Mark's Musings

Mark Bronkalla

Logfest

What is it?
Logfest is a traditional Wisconsin Woodworker’s guild activity. Logs are gathered and sawn into lumber. Most of the sawing takes place in preparation for Logfest. At Logfest, there is a log sawing demonstration to show off the techniques old milling logs into usable (and often spectacular) lumber. Logfest is NOT an annual event. We had one last year, but will likely not have one next year. So this is your chance to join in!
Fun
The process of gathering, hauling and storing the logs is brutishly hard work. Each log weighs anywhere from 600-1600 lbs. The average log is over 1000 lbs. Once we have a lead on the logs (preferably free) we haul them to the mill. Many trips are often required as we need to stay within the weight limits of the trucks and trailers. We have a great group of guys who do the principal hauling work and get to enjoy the fun of wrestling the logs into place.
Work
The sawing takes place with teams. George Henderson’s mill will keep 2 teams of people busy carrying planks to stack and sticker. With only 1 team (2 people) carrying you cannot keep up with the cutting of the mill. With 2 teams, there is a chance for a break and to comment on their skill in managing the sometimes enormous planks (some are 2 feet wide by 14 feet long). The entire group also lends their collective judgment as to how best to cut each log. We have some quite spectacular cuttings and with our wealth of oak and ash, we chose to do a lot of quarter sawn stock. The ray flecking fairly pops out at you as the boards are sawn (still wet).
Green wood weighs a bit much. Brute force works well and the lumber stacking is an aerobic exercise (still working on American Heart Association certification for this). From the time it is cut, until auction, 10-30% of the initial weight will be lost due to our advanced air drying technology (large stickered stacks covered on the top with tarps).
The morning of Logfest typically consists of a log sawing demonstration. For photos of this year’s sawing (with some of the smaller logs) see: http://www.wiswoodworkersguild.orglog_photos_aug_2004/ log_photos_aug_2004.html
Great buys
Last year the average selling price was less than $1 per board foot. Great buys were had. Whether you are after an entire log of a particular wood, spectacular crotch pieces, turning chunks (often a.k.a. firewood to those that don’t like spinning wood) or the merely spectacular quarter sawn or spalted wood, this is the place to look. Remember you do not normally find 12-24’ wide by 8-14 foot long pieces of often clear lumber at the local home center or lumber yard. Is it all great? Well no, you do need some to use for stickers and kindling anyway.
How is the lumber sold?
Auction. You will be asked to sign in as you arrive. Members and family are free. Non-members are $5/family. The auction will start at 10 AM and continues until the wood is gone or the bidding stops. We have literally thousands of board feet of lumber to sell (est. 7-9 thousand board feet).
The selling will be a bit different than last year. We will be selling entire layers off of the stack at a time. As you will see, the wood is numbered for both log number and slice sequence. The boards were stacked in sequence, so most layers consist of boards from a single log. This makes it easy to keep the boards from a log together later and for easy book match selection.
Odds, ends and turning chunks will be priced as marked ranging from $0-10. The slab wood is George’s. If you are interested, contact him. The slabs are good for scroll saw work and for smoking. Don’t limit your cooking flavors to old standbys such as hickory. Other hardwoods offer a variety of flavors. I have buckets of chunks of various woods for smoking. Stay away from softwoods and walnut.
Why air dry?
Save money, have something to steam bend, yard decoration (lumber piles can be quite attractive in the right setting), the “I cut it myself factor�, and the knowledge of having 100’s of board feet of grain and color matched lumber from the same tree to use for years of projects (you weren’t going to only buy a couple of planks were you?). For more info see: http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/FPLGTR/fplgtr117.pdf http://www.woodweb.com/KnowledgeBase/KBPPAirDryingLumber.html


At the October meeting we will be passing around sign up sheets. We need lots of help to keep things moving. We have an amazing amount of wood to move. Of course, you can both work and bid. I think that working, both sawing and clearing the piles gives you a bidding advantage as you get a chance to inspect the wood up close and make mental notes of what to buy.

