MWA Podcast Episode 23 - David Venditto of Infinity Tools (61:06)

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The Ply Wooden Boat Part II Planning Materials

The boat they made on GardenFork.tv, which I was using as the basis for my design, was made of a single sheet of plywood. It was about 24” wide with sides about 12” high. Though Eric from GardenFork.tv is a trim guy, his narrow boat road very low in the water when he launched it as a solo passenger. As I wanted to be able to take my kids (and even other adults) in the boat with me, I decided I would need two (2) sheets of plywood.

With this as a plan, I headed straight to Lowes once we were settled in at Lake George (and I was back from the trip to Fine Woodworking Live I made immediately after arriving).

Yep, thats what a boat looks like before its put in the water.

Since the ¼” luan I used on the mock boat was awfully damn thin, and the plywood bottom would need to support me, I opted to use ?” CDX plywood. Though it was bowed and coarsely textured as most CDX is, I felt it provided me the best mix of strength, weight and cost. For the battens, I chose to switch to 2”x2”, so the tips of the screws wouldn’t poke through the ¾” thickness of the 1”x used in the mock boat. I also bought some 2”x4”, metal saw horse brackets and a small drop cloth so I could work at a comfortable height and keep the mess in check.

Ready for ripping!

In the parking lot, I had to rip down the 4’x8’ sheets of plywood before they would fit inside my truck. This being upstate New York, there was no problem woodworking in the parking lot.More (Ply)Wood Boat Posts.

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The 16th Annual Long Island Woodworking Show

Two weekends ago, I was lucky enough to take my three (3) sons to the Long Island Woodworkers 16th Annual Woodworking Show at the Old Bethpage Village Fairgrounds.

Here we are!

Entering the show.

This is the 6th or 7th year in a row that I’ve attended the Long Island Woodworker’s Show and they’ve found their rhythm as far as size, exhibitors and venue. Since I’ve been going to the show I’ve seen it migrate from Sports Plus (a now defunct large entertainment venue) to Hofstra University to an American Legion Hall (a space so cramped with woodworking that you could barely walk) to the Old Bethpage Village Fairgrounds.

The wonderful timber framed barn that houses the show.

The building the show is in now is just the right size and certainly the right atmosphere. It’s a large, beautiful, timber framed barn, perfect for a woodworking show.

The show itself is made up of member exhibits, vendors and special interest displays. The Long Island Woodworking Club’s special interest groups are the L.I. Scrollsaw Association, the L.I. Woodturner’s Guild, the L.I. Cabinet & Furniture Makers and the Secret Society of Woodcarvers. Each special interest group (at least is seems like each, but I didn’t check) has a corner of the building where they give live demonstrations and talk up their craft.

Whats a woodworking show without Woodmizer?

The vendors aren’t the boutique shops you’ll see at Woodworking in America or the generic guys you’ll see at the Woodworking & D.I.Y. Shows. They were all medium sized and somewhat local. The ones I spend the most time with were Lakeshore Hardwoods and the member used tool sale.

A great photo, taken by Tom McKenna of Robert
having Toms son draw a raffle winner.

While I spent a good deal of my time chasing my kids around and trying to get them enthusiastic about this joint or that finish, the highlight was the wonderful chat I had with Robert of the Long Island Woodworker’s Club. He let my boys draw a raffle winner, and as I learned in Saratoga, he’s a great guy to talk too.

This cookbook rack was my favorite of the member gallery.

Unfortunately, I missed seeing Fine Woodworking’s Tom McKenna. Matt Kenney gave me a heads up that Tom was visiting the show, and it looks like he had a good time too. Check out his post about the Long Island Woodworkers Show here.

You can see my entire Long Island Woodworkers 16th Annual Woodworking Show Picasa gallery here.

Have you found your local woodworking show and discovered who you need to talk to there?

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How many people remember the hall tree that I built last year?  In an attempt to increase my skills in Sketchup I made a drawing of it.  I put it in the download section and is available for free!  Please take a moment to download it and let me know what you think.

p/downloads.html

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The first thumb chair is done!

I finally finished the first thumb chair!  Why do these projects alchoices seem to take so long?

I forgot to put the pocket holes for the seat in when I cut the pieces to length

so I added them here.

The plan called for 4 pocket holes for the seat back but I put 5 to play it safe.

I drilled a 1 inch hole in the seat back for a thumb.

Here is the hole sanded smooth.

Time for some finish sanding

And more sanding....

I couldnt think of a good choice to clamp the 2 pieces together and like alchoices

my piece drifted a little bit when I screwed it together.  I thought of a possible choice
to clamp it for next time so we will see if that works better on the next one.

The 2 pieces are ready for assembly!

 I centered and clamped them and then screwed them together.  No glue.

 Here is the chair ready for stain. 

Here it is stained.  If you have seen any of my other kid projects then you know

that I used the same stain to try and make them all match.

Somehow, I alchoices manage to blow out the thumb on the glove on my right hand

when I stain projects.

1st coat of poly applied.

I let it sit over night and then gave it a light sanding and applied the second coat.

3rd coat of poly applied and it is ready to go in the house!

I put some self adhesive felt pads on the bottom of the feet.  I dont know if they will last

but it is worth a try.  I forgot to mention it above but I also put 2 coats of poly on the bottom
of the chair as well.

All ready for my 2 boys to start fighting over.  I better get the second one done

quick!

?This is post 3 of a 3 part series.

You can read part 1 here:
2013/01/lets-make-thumb-chair.html

and part 2 here:

2013/02/thumb-chair-update.html

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Sabtu, 02 April 2016

Brooklyn Welcomes Lie Nielsen

This weekend the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Events are coming to Brooklyn. Theyll be at 3rd Ward (195 Morgan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11237) on Friday, 1/4, from 10:00 to 6:00 and on Saturday, 1/5, from 10:00 to 5:00.

Tools for Working Wood will be there, and theyll be open.

In addition to their own wonderful wares, Lie-Nielsen will be bring some top notch tool makers to Brooklyn with them. Daed Toolworks, M.S. Bickford, Guarino Furniture Designs, Northwest Woodworking Studio & Tools For Working Wood will be at 3rd Ward too. In fact, rumor has it +Matthew Kenney (of +Fine Woodworking) will be there too.

What a pretty view in Brooklyn.

Im going to try to make it on Friday afternoon, but dont wait for me. Check out the show (and say hi to Matt).
3rd Ward