Mark's Musings
Mark Bronkalla
November Meeting
Marc Adams
Marc Adams did a great job as he has in the past for both the meting
and workshops. The meeting talk was truly inspiring. I had the pleasure
of taking the Sunday Marquetry and Parquetry class. We got to see the
techniques up close and learn enough of the tips and techniques to be
able to go out and do it on our own.
Election
The board ran unopposed (surprise). The highlight of the election being
the introduction of our new guild president, John Johnson. John is
ready to step up to the task and has been to his first guild board
meeting.
We are still in need of a new secretary as Jeff’s travel schedule has
cut into his ability to make the meetings. Besides, he has been serving
for a most remarkable 10 years.
December Meeting
The December meeting is our annual Holiday Party / Dinner and toy
collection. We encourage all members to come to the Holiday Party with
their spouse / significant other. This is a chance for them to meet the
other woodworking crazies that you have been talking about. It is also
a great support session for them as they get to meet others that have
wondered about our strange preferences (clamps as gifts, etc.).
We will be collecting for the toy drive at the meeting. Having a toy is
NOT part of the price of entry. The toys are brought in and
displayed anonymously. There will be plenty of oohing and aahing
and admiration of the collective craftsmanship.
Logfest Lumber Auction
The lumber is GONE! If you did not partake of the buying frenzy, too
bad as the deals were incredible. Both days of the auction were
absolutely gorgeous. The wood was auctioned off this time in full log
lots. These ranged from 30 to over 100 square feet (30-150 bd
ft). Hopefully, the income will bring us close to break even on this
venture. We over bought on the log purchases a bit this year. I
ended up with another truckload of wood. Along with a few others, I had
the kind assistance of Jim Hurley in getting some of the load hauled. A
number of my boards were too long for my short pickup bed.
In The Shop
This has been a good start to the winter woodworking season. I have
been doing some organizing and rearranging of the shop. As I have added
tools over the years, the layout has shown a few weaknesses. The
ongoing issues are that I have wood and metal working areas intermixed
and that seemingly every time I need a clamp, it is on the wrong side
of the shop.
Bench and Cabinet
The shop is starting to be rearranged. I want to separate the metal
working and the woodworking components. While there is overlap (e.g.
Drill Press, Power Miter Box, even the Drill Mill), I really want to
try separating the metal and wood as much as possible . In theory
this will avoid damage of wood pieces by errant metal chirps and will
also consolidate some operations and tooling. Currently the drill press
and drill mill are nearly completely across the shop from each other.
This means that there are numerous trips across the shop for drill bits
and other common tooling.
The first step was to make a new bench and cabinet to move some tool
storage to the metal side of the shop and to provide some nice bench
top space.
The bench is constructed in a simple and frugal manner. It borrows the
top construction from one I had made about 12 years ago. The case and
drawer construction from my 3 year old Radial Arm Saw side bench.
This means the design and construction details have proven themselves
over time.
The bench is approximately 50”wide by 33” deep. The cabinet sides and
divider are 3/4“ plywood and MDF. The back is 1/2” BC plywood.
The back is let into rabetts in the sides and is glued and stapled to
add rigidity. The entire case is painted with 2 coats of latex enamel
with the final coat being a high gloss white. After the first coat,
lightly sand to remove the nibs and raised grain. The drawers and
slides are generously waxed for lubrication.
There are 2 columns of 10 drawers, 6 are 5” total tall, and 4 are 7”
total tall. The drawers are very simple. Birch plywood is used for all
of the drawer pieces. The sides are joined with rabbets at the front
and dadoes at the rear. The bottom is let into a dado all the way
around. All of the joints are glued (including the bottom). The
drawers are finished with satin water based polyurethane finish (2
coats Carver Tripp sprayed on). The finish had been sitting around fro
a number of years. I sprayed it on a bit lighter than normal (showing
orange peel when wet). It flowed out and dried perfectly. I have a
hunch I often spray on water based finishes a bit heavier than
necessary.
