TENNESSEE VALLEY WOODWORKERS

DECEMBER 16, 2008

MINUTES

Tom Gillard brought our final meeting of 2008 to order at 7:00.

Our guests tonight were Ron Rymers of Winchester and Dan Deutmeyer of Manchester.

Jim Steadman reminded us that dues for next year are being collected. They are $10.00 for and individual, or $15.00 for a family.

If you were at the Christmas party, you know how very nice it was. We all give a big thanks to Mary Cowan and her helpers for a wonderful evening!

“In the Spirit of Fine Woodworking” Exhibition will be Sunday, May 3, 2009-Sunday May 10, 2009 at the Tullahoma Fine Arts Center on Jackson Street!

Loyd Ackerman asked us to turn in forms to show items of all types. The reason we are to fill out a form is so Chuck Taylor can make very nice, professional looking placards to put beside the items based on the description on the forms. He also is making a nice booklet to go along with the show. Chuck needs the forms for the entries as soon as possible to be able to make the placards. It would be nice to include your picture, too, if you wish. ***Loyd asked us to submit a new form for each exhibit, even if the piece was shown in November! Please see the club website for more information about forms!

This is NOT a competition. Please participate!

The Carvers will meet Saturday, January 3 at Phil Bishop’s shop.

Tom showed us a mystery tree that turned out to be a Magnolia.

Super Show and Tell!!!

1. Dan Maher showed us a picture of a “bottle tree” he had made that held 145 wine bottles. It was made of 2x4’s glued together for the trunk, and had 50 ½ inch dowels inserted symmetrically that were 48” long. Since his wife declared it was not going in the living room, it is at Short Springs on 41A in Decherd.

2. Loyd Ackerman showed us the 2 lighted cabinets he has made for his Grandchildren. They had dental molding at the top and glass fronts. He also did a gun cabinet at the same time. On that, he put Polyshades with no luck. Ross Roepke recommended he use a scraper to remove the unwanted Polyshades. Ralph Hand told us he had had luck thinning the Poly and wiping it on. Loyd will not ever use it again!

3. Bob Leonard brought a collection of carvings from yay-many years. Many were from the 70’s and 80’s. His favorites are the dog and pig. They were all displayed oon a board.

4. Lewis Bryant turned two vases in the “Doyle McConnell” style. One was sycamore, and the other cherry. He claimed the cherry wood from the Winchester recycling center.

5. Bob Reese brought 2 boxes-one old (1951) that he had given the neighbor girl when he was 16, and a new one with inlay for the same girl he still admires! He was working on 12 more for Christmas presents!

6. Henry Davis brought 2 bowls. The first was from 1997, and probably was started at a turning bee. It was from Palonia. He told us that Palonia farms cover 4-5 million acres and the trees grow 10 ‘ per year. This bowl came from a big Palonia burl Tom Cowan pulled from a fire when he was working for Duck River. Henry also brought a plaque he carved in 1984, and it was the same design he put on some cherry quilt racks. He says the carving is harder than building the quilt racks!

7. John Wendling brought a Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett and Company tool catalog from 1903. The company was located in Chicago. He also had a cast forged steel chisel and screwdriver he had inherited from his 93 year old father.

8. Tom Cowan brought a little spinning wheel he carved from cedar during a snow storm when he was in high school. He made it with a knife and scroll saw while sitting in the floor of the kitchen. When his English teacher saw it, she wanted it, and he gave it to her. Her daughter returned it to Tom 40 years later. ****Tom didn’t announce it, but his work is featured in the February 2009 issue of Fine Woodworking! Way to go, Tom!!

9. Ray Cole got our imaginations going with the segmented panels he made to curve some corner kitchen drawers. He first made oversized raised panels, then cut and numbered the pieces according to the radius of the curve, then put them back together. He recommends making the drawer fronts first, and then adjusting the cabinets to fit them. The kitchen is made of Walnut with maple insets. The raised panels have rounded corners, which he did with a bullnose bit. He also showed us how he used a milling machine to make reeded columns for the kitchen. They are impressive. The island will have 4 chairs built in so that they will look like the sides of the island when they are not in use.

10. Art Brickse says he doesn’t make sawdust, but enjoys woodworks. He brought some wonderfully carved items from around the world. There was a whimsical boot, a turtle, pitcher with birds carved around it, and a raised relief pen box and pen from Equador.

11. Jim Van Cleave carved a panel of walnut. It was a face in some vines, (He said he was eating them.J) and he told us how hard it was to get his tools in to carve.

