My Brother, My Brother And Me - MBMBaM Presents: The New Appalachian Workshop ft. the McElroy Brothers (but not Griffin)

Episode Date: April 5, 2021

With Griffin away on paternity leave, Travis and Justin saw the perfect opportunity to share one of their old projects that never saw the light of day . . . until now. Enjoy the raw audio of their abandoned TV pilot for a show where all your woodworking questions are answered.Suggested talking points: Miracle Steps, Grain is the Muscle, Saw Safety, Which Wood Would You Work With if You Could Woodwork WoodSupport AAPI communities and those affected by anti-Asian violence: https://www.gofundme.com/c/act/stop-aapi-hate Support the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund: https://aapifund.org/Music in this episode is "Vivacity" by Kevin MacLeod. https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4593-vivacity

Hi, everyone. My name is Justin McElroy. I play Justin on My Brother, My Brother, and Me. I'm Travis McElroy. I play the part of Travis on My Brother, My Brother, and Me. Our youngest brother has been blessed with another child and, as such, is unavailable to record our comedy podcast, My Brother, and My Brother, and Me. But- Poor planning on his part, I would say. Poor planning. Very rude, short-sighted. Good news, though. We have something kind of special for you. Back in- Oh, what year was it, Travis? I think it was 2018. 2018. Travis and I filmed our- Gosh, what would you call it? Sort of an experimental

show about woodworking. Yeah. Well, I mean, the intent was for HGTV. Didn't get a pickup. Yeah, that's true. Well, yeah, our producer came to us. Producer Stan came to us and said, I love what you guys do with the podcast. Do you think you could bring that kind of energy to a TV show? And we said, well, we have Stan, but it failed. It didn't pan out. And Stan said, well, maybe the problem is three is just too many. Yeah, so he kind of convinced me and Travis to dial in, get rid of some of the chaff. If you will. Focus on the wheat and really make a show about the fine art of woodworking.

Right, right, right. Something that Justin and I are both very passionate about. Yes, and something that Griffin maybe is less so. He kind of likes electronics and stuff like that. Well, Griffin lacks passion in basically anything. I've never seen him happy. Yeah, not once. Maybe, I mean, hopefully this new baby will finally be. Maybe, maybe that will be the missing, yeah. So anyway, what we thought, no one wanted it. No. Even though we tried our best, which doesn't seem fair. Yeah, right? That's the way it's supposed to work.

And we really wanted it too. Let me be clear, we tried our best and we wanted it. That's true. And still, they wouldn't give it to us. Yeah, which doesn't seem fair. But we did, didn't want it to go to waste. So what we've got for you is a really special treat. It is the audio, just the audio. Of course, we can't show you the video sort of half of this. Yeah, both for copyright reasons and we don't know how to do that through podcasting. Through podcasting, it doesn't make sense. So we just want to share that with you.

And we hope you enjoy it. Try not to be too sad about things what might have been. Obviously, you know. Just enjoy what is. You know what I mean? Just enjoy what is, what was. This one wasn't in the cards, but at least you get to enjoy the new Appalachian workshop featuring the McRoy brothers, but not Griffin. And without further ado, let's let's take it away. And so I say join her. No, that's a planar. It's like a completely different tool.

Yeah, right? I love it. Hi, everybody. Oh, hi. My name is Justin McElroy and welcome to the new Appalachian workshop. This is my brother Travis McElroy. Hi, folks. So glad you could join us. Hey, most of you probably know us from the wild world of podcasting where we've had limited success in a variety of fields. Maybe you know us from our bestselling graphic novels

or our role playing games. But our real passion is the art of wood. Oh, yes. It's something I'd spoken to me for quite some time. My brother, a recent convert, but a strict devotee, I would say. And we're coming at this from a couple of different standpoints, folks. You know, Justin is more of like the furniture guy, more of like the practical sexy one. Sure, the sexy one. I'm a bit more of the bad boy of woodworking coming at this from a carving perspective as well as doing some scenic work in the theater. Now, Travis, back when you were treading the boards, you were also a licensed contractor.

