Essential Craftsman Podcast

Nate and Scott talk with Ken Zandecki, a territory manager for Schluter Systems, a company that assists tile setters with it's revolutionary products.   0:00 Intro 3:13 Old v new 5:06 Ken's background 7:58 Tile installer 9:12 Own company 12:45 Schluter tile 14:45 Verner Schluter 16:26 Spec & Schluter 20:00 Thin set technique 23:32 Cost 27:35 Made easy 30:26 Cutting edge 32:18 Design elements 38:38...

Read by Scott Wadsworth. For a full description of what this project is, visit our main YouTube channel Essential Craftsman to learn about this amazing story and the Norman Rockwell painting the story inspired.

Nate and Scott chat with Kevin Eckerman, an electrician with Cascade Electric. Kevin has done work on the spec house and has known Scott for years. They discuss the techniques used on the spec house, working at a power plant, hurdles for apprentices, Kevin's photography, and more.   0:00 Intro 1:28 Licensing & titles 3:45 Kevin's background 8:23 Powerplant 16:30 EC's scare 17:50 EC & Kevin 20:18 C...

Nate chats with Dustin Stelzer, creator of the YouTube channel "Electrician U" about how Dustin became an electrician, worked his way to master electrician, Dustin's passion for passing on knowledge to others and much more.   0:00 Intro :58 Career background 4:05 Old v new 6:43 Office hours 7:50 Master benchmarks 9:27 Loving the job 12:05 Teaching & licenses 15:14 Unlimited knowledge 18:40 What IS...

Nate interviews Brad Leavitt, a general contractor in Scottsdale, AZ about his large custom home projects, the designers and architects, and how much social media helps his business.   0:00 Intro 1:02 Brad's background 3:36 Construction management degree 6:55 Perspective 10:39 Client expectations 12:50 Missing the work 15:20 Operating procedures 18:06 Timeline 21:13 Designers & architects 22:43 GC...

Nate and Scott chat with Riley Kirkpatrick about his horseshoe business and competitions and also his blacksmithing business making custom tools.   0:00 Intro 1:24 Horseshoeing 3:28 Learning curve 6:37 School & regulations 10:21 Shoe details 12:37 Clip horn 13:48 Contests 22:11 Contest draws 25:08 The armpit 26:53 The competitive Brits 29:39 Farrier as a living 32:36 Blacksmithing 37:42 Northwest...

Nate interviews Stephen Steele, a general contractor in CA and the inventor of a new concrete mixer. They discuss inventions, patents, grit and persistence.   0:00 Intro 4:20 The family secret 9:18 Patents 14:19 Pursuing the dream 15:58 A simpler way 17:31 Attachments 19:50 Dyslexia & inventing 21:40 After-patent work 24:14 Molding process 28:40 Congratulations 33:29 Price point 36:33 Legacy 37:43...

Nate interviews Anthony DiPinto (West Coast Custom Crete on YouTube) about his extraordinary experience starting his concrete business in Southern California.   0:00 Intro 2:41 Start on YT 6:10 YT gets jobs 8:43 Working near PCH 10:05 Challenging terrain 12:24 How Anthony got started 15:50 Problem solving 20:00 Advice 21:08 Dealing with failure 24:40 Pumper 27:00 YT growth 33:00 Rebar & microfiber...

Nate and Scott talk with Matt Risinger from The Build Channel Build Show Network on YouTube. They discuss house construction, YouTube, social media and building science.   0:00 Intro 1:38 YT start 4:00 Team building 9:12 Letting go 14:05 Work v business 16:45 Building science 19:31 USA building differences 27:05 Teaching & filming 34:00 Story telling 36:45 Where to start 39:36 Covid & recessions 4...

Nate interviews Josh Scott of the YouTube channel The JHS Show. They discuss guitar pedals, rock and roll history and technology and how guitar pedals have shaped and changed music history.   0:00 Intro 1:19 Guitar pedals 101 6:38 Origin of "fuzz" 8:20 Volume & sound systems 10:48 Hendrix & more 15:44 Cutting edge v nostalgia 19:58 Parts & creation 23:20 Fading interest 28:52 The World's Best Job...

Nate and Scott interview Jason Fox from the YouTube channel Never Stop Building about his experiences in Japan learning about Japanese carpentry.   0:00 Intro 1:29 Hot tubs & filming 9:39 Japanese wood working 20:19 Internship in Japan 23:08 Desk job v hands on 24:48 Milling dreams 27:00 Port orford cedar 31:02 Jason at mill 36:15 Appreciating craftsmanship 38:42 Current project   Website: neverst...

Nate and Scott talk to John Blodgett about all things wood, including the management of our forests and the fires that ravaged the west coast of the United States in 2020.   0:00 intro 2:06 Johns mill 4:37 Who can order 7:00 2020 west coast fires 9:23 Close to home 11:45 Salvageable lumber 12:54 Business & termonology 18:43 Flooding the market 20:05 Trees 101 23:32 Logs are commodity 27:53 Record...

