[00:00:00] Eric Goranson: It's around the house. Nice. I gotta ask you, what are your favorite tools in your shop that you're just jonesing on, that you're like, Oh man, why didn't I get this sooner? So

[00:00:16] Scott Couch: bandsaw and a drum sander are the two things that like I couldn't believe like first. First of all, bandsaw was just so versatile.

[00:00:24] Scott Couch: You know? Basically like when I first got it, I actually thought to myself like, I wonder why. Table saw first before a band saw. Like I know a tables saw might be more accurate for ripping and things like that, but you can rip on a bands saw if you set it up, right? Correct. You can do way more with it too, obviously.

[00:00:41] Eric Goranson: Oh, yeah. Yeah. And and to be honest, I am less scared of a bandsaw than I am a table saw fly a mile. Yes,

[00:00:51] Scott Couch: yes. 100%. That was my other thought of when it comes to remodeling and renovating your home, there is a lot to know. [00:01:00] Got you covered. This is around the house.

[00:01:07] Eric Goranson: Welcome to Around the House with Eric G. This is where we talk home improvement, construction, design, healthy homes, and playing around with power tools every single week. Thanks for joining us. We've got a good guy in the house here that I have learned a lot from watching his. And when I can learn from it, it always adds value to me, which means it can add value to you.

[00:01:31] Eric Goranson: Scott Couch, get off the couch. Design. Welcome to Around the House, my friend. Hey Eric,

[00:01:37] Scott Couch: thanks for having me. Uh, pretty cool to hear you say that. Uh, you learned some stuff from my page. I know, you know a ton of stuff. .

[00:01:43] Eric Goranson: Uh, you know it's, we, you know how this goes though, brother. We all learn stuff from everybody and as soon as you think you know it all, you're gonna get your butt handed to you cuz uh, We can't all know it all.

[00:01:57] Scott Couch: Isn't that the truth? There's a wealth of knowledge

[00:01:59] Eric Goranson: [00:02:00] out there and so that's why I like bringing people like you onto the show because, uh, man, there's always four or five different ways to do it and I can't tell you how many times they see stuff and I go, Well, I was doing that the hard way.

[00:02:13] Scott Couch: Oh yeah, I'm always doing things and then I'm like, uh, how did I not think of that?

[00:02:18] Scott Couch: That seems so simple. .

[00:02:22] Eric Goranson: Well, you're known out there for doing so many different stuff. I love your work with building signs and dealing with wood. You've even got, you know, dealing with laser stuff. You've got a lot of stuff going on, man.

[00:02:35] Scott Couch: Yeah, we just, uh, jump all around over here, . That's good. So, Yeah, I, I do, I love the epoxy inlay stuff.

[00:02:42] Scott Couch: That's like really my, my go-to thing. Uh, I, I guess you could say, yeah. Um, really love playing around with the total b deoxy and doing the inlays and trying to match the colors to different, uh, signs or teams that people want.

[00:02:56] Eric Goranson: It's awesome. Let's talk about those signs for a minute because [00:03:00] you know that is complex stuff and, and you can't just like go out in the shop and do it once and have it end up perfectly cuz there's just so many variables.

[00:03:07] Eric Goranson: But, uh, what do you do when somebody says, Hey, can you make me a sign? What's the process in that?

[00:03:14] Scott Couch: Sure. So first thing you know, I'll, I'll figure out what they want. A lot of times I'm doing sports teams logos, which I dunno if I should be or not, but,

[00:03:22] Eric Goranson: Oh, . We're not mentioning sport teams. So guess what, personal use only.

[00:03:27] Eric Goranson: So guess what?

[00:03:30] Scott Couch: Exactly. This is, uh, all for me. Um, so what I'll do is I'll take the design and I'll throw it into, uh, aspire. Which is a vector program, and I do all my programming in there. Sometimes if it's more complicated, I'll throw it into Adobe Illustrator. Um, or a different program. I have light burn that I use for the laser that you mentioned, and that is actually like really good at tracing.

[00:03:51] Scott Couch: So sometimes I'll throw some, uh, stuff in there to see if I can get a better trace outta that. Uh, but then once it's traced, uh, I then will go through and [00:04:00] figure out, you know, which order to pour the pieces in. So. Mm-hmm. , like I just did one for a flamingo. It's a, um, Brazilian soccer. Cool. And it's black, red and white.

[00:04:12] Scott Couch: And so like basically what I did for that one is I just poured a big area of black, then cut the red portion out, poured the red, then cut the white out of the red, and then filled that in. So basically sense a matter of figuring out which. Order to get it in.

[00:04:28] Eric Goranson: So it's a lot like when you're doing, um, and I, I'm gonna take it to something I know, like auto body where you're doing layers of stripes or graphics in the car, you almost have to think backwards of how that's gonna go, because sometimes the color that you think goes last actually goes on first.

[00:04:44] Scott Couch: Sure. Exactly. Yep. That's like the, uh, I, I tend to think of it as like the, the biggest, uh, find the color on the outside and then work your way in and that way you just make, you may end up kinda wasting some epoxy or whatever, but at, in the [00:05:00] end, you get a cleaner look.

[00:05:02] Eric Goranson: Yeah, that makes sense. Cuz then when you're filling, you can fill in the, the, the pool of the hole versus trying to go the other way, which can make it significantly more difficult and not give you some clean lines.

[00:05:13] Eric Goranson: Yep.

[00:05:13] Scott Couch: Yep. One of the first thing, first times I did it, first of all, I, I used dominoes to, for my glue up, uh, Uhhuh. Cause I'll, I'll get maple and glue up a panel first before I mill everything. And I use dominoes. So once I mill it deep enough for the epoxy, you can see the dominoes. So that was a learning, uh, curve.

[00:05:31] Scott Couch: Yep. But then also the. The other thing that I learned was, uh, on that same one with the dominoes, I tried to make pockets so that they were just touching instead of just making one big pocket, like the one big black pocket and then cutting the red outta that, I tried to make a black pocket, fill that, and then cut the red pocket and fill that.

[00:05:52] Scott Couch: And I quickly learned that that doesn't work cuz I had little bits of wood between and I was trying to chisel it out. And [00:06:00] so just doing the overall big pour first and getting smaller and smaller seems to make it way cleaner.

[00:06:07] Eric Goranson: Oh man, that, yeah, that, that's a big thing. I have not played around with epoxy.

[00:06:11] Eric Goranson: I, I think I'm scarred from back when working in a cabin shop and we were doing like the acrylic bar top stuff where you were pouring the, pouring the clear, uh, doing the old, you know, polyurethane bar top material. Uh, and we had a bar that we had to do, and this thing was for a, a condo, hotel thing up in the mountains.

[00:06:33] Eric Goranson: And we took literally, Tamarac logs with a live edge and they wanted a pour over the top of that to keep it looking nice. Mm-hmm. . And these were like 16 foot long, four inch thick pieces we were doing. And it was probably the biggest struggle without getting something to bubble or pop on that whole piece.

[00:06:56] Eric Goranson: And you had to do it all at once. And uh, I [00:07:00] think it was our third try, we were about, Throw the thing out in the back parking lot and burn it. By the time we were done, we were so frustrated, , and these are professionals. These are guys that are doing this for, you know, for work and. Man, it was troublesome.

