Mark's Musings

Mark Bronkalla

Logfest

We have a location, we have a date, and we have some logs lined up. Now we need help! Contact Ken Bahr, Ron Hinderman or Ken Rausch to volunteer. If you know of logs, speak up. We have white and red oak, and white ash so far.

MAM Quilt Racks

We had a number of guild members sign up for the Milwaukee Art Museum presentation quilt stand project. Remember to bring your stands to the September meeting. If you did not sign up and are interested in making a couple of stands, contact Ken Bahr for the plans.
Workshops and Meeting Demos
With our new meeting hall we can go back to having more demonstrations as part of the meetings. We had a lot of favorable feedback on the Klompen (Wooden Shoe) Making demo at the August meeting. This will be a topic of discussion at the next few guild meetings.

Questions to answer:

Additional meeting / workshop committee members will be needed to help with the extra chores of setup / tear down and clean up. Ken Bahr’s group has been getting a bit over-loaded and could use some more active committee members.


In the shop

This month was very quiet. Not much happens in the shop in August. With the tail end of summer approaching, we take every opportunity we can to get out on the boat.

At least the repair pile has been going down. The repair pile grows during major projects and now the repair projects get knocked off.

Now is the time when I also go through the chisels, planes and other edge tools. Sharpen up everything, check for rust and do some general organizing. While the shop is reasonable dry now that I have a dehumidifier down there, the tools get taken outside for projects (such as the deck) and it always seems that few drips find their way onto the tools or into the tool box.

A funny thing about helping friends with projects is that many have power tools, but few have decent hand tools (and very rare that they are tuned or sharp). This means that chisels, planes and scrapers get taken out. Wanting to trim up a joint when the only tools at hand are a chop saw, handsaw and sandpaper points out the need for good hand edge tools.



Board Briefs

Jeffrey M. Nebel

BOARD of DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES for AUG. 14, 2003; 7:08-9:00P.M
Location: United Church of Christ, 4240 N. 78th Street, Milwauke
Present: Ken Bahr, Don Berger, Mark Bronkalla, Ron Hinderman, Jeff Nebel, Dick Yezek

Vice-president:

Dick reported no workshop sign-ups at the last meeting. He has purchased keyed-alike padlocks for the Guild cabinets being stored. He suggested the speakers be moved toward the back of the room like they were at the July meeting. It was agreed that hearing the speaker was more difficult at the August meeting.

Secretary:

Minutes of the July 17th board meeting were approved as revised and resent on August 9th. A new membership has been received via mail and will be forwarded to Mary. The Milwaukee Art Museum will be holding a trip to Crab Tree Farm in Lake Bluff, IL, on September 13th. A fine collection of Arts and Crafts furniture is a main part of the tour. Jeff will forward information to Leila for inclusion in the newsletter.

Treasurer:

Don reported for Liz that the treasury currently stands at $5,453.00.

Program/Workshop:

Ken reported a band saw workshop would be held on November 23rd at Woodcraft. The board set a $45.00 fee plus materials. He has confirmed offers to build 18 of the quilt racks requested by the Art Museum. A plane restoration workshop will be held on September 20th. The Milwaukee Art Museum will be holding a wood techniques event in early October. Ken will get information to the Publications committee. There is presently no speaker for the October meeting because the scheduled speaker, Scott Landis, backed out.

Ken and Ron have assumed leadership of the log fest event. The date of October 11th was selected, but there is still some chance it will not be held. Logs are still needed and an article will be placed in the newsletter seeking a good metal detector. Larger logs may be sawn ahead with some smaller logs used for demonstration the day of the event.

New Business:

The next board meeting will be held at 7:00p.m. On Thursday, September 11th, at the same location.


Program

Ken Bahr

SEPTEMBER 3, 2003

Tim Fenner from Boehm-Madisen, a Waukesha lumber wholesaler, will give a talk on woods of the world. He will discuss what woods are available, as well as the best uses of each. Mr. Fenner will also talk about the cost and sources of supply as well. There will be samples of many of the woods to view, and he will also answer questions about the wood. He has visited many producers and mills and can bring an insight as to how other parts of the world produce lumber.

OCTOBER 1, 2003

Mark Duginske


Mark is an accomplished woodworker. He is featured on the front cover of The Workshop Book. He is the author of the Bandsaw Handbook. And he is well-known as the inventor of the "cool blocks" used on many bandsaws.

But his interest in creating tools for use in woodworking seems to be greater than his interest in using the tools. One of his recent patents is behind the top-rated Woodhaven miter gauge discussed in FWW 165, pages 74 - 79, October 2003 (the current issue). He has an advanced sharpening system that creates a "back bevel" resulting in the ability to plane Birdseye maple in multiple directions. He is the inventor and founder of the company producing the FastTrack guides. And he has several other patents.

Mark's presentation will have two major parts. He will demonstrate several of his newer devices. And he will describe how anyone can make money from their own ideas and inventions. Naturally, there will be plenty of time for Question & Answer.


