August 2015 Meeting

On a typically hot, August night more than 30 members showed up for our monthly meeting at John Eugster's (that's me!) house and shop.  Love these panoramic shots that Lupe took of the gathering, makes my shop look much larger than what it really is:

After our customary round robin introductions the business part of the meeting began.  There were quite a few new faces and I'm afraid I neglected to mention the blog when I introduced myself (seems my mind was elsewhere) so if you invited someone please have them contact me if they'd like to be added to the list.

We talked quite a bit about the AWFS show and the consensus seems to be that it appeared to be geared more towards large scale, computer driven industry then where we are.  Matter of fact, I just received and filled out a survey from them and complained about the lack of education geared towards single craftsmen and women like we are and suggested better classes like they had in the past.   As Jamie's experience with SuperMax and their poor customer relations at their booth pointed out -- it is worth the effort for us to voice our complaints. There was unanimous  agreement that the highlight of the show was the display Fresh Wood which featured student work from secondary and post secondary schools.

There were some positive comments too, Mike mentioned that the folks at the General Booth were very helpful and informative at that booth.  Others in the group mentioned that it seemed some of the booths at the AWFS show were manned by people that didn't seem to have the knowledge of the product or know much about interacting with potential customers.  As for a future show, Jamie announced that Lie-Nielsen is definitely going to have their tool event again this year at her shop.  That will be in October and they will have our own talented carver, Dennis Patchett, as a featured artist with a booth during their event!

     Most of us are familiar with Bessey Clamps as they advertise quite heavily in magazines and are also featured on some woodworking shows.  They recently sent a sample of them to Jamie for her test and evaluation.  She has been less than impressed with them and is wondering exactly how to evaluate them without being as blunt as she'd like to be!  Any of you out there that use them may want to shoot her an email about your own experiences with them too. 

Show & Tell

     We didn't have a lot of show and tell but what we had from Bill Patton was pretty spectacular.  We all know Bill as being a kidder but his pictures show that for all the kidding and teasing he takes, he is also quite accomplished at his woodworking.  He's been teased about how long it's taken to finish his desk but check out these pictures of it and accompanying cabinets:

Since we were visiting my shop, part of the show and tell has to do with the way I organized my work space.   In this picture is my bench area and what I refer to as the original pegboard -- a board with pegs!  I've had this at three houses and it's a 2x4 with a rabbet cut on top to hold a level and combination squares.  I've placed pegs to hold the most commonly used tools like planes, bevels, mallets, marking gauges, etc.  This way they're easily accessed for my work.  The Baltic Birch boxes on wheels below the bench is where clamps are stored.  Since I was doing joinery work the small workbench I bring to the meetings for demos is also clamped to the bench.  At the far side is the chisel cabinet which is near the door.  The door is one I made and allows me to get plenty of daylight to the bench.  Before, if the door was opened I couldn't get to that cabinet.  Now the sunlight streams in and the dog stays out!  The cabinet behind me is where I store supplies, you can't see it in the picture but there is a drop down section for my chop saw.  The drop down is sized so the chop saws table is level with the top of the cabinet which gives me a support on either side for longer boards.

Storing lumber and usable cut-offs is always a problem.  This rack is a bit over 4' deep and I can stand up some lumber under 9" in length.  The basket is for exotic scraps and there is a rack to the left where I store sheet goods.  Most of us probably don't have the luxury of storing a lot of lumber so someone said it best: "we store our lumber at Petermans!"

Featured Presentation

John's Armoire

Allow me to begin by saying that it's difficult to write all of this since it's me I'm talking about!  I'm proud of my work and my lifelong career as a teacher plays a huge part in wanting to share what I can with others -- that's really what it's all about for me.  The last thing I want to do is come across as boastful.  I appreciate your kind comments about the furniture and paintings in our home. Diane and I often joke that it's like we're living in our own little museum where everything (except the dog and cat) are for sale!

