Another great meeting on the books

We had another amazing woodworking meeting last night - Rich Steinhauser shared his techniques for making Maverick model airplanes, and left several models and templates at the woodworking shop for anyone who is interested in playing with his designs.

Later, Dennis Patchett set up his chisels and started working on a linenfold panel carving demonstration.


You know it's an informative meeting when people are taking notes and asking a ton of questions. We all pulled our chairs up close, and were amazed at how simple he makes it look.



Dennis is so laid back and humble, he acts like what he's doing is easy to accomplish.



Here is one of his panels, which is anything but simple!


If my calendar is correct, this was our tenth meeting of the year. Considering this was our very first year of existence, I think things are going well for the group. Enthusiasm is high, and more people are starting to volunteer to share their talents.

Happy holidays, everyone! See you next year!

It was a Festool Fest!

Steve Bace, a Training Manager for Festool, might have the best job in the world. We were lucky enough to have Steve give an awesome presentation at our November meeting, complete with so many tools, we ran out of time!

Sure, the Plunge Cut Circular Saw was amazing, especially with all the bells and whistles that Steve brought along. But the favorite of the night was probably the Rotex sander, which combined power with dustless sanding.

Here, Steve takes a piece of rough mahogany and in the span of about six minutes, sanded and polished it to an ultra high sheen. Yes, we timed him.



That board was as smooth as a... board should be!


Larry Yule jumped all over that router, and based on his reactions, might be buying one soon. A few amazing features about this router include the soft-start, the dust collection cup, and it's ability to drill 35 MM cup hinge holes. At 17.2 pounds, this tool is solid and smooth. It behaves more like a shaper in your hands than a router, with perfect, effortless cuts.


Even Vince couldn't resist getting his hands on this tool!

We had a very nice turnout, with some new faces and great tool conversation. Steve later commented that he could tell by the questions he received that our group is quite serious about their woodworking. In fact, our discussions were so in depth, that we never got to see the Domino.

Luckily, he's promised to come back for another demo in the future. Thanks so much to Steve and Festool for making this meeting a great time for all.

(And a special thanks to Ann C. for taking these pictures!)

November meeting information

Sin City Woodworkers, a Vegas valley social and networking group committed to serious (and not so serious!) woodworking discussions, meet on the third Wednesday of each month to share everything from techniques and ideas to information about tools, local suppliers and much more. They meet at Studio: Wood It Is!, 2267 West Gowan, unit 106 in North Las Vegas. The next meeting is scheduled for November 18, at 7:00 PM.

After months of trying to coordinate his schedule with one of our meetings, Steve Bace from Festool is finally going to be our guest speaker this month.


Steve is a training manager at the Festool's Training Center in Henderson, and will be bringing some of Festool's latest tools to demonstrate and discuss. This will be a nice opportunity to get some hands-on experience with these great tools.

The public is welcome to attend the meeting, but there are a limited number of chairs in the woodshop. Attendees might want to bring a folding chair if they wish to sit during the meeting. If you have questions or need directions, call the studio at 631-1870.

October Meeting highlights

Mike Snyder, a Field Marketing Coordinator for DeWalt Tools, and his assistant, Ricardo were the featured presenters at the October meeting of the Sin City Woodworkers.

We had a very nice turnout at the meeting, which featured the DeWalt Tracksaw.

In the above photo, Mike assists one of our members in setting up the saw and making a sample cut. It's always nice to test out a tool before making any tool purchasing decisions.

Everyone agreed that one of the nicest features about this saw is it's ability to trim doors while still on their hinges. Ask anyone who works in the field how handy that is!


A couple of other things that are pretty interesting about this saw is that it works as a plunge cutting device and it runs on a track that has a non slip base. In many cases, you can cut with this saw without having to clamp the guide in place. The track can be extended by buying additional sections of track and joining them end to end.

In the video below, Dan Layman, of Exotic Millworks in North Las Vegas, cuts a long miter with the saw. This miter came out exceptionally clean-cut and accurate, and Dan later said that he felt that cutting long miters on a TrackSaw was superior to cutting them on a tablesaw. A lively discussion ensued.

