What's In The Newsletter?

• Presidents Report
• Windmill Sawmill From The Netherlands by Gary Stephens
• Benchtop Talk: Challenges For Woodworkers
• Vendor Discounts
• Upcoming Guild Programs 2023
• Guild Projects
• Streetcar 390 Weekend Work Status
• Want To Play A Game?
• Pictures From May Challenge - "Give It A Rest"

President's Shavings ...

May and June have been a blur.  I was on a vacation to Switzerland, which is known for its beautiful Alpine mountains, fine mechanisms, and previously unknown to me, a particular style of carved wooden cow.  Unfortunately, I missed the chance to see submissions to the last TWWWG challenge, "Give it a Rest."  From the photos, it more than met my hopes and expectations for engagement, talent, and attention to detail.  Thanks for that participation.

As you'll read more, I'm excited about the Bob Fenske donation distribution event, progress on the Hampton Streetcar refurbishment, and continued engagement in our benchtop talks on the second Monday of the month.  We're looking forward to see you all on the 26th for our June meeting, where we hope to  see everyone's favorite tips and tricks as our main feature for the meeting. 

Terry

   Return to Top

Windmill Sawmill From The Netherlands by Gary Stephens

Last month and into early June my wife and I flew over to Amsterdam, Netherlands as part of a 19 day trip celebrating our 50th anniversary aboard the Viking River cruiser Baldur.  We sailed from Amsterdam to Budapest, Hungary.  As part of the trip we chose both the pre and post extensions in Amsterdam and Budapest to explore the cities in more detail.  One of the things that I wanted to see was a windmill sawmill in action over in the small town of Zaanse Schans.  These windmills have been the stories for centuries about how the Dutch controlled the water levels in their country which is below seal level.  A typical windmill with an Archimedean screw can move about 950,400 Gallons per hour if the wind is blowing.  In Kinderdijk (translated as children's dike) they have 12 of these active windmills pumping out water from the inlands to the sea.  They are also backed up with two big electric Archimedean screw pumps if they need additional water pumping capability.

A windmill in Kinderdijk with no wind blowing and a electric power driven Archimedean screw for removing water.

They also use these windmills to do other things like saw wood, grind paint, a paper or grinding mill, etc.  My objective in going to Zaanse Schans was was to see a windmill sawmill in action and see how they saw up logs.  Well, mother nature did not cooperate with us and on the day of our visit there was no wind to turn the windmill!  So as to not let down my sawmill experience they directed me to this YouTube video of the sawmill in action. To view the sawmill in action click on the link  Netherlands Sawmill Windmill In Action.  It is a totally unique experience.

A look inside the windmill saw mill in Zaanse Schans.

Interesting to note that when they saw up the log it is all in one pass.  No quarter or rift sawing, just plain sawing.  The only type of logs that they cut up are Poplar and Sycamore, no Oak.  The reason for this is that during the golden age of the Dutch empire they wanted to be the trade center of the world.  To do this they cut down their Oak trees to make wooden sailing craft and they wiped out their Oak supply.

Gary

Return to Top

Benchtop Talk: Finish Identification & Laser Engraving

About 10 members engaged in the June benchtop talk on June 12th in the Woodcraft classrooms.  Members shared their current challenges and show-and-tell items, including some photos of items.  One member asked for advice on how to identify and repair the finish on an older piece of furniture.  Members gave their advice, primarily consisting of rubbing a hidden (or discrete) location with denatured alcohol to see if color comes off on a swab.  If so, it is likely shellac, which can be easily repaired with additional shellac after thorough cleaning.  The next test would be lacquer thinner, with lacquer being the likely finish if it softened.  Members stated that the most difficult to blend and repair is a polyurethane finish, which typically needs to be stripped and re-applied because of the way it cures and does not blend chemically with additional layers, leaving a noticeable transition where repairs are attempted.

We also had a good discussion about laser engravers.  Terry Nienaber brought a dual-diode laser to show how it worked, and both he and Bob Smith showed a number of examples of items they've engraved or cut.  Bob showed coasters engraved with logos, along with a box for holding the coasters that he engraved and cut parts out with the laser.  He demonstrated how precise the cuts can be made, including the press-fit finger joints at the edges, which held the box together without glue after he assembled it.  Several other members also shared their experiences and challenges with laser engraving, as well as current technology trends.

Vendor Discounts

Greg has been actively looking for vendors that will provide a discount to guild members for various supplies.  A basic listing of the vendor will be published in each months newsletter.  To keep this from getting too complicated for this newsletter the list will only contain the most basic information on the vendors.  To get to the real meat of the vendor discounts you will have to go to the TWWWG web site www.twwwg.com and click on the tab marked "Member Information".  Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the Previous icon.  Once on the second page click on the previous link one more time.  This should take you to the article called TWWWG Vendor Discounts.