Hand drafted drawing

For starters I mentioned that furniture I build are pieces that I've designed myself.  I get inspiration from looking at other peoples work, magazines, museums, etc.  The inspiration for this piece came from Thomas Moser's piece he titled Dr. Whites Chest.  My design eliminated the monolithic appearance of his chest and added an Asian flair to it.  Like so many projects, the first designs were drawn on that proverbial napkin.  I use a Vemco drafting machine which those of you on the house tour saw to make a scale drawing of the piece.  I suspect that many of you are unfamiliar with what a Vemco drafting machine is so here's a LINK to one available on eBay.  For me, drawing it out by hand allows me to "build it" in my mind, something I can't seem to do if I try SketchUp or some other computerized program.  The over-all size of the chest is 74" tall by 19" deep and 48.5" wide.  I wanted to use traditional practices which included the draw bored mortise and tenon joints for the framework.  They were combined with handout dovetails on the lower, heavier stretchers.  Drawers again are traditional with dovetail joinery, solid panels for the bottom are of Alder, as are the drawer runners.  I started with 8/4 Genuine Mahogany so that I could resaw and get all of the wood from the same pieces of lumber.  Since I very seldom stain my work it's important to me to get as much of it as I can from the same boards.  This keeps the appearance of the piece as uniform as possible when the Danish Oil finish is applied.  Most commercial pieces are dyed or stained so for that the pieces of wood can vary since the stains will unify them.  As I mentioned, Woodworkers Source in Arizona is an easy 6 hour drive and great place where you can take your time selecting what you need.  My best estimate on time is 180-200 hours and the material costs were around $2,000 or less.  It took some time between other paying jobs to complete this project.

     I'm sure I didn't answer all of the questions about the building of this piece.  I blog most of my work  as an extension of my teaching so you can click on this  LINK to the blog entries dealing with  this Armoire. If that link doesn't work you can to my blog and type John's Armoire in the search block you'll get a listing of the blog entries.

                                                   

Here are some of the pictures that Lupe took to illustrate the presentation.  In this one I'm showing the drawer stop which  aligns the drawer when it is closed.  The drawer itself is made of Soft Maple with the Alder bottom.  The bottom was laminated together from 3-4 pieces then surfaced to 3/8" or so.  It's rabbeted on the bottom side and slides into a 1/4" groove and is fastened with a screw in a slot to allow it to move with changes in humidity.

Jig for installing the 3 door butt hinges

Close up of hardware from Lee Valley

Jig used to locate the hardware (looks like the heat has gotten to me!)

August Meeting Invite

Well, let's start it out with this undeniable fact:

     Yep, if you're a long time desert rat this isn't too big of a deal -- we dress accordingly and drink lots of water.  Why start this announcement this way?  To quote Jamie, two words:  Field Trip! 
The field trip will be at my shop/garage which doesn't have any air conditioning other than opening the doors to capture any available breeze, I'll have a cooler full of chilled water and the temps shouldn't be much of a problem.   It's in the southwest part of town.

     As always the meeting will start at 7:00 pm with  our traditional round robin introductions.  Next up  will be our usual business meeting and show and tell of your latest projects, tools, or tips.  One of the purposes of a field trip is sharing how other shops are set up and utilize the often limited space most of us need to work around.  Hopefully my shop set up will give you some ideas for your own space.  The other part of field trip is sharing my latest project with you and talk about the design process I use.  Jamie gave me one heck of a build up in her announcement so rather than try to write my own I'll just steal what she wrote and copy it here……..

Since we all like to see how other woodworkers have their workspace set up, we invite you to join us for a rare treat - visiting a master in his own creative environment. Last month John showed us how to cut a  mortise and tenon joint using hand tools only and then draw bore it for added strength. There are 20 of those joints on the project he recently completed and will share with the group.   Besides those 20 draw bored mortise and tenon joints there are another 20 that aren't draw bored; needless to say these were not all cut by hand like he demonstrated at the July meeting!  His goal was to utilize traditional techniques in the building of this piece.  John plans to share his approach to furniture design and some tricks he learned along the way as this very complicated project came to life. I'm happy to host our August meeting at my shop.  Seating is pretty limited, I do have 4 padded folding chairs and and a couple of unpadded sawhorses so you'll probably want to bring your own seating.

