Making It · 16 Jul 2021 · 1h 03m
Jimmy Diresta, Bob Clagett, and David Picciuto discuss their post-TV show lives, with Jimmy buying a 1957 Superior hearse and a teardrop trailer, and Bob developing expired Kodak film. They explore the theme of 'irrelevancy' and the need for makers to take 'left turns' into new disciplines like pottery or framing to avoid creative stagnation. The group also shares specific project updates, including Bob's pull-out pantry, David's end-grain cutting board, and Jimmy's ongoing lathe repair issues.
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Hosts Elecia White and Chris White discuss personal projects and burnout, with Chris detailing his experience using CircuitPython and the MIKROE 8800 board to run Conway's Game of Life, and Elecia sharing her paper engineering class. They explore the psychology of creativity, the desire for obscurity versus recognition, and the operational strain of maintaining a weekly podcast schedule, announcing a potential reduction in frequency.
Erik Curtis, a furniture maker and YouTuber based in Philadelphia, joins Shop Talk Live to discuss the realities of running a woodworking business, teaching, and creating content. Curtis and hosts Amanda and Vic explore the myth of the solitary furniture maker, arguing that modern makers must diversify through teaching, writing, and media to sustain their craft. They debate the role of YouTube in woodworking, distinguishing between entertainment-focused channels and those that provide substantive technical education, while addressing the accessibility of high-end tools versus the necessity of skill. The conversation also covers design philosophy, emphasizing the importance of grain selection, proportion, and stripping away excessive ornamentation to achieve clear, functional aesthetics.
Ed Pirnik, the former senior web producer and creator of Shop Talk Live, joins host Ben Strainer to discuss the podcast's origins, including its early live-streaming experiments and the organic development of the host dynamic with Mike Pekovich and Matt Kenney. Mike Pekovich also appears to promote his new book and online course, 'Foundations of Woodworking,' which focuses on core joinery skills like mortise and tenon, dovetails, and dados. Pirnik reflects on his career transition from international photojournalism to woodworking media, his current projects including building a cherry cabinet and a custom Telecaster guitar, and the technical evolution of the show from manual RSS coding to third-party distribution.
Emily Velasco, a science writer at Caltech and creator of the YouTube channel Emily's Electric Oddities, discusses her hobbyist projects that blend electronics with retro-future aesthetics and unconventional materials. She details the construction of specific devices like the Optical Sound Decoder, the Port-A-Vid, and the Lissajukebox, explaining her use of salvaged junkyard parts and her resistance to the 'hustle culture' pressure to monetize or constantly document her maker process. Velasco also shares insights from her professional life, including her work on complex science communication and recent research into sweat-powered fuel cells and Jupiter's atmospheric storms.
Host Tom McKenna and editors Mike Pekovich and Matthew Kenny discuss their current home shop projects, including Pekovich's drop-front desk and Kenny's sugar bowl, while answering listener questions on tool selection, scraper usage on black acacia, and joinery for tapered legs. The hosts share their all-time favorite tools of the week—Kenny's jam chuck, Pekovich's routing jigs for half-mortise locks, and McKenna's Record block plane—and address wood color changes in cherry and juniper.
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