June 2010 - Orange County Woodworkers Association

Sawdust &
Shavings
Volume 27 Issue 6
President’s Message
June 2010
Craig Chambers
I am particularly looking forward to the June OCWA meeting. Along with the great camaraderie our
group enjoys, I’ll have the opportunity to see what jigs and fixtures your fertile minds and able hands
have come up with. During last month’s woodworking demonstration by Mike Rafferty, we got to see
how a simple jig can lead to an exquisite finished product. The boxes that Mike showed us how to
make were absolutely flawless - thanks in part to a very simple shooting board to trim the miters to
final dimension. I hope to see more of the same at the special Show & Tell during the meeting. Just a
reminder, we will have a drawing amongst the entrants for a cash prize of $25…in case you need some incentive to
rummage through your shop to find that long lost jig to share with the rest of us. We’re still working on plans for a
hands-on jig workshop and hopefully I’ll have more information at the meeting. While on the subject, I’ve been freshly
inspired to try something new by a woodturner who shared his skills with us last month. Dave Hout gave a particularly
interesting demonstration of metal spinning, and though it may not be woodworking as such, the pewter is formed over
is a shaped jig turned on the lathe from hardwood. Not to steal Vic’s
thunder, it was a great demonstration by a talented craftsman. Now I
have a new reason to spend money on tools. Oh boy!
OK boys and girls, it’s time to mark your calendars. We have firmed up
the dates for the David Marks Two-Day Woodworking Seminar. It will
be held on October 23 & 24 at Laguna Tools from 9 AM to 4PM.
Lunch will be provided.
David offers a varied list of seminar subjects that each take about a half
day and include:
Resawing veneer on the bandsaw
Bentwood lamination
Double Bevel Marquetry and Router Template Inlay
Gilding & Patination
Cutting Dovetails on the bandsaw
Cutting curved joinery using router templates
Slideshow on furniture design
From the list we will select several topics to be discussed/demonstrated during the two day
event. If something on the list is particularly interesting to you, be sure to let me or Drew
know. There will be different subjects featured each day. The
IN THIS ISSUE
pricing options for single day or both days are: OCWA MemPresident’s Message
1
bers: Single Day $45, Both Days $80, Non Members: Single Day
Woodworker’s Sawdust
2
$50, Both Days $90. We’ll start taking advance reservations at
Woodturner Shavings
3
the next meeting.
Show and Tell
4
Toy Program
5
Freedom Pens
6
OC Fair 2010
7
Book Review
8
Meeting Dates
9
If you are not familiar with David’s work, I encourage you to look at his web site http://
djmarks.com. You might also remember him from the television show he had on DIY Network for a couple of years. I lifted a couple of images from his web site to show you examples of his artistry. If you would like to be added to his email newsletter, you can enter the
following URL in your Internet browser http://www.djmarks.com/emailsubscribe.asp.
Woodworker Sawdust
Drew Schellenbarger
Hello fellow woodworkers,
Boy ‘o’ boy, May’s meeting was great. Mike Rafferty showed up and delighted us with his sharpening skills. He then proceeded to cut a perfect
45 degree angle with a shootboard and a miter plane. He promised to
flatten the veep’s 5’ workbench but only managed to scrape some fine
shavings from the end with a finely tuned scraper. Thanks again to Mike
for sharing his hand tool prowess. I’m working on a one day workshop at Mike’s shop where
we can make one of the shootboards he demonstrated at the meeting.
The 2 x 4 contest was a success. Man, all the creativity in our association! A chair, many toys,
a sled, some art and a half eaten oar! Thanks to all who entered.
June’s meeting is shaping up great. I’ve spoken to Richard Goodman, owner of
Laguna Bamboo, to come and share his experiences working with bamboo.
Bamboo is probably one of the greenest products on the planet. It grows
what, 3’ an hour or something like that. You can have a full tree in less than 3
months. Wait, did I say tree? Last time I checked, bamboo’s in the grass family. Anyway, Richard is an ex builder and wanted to change course in his career. He’s been at cutting up bamboo and making it into entry door, cabinets,
furniture, etc. The list is too long to mention. I’ve asked Rich to bring some
doors, veneer, a chair and such to share with you. You will be blown away
that all these products are made from 4 x 8 sheets that he resaws, glues back
together, than table saws to get the desired effect for trim lumber used in his
construction techniques. You don’t want to miss his demonstration.