July 2015 Meeting

 On a typically warm, July evening we had about 30 members of the group show up for our monthly meeting.  After turning off the fan so we could hear, Jamie brought us all to order.

As usual, we opened the meeting with our traditional round robin introductions and there were a number of new faces -- Welcome!

Business of the Month

     The main item of business seems to be the AWFS fair that will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center this week; July 22-25.  If for some reason you've forgotten about that you can still attend but the fees may be higher than the $25.00 admission.  If you've never gone it is truly something to see, as we've discussed a few times though, the classes and presenters aren't up to the same quality as previous years.

     Jamie recently ordered a switch for one of her tools which retired electrician Jim, offered to install.  The parts came from Delta and they also sent her some pens and t-shirts which Jim happened to be modeling for the meeting!

     One of our members, Andrew Tau;  talked about his successful Kickstarter project.  He shared how he used to be in woodworking but then life got in the way.  After the birth of his daughter 2 years ago he decided to build a crib for her which reignited his passion for woodworking.  The Kickstarter program is one where you develop a business model, build your product, and then "pitch it" on the Kickstarter website to attract investors.  His products are things such as coasters, cutting boards, and other easy to ship pieces.  According to Jamie, it's rare for a woodworking project to succeed but he managed to raise over $12,000 and 98 supporters during the two week run of his project. Here is a LINK to his work.  Hopefully Andrew will be able to leave his bartender job and pursue this full time.

Show & Tell

Dennis's Cottonwood Bark Carving

Show and tell session began with Dennis sharing this really unique carving done out of a piece of Cottonwood tree bark.  Dennis and Randy lead the Woodcarvers Group that meets at Woodworkers Emporium on the fourth Saturday of the month.  Here is a LINK to their latest newsletter so you can see the sorts of things they do and carve.  It's open to carvers of all levels and I can personally vouch for the talent in that group.  I've attended a few of the meetings and usually the members bring their chisels and work on projects during the meeting time.  This gives you an opportunity to ask questions and get some help so you can improve your own work. 

The Mouse takes the Cheese

Dennis also brought in this little mouse that "took the cheese"!

Beth's Steep Stool

Beth showed us this nice chair/step stool combination she recently made for one of her grand children.  The plans came from Popular Mechanics and it is made of Poplar.  The finish is a yellow milk paint protected with a liquid wax finish.  Great project for the grandkids to be sure.









     Braxton brought in a Pine box that featured hand cut dovetails.  It is his first attempt at dovetailing and they looked really nice.  Inside were many beverage cozies that we were welcome to take one of as the box made it's way around the room.  Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture of it.
   

Pete's Cutting Board

     Pete seems to come up with a different style of cutting boards every month!  This is his latest design that features inlaid strips of contrasting woods.  Rather than being straight and boring, these are curved and dynamic!  This design was featured in Fine Woodworking magazine, the pattern is used to route a shallow groove in the laminated board.  This is then cut on the bandsaw and routed smooth so you can glue in the curved, contrasting piece. You can see that Pete did this a number of times to achieve the pattern on this cutting board.

Denny's Cherry Table

     Hopefully, you all had a chance to check out Denny's latest project in the other room as it was too large to bring into where we met.  It's a Farmhouse style dining table made out of Cherry.  As you know, Jamie's woodworking style is one of speed driven quality.  She mentioned that Denny has been talking about his need for a table and on a recent trip to purchase lumber for the school she talked him into just doing it.  This table was built in about 20 hours under the direction/urging of Jamie.  Very nicely done!

