From the President
Fall again, national elections over, decreased phone calls, humidity down, cooler and getting colder—time for wood working! For those that didn’t make last month’s meeting, Gary gave a very interesting presentation on the monster bit—the Lock Miter bit. I’m about ready to give it another try. It included some live saw dust, noise in addition to visuals. See the minutes for more details on Gary’s presentation. November’s meeting will be highlighted by Bill Caillet’s presentation on Segmented Turning, only Bill’s segmentation is done more vertically than horizontally, as I understand. Bill showed some of this work during our earlier meeting on finishes, and they are beautiful. Segmented Turning involves a lot more woodworking, then turning. Please be sure to see this one. November’s meeting will also include elections for the next year. All current officers, excepting president, will remain as they are currently, and It will be their final year, except for Gary, our VP. Jim Francis has been nominated for President, so the election for president will be between Jim and myself. If I am elected, it would be my last year. If Jim is elected, I assume it would be his first year of a new term, but I’m not sure. Hope you all can make it for the election, in addition to the presentation. Ed has also asked if anyone would be interested in taking over the membership chair, as he may be unavailable for several meetings next year. Even if you are not ready to jump in completely, talk to Ed about working in a deputy role to learn how it’s done. Ed has done a great job over many years. Karl briefed that there is no longer a log-in to the web site, and to get info not showing on the web site, contact Karl. And finally, to conclude our year of formal meetings, Andy will again be finalizing the December Dinner meeting for 11 Dec. 2016, at Logan’s. Hope all of you, and your significant other, will plan to be at this social event, with door prizes.
Ben
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Meet Your Slate of Cadidates.
For President |
Ben Weatherford (incumbent) Native Texan, went into Army after college (TCU) as an Air Defense Artillery (Nike Hercules missile) officer serving across US during the cold war. I then completed Ranger School and the Field Artillery Career Course, followed by assignments to Vietnam and Europe, on flying status most of that time. Liaison to Air Force Fighter Wing in Europe, and flew in F4E for 3 years. After receiving an MBA from University of Utah, I served in the Army Comptroller field in Europe and then at Ft. Monroe, where I retired rather than transfer to the Pentagon. I then worked for Wang Labs as a District Financial Controller over Wang’s Federal East and West Coast Offices. Started dabbling in woodworking primarily in home improvement after moving to Virginia, and gradually expanded into kitchen cabinets and some furniture. After joining TWWWG, my equipment, skills, interest and time now rank woodworking as my main hobby and have greatly expanded the scope of my woodworking interests. In younger days, active in flying, skiing, racing, sailing, followed by Boy Scouts, but now mostly just follow politics and do woodworking. I was (and am) a very active Guild member, a very avid listener and learner of all the new information I was being shown each month. I have served as President of TWWWG for two years. |
Jim Francis (former President) Retired shipbuilding industry mechanical engineer; now period furniture maker/carver. The emphasis in the shop this year has been to improve accuracy, efficiency and speed of processes within the confines of available shop space. As a result, hand tool use has increased rather than buying bigger/more pieces of equipment. My vision for the guild is that we regenerate the excitement of woodworking by expanding hands-on skills training (via pre-meeting and Saturday sessions), by conducting two outreach activities each year (i.e. local community festival, cutting board sale for charity), and by providing training/mentoring to new woodworkers. |
For Vice President |
Gary Stephens (incumbent) My interest with woodworking started when I was in junior high school. I took a lot of shop classes and because I was very good at it the shop teachers kept me on for another semester to work with the new incoming classes. I liked this because it got me out of the art classes that I hated. I racked up a lot of shop classes in junior and senior high school. While in high school I worked with my dad to build a red wood canoe that was featured in Poplar Woodworking. That was my first experience with working with fiber glass cloth and resin.
While going to college I worked housing construction during the summer. When we built houses we built them from the ground up and did not have subcontractors to do specific work like electrical, plumbing, etc. This experience taught me a lot about the various building trades.
We moved from the Midwest in 1986 and I had to give up my big basement shop for a little 10’ x 12’ shed in my back yard. Difficult to do woodworking out of this shed when you hoped the weather would be good so that you could drag the tools out of the building to work on a project.
