Notes from the February meeting

Here are some websites for items mentioned at last night’s meeting.

The Professional Woodworker’s Guild of Upper New Jersey will have a demonstration of Hilti tools on Wednesday, February 15.

The CRAFTS of NJ spring tool auction will be on April 14.

CJWA club member Stuart Moore will be demonstrating SuperMax sanders at the Woodworking Show in Somerset on the weekend of Feb. 24-26. He is making an offer to take orders at dealer cost plus shipping for SuperMax sanders to paid CJWA club members only. And we know who you are.

February Meeting: Really big saws

Bob Rozaieski and Wilbur Pan, who co-authored an article in the April 2011 Popular Woodworking, “Western and Japanese Planes – Separated at Birth?” are back at it again. This time they will compare the traditional Japanese maebiki (invented around 1590) and a western frame saw modeled from drawings in Andre Roubo’s L’Art du Menuisier (The Art of the Joiner). These two saws could not be more dissimilar in appearance. Yet, they perform similar functions in the preparation of stock. Our two resident experts will unfold the mysteries behind these fascinating tools and provide us with what promises to be an entertaining demonstration of their use. 

We will also have presentations from Simon Stark, who will tell us about his Arts and Crafts table, and two shop tours from Al Falia and John Aniano.

CJWA Group Builds

  Why join CJWA? The Central Jersey Woodworker’s Association is the largest general woodworking club in New Jersey, and is the home to some incredibly talented woodworkers. Members get many benefits, as can be seen here on our website. But one of the new initiatives we’ve started over the past several months are the CJWA Group Builds. These are not exactly like a traditional woodworking class, but instead are a way for CJWA members to take advantage of the experience and talents of other CJWA members who lead these Group Builds.

The way that these builds are structured is that each small group of people meet on a regular basis at the leader’s shop to go over each step of the project, and then go home to their shop to work on the project.  Each project is designed to take a relatively short period of time, and it doesn’t take a huge amount of experience to complete a project.

How effective are these classes? Here’s an example of what can be learned and accomplished. This Arts and Crafts table was made by Linda Keleigh. Jerry Fishlin was the leader of this Group Build project. This was the first woodworking project Linda has ever made.

January Meeting: Chippendale chair by Robert Hemsen

Our January meeting is chock full of great information and presentations. Bob Emmons will show a pair of inlay memory boxes that he made.  Matt Greco will be talking about a work in progress.  Robert Hemsen will show a Chippendale chair that he recently completed. And we get two shop tours for the price of one from Al Failla and John Aniano.

The January meeting will also be our election for all of the CJWA officer positions. As usual, everyone is invited to run for a position, as all positions are open.  This is your chance to participate and contribute to your club.

See you there!

December Meeting: Annual CJWA Holiday Potluck Dinner

Knowing that the first thing woodworkers want to think about after having eaten way too much over Thanksgiving, here’s information on our annual Holiday Potluck dinner. The December meeting will be held on Wed., December 14 at 6:30pm. Please note the earlier start time.

As in past years, members are asked to bring either a main dish, a side dish or a dessert to feed 6-8 people. CJWA will provide beverages and paper products. Please contact Marc Gartner @ marcleslieg@gmail.com to indicate what food you are bringing to avoid a situation where we have all desserts. Not that there’s a problem with all desserts, of course.

UPDATE: We will also have a presentation by the always entertaining and delightful Steve Altman, who will be talking about a set of six boxes that he has recently made, along with tips on what to think about when making batches and duplicates of a project, and making your own veneers.