The July meeting is going to be on new products. I have lined up Allen Kinsley from Festool to show us the latest and greatest
from this high end company. Don Vargo is going to bring some spray products from Apollo Spray Systems. Also Rob from Hafele
will show some interesting hardware.
Thanks for showing up to the meetings and see you in June.
Welcome - New Members!
Phil Hartsfield
Richard Hodgin
Costa Mesa
Cypress
Board of Directors
Committees
President
Craig Chambers
(714) 761-9245
[email protected]
Treasurer
Ralph Crowther
(949) 588-2922
Vice President
Drew Schellenbarger
(714) 450-2365
Secretary
Ed Straub
(714) 536-4568
Woodturners
President
Victor Cohn
(562) 252-2580
[email protected]
Public Affairs
Chairman/Newsletter
Don Scott
(714) 533-7883
2nd Director
at Large
Ralph Alder
(714) 544-3328
Past President
James Santhon
(949) 481-2821
Director at Large
Bill Rogers
714) 637-2912
Badges
Len Musgrave
(714) 532-4778
Toy Program
Bill Rogers
714) 637-2912
Library
Ollie Vaughan
(949) 278-5939
Nominations &
Elections
Bill Rogers
(714) 637-2912
Refreshments
Glenna Whitlock
(951) 245-6342
Welcome /
Membership
Art Dunbar
(949) 830-3569
Mentor Chairman
James Santhon
(949) 481-2821
Resources
George Plummer
(714) 540-4527
OC Fair
Ed Straub
(714) 536-4568
Webmaster
Larry Marley
(949) 412-6710
Web Database
Aaron Fleischer
(949) 279-3586
Shavings President’s Message
Vic Cohn
Hello WoodTurners. Another month, May, has come and gone with
a triple dose of turning events. On May 20, 2010 Past Woodturner
President Dick Foreman hosted a 2 day class at his home shop with
DIY TV personality Dave Hout as the instructor. That very same
night, we held our regular monthly meeting with longtime member
Bob Gibbs doing the demo. And on the following Saturday, 30 of us
participated in a one day Demo by Dave Hout at Laguna Tools.
What a busy week.
One thing we know we can count on
from a Bob Gibbs demo is how he will
have created a hundred new ways to
make pen blanks to turn, out of anything
that is not nailed down. This demo was
no letdown. In addition, Bob passed out
10 free bags of pen blanks he made with the hope they would be returned to Pen Lady Ruthie
for the Freedom Pen Project. And, as usual, when the demo was finished Bob lifted up the
magic cover in front of the lathe with another 60 or so pen blanks he had prepared for the
members to take home and turn. Thanks from the whole group, Bob, for a great show and
some really new ideas in pen making.
We started the break at exactly 8pm so we would have plenty of time for the Monthly Challenge and the Show n’ Tell. I had announced earlier that Dick Foreman and I had visited the
El Camino Woodturners meeting and were very impressed with the interaction of the group
during the Challenge and Show n’ Tell. With that in mind, I asked everyone who had brought
something that night to please come up and share with the group how they had made their
item. I hope the members were as pleased as I was at how much interest there was in the various methods of turning, usage of wood, and
different finishes that were explained. Thanks to all of you who participated.
