Speaker A
Are we talking to each other? Yeah, I don't know. All right, Scott. Four years in the making, the day's finally come.
Scott builds his forever table following Blacktail Studio rules, with a unique video collaboration and a challenge tied to views and earnings.
Ask about this video. Answers come from its transcript only — with the timestamp, so you can check them.
Generated from the transcript and can be wrong — check the timestamp.
Key Takeaways
- Woodworking requires patience, skill, and learning from mistakes.
- Role reversals can provide fresh perspectives and challenges.
- Collaborative projects can blend creative and technical skills effectively.
- Engagement metrics like views can be tied to creative incentives.
- Documenting the process adds value and insight into craftsmanship.
What the video covers
- Scott, the video guy turned essential collaborator, takes on building his forever table following Blacktail Studio's strict rules.
- The project is a role reversal where Scott must do all the woodworking himself with only consultation, no physical help.
- The slab used is from the world's largest walnut tree, donated by Goby Walnut, adding historical significance.
- A unique challenge is proposed: Scott invests in the materials and earns $1,000 per million views over three years, risking loss if views are low.
- The video explores the difficulties of filming woodworking, with Scott handling camera work and the original creator stepping back.
- Scott's woodworking skills and learning moments are highlighted, including challenges with tools like the jigsaw.
- The video also shares background on Scott's career and how he joined Blacktail Studio.
- Editing and captioning responsibilities are split between Scott and the creator, adding a layer of production insight.
- The project emphasizes craftsmanship, patience, and the learning curve involved in woodworking.
- Humor and camaraderie between Scott and the creator add personality and engagement to the video.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction and Project Setup
- 01:30Filming Roles and Challenges
- 02:58Proposal for Video Performance Incentive
- 06:34Filming Difficulties and Jigsaw Work
- 08:10Scott’s Background and Hiring Story
- 09:50Work Progress and Learning Moments
- 12:20Editing and Production Insights
- 19:00Final Thoughts and Wrap-up
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
You've already been more well-liked in the comments for the last two or three years, and now people are starting to speculate that you're a better woodworker. So, I know you've wanted to build your forever table for a while.
Speaker A
This is your chance. Cool. I'm excited. My heart's pounding. Ooh. I do have some ground rules, though. Okay? Okay, hold on. I have a thing on my phone for this.
Speaker A
All right. You're going to follow the standard Blacktail Studio playbook. So, which means we can't use the phrase "good enough."
Speaker A
Doesn't mean it has to be perfect, but you have to get it to a point where you can't do it any better.
Speaker A
You say "good enough" all the time. Fair enough. I don't remember that. You can't build something ugly.
Speaker A
Don't say it. [laughter] Uh, yes, moving on. Uh, no metal table legs. Okay. Also, also moving on.
Speaker A
Uh, you can't sell it. It has to be for you. So, this is like the complete opposite of a Blacktail Studio [laughter] table.
Speaker A
You have to do this yourself. I'm here for consultation, but I'm not here to help.
Speaker A
Do you have any tips for this? No, that doesn't feel right. Why does it sound like it's struggling?
Speaker A
Okay. Physical, physical help. Will you keep me from like cutting a finger off? What was the first rule like on your first day?
Speaker A
Get the shot. Get the shot. Keep rolling. I'm going to be the video guy.
Speaker A
Yeah, it wasn't recording. There we go. Now we're rolling. [laughter] Okay. Does that mean you're also going to edit this?
Speaker A
I'm going to be the video recording guy. Okay. I retired from editing. Are you going to do the voiceover?
Speaker A
Yeah, you do not have to do the voiceover. Okay. I didn't want to do a voiceover.
Speaker A
You have to thank Goby Walnut for the slab. Right now? I don't know. Thanks, Goby Walnut.
Speaker A
Goby donated this. This comes from the Sawi Island tree, which was the world's largest walnut tree. Um, this is not the largest slab from the series, but it's kind of cool that you have a bit of a piece of history from the largest tree
Speaker A
in the world, largest walnut tree. That's why I wanted this one. I thought it'd be a cool story.
Speaker A
Yeah, it's also super cool looking. Yeah. It's got a nice crotch. Cool. Um, and you cannot spam us with your QR codes for the free coffee.
Speaker A
[laughter] Why aren't you woodworking? Uh, are you absolved from helping me just move it?
Speaker A
Mhm. All right, I'll allow it. Are you cutting your final circle or never mind. I'm not, I'm not helping.
Speaker A
Okay. You're going to have so many shots out of focus. If you've seen my videos in the last three years or so, you know that Scott is not just the video guy anymore. He is basically an essential character in this
Speaker A
show, and I would not know how to do this production without him, man. I try to compensate him accordingly. He does make more than any other videographer that I'm aware of, but this build was a little bit different. So, it gave me an
Speaker A
idea. All right, you ready? I'm going to get that guy. Yeah, we're getting that one. I have a proposal.
