Beat Around The Bench Podcast

• Ep 127: Koa & The Gang

  The crew welcomes special guest Lee Dumond from Busted Knuckle Woodworks who is recording from his incredibly organized shop in Austin Texas and is about to hit the magical 100,000 subscriber milestone on YouTube after three years of grinding which means he will finally get that silver play buttonLee drops some serious knowledge about why hitting 100K on YouTube is actually meaningful because the verification checkmark you get is literally the only checkmark left on social media that you cannot buy since Twitter Instagram Facebook and Meta all sell verification for just 10 bucks a month making YouTube verification an actual achievement you have to earnThe conversation dives into Lee's background building outdoor furniture in Texas where it is sunny 300 days a year compared to his Maine upbringing which only has three months of summer and nine months of poor sledding and how outdoor furniture was extremely lucrative because people in Texas spend so much time outsideLee shares his powerful story about getting cancer and going through chemo and radiation which made it impossible to lift the heavy materials needed for building arbors and pergolas so he pivoted to creating smaller projects like jewelry boxes and bandsaw boxes as a creative outlet during treatmentThe YouTube journey started when Lee spread out all his bandsaw boxes on his table and set up a camera to talk about how he made each one including the wood types and finishes and that single video sparked his entire channel growth over the past three yearsRoss reveals that his top three performing YouTube videos are all outdoor furniture builds including a simple outdoor bench that has gotten insane views proving that outdoor furniture content performs incredibly well on the platform even for small channelsLee explains that his SawStop actually saved his hand from a table saw kickback incident where a piece of cedar smashed into his knuckles which is how he came up with the name Busted Knuckle Woodworks and he keeps the brake cartridge disk of shame displayed in his shopThe discussion touches on Lee's unique lifestyle living part-time in Paris France and how he creates casual Patreon content about random topics like American fast food in Paris while just sitting at his table saw or walking around the shop talking about whatever is on his mindLee shares his incredible quote that winners want feedback while losers want praise explaining that honest feedback is the most valuable thing you can get in any endeavor and when someone tells him his video sucked instead of praising it that person becomes way more valuable to himThe crew mentions that Lee has been on four podcasts now since WorkbenchCon where he met Alex Duffy who made it his mission to get Lee on podcasts after learning Lee had been a podcast host but never a guest and now he has over 1800 Patreon members supporting his workRoss announces a special 15 percent discount code BATB15% for Gearhart Industry custom branding irons that works for the rest of the year whether you need branding irons for food leather furniture or any other custom branding project

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• Ep 126: Alanis Mortise-Set

  The guys agree that Alanis Mortise Set might be the best episode title so far and kick off Thanksgiving week with Colton already up in Tioga at his in laws place chopping wood and doing horse stuff while Jess is staying local because they have a big trip planned for early DecemberRoss reveals his Thanksgiving menu game is next level with a 12 to 14 hour Cajun smoked turkey using mesquite wood and injecting flavor underneath the skin like turkey Botox plus a 14 pound brisket and he shares his third favorite which is Greek style lamb roast that requires cross hatching the meat and shoving whole garlic cloves down into the skinThe crew dives deep into the perfect lamb preparation technique which involves covering the entire roast in olive oil and rosemary then slow cooking at 180 to 200 degrees for 10 hours before kicking it up to 250 for the final two hours and Ross explains you have to put it in the night before to get that perfect fall off the bone textureThis episode delivers the promised Deep Cut hair trivia segment covering everything from barbers being the original multi tool professionals to beards representing power fashion and rebellion throughout history plus mustaches going through their own eras with styles like the handlebar walrus Fu Manchu chevron and that pencil thin villain lookThe guys drop some incredible mustache facts including that Tom Selleck had his signature Magnum PI mustache insured for over a million dollars and he was originally discovered as the Marlboro man before becoming a Hollywood icon which explains his rugged lookThey reveal that Salvador Dali famously stiffened his pencil thin mustache with shellac and waxed it vertically to impossible angles creating his trademark surrealist look and the word mustache actually comes from the Greek word mystax which translates to lip bristle or upper lip hairColton shares a story about dressing up as Tom Selleck for Halloween which is when his wife Crystal fell in love with him and there is apparently a secret bar in Houston called the handlebar with Tom Selleck pictures all over the walls constantly playing his movies on the TVsJess launches into a passionate snipe about Home Depot trailer parking spots being taken by regular vehicles when contractors with actual trailers need them and he cannot understand why Home Depot does not enforce the rules better especially since there are literally a thousand other parking spots availableThe conversation shifts to practical shop knowledge with Jess explaining the three four five rule for squaring corners using basic trigonometry where you measure three feet one way four feet the other way and if the diagonal between those points is exactly five feet then you have a perfect 90 degree cornerRoss shares two essential home maintenance nuggets including using SharkBite fittings for copper pipe connections which plumbers might not love but work great for amateur DIYers and the importance of updating old fixtures like shutoff valves and gas line connections when you have appliances pulled out since his 1976 original connections were causing water damage

