Tidewater Woodworkers Guild

Details: Written by Gary Stephens; Category: Newsletters; Published: 19 August 2021; Hits: 1925

Copyright 2021
Tidewater Woodworking President: Fran Foster, Vice President: Greg Guertin, Treasurer: Chris Zuchristian, Secretary: Larry Larue

Web Links	At the Meeting	Tip of the Month
		August 2021 iBuild - there is no app for that
	What's In The Newsletter? Presidents Report Steam Bending Update Guild Woodworking Projects Riving Knives & Table Saw Dust Collection Benchcraft Planing Stop September Meeting And Picnic
	Presidents Report ... Well, we all waited patiently for summer to get here and as quickly as it came, it is now almost over. Summer provided a time when we could relax and also complete some of those “honey-do” projects. We also were able to start gathering back as a guild in our monthly meetings after a long hiatus. COVID really threw us a curveball, but we have been able to stay connected through combined virtual and in-person meetings for the past few months. The last 18 months has impacted the guild in ways we would never had imagined. We used to have 35 to 40 members at our meetings and everyone enjoyed the personal contacts, but things changed. We now have approximately 20 members attending either in-person or virtually each meeting. It is not the same, but it is at least a way we can stay together. What I have observed with the guild, is exactly the same in every organization that I am in. The attendance is down dramatically and it seems like people have been staying away for such a long time that it almost a new normal not to stay connected. Our guild has a great history and has been a mechanism for many to learn more about woodworking. We must stay the course and do whatever is necessary to keep it a viable and worthwhile organization. The pandemic is still affecting us, but we owe it to ourselves to not let it get the best of us. We still need to stay safe and until this is over, all of us who love woodworking need to do whatever is necessary to keep the guild alive. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Fran Foster President TWWWG Return to Top
	Steam Bending Update Last month’s presentation came from Mike Jurnigan on steam bending of wood and how he applies it to his building of Windsor chairs. The basic takeaways form the presentation were: Red Oak, White Oak, Hickory and Ash are his first choice of woods to bend. He prefers green wood. Walnut and Maple are the second choice of woods to bend. Kiln dried wood does not bend. It takes about 1 hour per inch of thickness to be in the steamer before it will bend. You have about 60 seconds to work with the wood once it comes out of the steamer! Mike's steam bending apparatus. Just about a week after the presentation I received an e-mail from Woodworkers Journal featuring Rob Johnstone on guess what? Steam bending! If you are interested in viewing this video it is on You Tube and called Steam Bending Basics or you can click on the link. Woodworkers Journal You Tube Steam Bending Video Return to Top
	Guild Woodworking Projects Our first project comes from Karl Bogot. Project 8 for 2021 is a multiple process cutting board. The Bonsai design is made up of 15 individual pieces of wood. The board itself is maple with sapele breadboard ends. The board measures 19" x 12" x 1 3/4". The inlays are cut from aromatic cedar, cherry and sycamore. The next project comes from Chris Zuchristian. This was a gift for the host and hostess. It is made from Mahogany and finished with lacquer. The design is an adaptation of the gift box challenge a few years ago. The best part of the project! Return to Top
Riving Knives & Table Saw Dust Collection Recently I started researching the web to see if anyone had ever developed a riving knife for my old Craftsman table saw or for that matter any other old table saws. My old Craftsman table saw utilizes a splitter and anti-kickback to keep the kerf open. My search told me that yes indeed there are splitters in the market for old saws but there is more to learn about the splitter before purchasing one. The BIG question then becomes “Does the thickness of your splitter or riving knife have to exactly match the thickness of your saw blade?” There is much debate on this topic but one I found of interest was on You Tube from Stumpy Nubs. I have provided the link to this video for your review - Stumpy Nubs Riving Knife Information While searching for the riving knives I came upon a web site called The Shark Guard www.thesharkguard.com. They not only made riving knives for the old Craftsman table saws but also for Delta, JWTS (Jet) and more. They are also made right in the USA in Robertsdale, AL. One of the very interesting products that they made was a table saw blade cover with dust collection shown below. Should you want to see one in operation go to You Tube and search on Shark Guard or click on this link Shark Guard Dust Collection. Shark Guard For Delta Table Saw Shark Guard In Action This search led me to the final part of this article on overarm table saw dust collection. There are many manufacturers of these products and they range in price from build it yourself to around $500. Some of these products are show below. If you go to www.pintress.com you can find over 50 table saw dust collection ideas. Excalibur Overarm Table Saw Dust Collection Grizzley Overarm Table Saw Dust Collection
Benchcraft Planing Stop At last months meeting someone handed me a piece of paper about the Benchcraft planing stop and wanted to know if I knew of any guild members using the stop. It is a unique "planing bench dog" that can allow you to hold thin pieces of wood on your workbench that a normal bench dog would not because it would be too high or thick, depending upon how your look at it. If you want to know how it operates follow the link to Benchtop Planing Stop on You Tube. Benchtop Planing Stop While researching this product on-line I also came across a similar item by Lee Valley. Lee Valley Mortised Planing Stop
September Meeting And Picnic The September meeting will be held at Pat Lester's home, same location as in the past except for the COVID year when it was cancelled. More details will be forth coming in a future e-mail correspondence. Should a tropical storm effect the meeting date the picnic will be moved back one week. Currently the 4th Monday of September will be September 27, 2021 Rumor has it that he will be serving filet mignon, cooked to your perfection and toped with your choice of Blu Cheese, lump crab meat or two pieces of shrimp. The side will be lobster mac and asparagus. A nice red wine will also be offered. Price still to be determined!