Speaker A
I've been thinking about this for a while. We're doing it on camera. I think it would be fun if we had a chance for you to really benefit if this video does well, right?
Speaker A
Sounds fun. Uh, I also think it'd be really fun if you didn't benefit from a bad video.
Speaker A
Sounds less fun. Yeah. So, here's the idea. Uh, I think I want to give you a chance to invest in yourself. So, if this video goes really well, then you make a bunch of money.
Speaker A
Uh, and if it does poorly, you lose a little bit of money. So, here's the gist of it. Our last 10 videos have averaged 2.4 million views.
Speaker A
Coincidentally, the materials for this cost about $2,400. So, if you want to buy the materials, and I'll donate that money, so it's not like I'm profiting from Goby giving us a free slab, I will give you $1,000 per million views
Speaker A
that this gets for like the next, say, three years. So, if it gets 10 million views or 15 million like videos in the last 18 months, uh, you make a bunch of money, but if it gets a million views, then you lose a
Speaker A
moderate amount of money. Okay. You don't have to decide now, but uh, what are your thoughts?
Speaker A
I think it sounds kind of fun. Uh, yeah. So, um, cool. And also, if you're curious for comparison, my round table we did a few months ago got 2.3 million views.
Speaker A
So, if I beat yours, then I... It's kind of a, uh, yeah, it's me versus you Freaky Friday, like who builds a better round table video.
Speaker A
That sounds cool. Yeah, I think that sounds fine. Okay. I was kind of hoping you wouldn't take it and I could just say that I was being nice by not giving you the chance, but because you feel like this video's going
Speaker A
to get like 15 million views? I don't think it's going to get that low of views, so I think you have a lot more to gain than you have to lose.
Speaker A
Okay. Which means I have a lot more to lose than gain. Okay. Be fun.
Speaker A
All right. We still need to do the pickup shot, though. Okay. [snorts] Share this video.
Speaker A
Why does it sound like it's struggling so much? I'm here for consultation, but I'm not here to help. This falls into I don't owe you anything.
Speaker A
Okay. Something I've never really clarified in these videos is Scott edits them, but I caption them. So, if you ever see a caption in the lower left-hand corner, that's something that you should hear in my voice, whereas if you see a caption
Speaker A
somewhere else on the screen, that could either be in Scott's voice, or maybe it's just an ambiguous note about the video. And there's probably going to be a fair amount of both of those in this video.
Speaker A
Oh man, you had such a learning moment there. What was it? When you pull a running jigsaw out of it, nine times out of ten it hits the wood on the way down and like bends the blade in half.
Speaker A
Oh, so I got lucky? You got lucky. Okay. Dang it. When Scott's recording me work, we have a pretty good rhythm because I'm always looking up to see if he needs me to stop work so he can move the camera. When the
Speaker A
roles are reversed, we're still working that out. Hope people appreciate camera work I'm still doing for us here.
Speaker A
There we go. Now we're rolling. [laughter] I hope you appreciate how difficult it is to record.
Speaker A
I know. I know. This video work is not as easy as I remember it is when I was my own video guy, but luckily there is a light that flashes on the recording device. So hopefully if I think I'm recording and
Speaker A
I'm not, Scott can actually point it out, but spoiler, it happens a lot in this video.
Speaker A
I don't think I'm very good at jigsaw. Is it normal for this thing to be so hot?
Speaker A
Yeah. Okay. Yes, yeah, those types of jigsaws are going to get warm. Okay. Best jigsaw circle ever?
Speaker A
Yeah, I guess. So now that I'm done, how did I do with the... Pretty bad.
Speaker A
It felt bad. Uh, I think it is the wavy board, really hard wood, and you might have chosen a dull blade.
Speaker A
Oh. That makes me feel better. Uh, I can tell you I've done worse. Okay.
Speaker A
Cleaned up. What's next? Put some tape on. Hold on. Is this a live set?
Speaker A
[snorts] Uh, hold on. So you have cleaned up now. Hell. Some of you might be curious what Scott did before he came to work for me and how I hired him in the first place, but Scott is a Midwest kid. He's from
Speaker A
Indiana and he went to Ball State for film school. From there, he actually had some pretty cool jobs. He worked for the San Francisco 49ers as a videographer.
