Woodworking Classes, Router Tables, Dovetailed Drawers and More!!

Brians Questions: Hi guys, I'm a hobbyist woodworker on the gold coast Australia. I have slowly acquired all the tools I feel are necessary to build those pieces that my children will one day inherit/sell in a yard sale 😜 I don't have a bandsaw and have gotten by with a jigsaw in most situations. My major issue is when I have thick lumbar (5/4 for example) and need only a thin board. It's wasteful and expensive to plane it down and I feel a bandsaw is required for a good quality resaw. Is this a good enough reason to purchase a bandsaw? Sam Kruger Hey guys, Thank you so much for the podcast and as others say in almost every question, I learn the most from your podcast than any other woodworking podcast I listen to. Being from Indianapolis, I have a woodworking buddy who has taken a lot of classes at Marc Adam’s School of Woodworking (not sure if Brian and Guy are familiar). He has tried to get me to join a class but it is quite an investment due to the cost and also other factors such as possibly a week off of work depending on the class you sign up for. While I would love to take a class due to being exposed to new technique’s and tools, I just don’t know if it’s worth the investment when Im just a hobbyist with limited budget and space for tools. Two questions: 1. Have any of you taken a woodworking class like this before? 2. Is it worth the investment for the class, or should I continue to build skills by online research and building my shop with tools? Thanks for the great podcast and being willing to take my question. Jason Guys Questions: Hey folks! First off, welcome aboard Brian. You have filled Sean's shoes without skipping a beat. And I particularly enjoy how you engage with extra followup questions too I was thinking in my head! So my question is about Guys favorite bug excrement - shellac. She treated me wrong and I need help from my bros. Ok it's more of a rant, so hang with me.  I've been a shellac lover for a while. She's never been fickle. Used her on a dozen projects. Always great results. Always a good time. Always easy. And I always use a rubber...you know...to be safe. (babum psshh)  This time and I sanded down a second hand veneer 3'x4' table and decided to give it a shellac finish. Using the big box store's version, I grabbed my favorite blonde, got her drunk with half alcohol, grabbed a trusty rubber, and went to town on the table.  Ok. Ok. Enough with the puns. For the life of me, I ALWAYS got streaks on the surface no matter what I did. I tried different cuts, different applicators (rubber, foam brush and paint brush). Sanding between coats. Not sanding. Working super fast, going slow. Light coats, heavy coats. Whatever. I even went to the Google and found an article from 2010 in Fine Woodworking that said dilute with 25% mineral oil and then later wipe with Naphtha once dry. BIG mistake. Won't get into it. Still bitter. Apparently though, it's hard to apply shellac on large surfaces?  So here I am asking the experts. Do I really need to break out my HVLP spray gun and section off my garage? Or am I doing something wrong? Have any tips? Paul Thanks for delivering this content. I’ve learned a lot and I think I’ve listened to every episode. My question is about which router table to purchase. I have an old Rockler—they’re cheapest model. Looking to upgrade and considering 3 models in particular: Woodpeckers, Incra, and JessEm https://jessem.com/products/ultimate-excel-ii-package I believe Guy has both the woodpeckers and the incra and would like to hear from all of you what you have and what you would recommend. Part 2 of my question is I would like to add dovetail joinery to my repertoire, and was considering the incra router table (with the super system LS17 fence) specifically because of its setup for doing that. Is that a good way to go or should I buy a stand alone dovetail jig and if so which one? The other things I use my router table for are raised panel cabinet doors, dados, and obviously edge treatment. I’m a hobbyist trying to make this a full time job and primarily build cabinets and cabinet based furniture at this point. Have also done a bed and some tables (dining, and smaller). Sorry to be so long winded, I very much appreciate your input. -Austin, AJ Squared Woodworks Huys Questions: Hey guys, really enjoy the podcast. I hear you were low on questions and I had a couple so I thought I would send them.  First question. I am looking to build a bed for me and my wife. How can I determine the best wood to make it from? Cost is much more a factor than how it looks. Another factor is we are heavyset people and I want to be sure it's not going to break while we are on it, sleeping or otherwise. ;P  Second question. I want to make the bed in the style that I have seen on my IG feed, with castle joints. My concern is, when you cut the notches, aren't you weakening that piece of wood? I assume you would want the notch on the top for the side rails where some of the weight would be carried. But in a joint like that, I have always wondered if that type of joint would weaken the piece with the notch taken out of the bottom half.  Thanks Gents! -Jacob Hi guys! Thanks for continuing to put on an informative podcast, always a pleasure to listen to.  I have a question about dovetail jigs. I make a good amount of furniture pieces with drawers and am looking to potentially get a dovetail jig for drawers. 99% of my drawers are made of 1/2” stock. I have no desire to handcut, time and accuracy are important. I’ve heard these jigs can be a pain to set up but I’d imagine once set up it might be worth it. Any recommendations on a particular jig? Thanks! Lindsey