NJWA Home Page

The North Jersey Woodworkers Association or NJWA for short is a community of woodworkers of all types and levels of experience. We have some professionals, some beginners and every skill level in between. Our goal is to share our experience with one another and to support and grow the woodworking community in the Northern New Jersey area. Regardless of woodworking interest or level of experience, we invite you to join us. For directions, membership information and club activities follow this link: About NJWA.   

November 2024

Our guest presenter for Novermber was Scott Severns, the founder and head of the New Jersey School of Woodwork in Washington Township.  Here’s a link to the school’s website: NJSOW. He is a past winner of the Veneer Tech Challenge and a first rate craftsman. Although he is retired from production work, the WEBSITE of his former business, Oak Mountain Custom Woodwork, is still active and shows some of the amazing work that he produced. Scott’s topic was creating a radial match. He spoke about techniques for designing the pattern as well as cutting and mounting the veneer. Scott also mentioned numerous tricks for simplifying the process and ensuring a successful product.

Five members were gracious enough to bring in their work for show and tell. There was some truly outstaning work on display, some of which is visible in the pictures below. 

October 2024

October’s meeting featured presentations by 5 member. Frank Z. spoke about his workbench. It has a powered adjustable height mechanism and is a beautiful piece of work. Here’s a LINK to Frank’s presentation. He has also shared some VIDEOS that go along with the presentations. Bob A. spoke about how he turned a soccer ball on his lathe. A VIDEO of the process is available. Bob S. demonstrated how to tune a smoothing plane.  John M. gave an update on the post and beam barn/workshop that he’s building while Abe gave an overview of the various types of epoxies and their characteristics. Member presentation meetings are always interesting and this one was particularly so.

September 2024

Our guest speaker for September was furniture conservator Tad Fallon. He has a wealth of experience and training in conservation and resotration including a degree in restoration from FIT in New York City, time spent working for Sotheby’s Restoration and has completed the Smihtsonian Institutions four year program in furniture conservation. In addition he served a year long internship at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Fairchild Center for Objects Preservation. Tad spoke about lessons learned while restoring a piece of contemporary furniture. Ordinarily, his firm Fallon Wilkinson doesn’t work on pieces whose maker is still living. However in this case the builder, John Cederquist, was very much alive and willing to spend time with Tad and share his joinery and finishing processes (https://www.johncederquist.com/).  Tad will take us through the conservation and restoration process of John’s piece while illustrating the complex joinery, marquetry, parquetry and finishing techniques he learned from the maker. If you’d like to learn more about Tad and his company Fallon Wilkinson, please visit their WEBSITE.

May 2024

Our guest speaker for May was Tim Celeski a furniture maker and sculptor. Tim began his creative journey in the architecture field. From there he worked as a jazz musician, a graphic designer, professional photographer and digital designer eventually leading him to working with wood. His Celeski Studios builds outdoor and indoor furniture using a hybrid approach which merges traditional and modern techniques and tools including CNC and 3D printing. He’ll be presenting a shortened version of a course he’ll be teaching at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking “From Intro to Advanced 3D Printing in One Day”. Tim’s talk was a good introduction to a resource that while new and unfamiliar to most woodworkers is sure to grow in use. Check out his Celeski Studio’s website for more information about Tim’s furniture. If you’d like to delve into his more artistic side then try his Fine Art Site where you can see some of his sculpture and other interests

March 2024

Our guest speaker for March was Kelly Parker, a designer/builder whose work includes furniture, sculpture, boxes and a variety of  miscellaneous objects. Kelly’s work accentuates the grain, texture and color of the wood. Her designs are organic, looking like they have grown out of nature rather than following a typical rectilenear form. While her work is distinctly her own, Kelly has interned with Michael Fortune and his influence is evident in her work. Her topic was the  design process. If you’re interested in learning more about Kelly, check out her website: https://woodsongstudio.com. 

February 2024

Our guest speaker for February was Wilbur Pan. His topic was “everything you wanted to know about bandsaws but were afraid to ask”. Wilbur has spoken to our club several times in the past and he’s always a knowledgeable and interesting speaker and this time was no different. As his title suggests, Wilbur covered every aspect of the bandsaw including setup, making accurate cuts and dust collection. To find out more about what Wilbur is up to, check out his blog: Giant Cypress. We had a great turnout for the meeting. Over 40 people attended in person, including some new members, and another 15 or so were on Zoom.