That is true. Yeah, I was a master carpenter, a technical director, and became a licensed contractor and had to learn how building codes worked, sort of. Before we get into the show proper, I did want to show you something I've been working on. Oh, yeah. What do you think? Oh, my God, Justin. Yeah, that's incredible. Yeah. Thank you, Travis. I've been working on it for about six weeks now. I'm real proud of it. It is sort of the first step of a wooden toilet. Yeah. No, I'm loving. Can I just say the seat is so smooth. I was worried about that. That was a concern. It's crucial. It's also shaped exactly to my specific butt type. When I sit on this, I can't

actually feel it. Oh, really? Because of that? You've reached butt negative is what we call that. Yeah, butt neutral. Hugely disconcerting. Now, can you guess the wood? Take a look at the grain. I haven't stained it, so you're getting just the natural thing. Can you guess the wood I've used for this project? Let me smell it. Is that cherry? You got it. It's cherry. It's a cherry toilet seat. Great choice. That's a great, can I just say a great choice. Now, are you going to do the whole thing in cherry, the bowl, the reservoir, the pipes, the flanges, everything? Yeah, I have to figure out a point at which the woodcraft stops. Yeah. Because you could seal things up all day long, but you are going to get some expansion and contraction once wood, once water enters the

picture. Now, have you thought about using sawdust in place of water? Now, that's interesting. Kind of a dry toilet. A dry toilet, if you will. That may be using, that reminds me of an old woodworking joke. Oh, have you heard this one? Probably. I know you're kind of the master of woodworking jokes. Yeah. So I know that you. You heard that one I said about planar earlier, right? No, reminder. Oh, where someone said, is that a planar? And I said, or they said, is that a joiner? And I said joiner. No, that's a planar. Oh, yes, it's yes. My joke I want to tell you was, did you hear about the guy who mixed up sandpaper and toilet paper? No. His woodworking looked like Oh, I love it. A little blue. A little blue for my taste. A little blue. We are, we made our living

and sort of got our notoriety in the past with an advice show. And so our producers, Stan Tabowski, thought that it would be great if we, do people normally mention producers on that? Well, it's a fun thing. They did it on like, I think Regis and Kathy Lee, the whole character. Yes, Jarvis. Yeah. I remember Jarvis on there. Yeah. So this is a, an advice segment, but it's focused on wood. Yeah. Wood, you know, you're our listeners from our old podcast that we used to do, by the way, my brother and me, sent in their woodworking questions. And we want to answer it here on the new Appalachian workshop featuring the McElroy Brothers Benachryphon. And let's be clear, folks, you know, in some of our previous incarnations, we've been somewhat jokesters,

right? But there's nothing joking about wood does not interest us at all. Like carving, be it carpentry, be it, you know, working with a heavy machinery can be very dangerous, folks. So this is going to be straight down the middle. Yeah. Pretty serious stuff. So let's get to that first question. Obvious disclaimer to safety does come first. You shouldn't trust anything we say. No, absolutely not. Dear brothers, I have recently started a laser engraving wood business. Nice. I mostly just engrave on cheap plywood. And to make anything 3D, I use several different types of glue, all of which have awful repercussions. The wood glue that's the safest takes the longest to dry. It's messy. Yeah. Been told that wiping it on my pants makes it look like,

is this, is that about to get blue for TVs? Made jizzies. Just made jizzies. Jizzies. Yeah. It looks like jizzies. I made jizzies. Okay. And the quick drying glue, I swear, is just repackaged twice as expensive super glue and also can be difficult to use. And your expertise, what's the best solution to gluing wood? How can I stop it from being mesama jeans? That's sincerely suspicious stains in San Antonio. Get yourself, what do you, what's your glue? Well, my, I like a gorilla wood glue, frankly. Gorilla made here in Cincinnati, Queen City. I enjoy it. But let me just say right off the bat, friend, get yourself an apron. Don't wipe your jizzies on your jeans. Oh yeah, we're working apron. That's great. Get yourself an apron. Get

yourself an apron or get jeans that are the same color as the jizzies. And then you can't see it. I use gym shorts and old t-shirts that made me look like I'm about to go to a soul cycle class. What I'm really doing is doing wood. And that's a trick to the wood. Not a lot of people will tell you that, but like the wood will see you and it will relax because it's like, oh, he's not going to be drilling into us today. He's going to soul cycle class. Oh, wait, what's that? He's drilling screws into us, but they're so relaxed it doesn't split. Right? That's something that they don't tell you at woodworking school. You just got to find that out out here on the streets. But yeah, I think it sounds like if you're wiping enough on your pants to look like jizzies, you might just

be using too much glue that's getting all over your cans. That might be the issue there. I have a big pile of rags that I'm using to wipe away excess. Yeah. But you know what? If you do have excess, sometimes the smartest thing to do is just let it dry a little bit. Let it tack up and then scrape it off there with a scraper. I love scraping. I love that. Now, I'm a tight bond two man. Oh, okay. I like tight bond two more than, I actually use tight bond two more than three. Now, the differences can be, to the amateur, can be a little bit tough to discern. Tight bond three is waterproof. Well, tight bond two is water resistant. But also tight bond three, and this is a personal thing for just the way I like to work. Tight bond three has a longer open time,