[00:07:14] Eric Goranson: It was troublesome back then cuz temperature, humidity, all those different things were playing with us. And uh, that was a tough project. I mean, it's still up there. But the other problem was the architect hadn't planned in that that wood was gonna move. And even though it was big, huge piece of kiln, dry wood, it's still like to move as a bar top.

[00:07:35] Scott Couch: Yeah, that's, uh, I can only imagine doing it on site like that. I've never done a huge pour like that. And on a curve, live edge piece, I can only imagine the, not to mention the different temperature, humidity, like you're saying. No, no chance. I've done a, I think it was like a two by four foot tabletop that was just for my backyard that I did it.

[00:07:55] Scott Couch: And that one was challenging enough worrying about the bubbles and this and that, and I had a [00:08:00] controlled environment in my basement. So yeah, doing that on site work is no joke.

[00:08:05] Eric Goranson: If I would've done that today, I would've done it in epoxy. And I had called Jess up and said, Hey girl, how do we do this? ? Yeah,

[00:08:12] Scott Couch: there you go.

[00:08:12] Scott Couch: Exactly. . She's set you right in the right

[00:08:15] Eric Goranson: direction. Absolutely. Absolutely. Cause I gotta figure, I got a feeling even though that we had people that had been doing it for 15 years, we probably still weren't doing it the right way. Oh, I'm sure.

[00:08:25] Scott Couch: And I'm sure, uh, Jess knows exactly what the right

[00:08:28] Eric Goranson: way to do.

[00:08:29] Eric Goranson: Yeah, we'll have her on the show here one of these days. She's been out traveling, uh, teaching classes. So her and I are working on a schedule to get her on there cuz uh, I know I can learn stuff there as well. But, uh, man, you've been doing so many cool things with these signs and what I like about 'em is they look solid when they're done.

[00:08:44] Eric Goranson: I mean, they are as professionally built as anything out there commercially, and you can just get those things dialed.

[00:08:53] Scott Couch: Appreciate it. It's been, uh, it's been fun trying to figure out the processes and whatnot, and along the way I've upgraded tools to make [00:09:00] it a lot easier. Um, in the beginning I was, you know, using a palm sander just sanding off the excess epoxy, and now I've gotten a lot smarter and used the drum sander and or the, uh, CNC to clean things up and it's way.

[00:09:14] Eric Goranson: Let's talk power tools for a minute cuz that is always a tough subject out there. You know, And, and this is no different than people out there, the Ford, Chevy Dodge debate with trucks, you know, it's the Coke versus Pepsi, you know, it's all of those different things. What do you like using?

[00:09:33] Scott Couch: So I have a bunch of Harvey tools in my shop right now.

[00:09:36] Scott Couch: Mm-hmm. , I had a bunch of, uh, jet tools. Um, Uh, probably about six months or so a year ago. I got a, about a year ago, I. Maybe two years at this point. I got a band saw from them and it was my first ever band saw and super powerful, real awesome. Uh, so I ended up picking up their table saw too. It's four horsepower and nothing's a monster.[00:10:00]

[00:10:01] Scott Couch: And then, uh, as far as uh, my other big tools, I've got, uh, some Super max, some jet. I, I really mix it in there, kinda just whatever I can get my hands.

[00:10:12] Eric Goranson: I even saw, did I see a Hitachi Chop saw in the background there one time? I do. Yep. Yep. It looks pretty cool.

[00:10:19] Scott Couch: Yeah, that I picked up on a Black Friday one time cuz I really wanted a zero clearance cuz my shop is ridiculously small, so I needed that as much space as I can.

[00:10:29] Scott Couch: So that zero clearance is huge for that.

[00:10:32] Eric Goranson: Nice, Nice. What are you using for the drill drivers and hand tools out? Uh,

[00:10:37] Scott Couch: yeah. All Milwaukee for all that stuff. Cool. A while back when I first started, I heard Milwaukee was good, you know, so I got some, and then once you're on that one platform, I

[00:10:47] Eric Goranson: just, you could see the, there's a lot of red in my background here too, in my shop behind me, so,

[00:10:52] Scott Couch: That's what my shop is all black and

[00:10:54] Eric Goranson: red.

[00:10:55] Eric Goranson: Yep, exactly. I got some yellow and black and some other colors back there, but it's, there's a lot of red [00:11:00] back there and I think I'll be tossing a few more brands in there. I'm not loyal to one of 'em. But like you said though, man, once you get, you know, once you get kind of going on a brand and it's so much easier because no matter what brand you like, they got you on the platform thing, why go have another battery charger?

[00:11:17] Eric Goranson: Why have another platform to have to

[00:11:20] Scott Couch: mess with? Exactly, that's, as you're saying, you have, you know, some black and yellow back there too. I'm like, Oh yeah, I do have, you know, a bunch of different platforms, but I really just, if I'm getting a new tool, I just try to get one that I already have the batteries for cause it's just that much easier.

[00:11:35] Eric Goranson: Yeah. And a lot of the stuff I have, if I have a different brand, many times it was something that, you know, brand A didn't make or didn't make at that time. A very good version of that. So I went and got the best version that was available. And as you know, every year these tool companies are coming up with, with everything new, and sometimes they even jump the shark a little bit, as far as I'm concerned.

[00:11:56] Eric Goranson: I mean, the, uh, the, uh, DeWalt [00:12:00] and Milwaukee lawn mower might be a little over the edge for me, but, uh mm-hmm. , that's, that's a little much for me, but, uh, if you have the batteries, I can see where it makes. Yep.

[00:12:09] Scott Couch: Yep. Sure. Yeah, I don't, I don't have any, uh, yard tools or anything like that, uh, with those companies, but, uh, like I, like you said, I had a nailer from one company and, you know, it was great, but every so often it wouldn't sink nails.

[00:12:21] Scott Couch: So now I have a, a different company one and it sinks my, the nails every time. But I think it was just, you know, that was the first generation that they put out, so.

[00:12:29] Eric Goranson: Absolutely. Absolutely. So when you're doing these epoxies, man, what is your. For keeping things clean because I tell you what, man, if you're not careful with that, you can get that stuff everywhere.

[00:12:44] Scott Couch: Oh yeah. That's, uh, so I kind of got lucky. My shop is very small, so I couldn't do epoxy out there, so Nice. I don't have to worry about the dust from there. So I have my basement turned into like a little like epoxy studio I guess you could call it. Oh, cool. And yeah, so I have some mats down there and [00:13:00] things, and so I'll basically, A corner of my basement is sectioned off just for epoxy, so my kids know to stay away from it.

[00:13:07] Scott Couch: And, uh, I have a lot of pores going on. Then basically nobody goes in the basement and nice until they're cured. And I also use, uh, Tobo Epoxy and the two to one that I use, it cures pretty well with within, you know, six hours or so. Okay. So, Okay. I don't really have to worry about it too. Cool.

[00:13:26] Eric Goranson: How do you keep that from getting up in the house?

[00:13:28] Eric Goranson: Because I tell you what, if I was doing it in my basement, I'd be having my family mad at me if I wasn't careful.

