February's meeting presentation by Ron Nelson was on an aspect of woodworking that I have not attempted yet, woodturning. His description made it look straight forward and something that I could handle. He also presented some things to watch out for that made sense, like not always trusting the tool manuals, and finishing the inside of the turned piece. Of course this may mean that I have to justify another tool purchase at the upcoming Woodworker's show to my wife!
I am looking forward to March's meeting panel discussion of shop design. I have somewhat limited space in my basement shop and am always looking for ways to make it more efficient. For instance, all of my tools are on wheels in addition to my main bench. I am also putting away ideas of what I would do differently in the next house/shop, and expect that I will be able to add to the list after the discussion.
I have also started my next project, a DVD/CD/Tape cabinet to hideaway the kid's clutter. It is based on the Glen Huey article in the February issue of Popular Woodworking. I am using this project to start tapping into my Logfest stash of wood. Stay tuned for further updates as warranted.
As usual, we are in continuing need of additional volunteers to help run your Wisconsin Woodworker's Guild. The position of Publicity is opening up. Thank You to Jerry Kashmerick for his efforts in the position the past couple of years. Walt Hadcock is also in need of help with the Program/Workshop committee. It is too much for one person to handle, but is quite manageable with a few reliable people.
Happy woodworking!
Date: Wednesday, March 1, 2006
Event: Regular Guild Meeting
Topic: Shop Design Considerations
Presenters:Ken Bahr, Mark Bronkalla, Al Clapp, Bill Godfrey, Walt Hadcock, and Jerry Tackes
Location: Faith United Church of Christ
4240 North 78th Street, Milwaukee
Time: 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Fee: None. First time guests are welcome.
Comments: This is a unique time in the life of the Guild -- several of our members have recently completed a new shop, are in the midst of completing a new shop, or are dreaming and designing their next shop. Many of our members are probably in one of those three categories -- which one are you?
Our March meeting will feature a structured panel discussion of the diverse issues to consider when designing a shop. We expect to have several members describe their personal experiences and then solicit additional ideas from our members.
Our agenda for the evening will be to take a single topic, rotate through the panel for ideas about the topic, open the floor to members for additional ideas about the topic, and then take the next topic.
The general plan for topics includes: Size and floor plan, Lighting, Power, Dust and ventilation, Storage (wood, tools, supplies, paper,), and Equipment -- selection, placement, surroundings.
After the break we will try to answer questions such as:
· What are the best resources to use in getting additional ideas for shop design?
· What was the most important issue in designing the current shop, and why? In other words, what feature do I like the best in the shop? What was the worst design decision, and why?
In other words, what feature do I feel should be changed in the shop? And we will open the floor for questions from members.
Date: Wednesday April 5, 2006
Event: Regular Guild Meeting
Topic: Stains and Color Matching
Presenter: Ken Brengel
Spectrum Interiors, Inc
6651 North Teutonia Avenue
Milwaukee, WI 53209
Location: Faith United Church of Christ
4240 North 78th Street, Milwaukee
Time: 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Fee: None. First time guests are welcome.
Comments: Ken Brengel is a native of Milwaukee. He attended Nicolet High School and began his business career selling airplanes. He found himself unemployed, started his own business, and never looked back.
Ken often teaches other contractors that are members of NARI (National Association of Remodelers, Inc (?)). One of our members recommended Ken based upon his experience in matching the doors in a kitchen remodeling project.
This presentation will include a brief description of typical challenges Ken and his firm have addressed in their work. Ken will then describe the steps to selecting a finish and achieving a good color match.
Date: Saturday, March 18, 2006
Event: Workskhop
Topic: Digital Photography, Lighting, and Woodworking
Presenter: Ron Nelson
Location: Ron Nelson’s Studio
Location details at the March meeting.
Time: 9 am to 1 pm
Fee: To be announced at the March meeting.
Comments: You may have seen some of Ron's work at his February 1 Guild presentation on Turning Hollow Vessels. Now that Ron is one of our newest members, he has offered to show us how he makes those excellent large photographs of his projects.
This workshop will definitely be "hands on". We are limited to 15 participants. Each participant should be familiar with using a digital camera and bring it along. Also bring a small project you would like to photograph. And if you can bring along a laptop computer loaded with Adobe Photoshop or Photo Elements. (Editor note: you can download a 30 day trial copy of either program at the Adobe website: http://www.adobe.com/products/tryadobe/main.jsp#product=40). If you don’t have a laptop, there will be a few people with them there.
Ron will demonstrate the lighting and other techniques used. You should leave this workshop with a new skill you can apply immediately at home.
Date: Saturday, March 11, 2006,
Topic: Sharpening of Planes, Irons, and Chisels
Presenter:Walt Hadcock
Location: Faith United Church of Christ
4240 North 78th Street, Milwaukee
Time: 8:30 AM - Noon +
Contacts: Walt Hadcock
(262) 241-3763
Rhykenology@ExecPC.com
Fee: Members only, $25
Comments: It is easier to control a sharp tool, as it requires less force than using a dull tool. A dull tool can actually be more dangerous than a sharp tool due to the extra force required to use it. It might not cut wood, but can still injure us! Some of us may be using dull planes and chisels, perhaps because we have not yet learned simple and effective techniques to make our tools sharp.