about 10 minutes. And so you can set up a tight bond two in about five minutes. And I like to work fast. Yeah. I'm not doing a bunch of complicated glue ups. I like it to start tacking up so I could move on with my life. Now, Justin, I'm sorry to jump in here, but sometimes that drying time, that setup time, give you a chance to step back and, you know, sip some mint tea. Look at your handiwork. Think about how, you know, how much you've done, how far you've come, how, you know, in the act of creation, it is like unto a God. Do you ever just step back and think about how only God can make a chair and you, just the two of you? Just me and God making chairs. No traps. I've never taken time for reflection like that. Oh, you have to. Oh, you have to. That's

my favorite part. Sometimes I'll get a hunk of wood. I'll see what exists within it that I can bring out. And then that's what I'll carve out. And say I carve out a little piggy, right? And I think I've created life, you know what I mean? That this is kind of my act of creation. And in, and in that way, a bit of an act of defiance against God, you know what I mean? And then I'll sip my mint tea, which I have here in the mug I carved. Beautiful. And just think about my sheer power. Oh, hi, guys. You're talking about, oh God, it's Woodzo the Woodchuck. No. Oh my goodness. God. Woodzo, I'm sorry, Trav. I talked to the producers about it. I told them I didn't want to do. What are you guys talking about? I told them I didn't want to do Woodzo the Woodchuck, who was to eat

all of our projects. It's for the kids and it's Toyota. Hey, Woodzo. Well, hey, Trav. What kind of thing are you guys working on today? Anything involving wood? Well, it's our always involving wood, Woodzo. It's a woodworking show. And as you can see here, Justin has created a beautiful cherry turlet seat designed to fit his butt. No, Woodzo. Woodzo, leave it. Hey, come on. I'm starving. Okay, but don't make me activate the electronic belt, Woodzo. The sun just made me have a soul in the brain. I know, Woodzo. I'm starving. Woodzo, Woodzo, back in the crate. All right, I'll take a break. What's the crate made of? It's made out of metal. We planned ahead, Woodzo. You can't be released into the wild. The genetic modifications, if that got spread throughout

the Woodchuck community, it would be the end of us. Trav with Woodzo back in his metal crate. Would you like another question? Well, actually, Justin, I want to take you over here. Join me over here. Okay. That's right. It's Woodworking Legends. It's the Woodworking Legends corner. Now, Justin, I want to show you. Stan, can we pull up that image? Yes. Okay, so folks at home, you are seeing now an image of the miracle steps of the Loretto Church. Look at those. The miracle steps. Wow. Look at those things. Look at them, folks. Oh, goodness. I'm so glad you're all seeing this because you wouldn't believe it if I described it to you. Oh, hot sheet. Now, that's, Trav, if I could say that's craftsmanship. That's craftsmanship right

there, Justin. It is a 720-spiral staircase with no center column and no supports. How on earth did they get that done? Well, it's not only that, Justin. Supposedly, legend says no nails were used, just wooden pegs and glue. Hot sheet. Glue? Yep. When was it made? In 1800s. But here's the real thing, Justin. That's not the real miracle. I'm already on cloud nine over here. I know. And I used this staircase to get up there. Now, here's the part of the story that's, this is blue, so I figure Stan will, but it's kind of fucked up. The person who designed this church, this chapel, didn't design stairs into it originally. So you had the second floor choir area, and it was unreachable when the church was done, according to legend.

Wow, that must have been embarrassing. Yeah, it must have been a real problem. Oh, there's your problem kind of thing, you know, as they say. And so the nuns there, they prayed, prayed to the patron saint of woodworking. And then a lot of, listen, a lot of carpenters, let's just call them what they were, carpenters, came in and said, nothing to be done about it. That's just unusable space now. Maybe a ladder, they said. A big dust, dust collector. Yeah. And the nun said a ladder. No, we're nuns. That would be embarrassing. Can you imagine what that would look like? Nuns going up and down a ladder all day. So they prayed. And then an unnamed carpenter arrived, built these steps, left without payment or giving his name, and he was never seen again.

Now, that sounds noble, but I've been woodworking for long enough to know that what probably happened is he finished, he's like, I have no fucking clue. I'm terrified. I'm actually going to just go ahead and book. And to be fair, the railing was added later by the nuns. So originally there was no railing on this bad boy. And I guarantee that carpenters were like, man, I don't know. This is just a weird dream I had and there's no guarantee. I should go. I should go while it's still dark and no one's here. What a beauty. Now, where are these? This is in Santa Fe at the Loretto Church, the Miracle Staircase. Well, I got to get over there. I got to get over there and check it out. That'll be the first trip I take here in just a couple,