[00:13:34] Scott Couch: Uh, you know, I, for a while I wasn't wearing gloves, but now I wear gloves all the time. and, uh, actually my girls love it. I have three daughters and they love coming down to do it with me. Oh, nice.

[00:13:46] Scott Couch: It's, yeah, it turns into like one of those things like, uh, can we do some epoxy? Can I come down and do some, So we do some like, Almost family pores, I guess you'd call 'em . Uh,

[00:13:56] Eric Goranson: ah, that's awesome, dude. That's awesome. Yeah.

[00:13:58] Scott Couch: Yeah. That table actually that I [00:14:00] was saying for Outback that we built, uh, me, my wife and the three girls all picked different colors we wanted on it and kind made it like a marbled look and just had.

[00:14:09] Eric Goranson: Family time, man, Priceless.

[00:14:12] Scott Couch: Oh yeah, yeah. Whenever the girls wanna get in the shop, I'm always all for it and trying to get them hands on as much as I can.

[00:14:19] Eric Goranson: Ah, that is awesome. And I'll tell you what, those, those memories like that, you know, you think about stuff that you do with your family. I, I can think back of all the different DIY projects I did with my dad, you know, 40 plus years ago and there's still memories that are still solid right there.

[00:14:33] Eric Goranson: So, uh, that's pretty

[00:14:34] Scott Couch: sweet. Oh, sure. Sure. Yep. That's what actually got me into all this. My dad was a cabinet maker for 40 years, so

[00:14:41] Eric Goranson: I was interests. Talk about that a little bit. How did you get into this? Cause you know, my dad was, he worked for the government, but he was Mr. DIY guy. We would be working on the house or we'd be working on the cars and we were restoring classic cars, uh, on the weekends and, and doing that kind of stuff.

[00:14:57] Eric Goranson: And I spent 30 years in the cabin [00:15:00] industry. So I want to hear about your dad here and how that goes. Cause that's a brutal industry to be.

[00:15:05] Scott Couch: Yeah, so he was mostly in it when I was real young, Uh mm-hmm. , when I got a little bit older, he threw out his back and so I didn't really spend too much time in there when I was older.

[00:15:13] Scott Couch: But, uh, so he had a cabinet shop for 25 years, I think it was, uh, something like that. And they did a ton of different stuff for offices and buildings down here. Um, this desk I'm sitting at right now, my dad built, uh, I dunno, however many years ago. And my mom is a court reporter, so he's built her, uh, desk, uh, that he has, and all the cabinets at my old house and everything.

[00:15:36] Scott Couch: So I remember growing up, uh, we were redoing our kitchen and my dad was redoing all the cabinets himself. And we've got like some, some cool cabinets that I've never seen before with like, you know, you open up the, and then it's got some. Part that spins out and you can access, Basically, he, he made it so he could utilize every portion of those cabinets.

[00:15:56] Scott Couch: So it was, it was cool to grow up around. But then once I got a [00:16:00] little bit older, uh, we needed a table for our house. So I reached out to a buddy and I was like, Hey, you know, he, he owned his own wood shop and was like, Hey, I need a table. And once I found out, I was like, Can I actually come work and figure it out and learn?

[00:16:14] Scott Couch: And next thing you know, here I am, have my own shop and build my own stuff.

[00:16:20] Eric Goranson: Nice. I will say something about the cabin industry and it's kinda like it's hard to get the stuff done at home when you're doing it all day long. So, uh, a hat's off to him for getting the home kitchen done because, uh, in the cabin industry, that's the hardest one.

[00:16:34] Eric Goranson: I mean, I've got 30 years this year in the kitchen cabin. Last year was the first kitchen I did for myself. Oh yeah? Yeah. What is, I mean, you know, it's just how it goes.

[00:16:46] Scott Couch: Yep. What's that phrase? The cobbler's, uh, uh, kid never

[00:16:50] Eric Goranson: has shoes or something. Like shoes. Yeah. So like that. Yeah. It's, it's, it's, I was the poster trial for that and, and uh, That's awesome.

[00:16:57] Eric Goranson: That, and then, then, you know, you got to learn [00:17:00] as well a little bit from that. So, you know, that a, that was a good role model of, Hey, there's some cool stuff to

[00:17:05] Scott Couch: play with. Oh yeah. Yeah. I remember, uh, even when we would have our pine like Pinewood Derby competitions for uh, Boy Scouts, we would get to go down to my dad's shop and, you know, build some crazy Pinewood derby cars that, uh, weren't just like the standard run of the mill Pinewood Derby car you'd get.

[00:17:21] Scott Couch: So it was

[00:17:23] Eric Goranson: always cool. That's awesome. I was, I remember doing those as a kid too. And, uh, we'd also, we'd get there and, and, uh, they'd be like, I'm not sure if that meets the rules. And I'd be going, read the book, show me the, you know, and they're like, Well, I guess that works.

[00:17:37] Scott Couch: You know? Yep. Yep. So we made an ambulance one year and they're like, I don't know, did you add stuff?

[00:17:42] Scott Couch: And you're like, Nope. All the same block of wood. It's all there. That's awesome. .

[00:17:47] Eric Goranson: Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah, I was, I was following the rules, but at that time, the, the rules didn't, you know, you. As far as adding weight and stuff, they, they were pretty liberal with them at the time and so, uh, I'm sure they've changed it since then, but back [00:18:00] then you could add weight and stuff to it and I was, uh, I was drilling out and putting a lead shot in the back and, you know, doing stuff to really balance stuff out.

[00:18:08] Eric Goranson: I was trying to, trying to make it like it was a nascar. Yep. Yep.

[00:18:12] Scott Couch: It actually is funny that you say that cuz it reminds me, uh, one year we didn't get the chance to make one, so I used my brother's old one and it was under the weight it needed to be. So we taped a quarter to the back of it and I ended up almost like winning the whole like tournament or whatever, but

[00:18:28] Eric Goranson: luckily I didn't.

[00:18:29] Eric Goranson: Yeah, you're worked, worked . Yeah, right, Exactly. That is awesome. That is awesome. Well, I, I wanted to ask one more thing. What's the secret to keeping. The epoxy off the tools and stuff cuz, man, I tell you what, the clamps, the everything else, it always seems around the shop when you're gluing stuff up or even when you're working with any of these adhesives and, and epoxies, that stuff likes to get

[00:18:53] Scott Couch: everywhere.

[00:18:54] Scott Couch: Oh yeah. Yeah. So wherever I'm using epoxy, I try to keep a silicone matte under whatever I'm doing. [00:19:00] Or if it's like a bigger thing, I have a big H D P E sheet. Mm-hmm. , and I'll put whatever I'm doing on there. So like today I have a bunch of coasters that I have to pour some tabletop epoxy on. Mm-hmm. . So I'll just lay 'em all out across the H D P E and make sure it's nice and clean.

[00:19:13] Scott Couch: And then just pour it over that, let it all cure and then just pop it off with like a scraper or whatnot. Ah, great tip. Yeah. As far as clamps and things like that mm-hmm. use, uh, packing tape or like a Tyvek home wrap. Yeah. And you can wrap that around your clamps, your pieces. What I'll do is I'll take like a couple pieces of wood, square 'em up and everything, and then wrap them with Tyvek tape and then use them clamp and to hold down whatever I need with the epoxy.

