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I never seem to leave Woodworking in America having taken enough media back with me. This year, though I took plenty of photos, I didnt take any videos (except for some silly Vines). Luckily, many others did take videos.
+Marc Spagnuolo took many great videos and after what Im sure was much more editing than I would like to do, he put together this great video on what he saw in Covington.
+Matt Vanderlist was paying much more attention in Roy Underhills
Timber! class which opened the conference. He has this great video showing how Roy squares a log.
On Saturday in the marketplace I was lucky enough to be interviewed by Lee Valley Tools. Connie from their social media team talked with many bloggers and some actual talented wood workers and tool makers. I believe there will be a few videos coming out in the coming weeks. This first one covers what the interviewees would teach kids first. I cant say mine is the best answer (it isnt) but there clearly are some wood workers with a great grasp on how to bring the young into the craft.
Of the silly Vines I shot, here is my favorite. Ive already shared it and Im sorry if youve already seen it. I just cant help buy laugh every time I watch.
Dont forget about the +Modern Woodworkers Association Podcast. We talk woodworking with Guests from around the world of woodworking every other week. Subscribe to the RSS feed or iTunes today.
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This original posted at modernwoodworkersassociation.comWhile at Woodworking in America we got a bit carried achoice and took some beefcake photos on every bench we could get our hands on. We were even able to rope some of the presenters into posing.
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| Ejler Hjorth-Westh works it for the camera. |
Our plan is to make a 2014 MWA Calendar. It will be a traditional, one page per month, flip up calendar as you’d usually hang on the wall. They will cost about $20.00 per piece.
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| Who wouldnt want these guys on their shop wall? |
We’re hoping to gauge demand before we decide on how to make them. If you’d be interested in a 2014 MWA calendar for about $20.00, please let us know in the form below. It’s already mid-November and we need to get moving on them if we’re to have them in time.
Dont forget about the +Modern Woodworkers Association Podcast. We talk woodworking with Guests from around the world of woodworking every other week. Subscribe to the RSS feed or iTunes today.
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This year there will be a first at Woodworking in America. In addition to the normal lectures and classes about all sorts of woodworking, there will be an Online Woodworking Roundtable on Friday afternoon at 4:30. Either Popular Woodworking has run out of real woodworking to discuss (I find this hard to believe) or were really onto something with this online woodworking thing (seems equally unlikely).
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| Stand back offline woodworkers. Here we come. |
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The Online Woodworking Roundtable panel will include my fellow +Modern Woodworkers Association podcast hosts, +Christopher Adkins and +Tom Iovino. Filling out the roster will be online heavy hitters +Marc Spagnuolo, +Matt Vanderlist and +Shannon Rogers of Wood Talk Show. Im not on the panel myself, but Ill be in the front row leading the hecklers.
From the lecture description:
With Marc Spagnuolo, Matt Vanderlist, Shannon Rogers, Tom Iovino, Chris Adkins and more. Few things have changed the face of woodworking more than the advent of the Internet. Whether you enjoy the latest, cutting-edge power tools or want to learn more about the traditional skills of centuries past, there are web sites and bloggers that will capture your interest. Join a panel of the best-known online woodworkers and educators to find out how to get the most out of your online woodworking experience, discover what goes into creating valuable online content and learn how they are reaching out to a new generation of craftsmen and craftswomen.If youre reading this, you know about the online woodworking community. Please join us for the lecture on Friday afternoon. Well talk of all the community has to offer and demonstrate that it is THE place to be in the current world of woodworking.
Dont forget about the+Modern Woodworkers Association Podcast. We talk woodworking with Guests from around the world of woodworking every other week. Subscribe to the RSS feed or iTunes today.
Sadly, Woodworking in America 2013 is over. For the 3+ days of the event, it was a time like no other in the woodworking world.
While each day of the event – from arrival on Thursday morning to departure on Sunday afternoon – was filled with great camaraderie and woodworking banter, there were definitive highlights to this year’s show.
Loading & Setup
As Tom, Sean and I arrived at the convention center by about 1:00 on Thursday, we headed through the empty marketplace and met with our vendor friends. We helped +Scott Meek Woodworks, +Andy Brownell and +Ron Hock setup their booths.
MWA Meet-up
On Thursday night we played hosts at a Modern WoodworkersAssociation meet-up at the Keystone Bar & Grill. Our attendance was wonderful as friends, members and listeners joined us to celebrate the start of Woodworking in America 2013. This event also lead to the weekend’s catch phrase.
MWA Podcast
On Friday afternoon we took the new recording equipment our listeners were kind enough to donate for (thank you). We included our new MWA Chapter Administrator, +Sean Wisniewski and discussed all things WIA. It was fun to record in front of an audience, and we had some interruptions special guests too.