WORKSHOPS

September 20, 2003 (Saturday) Plane Restoration and Tuning at Woodcraft 1725 S. 108th St. West Allis. Time is from 9:00 a.m. until at least 1:00 p.m., can run until 4:00 p.m. if required. Two very knowledgeable and skilled members of our Guild are putting on this program. Presenters are Walt Hadcock and John Petrovic.
Both of them have a number of planes that they have put into top working order. Very worthwhile for anyone who has not used a plane because it isn’t in top condition. This workshop will get you to use the plane as it was meant to be, and it will be fun! $25.00 fee (Members only)

November 23, 2003 (Sunday) Bandsaw Box at Woodcraft 1725 S. 108th St. West Allis. Time is from 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Presenters are Ron Hinderman and Don Berger.
A glued up block that is square and true, 5-1/2” by 5-1/2” by 11” long is required to bring with you. It should be a quality piece of hardwood with no defects. Signup and additional details will be available at the September meeting. A sample box will be on display at the meeting. Any questions, talk to Ron or Don. $45.00 fee. (for members only)

EVENTS

Milwaukee Art Museum – MAM has a quilt exhibit in September and has asked the guild to make presentation stands for the quilt makers. We need a minimum of 28 per their request. This is a great opportunity to show our skills and community support as well as do a project for a nationally recognized exhibition. Presentation stands are needed to be complete by the next meeting. For details, contact Ken Bahr at 414-281-7118 or Email bahr @execpc.com. At least 3-4 more stands have to be made. Small, easy project; appreciate your help!

Milwaukee Art Museum – Saturday, October 4, 2003 at 2:00 p.m.
Michael S.Podmaniczky is senior furniture conservator at the Winterthur Museum in Delaware and curator of The Incredible Elastic Chairs of Samuel Gragg, an exhibition on view at the Milwaukee Art Museum through October 19. Podmaniczky will speak in the Museums Lubar Auditorium about the life and work of Samuel Graag, a chair-maker who received a patent from the U.S. Government in 1808 for his “Elastic Chair” design. Gragg combined steam-bent wood and unusual joinery techniques to create an innovative chair design that predated widespread use of steam bending by nearly 50 years. Podmaniczky will demonstrate Graggs chair-making techniques and give guided tours of the exhibition. This event is free with general Museum admission.

LOG FEST - The Log Fest will be October 11, 2003 at George Henderson’s place. Several logs have been obtained and more are being sought. Due to the expenses of this event, a $5.00 fee per person is needed. Several volunteers will be needed so we can have refreshments, and we would like to have some demonstrations at the event in addition to the sawing that will be taking place. More details will be presented at the next meeting and in future Ripsaws. This is a great opportunity to get raw wood at a great price.
This should be a really fun event, but needs your participation to make it successful. Remember – you get out of the Guild what you put into it. Please help to make it great! For additional information contact either Ken Bahr, or Ken Rasch.


Reflections

Wooden Shoe Making

Leila Crandall-Frink


We were glad to have Mr. Bob Siegel give us a demonstration of wooden shoe making. Mr. Siegel said he had demonstrated about 15 years ago in downtown Milwaukee. He was born in 1925 in Bay View. He learned how to make the shoes by going to the Netherlands and learning from several different shoemakers there. He is currently the only person in the United States who makes hand carved wooden shoes.

He continued by showing a documentary about the shoe making, and doing the actual demonstration at the same time. It was an interesting form for the meeting and showed very effectively how the shoes were made.

The wood he uses is aspen. He said it is the best wood for the job. If none is available he uses willow. He works with the wood while it is wet. He gets a lot of the aspen and keeps it in the freezer until he is ready to work with it. The wet aspen is easier to work with when carving. Because the shoes are carved both inside and outside, it dries without cracking. If he gets an aspen tree about 12 inches in diameter he can get 75 pairs of shoes out of it.

The tools are all hand tools. And antique hand tools at that. He picked them up at antique sales. He had an interesting log as his workhorse and all his tools were attached to it and readily available. He uses a side axe for the rough shaping. He then shapes further with a block knife and carves the inside of the shoe with a spoon auger. The spoon auger has markings on the handle in centimeters so he can tell how far inside the shoe he is going. This tells the shoe size.

Mr. Siegel started by rounding the toe up. The toe is rounded up so you can walk in them. He carves wood from the outsides of the shoe next, making the rough shape. He then wedges the shape with wooden blocks into a notched out gap in the workhorse. Then using the shoe auger he uses a lot of arm force to start the hollowing for the shoe inside. He turns the auger both directions to remove wood from both side of the inside. He also uses it offset from the center to further remove the wood. He leaves a lot of wood at the back for leverage.

After the rough shape is finished, he lets the shoes dry for 3 weeks. The wood is 3/8 inch thick. He always makes a pair to match. After the shoes are dry he uses sandpaper to make them smooth. He uses steel with diamond dust to sharpen his tools. When asked how long the shoes would last, he answered a long time on grass and dirt and not as long on concrete and rocks.

In the Netherlands they have made wooden shoes for 500 years. Now they are usually made by machine. There are 2 million shoes exported yearly from the Netherlands to other countries, and another 1 million pairs used inside the country. Other cultures, such as the French, use wooden shoes regularly.

Mr. Siegel had a lot of finished shoes for members of the audience to try on. The shoe sizes were unfamiliar because they were in centimeters, but many people were able to find shoes that fit and gave them a try. They were quite comfortable to walk in and because they had a built in arch they felt good on the feet. I noticed a couple people actually bought a pair. Mr. Siegel said he would definitely be interested in talking to anyone who was serious about wanting to learn how to make the shoes.

Thank you to Mr. Siegel for an interesting program.

Gallery of shoe making pictures

TOYS TOYS TOYS
Ron Hinderman

Come on people! Come and get the nice free wood that’s been given the WOOD WORKERS GUILD for making toys for the kids, plus I have a good assortment of wheels 3/4" - 2 1/2" available so please drive over to my home and pick up some nice wood & wheels. Lets get started on these toy projects! Thank you kindly.