Turner Committees
Outside Programs Pen Projects
Dick foreman
Ruthe Ingram
(714) 637-6175
(714) 536-3624
Workshops
Vic Cohn
(562) 252-2580
Wood supplies
Jeanette Gonzales
(562) 417-7750
Refreshments
Video/Sound
Ralph Alder
(714) 544-3328
Nominating
Special Projects
Jerry Nininger
(949) 631-7530
AAW Membership Logo / Shirts
Victor Cohn
Harold Hardy
(562) 252-2580
(562) 429-1671
Challenge
50/50 Drawing
Bill Rogers
(714) 637-2912
The Challenge for the night was to turn an item with ‘FORM’ as the main
goal. With Bill Haskell as the judge, Ken Cowell won the Master Class and
the $25 prize money. The Apprentice class had 8 different members entering with the “Daniels’ brothers, Tom and Jim, taking 1st and 3rd place. Sort of
like having the ‘Earp’ brothers as the new Sheriffs in town. Tom won 3rd
place and $20, Don Kehoe who wasn’t personally there, but a friend had
brought his work in, won 2nd for $25, and Jim Daniels won 1st place for the
grand prize of $50. What a fun was to make money and it was in cash. We
went on to the Show n’ Tell and many, many of the members got up and
shared how then had created their work. I think we all had a great time and
I want to continue the practice of leaving plenty of time for the Challenge
and Show n’ Tell in future meetings. Oops, almost forgot the Whistle Challenge. There were lots of entries and the Ole Guy, Ross Gilroy, won 1st place and $25. When it
came to demonstrating
how obnoxious blowing
their whistle could be,
however, Les Rogers
was the only member
with courage to standup
and make a fool of himself, but he won a $20
pair of ear protectors
for his effort. You’re the
best Les.
Al Whitcomb and Ruthie
Ingram sold the 50/50
tickets. The winner got to choose a cash prize of $90 or the last known ‘Eggstractor’ on earth.
Yeah, Right. Would whoever finally did HAVE to take home the last one of its kind kitchen tool,
please plan on doing a demo for the members so they can fully see what they are missing?
Next months Monthly Challenge will be to turn a pen out of as outrageous a material as you can
(Continued on page 5)
Show & Tell Photos
OCWA
2 x 4 Contest
Shavings - continued
(Continued from page 3)
dream up. Let’s show Bob Gibbs he really did
cause us to think of a new material to use to
make a pen.
Next months demo on June 17, 2010 will be by OCWT member Dave Tilson who will
show us the secrets of how to finish a pen that will sell for at least $250. You don’t
want to miss this demo.
Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day.
Freedom Pen Project
Ruthe Ingram
Thank you Bob Gibbs for a wonderful Freedom Pen demonstration and generous give away of your creative
pen blanks. I want to also thank you and Eileen soooo much for your check in the amount of $400.00. You
and Eileen are so supportive of the Freedom Pen Project so on behalf of the troops and me I just want you
to know how grateful we are for all that you do! As I shared with everyone at last night’s meeting the cost
of the pen kits is going up to $1.75 per pen kit therefore I ordered another 600 kits at the old price of $1.35
per pen kit which means that I now have $1,057.50 on my next American Express bill.
My thanks also to the Orange County Woodworking Club for the balance of the $1,000.00 that was budgeted for the Freedom Pen Project. I also want to thank Jim Daniels who donated his $50.00 prize money to the helmet and
everyone else who generously donated. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! You guys and gals are truly ‘angels’
Turners who have turned 200 plus pens this year:
Bruce Potter 210, Ruthe Ingram 243, Bill Rogers/Lutheran HS 252, Linda Bruins 282, and Bob Gibbs with 440
Bill Rogers and the Lutheran High School students chose to make Freedom Pens for their service day on May 14th and turned
over 100 beautiful pens.. Bill invited myself, Bruce Lewellyn and Bruce Potter to assist the students and I don’t know who had
more fun, the students or us seniors! Thank you Bill……I don’t know how you keep up with all the projects that you volunteer
for!!! You must be related to Superman!
The Bayou Woodturners are now at 2,665 pens shipped so this means we need more pen turners to help us catch up. Please
get involved as this is not only interesting and fun but the rewards are great!!! I am sharing a couple of emails and pictures so
you will see why we all participate in this nationwide effort to support our troops.