Speaker A
He also worked for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a videographer. But, fun fact, if you don't know, cool-sounding jobs generally don't pay very well. They kind of pay you with a cool title and that's just kind of a
Speaker A
rule of life and that goes until you get paid extremely well, like playing for the Buccaneers. Anyway, from there, he ended up going to Bass Pro Shops and I believe he was their lead videographer up in Missouri and he just wasn't super
Speaker A
happy and I knew one of Scott's friends who did some work for me in the video front and I talked to him and I told him I was looking for a full-time employee and he's like, "I think I got a guy." So, Scott and I tal
Speaker A
So, Scott and I talked a couple times just on video chat. I ended up offering him the job and he accepted and loaded up his Ford, got his dog Cali and made the trek out to Oregon.
Speaker A
How'd you do? Uh, it maybe could have been a little farther over, but I think it's okay.
Speaker A
So, you're saying you think it's good enough? We can't use the phrase good enough.
Speaker A
Uh no. Is it good as you're capable of doing? Are you proud of it?
Speaker A
Yeah. Believe it or not, Scott had basically zero woodworking experience before coming to work for me. He said that his dad woodwork a little bit, but he never had a big interest in it, but he's gotten pretty into it now and I think
Speaker A
it's because he doesn't realize what it's like to have a shitty shop because he's only ever worked in my shop, so he can't appreciate what it's like having to work with cheap hand-me-down Ryobi tools or old Craftsman tools that you
Speaker A
got off Facebook Marketplace. But, that said, he's become a really good woodworker and I don't ever actually recall giving him any specific lessons.
Speaker A
He just kind of picked it up. You got any tips for this before I get going?
Speaker A
Uh yeah. You have to do this yourself. What I would do is I'd ease it into the belt when it's oscillating, you know?
Speaker A
Yeah. And don't go past your line. Fair enough. I have to admit, I was a little torn through this project because initially I was like, I want this to be a complete role reversal and I'm not going to help
Speaker A
him at all. He's going to do everything on his own. But then I realized he helps me a ton and not just moving the heavy slabs. We sit around and brainstorm ideas. When I get stumped on something, he comes up with a fix for it and vice
Speaker A
versa. And so I really realized that it wasn't going to be a role reversal if I didn't help him at all. So I kind of had to find a balance between making him do the woodwork but still getting a little
Speaker A
bit of assistance just from a friend as a kind of a consigliere role, if that in fact is a word.
Speaker A
All right, just cuz you've saved me a bunch of times. I know you're going to mess it up but this is Okay, you You're fine. Uh Yeah, yeah. That is That is pretty deep.
Speaker A
Um I didn't even think to check that side. Uh it only goes to about the sapwood.
Speaker A
Okay. Let me see if I can figure it out. All the colored stuff does something.
Speaker A
Uh The only other thing is let's take the battery out while I'm figuring that out.
Speaker A
Do you have one? Okay. Accidentally I turned it on. Like this thing? No, that don't feel right.
Speaker A
What is that thing? You aiming at me? I didn't know it was going to shoot out of there.
Speaker A
I thought yours was funny cuz I don't think I knew how to do that.
Speaker A
I think I would just manually turn that thing. What What did you push? This thing right here.
Speaker A
Oh yeah, I never pushed that. I would just manually reach in and turn that.
Speaker A
[gasps] So I learned something. It It in. I guess that's it. All right. Yeah, I wasn't recording.
Speaker A
It's done. Uh it went super cleanly and perfect. There might be a theme through the video of me being video guy.
Speaker A
People think it's just pushing a little red button, but it's way harder than that.
Speaker A
No, it's just a little red button. I just got You have to remember to push it.
Speaker A
Did you ever see that guy on YouTube that has a construction channel that lopped off all of his fingers from the jointer?
Speaker A
Yeah. Just Just bringing it up. Have you ever been properly shown how to use a jointer?
Speaker A
Uh I've seen you do it a hundred times. So, that's no. Scott proceeded with the most dangerous tool in the shop with the confidence of a first-year apprentice.
Speaker A
Confidence that was not necessarily shared by me as I stood there watching like my dad watched me try to start a manual transmission on a hill when I was 15. And anyway, I did my best to bite my
Speaker A
tongue, something that my own father I wish would have done a little bit better. But eventually, after about 40 minutes with the jointer and planer, he only landed a little short.
Speaker A
I was hoping for 2 in, we got 1.89. So, story of my life. If you're curious, and I have a feeling that you aren't, I really don't get recognized very often out in public. It does happen occasionally. For some
Speaker A
reason, airports are the spot where I get recognized almost every time I go, but basically never anywhere else. And I wonder if it's just that everybody's on high alert scanning for terrorists and that guy from those epoxy videos just
Speaker A
happens across their plane of view. But anyway, Scott has been recognized a few times outside of the airport, and he even got recognized on a first date, which I feel like is the absolute best-case scenario.
