DESERT WOODCRAFTERS NOVEMBER 2008 NEWSLETTER

Financial report by Terry Glover, Treasurer: 

Beginning balance:  $1,196.36

Income:                             599.00

Expenses:                        370.50

Ending Balance:       $1,424.86

Meeting Minutes – Desert Woodcrafters Association – November 1, 2008

Alan Crosby, President, called the meeting to order at 9:13 a.m. at the Raytheon Woodchippers clubhouse.  25 members and two guests - Cory Knop And Stephen Goff - were in attendance.

Minutes for October 4, 2008 were approved as amended, correcting the winner of last months' Show and Tell to Cathy Addison.  Motion made by Clem McLay, seconded by Dave Widup.

The 50/50 ($42.00) was won by Paul Swane.

The Bring Back,   Bill Powers won the bring-back, a turned bottle stopper made by Chuck Margeson.

 Show & Tell -   16 members participated and Chuck Margeson won the drawing.   

l  Bob Erickson – Changing table, toy cars with detail painting done by his wife, ?.

l  Terry Gloveer – Turned platter; turned while green and now warped.

l  George Lewis – Turned angels, using oak and mesquite.

l  Chuck Margeson – Toy cars.

l  Clem McLay – Turned, segmented vase, finished with triple-E cream.

l  Dennis Minikel - Turned bowls

l  Denise Omdahl – Turned pens.

l  Mike Phillips – Toy cars.

l  Frank Pickett –  Turned weed pots.

l  Stan Ries – Turned bowl.

l  Marie Roberts – Toy cars.

l  George Sample – Boxes using scrollsawn tops, Christmas decorations.

l  Paul Swane – Toy cars.  Prescription glasses from eyebuydirect.com for under $60.00.

l  Ken Tower – Toy truck.  He used Ace clear enamel to finish the natural wood.

l  Dave Widup – Scrollsawn Christmas decorations.

l  Herb Winkler – Veneered artists' palette crayon holders, toy cars.

 Woodworking challenges and solutions: None.

For Sale:

·         Gene Rittenhouse – Craftsman 4” jointer, make offer; 20-amp receptacles, safety glasses.

·         George Lewis – Belt sander - $150.00

·         Terry Glover – Lathe, $600.00.

Old business: 

l  Bring your toy cars to Frank or to the next meeting on December 6th.

l  The Christmas party will be held on December 13 at Christ Methodist Church – 655 N Craycroft (4th and Craycroft) from 9:30 to 2:00.  The cost is $10.00 per person and you may bring hand-crafted gifts for a gift exchange.  Mark them as male/female appropriate, if necessary.

New business: 

·         Paul Swane brought some donated Rustoleum paint.  The secretary will prepare the donor a thank-you letter for us all to sign.

·         Bob Erickson brought in a sample of Sassafras wood.

·         Bill Powers is traveling to Colonial Williamsburg to attend workshops.  He wanted to know if we were interested in seeing a presentation of his visit there. 

·         Elections are coming up so have your nominations for new officers in mind.  We will vote on them at the December meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 10:15

The Fall Fling at Rancho Vistoso October 25th:

We had the usual good time there beginning with demos in the morning – Scroll sawing, Pen turning, etc. 

Show and Tell – Bob Erickson brought some inside-out turning examples, Frank Pickett brought some Ready-mix trucks, Don Jovag showed his turned platters, Kevin Miller a display cabinet.

Jean Sax talked about Seniors for Kids which provides wood and plush toys for kids at hospitals.

Auction – Ken Tower brought a Paddle-wheel boat, Tug boat and a Ready-mix truck bought by Clem McLay, Wayne Norman and Dot Crosby, respectively;  Frank Pickett had a Table lamp bought by Bob Erickson; Ivan Hannah a Toy truck bought by Dot Crosby; and Alan Crosby sold three turned pens to Clem McLay, Wayne Norman and Ann Tower.  Total proceeds of $230.00 went to benefit the club’s benevolent projects.

Demo – Ken Tower showed us how to dowel joints.  But first, he recommended we do not use dowel joints for chairs.  They are simply not strong enough for that purpose.  But they are good for most other purposes and require only a minimal investment.

·         Sizing – don’t use doweling material which exceeds ½ the thickness of the wood you are joining (don’t exceed 3/8” when joining Ύ” wood.) 

·         Placement – when using 2 dowels in the end of a piece, divide the width in thirds, placing the dowels at the one-third marks.

·         Dowel material – if you use standard dowel rod, flute the rod to allow room for the glue.  Ask Ken to show you how to make a simple jig to flute dowels.  Otherwise, the recommended way is to use ready-made dowel pins which have flutes or spiral grooves (both are equally effective) to allow the glue to spread evenly around the pin and the ends are chamfered to allow easy insertion.  It may be necessary to ream out the hole if the dowel is too tight.  Dowels will vary in diameter due to a number of reasons including moisture and/or manufacturing variation.

·         Drill bits – Twist drills may be used but not in end grain.  They tend to wander.  Brad points are better.  However when reaming a hole, use a twist drill since the flute edges are designed for cutting.  Ken likes to buy his drills at Harbor Freight for the obvious reason – price.

·         Doweling jig – a necessary investment, and reasonable.  Get a self-centering one.  Or, dowel points work well if you are good at centering the holes.

·         Dowel plugs – for hiding screw heads can be made from the same stock as the finished piece by buying a plug maker.  Ken prefers to buy them from MLCS since the Harbor Freight ones break easily.

·         Drill speed – use a slow speed; Ken rarely changes his drill press speed.

·         Safety – always use a vise to hold the work piece.  Don’t ever try to hold the piece in one hand while drilling or reaming – unless you like the nickname “Three Fingers” or “Lefty”.

 

NEXT MEETING SATURDAY DECEMBER 6, 2008 AT THE RAYTHEON WOODCHIPPERS CLUBHOUSE