January Meeting: Entertainment Center Build, Member Show and Tell, and Officer Elections

With the new year comes the first meeting of 2015, which will be jam packed with presentations. Matt Greco will be giving us an update on his entertainment center. We will have an update on group builds and our booth at the Woodworking Show in Somerset in February. There will also be a member show and tell and a look back over 2014. And we will hold officer elections for 2015.

Remember, we renew memberships every January, so please bring your membership dues for the 2015 year. We look forward to seeing you there!

December meeting: Holiday Potluck Dinner

 

At the December meeting on Dec. 10 we will continue with the CJWA tradition of a Holiday Pot Luck Dinner, where there will be much conversation about woodworking and an even larger amount of food. This year’s Holiday Dinner meeting will begin at 7:00 pm. Please try to arrive by 6:30 pm, so we can get everything set up by 7:00 pm.

As we have done in the past, everyone is asked to bring a main course, a side dish or a dessert. If you bring enough food for 6 to 8 people, we should have more than enough for everyone. Family members are certainly welcome to come.

The club will provide soda, water, paper plates and plasticware. To keep the menu balanced please e-mail Marc Gaertner at marcleslieg@gmail.com to indicate what food you are bringing. If anyone wants to bring coffee in lieu of a food item let Marc know by e-mail.

Following the feast we will have a short meeting. We hope to see everyone there.

November meeting: Violin bows and tables

The November meeting will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 12. Our featured speaker will be John Aniano, who will be showing how he makes bow for violins and other stringed instruments. John is a very accomplished bowmaker, having won numerous awards for his bows.

Mike Callanan and Walter Levy will also be talking about tables that they have built, although for very different purposes. Mike will discuss a walnut table that he made, and Walter will present his Roubo workbench.

We look forward to seeing you there.

October meeting: Restoring vintage saws

The October meeting will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 8. Our featured speaker will be Bob Garay, who will cover restorating of vintage hand saws for the woodworker. He plans to cover what to look for in a good useable saw and how to evaluate their qualities, as well as how to do a total restoration including handle removal and restoration, straightening and cleaning the saw plate, and sharpening and setting the teeth. Members are encouraged to bring in saws with questions that Bob might be able to help them with.

Bob has extensive experience in restoring and maintaining tools. He presently spends most of his time as an antique tool dealer, and is president of CRAFTS of New Jersey, the NJ antique tool club. He is the editor of The Tool Shed, the CRAFTS newsletter.

We will also have many other items of interest, including a updates from our group build projects. We’re looking forward to seeing you there.

CJWA trip to the Stickley Museum, Oct. 25

We are arranging a group trip to the Stickley Museum at 5 Manor Lane, Morris Plains, on Saturday, Oct. 25. This will be a special tour of the Stickley Museum with a guide who knows the details of Arts and Crafts furniture construction. The cost will be $10 per person, and space is limited. The tour starts at noon, so it would be good to get there beforehand.

If you are interested, contact Frank Bodner at Fbodner@gmail.com, by Saturday, Oct. 4. Our thanks to Frank for coordinating this trip.