Hello and a Challenge

  I've been recruited to help Jamie out by taking over the blog.  Something I'm glad to do since she's done all of the organizing and writing for one year now.  Here's an altered picture of what I look like as a  60's era poster art.  Here's the challenge -- find me and tell me you saw this on our Sin City Woodworkers Blog.  I'm going to challenge all of the members further by encouraging them to use the blog and communicate with each other at times other than the meeting.
   If you've ever talked to me you probably realize that I'm among those computer challenged and resistant, ever since the school district decided to shut down my woodshop and put in a computer oriented, so-called, Technology Lab ---- YUCK!
  See you at the next  meeting, Wednesday, the 17th. Make it your goal to encourage at least one other person to start using this blog.

Scroll Saw discussion by Ray Quintal

This month's meeting featured a scroll saw discussion by Ray Quintal, who has been doing this type of work for about twenty years.


Ray bought a very nice selection of his pieces to share with the group, and discussed basic techniques like pattern making, types of blades, and much more.


Some of the tips he shared with the group were quite helpful - like how he makes patterns for the various shapes he's working with (enlargements from a copier) and how he applies the patterns to the wood (with a glue stick!). His advice about removing the pattern from the wood was excellent - he told us that wetting the paper pattern will soften the glue to the point where it scrapes right off, without any residue. That tip alone is going to save a lot of us woodworkers a lot of time and effort!


Many thanks to Ray for sharing his knowledge and expertise with the group, it was a very enlightening evening!

Another great meeting on the books

We had another amazing woodworking meeting last night - Rich Steinhauser shared his techniques for making Maverick model airplanes, and left several models and templates at the woodworking shop for anyone who is interested in playing with his designs.

Later, Dennis Patchett set up his chisels and started working on a linenfold panel carving demonstration.


You know it's an informative meeting when people are taking notes and asking a ton of questions. We all pulled our chairs up close, and were amazed at how simple he makes it look.



Dennis is so laid back and humble, he acts like what he's doing is easy to accomplish.



Here is one of his panels, which is anything but simple!


If my calendar is correct, this was our tenth meeting of the year. Considering this was our very first year of existence, I think things are going well for the group. Enthusiasm is high, and more people are starting to volunteer to share their talents.

Happy holidays, everyone! See you next year!

It was a Festool Fest!

Steve Bace, a Training Manager for Festool, might have the best job in the world. We were lucky enough to have Steve give an awesome presentation at our November meeting, complete with so many tools, we ran out of time!

Sure, the Plunge Cut Circular Saw was amazing, especially with all the bells and whistles that Steve brought along. But the favorite of the night was probably the Rotex sander, which combined power with dustless sanding.

Here, Steve takes a piece of rough mahogany and in the span of about six minutes, sanded and polished it to an ultra high sheen. Yes, we timed him.



That board was as smooth as a... board should be!


Larry Yule jumped all over that router, and based on his reactions, might be buying one soon. A few amazing features about this router include the soft-start, the dust collection cup, and it's ability to drill 35 MM cup hinge holes. At 17.2 pounds, this tool is solid and smooth. It behaves more like a shaper in your hands than a router, with perfect, effortless cuts.


Even Vince couldn't resist getting his hands on this tool!

We had a very nice turnout, with some new faces and great tool conversation. Steve later commented that he could tell by the questions he received that our group is quite serious about their woodworking. In fact, our discussions were so in depth, that we never got to see the Domino.

Luckily, he's promised to come back for another demo in the future. Thanks so much to Steve and Festool for making this meeting a great time for all.

(And a special thanks to Ann C. for taking these pictures!)

November meeting information

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 tools, local suppliers and much more. They meet at Studio: Wood It Is!, 2267 West Gowan, unit 106 in North Las Vegas. The next meeting is scheduled for November 18, at 7:00 PM.

After months of trying to coordinate his schedule with one of our meetings, Steve Bace from Festool is finally going to be our guest speaker this month.


Steve is a training manager at the Festool's Training Center in Henderson, and will be bringing some of Festool's latest tools to demonstrate and discuss. This will be a nice opportunity to get some hands-on experience with these great tools.

The public is welcome to attend the meeting, but 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.

October Meeting highlights

Mike Snyder, a Field Marketing Coordinator for DeWalt Tools, and his assistant, Ricardo were the featured presenters at the October meeting of the Sin City Woodworkers.

We had a very nice turnout at the meeting, which featured the DeWalt Tracksaw.

In the above photo, Mike assists one of our members in setting up the saw and making a sample cut. It's always nice to test out a tool before making any tool purchasing decisions.

Everyone agreed that one of the nicest features about this saw is it's ability to trim doors while still on their hinges. Ask anyone who works in the field how handy that is!


A couple of other things that are pretty interesting about this saw is that it works as a plunge cutting device and it runs on a track that has a non slip base. In many cases, you can cut with this saw without having to clamp the guide in place. The track can be extended by buying additional sections of track and joining them end to end.

In the video below, Dan Layman, of Exotic Millworks in North Las Vegas, cuts a long miter with the saw. This miter came out exceptionally clean-cut and accurate, and Dan later said that he felt that cutting long miters on a TrackSaw was superior to cutting them on a tablesaw. A lively discussion ensued.

As everyone knows - as ten woodworkers their opinion about some woodworking technique, and you'll get a dozen answers.

Many thanks to Mike, Ricardo, and DeWalt for their participation with our group!

October Meeting details

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 tools, local suppliers and much more.

We meet at Studio: Wood It Is!, a woodworking school on the central/north side of the city. The address is 2267 West Gowan, unit 106 in North Las Vegas. The next meeting is scheduled for October 21, at 7:00 PM.



It's taken a little bit of maneuvering, but month's meeting will feature Mike and Kate, who both work for DeWalt Tools. They'll be bringing some new tools along to demonstrate, like their new Tracksaw. For anyone who isn't familiar with the Tracksaw, this tool gives you tablesaw precision and panel saw capacity in a twelve pound tool. If we're lucky, they might even bring some freebies, or a Tracksaw to raffle off.

The public is welcome to attend the meeting, but 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 school at 631-1870.