As everyone knows - as ten woodworkers their opinion about some woodworking technique, and you'll get a dozen answers.

Many thanks to Mike, Ricardo, and DeWalt for their participation with our group!

October Meeting details

Sin City Woodworkers, a Vegas valley social and networking group committed to serious (and not so serious!) woodworking discussions, meet on the third Wednesday of each month to share everything from techniques and ideas to information about tools, local suppliers and much more.

We meet at Studio: Wood It Is!, a woodworking school on the central/north side of the city. The address is 2267 West Gowan, unit 106 in North Las Vegas. The next meeting is scheduled for October 21, at 7:00 PM.



It's taken a little bit of maneuvering, but month's meeting will feature Mike and Kate, who both work for DeWalt Tools. They'll be bringing some new tools along to demonstrate, like their new Tracksaw. For anyone who isn't familiar with the Tracksaw, this tool gives you tablesaw precision and panel saw capacity in a twelve pound tool. If we're lucky, they might even bring some freebies, or a Tracksaw to raffle off.

The public is welcome to attend the meeting, but there are a limited number of chairs in the woodshop. Attendees might want to bring a folding chair if they wish to sit during the meeting. If you have questions or need directions, call the school at 631-1870.

Lamination Forms : a post by member John Eugster

John Eugster, of Woodworks by John submitted this latest post.

Quite a few of you were interested in how the back piece of the chair was made so I thought I'd share a few photos with you so you can see the process.


The form is made of 4 pieces of MDF and is then mounted on another piece of MDF. You'll notice that the form itself is held with clamps and there is a board on each side, this is to stop the arched parts of the form (cauls) from sliding when you're applying pressure to the clamps.

They also help hold the pieces while you're putting on the first clamps. Basically, the process is to mix up your Plastic Resorcinol Glue and then use a small roller to apply it to one side of each piece.

Once that's done I wrap a piece of wax paper around the 4 pieces that make up the back and force it into the form. The first caul put on is the center one. What I did was tack some guide strips on the form and the caul to reference where the clamps go. I get it snug, then take a mallet to make all of the pieces even. Then, I work to the outside, one clamp at a time until all 6 of them are in place.

It should look something like this...


I leave the piece in the form for 24 hours or so and there is very little "springback". Hope this clarifies it for you, if you have any questions feel free to email me: eugster96@cox.net

Sin City Woodworkers Sixth Meeting

If you think all there is to Las Vegas is gambling, shows and dinners, think again!

Sin City Woodworkers is a diverse group of people who are passionate about woodworking. It doesn't matter if you're a beginner or a pro, you're welcome to attend our meetings held on the third Wednesday of each month. Every meeting includes a demonstration from either a member or a presentation from a local supplier.

We meet at Wood it is!, a woodworking school in North Las Vegas, 2267 W. Gowan, Suite 106 Our next meeting will be held on September 16th, and all meetings start at 7:00 PM. Seating is limited (hey, it's woodshop!) so bring a folding chair and join us.

Meanwhile, here are some photos from past demonstrations.


Larry Yule, of AG Yule and Son Woodworking assists new member Celeste nail on a torsion box end piece.


Larry Yule, and another Celeste (yes, two in one group!) both work on the far end of the torsion box demo piece.


Rick L'Esperance holding one of the many Native American wooden flutes that he made for his discussion/demo.



Dennis Patchett of DEP Woodworks gave a fascinating demo on his hand carving technique. Dennis also shared his sharpening technique, which really helped out a lot of members with sharpening problems.


John Eugster, of Woodworks by John, demonstrating his scratch stock skills.

Ed from Peterman Lumber was kind enough to host our second meeting on his day off. This was a great get-together, as many of our members had never been to Peterman. Or course, handing out freebies never hurts, either.



Rich Daugherty shared some hand tool skills at the Peterman meeting.

Again, everyone is welcome to attend - parking is simple and our group loves showing off their stuff. If you're a woodworker, or want to learn more, please join us!