TENNESSEE VALLEY WOODWORKERS MAY. 1992
Here we are in the merry month of May!! Mother Nature,
however, in her most mysterious ways seems to have chosen to make the month of
May much more like most of the month of March...must be method in her madness..
.puts marbles in your mo”n”th doesn’t it?? Rest assured that we can take great
joy in June when our generous Mother Nature will clearly refrain from
generating a June just like January... wouldn’t that be another jolly little
jingle?? Enough of this whimsical weather while the wonderful world of
woodworking awaits.
JIGS, FIXTURES, JIGS AND MORE JIGS!!
We had two guests in April: Tommy Boswell and Judge Stewart.
Our April meeting brought the jigs out of the woodworkers. Our monthly Show and
Tell surfaced a wealth of members doing their own jigs and gigs. I’ll note a
few that I was able to jot down.. .please forgive me if I don’t mention you
specifically.. .I found myself awe struck. Jim Van Cleave brought a simple, yet
clever shutoff gate he’d devised for his dust collection system. Tom Cowan’s
homemade treadle lathe could have been mistaken for a fine piece of furniture.
Tom Gillard had a nifty band clamp for cluing-up just about anything. Bob Reese
brought his valuable machinist insight with an angle setting jig and a sine
plate. Winfield Bennett whittled a hand made hand on the end of a stick...I’ll
bet it would make a great backscratcher. Manuel Brown had devised an ingenious
scheme for making spoked wheels, but his “cow factory” was better than ice
cream. Jack Townsend had his recently acquired power gouge. Henry showed us his
circle cutting for a band saw.. .I’ve made one for myself thanks for the idea,
Henry. Bill Moye shared some good advice about identifying your small business
as a “Hobby Shop”.
Now, The Main Event, Ross Roepke presented our monthly
program on.. .you guessed it.. .jigs, hints, fixtures, tricks and neat ideas.
Ross shared a wealth of ideas that he has proven over the years... ideas and
tricks too numerous to mention.., some as simple as using band-aid boxes on
machinery to hold pencils I’m always looking for a pencil...you know the one I
just had 2 seconds ago.., the way I work maybe I’ll put some band aids in those
boxes too. THANK YOU, Ross for the excellent program.
• Several
business items were also discussed. Jack Townsend made a motion to have spouses
as lifetime members...the motion was passed unanimously. Bill Chew kinda
volunteered to kinda make some kinda bookshelf.. .THANK YOU BILL!!!!
REPEATED PARTS OMITTED
By RANDY CLINE
State Writer
SPRINGFIELD — Ever wonder where gift stores get those quaint
country crafts and nifty little framed sayings like:
“I love a man with dishpan hands?” If you’re looking at decorative ok boxes, oak picture frames or
various other wood Products, they may have come from Springfield. Tucked away
In the old train station building off Memorial Boulevard, Tennessee Wood
Crafters is a relatively new business bursting at the seams with new ideas, new
products and new technology. “The
small country craft business Isn’t small or country at all. Retailers demand
something different, something new from our product line twice a year,” said
founder Ron Wall, who dreams up most of the new product ideas for his
company. “But we will see something
that sparks an idea and from that, a new product begins.” In a building said to have been built in
1898, the diverse company houses several sewing machine operators, some of whom
are in their 70s and 80s. The operators produce quilt pieces for the oak box
lids and works to be silk-screened, which Include framed sayings such as “If
mama’s not happy, no one is happy.”
In another building the company houses a state-of-the-art,
computer-controlled, eight-bead router that allows Tennessee Wood Crafters to
compete with larger mass producers. “There
are only four or five units of this quality In the state of Tennessee,” partner M. Wayne Cox said about the $200,000
piece of equipment.
“The business Justifies buying the equipment, but It Is a
gamble that we have taken on the future.”
The future looks good for these wood-workers as they plan to add mass
merchandising with the likes of Wal-Mart stores to an account base that stays
between 3,000-5,000 customers. The company has or has had contracts with
Cracker Barrel Country Stores, Burlington Coat Factories and Hallmark Stores.
“We have been very fortunate and
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