OMG Lupe --- 57 Images!

     I don't even text or have a cell phone to text with but I do know what OMG stands for.  On one hand I think we should congratulate Lupe on the wonderful pictures she supplies for the blog but on the other hand (mine) it takes a lot of time to download them, put them into iPhoto, edit, crop, and then select which of them to put into the blog.  Beautiful photographs Lupe, is that a new camera?

    We had another fantastic turn out this month, you can see we're all enjoying each others company as we wait for the start of the meeting.  I counted about 28 of you there but may have missed one or two that snuck in!

Let's Get Started

     Pretty much, right at 7 o'clock Jamie called the meeting to order.  As usual we went around the room to do our introductions and there were quite a number of new faces -- Welcome to the group!
     Several business items were brought up. One of those had to do with the MeetUp  website that is paid for with our dues.  Since a number of you hadn't heard of it here's a LINK to the MeetUp page for our group.  You should be able to sign up by using the box on the upper, right hand corner.  Once you've done that you'll get the MeetUp announcement that Jamie sends out, usually the weekend before the meeting.  Then, if you're in my address book for the Sin City Woodworkers you'll get the reminder that I generally send out the Tuesday before the scheduled meeting.  Jamie mentioned that she wanted 100 members on the MeetUp listing so get in there and sign up!
     Another thing to keep in mind is signing up for the AWFS fair that is scheduled to be in town July 24-27.  I know there's a price break if you register before the end of the month (I think) but it would be to your advantage to check their site to get the correct dates.  Here's a LINK to the 2013 show information. It's definitely something to see and the educational classes have been good in the past.
     One more thing to keep in mind is The Jamie 2" x 4" x 8' Challenge:

     That will culminate at our Christmas meeting and can be anything you can create using just one construction grade piece of wood.  You're allowed to add hardware and finish but no other materials are allowed.

   

This is Crown Molding

     The highlight of this months meeting was a presentation by Dennis on how to work with crown molding.  He made a small shelf  but the techniques he gave us are applicable to adding crown to a ceiling or piece of furniture.  For starters, crown moldings do have a top and a bottom.  The heaviest part of the Ogee that makes up the curve should be on the bottom.  If you can picture a tear drop, the heaviest part of that would become the bottom.
     For the demonstration he had a Bosch, 12" compound miter saw that really made the work easier.  A saw that size can easily handle the crown he was using.  The first step when installing the molding on the ceiling is to figure out the distance it'll come down and mark that on the fence of the saw.  Crown molding has two flat spots that you hold against the saw table and fence while cutting.  He mentioned how the profile on a piece of crown can vary by 1/8"+ from one end to the other so a valuable tip was to locate the center of the piece first and measure out from there in both directions to get your length.  That insures your returns will have the same profile.

Return Matches When Measuring from Center

     Since you're measuring from an angled piece it's difficult to hook the tape measure over the end.  A smart thing to do anytime is to "burn an inch,  just don't forget to add it back to your measurement.  I was sitting by Jamie and both of us mentioned that we burn 10", the math is easier!

Burning an Inch

     After cutting your main piece to length it's time to cut the returns.  Use the piece from the correct side and essentially flip it over when you place it on the saw.

Mind Your Fingers!

    You're now essentially cutting upside down and backwards which is where the confusion sets in.  Plus the piece can be very small like on this shelf so keep the angled travel of the blade in mind.  If it sounds confusing think of it this way, if the piece you're cutting off looks as if it goes on the left side of the room (or shelf) it doesn't!  Because you flipped the molding for the perfect profile match it actually goes of the right -- mentally flip it and you should be able to visualize it.

Large Size

      Once the pieces were cut it's time to assemble them.  A great tool to use and something that was new to many of you are these snap rings.  They're available in a large size like the one on the right that require a special tool but can also be found in a hand clamp unit like the one shown here at the bottom of the molding.

Hand Applied Style

     I did a quick Amazon search and they range in price from around $30.00 to well over $200.00.  Here's a LINK to that search page but keep in mind that you get what you pay for.  I've used a system similar to  the Ulima set which is currently unavailable.  They will leave a small indentation which can be taken care of with putty followed by paint or stain.  A hint to make assembly more accurate is to either block plane or sand the inner edge of the miter, this is a quickie method of coping the joint but will make the final results better.
     After the molding was glued and joined it was time to cut the pieces for the top, bottom, and a cleat. The first step was to glue and pin the it to the shelf.  This was done upside down:

Molding to Shelf

     When Dennis put in the bottom piece he left it proud by about a quarter inch to add another shadow line:

Bottom Held Proud

 


     The cleat is a simple L-shaped affair that you would screw to the wall studs, the shelf will then be placed on top and either nailed or screwed to it.  Besides the strength it'll give you, it's much easier to level and position the cleat to the wall than it is to fool around with the shelf while you're balanced on top of a ladder!