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January 2024

Our January meeting was a two part meeting. We began with club business; elections, review of 2023 and plans for 2024, information on paying your 2024 dues etc. For the second part of the meeting, we tried something new. We hosted our own version of “Shop Talk Live”, modeled after the Fine Woodworking podcast of the same name. For those who aren’t familiar with it, listeners send in questions and the hosts (FWW editors and guests such as Vic Tesolin and Gary Rogawski) provide answers based on their own experiences. Ours was slightly different in that anyone in the club was able to submit a question and anyone in the audience was able to provide answers. We had a variety of questions and given the breadth of experience among our members, some really great answers. Although we had hoped to meet in person, due to a flood at our usual meeting location, this was a Zoom only affair. In spite of the circumstances it was a great meeting and something we’re sure to do again.

December 2023

In December we held our annual holiday get together where members have a chance to display their work and share a meal with friends and family. This is an open meeting, meaning that members are free to invite guests be they family members or friends or anyone who might be interested in seeing the work of our members. Many members brought projects, some brought multiple projects. Add a catered feast to the display and you have a recipe for a great meeting. 

November 2023

November’s meeting featured presentations by three members and took place at an alternate location, the Essex County Environmental Center’s Garibaldi Hall. Chas presented on a box he built which had a starburst pattern veneered onto a curbed top. He covered many of the techniques that he used in building the box including how he built that starburst pattern from a large number of individual wedges of veneer. Kevin presented on design techniques that he uses to make a piece his own. He explained how he can take a piece that he’s seen in a magazine or catalog and adapt it to his own style and needs. For instance he’s taken ideas from shaker furniture,  added a subtle curve to the legs and a shelf so that it fits his design esthetic. Gordon finished presenting on the serpentine front dresser that he spoke on in July. One of the topics covered was how he built the fluted column that flank the piece on both sides. This was a terrific meeting and it was great to see the amount of creatativity and expertise of our members. 

October 2023

Our guest speaker for October was Saulius “Saul” Toleikis, the Festool regional account manager for our area. He presented Festool’s new lineup of tools. In addition he answered any questions members had about Festool’s current lineup. Festool’s new tools were innovative and Saul’s presentation made for an interesting evening. Thanks to Saul for a great job.

September 2023

Our guest speaker for September was Gregg Perry. A craftsman who’s  the consummate preservationist, his resume includes building and restoring period furniture, restoring historic buildings as well as maintaining and restoring clocks and other time pieces. He is the only American to date to complete the formal conservation and restoration training for furniture and wooden artifacts at the wold famous Ecole Boulle in Paris. His study included doing restoration work on furniture in the collection of the Lourve, one of the premier art museums in the world. He also spent a year apprenticing with Patrick Blanchard, voted the best historic carver/sculptor in France for 10 years running. An online search will return a wealth of videos of Gregg’s work, all of it extremely impressive. 

August 2023

Our guest speaker for August was Eric Bunn. An expert carver and teacher, Eric owned his own carving school in Wayne for many years. He is also the teacher who is working with a number of members at the New Jersey School of Woodwork. The goal of that engagement is to teach the skills and techniques necessary to complete a Philadelphia Chippendale dressing table. The table has intricately carved ball and claw feet, the carving of which Eric demonstrated at this month’s meeting.

 

July  2023

July’s meeting featured presentations by two club members. Gordon presented on a serpentine front dresser that he recently completed. He shared many of the techniques he used to build the components of the piece. Tim presented on several traditional Windsor and stick chairs that he’s built. He covered the construction techniques as well as the sources of information that he used to develop his chair building skills. Tim also brought some of the chair specfic tools that he used inthe build process. Members were able to try out the tools as well as receive guidance on their proper use. The work of both members can only be described as stunning. The pieces were on display at our annual holiday get-together. If you’d like a look at some of their work, you can look at the pictures and/or video attached to the recap of our December 2022 meeting.

June  2023

June’s guest speaker, who was remote, failed to join us. Interesting to note that in the history of the club this has only happened twice. This month and February of this year, both by the same speaker. Upon realizing that we’d been stood up for a second time, we shifted to member discussion. Thanks to the members who contributed to the discussion and helped turn a disaster into an interesting evening.  

May 2023

May’s meeting was a joint meeting held with the New Jersey Woodturners at their usual meeting location in Roseland.  The presenter was our own Bob Sheppard. His topic was turning for furniture which he accomplished by building a three legged stool. Bob began the evening by turning the seat. Because he came with two of the legs already turned his next topic was how to duplicate a furniture part to matched an existing piece. He used an existing leg to mark the low points on the new leg, a parting tool and dividers to bring the shallow points to the correct depth and then showed how to gracefully connect the shallow points to create a matching leg. He also demonstrated how to create and fit a tenon as well as how to drill out the mortise. Bob explained how he built the shop made tool he used to taper the  mortises. When the stool was asssembled, he showed how to level the legs. The meeting was complete when one of the attendees won a raffle for the stool. Thanks to Bob for an interesting and educational evening.