Featured Presentation

Hand Cut Mortise & Tenon: John Eugster

     I volunteered to do this months presentation showing how to cut a mortise and tenon joint by hand.  As with all joinery the goal is to expose face grain surfaces that provide glueing strength.  This joint is used for almost everything you can think of like chairs, tables, cabinets, and doors.  Many ways to go about cutting this joint and one that I forgot to mention is a plunge router.  The mortise is the hole in the wood and the tenon is the portion of the joint that fits into it.  Most woodworkers start this joint by cutting the mortise first.  This can be layer out with pencil but the preferred way is to use a knife which will leave a much finer line and also sever the wood fibers which will guide your chisel.  In my demo, I used a dedicated pin marking gauge which is set to the width of the mortise chisel.

Mortise chisel, tape is used to show depth 

The advantage to the mortising gauge is that once set, it is used to mark out the tenon as well.  You should indicate the surface of the pieces being joined that the gauge registers on for marking.  

The work begins by holding the mortise chisel vertically and about 1/4" away from your line.  It's up to you to maintain 90 degrees while chopping.  The initial cut is made and then…..

….. the chisel is moved about 1/4" further and another cut is made.  You can now lever the chisel so that the chips come out behind.  The bevel on your chisel faces the direction of travel.  You can either start your cut at one side of the mortise and work your way to the other which is what I'm showing here.  You can also start at the center, work to required depth, and then go out to the sides from there.

Here the mortise is almost done except finishing up the left shoulder.

As the completed mortise was passed around the room you no doubt noticed that the bottom of it is pretty ragged.  In actuality that's not too critical because the strength comes from the face grain off the cheeks.  You can use a specialty chisel called a Swan Neck to make the bottom smooth.

Next up is cutting the tenon on the end of the other piece being joined.  This too is done with the mortising gauge and marking knives.  

The first cuts are the shoulder cuts and I use a chisel to deepen that line to help guide the saw.  Vision and good light are needed whenever you do precision hand tool woodworking.  I had a lot of comments about the headlamp I'm using which really helps.  It's from REI and you can recharge it with a USB port on your computer so batteries are not an issue.  Here is a LINK to it if you're interested.

After cutting the shoulders it's time to cut the cheeks.  I'm using a rip-cut dovetail saw.

There are a variety of ways to trim your tenon to fit the mortise.  You can use a chisel or a shoulder plane.  My tool of choice is either a rabbet block plane or a Stanley #71 Router Plane or newer model.

A process used to strengthen this joint and make assembly without clamps possible is called draw boring. The first step to this is to drill a hole through the completed mortise.  It's a good idea to place a scrap into the mortise to prevent the drill from blowing out inside.  Next you insert the tenon into  the mortise and mark the center of the hole.  This can be done with a brad point drill but I find that using a rod with a point that matches the diameter of the hole safer -- it eliminates the risk of enlarging the hole.

John Made tool

    When I inserted the dowel to draw bore my sample, it blew out on the bottom of the piece.  Not acceptable and as I thought about it driving home I think I know why that happened.  The hole probably wasn't square since I did it by hand.  In a recent project I had many draw bored joints and used a drill press to insure straight, accurate holes -- if possible that's your best choice.

Here's a picture of the completed sample joint. You can see that the shoulders are tight and the two pieces line up almost flush.  This is where you'd use a low angle block plane to even them out.

Thanks to Lupe's great video/photography you have this video to better illustrate the process.  Thanks for all the questions during my demo, hope it was beneficial to your own work.

July Meeting -- Wow, is the year already half way done?

     Time seems to be flying, as I typed in the month the reality of it hit me!  Seems like only yesterday we were having our end of the year Christmas happening.  Speaking of that, don't forget this years theme has to do with making a toy.  It can be for yourself, a member of your family, or given as a donation after the judging.  No limits this year on materials so be creative if you're into making toys -- I know some of you are!

     Not all of you that receive this blog are always able attend the meetings so let me remind you one last time about the AWFS convention that will be in Las Vegas the end of this month.  Here's a LINK to it should you want to see the schedule of classes and exhibitors and also sign up to go.  It's the largest woodworking convention in the country and will give you a chance to see all of the latest equipment and supplies.