whenever I'm traveling again. Worth it. Can you imagine walking up and down those babies? Well, they let you. Do they make you pay to do it? I think it actually is $3 a person, if I remember correctly. Okay, that's a steal though. Here's another question from our viewers. I'm a would-be keen amateur woodworker, but I don't know where to get any wood to work. I don't want a heap of lumber big enough to build a house with just a handful. Do I just have to steal it? Why is that? Help me please. Why is that where you'd go to? Wait, hold on. Help me please. Longing for lumber in ladywood. I like that the two options are, to this person, order like a huge stack of house amount lumber or steal it. Yeah, I mean, when you

start in any craft, every question seems unanswerable. Yeah. Where do you get even get wood? Right. It's comical now to a seasoned bro. Yeah. But it is a fair question. Where do you get wood? Well, friend, let me tell you, wood's all around you. It's everywhere. It's everywhere. Look over there. See that? That's your neighbor's fence. That's wood. You can use that. Well, no, you shouldn't take people's fence. No, I'm not saying you should. I'm just saying you could. I'll tell you one great source. If you want to start fucking around, you know, keep an eye out for pallets. Oh, yeah. Wood is very on brand right now. Now, you got to be careful to make sure that it's not, hasn't been chemically treated to where it would be dangerous. You can look, there's like charts,

you can look up that tell you what the different stampings on the pallet wood are. And usually, they're going to be put together a lot of times with nails. So, you want to make sure you have like a wunderbar or crowbar or something that's going to help you pry those apart. But once you do and you clean them and you fix them all up, you should give them a little sanderouski, that could be some quality wood. That's going to have a lot of character. And it's going to be something that you can just mess around with. Gratis. Let me tell you my trick, Justin. Okay. Look for restores. Look for, we got one here in Cincinnati. It's where people bring, you know, if they've done some demo to old buildings, they'll bring like old doors there and

old, you know, pieces of like woodwork and some trim and stuff like that. And sometimes you can find some good quality, already well-seasoned aged wood there. And the deeper trick is, sometimes it's already made into something. And then you can just buy that and say you made it. Now, you won't get the satisfaction out of it. Let me be clear. I wouldn't do that. I actually don't agree with that. But you will get compliments. Yeah, I guess that's true. I would be careful if you're driving around and you're looking for, I mean, you can look around for furniture that people are throwing out to try to find some wood to mess up there. But be careful because like a lot of the stuff that's been made in the past, however many years, since 20 years, a lot of it's going to be

made out of like particle board and MDF, which is a medium density fiberboard. And that's, I don't really think that's worth reclaiming. You're not going to be able to strip that and make it look nice. It's just going to be junk. So I wouldn't mess around with that. And I'll use MDF in a project, but not, I mean, something for the shop. I'll tell you another secret, folks. This is from Travis, the theater professional. If you got an Ikea near you, oftentimes they will have a section that is just like, Hey, here's a bunch of loose parts that are either from returns or like incomplete boxes or damaged floor models. You can find some pretty good like butcher block table tops in there sometimes. And then you just build a table under that.

Use that butcher block for the top. Now you got yourself a little cutting station to use in the kitchen or for kids to do crafts on top of. Oh my gosh. Yeah. What a great, what a great tip. Thank you. You're welcome. I appreciate it. Hey, that'll be $5, please. Hey, I got, I got some more woodworking jokes. Oh, please. Yeah. You know, woodworking is really serious, but we like to have a little bit of fun from time to time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I wanted to sort of take a second to tickle your funny part. Hey, Justin, you know, how are these jokes like drilling into a board without pre-drilling? How? They cracked me up. That's actually extremely good, Travis. Thank you. I wish you'd had the

courage to wait to say that after I did the jokes. Oh, right, right, right. I feel like it would have hit a lot better, but we'll add it out in post. We'll get it in post. Hey, hey, hey, Travis. Yeah, Justin. Hey, Travis. Yeah. What's a woodworker's favorite band? Oh, I give up. Stained. Ah, that's pretty good. That's pretty good. That's a pretty good, oh, Stan's over there losing it. He said stained, not stand. Hey, here's another one. What is Geppetto's favorite cereal? Oh, boy. Oh, I give up. I know you think it's Pinocchio's. That's what I was going to say, but yeah. Listen, you got to really, this one's a thinker and less and not as much a joke. Okay. I know you think it's Pinocchio's,

but it's actually Cheerio's. They're Whittle O's, though I guess both would work. Okay. Okay. Now, Justin, is that from a viewer? Is that viewer submitted or is that something you found? Woodwork. Okay. Now, I get, I feel like there's eight punch lines in there. Yeah. Because you also said Whittle, Whittle. Cheerio's or Whittle O's. Yeah. No, I, okay. I get that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, Pinocchio's is one punch line. Whittle O's is another one. Woodwork is the third punch line. You don't often see that in a joke where they just say like, hey, choose your own favorite punch line here. Laugh at all of them. Oh, boy. Stan pissed himself.