Hello Ms. Ingram,
I just received one of your pens and I wanted to thank you plus Orange County Woodworkers. By chance, I and my family live
on the northern end of Camp Pendleton which is considered San Clemente\Orange County. I really appreciate your company’s thoughtfulness and it really does represent the Spirit of the American People. It’s folks like yourself and other’s that
send care packages to us out here in Afghanistan that make our commitment to completing the mission that much more focused and resolved. You can be comforted to know that while we miss our families and friends terribly, yours and others support easies the sting of separation. Again, thank you for everything
you do for the Marines, Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of our great
nation….. Semper Fidelis,
CWO4 Phil Veeneman
TCP&E Officer
I MEF FWD G-6
To the members of the Orange County Woodworkers and the
Freedom Pen Project, I am a retired
Marine that is now serving in AfghaniNationwide Total = 108,869
stan supporting the Marines as a contractor here at Camp Leatherneck, I
OCWA Total = 16,466
wanted to take time to thank you all
Bahret, Bill
30
for your support of our troops and
Bilevich, Robert
20
knowing that great Americans like you
make it easier to endure deployments
Bonta, Charlie
40
so far from home. I am from Lake
Bruin, Linda
282
Elsinore myself and seeing these were
Foreman, Dick
20
made so close to home makes it that
Gibbs, Bob
440
much more meaningful.
Thanks again and Semper Fi.
Gilroy, Ross
40
R/S
Ingram, Ruthe
243
Norman Cook
Inskell, Ed
30
IMEF FWD G-4 BCS3 FSR
Marley, Larry
10
Camp Leatherneck, Af
Musgrave, Len
10
Unit 42511
Potter, Bruce
210
Rogers, Bill (LHSOC)
252
Rogers, Les
130
Siqueland, Torger
125
Thobson, Eric
10
Tillotson, Don
10
Tuzzolino, Terry
10
Vaughn, Ollie
10
Wilmont, Fred
40
Each pen is just a small token of our appreciation and love for every recipient
who is making the sacrifice to keep us safe
here on the home front.
Bless you all for your continued support.
Hugs, Ruthe
The Carob Tree
Ed Straub
Those that were there will remember the discussion we had about the objects made from Carob. Well,
we can count on Ed for doing the research and coming up with this article about the Carob tree. Enjoy!
And a few more interesting tidbits about the Carob tree . . .
The term "carat", the unit by which diamond weight is measured, is also derived from the Greek word kerátiοn (κεράτιον), alluding to an ancient practice of weighing gold and gemstones against the seeds of the carob tree by people in the Middle East[citation
needed]
. The system was eventually standardized, and one carat was fixed at 0.2 grams.
In late Roman times, the pure gold coin known as the solidus weighed 24 carat seeds (about 4.5 grams). As a result, the carat also
became a measure of purity for gold. Thus 24-carat gold means 100% pure, 12-carat gold means the alloy contains 50% gold, etc.
Pro Demo — Dave Hout
Dave Hout gave a demo at Laguna Tools on metal spinning. Now this reporter was not that interested in metal
spinning and just went to observe. But let me say I was impressed!
Dave started out talking about the uses for metal spinning and how it is still in popular use today for things like light
shades, rocket nose cones, musical instruments and lots of uses in the medical field as well as everyday pots and
pans. It is strange that so little is known about a skill that effects our everyday lives.
Dave then proceeded to talk about the materials used in metal spinning and it is remarkable how few there are.
When we turn wood, we can choose between hundreds of different kinds of wood, but in metal spinning, Dave only
mentioned four (Aluminum, Copper, Brass and Pewter).
What was also amazing is that you cannot buy the tools (other than a lathe) because nobody makes them anymore.
You have to make your own. So Dave proceeded to describe how to make the tools and tool rest you need using
standard cold rolled steel (tool steel is not needed because you are not sharpening them and they don’t have to
hold an edge).
Now to do metal spinning, you do need some wood turning skills because you have to make a form to shape the metal to. For basic turning, the
form cannot have any negative draft or you wouldn’t be able to get the finished product off of the form. For shapes like vases with openings smaller
than the shape, you have to use segmented techniques and make a form that can be dissembled and removed through the opening.
Then Dave mounted a piece of Pewter in the lathe and proceeded to push the metal
around until he had a small bowl. He even was able to roll the edge! It was almost magical. Now maybe I will have to reconsider my attitude on metal spinning. Just what I
need, another reason to collect more tools!
