Want to see a masterpiece up close? Come to our next meeting!

 Sin City Woodworkers, a Vegas valley social and networking group committed to serious (and not so serious!) woodworking discussions, will now be meeting on the third Thursday of each month to share everything from techniques and ideas to information about local suppliers and much more. 

Our next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, February 19, at 7:00, and we’re thrilled to have Dennis Patchett presenting a pie crust table that he recently built. 

What’s a pie crust table, you ask? As Wikipedia says - It’s an 18th-century, Rococo-style tilt-top tea table characterized by a round, solid wood top with an intricately carved, raised, and scalloped edge resembling a crimped pie crust. Commonly featuring a tripod base with claw-and-ball feet, these elegant tables often include a "birdcage" mechanism allowing the top to rotate and tilt for storage. 

If you know anything about Dennis and his work, you know that he is an expert carver. Add to that the 60 years that he's been building furniture, and you can only imagine how exquisite this table is. There are so many details to notice in this piece, that you will want to inspect it up close!

Dennis is one of our oldest member members (not his age!) He’s been with us since the start. Speaking of that, this month marks our 17th year of existence. So happy anniversary to us! You won't want to miss this meeting, Dennis has been building custom furniture for decades, and his pieces might legitimately be called the best handmade pieces in this town.

This meeting will be held at Woodcraft of Las Vegas at 5220 W. Charleston Blvd.  As always, the public is welcome to attend the meeting, so members - please feel free to bring a guest along. If you have questions or need directions, call (702) 672-8981.

 

Come to our wood sale on Sunday, January 18 - at Reclaimed Secrets

 Field Trip!

Sin City Woodworkers, a Vegas valley social and networking group committed to serious (and not so serious!) woodworking discussions. We meet on the third Thursday of each month to share everything from techniques and ideas, demos and information about local suppliers and much, much more. But this month’s meeting won’t be held on our normal date….

We only have two words about this month’s meeting - Field Trip! 

WE WILL NOT BE MEETING THIS THURSDAY - our meeting has been changed to the following Sunday morning. 

We’ll be heading to Reclaimed Secrets for a fantastic wood sale next Sunday, January 18, at 10:00 am. The location for this meeting/sale will be at 2912 S Highland Dr. (Suite F) Las Vegas, NV 89109.

Reclaimed Secrets is full service design and manufacturing shop. Andrew Moore and his crew can either sell you an live edge slab, or design and build something amazing for you. Even better? Andrew was in the top running for Martha Stewart's handmade in America 3 years in a row! We’ve visited Andrew Moore’s shop several times in the last ten years, and we have breaking news - Andrew is relocating his shop to Texas.

Best known for his live edge creations, Andrew has built hundreds of tables in the Las Vegas area. His work can be found in residential homes, commercial restaurants and bars, fire stations, city offices, Nellis AFB and more. Chances are - if you see a live edge table in town, he probably made it! 

Andrew is a long time supporter of our woodworking group - having donated live edge slabs many times over the years. We first visited his shop in 2016, and he’s been a friend, teacher and consultant to many of us ever since. 

But all things come to an end - so Andrew is relocating and hoping to sell off his current stock of slabs, cookies, off cuts, and possibly some tools. Moving these slabs isn’t going to be easy, so NO REASONABLE OFFER will be refused.  If you’ve been thinking of making a table, bench, countertop or whatever - now is your chance to buy some slabs at a fantastic price. 

If you’re a wood turner - Andrew has some great thicker slabs available - so this sale isn’t just for furniture makers! 

This meeting/sale will be at Reclaimed Secrets, 2912 S Highland Dr. -  Suite F, Las Vegas, NV 89109. We’ll be meeting there next Sunday - January 18, starting at 10:00 am.  So bring your trucks, ratchet straps and checkbook - and stock up your wood supply. 

As always, the public is welcome to attend this sale, so members - please feel free to bring a guest along. If you have questions or need directions, call (702) 672-8981.

You asked for it! Here is some additional HAND TOOL information

 For all that attended my demo on Spill Planes, I thank you.  And I hope you enjoyed it. 

For more Spill plane information, check this out: 

 https://web.archive.org/web/20130205200304/http://www.craftsofnj.org/toolshed/articles/Spill%20Planes%20by%20Herb%20Kean/Spill%20Planes.htm

Someday, if I ever get the hoard of hand tools I have in my possession under control. We will have to have a field trip to my shop.  and if any of you would like to see a Demo on just about any other woodworking hand tool.  Please let me know.  there is a good chance I have a version of it we can play with. 

Here is a list of the best sources to find both modern, and vintage woodworking hand tools, And instructions on how to use them.  some in person classes, and some also have a virtual online class option. 