That's actually hugely embarrassing. Stan pissed himself laughing. Is he on camera right now? He is. He is. Can you get him off? Can we get Stan off camera, please? Okay. Thank you. As a woodworker, I love the final stages of a project. Oh, yeah. All the little impurities and errors go away. Oh, yeah. It's a real varnishing act. I love it. I forgot we were doing a joke and I thought we were just talking about how good it is to finish a project and so you really got me there at the end. Yeah. That's, it's pretty good. I tried to come up with a better joke than that. Yeah. Trav? Yeah. I think I nailed it. Nobody saw it. Oh, I see. Nailed it and saw. Once again, another two for there. I love it. I love it. I love it. Way to go against the grain.

Did you read that off of something? No, no, no. It just came to me. Just came to me, you know? Oh, man, that was good. Can you say it again exactly the same way? Yeah. Way to go against the grain. Is that clean? Sorry, fellas, I'm good at it. Jesus. Oh, God, you scared the shit out of me. Hey, look, hey, I'm over here. Oh, yeah. I didn't get your joke. Can you explain it in detail? It's going against the grain because wood has grain in it and you don't want to go against the grain because then it's usually... Is the grain the wood's blood? No. I mean, the grain is... Muscles? Huh. No. Is the grain the wood's muscles? I don't think so. Getting hungry over here. Okay. Oh, are you drooling blood? You know where I like is the heartwood. That's right near the

center. That's the sweet stuff. Oh, God. Like mother's milk. Oh, Jesus. Can we cover up that cage, please? Can we get a heavy duty tarp over that, please? I'm scared of the tarp, but it's always dark. Oh, God. Oh, God. Okay. Hey, we're having a lot of fun here and we've got so much more fun to come. But first, let's take a quick break and hear from our commercial sponsors. You know, friends, a woodworking TV show is once just a dream for my brother and I, but now we're making it a reality and you don't have to wait for a sleazy TV producer to pull up onto your lawn and force you to get into the back of his Jetta to go make your dreams a reality. You can just use Squarespace. Yeah. And maybe, you know, maybe when the producer pulls up, your little brother is like

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Griffin, please tell him that we're safe and we're doing our best and we're trying to get free and use the offer code mybrother to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. So go to squarespace.com slash mybrother for a free trial when you're ready to launch. Use the offer code mybrother as in my brother Griffin McElroy to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. You know, I can't remember the last time I went to the post office or anywhere really because I just don't have the time or the ability to. And that's why I love stamps.com so much because they allow me to mail and ship anytime, anywhere, right from my computer in this basement. And, you know, whether it's a giant office sending out invoices or, you know, you're

sending postcards to loved ones or, you know, ransom notes or whatever and online sellers shipping out orders, anything like that, you know, you can use stamps.com and they can handle it all with ease. With stamps.com you get discounts of up to 40% off post office rates and up to 62% off UPS shipping rates. Wow, that's amazing Travis. How can I take advantage of this? Well, stop wasting time going to the post office and go to stamps.com instead. There's no risk which sounds really nice. And with my promo code, my promo code, my brother, you get a special offer that includes a four week trial plus free postage and a digital scale. There's no long term commitments or contracts. And there's so many contracts that I wish I hadn't signed, especially

recently that committed me to things. So is it nice to have no long term commitments or contracts? You just go to stamps.com, click on the microphone at the top of the homepage and type in my brother that stamps.com promo code my brother stamps.com never go to the post office or anywhere else again. Hey, so welcome back to the new Appalachian workshop with the Macri brothers but not Griffin. And you know what that means? We're back from the commercial break. So it's time for everybody's favorite segment. Which wood would you work with if you could woodwork wood? Now, Justin, here's what's going to happen. I'm going to give you some projects and you tell me what kind of wood would you use for those projects? Okay, you ready? Okay. Is there a right? Is this

kind of a right or wrong kind of answer? Well, there are some preferred woods, but Justin, it's all about how you work out. That wasn't a joke. It is about how you work out. I mean, that's where the skill comes in. So the first project is outdoor furniture and decking. Well, I personally would use teak. Teak is my go to if I'm going to be outdoors, you know, the ravages of nature are pretty savage, but teak has got the power to stand up to it. And I would probably go with teak. Wow, interesting. See, I would go with cedar. It's relatively soft. It's a one on a scale of one to four. It has a straight grain and has a slightly aromatic smell. And it's great for outdoor projects because it can handle moist

