Welcome to April. They tell us that spring is fast approaching; I am
looking forward to being able to open up the house so that I can get some of
my finishing projects done. In March we had a good presentation and
workshops with Ernie Conover. They were well attended. I learned a lot about
turning, especially the constant sharpening and effectiveness of sharp
tools, and will have to try my hand at it in the future. Thanks to Jerry
Tackes for the use of his shop.
Another of the suggested areas of improvement for the monthly
presentations has been to add better lighting for our stage. If you
previously expressed interest in helping to build the stage lighting please
contact me.
We have also begun investigating quicker ways to get the word out for
special items of general interest that don’t fit well with the meeting or
R.I.P.S.A.W. schedules. One example was the recent 3-phase tool opportunity
from the Ethan Allen school. One option being pursued is to use an email
list off of the website for guild information. Stay tuned for further
details. (The Publication Committee does not put your phone number or email
address on the internet for privacy reasons).
Finally, there is a typo in my email address in the
directory. The correct address is jcj_kyj@mchsi.com. Feel free to email me
with comments and/or suggestions for improving your Wisconsin Woodworkers
Guild.
President: John Johnson asked for someone to pick up the mail at the P.O.
Box on a regular basis. Dick Yezek agreed to to this on an interim basis.The
board agreed on a $1000.00 library expenditure for 2005.
Vice-President: Dick Yezek reported 18-20 people at the Ernie Conover
Workshops, 5 - 6 more than they had expected. Programs/ Workshops: Ken Bahr
reported that the format of the Program/Workshop Committee meeting on the
Tuesday after the monthly meeting went well. and he suggested that it be
tried for a few more months. Five people were present. The group is
enthusiastic about planning workshops and
programs for the year 2005. He also reported great enthusiasm for the Ernie
Conover Workshops.
Exhibits/ Publicity: Jerry Kashmerick reported that the Woodworkers Show
went very well this year. The Guild had a great location this year and many
members showed up to help run the booth. He suggested, so as not to confuse
new members, we should post a large sign explaining that the meetings are
normally on the first Wednesday of the month.
Publications: Leila Crandall-Frink reminded those
present that the deadline for the R.I.P.S.A.W. articles is on Monday March
14th.
Treasurer: Liz Rohde announced that the administration expenses are paid for
the year. She requested mail that be sent directly to her instead.of the
P.O. Box to save time when
paying bills.
Membership/ Toys: Mary Anderson reported that the Guild currently has 150
members. She said that seven (7) new
members joined from the Woodworkers Show. She also announced that she took
the toy plans home to determine the current inventory. She will return them
at the next meeting.
Our March speaker was a repeat performance for some of the guild members.
Ernie Conover (Conover Lathe fame) has spoke at our meetings before. And we
always learn something from this multi-faceted person. Ernie’s talk and
presentation was on “Old ways of working wood”. Apparently Ernie has a large
collection of antique hand tools.
Ernie started by giving us a history of how a young man (women weren’t
allowed in the trades) would start his career in woodworking. During the
18th century in England a lad would be indentured to a craftsmen for 7
years. In the new colonies it was cut to 5 years. For this opportunity the
lad promised not to divulge any trade secrets and be faithful to his master.
In turn his master would promised to make the lad “numeric and literate”
For the first 2 to 4 years the lad would plane boards and sweep the shop
floor. He would learn how to care for the
different tools. Generally during the last 6 months of the apprenticeship
the master would help the boy get a set of tools. And the boy would build
his own took chest. The master would have new irons struck for his planes
and give the old ones to the apprentice. Upon completion of his
apprenticeship the lad was considered a journeymen.
Ernie brought slides of some of his collection of hand planes. He’s not
sure how many he has or what they cost because than his wife might find
out. Isn’t selective forgetfulness wonderful? But his wife isn’t too
forthcoming with how many spinning wheels she has. He also doesn’t know
which he likes to do best, collect or use them.
Ernie gave a brief description and uses as well as a brief
history of the plane. He started out with the shoulder rabbit plane, which
cleans up the shoulder of tenon. He uses a bull nose shoulder plane to break
edges off. He also feels every woodworker should have a shoulder rabbit
plane. In his
opinion it is harder to make a good mortise and tenon than a dovetail joint.
And it has as much place in the modern shop as in the past.
Router planes were used mainly by stair makers. In the good old days a lay
out was drawn where the treads and risers would be positioned. A special
small saw would the outlines to a certain depth. Then the router plane would
create the dadoes that would accept the treads and risers. No wonder some of
those stairs are still around.
The Stanley #78 rabbit plane has a blade that can be moved forward and
used as a bull nose for coming right up to a
corner. It also has a depth stop. His Stanley #97 chisel plane is worth $400
to $500. He doesn’t use it much but he feels it is invaluable when he needs
it. Some of the other planes he discussed were the chamfer plane and the
compass plane, which can produce an accurate arch. Coach builders used them
to create the fenders.