April 2023

April’s guest speaker was workshop dust expert Bill Pentz. An engineer and woodworker, he has spent the last 25 years researching and writing about dust in the workshop. Along the way he has built an extensive blog which is the go to source for information about the dangers of exposure to fine dust, the challenges of dust collection, requirements for efficient dust collection systems and strategies for keeping yourself healthy in the workshop. During his presentation he touched on all of those aspect in detail. The evening proved to be interesting and at times upsetting as he described the potential health impact of fine dust in the workshop. In the end he provided a lot of actionable advice that is sure to help improve the workshop environments of our members.  If you’d like to learn more about Bill’s research, you can visit his website: https://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/index.php

March 2023

March’s guest speaker was master woodcarver Ray Kinman. A carver for over 30 years, Ray made a name for himself as a sign carver for Disney and has had a hand in dozens of well know signs in Disney’s parks. He currently does commision work and teaches at his shop in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains in Northern California. Ray presented an overview of his journey to becoming a master carver and shared an overview of his technique for creating stunning carvings. Several examples of his work are below. Here’s a link to Ray’s website where you can learn more about Ray and see other examples of his work.

February  2023

February’s guest speaker had a family emergency and was unable to join us. Once we realized that our speaker wouldn’t be joining us we did a quick pivot and focued on member work and experiences. About 20 members contributed input to the night. Despite a rocky beginning, it turned out to be a great meeting. Here’s a link to a  presentation on a shop built ambient air cleaner that was presented at the meeting.

January 2023

January’s meeting was our kickoff meeting for 2023. We began the meeting with club business including elections, a review of last year meetings and our plans for 2023. We followed that with 4 member presentations. David L. presented a summary of the member survey. He also presented on shaft keys, what they are, where they’re used and how to diagnose problems when they come loose. Here are links to the member survey and the shaft key presentations. Mark gave a demo on creating a spring joint. Abe rounded out the evening with a presentation on his star wars river table. During that presentation he shared his experiences on how to effectively build up epoxy layers to mimic the flow of a river, how to flatten a slab and a variety of options for creating legs for river tables and slab furniture. Several pictures of the table are below.

December 2022

In December we resumed our annual holiday get together. At this meeting members had a chance to display their work and share a meal with friends and family.  Due to Covid we haven’t held this event since 2019, so members were free to bring anything they’ve built in the interim. It was also open to those who wanted to bring anything they created for the bird house or shop stool challenges. Many members brought multiple projects so there was quite a display of member work to go along with the catered feast. Below are a small sample of the work presented at the event. To see more of the work on display at you can view the following video created by one of our members.

November 2022 

November’s guest speaker was Scott Severns, an award-winning master craftsman with 25+ years of experience creating functional and beautiful pieces of furniture and cabinetry. He is the founder of Oak Mountain Custom Woodwork which specializes in hand made furniture, cabinetry and millwork as well as the New Jersey School of Woodwork. As a non-profit, the school’s mission is to grow the craft through instruction and hands on experience in a friendly relaxed environment. In addition, Scott is the current president of the Society of American Period Furniture Makers (SAPFM). His topic will be machine maintenance, focusing primarily on the table and band saws. If you wish to learn more about the New Jersey School of Woodwork, click here to visit their website.

October 2022 

At October’s meeting, four members spoke about their approach to finishing. Each presenter talked about a particular category of finish as well as the specific product that they use. Among the various finishing aspects covered were, surface preparation, application method, sanding schedule, general formulation as well as available products in the category.  Alan opened the evening with a talk about his home brew Maloof finish using a formula which was given to him by Sam Maloof himself. Here’s a link to Alan’s presentation which contains the formula for mixing your own version of the finish. Kevin spoke about using Osmo for a finish, while Freddie talked about oil finishes in particular Bush’s Oil. Both of these presenters brought examples of their work. Bob finished the night with two separate topics. First he spoke about spraying finishes. He covered tools, technique, the suitability of particular finishes for spraying and how to maintain a spray gun. He followed that up with a demonstration of how to apply a super glue finish, a type of finish that is especially favored by turners. Thanks to our four presenters for an interesting and instructional evening. 

