This month we have the pleasure of having Ernie Conover for our featured speaker and workshop presenter. I am looking forward to learning new and exciting things. I understand that he has done a good job in the past.
I have three topics that I would like to touch on this month. First, the library. As most of you will agree, the library is a valuable source of information and offers a wide range of topics in print and video formats. From the surveys, it was pointed out that some of the materials are starting to get dated. This was discussed at the board meeting and we will begin looking into new acquisitions for the library. I will point out that the Marc Adams collection of DVDs was purchased when he was in town.
Second, programs and workshops. We are hoping to reinvigorate the program/workshop committee in order to get our plans made further in advance. We are looking to hold regular meetings at the church between the monthly meeting and the following board meeting. All of you that listed programs/workshops as an area to help on the membership renewal form can expect a call regarding the next committee meeting. If for some reason you feel you are overlooked please contact Ken Bahr or me.
Third, we are still in need of a couple of people to fill the Secretary and Facilities positions. The time commitments are not large but go a long ways to running the guild smoothly. If you would like to know more about what is involved please contact me or one of the other Board members.
Members Present: John Johnson, Dick Yezek, Ken Bahr, Jerry Kashmerick, Leila Crandall-Frink, Mary Anderson and Si Farmer.
President: John brought along the results of the survey that was sent to the members. He felt that the comments on the whole were good. John wanted to know what the budget for the library is for the year, and how can we update some of the books. John also wanted to know what to do about the lighting in the hall. Si would look into it.
Vice-President: Regarding the layout for the guild meetings, Dick has volunteered to make a PowerPoint layout so that we can set up for the meetings every month the same. There are currently 10 and 12 members signed up for the Conover Router and Lathe workshops respectively.
Programs/ Workshops: Ken says that the Ernie Conover meeting is all set to go. Ken would write up a list of meeting topics for Si Farmer, so that he can get the Tri-folds printed up before the Woodworkers show. Ken felt that he could give it another try to have the meetings in the church at 6:30 on the Tuesday after the monthly meeting. He will try to call people who signed up to help on the committee.
Exhibits/ Publicity: Jerry said that the Woodworkers show is a go and that we are in the same spot as last year. Almost all the time spots are filled up. He received a call from the people putting on German Fest. The Board all agreed that we should demonstrate there again this July.
Publications: Leila wanted to know when a committee would be formed to find a new secretary. Board minutes haven’t been taken for a couple of months.
Membership/Toy: Mary announced that there are currently 143 members for the year.
Si Farmer: Si came to the meeting and gave out the listings of members who have volunteered to help on the Workshop and Program Planning committee. He also passed out sheets with many ideas to use to set up programs.
Mr. Vitto Ruggiero, a Freud Representative, entertained us by talking about Saw Blades for our February 2005 meeting. The name Freud comes from a combination of two words; Udena, pronounced oo-den-ay, and Frezia, pronounced free-sha. The company is family owned and operated. It is in its third generation. Freud started by making large machinery in the mid 1940’s. In Europe they are well known for the large machinery and in America they are well known for the small tools they make. Freud’s main objective is to make tools to make our projects better.
Most woodworkers in America, when they think of Freud, think of saw blades. Freud produces approximately 20,000 blades per day. On any given day they will have 25 – 30 people working there. Every facet to making the saw blades is done by the computer, including the braising. They get their steel from a German business named Kruk, pronounced crook. The steel is rated between 42 – 45 on the Rockwell scale. This way the steel is very hard. All the Freud blades are laser cut so that there will be no distorting the body of the blade. The next step is to balance and tension the blades. This step flattens the blades more. They noticed that all the blades tend to vibrate when they turn, so eight to nine years ago they started to apply laser cuts into the solid portions of the blades. This, they found tends to deaden 90 % of the vibration on the blades.
There are two things to look for when purchasing a saw blade.
Freud uses a perma shield coating that won’t come off. Other companies may or may not use Teflon coating that can come off. Freud was the first to come out with an anti-kickback, anti-vibration, laser cut blade with a color coating. Added features that Freud puts on their blades are 2 layers of silver alloy and 1 layer if copper. This acts as a shock absorber. They also chamfer the arbor holes on all of their saw blades. Their most important part on the blade is the carbide. Freud makes their own carbide so that they have total control of the process. They use different types of carbide on different blades.
Next Vitto talked about the three different types of teeth on a saw blade. There is the flat tooth, the alternate bevel and the triple chip. The following explains what the type of tooth is used for.
The flat tooth is used for ripping wood. It cuts with the grain and has more cutting surfaces. The teeth tend to wander with the grain.
The second is the alternate bevel tooth. This is primarily used for cross cutting. The tip punctures the wood and scores it. The rest of the teeth finishes cutting the wood and makes a very clean cut.
The third type of saw tooth is called a triple chip. The tooth is a combination of a flat tooth and the alternate bevel. This keeps the teeth from wearing down so fast. This is used on abrasive woods such as particleboard, laminates and plywood.
While I thought that this was a very informative meeting, I feel that it was a commercial presentation by Freud. It would have been better, and more informative to the members, if there were some comparisons, whether good or bad, from other competitors.
On a nice sunny day thirteen Guild members gathered at Jerry Tackes studio to begin the building of a workbench that will be available at our guild meetings. Mark Bronkalla had built a similar bench, provided the plans, had pictures of his project and directed the step-by-step activities.