Board Openings

At the risk of sounding a bit corny “This guild is your guild�. We need new blood to take on board positions. The hours are reasonable and the board is fun to work with. Unfortunately for both Jeff and myself, we just do not have the time any more. It is perfectly acceptable to nominate yourself or anyone else you think is dependable and capable. Don’t be shy. The positions are not “for life� although 2 years or more is nice. The time commitment is basically 2 evenings per month.
Openings are:
Secretary - Jeff Nebel is stepping down after an amazing 10 year stint.
Toy Chairman - We have been without a toy chairman for a year now. We need someone to lead this important program. Ron and other members can provide as much guidance as you like.
President - I am stepping down. We need a new chief rabble rouser and nominal leader. If you are inexperienced, don’t worry - I was clueless when I started this. The board will train the new President.
The Wisconsin Woodworkers Guild needs you. Do you have a friend or acquaintance with a woodworking related skill or talent that they would be willing to share? Give it some thought. If you identify someone, you can turn that lead over to the Program/Workshop committee and they will do the work involved in setting up that program or workshop.
We are looking for your ideas and fresh perspective on topics and speakers. If each one of you could identify one potential speaker, we would have many new and diverse topics as well as a pool of speakers to cover the next several years.
There is also a need for help on the Program/Workshop Committee. If you are willing to arrange a program or workshop and do contact and the follow-up, if you would help out with these, or if you are willing to do either a program or workshop (or both), we welcome you and want to be part of the guild.
Please contact Ken Bahr or a member of the Program/Workshop committee with your ideas.

TOYS, TOYS, TOYS

Kris Kraemer of Woodcraft has donated 1-3/4" wheels, 1-1/2 “wheels & axles to the guild for the 2004 TOY DRIVE. Plus, I have on hand some other sizes of wheels. We need dolls and teddy bears for the strollers and doll beds. The guild donates to 7 different battered Women’s Centers in the Southeastern WI area. So when you are making up your toys please think of the # 7. It makes it so much easier to count out 7 toys the night of the Christmas party, if many of the same kind are made. Thank you kindly Ron Hinderman.

Program

For current calendar information see:
http://wiscwoodworkersguild.org/cgi-bin/eventcalendar.cgi


EVENT: Workshop: Build a Workbench
Workshop Date: To be finalized – Jan. & Feb. 2005
Time: To be determined
Maximum Enrollment: 8-10
Fee: Free
Location: Jerry Tackes
Presenters: Mark Bronkalla, others
Materials: Provided
Sponsor:
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. 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:
•    Top construction, including dog holes, wood alignment, and multiple glue-ups.
•    Flattening and edge banding the top.
•    Making the (trestle) base.
•    Choosing and mounting the vises.

Jerry Tackes has graciously offered his shop for the project. The workshop is 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. The 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.

Board Briefs

BOARD BRIEFS

BOARD of DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES for SEPT. 9, 2004 Location: United Church of Christ, 4240 N. 78th Street, Milwaukee
Present: Mary Anderson, Ken Bahr, Mark Bronkalla, Leila Crandall-Frink, Jerry Kashmerick, Jeff Nebel, Liz Rohde, Jerry Tackes, Dick Yezek
Vice-president: Dick distributed lists of sign-ups for the upcoming events. Top turning (scheduled for 10/16) has one sign-up so far. Other events: Workbench (not scheduled yet) 6; Quilt Rack (11/27) 8, Woven Ornaments (11/13) 3, Marc Adams Cabinet Making (11/6) 14 (only 5 paid), Marc Adams Marquetry (11/7) 4 (none paid).
Secretary: Guild mail indicated there are proposed changes to the State Gaming (i.e. raffle) rules and regulations. Jeff will investigate to see if any will affect the Guild and report at the next meeting. Jeff announced he will be stepping down as Guild secretary at the end of 2004.
Treasurer: Liz distributed a financial report for the period 7/1/04 thru 9/9/04. The treasury balance as of 9/9/04 was $7,012.16. Largest expenses are workshops and Logfest. Meeting room rental is paid thru the end of the year. The holiday party will be held a Meyer’s this year. The price per head for this event can be held to $20.00.
Program/Workshop: Ken stated we are set for November with Marc Adams. The cabinetry workshop sign-up looks good, but marquetry is very low. Ernie Conover will be the March program. With no Guild meeting before Logfest, scheduled for October 2nd, Ken will investigate moving Logfest to October 9th.
Exhibits/promotions: Jerry K. related that trifolds have been delivered to the Greendale library for the display. The next Milwaukee Woodworking Show is scheduled for February 25-27, 2005, at the State Fair Park Expo Building.
Publications: Leila related the Publications committee held no meetings over the summer. The next meeting will be held Monday, September 13th.
Membership: Mary reported the current membership is 177. Membership renewal notices will be going out with the next newsletter.
New Business: Jerry Tackes has agreed to be leader for the Guild Workbench project. He was seeking input regarding project goals. After much discussion it was decided the bench will be 4’ x 2’ with a 6� wide tool tray added for a total depth of 30.� Final height not yet determined. It will have knockdown construction with both front and tail vises. This workshop will be after the first of the year, perhaps in time to display the bench at the Woodworking Show.
A nominating committee will be needed to fill the positions of President and Secretary.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeffrey M. Nebel, Secretary

