December 2020
Our guest speaker for this month was Russell M, a technical specialist with JPW Industries, the makers of Jet and Powermatic tools. He covered a broad range of topic including:
- Trends in woodworking machine technology
- The key features to look for when shopping for a woodworking machine
- Maintenance concepts and practices for the types of machines that most of us are likely to own (i.e., bandsaw, planer, jointer, drill press, sanders, tablesaw, etc.)
- Key decision points, e.g. straight vs. segmented knives
- Some key usage points, common mistakes to avoid, safety and accuracy practices
Many thanks to Russell for an informative and interesting evening
November 2020
For this month’s meeting, we had a virtual tour of the Stickley Museum in Fayetteville NY. The museum which opened in 2007 explores over a century of furniture making excellence. It highlights the inspiration and craftsmanship that made Stickley America’s foremost fine furniture maker and the craftspeople whose commitment to quality led to Stickley’s reputation for manufacturing heirloom quality furniture. Many thanks to the museum’s head Amanda C., who gave a wonderful tour despite the fact that her only connection to her audience was via faces on an iPad.
In addition to our regular monthly meeting, we held a swap meet in the early part of the month. Approximately 20 members (and a few non-members) set up tables to sell a variety of tools. Another 20 or so participated as buyers only. The event was held outdoors and masks were required. After being quarantined for a good part of the year, it was a good way to catch up with our fellow NJWA members.
October 2020
October’s guest speaker was Mary May, a master carver who works out of her workshop on John’s Island South Carolina. During her two hour presentation, Mary took us through an overview of the basics of carving. The topics included the various types of tools, the convention for identifying the various shapes and sizes and how to sharpen them; the types of wood that are appropriate for carving and some basic techniques. Mary is also a teacher who has taught at such places as the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana, Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School and the Connecticut Valley School. She recently finished her first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/
In early October we had a second event at John M’s saw mill where we began the process of milling the witness tree. Also, as some of John’s property was being sold off, members helped to clear lumber off that portion of his yard.
September 2020
Chuck Bender, a well known period furniture maker and the founder of the Acanthus Workshop, a woodworking school in Jim Thorpe Pa., was September’s presenter. His topic was modern methods for making federal style furniture. Chuck spoke about jigs and machine use among other things. A large part of the presentation was spent exploring the reasons that period furniture failed due to wood movement and the techniques that he uses to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the reproductions that he builds. Several examples from his portfolio are below. To learn more about Chuck’s work and school, you can visit acanthus.com.
August 2020
This month’s featured presenter was artist, sculptor and furniture maker Scott Grove. His topic was advanced veneering. You can use his link to Scott’s website to learn more about his work: scottgrove.com
July 2020
July’s meeting featured 4 member presentations.
- Ben’s presentation covered the various construction elements and techniques involved in building an interesting workbench.
- Roy’s flag box – which described the build process including his approach to cutting the angled components for the triangular form
- David’s row boat rocker – built for his grand daughter, there were a number of challenging angled components that needed to be cut.
- Cliff’s segmented vase – a short review of how he cut the angled components for the segments that were used to create the vase.
In addition to our regular July meeting, we’ll have an informal get together where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.
June 2020
Tis month’s guest presenter was Steve Latta. A teacher, writer, craftsman and contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, Steve’s main job is developing the furniture makers of tomorrow at the Thaddeus Steven’s College in Lancaster Pennsylvania. His topic for our meeting was creating and adding inlays to furniture. You can view some of his FWW articles at: https://www.finewoodworking.com/author/steve-latta
In addition to our regular June meeting, we’ll have an informal get together on Monday June 1st where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.
May 2020
Our virtual presenter at May’s meeting was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. There were 45 members in attendance. Tom’s topic was the uses for and methods of creating mortise and tenon joints. Many thanks to Tom for an interesting and engaging night. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure.
April 2020
April’s online meeting was composed of a number of short member presentations. There were 22 members in attendance. Although that’s about half of our normal attendance and we were all remote, the discussion was very lively. The members who presented were:
- Brian described the Pekovich bench jig that he made for working with small parts
- Abe gave us a tour of his Pekovich hanging tool cabinet and also did a brief shop tour
- Verne gave us a complete tour of his shop
- Alan showed a sliding table that enables him to cut small logs on his band saw and toured some of his shop and equipment
- Charlie showed us some carvings including a beautiful carved banana and some carved swans that he’s making as holiday gifts
- Gordon spoke about test pieces he was making for veneered drawer fronts
- John showed two pieces, a three legged stool and a saw horse. He also talked about the shop stool project which he’s facilitating
- Sri is building a large dresser with sliding dovetails. He had pictures of the jigs he built to cut them as well as his method for handling large pieces on his router table
- Tal completed his music stand, which he displayed and spoke about some of the techniques he used to build it.
- Several pictures from the evening are below. To see more member work from the evening, please use this link.
March 2020
Sadly our March meeting was cancelled due to the Corona virus. Although we were looking forward to our guest speaker, Joel Moskowitz of Tools for Working Wood, the club made a decision which respected the health of our members and the community in which we meet.
March was also the annual woodworking show. NJWA had a booth where, over the 3 days of the event, 15 members supported our effort to promote the club and recruit new members. The show also conducted a Project Challenge, which provided an opportunity for craftspeople to display their work and for attendees to vote on their favorite piece. NJWA member Jay Siegelaub’s natural edge side table was the 2020 winner. Congratulations to Jay. If you’d like to see more of Jay’s work, use this link to check out his website.