Speaker A
As far as I know, Scott hasn't got any stalkers just yet though, but if he does, I'll get him a subscription to this video's sponsor, Incogni. And if you haven't tried Incogni, go ahead and Google yourself. You will be staggered
Speaker A
by how many places your information pops up, and for some reason, this is completely legal. Incogni is the answer to this weird legal stalker loophole though.
Speaker A
Incogni is constantly scanning the dark web and light web for that matter for websites that sell or share your information online. Then they go to work on your behalf to get it removed. And since I'm kind of a DIYer, I love their
Speaker A
customer removals tool where if I find my information somewhere online, I can copy that link and paste it into Incogni and they take it from there.
Speaker A
Remember, they can't harm you if they can't find you. So, use code blacktail at the link below and get 60% off annual plans.
Speaker A
I really tried to let Scott make his own mistakes and figure this build out himself, but this one made me a little nervous because he kept insisting at putting his eyeball about as close to this router bit spinning 20,000 rpm's as
Speaker A
a jeweler puts his eyeball to inspect a diamond. So, showed him a couple of better ways that might be a little bit safer, and for the most part, he did a pretty good job, but some old habits die
Speaker A
hard. I mentioned at the start of the video that Scott wasn't allowed to spam us with his QR codes, and you probably missed that because not very many people know what I'm talking about there, but it was pretty clever by Scott. So, I'll
Speaker A
give him credit where credit is due. A couple of videos ago, I said something about trying to cover up a patch in a piece of wood, and I go, "Oh, we'll just stick an ad there." But, I didn't want
Speaker A
to actually make it an ad and do that. I felt like I was spamming people. So, Scott put a QR code on there, but I didn't know that it was going to a website called buy me a coffee. And buy
Speaker A
me a coffee is basically just a thing where somebody can donate five bucks and buy somebody a coffee. So, Scott did a buy me a coffee link to himself, and he thought, "Oh, maybe he'd get five or 10
Speaker A
bucks." Anyway, he ended up getting $760 off of that. So, now he is all in on these QR codes, and I told him that he could put them in this video as long as I don't notice them. And I know there's
Speaker A
at least one in here so far and he's probably going to put more in, but they have to be discreet. And anyway, just know if you think you're buying him a coffee, so many people are also buying him a coffee. So, just keep that in
Speaker A
mind. How you doing? I think that's a fair question. I'll get back to that.
Speaker A
Try this. Scott and I wear different colored gloves in the shop so we can reuse a pair and not have to worry about grabbing the wrong one. And I told Scott he could choose his color and he opted
Speaker A
for the big John McCarthy look, which is a little surprising since the only thing he watches is Star Wars and Star Wars spin-offs, but he pulls it off.
Speaker A
You need to put something on the concrete. On the concrete and on the drip pan?
Speaker A
No, it's fine. It's fine. Told you we're doing the opposite of a black tail table.
Speaker A
[sighs] The whole build's going to be like this. If you go to the comment section of any of my videos for the last, say, 6 or 8 months, there is one comment that comes up again and again and again. And that's
Speaker A
basically saying, "What the hell happened to Scott?" Because if you don't know, Scott lost a lot of weight. And this is something that I've talked about with Scott in detail. For some people this can be really personal and I can
Speaker A
understand if they didn't want me to talk about it. So, I asked Scott and he's actually really proud of his weight loss. So, he was thrilled for me to share the story and kind of how he did it. But, if you don't know, when I hired
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Scott almost 4 years ago, he looked like this. And he said it was actually this video here that made him want to lose the weight. He just said, "I saw myself and I didn't like the way I looked and I
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wanted to do something about it." So, Scott started the weight loss journey right here.
Speaker A
And before any of you say this, because a number of people have said this in the comments, Scott is not on Ozempic or any version of that or any type of weight loss drug. And I don't think Scott has
Speaker A
anything against people that are on weight loss drugs. I certainly don't have anything against those people, but let's face it. It is different losing the weight through diet and exercise versus taking Ozempic or something like that. And if you still don't believe me,
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I will bet any one of you any amount of money using my own money that Scott has not and is not taking any weight loss drugs. Anyway, how Scott started the weight loss, he actually started using Weight Watchers, which I didn't even
Speaker A
know was a thing and trust me, none of this is sponsored, but he did pretty good. I think he lost like 50, 60, 70 lbs doing the Weight Watchers thing, but he really kind of plateaued around I think 250, 260 lbs.
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I figured at that point Scott would be pretty content just hanging out around 250 lbs cuz that was a significant amount that he was down, but he wasn't.
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So, I talked to the online trainer that I work with and I asked him if he would be interested in working with Scott and he said, "Yeah, absolutely." And I told Scott, "Hey, I will pay for this trainer
Speaker A
for the next year or so if you'll actually use it." And Scott's like, "Yeah, I'll actually do it." And Scott has been absolutely crushing it with this guy. He's down another like 50 lbs.