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• Ep 125: Taking Back Sapele

  The crew kicks off with an epic hot sauce showdown where Jess reveals his new number one favorite is Lolas hot sauce especially the regga original which is absolutely insane on tacos and their ghost pepper version which is surprisingly not too crazy hot because it is mostly jalapenos with some ghost pepper and has this amazing smoky flavor that he discovered when Dixies was going out of business at 95 percent offColton shares his love for Marie Sharp Belizean heat habanero hot sauce because it has enough kick to get you going but will not stay around making you sweat and miserable for hours like some of those nuclear hot sauces that ruin your entire day and the next morning tooRoss drops his three tier hot sauce system starting with Trader Joes green dragon tomatillo hot sauce for everyday use that enhances flavor without killing you then classic Franks red hot that literally goes on everything just like the commercials say and finally his special occasion weapon called Z which is the second hottest hot sauce in the world rated at 20 million Scoville units compared to Tabasco at only 1400The guys get into an absolutely wild story where Ross had to sign a legal waiver just to purchase the Z hot sauce promising not to give it to children or the elderly and then he accidentally got some on his finger and put in his contact lens which literally dropped him to the floor in pain and he had to throw away that pair of contacts because it burned for two full daysJess explains the science behind hot peppers revealing that most people think the heat comes from the seeds but actually the majority of the capsaicin is in the white pith part where the seeds attach to the pepper and he talks about the guy who invented the Carolina Reaper who just eats them straight off the vine like it is nothingThe conversation shifts to an exciting preview of next weeks episode titled Deep Cut A Hair Raising Story which will cover everything about barbers beards mustaches scissors and the strange human obsession with keratin including segments about the earliest hair rituals how barbers were the original multi tool professionals and famous hairstyles through historyRoss and Jess drop some mustache trivia including the fact that Tom Selleck had his signature Magnum PI mustache insured for over a million dollars and he was originally discovered as a model for Marlboro which was his very first gig before becoming a Hollywood iconThey reveal that Salvador Dali famously stiffened his pencil thin mustache with shellac and waxed it vertically to create those impossible angles that became his trademark look and the term mustache actually comes from the Greek word mystax which translates roughly to lip bristleJess points out how the current era of woodworking is all about beards and mustaches after noticing at Woodworking BitchCon that everyone looked the same with leather patch hats beards and similar styles making it almost like a uniform for makersThe guys also mention that there is a secret Tiki bar in Houston called the handlebar with an unmarked door in the back that has pictures of Tom Selleck all over the walls and they constantly play his movies on the TVs which sounds like an amazing place to grab a drink

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• Ep 124: Cage the Ecalyptus

