December 2018 Meeting
The December meeting was NJWA’s annual holiday get together. Club president Gordon Creighton reviewed our accomplishment for the past year and plans for upcoming year. Friends and family were invited and Pat Ascione arranged for a catered dinner. About a dozen member brought work to display. Use this link to view meeting photos.
November 2018 Meeting
Our featured speaker was Bob Garay who spoke on the tools of New Jersey. Besides being the owner of Takeadip Tools, which specializes in usable vintage tools, he’s also a knowledgeable and passionate tool historian. Bob has an extensive knowledge of the variety of tools that were manufactured in New Jersey. He explained why many toolmakers settled in New Jersey (natural resources, good transportation, the arrival of skilled European artisans) and the types of tools that were manufactured here. The number and types of tools were extensive and Bob brought numerous items for his personal collection to display. There were few types of tools that weren’t build in New Jersey at one time including axes, planes, saws, drills, rulers, levels, and anvils. Many thanks to Bob for sharing his knowledge and passion on the subject. (For more information on the meeting, check out the Mortise and Tenon Newsletter)
October 2018 Meeting
Our October meeting featured two speakers. The first was Bob Sheppard who presented on a cabinet that he built to hold his collection of planes. Built using mostly hand tools, the Butternut cabinet featured dovetail case construction and mortise and tenon door frames. Bob created the various moldings for the cabinet using hollows and rounds passed down from his grandfather who was also a carpenter. Our second speaker was Wilbur Pan who’s topic was dust control in the workshop. A member of the Central Jersey Woodworkers Association and a physician, Wilbur explained why fine dust in the workshop is harmful to the health of our lungs. He then went on to discuss various ways of minimizing the creation of dust, how to prevent it from infiltrating into the workshop environment and how to best remove the dust that does get into it. (For more information on the meeting, check out the Mortise and Tenon Newsletter)
September 2018 Meeting
Our September meeting featured presentations by two club members. David Levenberg opened with a talk about a Walnut natural edge bed that he built. HIs talk covered the design and construction considerations that one runs up against when using natural edge boards. David came up with some unique jigs and approaches for working with material which lacks straight and parallel edges. Our second presenter, Sri Patankar, spoke about a set of dining room chairs that he’s building. A good part of his talk focused on the jigs that he created to safely shape the legs and to cut the mortise and tenon joints. Due to the splay of the chair rails, the opposing mortise and tenon joints in each leg are not 90 degrees to one another and Sri developed several good approaches for cutting offset joints. (For more information on the meeting, check out the Mortise and Tenon Newsletter)
August 2018 Meeting
Our keynote speaker for August was local luthier Jay Rosenblatt. A custom guitar builder and recent speaker at the American Society of Stringed Instrument Artisans, he shared the woodworking skills and experiences as it relates to stringed instruments. Jay brought six of his custom built guitars to the meeting along with a guitarist who could demonstrate the various qualities of his instruments. His presentation topics included the various types of wood used in guitar construction, jigs, tools and construction methods. Thanks to Jay for a terrific presentation. For more information on Jay, click here to visit his website.
July 2018 Meeting
Our keynote speaker was Bob Behnke who works for Franklin International. Located in Columbus Ohio, they are the manufacturer of Titebond glues. A chemist by trade, he travels the country teaching, promoting and demonstrating the various uses of the Company’s glues to woodworkers. Glue might seem boring, but thanks to Bob, a dynamic and interesting speaker, this was one of the most informative presentations we’ve had to date.
June 2018 Meeting
Our keynote speaker was David Boeff who builds and sells high quality 18th century period reproductions/custom furniture as well as teaches out of his nicely equipped shop in Lakewood Ohio. A full-time woodworker since his 2011 retirement, he is an active member of SAPFM and often presents and displays his furniture at their annual meetings. David uses a combination of hand tools and machines in his work and can often be found at Winterthur or Yale Museums looking for his next project. Yale has allowed him to handle and template their antiques.
Click here to visit David’s blog and check out more of his work. Also, here are links to his You Tube Channel and Twitter Account.
May 2018 Meeting
May’s meeting featured presentations by two club members. Pat A. presented on his latest project. Dave P. lead us through part 2 of how to dress rough lumber by hand. This included bringing a board to a desired thickness, having two faces parallel to one another and and smooth. Thanks to both members for taking the time to present.
April 2018 Meeting
Our April speaker was Andrew Hunter, a top notch craftsman and frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking. Last year he spoke to us on using Japanese tools. Andrew’s topic this month was Chinese Joinery…a very complex and skilled art. Visit his website (http://www.andrewhunterart.com) for more information on Andrew and his work.
March 2018 Meeting
March’s meeting featured presentations by three club members. Alan presented a one of his segmented turning projects as well as a sharpening jig that he had just purchased. Ernst gave a presentation on kitchen cabinets he had built when he was a professional cabinet maker. Sri described his process for cutting sliding dovetails by hand. His talk included a demonstration of how to cut both parts of a sliding dovetail as well as a discussion of the tools, techniques and jigs that he used.
February 2018 Meeting
February’s meeting featured presentations by three club members. Roy described an unusual shaped turning project. Jock presented on a bench top vise that built. He described the construction of the vise as well as the metalworking challenges that he faced. Dave gave a demonstration on how to flatten a board by hand. His talk included a discussion of how to use winding sticks as well scrub and jointer planes. Dave also explained how to check your progress and how to make adjustments during the flattening process. (For more information on the meeting, check out the Mortise and Tenon Newsletter)
January 2018 Meeting
Our featured presenter was Keith Decent who is an artist, maker, upcyclist and content creator living in New York’s Hudson Valley Region. His presentation was on big ideas from little shops – letting your materials, tools and processes inform your designs. Keith used examples from his experience as a reclaimer and up cyclist. Click here to visit Keith’s website and check out more of his work. (For more information on the meeting, check out the Mortise and Tenon Newsletter)