We will demonstrate a "low budget" approach to sharpening based upon using a variety of emery paper and a sheet of glass. This method has become known as the "scary sharp" technique. It is a basic step towards a significant improvement in your woodworking skills. The technique is for use with tools with straight edges (no gouges, travishers, or other tools with a curved cutting edge).
Each student is expected to bring at least one tool with a flat edge needing sharpening -- plane blades and chisels. We will not address knives, drill bits, gouges, or other items not having a flat edge.
Every student should leave the workshop with at least one truly sharp tool along with the skills and apparatus to sharpen other items at home.
A portion of our time together will address questions you may have about other items you elect to bring - such as smoothing and jointer planes, scrapers, scrub planes, spoke shaves, and draw knives. We may have time to practice sharpening a scraper, depending on the interests of the group.
We will open the building before 8:00 AM. We will need help in setting up. We are expected to protect the table surface, which we can do with newspapers and plastic. The "presentation" and practice will occupy most of the morning. However, the workshop will continue as long as needed to answer your questions and to allow each participant to try out each technique.
It is important that we thoroughly clean the room when we are finished, as there will be no time for the normal custodian to clean the room prior to Sunday use.
Mary Anderson reported the current membership as 128. Liz Rohde is to pay state raffle license fee of $25. Jerry Kashmerick reported that the Woodworking show display was progressing. Manning of the booth was almost completely covered. Trifolds and posters should be available, and the Publication Committee plans to provide Guest Tickets to be passed out at the show for the March meeting.
A Photo Workshop has been added by the Program Committee and will be included in the next Ripsaw. A discussion on workshop fees concluded that the board has to have time to approve fees for workshops.
Jerry Tackes is to order recommended DVD”s and the several books for the library that have been asked for by guild members.
Our Guild is a group of individuals interested in all aspects of fine woodworking. We all know that intuitively but we tend to forget about it when it comes to the everyday operation of our Guild. Each month we expect a different program at our regular meeting and we look forward to announcements of upcoming seminars and workshops, all of which are expected to be different than those offered in the last 24 months. Who in our Guild would welcome the same type program presented even twice in the same year?
This style of operation generates an expectation that is more difficult to sustain when compared to single purpose organizations. While we maintain a history of past programs, the choice of content for upcoming programs is largely an educated guess - formed from comments on our renewal forms but tempered by speaker availability, cost, and environmentals. Because we do not meet in a building with a woodworking shop, any regular meeting program that requires the use of large stationary power tools is out- as is the use of anything that requires 220v power. Our meeting room must be large enough to seat all members (current membership is 128) yet we must also conform to regulations set forth by the building owner (currently Faith United Church of Christ) regarding storage of our library and other Guild materials, electrical usage, sawdust, odors or spills from finishing materials, use of the kitchen area, and damage to floors. Adherence to these regulations is grounded in experience; in the past, guest speakers and members alike have tripped circuit breakers, spilled finishing materials, and damaged floors! This is why each Guild event must be approved by the Board of Directors before it takes place. Guest speakers are apprised of these requirements ahead of time. Once notified some have actually declined to present their program; others have had to significantly modify their presentation.
Our large meeting room is both a blessing and a curse. Our Guild does not limit membership - that's a blessing. But there is no shop available to us on a yearly basis large enough for a combined general meeting plus workshop- so we are forced to reschedule a general meeting to a Friday night to enable all members to listen to any guest speaker who is also hosting a workshop on that weekend. That's the curse. Not only does it add hotel and meal charges to our guest speaker expenses, it also effectively eliminates any possibility of "sharing" a guest speaker with another nearby woodworking guild.
Other "behind the scenes" factors greatly affect Guild events. For example, some might remember a "kit" for a Holiday Party toy that was "sold" to members for $5 to enable members with limited time to make a toy for the Holiday Party. The kit actually cost significantly more to produce; one member donated a large sum to pay for the kits, which is one of the reasons that program was never repeated. Donations play a large part in the cost structure of our events but they can also lead to expectations that cannot be met, i.e., a second edition of an event might cost significantly more or less than the first edition due to donation variances. Another "behind the scenes" function is workshop material selection. Experience taught us to tightly control material selection after several workshops had to be extended to deal with inadequate or unusable materials. I was an early proponent of choosing my own materials for a workshop but I learned my results tended to be mediocre at best as the instructor had insufficient time to deal with my unforeseen problems.
