Vol. 18/ Issue 7 July
2003 Editor: Tom Gillard Jr. 
The following people have agreed to serve as contacts for their particular skills. If you have questions, suggestions for activities, or other comments relating to these skills, please call these folks. Their interest is to help the club better serve their area of expertise. Your participation with them will help them achieve that goal.
Design: Alice
Berry
454-3815
Finishing: Phil
Bishop
967-4626
Turning: Tom
Church
967-4460
Carving: Harry
May 962-0215
Sharpening:
Bob
Reese
728-7974
Joinery: Ross
Roepke 455-9140
Health and Safety:
Maurice
Ryan 962-1555
Please remember, in your thoughts and prayers, all our Troops heading for the Middle East.
The Fall Seminar, “Laws of Woodturning” has been scheduled for October 25, 2003. Subject matter offered will be both basic and intermediate from the artistic and practical application. Also, included will be the importance of determining the speed of the lathe. Loyd’s example of the “exploding bowl” emphasizes the need for correct speed. The location of the class and more details of the seminar will be forthcoming.
Jim Van Cleave announced that he would be teaching others the art of making cockbead sometime the last of July or the first of August. A sign-up sheet was provided to determine interest and possible dates.
Andy Weaver announced
that there is a festival, “Great Outdoor Week-end on the Mountain”
being planned for October 17,18 & 19 in the Gruetli Park. Members
are invited to participate with demonstrations and sale of craft items.
See him for further details.
Duck! Here Comes the Greenheart
Explosive as well as poisonous, greenheart does have some good qualities–like
durability that rivals teak’s.
Sawyers in Guyana, Surinam, and Venezuela have nasty enough work in
the tropical
heat day in and day out without worrying about exploding logs on top
of it all. But
when a load of greenheart comes to the mill, they treat the logs like
a truckload of
ticking time bombs.
The species Ocotea rodiei, it seems, has an usual tendency to split
apart so quickly
and with such force that pieces of the log can fly when air hits the
saw kerf. In at least
one instance, sections of a greenheart log actually pierced a mill
roof. To prevent
such mishaps, mill hands secure the section of the log that has already
passed
through the saw with a stout chain.
As if controlling greenheart’s explosive tendency isn’t a scary
enough situation, all who work the wood also must avoid
getting splinters. That’s because greenheart, while nontoxic
and nonirritating to the touch, somehow causes severe
infection when splinters of it penetrate the skin.
"Why do these lumberman even bother with the wood?" For several
reasons. Besides being a pretty wood, greenheart
ranks second only to teak in its natural resistance to marine
borers and other insects attacks.
It also has high shock resistance, great crushing strength, a
high density, and takes a polish with little effort. Such
attributes attract ship and boat builders. Before man-made materials,
fishing rod makers liked greenheart because it
bent without breaking.
Illustration: Jim Stevenson.
Show & Tell:
Loyd Ackerman showed a walnut vessel turned on center noting that the pith had been removed to prevent cracking. The excellent finish was 3 coats sanding sealer and 6 coats of Deft. He also showed a purple heart bowl with a burnt edge. The edge was made by holding cardboard against the vessel surface, while the bowl was turning on the lathe.
Hugh Hurst showed a beautiful Mesquite natural edge bowl. He noted that the Texas wood cuts as if it were butter. He also is in the process of making a cannonball bed and showed the practice posts that he had turned. Often, the practice turnings can eliminate the errors that may occur in turning.
Bob Leonard brought his version of the “wedgie” along with the article in a recent publication about the virtues of using this when planting.
Doug Dunlap brought a plant stand constructed with the use of splines of plywood. The beautiful stand was constructed of cherry and walnut with a boiled linseed oil finish. He expressed appreciation to Henry Davis for the seminar recently held.
Bill Davis brought a maple plant stand, finished with 3 coats of Deft.
Bill Duncan showed a plant stand top. The top was finished with 3 coats of tung oil, applied by pouring the oil on the surface and rubbing with the heel of his hand.
Ross Roepke gave hints concerning glue-up processes on multiple part assemblies. He also showed push sticks made for the table saw to cut small pieces safely.
Bob Reese brought a violin, which was his 15th. His wife played it beautifully. This instrument had a visible glue joint on the back, which had been cleverly disguised with an artist painting. Also, his hand-powered car for his great grandchild was intriguing to all the “little boys”. The walnut music stand with adjustable positions was beautiful.
Helpful hold-downs
For drilling jobs, it’s essential that you hold the workpiece securely
to the table and against a
fence before engaging the bit. With smaller workpieces you may not
have clamps with the
necessary jaw depth, and, as shown in the example left, you don’t want
to get your fingers
close to knuckle-busting circle cutters. Hold-downs are the answer,
and here’s a version that
will only set you back the cost of the knobs and all-thread rod. (Many
woodworking catalogs
carry such knobs.) Use the full-size pattern and drawing, below, to
make a hold-down.
We drilled three holes into each side of our drill-press table
for accommodating workpieces of various sizes. Each hole
is outfitted with a T-nut for accepting the 1/4" all-thread rod.
(WOOD-Online)
June Program
Ken Gould introduced our guest, Howard Rust, Jr, of Northside Clocks who presented an interesting and informative program regarding the history of clock making, noting that the art originated in China in 1365 and was first practiced in this country in 1750. The first clock maker, Eli Terry paid the fees for Seth Thomas and another gentleman to come to this country. They were indentured to him for a period of 10 years. Only 3 clocks were made each year. The internal works were wood with the use of quarter-sawn oak as front and back plates and apple for all the gears. The apple wood is extremely hard, holding up well through much use. The internal works of a clock of this period evidenced this. Each member had the opportunity to examine this.
FREE Woodworking Charts
Wood for Sale:
Contact Ross Roepke regarding
2000 board feet of cherry and 1000 board feet of walnut.
Sears: 6 x 48" belt / 9" dia disk sander
Comes with a few extra disks It has the stand to go with it.
Click
here to view some pictures of the sander
Contact: Tom Gillard Jr.
455-6651(H), 393-0525(W)
$125.00
10 % OFF Fine Woodworking
Books from Taunton Press
…We’re open Monday thru Saturday
SEE YOU ON THE 15th!
