Episode 52 – Holding Small Parts, Planer Sled Designs,Staining Plywood vs Solid Wood, & MUCH More!

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Guys
1) I had a question for you about staining frame and panel doors. A few months back I made a few cabinets that I wanted to match reasonably well with existing kitchen cabinets (made from birch). Everything was going well but when I came to staining the wood I ran into issues. I had tested a few stains on a piece of the birch I was using for the face-frames/rails-stiles and found Varithane premium fast dry interior wood stain (color: kona) had a close enough color to the existing cabinets that the difference should't be noticed as the cabinets were going in different rooms. After the wipe on, let sit for a few minutes, and wipe off process I discovered that the panels of the doors were significantly darker than the rails and stiles. I tried a second application of stain to just the frame to try to darken them to even out the coloring but that didn't do much. The wood for the rails and styles was solid birch that I ran through a thickness plainer, assembled, ran through a drum sander, and then sanded with a random orbit sander to 220. The panels were 6mm baltic birch that I sanded with a random orbit sander to 220. I should also mention that I got the wood from a local reputable hardwood dealer, not from a home center. I also used an air compressor to blow of any trapped dust from the doors before staining.
What did I do wrong? I would've been happy if the whole door was either the lighter color, or the darker color, but with the light frame and the dark panel, it just doesn't look right. The only thing that makes sense to me is that the surface structure of the top veneer on the birch plywood was more porous and thus able to absorb more stain. But what do pros do in order to get the same color on solid wood and also veneered wood?
 
Thanks again for the great podcast.
Cheers,
Gavin
2) I’ve been woodworking for about 2 years now and in that time I’ve been primarily using white oak (with occasional use of Ash, Hard Maple & Walnut), but I’m at a loss when it comes to adding finish; I’m simply unsure where to start, so I don’t use any. So could you help me, please? I do understand that after listening to your podcast from the beginning, that this subject is a bit of a mine field and you’ve covered it numerous times for other listeners, but for someone starting out who would like to use low VOC finishes (to protect my asthmatic Wife), what would you recommend starting with, please?
 
Thanks in advance and keep up the great work.
 
Sean
1) I’m building  a planer sled for my Dewalt 735 to do face jointing.  Do I attach the  ‘stop’/‘fence’ part to the leading or trailing edge? I’ve seen it done both ways on YouTube.  What in the world is the correct way? Thanks in advance and I’m a big fan of the podcast and all of your work!
Thanks again, Jason Ruffino SkinnyDogShop
2) Recently built a router table/cabinet because my wife doesn’t know enough about woodworking to stop me from adding to my shop, for now at least.
 
The carcass came together nicely, all 3/4” birch ply with pocket screws (shop furniture so it’s not blasphemy). It was all square and seemed right until the drawers came into play. In total there are 5 drawers - 2 over/under on the bottom left, 1 bigger bottom right, and one on each side of where the router/lift goes. The drawers themselves seem to measure square, unless my public school math is failing me! However some of the drawers seem to be harder to pull in and out. I’m using the full extension drawer slides from Home Depot. Also, when the drawer fronts are attached, they seem to be a little wonky when spaced correctly and some won’t close flush. -Joey
 
Huy
1) Hi woodshop guys. I have a question about case construction. Ive started building my shop with mobile carts, one for my saw/mitre saw/ router etc. I recently started using pocket holes screws since they are bang around shop carts and i wanted to make them as quickly as possible. My question is what is the best construction bottom and top sandwiched between side panels? Or bottom and tops sitting on top of side panels leaving edge exposed. I add a strong back on each case. Ive seen cases made both ways, so I wonder what you guys think. - Bigsquidy
2) Got a question for your awesome podcast: how do you hold small parts when using a plough plane to make the groove for a drawer bottom? Aaron