The drawers run on simple MDF slides / ledges glued and stapled to the
sides of the case. The MDF works because it is finished with paint
(varnish would work as well). The top is framed with 2x4s on edge
which are rabbetted for the top. The top is 2 layers, with the bottom
being really ugly piece of 3/4” piece of plywood (salvage). The top
layer is 1/4” tempered hardboard (Masonite). The top is finished with a
couple of coats of lacquer. I was too impatient for polyurethane.
With the old metal vise mounted on top, and drawer pulls added (10 for
$15) the bench is ready to go.
Clamp Rack
My clamps have been stored on a dirt simple rack, mounted high on one
wall of the shop (over the Radial arm saw and lathe). This has served
me well (especially when my glue up table was the table saw), but has 2
problems. The rack is on the opposite side of the shop from my cabinet
makers bench (3 years old) and is starting to sag quite a bit under the
accumulation of clamps.
On the bench side of the shop, there is a wall with the windows and
some open space to the side. This is where the new clamp rack is
mounted, near the ceiling. The clamp rack (just above dirt
simple) is made entirely from scraps. I had some long strips of 3/4”
plywood. These make up the body of the rack.
The rack is basically a 6’ long U channel (laying on its side) with the
top being 5” wide, the back 3” and the bottom 3”. There are notches
every 4” in the top and bottom flanges of the U. The notches are ~3/8”
wide by 2” deep. The top and bottom notches are staggered by 2” so that
the clamps can hang from both levels. There are several wood blocks
that reinforce the sides, which are glued and screwed in place. With a
couple hundred pounds of clamps hanging, simple butt joints alone would
probably not hold.
To dress up the rack and maybe add some resistance to abuse, the front
edges are finished with strips of oak.
Program
JANUARY 2005
Date: Wednesday January 5, 2005
Event: Regular Monthly Meeting
Topic: Wood Movement
Presenter: John McAlpin
Location: Faith United Church of Christ
4240 N. 78th St. Milwaukee WI
Time: 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Sponsor: Ken Bahr
Fee: None
Comments:
“My door blew up?” “Loose? But it was snug just a few months
ago!” “The wood was perfect … why did it crack so bad?”
The always problematic but seldom accounted for issue of wood movement.
What it is, what it can do, how to account for it to improve our wood
working projects. John is quite experienced in many phases of
woodworking, having worked in the lumber industry, building
unique furniture, and starting his own custom millwork business. He
will address the somewhat mysterious movement of wood during the
seasons and give us several solutions and alternatives to help solve
some of these problems.
FEBRUARY 2005
Date: Wednesday February 2, 2005
Event: Regular Monthly Meeting
Topic: Saw and Router Blades
Presenter: Vito Ruggiero
Location: Faith United Church of Christ
4240 N. 78th St. Milwaukee WI
Time: 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Sponsor: Kevin Seigworth
Fee: None
Comments:
Mr. Ruggiero is the Freud Representative for the area. He will be
discussing the latest technology in saw and router bit manufacturing.
He will also focus on the different types of saw blades and router
bits, features of those blades and bits, and best uses for each. His
program will cover topics as follows:
1. Who Freud is and where we are positioned in the industry.
2. What we manufacture. ( Blades, Bits, Shaper Cutters, Power Tools,
etc. )
3. How do we differ from our competition.
4. What blades work best on different materials and different machines.
5. Discuss some of the unique router bits we have.
6. Touch on some insert tooling from our shaper cutters category.
7. Talk about some of our Power tools.
8. Q&A
MARCH 2005
Date: Friday March 4, 2005
Event: Special Monthly Meeting
Topic: Old Ways Of Working Wood
Presenter: Ernie Conover
Location: Faith United Church of Christ
4240 N. 78th St. Milwaukee WI
Time: 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Sponsor: Kevin Seigworth
Fee: None
Comments:
In this entirely new lecture Ernie Conover shares his vast knowledge of
woodworking history. Before 1820 all wood was worked by hand. Every
board was brought from rough to smooth with hand planes and all cutting
was done with handsaws and chisels. Ernie will lead you an armchair
tour of the 18th Century cabinet shop, showing you shop practices,
methods of work and how the jointers tools were used. As icing on the
cake, his lecture will be liberally illustrated by examples from his
sizeable collection of antique woodworking tools.
