SPLINTERS

FEBRUARY, 1986 ISSUE NO.2

WHATTA MEETING!

A great meeting with lots of participation, loads of fun and good eats! So went the January meeting of the Tennessee Valley Woodworkers. A show ‘n tell meeting where we got to know each other a bit better and saw the broad spectrum of interests within the club. Too many great projects to mention each one but some of those present were Susan’s famed frames, Bill Warmbrod’s Stearman, Phil‘s train, Henry’s rocking horse, Terry’s fort, Jack’s clocks, Tom’s furniture, Wesley’s top & whirleygig, feeding chickens, breadboards, and fifty or sixty other works which would fill the entire letter if I tried to describe them all. Thanks to those who displayed and those who discussed their woodworking interests and goals with us. Finally, thanks to Mrs. Cowan for the snacks, the cakes were delicious— we would have eaten even more hut our spouses peep reminding us of our New Year’s resolution to lose a pound or two or three or . . .

CLOSE UP

As a way to get acquainted with our elected club officers, SPLINTERS will carry a short biography on each over the next few issues. This issue will spotlight our president, Henry Davis. Henry obtains the capital to finance his woodworking hobby by working as the Supervisor of N.C. Maintenance at Cleveland Pneumatics. He’s been with CPC for over 16 years and three owners— he has a lot of staying power! Originally from Shelbyville, Tn., Henry now lives in Winchester Springs with his wife Judy and son Henry.

While he’s been interested in woodworking for a number of years, Henry’s enthusiasm was bounded by the basement area he claimed as a workshop. Soon his ambitions outgrew the. basement and he built his own shop from the bottom up! The slab was “subbed—out”, but from there on Henry was his own prime contractor, electrician, carpenter, wallboard and ceiling installer and window framer. The result is a very functional 30x16 ‘foot shop building which houses a great variety of woodworking tools. Henry enjoys Woodsmith magazine, but like many of us, gets a lot of ideas from Hands (no he doesn’t own a Shopsmith either). His products are highly crafted and finished carefully. He takes great delight in making jigs and tools to speed him over some tough spots.

Henry has talked up an area woodworking club for a couple of years and finally decided that if it was ever to become a reality, he would have to get it kicked off. He gathered a few people, like himself, who saw the advantages

of an area wide club. He was elected as the interim president during the time the club was drawing up a charter & by laws and was later elected our first president. Thanks to his vision and determination the Tennessee Valley Woodworkers are a reality.

DID YOU KNOW?

At a recent club meeting I was asked the difference between the associate membership and regular membership. It reminded me that, while there are copies of the Constitution and by-laws available, it might be easier to write up answers to those questions about the club which you’ve always been afraid to ask (or anyone is afraid to answer). So here goes!

Associate members have the same privileges as regular members except they can’t vote in elections or at meetings. The associate therefore, can’t hold office or share in proceeds from the dissolution of the club and its assets. All other club activities, such as projects & sales are open to the associate, as well as regular members. So why an associate category? It’s our way of letting businesses and those under 16 yrs enjoy participating in the club without responsibility for any club debts or decisions.

GLUE IS STRONGER THAN WOOD (AND OTHER FUNNY IDEAS)

You’ve heard it before and you may have even said it yourself “FRAMIS glue is stronger than the wood it joined”. It’s a great boast for the glue company but be careful about using that saving as a building. philosophy when you’re putting together that prized hope chest. What wood? What glue? In the space business we‘ve had great success with epoxy and carbon- based bonding agents. Not too many of us find our glue pots full of these exotic materials, but don’t feel slighted, NASA hasn’t used Elmer’s yellow in the spacecraft bonding business either. Despite the claims of “super glues” which do a great job of gluing hard hats and fingers but little else, we have to match construction technique with type of wood and the kind of load we expect the glue joint to tape. Two 2”xb”x2’ oak planks butt glued together will survive a strength test with any glue on the market. Two 1”xb”x2 spruce boards edge glued ma~ give way before a well prepared and clamped Elmers joint fails. The real question we have to answer is “What will happen to my project if the joint fails?”

If the joint needs strength, how about a spline (up to three times the bonding area of a butt joint), how about dowels — a bit weaker than splines but about twice as strong as butt or edge gluing. Tongue and groove, mortise& tendon, and halved joints are all used to add strength to the joining process. If you haven’t tried some of them, look’em up and try something different! Whatever you do, if you just butt or edge glue a joint make sure the loads are going to be low and failure of the joint won’t destroy your treasure.

NEXT MEETING

Reserve Tuesday, February 16th. It’s our next Club meeting and Phil has a great meeting planned. We’ll begin at 7:00pm at the DREMEC meeting room again.

GADGETS

At a recent meeting, someone suggested a meeting or a meeting topic should be devoted to shop discoveries which take some of the pains out of this hobby. Most of us have discovered a jig, technique, a guide. or a safety device which lets us tackle an otherwise impossible or at least difficult job. How about sharing your discovery with SPLINTERS. Just see me (Joe Pawlick) at the next meeting, describe or sketch your helpful device or technique and I‘11 take it from there. Maybe all can benefit from your “break through”.

FOR SALE OR WANTED

Free! 39”x72” worktable, rough hut durable, y’all haul! Henry Davis 967-5471.

WANTED! Ideas from you for SPLINTERS, this newsletter. Do you believe everything you read in the hundreds of catalogs or woodworking magazines you receive each month? Had any problems or successes with tools or supplies you purchased? How about passing on your comments? Joe Pawlick 649-5726.