Wednesday, April 7, 2010 at 9:36AM The April CJWA meeting will be at 7 PM on April 14. We are very fortunate to have Tom Jones, president of the Atlantic Shore Woodturners give us a demonstration on how to use a lathe to enhance furniture projects. Many aspects of spindle turning suitable for table legs, columns, and so on will be shown.
Monday, April 5, 2010 at 5:18PM Here’s a video of part of Marc Gaertner’s presentation on advanced router techniques at the March CJWA meeting. In this video, Marc shows how he uses a router to raise a panel and the backer that he uses to prevent tearout, and the jig he made to allow for precision fluting operations.
Monday, March 22, 2010 at 9:15AM We had 8 new visitors to the CJWA meeting this month. Frank Vucolo gave a report on how our booth at the Somerset Woodworking show did. Traffic and interest was high throughout the weekend, and we distributed 500 flyers. We also had a writeup in Wood Magazine, and the article can be seen on the Wood Magazine website. Frank also mentioned that Lie-Nielsen has one of their Hand Tool Events coming up in Hillsborough on June 25-26, and that CJWA would likely have a presence there as well. Stay tuned for details.
The featured presentation was by Marc Gaertner on advanced router techniques. Marc showed a number of jigs and setups he has used to use a router to greatest advantage in his shop. He showed a router table built from plans from the book “Router Jigs and Techniques” by Patrick Spielman. This book is out of print, but used copies can readily be found on the internet.
The top of the table was initially made from MDF, but over time it warped, and was eventually replaced with 2 layers of 3/4” Baltic birch plywood with a laminate top. Marc did not put a miter slot in his router table, as he felt that the need to align the router table fence with a miter slot was more trouble than it was worth. The fence on his router table is much taller than is usual, but the added height allows for easy clamping of jigs and hold downs.
Marc also showed a base he made for a plunge router with a series of circular Lexan inserts which are sized for the router bit being used at the time. This provides an easy way to provide clearance for router bits ranging from narrow straight bits to large panel raising bits. He also showed a sliding jig used to make precise stopped cuts, how to use a slot cutting bit for splines in boxes and picture frames, how to use a Microfence with a trim router for inlay, and how to use a router to quickly make quarter round molding.
Frank Vucolo and Matt Greco also shared advanced techniques that they developed for using a router for various tasks. Frank showed a jig that he made to use a router to shape a fluted bobbin for a Sheraton table leg on the lathe.
Matt showed how he set up a router to make these detailed feet for boxes.
There are recommendations for setting the maximum speed of the router based on the diameter of the bit. A nice chart with this information can be found at the Woodline website. If you were a CJWA member, you could get a discount on orders from Woodline. So why not sign up for a membership?
Friday, March 12, 2010 at 1:34PM
As mentioned at the March meeting, the Northeastern Woodworkers Association’s 19th Annual Fine Woodworking Show is taking place the weekend of March 27-28 in Saratoga Springs, NY. Demonstrations will be given by David Ellsworth, Ernie Conover, Christopher Schwarz, and Phil Lowe, along with displays of furniture and other woodworking items made by some really talented craftsmen. More information is available at the NWA website.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at 9:00AM The March CJWA meeting will be at 7 PM on March 10, and features a discussion about advanced router techniques led by Marc Gaertner. Marc will be demonstrating techniques using a router table and hand held routers that go beyond simply making a dado for a bookcase shelf. Frank Vucolo and David White will also be sharing their methods of using a router. There will be ample opportunity for members to contribute their experiences, so feel free to bring and share your tips on router use.