  The crew welcomes special guest Chad Schimmel from Turners Warehouse who Colton literally ran into by accident when he called their shop at 450 PM on one of his last days in Arizona and they were still waiting for the mail so he got to tour the whole facility and meet Chad who has been using the mullet technique ever sinceChad shares his incredible journey from being a woodturner hobbyist in Arizona to building a full time business and eventually starting Turners Warehouse which specializes in everything woodturning with a focus on pens and resin casting work making them the go to niche store for turners instead of being like Woodcraft with a little bit of everythingJess opens up about how woodturning is his absolute favorite type of woodworking because it is so personal and hands on with just you and the lathe creating something unique and he talks about the big Grizzly lathe he had at his last company where they would turn 40 inch legs for bar height tables which was a long process but incredibly satisfyingThe guys discuss how woodturning gives you that instant gratification because you can start and finish a project in just a couple hours compared to cabinet work or other woodworking projects that might take days or weeks or even months depending on how much shop time you can squeeze inChad reveals he has an 1805 foot powered treadle lathe that he rescued from a Bass Pro Shop where it was sitting in the Arizona sun getting destroyed after being a mint condition display inside the store and he plans to fully restore it with all the hand forged metal parts and actually use it to turn projects the old school wayThe conversation dives into how Chad got started in turning by making fishing lures on a lathe because he loves to fish and was making replicas of old Heddon lures before discovering pen kits at Woodcraft and eventually making so many pens for gifts that he decided to sell them just to get his money backChad explains his massive vacuum chamber setup in his shop that looks like a witches brew with multiple buckets bubbling away and how it is used for stabilizing wood and removing air bubbles from resin casting which is a huge part of the business at Turners Warehouse for making custom pen blanks and turning projectsThe discussion shifts to Facebook Marketplace horror stories where people try to lowball offers and haggle backwards offering less money after you counter their initial offer or asking you to deliver a 400 pound table saw 30 miles away for 25 bucks or ghosting after agreeing to a priceJess shares his experiences with people trying to guilt trip him into lower prices by claiming to be single mothers when selling appliances and how the whole Facebook Marketplace experience has become such a widespread frustration that there are TikTok memes and videos about it including that hilarious guy who acts out if Facebook Marketplace happened in real lifeRoss reminds everyone that next week the crew will be sharing their Black Friday deals and steals list for all the best woodworking tool bargains and Jess mentions his Brad nailer died so he might be getting a new Milwaukee M18 two inch nailer because they do not make that size in the M12 line

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• Ep 123: Florence & The Mahogany

  The crew starts off talking about Florence and the Machine and how Dog Days Are Over was that one massive hit that everyone has heard but might not realize who sings it which leads to some fun nostalgia about early 2010s musicJess shares an incredible story about a Mexican TikToker who started with just 700 dollars in his pocket living in his car and now travels to all 50 states reviewing tacos and burritos with his cousin while helping small businesses by buying hundreds of tacos and creating massive community events with DJs and thousands of people showing up for free foodThe breakfast food debate gets serious as Jess reveals that breakfast is his absolute favorite meal and he could eat breakfast foods from any country for every single meal especially American country breakfast which sparks a deep dive into everyone's perfect breakfast setupColton breaks down his ultimate breakfast bowl on the Blackstone griddle starting with crispy hash browns as the base then adding over easy eggs bacon and sausage with shredded cheese and Cholula hot sauce on top because griddle cooked bacon just hits different than any other cooking methodThe guys discover Krusteaz sweet cream pancakes which are apparently the best add water pancake mix you can buy and Colton explains his technique of pouring the batter directly onto a pat of butter on the griddle to create these amazing thick pancakes that are almost like fat crepesDiscussion shifts to thermally modified wood and Shou Sugi Ban which is that Japanese technique of charring wood to make it last forever by crystallizing the sugars so bugs cannot get in and it turns out people in countries without money have been doing similar preservation techniques for centuriesColton brings up his fence building plans and the debate between using pressure treated four by fours versus landscape timbers or trying the Shou Sugi Ban method with Jess strongly advocating that you should just spend the money on pressure treated lumber because it will last forever and save you from having to rebuildThe conversation gets into the new foam method for setting fence posts where you dig a bell shaped hole and pour expanding foam around the post instead of concrete and it sets in just minutes instead of waiting for concrete to cure plus it keeps moisture off the post betterJess explains that the foam technique is way faster because you can set a post every five minutes and move on without waiting for concrete to dry and it is somewhat porous but better than concrete for keeping water away from the wood which is what causes rot over timeRoss wraps things up with an important safety reminder about always working smarter not harder in the shop and thinking about the safest way to accomplish heavy lifting tasks like moving a massive butcher block by using equipment that is actually designed for lifting heavy objects

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