He also showed some wooden thong and groove planes, sometimes called
matched planes because they were sold together. I can’t imagine a whole room
of thong and groove flooring made all by hand.
Ernie lightly touched on the history of the Bailey and Stanley Companies.
Ernie loves Georgian architecture. He showed slides of his plantation
white oak doors, which are in his bedroom. He had a new room addition put on
his home and designed and built it in the Georgian style. The fireplace and
woodwork were painted white, as it would have been in that period.
It was almost time for our break so Ernie closed with this thought. The
difference between a journeyman and a master (in the olden days, Ed.) was
that the master had the money to start his own shop and had apprentices to
help with the load of work while the journeyman worked for others The
difference between an amateur and a professional (today, Ed.) is that a
professional has to cut corners and use power tools in order to make a
living. Whereas as the amateur is keeping the art of woodworking alive.
Ernie feels he is an amateur and makes no apologies for that!!
After our break Ernie answered questions from the
membership.
Thanks to Ernie we had a great time (again). I hope we can have him back
again.
Ernie Conover gave an excellent introduction to the lathe at his workshop
at Jerry Tackes studio. He began with the
fundamentals of the lathe, tools of the trade and proper sharpening profiles
of the tools for spindle and bowl turnings and the techniques to be used to
obtain these profiles.
After profiling the chisels on the board he demonstrated the techniques of
sharpening them employing the Wolverine Grinding and Sharpening Jig, along
with the Turner’s Fingernail / Side Grinding Jig. He stressed the
importance of utilizing sharp tools when working with wood on the lathe.
In the spindle turing phase, Ernie demo’d the techniques of making coves
and beads employing various tools. He said that spindle turning is basically
beads and coves and that one should make a few thousand of them, a few hours
at a time, to become proficient with the techniques. (I notice that we
always see demo’s of spindle turning with soft woods!) Later he demonstrated
the procedure of multiaxis spindle turning in the construction of a Queen
Ann table leg with its classic
slipper foot
Ernie demonstrated bowl turning in the afternoon. He bought a beautiful
frozen disc of box elder with him for this demonstration. Like many of us
experience, the wood was bigger than the lathe capacity. Wet wood presents
unique opportunities when bowl turning. For example, the water from the bowl
turning can spray water over the turner, the lathe and any onlookers who
happen to be close by. One must pre-coat the iron parts of your lathe with a
water proofing spray or dry out the parts following one’s lathe work to
prevent rust formation.
He discussed the methods that one can employ in attaching the bowl
material to the faceplate. Wet wood presents unique challenges and if one is
to use glue it must be the cyanoacrylic type (super glue with accelerator).
He initially attached the wood disc by means of faceplate and screws to turn
the bottom of the bowl, careful to leave a dead-flat disc on the bottom so
he could glue the bottom to a wooden disc so he could turn the inside of the
bowl. Some turners just start with a dead-flat disc on the blank and glue
the blank to a wooden disc with CA glue and turn both the outside and inside
to rough shape.
To turn the bottom of the bowl, Ernie demonstrated the use of a jam chuck,
made from plywood (or similar material). He made a mortise in the disc the
diameter of the bowl and ‘jammed’ the partially finished bowl on to the
disc. This procedure is used quite extensively if lathe work. Some people
use a Cole chuck to hold the stock when turning the base of a bowl or
platter or box.
Ernie stressed the importance of turning the wet bowl to a rough shape,
perhaps an inch in thickness, and allow the bowl to slowly dry-out for
perhaps 4-6 months before finishing it. As wood is removed, especially from
the inside of the bowl, there is ‘wood movement’. And rather than having a
round bowl blank, one ends up with an oval one. This is corrected in the
final turning of the seasoned bowl.
As a finale, Ernie destroyed his bowl to show that the thickness of the
turned bowl was uniform throughout.
As our presenter pointed out, this was an introduction to the lathe and
only experience will make you a turner.
Conover has written several good books on the lathe, among them are
Turning for Furniture Makers, a spindle makers book, Turn a Bowl with Ernie
Conover and The Lathe Book, A Complete Guide to the Machine and Its
Accessories (2nd Edition).
Reading a good book does not make you a good author just as reading a good
recipe doesn’t make you a good cook. One becomes a good turner by the same
process as one gets to Carniege Hall, practice, practice and practice.
Ernie Conover, noted teacher and author of The Router Table Book, shared
his experience and expertise with twenty members of the guild on Sunday,
March 6. This workshop was held at the awesome shop (studio) of Jerry
Tackes. Jerry was the consummate host and had everything and anything on
hand that Ernie was looking for. In fact, Ernie was hoping that Jerry would
adapt him so he could have access to Jerry’s shop. Don’t feel bad for Ernie
though. He owns over thirty routers and is constantly receiving equipment
from tool manufacturers to try out.