Speaker A
As of yesterday, he weighed 199, which is pretty incredible. They don't have carts. It's your bill, what do we do?
Speaker A
It looks like we got to carry it in. I got to work the camera.
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Recently, I'd asked Scott what the biggest difference or what feels the most different having lost all the weight. He just thought about it and he's like, "Pretty nice fitting on an airplane seat and I don't get that winded when I'm
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just walking around." And I jumped in and I go, "And you get to date hot girls now." And he got this big smile on his face and he's like, "Yeah, that's pretty great." Because he's dating a lovely girl who also happens to be an
Speaker A
orthopedic surgeon. The last thing I'll say on the weight loss and again, this is not sponsored, but if you want to check out the trainer that Scott's been using, his name is Luke Golden. He's just a super good dude
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and I'm really proud of everything that Scott's done and really appreciate Luke helping him out through this process.
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As Scott continues to progress as a better and better woodworker, I continue to feel less and less needed. So, occasionally, whenever Scott skips a step and actually needs my help, it kind of feels good.
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No, it wasn't the right size. What size did you use? The one that was in the drill.
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What size was that? I don't know. What size are you supposed to use? I don't know.
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Okay. Not this one, apparently. I knew it. I'm going to remember this in the future.
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I'm going to go with 8-in. Only if there's a device to check check the exact diameter of things.
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Nah. Should I go with your go with your heart? It's an 8-in. I knew it was. I was going to check it.
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You know that when I grabbed the drill and you saw that little teeny tiny bit on there, you're like, "What an idiot." I suspected it was not the right size.
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There it is. What did I go release for? I thought I thought this was it. It kind of moved a little when I pushed this button.
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Yeah. Come on, Fest tool. That fine German engineering. You blame the German. Haven't they been persecuted enough?
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This part of the round table project always makes me a little nervous because I've messed it up a number of times because that pin can pop out of that circle jig in the center or the router bit can loosen or any number of
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problems. However, Scott went through it without a hitch. Which one you doing? Fest tool.
Speaker A
Interesting choice. Brought to you by Fest tool. Thank you, Mom. Not brought to you by Fest tool. They didn't pay a That circle went pretty good. Was that Is that the most nervous thing you had about the build or
Speaker A
No, actually that was like the that that particular cut was probably the least. Oh, what are you What are you most nervous about?
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This next part. I'm not very good with the jigsaw and I'm worried about staying in my little half-inch line.
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Is it so that after this are you in the home stretch? No, because then I'll be a little worried about the flush mount trim. But then after that I'll probably not.
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Okay. This project was really kind of a paradox for me because after seeing how excited Scott was to build this table that he'll likely keep forever, I just genuinely didn't want anything bad to happen to him despite all the jokes that
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I'm making throughout this video. I didn't want him to experience all the pain and suffering that I've had to deal with so many times building these projects. At the same time, you really don't learn anything unless you experience that pain and suffering. So,
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I was really just torn between how much do I help him and how much don't I help him?
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All right, what's your level of confidence with this now? He did good uh good job with the jigsaw.
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Um good, but I'm afraid I've I've seen you like rock. Hey, we don't need to You've seen You've seen people rock before and I know it's not fun to deal with.
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Fun fact about my channel, I got to around 700,000 subscribers using only my iPhone. I filmed everything on my iPhone and I even edited everything on my iPhone using the stock iMovie app. At one point, I wanted to believe that I
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was maybe the world's greatest iMovie editor because who the hell would do that much editing directly on iMovie, but I was pretty good. Eventually though, I did get a real camera and stepped up to some proper software and
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got to be a pretty confident video and editing guy, but anymore I'm not so sure.
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Okay. [music] [music] [music] I think I got some good shots. Is it perfect? Yes.
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What's the diameter supposed to be? 42 in. Looks pretty spot on and pretty good.
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I have been trying to tell people for years how freaking easy these bowtie inlays are and I'll use Scott as my proof at the end of this. In fact, I'm also looking at the first bowties that I ever did right now cuz they are on my
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beer fridge and the bottle opener thing that I made and the bowties are actually pretty freaking fantastic and as far as making them, this is not a jig that I made up but it is incredibly simple.
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It's just a 90° notch in a piece of plywood then on the back of it you cut it at 7, 8, or 9°. 7° gives you a kind of a thin modern bowtie and a 9° gives you that more kind of traditional tuxedo
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bowtie shape. As far as tracing it out, I use this Damascus marking knife. This is one that I offer for sale and right now there's actually a bundle with this one and the two thick Damascus marking knife as well as a Blacktail Studio
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t-shirt all for the one low bundle price. I digress. Anyway, I recommend making a few light passes versus one heavy pass and that's all you have to do is well, not all you have to do. You now have to
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hog out the middle of it with a router, and it is helpful if you hook your vacuum up to that first, though.