In late October we held an in person parking lot event in Pompton Plains. About 30 members gathered on a beautiful fall Saturday to participate in our annual swap meet. This is a chance for members to sell items that they no longer use and for other members to pick up needed tools at very reasonable prices. On this day, many items changed hands. This was also a chance for those participated to display the creations they had made for the bird house challenge. Below are several pictures from the event.

September 2022 

Our guest speaker for September was author, teacher and Fine Woodworking contributing editor Steve Latta. A professional furniture and cabinet maker for over 30 years, he has spent the last 20 years as a professor of cabinet making and wood technology at the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster Pa. Well know for his expertise on period furniture, Steve is an in-demand lecturer at places such as Winterthur, Colonial Williamsburg and The American Furniture Study Center at Yale University. His topic was flow as it applies to furniture making. Steve focused on the building of a small, one-drawer night stand. He began with lumber selection and progressed through dimensioning and joinery. He explained “which cut, in which order, and why”. The information packed into Steve’s presentation has the potential to improve the quality of our projects while reducing workshop frustration and mistakes.  

August 2022 

Our guest speaker for August was author, teacher and Fine Woodworking contributing editor Roland “Rollie” Johnson. A longtime professional woodworker in Sauk Rapids, MN, Rollie opened his first workshop in 1976. A self professed gear head, he’s FWW’s expert on hand and machine tool maintenance, authoring  several video series on the topic as well as providing numerous tool reviews. In addition, he’s taught finishing at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine and has written several books on woodworking. Rollie’s topic was coloring wood. He touched on products, types of stain, how different woods accept stain and numerous other topics. While many of us were familiar with Rollie from his work at the Woodworking Shows we weren’t prepared for the depth of knowledge that he shared with us during the evening. David Levenberg has gone through the the recording and summarized Rollie’s presentation. Here’s a link to that document.

July 2022 

Our July meeting took place at the Mr. Sawdust School of Professional Woodworking in Hackettstown NJ. Our host was Wally Kunkel the owner of the school. His father, Wallace Kunkel Sr. known as Mr. Sawdust, had a school in Chester NJ which is where Wally began his woodworking education eventually becoming a professional furniture maker. Following in his father’s footsteps, he now runs his own school offering a wide variety of courses. One of his specialties, which he demonstrated for us, is using the radial arm saw to cut complex joinery. In addition to a detailed tour of the school, Wally arranged for Frank Klauz to do a short presentation and Q&A on cutting dovetails by hand. Should you want more information on Wally and his school you can visit him at the Mr. Sawdust School’s website.

June 2022 

June’s guest speaker was Nick DeMars, the woodworking Product Specialist at Klingspor Abrasives who spoke about all things sandpaper and sanding. Nick covered hand and machine sanding, sanding techniques and answered questions such as what sandpaper characteristics are appropriate for wood removal vs. finish prep. As Klingspor’s router bit specialist he was also able to give us an overview router bits and their uses.

May 2022 

For May’s meeting we took a break from paid presenters and focused on the work of our members. Our first presenter was Tim who described his Morris Chair build. He presented on construction details as well as his personal design decisions that went into creating the piece. There were many interesting aspects to the build including his technique for getting quarter sawn faces on all of the legs. Thanks to Tim for an interesting presentation which included a short video for each step of the build. Gordon followed with a talk on a credenza that he built. The piece has 3 drawers with veneered fronts surrounded by cock beading. It also has a shelf below the drawers that’s suspended from four delecate legs. Gordon shared his approach to overcoming each of the challenges inherent in building this piece. Last was a short talk by David on an bandsaw technique for creating interesting curved designs. The technique that he described allows him to create artistic pieces composed of a variety of wood species and shapes. Thanks to our presenters for sharing some very interesting techniques and designs.

April 2022 

April’s guest presenter was Shannon Rogers, the host of Shannon’s Lumber Industry Update. Drawing on his day job as the Director of Marketing for one of the oldest lumber companies in the US, J. Gibson McIlvain, he offered a deep understanding and unique perspective on the industry. In addition, he runs his own online woodworking school devoted to hand tools called appropriately enough The Hand Tool School.  Shannon spoke on a variety of topics as varied as domestic and imported hardwoods, sheet goods, the economics of the lumber industry and the restoration of Notre Dame.

March 2022 

Andrew Hunter was our March of 2022 presenter. A frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking and a good friend to the club, Andrew is also a well respected expert on Japanese tools and techniques. His topic was accurate joinery layout, how to ensure that your joints are well fitting and tight. 