[00:19:42] Eric Goranson: Nice. Okay. There you go.

[00:19:45] Scott Couch: There you go. If you ever do get in trouble, you can, uh, take a heat gun to it and do some of that,

[00:19:49] Eric Goranson: that way. There you go. When you're like, Uhoh went too far.

[00:19:54] Scott Couch: do you ? Don't ask how I know. Uh,

[00:19:58] Eric Goranson: we all learn from those mistakes, [00:20:00] man. Come on. Oh, yeah. It's, Oh yeah. I don't know how many times I've been sitting there, you know, with that, uh, can't remember the brand, but the, you know, the yellow and black.

[00:20:09] Eric Goranson: Hand wipes becoming that big round can canister. I probably got some in my shop here. Those do so much good about cleaning up tools and stuff too. I don't know if you ever use those, Uh,

[00:20:18] Scott Couch: are you talking like the firm brick ones or, Uh, no,

[00:20:21] Eric Goranson: they're the, these, these are the ones in the yellow and black, um, kind of tube.

[00:20:25] Eric Goranson: They're like in a, almost like a big thing of the Clorox wipes, but they're the, the hand cleaning ones that you get out there. Okay. I'm trying to think of the brand, but. Man, those things I've used for cleaning up power tools and stuff. When, when on the outside, when I get a mess, the uh, um, anyway, they're just the clean cleaning hands ones that you use out there.

[00:20:43] Eric Goranson: Those things will work good if I'm like, Oh, if I clean it off my hands, maybe it'll clean up the tools and that kind of stuff. So I go through and, and uh, after I'm done doing stuff, clean that up. Cuz man, it's just stuff gets every. Oh,

[00:20:56] Scott Couch: it, it sure does. I was actually just before we got on, I was down in the [00:21:00] basement cause I'm getting prepared to pour those coasters.

[00:21:01] Scott Couch: And the H D P E was covered with Old Epoxy and you know it since in the basement, uh, I was playing, not playing, but fixing a pipe. So there was a bunch of dirt and debris on it. But, uh, Tobo has an eco solvent and I use that and that thing, I was actually kinda surprised at how much it got rid of. So there's, uh, Um, there was like semi cure epoxy and some, uh, hardener just all over there cause I had an issue and, you know, whatever.

[00:21:32] Scott Couch: So it was all a mess and I basically just poured that stuff on there and wiped the paper towel and I was amazed at how well it cleaned up.

[00:21:39] Eric Goranson: Nice. Nice. I gotta ask you, what are your favorite tools in your shop that you're just jonesing on, that you're like, Oh man, why didn't I get this sooner?

[00:21:49] Scott Couch: So bandsaw and a drum sander are the two things that like, I couldn't believe like first of, first of all, bandsaw was just so versatile.

[00:21:58] Scott Couch: You know? Basically, like [00:22:00] when I first got it, I actually thought to myself like, I wonder why people get a tables saw first before a band saw. Like I know a table saw might be more accurate for ripping and things like that, but you can rip on a bandsaw if you set it up right and correct. You can do way more with it too, obviously.

[00:22:16] Scott Couch: Oh yeah. Yeah.

[00:22:18] Eric Goranson: And and to be honest, I am less scared of a band saw than I am a table saw. Yes. By a mile.

[00:22:25] Scott Couch: Yes. 100%. That was my other thought of, you know, why a tables saw before a bands saw. Cause a band saw, like, you know, obviously you can mess up with any power tool, but a man saw just seems a lot more.

[00:22:38] Scott Couch: Safe, you know, you can put something in and pull it back from the blade and not have to worry about it. Table saw you, you put it in,

[00:22:43] Eric Goranson: you keep pushing, you know, you keep pushing and if not, you're in trouble. . Yeah. Right, right. Yeah. I, I, I can't tell you how many times in the, you know, I'm in a bunch of woodworkers groups and stuff on, uh, on, uh, social media pages out there.

[00:22:56] Eric Goranson: And, uh, I saw one this last week where a guy was [00:23:00] ripping some wood in on his table saw, and of course he said he had always been trained to stand not behind. The blade. And it shot this piece of wood. It looked like it was about a one by two all the way back. And he had a thing of like canned almonds on his shelf.

[00:23:19] Eric Goranson: Mm-hmm. . And it jammed the two by four, the one by two, all the way through the can of almonds and out the back of it. Oh, I believe it. I believe. And I'm like, Oh yeah, I've seen it. I mean, it's, Oh yeah. But I was just like, Wow. There is a graphic picture of a simple cut gone bad. And, uh, bandsaws, you don't

[00:23:37] Scott Couch: get.

[00:23:38] Scott Couch: Oh no, not at all. I had a similar thing with my table saw when I was first using it. I had a tiny, it was only like, you know, a half inch wide, but it stuck right into the, my garage door. And I actually left it there for like a year and a half cuz I was just like, that's a good reminder to be safe cuz you know, , everybody gets going and you don't think what's going on.

[00:23:59] Scott Couch: And next thing you

[00:23:59] Eric Goranson: know, [00:24:00] there's a lot of guys missing the end of a finger out there that have used table saws for decades and they got comfort. Yep.

[00:24:08] Scott Couch: Yep. So I'm hoping to keep all my digits,

[00:24:11] Eric Goranson: but man. Amen. And you know, and quite frankly, this is not a commercial cuz I, I don't have any even communication with these guys.

[00:24:19] Eric Goranson: I can see where that saw stop technology out there could be helpful for a lot of people, even though you have to be a little careful with it because you. If you've got damp wood or something like that, you can create some issues, but they do have a way to test that. But I, I could see the value. But, uh, man, those saws are not cheap either.

[00:24:40] Scott Couch: No, not at all. Yeah. But I can see the value in that being added to, you know, many different tools. You know, why not you have a spinning blade and if you can stop it by just how, however it does it, electromagnetically or whatever, it's, Yeah. But if you can do that to any blade, then why not?

[00:24:56] Eric Goranson: I got to do that probably six years ago on a TV thing I was doing for, [00:25:00] uh, our local TV station.

[00:25:01] Eric Goranson: I was out talking power tools and we got to do that, uh, hotdog challenge and, uh, they hot dog. Did you push it? Oh, That was intense .

[00:25:11] Scott Couch: I bet I've seen it done before. I've never seen it live. Uh, I obviously never done it, but

[00:25:17] Eric Goranson: the energy of that blade spinning and then jamming that aluminum block into the blade.

[00:25:24] Eric Goranson: So it just took a nick and I mean, if that would've been my finger, I don't know if it would've bled.

[00:25:33] Scott Couch: Yeah, it's, it's impressive. Uh, I was in, uh, I'm just remembering, I was in a shop that I, that shop that I was working in and we were pushing some insulation with a metal backing on it through it, and didn't even think, but conducted through the metal and it popped it down and that it was a quick, and it's amazing how fast it

[00:25:51] Eric Goranson: is.

[00:25:52] Eric Goranson: It's violent, but it works. Oh, yeah.

[00:25:55] Scott Couch: Oh yeah. But I mean, it, it kind of has to be in order to get that thing down quick. [00:26:00]

[00:26:00] Yeah,

[00:26:00] Eric Goranson: it's, it's, it's cool. And I was impressed. I was like, All right, I can see the value of this. Do I own one? Nope. Haven't went on to go out and spend thousands and thousands of dollars for a, for a good table saw.