Ernie took the group though the options in materials to use to build our
own router tables. The recommended material was one inch MDF coated with
shellac. Ernie then showed us the improved version of his router table
fence. This is also made of MDF. It featured a replaceable zero clearance
block to reduce tear out, a dust port, and chamfered edges to reduce dust
buildup between the fence and the work. Removing the dust and chips with a
vacuum improves the quality of the cut and extends the life of the router
and the bit as the chips are not cut twice. Featherboards are used both to
hold the work to improve the cuts as well as to act as safety guards by
keeping fingers away from the bit.
Ernie recommended a 1 horse router for hand held work and a 2 to 3 horse
router for use in a table. He does not like using a plunge router in a
table. He shared the formula for calculating the actual continuous
horsepower rating for a router. Multiply 120 volts times the rated amperage
of the router (this is on the label). Divide that number by 746 and that
gives you the continuous horsepower rating. The
advertised horsepower is peak horsepower and is attained just before the
motor burns up.
Router bits are commodities and you get what you pay for. More expensive
bits have a better grade of carbide. He likes CMT bits.
Ernie demonstrated various techniques such as climb
cutting, using a starting pin for curved cuts and making panel doors with a
cope-and-stick set. He demonstrated his shop made umbrella guard that coves
the panel cutting bit to increase safety. Small pieces can be held in a
clamp to control them and keep your fingers away from the bit.
If you missed this educational opportunity, Ernie said that most of what
he covered in the workshop is also in his book, except for the improved
version of the fence. The book is in our library. A great time was had by
all as Ernie is an
accomplished educator as well as an entertaining presenter.
April
Date: April 16, 2005
Topic: Sharpening
Time: 9:00 am.—1:00 pm
Enrollment: 12 (Members Only)
Fee: $25.00
Location: Sylvan Studio, Inc.
6228 West State Street Wauwatosa, WI
Presenter:Walt Hadcock
Materials: All materials provided.
What To Bring: Chisels, plane blades that need sharpening.
Comments: This is one of the most basic needs of woodworking. Sharp tools
make your shop safer and your work faster and more enjoyable. Workshop will
give the theory and process of sharpening, and enough supplies to get you
started, as well as send you home with a few sharp tools! The method being
taught is the “Scary Sharp” system that is very inexpensive and quite
effective.
APRIL
Date: April 6
Event: Regular Monthly Meeting
Topic: How Did That Happen?
Presenters: Member Given
Location: Faith United Church of Christ
4240 N. 78th St. Milwaukee WI
Time: 7:00 to 9:30 p.m.
Fee: None. First time guests are welcome.Comments:
How did that wood get wings and fly? Why did that chisel slip? I didn’t
know router bits could fly!!! Member short talks on doing things we all do
sooner or later, and what can go wrong, why it wasn’t a good idea to not use
a jig, or how easy it can be to make a mistake. Even some close calls we
have had, and how to avoid all these mistakes and oops’ we do without
thinking.
Members willing to share what went wrong AND how not to get hurt or ruin a
project in the process. Room for more tips and advice is still available.
Valuable advice wanted to make us better and safer woodworkers! Come and
learn as well!June (TBA)
JULY
Date: July 6
Event: Regular Monthly Meeting
Topic: Show and Tell
Presenters:Member Given
Location: Faith United Church of Christ
4240 N. 78th St, Milwaukee WI
Time: 7:00 — 9:30 p.m.
Fee: None. First time guests are welcome.
Comments
Members sharing tips, jigs and fixtures, short cuts, and just having a
place to show their recent projects. Annual event that brings out some of
the best in all of us, always informative and helpful! Signups start at the
April meeting. Show off your pride and joy!
Small workshops are becoming difficult to schedule. Any members willing to
volunteer their shop or talents for workshops should contact Ken Bahr at
Ashman_579@msn.com or other members of the Program / Workshop Committee.
Note that Guild Members volunteering either their shop or workshop are not
charged the workshop fee.
Klockit Catalogs &Discount Cards
Klockit of Lake Geneva , WI. has sent our guild some
catalogs about understanding and using mechanical clock movements. They have
also sent discount cards that will
entitle our guild members to a 15% off on regular priced
merchandise. These will be avable at the April meeting. See Liz Rhode for
the discount cards.
Ron Hinderman
Display Opportunity
There will be an opportunity to display Wood projects and pieces at the
Zablocki library in May in a very large high case viewable from both sides.
You can bring items to the May meeting or deliver them to the library. There
will be a signup sheet at the next meeting.
Contact Ed Cessna or
Jerry Kashmerick for more details.
Wanted to Buy:
Base for a Wolverine Grinding Jig. I have the "V" arm attachment but not the base. If so, please email Steve at srmellott@hotmail.com