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It's not collecting it, and it I hit the epoxy, and all my lines got covered. Oh.
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So, I I was like What What What? The vacuum isn't working very well? Uh it's just leaving like You should try putting the vacuum on the router.
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Oh. That's funny. Yeah you You said it'll collect the dust with the shroud up, and I'm like, "This is bullshit." [laughter] Scott appeared to be so happy to have a functioning vacuum that he gave an expression that I could only describe as
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my face in eighth grade browsing AOL at 2:00 a.m. without supervision. Continuing on with the bow ties aren't actually that hard theme, the next thing you need are some chisels, and they don't need to be expensive chisels, but
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they do need to be pretty sharp. And they don't need to be insanely sharp YouTube video splitting a chinchilla hair in half sharp. They just need to be factory edge sharp, and don't take too heavy of a pass. Just take the minimum
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amount until you have no choice but to kind of click that edge right into the groove that you made with the marking knife, and then just go nice and slow.
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And this does take a little while. These two bow ties probably took Scott maybe 40 minutes or so, but since you've traced the exact outline, it really can't be too big or too small.
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Scott was actually filming this portion himself, and you'll understand why I'm clarifying that in just a second, but might surprise you to find out that I actually do a lot of the editing on these videos myself, and we'll say that
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Scott pokes a lot of fun at me through his edits, but occasionally, I get a chance to pay him back. So, for your viewing pleasure, or maybe not so much pleasure, anyway, I'm including the following clips. It's best to play the
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video and not just the audio. Uh Ah, I'm dripping. I'm dripping. I'm dripping so much.
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Jesus. Just lubing it up. Jesus. All right. [snorts] Best bow tie you've ever made?
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I think so, and I'm pretty good at bow ties. Wow. All my bow ties have turned out great.
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Here we are, one project in, and all of a sudden all humility is gone.
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I've done like four sets of bow ties. Okay. Well, I guess we got to got to prove it now.
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Yeah. How are you going to flatten it? Uh I was thinking hand plane. I don't really know how to use this thing.
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There's the humility we're hoping for. Scott's overconfidence and hubris was reaching a fever pitch with the success of these bow ties, so decided to go back to my old bag of tricks and see what I could say to make him second-guess his
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confidence. What you thinking? Just before I point anything out, what do you think? I think they look pretty good, and I think you got nothing to point out.
Speaker A
You're learning my bluffs. They look pretty good. The great thing about woodworking is there is never a risk of being permanently overconfident. We get these little flashes of confidence where we think we have it figured out, but the
Speaker A
nice thing is in a matter of, you know, sometimes it's months, sometimes it's minutes, but we always remember what a terrible hobby this is.
Speaker A
Oh, I wish I was recording. What happened? The bearing came off. Well, Ooh. I was a little worried we're going to have a project with no real hiccups.
Speaker A
You put this on me. You accuse me of loosening your bearing? Well, that sucks, man.
Speaker A
Sorry. It's okay. We're going to fix it. Maybe. Yeah, it started like started going in right there and then it hit right here and it like jolted and I was like, "That was weird." that.
Speaker A
Welcome to uh Blacktail Woodworking. [laughter] What do you want to do now? I think I want to make a 41-in table.
Speaker A
Uh what? Sorry, I've never had a screw come out of a bearing before. That's okay.
Speaker A
I guess that's something to check next time. Uh I know you've been trying to plug brands through this whole thing. So, which brand [laughter] are you going to plug here?
Speaker A
Uh not Freud. [laughter] Okay. Thank you Thank you Red Router Bit Company. Even after 10 years of doing this, I am still an absolute child when it comes to having these disasters. So, credit to Scott for handling it better than I do
Speaker A
and just moving on and fixing the problem. [snorts] What is your level of confidence?
Speaker A
Uh well, it's definitely not 100. But I have confidence that I've really locked down that.
Speaker A
Super Scott tight? Yeah. Probably more Scott tight than I've ever done anything. You're taking you broke the bolt.
Speaker A
All kidding aside, I have literally never had a bearing come out of a router bit and if there's any woodworkers watching, I'm genuinely curious. Is this an ongoing thing or have I just been lucky so far or is this literally the
Speaker A
first time in the history of router bits that this has happened? You do it?
Speaker A
I think so. Does the table feel smaller? Teeny tiny. I think it's a good fix.
Speaker A
So No, I don't know anymore. The edge profile that Scott is using here is the exact same router bit that I used on my big round dining table. In other words, the big round dining table that is in direct competition with this
Speaker A
table to see which video gets more views, Scott just copied the design. Just saying.