[00:26:12] Eric Goranson: Yeah. But, uh, yeah, maybe, maybe one day if I'm doing enough projects, you know? Sure. Just not doing as much tables saw projects right now, just, uh, with, with doing this stuff. But, uh, I could definitely see the, the value and I can also make the argument that yeah, it's more expensive, but if you're gonna go out and buy a table saw, it's cheaper than what your insurance deduct deductible's gonna be.

[00:26:32] Eric Goranson: So, uh, there's, there is some value to

[00:26:36] Scott Couch: that. I wanna say they came out with a job site one too. They do. So I think they have a, the smaller one. So yeah, can, can be safe and within a, within a budget.

[00:26:45] Eric Goranson: Exactly, exactly. . And I'm not either. So what are you doing out there too? Is uh, yeah, we could both use sponsors of this, right?

[00:26:53] Eric Goranson: So if you're soft stop you listening, we, we would love to see those in our shops. And I'll say for Scott too, that, uh, you know, [00:27:00] you know how to get ahold of us .

[00:27:01] Scott Couch: Exactly. ,

[00:27:04] Eric Goranson: shameless plug. Well, I see, you know, you're out there doing a lot of gluing up wood, like, you know, for your tabletops, your signs or anything else like that.

[00:27:13] Eric Goranson: And, It's some really basic woodworking stuff, but I think it's very valuable in doing it. Right. Do you have any tips for our listeners out there that are thinking about, Oh, I gotta glue something up, but I don't really know how to do that. Sure.

[00:27:29] Scott Couch: Uh, first, make sure your wood is dry and you have proper , proper lumber, I would suggest from a lumber yard or a mill or a kiln, not necessarily your big box stores.

[00:27:40] Scott Couch: Yep. Um, yeah, good point. . And then you wanna just make sure that you got, you can get two, uh, Two flat services. Um, basically if you have a jointer, obviously that, that makes

[00:27:56] Eric Goranson: it easiest. This is so nice, man. . Oh yeah. Nice square

[00:27:59] Scott Couch: edge. [00:28:00] Yep. So you can get those two square edges and then square. Uh, have your table saw at a true 90.

[00:28:06] Scott Couch: Get another square then. So from there, it's pretty simple, you know, as long as you have everything squared up. I, I sometimes see people using like all these calls and things to hold it down, and those are great, but as long as your wood is nice and squared and true up and dried, should be able to sit right on those clamps and smooth right together.

[00:28:25] Eric Goranson: Yeah, that's, that's a question for the listeners out there. When was the last time you chewed up your table saw? When was the last time that you chewed that stuff up? When have you grabbed that scared square out there and played with it? You know, because we all, including me, it's been a long time since I've sat there and went.

[00:28:41] Eric Goranson: How close is that, you know, is zero. Zero, Right?

[00:28:44] Scott Couch: That is a good point. I couldn't tell you the last time I did it on my table saw, but my band saw if I'm ever, uh, back to the band socks again, that's like one of my favorite tools in the shop. But if I'm ever resaw anything with that, then I, I'll always throw a square on that.

[00:28:58] Eric Goranson: Yeah, yeah. That's, that's [00:29:00] good stuff right there. And you know, it's, it's interesting. So what are you working on in a shop wise? Do you have like a single car garage or what's tight for you? You were talking about your shop.

[00:29:09] Scott Couch: Yeah, so I have a single car garage and just about a year or so ago, we have, there's like a little alleyway on the side of it that's, uh, I think it's five and a half feet wide.

[00:29:18] Scott Couch: Okay. And just about a year or so ago, I bought a shed and cleared out all the kids' bikes and everything from that side and opened that up. But it is, Jam packed with stuff. I've got a 52 inch cabinet saw and , an 80 wat laser of, uh, Fullon band saw. And um, and then obviously the Mir saw and everything else.

[00:29:40] Scott Couch: So I'm, I'm, I'm pushed to capacity right now.

[00:29:44] Eric Goranson: You need a second story edition over that or something, right, ?

[00:29:47] Scott Couch: Oh yeah. I think all the time. You know, where can I put a little addition on the side, the back, or if I can maybe just like, uh, get my dust collector or my compressor outside. Cause you know those are square footage up space.

[00:29:59] Scott Couch: [00:30:00] Exactly. Yeah. So yeah, it's a struggle always. That's why actually my CNC and all my epoxy work is all done in my basement. Cause I can't even fit the CNC in.

[00:30:10] Eric Goranson: Man, I tell you what, I got spoiled in the cabin industry doing stuff where, you know, we had some big uni saws and stuff, but, uh, having a CNC to be able to load stuff into it, I mean we had the big CNCS where it was loading the sheet of four by eight on it and you know, cabinet grade large manufacturing, but holy smoke.

[00:30:31] Eric Goranson: Set that thing up and if you need to do a bunch of cut parts, that stuff pounds it out.

[00:30:37] Scott Couch: Oh yeah. CNC is such a game changer, especially those ones where you can just throw a sheet right on it and uh, just produce a cabinet basically. Yeah, you can't

[00:30:47] Eric Goranson: beat that. Oh man. We'd sit there and it was a big change cuz we had, uh, the one custom shop I was working at, they were doing a kind of a euro frameless cabinet and the guy had a really good idea.

[00:30:58] Eric Goranson: Everything was so dated [00:31:00] together, he could put a cabinet box together. With no fasteners and it would hold together. That's how tight things were. I mean, it could be assembled and it would just sit there cuz everything was kinda locked in together before glue, before everything. So it was really cool how that went.

[00:31:16] Eric Goranson: Uh, but wow, that changed everything as far as one yields, cuz we could. You know, we didn't waste anything. You could sit there and optimize a sheet and that thing was big enough that you could literally load up, you know, 16 sheets of plywood or, or particle board or MDF, or whatever we were doing, and it would just pump it out.

[00:31:35] Scott Couch: Oh, sure. That's what I have a buddy, uh, Oscar at Nighty Dog Wood Shop, and he's, he's out in California, but he's got a, a cabinet shop and for the longest time he's been just doing it with a track saw, table saw and everything, and he, I don't know, maybe a year or so ago, got a CNC and he's got it all optimized and everything.

[00:31:53] Scott Couch: And the way that it can just use those sheets and just rip through. Produce a cabinet is [00:32:00] ridiculously awesome ,

[00:32:03] Eric Goranson: and it's accurate. But there's also so many little problems that I ran into too that I realized that, uh, you know, particle board or MDF or one of those things, not so much. But, uh, when you get that accurate, I realize that, you know, plywood is not the same dimension every time because there are veneers of wood.

[00:32:21] Eric Goranson: So we ran into some issues sometimes where we see and seeded out. It was perfect, but we had to always keep into mind that the material, we had to gauge that material before we put it into the saw and optimized it. Cause we needed to make sure how tight it was gonna be. Because many times, three quarter inch plywood is not really three quarters.

[00:32:42] Eric Goranson: It's close. Oh.

[00:32:44] Scott Couch: Sure, Sure. That's what, uh, having a set of caliper next to the CNC is, uh, very vital .

