CJWA News and Updates

CJWA Member Exhibition

2012-05-23T15:54:20Z

The 2012 CJWA Member Exhibition was a great success, with 28 projects being brought in to show.

The winner of the Lie-Nielsen 9-1/2 block plane giveaway for members who entered the exhibition was Paul Dzioba.

The winner of the wine bottle holder contest was Sung Soo Youm, and he won a pair of Ashley Iles skew chisels.

Here is Sung’s very unique take on a wine bottle holder. Sung explained that you need to hold more than the bottle. You also need a corkscrew and a glass, and his holder holds both.

Thanks to all the CJWA members who brought a project to display, and thanks again to Lie-Nielsen Toolworks and Frank Vucolo for their generosity in donating the block plane and skew chisels for the exhibition.

More photos from the exhibition can be seen in the members gallery area.

May meeting: CJWA member exhibition

2012-05-08T11:32:25Z

Our next meeting will be on May 9, and feature the CJWA member exhibition. All entries are welcome, with the following guidelines:

1. Must be a CJWA member. (And if you aren’t, why not?)

2. Project must mainly be wood.

3. You have to be able to carry it in yourself.

All who enter will be entered into a raffle to win a Lie-Nielsen 9-1/2 block plane, generously donated by Lie-Nielsen Toolworks.

Also, don’t forget about the second exhibition opportunity: make a tilting wine bottle holder, otherwise known as “a board with a hole in it”. Anyone who enters into this exhibit could win a pair of skew chisels generously donated by Frank Vucolo. There’s still time. And if you don’t think you have time for this project, you can always fire up the lathe tonight.

Group build update: veneered boxes

2012-04-23T20:39:34Z

The veneered box group build led by Marc Gaertner recently finished their projects. Most of the members finished two boxes and learned a lot in the process. From left to right: Len Moorehouse, Mike Callanan, Linda Keleigh, John Pernice, and Marc. The following CJWA members were not able to be present for the photo: Al Failla and Jerry Fishlin.

April meeting: Restoration and refinishing

2012-04-03T01:10:11Z

Our April meeting will feature a talk by John Arslanian, of Arslanian Furniture Restoration, on furniture restoration and refinishing. He will cover many aspects of this process, including preparing the project for restoration, dealing with contamination, whether to restore vs. strip and refinish, suitable finishes for restortation, and dealing with glues. This should be a very informative talk on a subject that had one of the highest interest levels among our members.

Also, don’t forget to think about projects for the CJWA Member Exhibition in May. We are happy to announce that Lie-Nielsen has generously donated a Lie-Nielsen 9-1/2 block plane as a prize for the CJWA Member Exhibition. Any CJWA member who enters a project will be entered into a raffle to win the plane.

Hope to see you there!

Two scholarships available at Peters Valley for CJWA members

2012-03-15T16:04:17Z

Peters Valley Crafts Center is offering two scholarships that CJWA members are eligible for. These scholarships will reduce the price of their courses for 2012 by 50%. A list of class offerings are available on the Peters Valley website. Some classes that will be of particular interest to CJWA members include Frank Klausz teaching “Hand Joinery for Fine Furniture Making”, Fine Woodworking editor Matt Kenney teaching “Three Ways to Make a Mitered Box”, and Fine Woodworking art director Mike Pekovich teaching “Woodworking with Handtools”. There are a number of other woodworking classes including carving, turning, and finishing as well.

To apply for the scholarship, download the form here, fill it out, and mail it to Jennifer Apgar at Peters Valley. Applications need to be in by April 1, so if you snooze, you lose.

March Meeting: Round Robin

2012-02-26T19:53:19Z

For the March meeting of CJWA we are repeating an event from last year that was very successful — a round robin. Instead of our usual format where there is one main speaker, throughout the meeting we will have ongoing demonstrations that are geared towards beginners but are still good general topics for any woodworker.

The demonstrations and topics will be:

Clean shop: ask our panel of experts your questions about getting the most out of the shop space that you have. (Steve Altman and Frank Vucolo)

Pocket hole joinery: a quick and easy method for assembling projects (Jerry Fishlin)

Sharpening: learn a simple approach to sharpening that will work regardless of what method you already use, and how to get the most out of the sharpening system that you already have. (Wilbur Pan)

Shellac: learn a fast and easy finish that anyone can quickly learn to apply with minimal equipment. (Matt Greco)

Table saw jigs and tips: how to get the most out of your table saw with some simple accessories. (Marc Gaertner)

CJWA at The Woodworking Show, Somerset Feb. 24-26

2012-02-19T13:19:06Z

Once again, CJWA will have a booth at The Woodworking Show at the Garden State Exhibit Center in Somerset on Feb. 24-26. In addition to a display of projects made by CJWA members, we will also have a running series of demonstrations given by CJWA members.

For potential new members, we have a special treat. If you are not a member of CJWA, stop by our booth to see a pair of Lee Valley Veritas carcass saws. If you then join our club between now and June, you will be entered into a raffle to win these saws. Our deepest thanks and appreciation go to Lee Valley for generously donating the saws to our club.

The schedule of presenters can be downloaded here. See you at the show!

Notes from the February meeting

2012-02-09T15:53:48Z

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

2012-02-04T01:01:10Z

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

2012-01-23T20:19:13Z

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.