     Our meeting is tomorrow (Wednesday 7/15) from 7:00 to ??  After the customary introductions we will have a short business meeting.  Be sure to bring in your latest project or information to share for the Show & Tell section of the meeting.  This is where you can spend about five minutes or so to inform, show, or tell the group about recent events in your woodworking life.

    It's always a bit awkward to talk about yourself so I'll use Jamie's announcement on MeetUp to set this up.  She said:  " …. one of our oldest members - (not age-wise, membership-wise!)  John Eugster will share his insights and techniques on one of the most popular joints out there - the mortise and tenon."   Hey, I'm not the only grey beard in the group!  In any case, the mortise and tenon is a joint that is used to make most everything from small cabinets to tables and even for timber framed houses.  I plan to go over the various ways the joint can be made and finish up with cutting one using hand tools only.  I will use a power drill though to demonstrate the technique of draw boring which makes this joint bullet proof and can eliminate the need for clamping.


As always, the meeting is open to the public so feel free to invite a friend, neighbor, or spouse to join you.  Seating can be limited so bring a chair if you'd like.  The meeting will be held at WoodItIs Studio and begin at 7:00 pm.  The address is 2267 Gowan Road Suite 106,  702-631-1870.

Our next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, July 15 at 7:00 where one of our oldest members - (not age-wise, membership-wise!)  John Eugster will share his insights and techniques on one of the most popular joints out there - the mortise and tenon.  The mortise and tenon joint is one on the most widely used joints in woodworking, traditionally used in almost every piece of furniture or cabinetry.  There are a number of ways to cut this joint, and John plans on sharing his depth of knowledge about it, while showing us a trick or two. After a brief discussion of some of those ways, John will show how to cut this joint using hand tools. Like all hand work, it is a process but the more you practice it the easier it should become. (He’s still waiting for that moment!)  Once the joint has been fit John will demonstrate a process called "draw boring" which will secure the joint forever.  This process adds a more mechanical method to ensure that the joint will hold forever and was used extensively in Shaker furniture construction. It also allows you to build with a minimum of clamps.

June Meeting featuring Denny's Tool Cabinet

Time to Start, About 30 Members in Attendance 

On one of the warmest days of the year so far we had a good turnout for this month's meeting.  As is our custom, we began with the round robin introductions and due to the heat decided it was better to amplify our voices then to turn off the swampers and their low hum.  Several new faces in the crowd -- Welcome!  Not a lot of business to attend to this month but your all reminded about the AWFS convention/show that will be in town this July 22nd. - 25th.  Unfortunately the general consensus seems to be that the seminars and classes are lacking this year but for the $25.00 admission you get the chance to see all of the newest tools and gadgets in the woodworking industry plus have a chance to spend some cash and acquire them!  The other business item is in regards to the Christmas Project.  This will be a toy and there is no limit on the amount or type of material you use.  After the members vote on them they can either be given to your own kids, grandkid, nieces, nephews, etc. or donated to a charity of your choice.

Show & Tell and Other Items Brought Up

     Ed, who seems to be on the hunt and receiving end of many antique planes told us about a #6C Baily Jointer Plane he currently has his eye on.  According to his own description it's a pretty well rusted piece that I believe is spending its time in a neighbors yard but Ed would like to get it anyway!  I did a quick Ebay check and there are a number of them listed currently.

     Another item of interest was brought up regarding an On-Line clearance sale that Lee Valley will be having.  The dates are June 22nd. through the 26th.  Here is a LINK to that information.  Beth highly recommended their brad point drill bits; who knows that may be one of their clearance items!

     Tim brought in a heavy duty card scraper that he began using for his guitars but has found it to be great for working on his rocking chairs as well.  It's by Stuart MacDonald and although he's primarily a luthier, this LINK to his site should prove to be interesting too.  There is a video dealing with the card scraper too.