[00:32:50] Eric Goranson: Absolutely. Even

[00:32:52] Scott Couch: absolutely. The epoxy inlaid signs. Uh, sometimes I'll put those on CNC and I'm cutting it, you know, it's all ready to go. And I'm like, [00:33:00] Oh, shoot. I never checked how this is for the final cut.

[00:33:04] Eric Goranson: There you go. So what kind of woods are your favorites right now to work with? I mean, we all kind of have our, our go-to favorite stuff as far as projects. Uh, what are you jonesing on?

[00:33:14] Scott Couch: Sure. So I've always been a big Walnut fan. I think everybody, you know, everybody loves Walnut, but as of recently I've been doing a lot of ash stuff.

[00:33:22] Scott Couch: I made a headboard for my bedroom and actually recently made a kitchen table for our house, both outta ash and, uh, just really like the, like clean look. You know, you get some grains, but it's still like a nice light clean look. Uh, so I've been really liking ash

[00:33:37] Eric Goranson: lately, and it's hard enough that you can work.

[00:33:41] Scott Couch: That's the thing. It, it machines just like, uh, walnut or maple or anything like that, and it's, it's nice and solid.

[00:33:48] Eric Goranson: It's funny how woods kind of go into style and come outta style. I remember 15 years ago, like in the cabinetry world, 20 years ago maybe Alder was such a huge thing out there, which was [00:34:00] people were using it as the, the cheap man's cherry.

[00:34:02] Eric Goranson: But I love to see that walnut has come back over the last number of years. Cuz you know, walnut was so big in the seventies and eighties as a wood, I've loved it the entire time. But, uh, in furniture and everything else, walnut has come back heavy. Which to me is beautiful anyway.

[00:34:19] Scott Couch: Oh, sure, sure. Yeah. You can never, can never get enough.

[00:34:22] Scott Couch: Uh, too much walnut in my book.

[00:34:26] Eric Goranson: smells so good when you're working with it too. That's the fun stuff.

[00:34:29] Scott Couch: That's one of the best things about working with it. I love, you know, milling up some walnut and then coming back out to the shop a little while later and just walking into that smell, uh, kinda reminds me of the shop I used to work in.

[00:34:40] Scott Couch: Cause we used to do so much walnut work.

[00:34:43] Eric Goranson: Nice. Nice. What are you doing out there? And this is something that I see, um, that I get a lot of DIY questions on, and I haven't even asked you this before, but have you done, you know, what are your secrets if you get a little dent in a piece of wood or projects?

[00:34:57] Eric Goranson: Do you have any, uh, cool little tricks [00:35:00] for, for fixing wood?

[00:35:02] Scott Couch: Yeah, so I actually, I actually shipped something out, uh, a while ago and, and during shipping or some point, it got a dent in it got sent back to me. So I ended up sanding it down and I took an iron and some water. I don't know if you've ever, I'm sure you've seen that before.

[00:35:19] Scott Couch: Uh oh, yeah. And, and I was actually shocked at how well it. I just kept putting the water, the soaking wet paper towel on there. Mm-hmm. throwing the iron on and letting that heat steam it a little bit. And little by little it came right out. I was actually completely surprised how well it worked.

[00:35:37] Eric Goranson: That's awesome.

[00:35:37] Eric Goranson: I've done that too. Um, as long as you've got the finish off of there, it works pretty well. I've also bubbled clear finishes trying it, you know, but, uh Oh, sure. I bet. . You know, so you gotta be careful with that. But yeah, I'd take a same trick. I'd take a q. And really get it wet in there, let it soak in, let it soak in, let it soak in, and then do the wet paper towel and that.

[00:35:59] Eric Goranson: And, uh, [00:36:00] It's shocking how well that actually works.

[00:36:04] Scott Couch: Yeah. You know, I, I had seen it on online and things, but I never used it and I was like, alright, you know, I'll try and see what happens. And it was amazing how well it worked. I, I wish I had talked to you before that though. Cause the Q-tip would've been perfect for the size of, uh, the little dent that I had there.

[00:36:20] Eric Goranson: That's how I just, you know, dip it in. It would just soak it up enough that I could sit there and just dab and dab and dab and, and, uh, sure. If you need to cut it down, you can also cut the Q-tip down to a finer point with some like sharp scissors and, uh, Sure. Yeah. Get it a little more trims. You can kind of drop it in there, but that's, that's one of my tricks.

[00:36:37] Eric Goranson: Um, you know, something else, and, and this is something great for you guys out there in our, in our audience, uh, for fixing cabinets and stuff. We had one time a contractor. Had miscommunicated with the husband and put all new kitchen, whole new kitchen in husband said, Hey, this is where I want the handles.

[00:36:58] Eric Goranson: Wife comes home and goes, [00:37:00] Oh, that's not where I wanted the handles. And now we home had almost a, a violent situation between them and he actually brought in, uh, one of those furniture repair guys. I dunno if you've seen them. They're the guys out there that do like the, the fine furniture repair on site.

[00:37:17] Eric Goranson: They do the, the restorations and stuff? Yeah. They come in, he came in and fixed that painted kitchen and these were factory finished cabinets. You, we, they moved them, put the hardware on it and had everything pre-drilled ready to go. He came in there and finished it. Airbrush all his little tricks of the trade.

[00:37:39] Eric Goranson: You couldn't tell that there were holes an inch and a half away that were completely in the wrong spot, but it's shocking what real touch up can do to wood out there, and I've seen 'em do it with cherry. I've seen 'em do it with other woods as well, and it was really shocking to see what they can do with that.

[00:37:55] Eric Goranson: It's

[00:37:55] Scott Couch: amazing what some people can do with, uh, certain [00:38:00] different materials or techniques or whatnot. Cause I would have no clue how to get it back to that like, you know, maybe some clue, but to do it to the point where you can't tell that it was even there. Like, that's impressive.

[00:38:11] Eric Goranson: One guy I worked with, he had all these different woods of sawdust, right?

[00:38:15] Eric Goranson: And so he would mix up his own filler with glue and the sawdust and he would patch it with that. So when the wood aged it. Appropriately age. Cuz as you know with wood, if you're doing walnut or cherry or something like that, even maple that is, you know, sunlight and, and UV does crazy things to those woods.

[00:38:36] Eric Goranson: Oh yeah. Later on the road, man, you know, you'll see that spot every single time and uh, Sure. I was like, okay, well I've always known to do that with hardwood floors, but I hadn't thought about doing the repair that way. So it was always fascinating to see that

[00:38:51] Scott Couch: stuff. Right. That's cool to hear that somebody would, uh, carry around different samples of, uh, wood sawdust like that too.

[00:38:58] Scott Couch: Cause at one point in [00:39:00] my woodworking beginnings, somebody said, you know, save different saws. So for a while I had a thing of ash, saw a thing of walnut. And to be honest, I don't know where it is, but. It would be nice to have that and just

[00:39:12] Eric Goranson: Yeah, exactly. Just for those repairs. Just for those repairs. And that's fun stuff right there.

[00:39:17] Eric Goranson: What are you doing for tool organization in your shop, man? Is there any, uh, any secrets Cuz you got a tight space and so many people out there have tight spaces. I mean, not, I'm not, I don't have that luxury of having, I mean, this is getting torn down behind me next week. I've got a new system coming in.

