Burn, Baby, Burn....

Congratulations are in order - we’re celebrating our ten year anniversary this month! It’s hard to believe we’ve been around that long, and frankly, our meetings just keep getting better and more interesting.  We have a terrific presentation planned this month, so join us on Wednesday, February 20, at 7:00 for a night of sparks and flames!  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 local suppliers and much more. Our next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, February 20, at 7:00 and we’re in for a treat this month - co-presenters Emily Davis and Maciek Jezierski (call him Mac!) will share what they’ve learned about fractal burning on wood.  Curious?  Fractal wood burning is a process of applying an electrically conductive solution on wood and then applying high voltage electricity through a transformer using two probes. When this electricity is applied, it burns in the wood from one probe to the other. The figures that are created are commonly called Lichtenberg figures or fractal burns. The results are unpredictable, the technique is often uncontrollable, but the results are amazing! Emily and Mac learned much of what they know by following DoubleReno on his website:  http://www.fractalburn.com.  (You can follow him here: https://www.facebook.com/FractalBurn/) They built their fractal burner using some of his safer methods, and will share what they’ve learned with our group.   Here’s a sample of what they will be doing...  Emily and Mac will also be bringing some various woods to experiment on, but suggested that members are welcome to bring in a piece of wood to burn.  This technique will create some smoke, so we’ll probably have to have the garage door open… so dress warmly! It’s scheduled to snow on Wednesday! Anyone looking for carving woods? Utah wood dealer Jim Grace will be heading back to Las Vegas with a trailer fill of wood, and will be selling it at Wood It Is on Saturday, March 2 at 10:00 AM.  Jim is planning on bringing 4/4, 8/4 and 10/4 cherry, walnut, ash, butternut, white oak, eastern red cedar and hard maple.  Some of the slabs will be with natural edge.  He’ll also bring a large selection of basswood and butternut in sizes from 1" to 4" thick… so carvers - start planning your next work of art!  As always, this meeting will be held at Studio: Wood It Is!, 2267 West Gowan, unit 106 in North Las Vegas. The public is welcome to attend the meeting, so members - please feel free to bring a guest along. But remember that 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 702-631-1870.

Sin City Woodworkers January Meeting Announcement

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 local suppliers and much more. 

Our next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 15 at 7:00, and this meeting will feature Steve Coffey, who will be discussing his woodworking collaboration with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints curators to help restore and build reproduction  furniture in the historical village of Nauvoo, Illinois.

As the story goes …. the population of the city of Nauvoo, Illinois in 1839-1846 was second largest in the state, almost as large as that of Chicago. However, in 1844 when Joseph Smith and his brother were killed by the mob, the vast majority of the residents moved west and settled Utah and Salt Lake City. (You can check things out at: historicnauvoo.net)

Since the 1960’s, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) has been restoring the Nauvoo historic district, a few additional buildings and homes at a time. One of the homes they are currently working on to restore is the home of William Weeks, who was the architect for the Nauvoo temple. Steve built a reproduction of the 1800’s architect’s desk for display in this home  (shown below)  and is working on several other projects, such as a bed, a settee, and some parlor or tea tables. Steve’s hope is that some in our group might want to also participate in this project and build a piece to be displayed in these historic homes.

Church curators are consulting with woodworkers, since they don’t know much about early American furniture… it’s a symbiotic relationship - Steve helps them connect with woodworking, and building the pieces have so helping with the research as well as building the furniture has helped him to connect even closer to the people and times almost 200 years ago. Oh - an by the way -  its pretty cool that something that Steve has made will be on display for the next 100+ years too!  

BTW - Steve’s not just a furniture maker - his turned wares were the winner of the Christmas Ornament contest, and his body of woodworking ranges from small to large. 

We’ll have a Show and Tell at our meeting, so if you’ve made something cool, or gotten a great tool for Christmas - bring it by and share it with the group!

This meeting will be held at Studio: Wood It Is!, 2267 West Gowan, unit 106 in North Las Vegas. As always, the public is welcome to attend the meeting, so members - please feel free to bring a guest along. But remember that 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.

Join us for our annual Holiday Bash!

Put down your chisels, take off your tool belt, brush off the sawdust - and get ready for our annual Sin City Woodworkers Christmas Party, where we’ll celebrate a productive year and toast the coming New Year! 

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 local suppliers and much more. Our next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, December 19, at 7:00. As usual - feel free to bring a guest or your better half! 

We’ll have some goodies to snack on, and some beverages to share, so don’t feel like you have to bring anything. But if you make an outrageous salsa or artichoke dip, we’d love to try it!