After spinning the bowl, we broke for lunch and Victor surely didn’t disappoint us as he
had a veritable feast ready for us. Nobody went away hungry. In fact before the day was
over, between donuts for breakfast, candy bars for break and all that lunch, I think I put
on a couple of pounds. Thanks Vic!
After lunch, Dave proceeded to finish the pewter bowl by polishing it. But in order to
hold it to polish the inside, he had to talk about the different vacuum chuck options available on the market. He even talked about how you can build your own vacuum system.
This was some good stuff!
Then Dave related some very interesting points about making a bowl from wood like we have all done. He started with the different ways of holding the wood and how to consider the grain pattern and what to do with the tool rest.
Where it really got interesting was when Dave showed us a few tricks in grinding our tools and even some new tool designs that will help us to
make better bowls. He started off by showing us how to be ambidextrous and hold the tool in a way to minimize the amount of chips that came
flying at us. He answered the age old question about cutting uphill or downhill—the grain orientation determines
the direction. Think about how you would sharpen a pencil (with a knife).
Dave showed us how to use a weird looking bowl gouge that was made from a rectangular bar of tool steel. He
shaped a grinding wheel to grind the inside flute and the outside was ground almost square across the end. When
I first looked at that gouge, I thought who would want a tool like that? Then Dave put it to wood and it was
amazing! The rectangular shape allowed it to sit and stay on the tool rest at the proper angle to minimize catches
and that angle provided the most amazing cut. It was actually acting like a skew but inside the bowl! I am going to
have to try that one! He even does the same thing with a spindle gouge and an aggressive grind.
Dave’s teaching technique was very effective. He worked at getting audience participation. He wanted to hear all the ways that we do and have
done things before he showed us how he does them. Now here is something simple that we can all do . . . Have you ever made a bowl and had
these dark streaks inside the bowl that you just couldn't sand out no matter how hard you tried? I think we have
all seen them, I know I have. Well, do you know what causes them? I thought it was just improper tool control
and I needed more practice. According to Dave, it is crushed fibers from the sharp ridge on the back side of your
bowl gouge. When you use that for a fulcrum to guide the cutting edge, you are putting quite a bit of force on a
very small surface. The solution is simple, just get a soft abrasive wheel to slightly round the transition between
the grind face and the shank of the tool. The
slight radius spreads the forces over a wider area
and it no long crushes the fibers! That tip was
worth the price of admission and everything else
including lunch was free!
To top it off, there were several members that were able to attend the 2 day
hands-on training with Dave at Dick Foreman’s house a couple days before this
demo. They were actually able to spin a bowl themselves. They each brought their
own mini lathe and Dave provided the tools and tooling needed. They were so
stoked about it that all four of them were in the front row on Saturday. They
wanted more! It is always good to learn something new. If you weren’t there, you
missed out on some good stuff. Don’t miss the next one!
Sawdust and
Shavings
Monthly Newsletter of
The Orange County
Woodworkers
Association
P.O. Box 1038
Fullerton CA 92836-8038
Visit us at the Web at:
ocwoodworkers.com
The OCWA newsletter is
sent out on the Saturday before the Woodworkers Meeting . . . At the latest.
Any articles you wish to submit must be in my hands by
the Saturday after the
Turner’s meeting.
Editor:
[email protected]
WHERE?
Tustin Senior Center
200 S. C Street
Tustin, CA 92680
WHEN?
Woodworker’s Meeting
Thursday June 3rd, 7:00 pm
Woodturner’s Meeting
Thursday June 17th, 6:30 pm
Board Meeting
Thursday June 3rd, 6:00 pm
Friends of OCWA — Please Support Our Sponsors
Anderson International
Trading
(800) 454-6270
Deft, Inc
Laguna Tools
(800) 234-1976
Rockler Woodworking
& Hardwoods
(714) 282-1157
Austin Hardwood
& Hardware
(714) 953-4000
Exotic Woods USA
(631) 651-8651
Reel Lumber Service
(714) 632-1988
Festool
Craft Supplies, USA
(800)551-8876
Industrial Blade
& Products Co.
Renaissance Door
& Window
(888) 283-0722
Woodcraft Supply
(714) 899-1422