As I had mentioned during the Spill Plane Demo.  For the most part, we live on the wrong side of the Mississippi river for the best deals on these old tools.  

So, the single best club/organization Is the Midwest tool collectors Association.   Just about all the hand tool clubs are affiliated with them in some way. 

https://mwtca.org/

One of the largest tool meets in the country will be this February 6th & 7th in Madison Ga. (The Peach Meet). However, there are tool meets all over the country every month.

So, if you are on a road trip.  you can look them up on the MWTCA website. or Wood by wright. 

This link is for Plane Wellness, a Non Profit providing free hand tool classes for anyone with a mental or physical disability including Veterans with a disability rating.  

and the classes are open to anyone for a small fee, both in person, and online. 

https://planewellness.org/

Then for those of us who live on the west end of the country, where travelling to tool meets is just not going to happen.  There are a ton of online options to source tools. 

1st off, Be very cautious of eBay, I do sell tools there, and my ads will generally have a video, and many well lit photos with full disclosure on the condition of the tool.  But, you will see many ads with very little information, and only a few photos with poor lighting.   Run from those! lol.  

Then there are all the reputable sellers, a few with full websites like 

https://www.jimbodetools.com/ and https://michaelrouillardtools.com/

Both good guys, although their tools tend to come at a premium. 

then there are all the Facebook groups.  And I will only list this one.   We call it CIHI for short. Can I have it, vintage auction and sales group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/CanIHaveItToolAuctions

This is a private group that you must Join for free to see or participate.  (the private group goes along way to prevent scams)

Most of the tools I sell go through this Facebook group. 

and finally, tool Auction sites.  

Martin Donnely,  https://mjdtools.nextlot.com/auctions This is an online only auction. 

Most tof the Spill Planes I brought to the demo came out of here. 

And  the  Brown Tool Auction. https://www.finetoolj.com/

This is a dual auction site,  Brown tool starts off online, then on the given Saturday it is Live for the final bit.  But it is also affiliated with the Fine tool Journal auction, which is online bidding only. 

then we can touch on You Tube, As far as hand tools go, I only really follow two channels. 

https://www.woodbywright.com/  James Wright, based in Illinois.  plenty of good hand tool tutorials, teaches for Plane wellness.  general good guy. lol 

And his you tube channel,  https://www.youtube.com/@WoodByWrightHowTo

And I like Paul Sellers,  He is based in the UK, Just a wealth of information. I think I read his blog more than watch his videos.  

https://paulsellers.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@Paul.Sellers 

Congratulations if you have read this far. I welcome visitors to my shop, and would love to chat.  Be careful though, hand tools can become addicting. 😁 I am going to stop here, although I can easily keep going. Adding links to Facebook groups,

and endless websites.  

but, I feel this list represents the best.  

If you get into this topic on facebook, you will find the group pages have no end. 

Johnframe00@gmail.com  that is  John Frame Zero,Zero @ gmail.com

Let's take a spill - join us for a cool hands-on discussion of Spill Planes

 Sin City Woodworkers, a Vegas valley social and networking group committed to serious (and not so serious!) woodworking discussions. We meet on the third Thursday of each month to share everything from techniques and ideas, demos and information about local suppliers and much, much more. 

We all need a break from this holiday pressure, right? 

Our next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, December 18 at 7:00 at Woodcraft of Las Vegas at 5220 W. Charleston Blvd.  And we’ll be featuring a festive discussion on Spill Planes, with John Frame sharing his expertise on this amazing tool.

Are you thinking - what the heck is a spill plane?

Prepare to be amazed -  it’s a little-known specialty plane that creates a shaving – called a spill – that’s tightly curled on itself and tapered to a point. In the days before matches and lighters, a spill was used to take a flame from the fireplace to light candles, lamps, pipes, etc. We’re talking WAY back - before cell phones and internet. Hell - before cars and possibly electricity - this simple plane was used to slice wood and create way to light a fire in your hearth or oil lamp. 

We’re talking - OLD SCHOOL!

A typical spill will burn for over a minute, and a bundle of them makes an attractive decoration. John is nearly an expert on older hand tools, and you’ll have an opportunity to “take a spill!” at our next meeting.  

So take a break from baking cookies and wrapping gifts and join us for a cool discussion and hands-on demo!

As always, the public is welcome to attend the meeting, so members - please feel free to bring a guest along. If you have questions or need directions, call (702) 672-8981.

Sin City Woodworkers presents - the (incredible) work of Lupe Nielsen

 Sin City Woodworkers, a Vegas valley social and networking group committed to serious (and not so serious!) woodworking discussions. We meet on the third Thursday of each month to share everything from techniques and ideas, demos and information about local suppliers and much, much more. 

Our next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 20 at 7:00 and long time member Lupe Nielsen will be sharing her woodworking journey with our group.