Join us for our most entertaining meeting of the year - it’s all about food, friendship, family and more. They say that Las Vegas is a tough city to make friends in - but anyone who attends one of our monthly meetings knows that we’ve formed some great connections within our group. We’re heading into our TENTH year of sharing tips and techniques, failures and successes, and best of all - new friendships.

A HUGE thank you goes to Andrew and Nic Moore of Reclaimed Secrets, 

who were kind enough to donate a massive Beetle Kill Pine slab for us to raffle off.  

It’s been epoxied with some gorgeous mica, 

and sanded flat. 

All it needs is a little more TLC sanding, add some legs and you’ve got yourself a fabulous table for your home, or to sell. 

We’ll be selling raffle tickets for this slab - one chance for $10, or three chances for $20. All proceeds go back into our yearly fund, which helps finance all of our woodworking throughout the year. So please consider taking a chance on this raffle!

We’ll also be voting on the winners of our annual building context - this year, we chose Christmas Ornaments as our project. We give out great cash prizes, and the winners get bragging rights throughout the coming year. We hope everyone came up with something for our contest!

Remember - any money left over after paying for the party and prizes is given back to our members, via our cash drawings throughout the night. If you’ve been the lead presenter at one of our monthly meetings, your name will go into the hat, too! It’s all about participation, which we greatly appreciate!

By the way - if you have something to donate to the drawing,  please bring it with you to our party.  Maybe someone gave you a woodworking book that you already own, or have some duplicate items sitting around your shop - we will add this to our giveaway table.

As always, our party will be held at Studio: Wood It Is!, 2267 West Gowan, unit 106 in North Las Vegas. The public is welcome to attend the meeting, but remember -  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.

Learn to sharpen like a pro...

Take a break from baking pumpkin pies and head over to our next Sin City Woodworkers meeting …

Let’s face it - ask ten woodworkers their opinion about sharpening, and you’ll probably get twelve answers!  We’ve had past demonstrations on the Deulen system (thanks Jim C!) and the WorkSharp system (thanks, Richard!), not to mention Dennis P’s discussion on sharpening carving chisels and gouges, and Ted’s card scraper presentation… all in all, it’s a subject that has been well covered. 

But if you’re looking for a simple and integrated solution.. then this month’s meeting is for you…

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 project ideas to information about local suppliers and much more. This month’s meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 21 at 7:00, when Vernon Lucero  will be sharing his slick sharpening set-up using this Norton waterstone kit and its integrated Norton IM 83 Waterstone Case.

If you looked up the definition of renaissance man, you might find Vern’s picture.  He’s a man of many interests and talents (woodworking and cooking, to name two!) and frankly, Vern bought this system to sharpen his cooking knives. But when he was able to so easily get keen edges on his kitchen knives, he realized this system would be great on his woodworking tools, too. BAM! - he’d found the perfect solution to getting quick and precisely honed edges on his chisels and plane blades. 

Vern will bring his Norton system, and explain its simplicity and effectiveness for getting tools in tip-top shape. He spent a career in construction, and didn’t have a chance to really explore woodworking until he retired. His love for hand-tool work shows in this beautiful toolbox that holds his hand tools… a true testament to his pursuit of excellence in the woodshop.  You won’t meet a more humble, but wildly talented man than Vern, and you’ll be enriched by what he has to share with our group. 

As usual, we’ll have a show and tell, so if you’ve made something cool during the month, please bring it to share with our group. This is our last meeting before our Holiday Party, and here’s a friendly reminder that you only have about a month left to complete your entry in to our Christmas Ornament contest. We give great prizes to the winners, and we hope to have a good turnout for this year’s challenge. 

This meeting will be held at Studio: Wood It Is!, 2267 West Gowan, unit 106 in North Las Vegas. As always, the public is welcome to attend the meeting, so members - please feel free to bring a guest along. But remember that 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.

We've got a great October meeting coming up - Southwest Cues will be joining us

Sin City Woodworkers Follow the trail of sawdust to our next meeting... Heads up, everyone - this is shaping up to be an amazing meeting - especially for the wood turners in our group!  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 local suppliers and much more. Our next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 17, at 7:00 where we’re delighted to have Laurie Franklin and Mike Bunker, both of Southwest Cues, one of the most respected billiard cue makers in the world.