• Lowes of Norfolk
• Lowes of Portsmouth
• Lowes of West Chesapeake
• Costal Hardware Inc.
• Wurth Wood Group
• Sure Set Saw
• Yukon Lumber 

The Bob Fenske Tool & Wood Give-A-Way

On Saturday, June 17, 2023 approximately 30 people descended to the woodworking shop of Gary Stephens out in the Great Bridge section of Chesapeake to take part in the late Bob Fenske tool and wood give-a-way that his family donated to the guild.  The wood and tools had been stored in my shop since early May and since my wife and I were going on a long trip to Europe and no one was home, it seemed like a great place to store the items until we could schedule a good day for the donation process to proceed.  Mother Nature really helped out with a beautiful day, low humidity and a cool breeze for all of the guild members.

The process started way back in May with a inventory of all of the tools and wood.  Once we determined what was in all of the "stuff" we needed to come up with an equitable way to distribute the tools so that everyone had a fair chance at some of the very expensive tools in the donation.  A survey was sent out to all interested guild members to see where their interest was and from there we came up with system to distribute the tools and wood fairly.   On Wednesday evening, June 14, 2023, Terry Nienaber, Chris Haycox, Ryan Evans, Gary Stephens and a random number computer generator met at my shop to start the process of pre-selecting who got what tool.  The computer picked the name from the list, the item was tagged without any bias from the four humans.  This process went on for a couple of hours before we called it quits for the evening.  This gave us a big head start on the process that was to start at noon on June 17, 2023.

Guild Members At The Event

We started the process at 8:00 AM that Saturday morning by taking all of the tagged items to my garage, setting up the tables for the tools and then cleaning out my shop of all of the "stuff".  We figured this would take most of the morning but by 9:00 AM we were almost done and ready for the event.  As guild members started looking at the tools and wood on display, each was given a ticket onto which they wrote their name.  As noon approached the tickets were placed in a plastic tub and a name was drawn and the guild member was given a couple of minutes to choose choose a tool or a piece of wood.  Once we had gone though all of the tickets we started a second round.  At the end of round four the choice of wood or tools was opened up to the group until everything was gone.  All in all everything went very smoothly with the exception of some people driving by who thought we were having a garage sale!  Closing the garage door solved this problem.

Tools & Wood At The Event

More Wood At The Event

The one take away I have for this is the Neptune festival which happens each fall in Virginia Beach.  The locals call it "Returning The Beach To The Locals".  I am calling it the returning of the workshop to the owner!

Gary

Upcoming Guild Programs 2023

The 26 June's program will include door prizes, silent auction, Show& Tell, and  Tips & Tricks presentations.  Doors open at 6:30 PM.  Upon arrival, ensure to pick up your member nametag from John Tirey and your door prize ticket before catching up with friends until the start of the program at 7:00 PM sharp.  Cheryl will be available to register new members and collect dues.  Also, we are bringing back the silent auction this month, so bring in and donate to the guild your slightly used tools or items that you no longer need.   The silent auction will be held during intermission.  $1 gets you one ticket; $5 gets you six. Make sure you bring small $ bills. 

Before intermission, members who participated in the show and tell.  Bring in your projects to share with the member.  Each participant should provide a brief description of their project (e.g. wood type, other material, joinery, finish, challenges, etc.). Descriptions should be no longer than 2-3 mins. It is your time to brag about yourself and your creations.

The featured program for the night will be you, the members,  demonstrating  your favorite Tips and Tricks.  Terry will begin the program then ask for volunteers.  You will proceed to the front and demonstrate your tip on the workbench so all members on ZOOM can see it too.  If you have more than one, great!  If you have a Tip or Trick, but cannot/do not want to present it to the group, send it to Terry or me by Saturday night.  It should be a great time.

I will be in Quantico, but plan to ZOOM into the meeting.  I am looking forward to seeing you all at Woodcraft.  

Chris

Guild Projects

 Our projects come from Steve Mokrzycki

 A Bike Ramp For A Kindergarten Teacher

 A Planter Bench He Built For The Wood Challenge But Never Submitted

 End Grain Cutting Board For Mothers Day's Gift

   Entry Way Key Rack For A Mothers Day Gift

Steve's Lumber Rack To Store Fenske Lumber

Thank you guys for having us at yesterday’s guild meeting. We brought home a bunch of lumber. I didn’t have a space to store it properly, so I constructed a lumber rack. I’m sharing a picture of Bobs lumber stored flat and organized in my garage. Thanks again for everything. 

Steven Mokrzycki

Streetcar 390 Weekend Work Status

Hi everyone, 

Good weekend of work; thanks Ryan and Mike.  All the piece parts have been milled (mortices chopped, tenons cut, rabbets cut, roundovers routed) for the four panels.  So it's now onto fitting and glueup.  After the doors and panels are complete, we'll move onto the windows.

I'll let you know when the next work day will be (looking at Saturday, June 24th).  However, if you're available during the week let me know.

Thanks again,

Jim

Ryan And Mike At Work Restoring The Streetcar

Want To Play A Game (Challenge For July)?

Sounds like the movie War Games in which the computer is talking to the humans.

The next guild challenge will be discussed in detail at our next meeting in June.  You can make any game you want, indoor or outdoor and any wood may be used but it is preferable if it bought locally.  Entries will be judged on July 24, 2023.

May's "Give It A Rest" Challenge Photos