Lupe is a once-in-a-lifetime student/woodworker, dedicated to learning, practicing and building in extraordinary ways.  She’s tackled a plethora of techniques and applied those skills to the many pieces she’s built - from chairs to tables, entertainment centers to exquisite carvings. It would be hard to find a more motivated woodworker in town than Lupe!

Lupe has hinted that she might possibly move from Las Vegas, so we took this opportunity to invite her to tell us how she got here - not just to this city, but to the level of craftsmanship that most of us can only dream of!

Here are her exact thoughts:

“In the 1990s cognitive psychologist, Anders Ericsson published a research where he wrote about the “10,000-hour rule”, where it takes10,000 hours of deliberate practice to develop expertise in a sport or skill. Malcolm Gladwell in his 2008 book, “Outliers” simplified the idea by saying “It takes 10,000 hours to master anything.”

Lupe Nielsen, started her journey into the fine woodworking world on March 2011 when she walked into Jamie Yocono’s Wood It Is woodworking school for the first time. Since then she has deliberately strived to master the craft. She currently holds the record of having taken 30 classes at the school.

Her quest for knowledge did not stop at Wood It Is. She has continued her education by learning from anyone who will teach her. Locally, she has learned to turn wood from Jimmy Clewes, from Christian Brisepierre, and any woodturner that has come to teach in Las Vegas: Stuart Batty, Eli Avisera, Sally Ault, and many more. She tackles carving with Dennis Patchett and Richard Otsubo.

Five years ago, she ventured out of state and discovered the Marc Adams School of Woodworking  in Indiana, which is the largest woodworking and arts and crafts school in North America. She attends the school in periods of 2 weeks to 2 months on a yearly basis, and has learned from the top craftsmen in the world. She even completed enough courses to complete their “Masters” program, and has even taught at that school as well.

She travels extensively to constantly learn from others. Her adventures have taken her to schools in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

Since 2011, she has been diligently working with wood for at least 20 hours per week, in addition to what she does for her handcrafting of magic apparatus business.

If you ask her how much she knows, she currently thinks that she has not even begun to “scratch the surface” of everything there is to learn in woodworking.

Her presentation will be about her woodworking journey, and she will gladly answer any questions anyone may have in pursuing what she considers one of the best and most satisfying hobbies in the world.”

This meeting will be held at Woodcraft of Las Vegas at 5220 W. Charleston Blvd.  As always, the public is welcome to attend the meeting, so members - please feel free to bring a guest along. If you have questions or need directions, call (702) 672-8981.

Join us at the Tool Swap Meet this coming Sunday!

 Sin City Woodworkers, a Vegas valley social and networking group committed to serious (and not so serious!) woodworking discussions, usually meets on the third Thursday of each month. This is a reminder that we won’t have a regular Thursday night meeting, but instead - we’ll be holding an outdoor swap meet on Sunday, October 26.  We’ll get started at 10:00 AM and stay until the last deal is done! 

Have something to sell? Grab your gear and head over to 2267 West Gowan in North Las Vegas. 

This will be your chance to buy - sell - or - barter tools with like-minded woodworkers, so clean out your woodshop and join us!

Everyone is welcome to bring a table or cart to set up a booth in our parking lot. The parking lot is mostly empty on Sunday mornings, so everyone will have a chance to spread out and sell their wares. 

Some of the goodies up for grabs include many hand tools, small power tools like routers, drills, drivers, nail guns, books and MUCH more. You’ll find some bargains, some rare tools and a whole lot more. You’re going to find some great bargains here, just in time for your winter projects!

The swap meet open to the public, so please feel free to bring a guest along. If you have questions or need directions, call 702-672-8981 for more info.

We hope to see you at the swap meet!!

No meeting Thursday (10.16) - but come to our annual Swap Meet on October 26!

This early announcement will give you time to grab all the extra tools and gear that you'd like to sell or trade.  Start your pile!

We’ll get started at 10:00 AM and stay until the last deal is done!

This will be your chance to buy - sell - or - barter tools with like-minded woodworkers, so clean out your woodshop and join us!

Everyone is welcome to bring a table or cart to our next meeting and set up a booth in our parking lot. The parking lot is mostly empty on Sunday mornings, so everyone will have a chance to spread out and sell their wares. 

Some of the goodies up for grabs include many hand tools, small power tools like routers, drills, drivers, nail guns, books, and MUCH more.  There will also be some wood for sale - including live edge slabs, exotics, dimensional lumber, and too much to mention. You’re going to find some great bargains here, just in time for your winter projects!

This swap meet will be held at 2267 West Gowan in North Las Vegas.  The swap meet open to the public, so please feel free to bring a guest along. If you have questions or need directions, call 702-672-8981 for more info.

We hope to see you at the swap meet!!