Online Panel Discussion
After the podcast, on the invitation of +Megan Fitzpatrick, Popular Woodworking’s Editor, we participated in a panel titled
Online Woodworking Roundtable. It was billed at “a panel of the best-known online woodworkers and educators . . . [discussing] how to get the most out of your online woodworking experience, discover what goes into creating valuable online content and learn how they are reaching a new generation of craftsmen and craftswomen.” It proved to be a wonderful discussion about the thriving online woodworking world. There were 9 panelists representing the full Wood Talk Show crew ( +Marc Spagnuolo, +Matt Vanderlist & +Shannon Rogers), the full Modern Woodworkers Association podcast crew (Chris, Tom & Me), Wood Central, Woodnet & Giant Cypress (+Wilbur Pan). Megan moderated and the 50 or so audience members engaged us with questions and their own experiences with the online woodworking community. To the person, I believe we can all sum up the community as a wonderful, educational and encouraging network of friends. I’m proud to say that even I knew – and am friends with – about 2/3 of the people in the room because of the online community (
it’s certainly not because I’m an overly social person, ask my wife).
MWA Member Interviews
After the RoundtableChris, Tom and I headed back to the hotel and setup our recording rig again. We sat down with some of the MWA members in attendance and recorded quick interviews with them about the conference. We’ll be adding them to the end of the podcast when it posts.
Ejler Hjorth-Westh
On Saturday I took two (2) classes with Ejler Hjorth-Westh: Chairs: Style & Substance and Working With Curves: Design & Execution. Taking these classes with Ejler (Eye-ler) was a revelation. Not because of the content (which was excellent) but because of the instructor. Ejler brought his personal style, experience and philosophy to the classes. Through very different in both style and method, I think the best comparison as a speaker is to Adam Cherubini. Adam is another instructor from whom I would take any class – regardless of topic. As a side note, my only disappointment about the conference was Adam’s absence.
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| Ejler was awesome. |
Workbench Beefcakes
Last year we took some adorable photos of Tom on some of the benches and our group MWA photo standing and sitting on Megan’s bench. This year we wanted to take it a step further. We found the best looking woodworkers we could (or one good looking woodworkers with red hair and the only guys we could convince to do it) and shot what will be the premier woodworking beefcake calendar. We owe a big thanks to Gorilla Glue, Lie-Nelson, Lee Valley, Bad Axe Toolworks, Hock Blades, Scott Meek, Lake Erie and everyone else who let us use their benches. We also need to thank Ejler for being such a handsome woodworker (and good sport).
WTO Meet-Up
Saturday night was the Wood Talk Online meet-up at Keystone’s. It was a great time to hangout and chat with the Wood Talk guys and their listeners. I think it was a WIA13 highlight for everyone there.
WTO Podcast
After their meet-up, Marc, Matt and Shannon retired to the hotel to record an episode of the Wood Talk Show. During their recording, the MWA had fun repaying their kindness.
After all this fun it was time to go home. I’m already counting the days to Woodworking In America 2014.Dont forget about the +Modern Woodworkers Association Podcast. We talk woodworking with Guests from around the world of woodworking every other week. Subscribe to the RSS feed or iTunes today.
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I usually limit most of my Online Woodworking Community discussion to the Modern Woodworkers Association site, podcast and organization I help run.Today Im sharing some MWA news here also, because the news is big. Popular Woodworking Magazine has been kind enough to enter into a marketing agreement with the Modern Woodworkers Assocaition. In exchange for helping to promote Woodworking in America, the Modern Woodworkers Association will receive booth space at both the Pasadena and Cincinnati WIAs in 2012. They will also provide us with a small compensation for anyone who buys tickets to either WIA using our affiliate code: MODERNWW
Please understand that the code has some implications on the use of early bird pricing, so before you run out and use it, please read the full post here, on the MWA blog.On behalf of the entire MWA, I thank you for your support and well see you at WIA.
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When I removed the sides from their glue up, I found that the left side had cupped slightly.
I took all of the unassembled pieces, both cupped and flat, and sanded them to 220. This may have been overkill as I still hand plenty of post assembly sanding to go, but I wanted to make sure that I didnt have to do any initial smoothing after the stool was assembled.
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| I pre-routed the edges I wouldnt be able to reach after assembly. |
When the pieces were sanded, I marked out the edges I wouldnt be able to reach with a router after assembly and rounded them over with a ¼” radius round over bit. I was careful to keep well achoice from the joinery. This meant that there would still be rounding and smoothing to do by hand after assembly. That’s the price of ensuring that the joinery wasnt damaged and that rounded edges on the assembled pieces flowed together properly.
Unfortunately I only had time for sanding and I wasnt able to assemble the stool. The pieces spent one more night stickered.
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| By the time I was ready for assembly, this side had cupped severely. |
The following day, when I finally did get to assembly, I found a wicked cup in the left side. After thinking about it for a few minutes I dug out my Woodpecker Aluminum Camping Cauls and used two (2) to force the left side close to flat.
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| The cauls forced it into almost flat. |
Close to flat wasnt exactly flat and the boards hadnt been exactly flat when I dovetailed them either. This resulted in the assembly of the dovetails requiring a little quick paring and some additional persuading with a large rubber mallet. I used Tightbond III in the dovetails for its open time and clamped them up overnight.