Raffle

Alan Clapp

The winner of the September raffle was Thomas Schuppe. Home Tech Wood Specialties has donated the October raffle prize. The Home Tech Laser Guide mounts easily to stationary power tools such as your miter saw, radial arm saw or drill press. The battery powered Laser Guide is manually turned on prior to making the cut so you can identify the cut line prior to powering your cutting tool. Home Tech Wood Specialties can be reached at 800-365-7305, P.O. Box 502 Amador City, CA 95601

Year End Raffle

The year end raffle is a Bosch model 3912 12" Compound Miter Saw. The saw is complete with 40-tooth blade, dust bag and hold down clamp.
Tickets will be available for $5 each at the Fall Guild meetings and at the holiday party.

Reflections

Orthodox Casket Making

Mary Anderson

At the meeting on September 1st we had the great opportunity to learn about Orthodox Casket Making from George Krauspe, a guild member.
George brought along his associate, Mr. Shong Lor. Shong didn’t know any woodworking when he started working for George in May. It didn’t take long for Shong to learn and George admits that he has turned into an excellent woodworker.
Orthodox caskets are made for the Hmong people. George got into building caskets when his day job quit him, not the other way around. George has a friend who sells caskets for a living and one day at lunch it was brought up to George that he could make them and sell them. George usually sells them to the funeral homes, but will also sell to the Hmong public. There is one other Orthodox casket maker and he is located in Minnesota. There are only a few funeral homes that will do Hmong funerals because they take three days and can be very messy. They are like the American Indians and will sacrifice an animal at the funeral.
Most of the Hmong like to have the funerals on the weekend and the funeral homes are about three months behind. The caskets cannot be made with any metals, plastics, polyurethane or yellow glues. The caskets are entirely made of wood.   The Hmong believe that if there is any of the preceding materials in the casket, their ancestors will haunt them for life. They also believe that carvings of Ivy leaves on the casket will keep the evil spirits away.
The wood that is used in Laos for the caskets is called Thwjsuab (tishla) wood. The Hmong like this wood for the very unique lemony Pine Sol smell it has. Since the government of Laos has figured out that many of the Hmong in America want this wood for their caskets, they have banned shipments of the wood to America. The last shipment that came to America was shipped to George’s only competitor in Minnesota. George uses Aromatic Cedar, which is another acceptable wood to use. The caskets are in the shape of a baseball field. In order for George to get the precise measurements for the round top he had to make up a plan. He makes up full size plans. He uses angled pieces with compound miters. He also finger joints the lid and side cases. To fill any imperfections, he uses sawdust and hide glue as filler and then sands them down. After the sanding, he puts on 12 coats of Shellac and lets them dry for about three weeks. They then sand this to a high gloss.
George has made about one dozen of the caskets and each one takes approximately 90 hours to make. They are a standard 82 inches long and 25   inches wide on the inside. The standard size on the inside is 22 – 24 inches. The Hmong like to leave items for the deceased in the casket. This is the reason for the extra width.
It was a really interesting meeting and I learned a lot about the Hmong people of Laos and their culture. Thanks George and Shong for a wonderful evening.