Khiem Nguyen, cofounder with his wife, Amanda McKeever, of A&K Wood and Design in Austin, Texas, admits that “I just really wanted to go out to meet [Nick and Amy]. I’d followed Nick’s woodworking previously and definitely wanted to have a chance to talk to him about woodworking.”

Khiem did get that chance after he and Amanda received a callback from an open casting they attended in Austin – at that point, the show’s producers had been unsure if the series would be a team-focused or individual event, so Khiem and Amanda had applied together.

Nicole Sweeney, a San Francisco-based woodworker, had her own support squad as she applied to be on the show. “We have this little ‘family’ in San Francisco. We call ourselves the ‘Maker Family,’ and we kind of supported each other through being freelance artists and all the hard parts of working for yourself. One of them sent an email and was like, ‘Hey, look at this cool opportunity. We should all apply. Wouldn’t it be cool if one of us went to Hollywood?’”

Looking to push herself outside of her comfort zone, Nicole said, “I had absolutely no expectation of getting it, but just the art of applying for the show was a big step for me. Then it just snowballed, and I got a callback and then another interview, and then it became real, and then I got on the show.”

The competition premise of the show is that, in each episode, the eight contestants work on a “faster-craft” timed challenge and a “master craft” challenge based around a weekly theme.

“The set was pretty aggressive with how much stuff was available for everyone to use, so that kind of pushes people to explore different things a little bit, just because of what was available,” Khiem said. “I definitely tried to try new things, while still trying to stay with something I could stay fairly comfortable doing since it is a competition.”

It wasn’t, however, a cutthroat competition, from Nicole’s description of the tone set by hosts Offerman and Poehler. “They’re super down-to-earth, super sweet, super kind and they really cared and made the show really lighthearted and fun. I think competition naturally can divide people, and they made this a competition that actually brings people together and celebrates the community of art and artists and making things with your hands.”

That’s important to Nicole: “I’m meant to make things with my hands, or move through space with my body as some sort of art form,” she said, a conclusion which led her into woodworking after studying architecture (too much sitting behind a computer) and determining that she wouldn’t be able to reach the level she would like as a professional ballet dancer.

So, after working for Anthropologie for three years creating window displays, “I basically quit my full-time job and turned my dining room into a woodshop, and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.”

Khiem’s entry into woodworking also came through a different original interest. In his case, it was photography. An emotional attachment to photographic negatives “kind of evolved into me wanting to make cases to hold the photographs, to kind of make them a little bit more special. That’s when my introduction to woodworking started, and it just kind of transformed into me doing more woodworking than photography.”

These days, the business Khiem runs with his wife produces furniture, casework, tabletop and kitchen items – “we’ve been doing a lot of knife covers for chefs around Austin,” he said – with a particular affinity for the Mid-Century Modern design style and work in the style of George Nakashima.

As for Nicole, her work right now primarily focuses on wall art hangings in a particular style of design, as well as some tables that incorporate her designs into the façade. “It’s very like M.C. Escher, kind of tessellation-y patterns. Sometimes when I try to describe it to people, I kind of feel like I’m a puzzle maker in a way. I have all these tiny little pieces and then I just like making patterns and abstracting patterns and making pieces that people look at and it kind of makes them stare for an extra second and be like, ‘whoa, what is that?’”

Her participation in the show, she said, has caused her to reflect even more upon who she wants to be as an artist. “They’re not going to put us on TV to be these big, dull duds,” she said. “They want us to show our personalities and they want to bring out what they see in us. Nick and Amy really instilled this in each and every one of us: that we were chosen for a reason, because they believe in us as artists and they believe in our stories.”

Although she noted that reality TV can come with preconceived negative connotations, Nicole said, “This show was so insanely different in the sense that it literally was about celebrating artists and telling our stories. All the contestants, we adore each other.

“There was the time constraints and everyone wants to do their best and there’s the pressure of reaching your own personal goals and obviously we all want to do well, everybody is striving to win, but I think when it came down to it, we were all so insanely grateful to be there and have this experience that it was really just like a personal journey. And then getting to meet other people and work next to a bunch of amazing artists was a bonus.”

Making It airs Tuesdays from 10 to 11 p.m Eastern time, from July 31 to September 4.

