AI Repairs?, Chemical Dye For Cherry, Chisel Tool Steel, and MORE!!!

Brians Questions:

I've been woodworking long enough that I've had problems with tools not working properly.Obvious decisions.I got 15 years out of a 2 1/4 horse router.  It seemed reasonable to replace it. There was something wrong internally beyond the normal.I bought a used Powermatic bench top mortiser. A piece fell off it (which i kept). I downloaded the manual and while it was not immediately helpful. It gave me the right name for the piece that fell off (gib) so I use AI and it told me how to reinstall and 10 minutes later it was working.I recently had trouble with the wedges that lock the Shopsmith head stock onto the way tubes. That was a harder fix, but Youtube and AI were helpful.  [sending in the head stock to be repaired would have cost more than I spent on the machine].How do you guys evaluate problems with tools, replacing them,  fixing them yourself, or trying to find a repair center that charges fair prices? Chuck

I know proper procedure for milling lumber is generally to face joint, and edge joint using a jointer. But do you honestly face joint every board? Or is skip planing good enough? Also I bind when im edge jointing I end up after my first few runs at it with an end dapered and then it forces me to hog off a ton of material, im pretty certain my infeed / outfeed surfaces are setup parallel and its my technique, what do you think Im likely doing wrong? Tyler

Guys Questions:

Hey Guys love the show, my question is, i have a Supermax 16-32 drum sander that i would like to use more for sanding shaker doors to level and even them out, however i get a lot of cross grain on the rail part of the door. I usually keep 120 grit in my sander but do have 150 grit. I try to take very light passes but still end up with cross grain scratches. Any tips or suggestions to help elevate the cross grain issues would greatly be appreciated. Phil

This is a question for Guy. A couple years ago I watched a video of one of your table builds where you used potassium dichromate on Cherry to age it without needing to wait for the natural darkening process to occur. I have tried this myself on a couple of pieces, but with different results. Sometimes the Cherry has almost an orange look to it, matching the color of the potassium dichromate mixture. I was able to correct this in the finishing process, using a little bit of dye. Other times it is a warm brown tone. I wonder if you can comment on the kind of mixture you put together, and also the color of those pieces