environments without rotting. Wow. You know what, different strokes for different strokes. Absolutely. Now, Justin, if you were going to do, oh, let me see, building framing, right? What would you use? I mean, I would probably, you know, building framing, especially in this market, especially in this market is going to run you a pretty penny. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. But I would, I would probably still frame with pine. That's how I would, I would frame out of home. Yeah, see, I would do Douglas fir, I think. Okay. Yeah, it's inexpensive and it can be used for making furniture, but it doesn't have a very interesting grain pattern and it doesn't take stain well. So mostly I would use it for, you know, for framing, especially since it's a four on a scale of one

to four for softwood. So moderately strong. Now, Justin, one like people, you know, people, can we talk about softwood and hardwood for a second? Yes, please. Of course. This distinction, once you learn it, it makes it all, make a lot more sense. Softwood comes from conifer trees. Uh-huh. Yep. Coniferous. Yeah. And the deciduous trees give you softwood. Now, sorry, deciduous trees give you hardwood. Now, coniferous like pine, that's going to be softwood. And that's, that's a tree shape like this, right? Yeah. And now if we're talking about a deciduous tree, that's more a tree shape like this. You know what I mean? Yeah. So you can see on the diagram here some of the differences between the two. Yeah. And we also have this scale. It's going to be up

for the rest of the episode. So you can reference it whenever you need to. The scale of the hardness of the woods and which one you want to use. Yeah. That you will notice that scale has taken up the left four-fifths of your screen. Yeah. And we have been relegated to sort of the last fifth there. That's something we're working on in Video Toaster and we haven't really figured that out yet, but I'm sure we'll get it. Oh, we've also got some fun overlays coming for episode two. So stick around for that as soon as we figure it out. Yeah, still in production. Yep. Now, Justin, I got one last one here. And this is a tricky one. Okay. Furniture joinery, flooring veneers, and musical instruments. Yeah. Right? I knew that one would get you.

I mean, I guess. Now, you're probably trying to think of a tricky one here because the answer was so obvious, right? Yeah, but I guess I probably use, I've never made any of that stuff. Hey, get it together. It's mahogany. Just say mahogany. I feel like you want me to say mahogany. Just say mahogany. We have to move forward. We're almost done. It's got to be something. No. Chucky or the mahogany. Just say mahogany so we can move forward, please. We have to. If I say that, it's a trap. Everybody's getting almost done. It's not a trap, Justin. It's mahogany. If I say that, and it's surrounding it. No, it's a hunt, buddy. We're in this together. We're the only ones we can trust. I've only been doing this for a few months. I'm trying. Justin,

we're the only ones we can trust in this scenario. Mahogany. Yes, it's mahogany. Also called Honduran mahogany. It has a reddish round to deep red tint, a straight grain, which is so important, medium texture, and a hardness of around two on a scale of one to five. It takes stain very well and looks great with just one coat or 10 of oil. Now, that is a tricky one because mahogany is not the most sustainable. No, that is the big problem. It's not grown in sustainable forests. So that is a good reason not to make any musical instruments moving forward. Right. Right. No more musical instruments. There are strains of mahogany that are okay, but better not to risk it. I think just stop music. You're not a sustainability expert.

Just stop using mahogany at all. Yeah, especially musical instruments. Bamboo is sustainable, though. Yeah, well, yeah. I know. Yeah, but how do you sustain this? How would you even use bamboo to make a musical instrument? You know what I mean? Like, come on. What would it be? A flute? I guess it could be a flute. Yeah, you could probably do a flute with it now that I'm thinking about it. It's not hate, buddy. You're doing so good. Just stick with it, okay? Here's another question. I love this one. Yeah? Dear brothers. Okay. How do I get over my fear of using power tools for woodworking? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. They're very loud and fast and have sharp blades that can cut off my fingers. I'm a tech theater

major and I have to build flats all the time. Please help. Alternatively, any hot tips for using a power screwdriver, I always screw it up. Not intended. That's from Scared of Circular Saus in CT. Yeah. The thing you need to know is that all power tools do want to cut your fingers off. It is. Yeah, I'm kidding aside. You should be very afraid. Yeah. That's good and healthy. That says you're thinking like, yeah, you should be wicked afraid of them. They're so sharp and dangerous. When I have bought power tools in the past, it is amazing to me that I don't require some kind of permit or a test or waiting process. I am buying something that could easily kill. Yeah, my first saw that I bought, my first power saw was a circular saw made by the

fine folks at Milwaukee. I thought it was going to be the only saw I'd ever owned, so I wanted to get it right the first time. So I got a M18 battery powered circular saw from Milwaukee and as I was leaving, I kept waiting for someone to stop. Yeah, right? Like, sir, you actually don't, I can't sell that to you in good conscience. Yes. I own, now, Justin's in Milwaukee, man. Of course, I'm a DeWalt man. I own a battery operated DeWalt Sawzall, which is like the shotgun of saws, of electric saws. It is terrifying to behold. And when I worked in the theater, I was often standing on top of a ladder holding it over my head during strikes, just cutting stuff above me. So, yeah, but this is why it's good, question asker, that you're getting