[00:39:32] Eric Goranson: But I'm curious to see what you're doing for tool storage.

[00:39:36] Scott Couch: Sure. So, uh, I actually just ordered a whole bunch of packouts and I'm gonna try, uh, something new. So I've been struggling with, that's like the biggest struggle for me is tool storage and where I keep things in an organization.

[00:39:49] Eric Goranson: So, yeah, I, I get that in full disclosure.

[00:39:52] Eric Goranson: And I'll, and I'll laugh and show you this. Um, I have the same thing coming and I'm waiting for UPS to show up. [00:40:00] So, uh, if I, uh, pull open the app on my phone, you can see the. Milwaukee tool thing, and it's all down there. That's all the stuff that's coming. So I gotta nice, I got an eight foot packout system coming back here for me that's, uh, gonna store all my stuff because I'm in the same boat.

[00:40:18] Eric Goranson: Uh, batteries, chargers, just all those tools. I got two huge toolboxes and I still struggle with organiz. Oh, it's, it's so

[00:40:30] Scott Couch: hard. That's what, So I've been like, I go back and forth all the time. Do I stop working on projects and just tear down the shop and rebuild it up so that it's like semi-organized or do I, you know, bits and pieces.

[00:40:42] Scott Couch: So that was part of my thought in ordering a whole bunch of packouts. I'm gonna try and in slowly but surely get every tool in a packout. And then I wanna build up a walls where the packouts can all just be stored right there and labeled and no worries. Tools will stay clean.

[00:40:59] Eric Goranson: So, [00:41:00] yeah, I'll let you know how it goes.

[00:41:01] Eric Goranson: I'm, I'm curious. It's literally supposed to hear be here in the next few days and then, uh, this whole wall back here is getting gutted down to the studs and I'm gonna, you know, reinsulate with Rockwell and, uh, drywall up and, and, uh, I've got some wood I'm gonna do back up there on the wall and then put that pack out system on it.

[00:41:16] Eric Goranson: So it'll be pretty cool. But, uh, wanna get that organized cuz it's, it's a battle man. And in, and you can be so much more efficient with space if everything has a home that's, that it fits. Oh

[00:41:27] Scott Couch: yeah. Oh yeah. That's what I, I have like a shelf that's just like, got a bunch of junk on it and I'm like, uh, if I can get spots for all this stuff then, and then you know where it is too.

[00:41:35] Scott Couch: Cause some half time I'm like, I thought I put that on the shelf. I dunno where it, when, Um, but which, uh, are you doing? So are you doing the new Packout wall? Uh,

[00:41:46] Eric Goranson: I've got, Yeah, I got like a six or seven foot packout wall system coming. So I've got all the rocks, all the battery holders, all the drill holders, tool holders, all that stuff, and the bins.

[00:41:57] Eric Goranson: And I've got even the, a couple of the [00:42:00] cabinets that hang on the wall coming. So, Okay. I've got the whole system coming, so I'm very curious to see how that's gonna work.

[00:42:07] Scott Couch: Yeah. Uh, I just took a look at some of that stuff and it looks pretty solid. Uh, yeah. And the battery holders. Oh man, that'll be so nice.

[00:42:15] Scott Couch: Cause like right now I just have a stack of batteries on the end of my bench top, you know? Oh, like that. Pretty much just like you have there.

[00:42:20] Eric Goranson: Exactly, Exactly. My other shoulder it. Yep. Same kind of thing. And I'm like, oh man. I mean that's so much square footage being used up by batteries that I go over and grab off of it.

[00:42:33] Eric Goranson: But I don't need to have that, you know? And of course I'm like everybody else. I try not to ever store 'em on the charger cuz it's never good to have those things plugged in and sitting there, even though they're smart chargers. I just don't trust batteries from brand as a whole. Cuz last thing I'm gonna do is burn the shop down with a bad battery.

[00:42:51] Eric Goranson: Yeah.

[00:42:51] Scott Couch: Right. Yeah. I'm sure you have a couple chargers sitting behind that stack of batteries like I do, don't you?

[00:42:56] Eric Goranson: Oh, I have a shelf in my shed [00:43:00] that has a, a, a huge tote in it, and I've probably got 30 chargers sitting in there. So, Yep.

[00:43:07] Scott Couch: I, I hear that. I got a, a tote fall in the basement ,

[00:43:11] Eric Goranson: but I hate to throw 'em away, you know, And I, I, I get buddies that'll go, Oh man, I gotta go buy a charger.

[00:43:16] Eric Goranson: I'm like, Hold on, just come by. Gotcha. I'm get it. Come get it, get it. Exactly. Exactly. It's way too many chargers, and, and I can't complain. I get that every tool could be for somebody's first tool. Yep. But yep. If I could check the box and go, Ah, I could not use that charger, I'd be plenty happy. Right. I'll

[00:43:37] Scott Couch: take the battery, but the

[00:43:38] Eric Goranson: charger I don't need.

[00:43:40] Eric Goranson: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah. And it makes a difference, you know? And uh, that's the one nice thing. And again, back to having tools, it's so great to be able to work on stuff and have a handful of batteries and never be worried about. Oh, I'm gonna run out. Even if you're outside, tackle your own big project, not just doing something in the shop.

[00:43:57] Scott Couch: Oh yeah, sure. And even just having the battery [00:44:00] platforms, it's amazing how I, I think I have one tool that, like a hand, one handheld tool that is battery or plugin. Now everything else that I have is battery operated.

[00:44:12] Eric Goranson: Yeah, I think, I think I have gone through everything I have. I have one air tool left that's a crown stapler.

[00:44:21] Eric Goranson: That I have, that I just haven't, I don't use it enough right. To, to go out and get it. Um, if one shows up on my shelf one day, it shows up on the shelf one day, but I don't, it's not on my priority list to go out. Cuz I use it like every other year or something stupid and I'm like, Oh, I'll get the cos and the mini compressor out and, and do that.

[00:44:40] Eric Goranson: Yep. But, uh, everything else, air tools, power tools, it's all gone. And quite frankly, my Milwaukee, you know, fuel. SAS all works better than the battery, than my other one that was plugged in. Oh,

[00:44:56] Scott Couch: oh, sure. Yep. It's, it's crazy how much these batteries [00:45:00] can throw power like that. Um, that's what mine, it's the same way.

[00:45:03] Scott Couch: I have a jigsaw that's, uh, electric still, and that's the only thing that I, I use it. Once a year if that. So I really un, unless one shows up at my door, I'm not gonna be getting a, a battery powered Jigsaw. .

[00:45:16] Eric Goranson: Exactly, exactly. So I was gonna ask a drum stander, man. I mean, that's cool. Those are, those are so useful when you are, when you're doing something and trying to get something flat sanded, uh, is that what you're using it for?

[00:45:33] Eric Goranson: Just trying to get like a tabletop finish on it when you use that?

[00:45:38] Scott Couch: Uh, so I basically got it for like two reasons. One reason I was building some boxes and I was making spines, and I had a, a kind of a scary accident at the table. Saw. I was trying to cut some thin pieces, Uhhuh, . I was using a sled and somehow when I was pulling it back, it just hit the blade wrong and it threw the piece back into my stomach, bent my Selma weird way.