WORKSHOP GUILD BASIC EVENT
Workshop: Workbench Workshop
Workshop Date: Begins Saturday Jan. 8, 2005
Maximum Enrollment: 8-10
Fee: Free
Location: Members workshops.
Presenters: Jerry Tackes
Materials: Provided
What To Bring: Safety glasses and an apron
Comments: Learn to design, fabricate, and custom tune a solid high
quality workbench. This is a hands on workshop, creating a workbench
from start to finish. Participants will work on every aspect of
the bench to develop their skills. Completed bench will be used by the
Wisconsin Woodworkers Guild at our meetings.
Great skill builder designed to give members the knowledge to create
one of the most basic shop tools of our craft.
The workshop will include tips on avoiding major pitfalls, some tips
and techniques to personalize it, such as bench height, vise choices,
and other options.
Note, this will be a series of several weekends due to the amount of
work required. Steps will be as follows:
1) Top construction, including dog holes, wood alignment, and multiple
glue-ups.
2) Flattening and edge banding the top.
3) Making the (trestle) base.
4) Mounting the vises.
This is being planned as a “round robin” workshop and has not been
finalized as of publication date. Details are being worked out with the
volunteer members, and will be provided at the September meeting.
Workshop was originally designed as a hands-on learning session, and
has developed into building a bench for the guild. Member input has
provided volunteers who will provide shop space and their knowledge.
Only costs for this workshop is the guild purchasing the materials.
Members who participate in this workshop will provide the guild with a
quality workbench that is solid, a knock-down design for storage
purposes built with pride. They will not make a bench for themselves at
the workshop, but learn the techniques to do so when they have the time
and funding available. This will be held over a period of three or four
weekends as required to complete the project. Should be a great time
for all participants.
WORKSHOP NAME: A Woodturning
Primer
Sponsor: Kevin Seigworth
WORKSHOP DATE: March 5, 2005
Details will be in the next Ripsaw
A Woodturning Primer
With Ernie Conover
Ernie Conover, noted teacher and author of The Lathe Book, Turning for
Furniture and Turn a Bowl with Ernie Conover (all published by Taunton
Press) will give a seminar in turning. This basic primer is for the
woodworker who wants to incorporate more turning in their work or wants
to try a little bowl turning. He will cover a host of information from
buying the right lathe for you to what tool to use in any given
situation. Don’t miss this chance to improve your turning skills.
Morning
Ernie will start with a thorough discussion of tools and equipment. How
to correctly sharpen tools for optimum performance will be covered in
detail including the variety of jigs now available for this purpose.
Correct use of the tools for shear cutting, rather than scraping, will
be explained and demonstrated. The emphasis will be on turning with
speed and confidence along with the ability to duplicate parts.
Drilling and boring will be covered along with a plethora of production
tricks and techniques. Ernie will also explore many uncommon turning
techniques and chucking methods through a host of surprises.
Afternoon
The afternoon starts with a discussion of wood technology, faceplate
dynamics, selection of tools and sharpening them correctly. Ernie
explains and actually demonstrates how the deep fluted bowl gouge cuts
and how to control it in all situations. The later part of the day will
be spent on bowl turning. This will start with how to turn a bowl
directly form a green log. How to season and return this rough turned
blank will be covered in detail. Sanding and finishing of faceplate
work will close the session. Chucking methods and useful techniques
will be covered throughout. He will also show you a shop built vacuum
chuck that makes life beautiful for the bowl turner.