into it while you're still, I assume, in college and young, because you don't understand death as much during that time period and you will feel a lot more invincible than you will when you reach your mid to late 30s. Lots of, and there's lots of time for those fingers to grow back. At your age, you're going to be absolutely fine. But no, do be afraid. Yes. The time people get hurt is when they stop being afraid and start getting silly and doing some bad cuts that aren't advisable. Just do it in a proper, safe way. And there's like, don't start using a tool until you've watched the videos on how to use it extremely safely. I'll give you an example. I bring home a piece of plywood, like a four by eight sheet, and these things are... What thickness? What are

you talking about here? Thickness? Three quarter inch. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I bring home that four by eight sheet and it's miserable to try to work with something. They're so heavy. Oh, yeah, dude. That's what you don't think about. They're so heavy. So you want to break it down as soon as possible. But, and, you know, you'll see some people just like turn on a table saw and push it across the table saw and start roughly breaking it down like that. And you could, anything could happen when you're doing that. Anything. You talk about kickback from half a sheet of plywood. That's kind of cut you in half like a Play-Doh man. Here's what you do. And I actually got this tip from Steve Ramsey. He does woodworking from Air Mortals.

He puts it down. He has like an inch thick sheet of insulation that he laid in that same form factor, four by eight, and he'll lay down the sheet of insulation and then put the plywood on top of it. So then then break it down with a circular saw. So you're cutting into the, cutting in the insulation, not enough to sever it, but then you're, you can make your cut safely that way. That's, that's the way to break down plywood right there. But you need to know this stuff. You don't just start like getting silly with it. Try different stuff. If you find yourself thinking, well, this isn't made for this, but stop, stop, stop. Right. Yes, exactly. I think I can figure out a way to stop it. And, you know, ask for help. That's the other thing, man. Yeah. And

make sure, you know, while we're on the topic of safety and I don't want to, make sure you're, you're using, at the very least, make sure, you know, people always think about the saw cutting you and this is bad and they will. But don't forget about the other stuff that you should be using day in, day out. You should. Vitamins. No, we should be wearing eye protection and air protection. You should be wearing, like protecting your breathing airways, trying to get ventilation and dust collection. And take it from me, from personal, very scary experience. No baggy sweaters. No baggy sweaters. What a specific. Oh yeah. What a specific thing. Well, sometimes Justin, then this is a hypothetical situation in which I'm going to be talking about a scary body thing. So

warning. But sometimes you're wearing a baggy sweater. You push it up the sleeves to your elbows. You're using a chop saw. The, the sweater sleeve gets caught on the blade, pulls your arm towards the blade. Luckily, the sweater stops the blade just as the blade touches your skin and you only get a minor scar. Sometimes, I'm going to hypothetically, that could happen. Another thing, Thetotec question asker. Don't brag about how good you are at using a tool while you're using it, because inevitably, that's when you will hurt yourself in front of other people. Like, say, hypothetically, you are showing a freshman, and you are a senior, how to use a pneumatic stapler. And you're like, being all like, yeah, and you got to be careful, man, let's things out a lot of

power and they could shoot right through your finger. And then it double fires and you shoot a stable through your finger. And like that, you know, that's, that's just a moment where God says, maybe you aren't unto a God in your creation, because you are fallible as humans are want to be and only I can build the gazebo without double firing and shooting an inch and a half pneumatic stable through my finger. Well, folks, I, I have a really exciting, exciting surprise for you. Here on our first episode, we wanted to get a special guest, so we reached out to all the celebrity woodworkers that we know, because you know, the celebrities, they're just like us. Oh yeah, absolutely. And they're, and they're, they're out there working wood as well. And I am

so thrilled to welcome to the program, Bill Macy. Hi, everybody. Me. Hey, Bill. Well, he's calling me. Welcome to the new Appalachian workshop featuring the McElroy Brothers, but not Griffin. It's so, I'm so thrilled to have you here. No, I'm so glad to be here. You know, I love talking about woodworking. I love it. I love it. And I love, we love watching you on Fargo and Shameless. Thank you. And Mystery Men. So what are you working on these days? I'll tell you, it's no mystery, man. We own my wife's childhood home in Colorado. And we're, we're redoing a lot of the fencing on the property. And I've saved the most gnarly boards. They're all gray and deeply weathered. And I'm using them to make benches. I made a jig so I could join two boards along their length

with biscuits. Then I use another jig to route a recess on the underside of the top for legs and a stretcher. And I take a pump sander and work on the more egregious spots, the places where someone's likely to get a big splinter in there. I have a lot of stains. So I use them to make sanded spots gray again. It takes me a full day to make a single bench. You working on anything outdoors? Yeah. Building staircases around the house in LA, which is on a pretty hilly site. This is my exercise. I find it insanely gratifying to build these stairs. I call them my stairway to heaven. And I have a great view of downtown LA from the top. A few years ago when I visited, you had just completed an arch foot bridge over a gully.