Moving the clock forward to May of 2007 I was fortunate to have the money and time to build my very own man cave in the back yard. I built from the ground up an 18’ x 30’ shop with 9’ ceilings, heated, air conditioned, telephone & cable TV.
I use a lot of my building skills to work with an organization called Faith Works Coalition. Similar to what Habitat for Humanity does to help a family build a home to live in, Faith Works goes out every Saturday (and sometimes during the work week) to do repair work for the poor and elderly and others that need home repairs or ramps but that do not have the ends to get them done.
My goal as vice president is to come up with quality programs for the guild, not only during regular meeting dates but also with special event programs. I am also working on a DVD list that can be incorporated into an emergency program in case the presenter is unable to attend or if there is interest in one of the DVD, make use of it for a regular program.
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For Treasurer |
Scott Paris (incumbent) I'm a bean counter and have been counting beans for over 35 years. That's a lot of beans. When I'm not counting beans, my favorite thing to do is to spend time in the shop. One day I hope to be spending more time in the shop and less time counting beans. |
For Secretary |
Bob Fenske (incumbent)
I am a beginning woodworker and have been gathering tools, taking classes, and absorbing information for just over 3 years. Major woodworking interest is in hand tools, but I enjoy learning about almost any area of woodworking. Short-term goal is to be at least a mediocre woodworker in 2-5 years when I plan to quit working for pay. Currently work off a coffee table in the family room. Will be selling two motorcycles and building a bench in a single car garage.
- Born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota - BSAST (Thomas Edison 1998), MBA (Troy 2003) - Retired Nuclear Machinist Mate Master Chief - Currently working at Commander Naval Air forces Atlantic as the USS Gerald R. Ford maintenance coordinator |
At the Next Meeting - Segmented Bowl Turning with Bill Cailett
The November meeting of the Tidewater Woodworkers Guild will bring a different twist to the program from the traditional flat board approach to the turned on the lathe approach. Bill Calliet will be the presenter for the November meeting. Bill is going to give us his unique way of gluing up an object for segmented wood turning.
For those of you that do not know what segmented wood turning is all about, look at the turning to the left. Come to the November meeting and discover how this project is put together before the turning process.
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Last Meeting Notes
Gary Stephens gave a good presentation on the Lock Miter bit. He made it look easy. Everyone got a close up view via the close-in camera and large screen TVs. Now, that's the way to see how it all works. For those interested in the setup jigs, here are links to a few: Infinity Tools, and Rockler
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Tip of the Month - How to Tweak your Tape Measure
Paul Anthony – Riegelsville, PA
If you're serious about accuracy in your work, you need accurate measuring tools, and that includes your tape rule. Unfortunately, the sldiing tang on a tape rule – which allows for taking inside and outside measurements – is often the tools's Achilles heel. Inexpsnive tape rules are particularly prone to inaccurate measurements taken from the end of the tape.
When buying a new tape rule, there are a couple things you can check to maximize accuracy. First of all, look for a tape that has increments marked in fine (thin) lines. The lines on some tapes are 1/64” or more thick, which compromises your accuracy from the start. Secondly, make sure that inside and outside measurements made using the tang on the end of the tape are accurate. To be sure of this, I head to the store with an accurate gauge block that I have made for the purpose. When gauging the tape, make sure to roll it over slightly so the edge of the tape actually lays on the workpiece. This helps to avoid parallax error when reading the tape.
After finding an accurate tape at the store, keep the block. You can use it to re-check the accuracy of your tape rule after dropping it on the floor and possibly bending its tang. A bent tang can easily be corrected with a pair of pliers.
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Editors Notes
This time I'm asking those of you who actually read all the way to the bottom to send me your tips. What special gadget or magic jig have you discovered that you're willing to share with the Guild? I can use some input. Have a great Thanksgiving and I'll see you Monday night.
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Copyright 2016 Tidewater Woodworking GuildSite by LittleBizWebs.comPresident: Ben WeatherfordVice President:Gary StephensTreasurer: Scott Paris
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