Who knew Las Vegas was home to such billiard royalty!?! Laurie’s late husband Jerry started Southwest Cues in 1982, after working in the field and developing an amazing cue design. His hard work and pursuit of excellence led to innovations in cue making, resulting in a billiard cue known (and collected!) around the world. Jerry passed away way too soon at the age of 42, and was inducted posthumously into the American Cuemakers Association Hall of Fame in March 2005.

Luckily, Jerry’s wife Laurie and nephew Mike Bunker have continued the rich tradition of cue making excellence. There is such a high demand for their cues that eight year wait times are common for a single cue. Yes, eight years! Laurie and Mike will be sharing some of the cue making innovations, as well as insight into running a finely tuned woodworking company. There will be some exotic wood remnants for sale, including Bocote, Gonzalo Alves, Cocobolo, Gaboon Ebony and more. If you play around with exotic woods, and are looking for small quantities for turnings, plugs, or crafting, there will be some sample packs for sale.

Curious for more history about their company - check this out: http://www.indyq.com/custom-cues/southwest/southwest-biography.html We’ll have a quick show-and-tell before the discussion starts, so if you’ve made anything cool in the last month, bring it in to share with the group. This meeting will be held at Studio: Wood It Is!, 2267 West Gowan, unit 106 in North Las Vegas. As always, the public is welcome to attend the meeting, so members - please feel free to bring a guest along. But remember that 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 (702) 631-1870.

Sin City Woodworkers September Announcements

Sin City Woodworkers Follow the trail of sawdust to our next meeting... 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 project ideas to information about local suppliers and much more. Join us on Wednesday, September 19  at 7:00 when Esther Valenzuela will demonstrate her technique for inlaying bowties into a slab of cracked wood.  Before we talk about Esther’s presentation, we have some sad news - our longtime member Beth Wheeler lost her hard fought battle with pancreatic cancer on September 13. Anyone who ever attended a SCWW meeting with her had opportunities to not only see her amazing creations, but also hear how she created them. Her passion and enthusiasm fired all of us up, and inspired us to attempt some of the difficult techniques that she shared with us. She will truly be missed, and we extend our deepest condolences to her husband Bob and the rest of her family. You can read about her memorial information here. Back to our meeting - Esther built a solid African Mahogany dining table a few years ago, and a few cracks revealed themselves after she was nearly done with the project. To keep them from getting worse, she inlayed some bowties to inhibit further deterioration. She’ll be discussing both inlays with common router inlay kits, as well as showing us how to manually inlay a bowtie.    If you’re jumping on the live-edge slab bandwagon, this demo will surely be helpful in your future projects.  As usual, we’ll have a show-and-tell, so feel free to bring anything you’ve built lately.  Finally, we voted at our last meeting that this year’s Holiday Party challenge will involve making a Christmas ornament. If you’re a turner, fire up your lathe and start creating!  If you’re a carver, sharpen your chisels! There are no limits on this challenge, and as usual - we will be giving out cash prizes for the top three ornaments, voted on by our members. One new rule - only two entries per person! As usual, this meeting will be held at Studio: Wood It Is!, 2267 West Gowan, unit 106 in North Las Vegas. Anyone is welcome to attend the meeting, so members - please feel free to bring a guest along. But remember that 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 702-631-1870.

This meeting will be held at Studio: Wood It Is!, 2267 West Gowan, unit 106 in North Las Vegas. As always, the public is welcome to attend the meeting, so members - please feel free to bring a guest along. But remember that 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.   Our mailing address is: 2267 W. Gowan, Suite 106, North Las Vegas, NV 89032

Interested in CNCs? This is the meeting for you.....

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 local suppliers and much more. Our next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, August 15 at 7:00, and  long time member Leo Davenport will share his insights and experiences with his CNC routers… as in three! Yes, Leo has three Carve Rite CNC machines, and has been using them since 2004. 

Have you wondered if CNCs are hard to learn and master, or if they’re worth the cost? Leo will share his experiences, and bring a variety of pieces to show some of his accomplishments.

One very cool feature that Leo’s machines employ is Scanner Pro software, which allows the user to scan an existing piece, and then cut a matching (new) piece. Imagine scanning a carving that you like, or a drawer front that needs to be duplicated, and cutting it effortlessly! This software makes it simple for anyone, regardless of your woodworking experience. 

Leo’s moved on to a new toy - a 3D printer - and I suspect he’ll do a presentation about that in the future, but for now - he’ll demystify the CNC experience and hopefully answer some questions you have about CNC machines. 

This meeting will be held at Studio: Wood It Is!, 2267 West Gowan, unit 106 in North Las Vegas. As always, the public is welcome to attend the meeting, so members - please feel free to bring a guest along. But remember that 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.