How's that? The whole note. I had to rebuild it. It rotted right out of its foundation. And I'm not a very good carpenter, but I'm very enthusiastic. So is there a connection between woodworking and acting? Usually I answer this question, no. But lately, I do see a connection, just everything we do in this life involves a lot of repetition. In the shop, you design something and lay it out. But at a certain point, you realize you need 12 of one piece and it would be best if they were all exactly alike. That's not different from what I do as an actor. Everyone rehearses their lines a couple times. Then a scene is blocked out in the camera's role.

There might be an interaction between you and me in the scene. And we might do it 10 or 12 times. You want all the takes to be the same, yet you also want them to seem spontaneous. So wisdom comes from realizing that there has to be repetition, but also that the repetitions are never the same. Hell yeah, it's a boom, I see. State means my shi- Okay, I gotta go. Oh, what the f- Oh, God. Wait, Will. What are you doing?

Come back. Oh, he jumped out the window. Bill! He's gone. Woodsoe, you f-ing it up again. I'll go back to the crate. I know what I'm not wanting. No, it's, you know, I feel like I've given you a really hard time, Woodsoe. I just feel like that was my one opportunity to talk to somebody who was in C-Biscuit. No, no, the horse is coming next week. That horse loves woodworking. Travis, I didn't know that, but that'll be, that's huge.

Yeah. And you know what else is huge? Our gratitude to you for tuning in for this, our first episode. First of many. Of first of many episodes of the New Appalachian Workshop featuring the McRoy Brothers, but not Griffin. Thank you to our guest, Bill Macy, for coming out and huge. And thanks to you for listening. Our interview with Bill Macy was, of course, provided by Woodcraft Magazine. So thanks to them. And I do want to say, before we forget, Will left this beautiful, he's carved a little toy

rocking horse here. And it is free. We're going to give it away. Just call that number that you see at the bottom of your screen right now. And the 10th caller, we're going to give that to you. Signed by William H. Macy, valued at about $15,000. Wow. That's fantastic. Hey, thanks to Massing for creating our intro and outro theme. If you want more of them, they're a great Huntington West Virginia band. You can find them on Bandcamp. Go to MassingWV.Bandcamp.com.

They got songs about genos. They got songs about basically everything. I mean, the Pub Witch, which is also at Genos. That does sound like some kind of like a witch that lives at a pub. Yeah, they got songs about pepperoni rolls, everything. These guys are so talented. MassingWV.Bandcamp.com. And of course, thank you to producer Stan without Stan. We wouldn't have to do this. So thank you for tuning in. And as we say, every week, would you join us next week?

Hey, folks, thank you so much. If you like that, you couldn't... God, just re-listing to it. Yeah, no, listen, it was rough. But I think if we got another shot at it, I think there's a lot of things we would do differently. Probably include Griffin. Why did they make you pretend to be Bill Macy? Yeah, well, they said that they would fix it in post. And Stan said that a lot. I don't think he knew exactly what that entailed,

because I didn't know how you could fix the fact that I'm not... I mean, I was wearing that mocap suit, so that... Maybe they were going to deep fake it. Maybe they were going to deep fake it. It wasn't a mocap suit. It was just a green jumpsuit with ping-pong balls on it. I try to tell you that. Oh, yeah. Oh, that's why you look so ridiculous in the...

Yeah. Okay, see, I didn't know what you were talking about then. I thought you were talking about something else. I'm embarrassed for you, honestly, at this point. Like, can we be done? Well, yeah, we can. Everybody go check out. We got some new merch up for April. Mcroymerch.com. Don't forget to check that out.

We got Max Fun Drive coming up pretty soon. It's very exciting. Don't forget to pre-order. The Adventure Zone graphic novel, Crystal Kingdom, at TheAdventureZoneComic.com. Let's see. What else, Justin? Thanks to MaximumFun.org. We got a really beautiful farm wisdom. Super cute, super great farm wisdom pin that benefits the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund, which supports efforts by local community-based organizations to combat violence and hate.

There's also a new Adventure Zone shirt over there. Go check that out. And I think that's going to wrap it up. Well, folks, thank you so much for listening. And be sure to join us again next week. We don't have to do our normal closing or anything, because this is really kind of a more archival episode for posterity's sake. But thanks for listening. We really appreciate you.

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