Speaker A
Although his table base his table base is pretty freaking cool. I don't think that my table base is going to beat his in that design aspect and I really liked my base, too, but Scott pretty much nailed that. Cut to
Speaker A
the rendering so people can see what we're trying to make. Yeah. How are you going to make sure all these holes are lined up? All right. So, I made this jig while you were gone.
Speaker A
Looks very nice. Um and it's got five evenly spaced holes. But each leg will either get two or three.
Speaker A
But how are you going to remember which one's which? Are you going to be confused? [clears throat] I I got super like neurotic about marking everything. I First, I put a number on here that said two for two
Speaker A
holes. And then I circled out the holes. And I colored in the holes. Okay.
Speaker A
And I'm But how do you guarantee that uh that jig sits on there just right?
Speaker A
We're going to tape it on. We're going to tape it on there. Oh, and then you have like hold guide rails?
Speaker A
Yes. So, it'll like lock in. That's pretty clever. Did I Did I teach you that?
Speaker A
No, this is all me. Okay. Uh so, now and then how do you guarantee you get right exactly in the hole?
Speaker A
I was going to use a 3/4 inch flush mount bit. Yeah. And then despite someone's claim not to help me, he ordered a 1/2 inch flush mount somebody bought you a whole bit just for this?
Speaker A
Just for this. But there'll be there'll be other uses for it. You'll You'll see the $28 line item on your bill and Jack.
Speaker A
My heart's like pounding. I really don't want to mess this up. All right, here we go.
Speaker A
Uh what you just did a little with your fingers? Yeah. No, not yet. If you're wondering why I asked Scott to diddle those holes right there, that's just burbage that we use. You just have to forget that. But it gives a little
Speaker A
bit of context when we're trying to show a reveal of drilling those holes if we're kind of just wiping it with our hands or look like we're inspecting it in some capacity, but it's always just for the video.
Speaker A
First off, to be clear, I had exactly zero input on designing Scott's base other than a couple of just casual conversations we had about the stability of it. He chose everything himself. And that said, I love him including this
Speaker A
brass here. Brass is one of those little features that you can add to a tabletop or a table base, and I think it really just ups that perceived value of it.
Speaker A
It's something I've been meaning to do more, and I'm kind of mad that Scott beat me to it here.
Speaker A
When Scott was shopping that brass rod, I don't know this for sure, but I suspect he fell into that trap of you initially look and you're like, "Yeah, 16 gauge tube should be fine." And then you look and you're like, "Well, 12
Speaker A
gauge is only a little bit more." And then you're like, "Well, 8-in wall is only a little bit more than that." And pretty soon you're ending up with solid brass rods cuz he absolutely does not need a solid brass rod for these, but
Speaker A
it's pretty cool. The wood for these table legs was also generously donated by Gobi Walnut, so thanks for that. But these do not come from that same Sapele Island slab. In fact, these were from two different chunks of kind of generic black walnut.
Speaker A
And anytime you mix and match woods from different trees, you really risk some pretty aggressive color variation, which is why Scott is opting for this kind of walnut stain on walnut. Generally, I don't like staining wood and I know
Speaker A
Scott doesn't either, but when you want to make all the table legs look pretty similar, this is going to be your best bet.
Speaker A
90% of the time, I like to apply finish after the table base is completed. That way, you don't have to worry about glue squeezing out on your new finish or clamps denting that finished wood.
Speaker A
However, since he has this brass on there, he was afraid of getting finish on that. So, he's going to have kind of a challenging glue up here.
Speaker A
I have to say the legs look uh pretty fantastic. I really like how they turned out.
Speaker A
Uh now to now to bring you back down, are you nervous about adding a bunch of epoxy and clamps to this very very nice legs?
Speaker A
I am so nervous about it. I am worried it's going to be a fight to get everything so it's it's flat.
Speaker A
I'm worried about getting epoxy on my nice finish, which hopefully I can tape off most of my joints.
Speaker A
Yeah. Um I just I think it's going to be a mess and it's going to be really difficult.
Speaker A
Yeah. Yeah, I think those are those are founded. Even though I just said 90% of the time I would not assemble a table base this way, this would be one of the 10% that I do agree with Scott because it is going
Speaker A
to be challenging, but I do think it is too risky to get finish on that nice machine brass. So, it's going to be challenging, but I think he can do it.
Speaker A
And despite what I've been saying this whole build about not helping Scott, once I saw him really struggle, I just kind of caved.
Speaker A
You want me to do it or you want to do it? Yes, please. I don't know if this counts. I don't know if I should.
Speaker A
Yeah. This one's not quite there. Okay. I'd go change your gloves if you're worried.
Speaker A
I'm confident, but I'm stressed. Okay. is way less stressful when it's not my project.