    Lots of suggestions and information was given during this outstanding demo by Dennis.  Formulas are out there for how you'd calculate the width of the molding.  The one I wrote down was that the molding width should equal 3/8" for every foot of wall height.  This seemed small to many but keep in mind that traditionally, crown would have another molding applied below it.  What you don't want to have is an 8' ceiling height with a 12" wide crown!

Ta-Da --- I Give You A Crown Molded Shelf!

     The remainder of our meeting was the Show & Tell portion.  Several members brought in their latest work and interesting items.

Bird House --  Where's the Hole?

     We started with Jim Chadbourne showing the latest venture his wife has employed him at!  These are made of hardboard and she pays him quite well to produce them for her classes.  Jim mentioned how many he could make from one 4' x 8' sheet, think it was 63 so material costs are pretty low.  Currently MaryJane has about 150 students she teaches through an on-line class.
      Here's what they turn these into:

After the Art Work

They are done in a collage style and use playing cards!  If you'd like more information about these and other work that MaryJane has done here's a LINK to her blog.
     A new member of the group was invited and he shared some pretty amazing carvings that he's done and also a sampling of work from Ecuador.  The name of the town was brought up but I'm afraid I missed it.  Apparently this town is well known for it's carvers, here are some of the items he brought in to show:

Spoons are his work, Figurines from Ecuador

Close Up of Owl on Books

     Mike is a carver himself and the first thing he carved was a ball in a cage out of Butternut.  From then on he was hooked and began to specialize in what's called Love Spoons.  These are Irish in origin and were given as presents to loved ones.  The spoon symbolizes that they'd never have an empty pot while the intertwined loops carved into the handle symbolizes never ending love.  He does his work with scroll saw, X-acto knives, and dremel tools.

Mike's Spoons, some done, some in progress

These spoons are the beginnings of what was referred to as "tramp art" started by Irish immigrants in the 1920's and 1930's.  Someone asked Mike about how much time these typically take to produce which was followed by (of course!) what'd you sell it for?  Having been in this business for many years and being married to an artist I can definitely relate to his "14 cents an hour" reply --- the expression "starving artist" is not a myth!

Ned's Tool Tote

     Another member who brought in a project to share was Ned.  This was special to me since it's the tool tote that he made in the class I recently taught at Jamie's school.  The dovetails are all cut by hand and actually, the only power tools we used on this was the tablesaw to size the plywood bottom and a 1/4" router bit to make a groove for it.  The handle was cut with a coping saw, the holes bored with a #12 bit and brace.  There are stopped dado to hold the handle/divider section in place.  Great class and Ned did an outstanding job on his tote.


     We can count on Ed to bring something unusual to the meetings and he didn't disappoint us this month.  There were a couple of correct guesses on this one -- it's a bunghole auger.  This is used for making the hole in a beer barrel which is initially sealed tight.  In case you think we're making this up, check this Wikipedia LINK.

Bunghole Auger

   In the background are a couple of pepper grinders Ed's been making on his lathe.  You can see he's really getting into laminations and he uses a ceramic grinder that's supposed to be bullet proof!  It's the small, white object on the left side of the auger.
     Good to see such a great turn out at the meeting and hope you enjoy this blog --- John

So, You Wanna be Crowned Eh?

     If that's the case you won't want to miss this Wednesday's meeting!  Dennis will give us the ins and outs of adding crown molding to your work.  Just like the smiling lady in the picture, as it implies -- a crown is something that goes on top of whatever you want to honor.  When you install   crown molding to the top of a cabinet, mantle, or shelf the purpose is to draw the eye the up ago see (pun intended) Its Crowning Glory!
     What makes crown molding tricky to install is the fact that you're working with two angles on the same piece of wood.  Those angles have to meet at the exactly the entire width of the molding and once you cut it too short, there's no saving it!  That's enough of a challenge when using it on a square piece of furniture or a shelf which Dennis will demonstrate tomorrow night.  He'll be using a miter saw and pin nailer for that live demo.  Complications magnify when you're attempting to run the crown molding around the interior of a house, you probably realize that a square, 90 degree corner is a hard thing to find in most houses!  Dennis has probably run more feet of crown molding than he cares to remember and has a bagful of tricks and techniques he will share with us.  I suspect a giant size tube of caulking isn't one of his tricks and am looking forward to seeing how to scribe and fit crown molding so it lives up to its Crowning Glory reputation.
   
     As usual, we'll have a show and tell session so bring in your latest work if there's something you'd like to share.  Dues (voluntary) are still being collected and are a very reasonable $20.00 for the year.  I don't know if you realize this but last month this blog had 284 views.  Have you noticed on the upper right hand side that there's a listing of member websites?  It's pretty short and I know we have more members than that who have a website that is used to feature their work.  If you're one of those, give me your full name and complete website address and I'll work on adding it to that list.  Please write it down on an index card or sticky note or whatever and give it to me at the meeting tomorrow I'll go from there.  Like I'd tell my students --- please print legibly, my eyes aren't what they used to be!

     Our meeting starts at 7pm at Jamie's studio located at 2267 West Gowan, hope to see you then.