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!

2015 is coming to a close ---- Happy New Year Everyone

Well, let's just start this end of the year blog with a series of pictures showing many of the members who came just mingling and enjoying the festivities.  Way to hard to get an accurate count but I tried anyway and we had somewhere in the neighborhood of 45 folks -- that's a lot!

The highlight of the meeting was to judge our members toys which was done anonymously.  We weren't close to any record of entries this year but the ones submitted were well done examples of woodworking.  First place went to Pete Hauser for this beautiful sled featuring bent laminations of Walnut -- Pete said it's never been on any snow and it would probably be a safe bet to say it never will!  Very nicely done!

In second place was this Lincoln log house made by Jim Chadbourne from plans he found in Wordsmith magazine.  When questioned whether he used a lathe to create the logs he told us there were all made using a roundover bit in a router table.  He showed the details of the joinery by removing part of the roof and we were surprised to see he had a visitor!

Third place went to Lupe Nielsen with this game of lathe turned disks that was keeping everyone at that table entertained and going crazy!!

Below are the other entries for this years contest:

Will's Lego Tie

Ron's Yellow Grader

Beth's Pull Toy Grasshopper

There were a few other business type items brought up.  One of them was about Pete Hauser and his affiliation with the Las Vegas Artists Guild.  Through what sounded like some political wrangling, he was elected president of the group.  All of that paid off though since one of his amazing cutting boards wont best of show and another took 1st. place in the 3D category!  That show is currently on display at the Summerlin Library and will be up until the first week of February.  My wife and I are planning to take it in as a break from the business of the Christmas season.

Aaron brought in his latest creation, this table with a built in fire pit.

 I did notice a couple of our members looking for coat hangers and marshmallows but luck for him, those were no where to be found!

     My news to share, other than taking a 6 months adventure trip to Scottsdale was that the armoire I designed and built that was featured at our August meeting will be shown in gallery section of Fine Woodworking Magazine issue #254 which I think is May/June.

     

Last; but certainly not least, Mike Shore wanted to extend his thanks to all of you that brought toys for the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program.  The Marine Corps has had this program for many years and is a wonderful charity, here's a LINK to our local chapter if you'd like to learn more about it.

For those of you that were lucky enough to have your name drawn for the raffle that may have been the highlight of the evening!  Since my name wasn't among the lucky ones I enjoyed the camaraderie, food, and drink.  Here is a list of winners for this year:

        Merchandise Winners: Lou, Pete, Rick, and Braxton

                       Ca$h Winners:  Ted, Wayson, Tom, Beth, Keen, Randy, Ken, Mike, and Bill

The evening ended with a really cool magic show by one of Lupe's friends Darren Race.  He was assisted by Pam and Julie and definitely wowed the audience with his skills.  

     Let me end this end of the year blog with pictures taken during the party.  Including those of the SawStop Hot Dog Challenge!  That function of the saw is pretty darn amazing.  Several members wanted to test it out with their own fingers and eat the hot dog but that didn't happen.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to All:                   John

It's Time ----- End of the Year Party

Yep, it's that time and I hope you're all ready to have some fun at our annual event! The contest this year was to create and bring in a toy that you've made just for this event.  If you haven't done so already call Jamie at 702-631-1870 to arrange bringing it to her before the party.  She will assign them a number and display them anonymously around the shop so that we can vote on the winning entry.  Cash prizes will go to the best of the bunch!

There will be refreshments and raffles through out the evening.  Any one who gave a featured presentation during the year will have their name "in the hat" as well as all of our due paying members for cash and donated raffle prizes.  As always you can bring your significant other or friend who may wonder what this woodworking thing is all about.  Seating is limited so if you're so inclined, bring your chair if you'd like.

The festivities begin at 7:00 pm, the address is 2267 Gowan Road in North Las Vegas.  If you have any questions or need more info please call Jamie at the shop.

See you Tomorrow Night 

 John (my last official meeting announcement!)