Do you know the number of pages in the Ripsaw you are reading is keyed to the first class postal rate? Besides increasing copy costs adding just one extra page raises our postage from 39¢ to 63¢ per piece so our publication committee takes extra time editing the Ripsaw to keep the page count just right to limit our publication expenses. We also have a web site which everyone expects to "be there" when needed. Once again there are members working behind the scenes to keep our web site running. These factors make the everyday operation of our Guild unique. It simply cannot be compared to the operation of any other guild or club much less to one that specializes in a narrow branch of a hobby, trade, sporting activity, etc. But change is inevitable. Any Guild member is welcome to send comment or criticism to the board, or to attend a regular board meeting in person. Our Guild operates under a constitution - but that too can be changed or amended to conform to the legitimate requirements of today's membership.
The presenter at our February meeting was Ron Nelson (an admitted"turnaholic"). He teaches several classes in turning and sharpening. His profession is commercial photography, but he got into turning after taking a class at Woodcraft. In addition to turning, his hobbies include:photography, computers, and riding his Harley motorcycle.
He brought his mini-lathe with him to demonstrate some of his techniques. His tools for turning included a multi tip, which he mostly uses for the inside of the hollow vessels, gouges and a special sanding head for smoothing the inside of his vessels. He made this head by using the multi tip shape as a pattern for cutting the foam form. Ron installed a nylon bushing for a screw to mount to the handle, and then glued Velcro to the perimeter of the form for attaching hook and loop strip sand paper to it.
Ron stressed the importance of keeping the tools sharp. The block is easier to turn if the largest diameter is first marked and the cut away on a band saw. The initial turning should create a dovetail on the base of the vessel to make for better mounting to the chuck. He passed around a cut-away of a sample so that we could see the dovetail on the base.
He recommended starting to hollow out the vessel by using a forstner bit in a chuck in the tailstock, which is quicker and easier than turning. Drill to the full desired depth of the vessel. The tool rest should be situated perpendicular to piece and positioned so that the tool is in the center of the part. He demonstrated this on his piece.
While hollowing out the vessel the angle of the head needs to be changed, depending on the area being turned, i.e. bottom, middle or top. He also demonstrated this on his piece. The chips that do not fall out are best removed with a vacuum. The inside does not need to be sanded as smooth as the outside of the vessel. 320 grit is about as smooth as it needs to be.
Ron then briefly showed how he sands the inside of the vessel. He recommended having a dust collector for this procedure. That is why this part of the demonstration was brief.
Ron does not like to finish his turnings to a high gloss. He prefers to show off the grain rather than having a shinny (plastic) appearance. He recommended using a product called Velvit Oil, which is a food safe product but provides a very attractive finish. (When Ron bought his lathe, it included a free pen turning class. He had his wife take the class and she got hooked on turning. Now that she is into the hobby, it is much easier to influence her when he wants/needs to buy additional tools. In fact, when he bought a mini lathe, he took it home in his Harley sidecar and his wife took the stand home in her sidecar)
The topic listed in the R.I.P.S.A.W. was Turning Hollow Bowls, but after the break Ron also talked about turning vessel covers and finials. Ron again stressed the importance of keeping the tools sharp, especially for finial turning. The key element for a good finial is the design. He likes to make them out of ebony or other exotic materials. He passed around two samples, one was all ebony and the other was a combination of ebony and acrylic. Both were beautiful. When asked about the turning speed Ron said he used 2,000 rpm for the ebony but slowed to 400 rpm for the acrylic to prevent melting it. He uses an automotive polish that really made them look great. He bought the acrylic at a large hobby supply store.
To avoid chatter when turning finials/spindles, Ron stressed using sharp tools and running at a higher rpm. He starts out with a one inch square blank, 5 " long. He first turns the tenon end then reverses the piece to pin jaws on the headstock. His work is so fine that he uses a magnifying glass set which he wears that makes the piece four times larger. To prevent destroying the fine curves turned in the finial, Ron rolls cloth backed sand paper into a tube shape and barely touches the piece.
For making covers for the hollow vessels, Ron again used ebony. The same as with the finial, design is the key to making an attractive cover. Starting out with a three-inch square blank, one inch thick, he drew a circle that was then cut out on a band saw. To hold the piece after hollowing out the inside, he made a jig that attaches to the headstock. After making a hole in the top of the cover the same size of the finial, it is attached to the jig using a wood screw (that is tapered) to spread a dowel that is part of the jig and fits through the hole in the cover.
Ron had several vessels on display as well as large photographs that he took. Several showed the positioning of the tools while turning various parts of the inside of the vessels. Others were examples of some of his other vessels. Remember that he is a commercial photographer.
There was interest show by those in attendance for Ron to present a program on taking photographs of their own projects. He was a very interesting presenter with good humor and thought provoking ideas for making your own tools and jigs.
Just noted a "friend of the Guild" has an event we might elect to
publicize:
Neu's Woodworking Show
Saturday, March 4th
9:00 AM -- 4:00 PM
Neu's Building Center, Inc.
River Court
U.S. Highway 41 & County Highway Q
N95 W16915 Richfield Way
Menomonee Falls, WI 53051
(262) 251-6550
With vendor demos and major door prizes ..