May meeting: Jay Rosenblatt, luthier

The May CJWA meeting will be on Wednesday, May 8, at 7:00 pm. We are very excited to have Jay Rosenblatt come talk to us about the art of lutherie. He will cover the construction of his guitars from start to finish including the tools he uses, jigs and templates used in the construction of his guitars, making the decorative elements, installation of the hardware, and decoration. Jay takes more than 100 hours over several months to complete one of his guitars. Several of his instruments will be on display, and he will also have some woods, tools and templates available for review.

Jay would like to thank his suppliers: Finocchio Guitar works,Luthiers Mercantile, High Mountain Tonewoods, Allied Lutherie, Blues Creek Guitars, Luthiers Suppliers, Hibdon Hardwoods, Tony DiDomenico Guitars, Dale Bartholemew’s Finishing Shop, and Dennis Frye.

This promises to be a fantastic presentation. Hope to see you there.

Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event at Peters Valley

Lie-Nielsen is having a Hand Tool Event at Peters Valley on April 26-27. This is an excellent opportunity to see Lie-Nielsen tools in person, and to get a lot of hands on instruction on how to use hand tools. Lie-Nielsen has been kind enough to donate a Violin Maker’s Plane to CJWA for a raffle for anyone joining the club for the first time this year. For more information on the Hand Tool Event, visit Lie-Nielsen’s website here.

April CJWA meeting: Jerry Fishlin on Arts and Crafts projects

The April meeting will be on Wednesday, April 10, at 7:00 pm. We will have a terrific presentation by Jerry Fishlin on Arts and Crafts projects. He will cover a variety of projects, and the construction and finish of each. Despite the fact that they are all Arts and Crafts projects, the construction techniques used varies from project to project. The making of trademarks of Arts and Crafts style such as pillowed ebony plugs will be discussed as well.

In addition, Bob Emmons will show a work in progress. He is making a coat tree utilizing a turned pedestal with curved shaped legs and slipper feet, and a turned spindle to top it off. He will talk about the design and construction of this project, and hopefully he won’t have glued it up yet so he can show how it all goes together.

Tool sale at the April meeting

At the last meeting Kathy DeVito approached the club about tools that her late husband, who was a woodworker, had in his shop. Stuart Moore and Bill Overman were kind enough to look over the tools that she had to sell, and are organizing a sale/auction for the tools. 

Among the items for sale are:

• Reliant 14” Band Saw - One HP w/after market fence and base w/casters
• Craftsman Scroll Saw 
• Grizzly 1/3 HP Radial Drill Press
• Grizzly 6” Joiner  and base w/casters
• Craftsman 6” Grinder 1/2 HP - 2 Stone
• Hitachi 18V drill w/2 batteries
• Dewalt Angle Grinder
• Ryobi 4” Sander
• Craftsman Dual Base Router w/accessories
• Ryobi Biscuit Joiner
• Craftsman Dust Collector
• Campbell  Hausfeld Sand Blaster
• Hitachi Air Hammer
• Makita 7 1/4” Circular Saw
• Drill Saws Titan covered - New
• Skillcraft Box w/21 bits Titanium - New
• Sharpening Stones collection
• Woodcraft & Rockler bits - New
• Wood thread kit 3/4” - New
• Yankee Screwdriver - New
• Stanley Router Plane #71 - New
• Stanley 6 1/2” Shoulder Plane #93 - New
• Stanley 7” Brace - New

Pictures of these tools can be seen here and here. 

Bids can be emailed in advance of April’s meeting to Stuart at gandswoodshop@aol.com. Offers for these tools can also be made at the April meeting. The winners will be announced at the April meeting and the money will be collected by either Kathy or Stuart to hand over to her. 

March CJWA Meeting: Steve Altman on round pieces of wood

The March meeting the Central Jersey Woodworker’s Association promises to be quite interesting. Steve Altman will be giving a talk on using round pieces of wood instead of making everything square. Before you nod off, keep in mind that Steve always is entertaining and informative, and he is sure to have some fascinating insights to share.

We’ll also have a report on our presence at the Woodworking Show in Somerset, and Frank Vucolo will have a presentation on his trips to go see the Kaufman Collection at the Smithsonian and Wintherthur. Plus, there will be a surprise giveaway.

We look forward to seeing you there.