Speaker A
Now, I just want to say that brass looks really cool. The base that I made for my personal big round table, the one that we're in a soft competition against Scott's table here, one of the most common comments
Speaker A
that I got about that one was that I put it on upside down because I think a lot of people liked it better the other way.
Speaker A
And I actually was thinking the same thing about Scott's table base here is when I saw it upside down in this video, I was like, I might even like that better, but I do think it looks cool both ways.
Speaker A
Uh so, you came in this weekend? Yeah. I was I was losing sleep. I had to I had to check and see if it was okay.
Speaker A
Did you shoot any footage of what you did? I did not. Uh it's okay.
Speaker A
Uh we've done this before. Um So, wait. Never hold on. I got a better idea. Okay, the last clamp is coming off. Are you nervous about the stability of this? Is it going to work?
Speaker A
I'm so nervous. Okay, take that last clamp off that we're just removing now. Oh.
Speaker A
Okay, hold on. Is it stable? Here's the first test. It's stable. Good job. Stable.
Speaker A
Did it have mounting plates on it before? Uh Okay, now we got that real-time reveal.
Speaker A
I got to say it looks freaking fantastic. I'm really happy with it. I'm surprised how stable it is. I I thought it would be okay. I didn't think it'd be like this solid.
Speaker A
It is. Uh I'm uh genuinely concerned at how people are going to trash my design after how cool yours looks.
Speaker A
Uh so, thank you for that. Ooh. Nice. What's left? Just sanding and finishing, I think.
Speaker A
All right, since I'm video guy this time, you edit these a lot more than I do. How much sanding do people want to see?
Speaker A
If there's one thing I want you guys to take from this video is to be a mid-level woodworker, it's not that difficult. I would consider it probably extremely difficult to be a great woodworker or at least I assume it would
Speaker A
be because I do not consider myself a great woodworker, but Scott and I are pretty good mid-level woodworkers and it's not that hard if you just kind of follow the basic rules of it. And I will say makes it a lot easier when you have
Speaker A
a shop like mine with a hundred thousand dollars of tools, but I would say probably the sander is the only expensive tool that we have that actually gives you a different finish or different finished product than cheap tools. The rest of what we have
Speaker A
basically makes it go faster and less dusty. What do you think? I think it looks good.
Speaker A
I think it looks good. I think it feels good. I'm actually very impressed. I think that finger looks great. I like the bow ties. I like the edge profile.
Speaker A
All right, what I'm about to talk about there, I do have context for, so hear me out. Have I ever asked you to do something that you told me no on?
Speaker A
Yeah. I have. Would you ever lie for me on camera? Mm, no. I don't think so.
Speaker A
Not a [clears throat] Not a full-blown lie. Uh okay. Uh were you in fact an Eagle Scout? Are you an Eagle Scout?
Speaker A
I am an Eagle Scout. Okay. What do you genuinely think of my product N3 Nano?
Speaker A
Uh this is paid [laughter] an ad. Uh No, I I like it. I put it on everything that I've made so far. Well, not not cutting boards, but I put it on all the tables I've made so far.
Speaker A
Um, I put it on my brother's uh challenge coin holder that I made for him and that looked really good. Yeah, I'm very pro N3.
Speaker A
Okay, I know you are cuz I've seen you use it. Um, but I think the audience should know that Scott won't lie for me as as much as I've tried.
Speaker A
I'm willingly putting this on my table not because Cam's making me. Okay, cut to the shot.
Speaker A
I won't give you guys the hard sell since Scott was kind of the testimonial there, but if you haven't heard of it before, N3 Nano is basically a wipe on wipe off coating that goes over any wood finish that makes it look a lot better
Speaker A
and last a lot longer. And if you're curious, Scott sanded this piece up to 500 grit, which is a little bit higher than I normally like to go, but I think it looks fantastic and here's the reveal.
Speaker A
Normally when I do these reveals, I like to show something from the start of the project, then show the same thing at the end of the project. Something like drawing a circle on this rough slab, then cut to a finish shot of the round
Speaker A
table. I still want to do that in this video, but if Scott's okay with it, I want to show how far he has come as well. So, cut to Scott when he first started here, now to Scott today.
Speaker A
Pretty freaking crazy, isn't it? And I am extremely proud of this table that Scott built. I know he is too, and all jokes aside, Scott is a good woodworker, a great videographer, and an even better person. And if any of you try to hire
Speaker A
him away, I will have you sold like that girl in Taken on the dark web. Another movie reference Scott won't get.
Speaker A
I don't think we can put this one in. And you expect us to believe that's what you were doing?
Speaker A
Mhm.
Topics:woodworkingBlacktail Studiowoodworking challengetable buildvideo productionGoby Walnutjigsaw tipscraftsmanshipDIY woodworkingcreative collaboration