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| All glued up. |
In the morning, the tear out from the last minute tail adjustment was obvious.Dont forget about the +Modern Woodworkers Association Podcast. We talk woodworking with Guests from around the world of woodworking every other week. Subscribe to the RSS feed or iTunes today.
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With the initial Quilt Rack assembly done and joints cut, I was finally ready to begin shaping. I began by cutting out the template from the ¼” hardboard. I rough cut with a jig saw and then used my spindle sander to bring it to the line and massage the final shape.
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| I had to cut out the template before cutting out the legs. |
The template was then set on the leg/foot assemblies, and the shape transferred by tracing it with a pencil. Because I’ve been too lazy to tune up my band saw, I rough cut the legs with a jig saw. First I cut in from the edge to the line so that when I did cut the line small pieces would fall off as I went, reducing the chance of binding the blade. Then I cut just outside of the line.
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As with most classically trained quilt rack makers, I prefer to perform my
template routing in the dark. I shifted the clamps as necessary to allow the
router to go around. |
To bring the cut right to the line, I clamped on the template and routed around the leg/foot assemblies using a pattern bit. I’ve been down on my Festool routers lately due to their almost complete lack of visibility which results from a solid base and dust shrouds above and below the base. I used my OF1400 for the pattern routing, and continue to be underwhelmed. Though the dust collection continues to be good (but no better than my DeWalt DWP611 PK), it was the ratcheting spindle that really pissed me off. It works fine, until it’s time to remove the bit, then I struggle to get a good grip on the router while holding the spindle lock/ratcheting button with the same hand and the wrench with the other. I still much prefer a non-ratcheting (or even locking) spindle and a traditional too wrench setup for hand held routers. Simply align the wrenches properly and squeeze them together in one hand by making a fist and you can easily tighten or loosen a collet with a two wrench setup. No fighting to hold the router flat with one hand while twisting the wrench with the other.
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I wish Festool could tell me how Im supposed to hold down the green ratcheting
button and the router itself with one hand while working the wrench with my other hand.
(I know this is a photo of the bit going on. My difficulty was with taking it off). |
After pattern routing I chucked in a ½” quarter round bit and did the initial round over. This started to achieve the edge I wanted, but it was still too stiff. The next step was to throw the leg/foot assemblies in my bench vise and go at them with a rasp. I used my Auriou Grain 9 Cabinetmakers rasp and with only a little sweat I added the final bit of hand shaping that turns the uniform routed edge into a flowing, organic detail.
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| The legs after having the quarter round routed on the edge. |
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| This close up shows how the curve doesnt look organic when it just off the router. |
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This photo doesnt do it justice, but going over the edge with my rasp
(& then many grits of sandpaper) make the edge much more organic and pleasing. |
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In order to rasp the edge, I clamped the legs in my end vise, shifting them a
few times each to keep the clamping pressure near where I was rasping. |
Because the cross members are straight, the were much easier to shape than the leg/foot assemblies. Due to their narrow width I first routed the quarter round on them using a quick sled I made for my router table. I took 3 passes, each just a little deeper so as not to hog off too much material at once with the bit. Then I further defined their curves using a 5” random orbit sander and 50 grit paper.
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| The cross members after routing and before sanding. |
Now that the shaping is done, its time to move on to assembly next.
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| Quilt Rack Photo Gallery |
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Before I get to my November shop tour, Id like to present that of my good friend, +Aaron Marshall. In the the beginning stages of laying out his new shop in his new home. Take a look as Aaron takes us through the space and his plans.
Dont forget about the +Modern Woodworkers Association Podcast. We talk woodworking with Guests from around the world of woodworking every other week. Subscribe to the RSS feed or iTunes today.
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I leave for Woodworking in America 2013 in two (2) days. As you can imagine, my excitement is tempered by the pile of work I have to do between now and then. Given the size of that pile, I was about to write an "Im lame and too busy for a proper post" post. Luckily, Modern Woodworkers Association members have come though and I can write an "Im really busy but this was a quick post to write" post. One that is hopefully also somewhat informative.
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| No one can escape the 5 questions. |
We started a tradition last year of asking 5 questions to the woodworkers we met at WIA. Last week I asked for suggestions on 5 more questions. Many of your responded with great questions. Thank you.
After much consideration (and Changing up +Tom Iovinos suggestions) here are the 5 well be asking this year.
- What was the first woodworking project you built?
- What was the last woodworking project you built?
- How messy is your shop, right now?
- What is your go-to finish? Why?
- Do you belong to a local woodworking club or guild?
Unfortunately, not everyones suggested questions made it in. Hopefully the selected ones will do. If youre dying to ask the question you submitted, hold onto it. Theyll be plenty of time to ask and discuss after hours.
Dont forget about the +Modern Woodworkers Association Podcast. We talk woodworking with Guests from around the world of woodworking every other week. Subscribe to the RSS feed or iTunes today.