Nate interviews Radigan Carter, an individual investor who spent 10 years working on 5 continents in the military, private sector and government. He is interested in using his knowledge (he has a civil engineering degree) and extensive experience in building individual and generational wealth.   0:00 intro 2:57 Radigans background 5:13 Taliban truck bomb 7:04 A soldiers perspective 10:26 Comradery...

Nate discusses some of his recent favorites reads.   0:00 intro :53 Killers of the Flower Moon 2:41 The Rational Optimist 5:45 Kodi 8:08 How to Fail at Almost Everything 10:42 Hobbit 12:25 The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F 15:45 Basic Economics 17:28 Water for Health, for Healing, for Life 17:45 How I found Freedom   Killers of the Flower Moon https://amzn.to/2ZpKYZD The Rational Optimist https://a...

Nate and Scott discuss the process of process of making lumber.   0:00 intro :48 EC nervous 6:48 Sharpening 11:00 Bucking 17:40 Scaler 22:22 Wood quality 27:55 EC dad was scaler 30:48 Grading 32:48 Selection/sorting 35:30 Milling 37:25 Farmed 42:50 EC revisions

Nate has a discussion with Sam Holmes about his adventures in long distance sailing.   0:00 intro 2:25 How Sam got started 5:42 Maiden voyage 8:22 Prep work 10:40 Weather and waves 11:17 Night sailing 14:40 Port protocols 17:09 Sailing lifestyle 18:53 Mentors 21:30 Lessons learned 22:53 Disconnected during Covid 25:41 Repairs and maintenance 29:54 Future adventures 32:32 Filling time at sea 36:24...

Scott and Nate discuss Scott's time in the 80's and 90's doing pick up and piecework.   0:00 EC pick up experience 9:14 Pick up vs stacking 13:2 Negotiating price w foreman 15:01 Temporary work 17:31 Desert vs mountain 20:21 Lumber quality 22:33 Work quality 29:02 Spec pick up 32:02 Pick up on exterior 33:44 Spec inspection 36:46 Courtesy inspections 38:29 Spec timing

Scott and Nate answer FAQs about the spec house and answer the voicemail messages left from viewers.   0:00 EC Health 4:02 Spec FAQ 7:30 Voicemail 7:43 Andrew - allowable tolerances 11:13 Carlo - spec basement 12:24 Matt - spec on DVD 13:47 Dylan - what motivates EC 18:55 Chris - EC and God 20:30 John - EC and boots 23:38 Seth - working for friends 27:45 Kevin - EC and trade shows 29:45 Jared - pr...

Tom is metal worker and machinist currently working at the Lawrence Berkeley Lab with scientists and physicists developing and building machines to use in scientific research. Tom also has a YouTube channel Oxtoolco and is the author of several books about metal working.   0:00 intro 1:33 The machinist community 2:15 Machinist education 6:22 Tom's background 11:07 Clorox 12:20 Thrasher magazine 15...

Nate interviews Tim Uhler of Awesome Framers, located in Seattle WA. Tim was raised in the family construction business and runs a YouTube channel and the entertaining Instagram account  @AwesomeFramers  . He also a contributor to the Journal of Light Construction.   0:00 intro 1:06 Tim's background 5:50 How rain affects framing 8:50 Building seasons 9:45 OCB, plywood, zip 13:33 Finding updated ma...

Nate gives a quick EC update before the holidays.   0:00 YouTube Premier/ads 4:48 EC in 2021 7:35 Spec house #2? 9:13 Upcoming podcasts/suggestions

Nate and Scott interview Brian Reynolds, who has done concrete work and excavating on the spec house.   :00 Intro 1:15 Dirty dream job 2:33 Dirt machines 3:56 Dirt operators 5:58 Track machines 10:00 Buying a new machine 17:54 Wish list item 21:10 What does an excavator do 24:17 Bidding excavation work 29:29 DIY excavating 32:50 Brian's background 46:56 Brian buys excavating company 57:48 Buying e...

Nate interviews Shawn Van Dyke, a business coach for contractors. Shawn is the founder of Built to Build which helps general contractors implement business strategies and systems, making sure the business side of the company runs smoothly. 0:00 New EC instagram account 1:24 Introducing Shawn 4:10 Shawns background 9:40 College education recommended? 12:14 Contractor limitations 15:40 Finding middl...

Nate and Scott interview Adam Booth, host of the YouTube channel Abom79.   Show Notes: 0:00 Introduction 1:50 Adam explains machining 3:20 Manual machining vs CNC machining 7:28 3 ways to create metal parts 9:00 Booth family legacy 12:02 First machine Adam loved 13:00 Old vs new 18:00 Adam's expertise 20:00 128+ mission views 23:00 YouTube machinist community 26:00 Machinist precision 30:39 Machin...

Nate read an article recently about cruise ships that had been sent to a scrap yard in India. Nate contacted Peter Knego, an ocean liner historian and journalist, to get more information about the history of the cruising industry and how ships are made, used and scrapped.   Show Notes: 0:00 Intro to Peter Knego 1:32 Developing an interest in cruise ships 7:15 "The only way to cross" ships as inter...