Raffle Column
By Alan Clapp
Brian Rasch was the lucky winner of the bench grinder during the
November meeting. A Bosch 12" compound miter saw will be the
raffle prize at the December 1st holiday party. You need not be
present to win, but we hope to see you there!
Reflections
Marc Adams
Liz Rohde
Marc Adams was the guest speaker for our November
meeting. This is the fourth time Marc graced us with his
presence. And I’m sure we’ll have him back again.
Marc started out by giving a brief history of how he
was introduced to woodworking and how it evolved into a life long hobby
and career. Marc’s father was a woodworker, so it stands to
reason that he would involve his son in some of his projects.
When Marc was a teen, his father bought a Shop Smith. But before
he and Marc could try it out, tragedy struck when Marc’s father
died. So the Shop Smith was retired and Marc went on with his
life.
While going to college, Marc found he needed some
extra cash. So he started to fix furniture for friends and
relatives. He then started to build simple furniture, which he
was able to sell. Soon he was toying with the idea of making this
his career.
After college Marc started his own very successful
furniture business. But as most people will tell you, once you
make your hobby a business you lose the ability to do what you
want. And he noticed that there were no accredited schools where
one could go to learn the craft of woodworking.
Marc came to the conclusion that what was needed was
a school for woodworkers. With a well equipped shop and
instructors who themselves are craftsmen.
So he sold his business and in 1991 he opened the
Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Franklin, Indiana. The first
year he had 16 classes with a total of 116 students. The school
has grown by leaps and bounds. But now Marc has the time to build
his own furniture when classes are done for the year.
And he brought a slide presentation of some of his pieces. Marc
showed a large diversity of furniture. From a laminate cabinet, a
conference table with 3 sections so perfectly matched that one couldn’t
tell where the joints were, to a staircase and a dining room set.
But the most impressive furniture for me was the
furniture he designed and built for his family. He created a crib
for his daughter with a Mickey Mouse theme. The head and footboard had
hand-craved characters of Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Donald Duck.
He designed and built a cradle for his son with a
Snow White theme. The marquetry in the head and footboards of
Snow White and the seven dwarfs was breath taking. And what
child’s room could be complete without a Disney theme marquetry toy
box.
Once Marc finished the kid’s rooms he started
on his and his wife’s bedroom set. The theme was based on
Disney’s Pocahontas. It is built out of curly maple. Leaves
cascade around the 2 chests, armoire, head and footboard. All the
images are done in marquetry with silver inlays.
After the slide presentation Marc answered questions
from the audience. There is no way to describe the beauty that we
saw in the furniture Marc created. You’d have to see it for
yourselves. I hope we have Marc back again so some of the members
who couldn’t see will get a chance next time.
Mark Adams Marquetry and Parquetry Seminar Sunday Nov 7
By Jerry Kashmerick
Mark covered a lot of ground. Methods of veneering were reviewed and
what current thickness standards are being used; USA 42/inch, Europe,
54/inch, and Japan 124/inch. Japan uses a huge plane to make these thin
veneers. The handling and conditioning of veneer was covered. These
techniques stabilize the veneer for later ease of handling and
application.
Mark showed easy techniques to make veneer inlay using stencil punchers
available at craft stores and cookie cutters! Adhesives and cores for
veneer have various characteristics but all cores need balanced
construction having veneer on both sides of the piece. Veneer tapes
were explained and demonstrated. A variety of Lois cubes were made and
arranged along with a very rapid creation of a veneer checker board in
addition to other Parquetry examples. Sand shading of veneer to achieve
a color blending from dark to light was shown.
Technique for permanently color dying veneer was also demonstrated.
Techniques for doing Marquetry were taught and Mark made a
flower/leaf/stem veneer inlay made up of numerous woods selected for
their grain direction and color. The whole process as Mark performed it
took about 1 hour using a simple pattern, tracing paper, carbon paper,
a jig saw (with the table tilted 11 degrees) and a guy (Mark) who
knew what he was doing. Gluing, sanding and finishing Marquetry
finished the session.
I for one learned A LOT.