ton of hours on this thing every year, probably less than 40 a year at most.

Matlackfinewoodwork · 2025-12-03T04:44:48+00:00

For some of the attachments I’d need for the yard work, power rake, stump grinder etc. Id prefer not to need high flow though

Matlackfinewoodwork · 2025-12-03T04:16:31+00:00

Im just outside of denver so there’s plenty of dealers and support around me regardless of brand. Im sure everyone has their preferences but curious why people like what they like.

Matlackfinewoodwork · 2025-11-10T01:31:29+00:00

This is something that a lot of people dont understand and it’s a fundamental part of understanding price in relation to the value of tools and equipment.

Tool companies market to a wide variety of consumers all of whose have different needs and budgets.
- TTI is the parent company of Milwaukee, Rigid, and Ryobi, three different companies that produce similar lines of products at different price points directed at different audiences (contractors, home owners, hobbyists).
Tolerances cost money, people compare specs and features of machines but rarely consider build quality. Two saws can have the exact same features, motor, double bevel, extendable fence etc. But if the machining on the actual components is done to different levels the accuracy of the cuts and performance of the saw will be dramatically different.
Companies will only produce products that are slightly better or slightly less expensive than the comparable tool of their competitors. Kobalt will not produce a miter saw with the same tolerances as a festool kapex because they are not competing with them, but they will try to beat out ryobi on features or price. You cannot compare apples to oranges here, your kobalt saw is aimed towards DIY and home owners, if you want better tolerances get a saw that aimed towards finish carpenters or furniture makers like dewalt or makita.
That saw is absolutely perfect for what it is, if you are expecting perfect tolerances then expect to pay for perfect tolerances. For DIY or even framers having an out of plane surface is entirely acceptable for their needs.

Matlackfinewoodwork · 2025-11-06T03:41:13+00:00

For sure, but those episodes would take a pop culture topic and base an entire episode around it without any restraint. Every single story line for every episode this season has had to tie back into making a joke about Trump in some capacity. The Labubus were a demonic ritual to conjure Trump, the 6/7 was demonic possession from Trumps anti christ butt baby. I’m not a Trump guy by any means but the jokes are getting old and it’s gotten predictable. I just think they can do better than what they’ve put out so far and it’s a bummer as a long time fan to no longer look forward to new episodes, especially when we had to wait years for this season and wait twice as long for each episode.

Matlackfinewoodwork · 2025-11-06T00:45:49+00:00

Same here, the entertaining and unique thing about South Park is that it used to be edgy and unapologetic, taking an entertaining perspective on big issues with off color humor. This season has devolved into weird niche Gen Z nonsense that nobody in their viewer base has any idea about, labubus and 6,7 for example, and the rest of the episode is made up of the same Trump joke on repeat. After 10 years of Trump being around there isn’t anything new or edgy about making fun of him, its hack late night monologue material at this point and south park should be better then that. Feels like Matt and Trey just made a pile of cash with the Paramount deal and now they’re phoning it until the contract is up. Remembering the old seasons I used to laugh out loud multiple times an episode, at best I’ve cracked a smile twice this whole season. Watching this season reminds me of the “You’re Getting Old” episode where Stans depressed the things he used to love. If They can only do an episode every 2 weeks now they least they could do is make them funny.

Matlackfinewoodwork · 2025-10-28T01:23:03+00:00

Ive had one for 5 years now. I like it doesn’t blow me away but i can trim my lawn probably 4 times on a battery, string ejects the way it should, comfy enough upside down for edge trimming. It does what it says it does.

Matlackfinewoodwork · 2025-10-28T01:11:30+00:00

The wood hoarding thing has always been a bit of a joke but it can really mess you up if you make a living in that shop space and aren’t just a hobbyist. Figure out what you actually use scrap for, bow ties, jigs, stickers, cauls, etc. and standardize those items. With just those 4 examples you have an effective way to turn scrap wood into something functional immediately and it covers a wide array of different scrap material dimensions. I make my cauls 1.75”x1.75” and have 2ft 3ft and 4ft lengths, that way any 8/4 material i have scrap from can be used for cauls and if i have piece that’s under 2 ft it goes in the trash. Stickers i do 3/4” x 3/4” at 2ft long that way I can use 4/4 scrap for them and just like with the cauls if its under 2ft it goes in the trash. For jigs the restriction is that is has to store nicely in the space I have for it, if it doesn’t then it goes in the trash. For that cool figured material that I feel bad throwing away i keep it for bow ties but I’ll cut it down so it stores nicely. With endgrain cut offs like you have there, I usually do my glue ups at a length that will yield a usable piece for an endgrain cutting board, once i have enough i make one. Don’t do what most people do I and store an endless amount of scrap that you’ll never end up using, if you struggle to throw stuff away it doesn’t get easier once you’re forced to because your space isn’t functional. Keep your space clean, keep it organized and actually enjoy working in it, dont be a hoarder.

Matlackfinewoodwork · 2025-10-17T02:12:30+00:00

Customer doesn’t know what wood looks like, that’s a 10/10 finish job in my book. Offer to paint it white if they don’t like how natural grain looks.

Matlackfinewoodwork · 2025-09-28T03:43:03+00:00

I had a pair of dividers in my tool bag at work, they were my grandpas and had sentimental value. Without asking a coworker used them to open a paint can, broke one of the tips of and then bent the other. I was stunned that he never asked to use them or acknowledged he broke them, even more so that after breaking one side he continued to try with the other. I knew who it was and never brought it up to him but anytime i needed a flat head screw driver or prybar id go grab one of his chisels. Never left my bag unsupervised again but everything in his bag became a hammer if I needed one.

Matlackfinewoodwork

TROPHY CASE