Our January Meeting Re-Cap

These are some big shoes to fill! 

Well, not these exact shoes, 

but I've been tasked with filling John's Blogging Work Boots. Our regular blog writer - John from www.woodworksbyjohn.com is on a six month leave, so I've taken the blog writing duties back onto my plate. I hope I can live up to the standard he's set for this re-cap blog.

We had a well attended January meeting,

 much of it was anticipation for the CNC presentation that Denny LaRocca was giving. He actually brought his Legacy machine to the shop, and set it up, experiencing a few bumps in the process. Who knew that it would have to be dialed in again, after moving it from this shop to Studio:Wood It Is? 

But first, we did our customary introductions and then had are Show and Tell - featuring some very cool pieces. Heather's very nice chess piece, fashioned from a gorgeous chunk of olive wood, was a hit. It was scroll sawn to shape, and then sanded very nicely, 

Mike recounted to the group that Toys for Tots welcomed our toy donations that we shared at last month's holiday meeting.  The toys went to UMC's pediatric ward, which were no doubt - well received. (Thanks to all that participated, BTW!)

He also shared a few goodies, such as this sword he made in Alder for his wife, who studies martial arts, 

and these watchmaker took, which were mini-versions of what we use. 

Finally - Ken brought a fabulous box that he made and carved, made of Brazilian Cherry, with an African Mahogany lid. 

Ken does his carving with dental tools and a ton of patience! What a terrific project! He's still experimenting with the technique, but it's clear to see he's getting better with each example he brings to the meetings. 

Glenn bought in some examples of the CNC work he's been doing, and this Batman carving was verrrry cool. 

He can also say he's got the first buck he ever made!

Finally, Tim brought in an owl that he's been sculpting. The body is made of Basswood, and it started off as an intarsia project, but morphed into this amazing piece.

 Most of the feathers were superglued into place, and the talons on this piece are the only part that are painted. His inspiration often comes from tattoo artwork, and he mentioned deviantart.com as a good place to start looking for images. He possibly has plans to add a mouse (or a rat!) in the talons, hopefully he'll bring that in if he accomplishes that!

When we finally got to the main part of the evening - the CNC demo - Denny was so amped up on Code Red (i.e. - Cherry Mountain Dew) - he was a bit kerfuffled. 

He started off with a few examples of things he's been working on -  from medallions for Tom of Las Vegas Swings, 

some toys, 

and miscellaneous  spindles. 

His demo involved designing (using Aspire software) 

and making this awesome nut and bolt. There's an unbelievable amount of external factors that have to be worked out, like  machine calibration, bit speed, bit profile, and so much more...

Here's the bolt being cut, 

and the finished product, which took seven minutes and 49 seconds to machine. 

 Imagine how making a threaded rod like this could be adapted for simple clamps and vises. Denny's been experimenting with a ton of threading, but personally -  I like this skull rolling pin the best! When he perfects this design, I am totally using this making pie crusts!

 Here's a video of the bolt being cut  (thanks for the video, Lupe!) - as always, this  meeting was informative! Thanks to Denny for taking the time to transport his CNC, and to all who attended. 

Next month? Possibly a field trip, and our SEVEN YEAR anniversary!