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The tool’s industry-leading POWERSTATE Brushless Motor is controlled by a variable-speed trigger, and it’s capable of developing up to 3,500 strokes per minute. REDLINK PLUS Intelligence electronics communicate seamlessly with the motor to constantly monitor speed and power and provide consistent blade speed when cutting tough materials, such as hardwoods and metal, without stalling or bogging down. Milwaukee has also equipped the saw with a new internal mechanism and upgraded blade clamp and roller guide to maintain stability through cuts.

Four orbital settings let you select the degree of cutting smoothness required for the task at hand. The saw’s base offers bevel detents that can be set without tools at 0, 15, 30 and 45 degrees. A built-in blower and vacuum adapter should help to keep the cutting area cleaner.

When equipped with an M18 REDLITHIUM XC5.0 Battery Pack, the 6.4 lb. saw can cut through up to 105 linear feet of 3/4-in. laminated particleboard, Milwaukee reports.

In kit form (item 2737-21: $299), the M18FUEL D-handle Jig Saw comes with an XC5.0 Battery Pack, M18/M12 Multi-Charger, shoe guard, anti-splinter guard, dust cover, blade, hex wrench and carry case. Or, you can buy the saw bare (item 2737-20) for $199.

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The Snap-Lock Rings are available separately for $17.99, or you can buy the set of five sizes (item 55415) for $79.99. In stock now, find them at Rockler stores nationwide, the print catalog or at rockler.com.

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Tim Inman: Like medicine, which is both an art and a science, wood finishing is, too. There isn’t a “magic” formula or product for what you are wanting. The science is mostly in the can, the art is all in your eye and hand. So, how to do what you want here? Well, practice, practice, practice first, then apply what you’ve learned to your project. Sadly, over my entire career, I have answered many, many questions that resulted from first applying to the project, then asking how to reverse and try again since it didn’t come out like they wanted. I repeat: practice, practice, practice — before you apply it to the project!

Chris Marshall: Last year, I converted a formerly tall entertainment center (center photo) into a shorter one so our flat-screen TV could sit on top instead of inside. I needed to strip and repair the top panel, then match the bare wood to the rest of the old finish on the cabinet. My solution? I bought three stain colors, blended them together a little at a time and applied my experimental concoction to a scrap of leftover wood from the original cabinet. There was no magic to it, just trial and error. I tried maybe a dozen attempts at a shade, and I eventually reached a color that worked out quite nicely (bottom photo). The key, for me at least, as Tim suggests, was practicing on something safe before I committed and couldn’t easily turn back.

Now, you’re asking about toning over an existing stain color, which is a different finishing process altogether than what I needed for my project. But, our goals aren’t entirely different, nor is the process of reaching a workable solution: matching one finish to another. If the same finish is on the back face of your pine cabinet’s back panel — and no one sees that anyway — you might have your testing grounds right there. Or, maybe you could use the bottom face of one of its shelves for experimenting. Either way, buy a few stain options, try toning and see what happens. You might find the “happy medium” you’re looking for, or you might not. There are no guarantees. But even if you don’t match the two projects quite successfully, think of what you’re bound to learn about toning in the process. It’s worth the practice. Good luck!

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– Elias Stratakos
Greece

You can check out the step-by-step process of building it on his YouTube channel.

See the Gallery Below:

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“I, too, am in the midst of new experiences.  We (my wife and I) recently built a king-size platform bed for our guest room. One possibly  unique feature is its camphor wood slab headboard. Management decided that we should build a pair of bedside tables, also from camphor, to complement. We chose a Craftsman-like design. After drawing up the design, I noted that we were looking at nearly 80 mortises!  (There are only eight on the bed and I cut them by hand. Hard maple!)  Consequently, I got to purchase a hollow chisel mortise,r and this week we’ve been getting used to the machine and cutting both practice and ‘for reals”‘ mortises for the project. I was browsing online and looked at the Grizzly eight-inch spiralhead jointer (after which I’ve been lusting), when I was surprised to find the price had escalated by a substantial amount. Grizzly was very clear to note that the increase was  due to new tariffs imposed. Showing my wife what I was viewing got me permission to purchase a smaller, benchtop, tariff-free jointer (which should arrive later this week). Today was spent designing and building a stand for it. (Fortuitiously, Rockler has casters on sale.) Another machine to learn about. The fun never stops.” – Ralph Lombardo

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