[00:45:59] Scott Couch: Luckily I didn't [00:46:00] get cut, didn't get hurt other than the bo my stomach. And I was, I was wearing leather apron and it actually, Protected. Pretty well. And I was, I was nice. Shocked. Yeah. So I messaged the guy that made the apron. I was like, Is this, is this supposed to be like protective? Cause it protected me.

[00:46:15] Scott Couch: Yeah. You're like, This worked . Yeah. It was awesome. Uh, but anyway, so I was makings and I figured it would be a lot easier on a drum sander to get to that exact, uh, width that you need for the spines. But then mainly was the epoxy projects. So I was taking those and I. I, I always like to over pour the pockets when I do them.

[00:46:35] Scott Couch: Oh yeah. And then sand it back down rather than so that everything can be flush and smooth at the end than sanding to epoxy. Nice. Yeah. So what I would do is I would, you know, take 60 or 80 grit sandpaper and a orbit sander and just go to town and it'd take me 20 minutes, 40 minutes to do one of those.

[00:46:55] Scott Couch: But then once I got the drum sander, you know, I'd take, might take similar [00:47:00] amount of time, maybe half the amount of time, but it's way less on my back, bending over my shoulder, moving that sander. Now I can just run it through there and then I can take, so I, I typically just leave like an 80 grid on there and I'll just do it for like a, a rough sand and then goes through with the finished sand, with the random orbit cause.

[00:47:19] Scott Couch: Man, is that a lot easier? ?

[00:47:22] Eric Goranson: Dude, I'm all about the easy out there. I'm all about the easy on that because it's, it's brutal. Yeah. I was gonna ask you, um, since neither one of us are sponsored by tool companies, really, what's your favorite track saw out there? Do you have any brands of that? What are you using?

[00:47:38] Scott Couch: So, you know, I have two track saws. Actually. I've got a Fest tool TS 55, I think it is sexy. Oh yeah. And then I've got a DeWalt cordless one. Mm-hmm. . And I have to say, I, I love 'em both. Yeah. The DeWalt one I, I tend to use more often because it's cordless.

[00:47:57] Eric Goranson: So there you go. There goes to the debate. Right. You don't have [00:48:00] that exactly.

[00:48:00] Eric Goranson: Cord getting in the way.

[00:48:02] Scott Couch: Yep. And then so I always, I always left though, when I think about a track saw like that in that aspect, because you see the cordless ones, but you're always connecting it to a vacuum. Anyway, so I take that DeWalt one out and I use the cordless, but it's connected to, has a cord

[00:48:22] Eric Goranson: just to figure out.

[00:48:22] Eric Goranson: I haven't thought of that. It's just a, Yeah. That's hilarious. I hadn't even thought of that because I, that's one of probably my next tool purchase is gonna be a tracks saw. But, uh, there's just so many times I've gone, Oh man, I pulled my own, you know, straight edge and clamp it down and do that, and I'm like, Oh, I wish I had a tracks saw for this, but I just haven't created the storage space for it.

[00:48:44] Eric Goranson: So. Track

[00:48:45] Scott Couch: saw is a game changer. I mean, it's so nice to have, and I will say out of the two that I do have, the DeWalt one is ridiculously powerful and I've talked to other people that have that one. It'll cut through, you know, like two inch hardwood, [00:49:00] single pass and it's running on a battery, I think. I think it might be one of those bigger, like 40 or 60 volt batteries, but it's still.

[00:49:08] Scott Couch: It's impressive that it does it all on a

[00:49:10] Eric Goranson: battery. Yeah, that whole flexible system they have. I got to play with that. Um, it was funny, this was probably six years ago. I was out in New York at my buddy Skip made Dell's house out there and he did catch a contractor and he's always on Fox and friends doing stuff, but he was working with those guys and he got the pre-release of that and I was there when UPS showed up.

[00:49:32] Eric Goranson: So him and I unboxed that stuff. It was in a white box. They didn't even have the box. Figured out it was the early, early it was a okay just kind of a white box that came out of it, was not branded yet, and uh, used that app and I was like, Wow, this is a game changer for putting serious power into a saw.

[00:49:53] Scott Couch: Oh sure. It's, it's amazing what these battery powered saws can do. I have another, uh, I have a Milwaukee 18. That's what I have, uh, [00:50:00] Mir saw and that thing is like ridiculous.

[00:50:04] Eric Goranson: Yeah. I've got, uh, I've got one as well. I've got the smaller, it's almost a trim saw. It's that seven a quarter small one, which is great for just hauling around.

[00:50:12] Eric Goranson: And then I've. I do have a big, like 12 inch, um, rigid one that gets dusted off every time and it's corded, but I only use it when I need to cut something really big. Sure. And usually it's just sitting in the corner of the, on the shelf in the shed, but that's what it's sitting there for. But, uh, yeah, the, the small stuff like that, when it's easy to handle and move around and I've got the stand for it, it works out pretty good for just doing moldings and trim and that kinda stuff.

[00:50:38] Scott Couch: Sure. It's funny that you say that about the Mir saw. Cause when I first got into woodworking I was thinking, you know, I need a Mir saw. That's like very important. And it's funny how like often I don't use it or like if I'm gonna crosscut something, I'll just use the table saw to do it cause it's right there and it's, Yep.

[00:50:55] Scott Couch: And it tends to be a lot cleaner .

[00:50:57] Eric Goranson: It does. I mean that soft throws stuff everywhere. [00:51:00] Yeah. And I've gotten burned at trying to on, on that mir sauce sometimes and you're cutting a little piece of hardwood or something and you cut it. Edge of the blade grabs it or something and ding Oh yeah. Launches off and happy you got eye protection on, Cuz there's a little piece of, uh, you know, three quarter inch wood bouncing around.

[00:51:19] Scott Couch: Oh yeah. Oh yeah. That was, Do you get a board with any bit of tension in it? And you start cutting it, it pinches that blade. Then there's, there's nothing you can do .

[00:51:28] Eric Goranson: It's flying. It's flying. Oh, yeah. Well, Scott, we're running at a time, What is the best way if somebody goes, Man, I need a sign made, or I wanna learn more stuff about doing this, how do they track you down out there?

[00:51:43] Scott Couch: Best way to get in touch with me is through Instagram dm. Uh, I'm working on updating my website. You can contact me through my website too, uh, working on updating that. So you can actually just order right through my website. Um, but best way to go through now is through Instagram DM for sure. Cool.

[00:51:59] Eric Goranson: Cool.

[00:51:59] Eric Goranson: And that [00:52:00] is Get off the couch. Design. Good? Yep. Get

[00:52:02] Scott Couch: off the couch underscore.

[00:52:04] Eric Goranson: There we go. And, uh, you've got a YouTube channel as well over there, correct?

[00:52:08] Scott Couch: Yes, sir. Get off the couch Design on YouTube as well. And we're on, uh, TikTok too.

[00:52:14] Eric Goranson: There we go. All three. Love it. Oh yeah. Love it. All right, brother. Thanks for coming on today.

[00:52:20] Eric Goranson: Good to see you again, and we'll do this again soon. Sure. Always good talking with you, Eric. All right. I'm Eric G and you've been listening to Around the House