12. Milner Carden says he also doesn’t make things from wood, but loves it. He brought a variety of items from customers he has sold wood to. There were wooden ties, a walnut truck, a collapsible sassafras basket, walnut shoes, walnut walking stick designed to keep you toes dry!, and a picnic basket.

13. Bob Addington brought 2 maple bowls he had finished with Danish Oil. The ingrain gave him trouble, but after about 2 hours of sanding, they looked great. He also showed a tapering jig for tapered table legs.

14. Matt Brothers brought a step stool he had made for a friend’s grandchild. It had an open handle on the top. Matt also brought some teak scraps for the taking.

15. Newt Wright had a shooting board for planers made with T-nuts. He also made miters for making picture frames.

16. Ralph Hand brought a “fantasy rocker” he had made of oak with woven strips in the seat and back. It had long rockers to keep it from tipping over backwards. He got the idea from Alice in Wonderland, not alcohol or drugsJ!

17. Ross Roepke brought a doll bed for a lady’s granddaughter. He also had 5 recipe boxes—3 cedar and 2 cherry. Ross also brought a tapered leg Shaker table he had made. He said it only takes 15 minutes to make 4 tapered legs using a notched board. This has single tapers. Ross is fast!! Ross put old issue magazines on the table to share. His grandson’s little league needs a barn to store equipment in. Give Ross a call if you know of a possibility! He also told us that Harvey Carter is sick, but has a 1”x12” oak board for sale.

18. Paul Fulks retired in February and began coming to TVWA. His grandfather had cut a walnut tree for his casket and moved it from farm to farm but had never used the wood. In 1978, Paul built this plant stand from the walnut wood for his mother in law.

19. Martha Taylor has always loved woodworking, and brought a table made by her mother in woodworking class in 1926 when she attended Memphis Normal Teaching School (now know as Memphis State University). It was mahogany and had a tracing paper design routed out.

20. Bob Molloy brought a table with a hollow spiral pedestal leg. It was of cherry, and had 3 coats of Danish and then lacquer to finish it.

21. Doyle McConnell brought some projects he made for Christmas gifts. He made a salt and pepper grinder set from spalted maple out of John Mayberry’s burn pile. They had a gloss lacquer finish. He also brought an antique walnut bed head that was threaded on the ends and had pegs so the ropes could be tightened. It was over 100 years old, and he is repairing the threads.

22. Chuck Taylor brought the first bowl he ever made in 2002. He started it at Tom Cowan’s turning bee, and it was cherry. He also brought the most recent bowl he has turned, which is of box elder with a gloss lacquer finish.

23. Bob Brown retired from the defense industry and in 1964 carved a gun stock for his 22 rifle that fit his hand. He used it to put food on the table. It was finished with Bartender’s Spar Varnish, and even though it is 44 years old, it only has 3 little nicks!

24. Doug Dunlap brought some pepper mills and a demonstration blank to show us how they are turned out. His finished ones were of walnut and the blank was oak.

25. Maurice Ryan brought 3 bowls that reminded him that Christmas is a time for sharing. The first was a Japanese rice bowl sent from Japan by a new friend. The second was a segmented bowl by his older friend, Manuel Brown. The third was his own bowl turned from spalted maple.

26. Felix Rees brought 2 lamps, one of old yellow poplar reclaimed from the Flat Creek Church of Christ building, and the second from 2 oak table legs redone into a lamp. In honor of his dad, he brought a wooden mallet. He remembers thinking how old his dad was when he used it, but now realizes that his dad was 6 years younger than he is now when he thought that!

27. Will Gaetjens brought a 5 caliber cartridge copy that he made of oak.

28. Allen Odell brought hooks which are used for fishing by Alaska natives. They are very unusual.

29. Jim Jolliffe brought a whimsical cowboy carving, and 2 santas made out of basswood eggs. His wife paints them after he carves them.

30. Joe Kuhn started woodworking in his second childhood, which was 5 years ago. He brought a table made from coated MDF that he made for his office to hold computer equipment. He used no glue, only mortise and tenons. He also brought some jigs to make shop jobs safer and easier!

31. Tom Gillard showed us the U Tube of the guy who invented the saw that will not cut your finger. The man actually demonstrated with his own finger!

We are trying to get Alan Dagray to speak to the club.

That’s a whopping huge show and tell!!! Great show!

Have a Safe and Happy New Year!!