Bridge City Tool Works Crowning Plane

Ted brought in a Lie-Nielsen spokeshave and antique brass plumb bob that he recently acquired.  He also shared this specialized tool he was given as a gift by a long time client of his.  It's a Bridge City Tool Works crowning plane and highly specialized.  This is the same company I've given a link to for the Kerfmaker tool that Jamie shared with us.  Pretty impressive company and definitely a maker of high quality, specialized tools.  Among the other things Ted does to keep busy in the shop is wood turning.  This Walnut and Ash bowl is an example of his recent work.

Ted's Walnut & Ash Bowl

                                                                                                   

Bridge City Kerfmaker

Here is a LINK to Bridge City.  There is a video explaining how to use the Kerfmaker that's pretty impressive.

John's Ash & Curly Maple Bowl

John has been bitten hard by the woodturning bug and brought it a beautiful example of one he recently completed with Jimmy Clewes.  The lid is Curly Maple which is finished with dyes and multiple coats of lacquer.  On the bottom he used an interesting technique of "scorching" where he torched it on the lathe and then wire brushed it to remove some of the softer wood leaving a very cool, textured finish behind.  Reminded me of the 60's and 70's when we'd torch Redwood to create a reclaimed appearance then heat nails, screws, etc. and burn them into the wood to add to the antique look.  That stuff never turned out as nicely as John's bowl!

 

Denny LaRocca's Beautiful Cherry & Maple Tool Cabinet

Featured 

         Presentation: 

Denny's Tool Cabinet

Denny LaRocca is known to all of us as Jamie's shop assistant.  Here's an example of some of the work that he does as well, a tool cabinet designed to hold his ever growing collection of tools.  By his own admission, he admits to sometimes buying tools on a whim only to have them gather dust somewhere in his work area -- unopened!  He blames the recent Lie-Nielsen tool event at Jamie's shop as being the catalyst for this project.  After spending more on Lie-Nielsens fine tools than he should have he decided that rather than have them laying around carelessly in his shop it was time to build a proper cabinet.  

He began by sketching out some of his own ideas but then Jamie handed him a book called The Toolbox Book by Jim Tolpin, here's a LINK to it from Amazon.  The basis for his cabinet can be found on page 101.  It features machine cut dovetails and through mortise and tenon joinery.  Denny modified those plans to suit his own requirements.  One interesting thing he changed was the traditional use of through mortise and tenon joinery.  Almost seems like a "no duh" concept seeing how he works in Jamie's shop but rather than hand cut those tenons he used the Festool Domino joiner.  Check out the link if you've never sent this amazing tool in action.  

Domino Tenon

It uses a piece of wood similar to the biscuit you may be familiar with: 

If you checked the cabinet out closely you can see the ends of them on the front rail.  Not only is this a strong way to assemble the case, it also adds a nice decorative element.  

Tool Holder Designs

     During the construction process, Denny came up with a number of different ways to hold his tools securely in the cabinet.  Shown at left are some that didn't make it into the final project but were critiqued by Jamie and others in classes --- that is, if you can call a calloused "that sucks" a critique!  Designs that made it into the cabinet are shown in the picture essay below but many included magnets and shaped wooden forms to hold the tools in place.  As Denny acquires more tools there is enough free space in the cabinet to accommodate them.

With a project like this, one where you spend time working on it as you can it's difficult to calculate the amount of hours you spend.  Conservatively, Denny guesses at about 100-150 hours.  The doors hinge on continuous piano hinges and are held shut with magnets.  The finish is Watco oil.  

     He elected to have Cimarron Drawers do the dovetail work on these with wood he supplied to ensure a nice flow of the grain all the way across the cabinet.  Larger drawers have small, finger jointed drawers inside of them for better organization:

Note the exposed Domino tenon  on the rail between the drawers

Here are some of the detailed photos of the various tool holders:

Chisel Holder

Marking Gauges and Lay-Out Tools

Various Squares

As part of his tool kit, Denny showed off his shop made mallet.  It's filled with shot but an interesting feature is the unequal curved shape by the head.  The purpose of this is so that when he chokes up on the handle for better control, his thumb fits nicely into the shorter radius -- smart idea!

Denny's shop made mallet