Jerry had already purchased the 200 bd. ft. of maple for the bench. In addition to ripping the boards to width, they were also marked for grain direction so that they all will go the same way. This will make the final planing.of the top easier and eliminate tear out.
Marks bench only had two rows of dog holes and wished that he had three, so this bench will be built that way. The sections for the holes were made up of two boards sandwiching a third row with the holes in between. The three boards for each section were all planed to the same thickness. The holes were then made by cutting 4” pieces that were spaced on to one board with the holes between them. The ends of the spacers were cut with a 2 degree angle to make for better clamping when used. Since there were enough helpers available, three identical jigs, with a 2 degree angle, were made for each team so that the hole spacing for each section would be the same. Every team would glue each 4” block and position it with the jig. The spacers were then tacked in place. There was only one power nailer available so one worker had to move from one section to the next as the spacers were positioned. (He could have used roller skates). When the spacers were all positioned on one board, glue was placed on the other side and the third was positioned on top. All three-board sections were then clamped together.
After we returned from lunch, the dog hole sections were dry enough that the whole top could be assembled. After selecting each board, positioning the dog hole sections for uniform spacing, and keeping the grains running in the same direction, they were each numbered. An assembly line was set up with glue being applied to both sides of each board, except the outside pieces, spreading the glue, then positioning in place numerically. When back in position the dog holes in each section were set to all be in line with each other. When all the boards were glued and positioned the entire top was clamped on top and bottom.
The next step was to work on the ends of the base. This involved gluing four sections for 2 tops and 2 bottoms. Mortises were made in the center of the glue ups for the tenions in that would be made in the legs.
More to come at the next workshop.
The original second week workshop was cancelled for the Saturday we had it scheduled due to the snowstorm, so we met two weeks later.
To save planeing time, Jerry Tackes made a jig that straddled the glued up top and supported his router. Using a ¾ “ bit, the router was slid back and forth in the jig along the length of the top to make a relatively flat surface. Some final hand planeing was all that was needed.
Pieces for the tops ends and front /back were glued up using two ¾’” boards for each. When they were dry, sliding dovetails were made for the ends of the top. Tails were routed on the ends of the top and groves cut into the end boards. Ken Bahr had made a jig for his router, which was used to make the tails and groves. Tails were then hand cut on the ends of the edge pieces to slide into the groves of the end pieces. Each of these steps involved quite a bit of time using gradual cuttings so as to get a good fit. Not too loose to be sloppy but loose enough to fit without using a sledge hammer. The next steps will be to fit a tray to the back, also making dovetails to fit into the sidepieces.
While this work was in progress, another group of guys were making the tenions in the legs to fit in the mortises of the base pieces. The rough cuts were made on the table saw, but the fine-tuning involved handwork with chisels and shoulder planes. This too was a time consuming job with trial fits, since each tenion would only be able to fit into its corresponding mortise. When all the legs were finished, the fit perfectly. They were not permanently assembled yet because they will need to be modified to position the stretchers that will go between them.
Some of the guys working on this project are doing it to get experience for their own benches (including this author). Some want to start from scratch while others only need to learn to make a base. We are all learning new things with each step. Who says you can’t teach old dogs new tricks?
The workers on this project include: Jerry Tackes, Mark Bronkalla, Walt Hadcock, Kevin Seigworth, Alan Clapp, Ken Bahr, Tom Schuppe, Mark Ruminski, Ron Hinderman, Chuck Burroughs, Bill Smeaton, Bill Godfrey, Jay Pilling & Dick Butula.
WORKSHOP NAME: A Woodturning Primer Sponsor: Kevin Seigworth
WORKSHOP DATE: March 5, 2005
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: MAXIMUM:
FEE: MEMBERS - $ MEMBERS ONLY
Details will be in the next Ripsaw
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.
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.
Presenter: Ernie Conover
Sponsor: Kevin Seigworth
Date: March 6, 2005 8 am to 5 pm
Maximum enrollment: 30
Fee: Members - $45
Location: Jerry Tackes Workshop
Details:
By mounting your router in a table, you not only make it safer but also greatly expand its’ usefulness. In this seminar, Ernie Conover (author of The Router Table Book by Taunton press) gives you his easy-to-use router table techniques to help you improve your woodworking.
You'll learn which routers work best with tables and how to build your own table. Ernie will show you how to make a fence that will outperform commercial fences and explain how to choose accessories that make using a router table safer and easier.
You will learn how to do edge treatments, create moldings, do cope-and-stick panel doors and how to raise panels with both horizontal and vertical panel raisers. There will also be much more useful joinery techniques such as how to make drawers, boxes, rabbets, grooves, etc. How to make simple vacuum jigs and fixtures will be explained. A must attend seminar for any woodworker.
The following are ideas that are being pursued for the next few months by the Program and Workshop Committee. Several are planned and schedule needs to be confirmed, others are ideas that are yet to have someone present. Let us know if you have any speakers or presenters for these or other topics. We are going thru the suggestion survey to bring you more of what you want.
Program and Workshop meeting next month will be Tuesday, March 8th at 6:30 p.m. at the church where the meetings are held. Faith United Church of Christ at 4240 N. 78th St.
New members welcome.
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