February 2022 

Our guest presenter for February was Bob Behnke of Franklin International, the makers of Titebond glues. Bob was our featured presenter in July of 2018. Member surveys have rated his presentation as among the best we’ve ever had, so we invited him to present again. 

January 2022 

January’s meeting was our kickoff meeting for 2022. We focused on club business including elections, a review of last year meetings and our plans for 2022. That was followed up by several member presentations. Charlie spoke about a pair of shore birds that he carved for a charity auction, Pat spoke on the crusher/destemmer that he made for his wine making hobby. We had some time left at the end and were able to have another member present an overview of thier workbench review. Thanks to Jim Mueller for taking us through the build and use of his bench

December 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog – Giant Cypress.

November 2021 

We had four members present their work this month. Freddie spoke about his experience building a canoe at the Adirondak Folk School. The school, which is located in Lake Luzerne NY is dedicated to teaching the arts, crafts, and cultural heritage of the Adirondack region. The build, which takes place over two weeks, is limited to four students. It took Freddie several years of trying to register for the class before he was finally able to secure a spot in a class. Next up was Steve talking about his shop built Microjig Ultimate Workbench. For his presentation, Steve played an entertaining YouTube video (accessible via this link), which he created to document the build process. Sri was up next speaking about the build of a round pedestal dining table. The table is made of Sapele, has a 42″ wide solid top and is stunning. Last up was Greg who spoken on the tools and techniques that he uses to flatten slabs. The slabs were cut on his sawmill and dried in the drying room on which he had presented on several months back. Thanks to the presenters for an educational and interesting evening.  

October 2021 

Our guest presenter for October was Ramon Valdez, a furniture maker known for integrating interesting and exquisite marquetry into his work. Ramon’s topic was the “double bevel” marquetry technique! This is a fantastic process for creating beautiful motifs that can be used to decorate a box, add visual interest to a piece of furniture or even as a stand alone picture. Among the items covered by Ramon were layout, building your marquetry in layers, application to a substrate, sawing technique, the principles of double bevel marquetry and tool set.  Thank you to Ramon for an interesting evening and for opening a new way to add interest and beauty to our work. Should you be interested in learning more about Ramon, he has a broad presence on social media. As a starting point, you can check out his website, www.ramonvaldezfinefurniture.com. Also, along with fellow woodworkers Philip Morley and Ben Brunick, he is the host of the  “Woodworkers Podcast”.

The club also held two additional in-person events during October. Early in the month, aboubt 10 member gathered in the parking lot to attend Gordon’s skill building session on the art of hammer veneering. His session included a discussion of the tool set, preping the material and the hammer vereering technique. Gordon provided some veneered samples and then demonstrated the process. Gordon’s demo also covered how to join smaller pieces of veneer so that a large substrate could be covered. There were plenty of material and supplies on hand so that each attendee was able to try their hand at hammer veneering a small board.

On October 30th we held and a branding / swap meet in the parking lot. The branding activity provided members who had made items for the Hermitage Museum with the opportunity to identify their work as being created by an NJWA Club Memeber. At the swap meet about a dozen or so members offered surplus tools, books and material for sale. 

September 2021 

September’s guest presenter was David Fisher whose topic was “Greenwood Carving, Following, Finding and Feeling Flow”.  A full time history teacher in the town in which he’s spent his whole life, Dave has become known internationally for his carving. His work, all of which is done by hand, includes bowls, spoons and vessels.  Many pieces are adorned with beautifully lettered phrases. 

Dave’s talk was a whirlwind tour of his technique, tools and philosophy. On tools, he shapes his work with a minimal tool set without using powered tools. Many of those tools have been passed down from previous generations and will be passed on in the future. On his philosophy, he sees the art that exists in the wood as opposed to forcing his art into the material. On technique, he uses time honored techniques of swinging and ax and pushing gouges and knives while in close contact with the material.

Dave rounded out the evening with an overview of his approach to the carved lettering that he uses to adorn his work. This was an interesting evening spent with a special craftsman. If you’d like to learn more about Dave and his work, you can visit: https://davidffisher.com.

August 2021 

At our August meeting we had three member presentations. Alan gave a detailed presention on a trompe l’oeil table that he built. Trompe l’oeil means fool the eye. The table has what looks like a folded piece of linen drapped over the top. However, what appears to be linen is in fact solid wood. Alan took us through the process of constructing the layers of a solid wood top. He followed that with a detailed description of how he carved a large piece of solid wood so that it appeared to be linen. He described the tools used (power and hand) as well as his carving technique.  He then went on to give a brief description of how he finished the piece. Kevin spoke about two Shaker candle stands that he built. He explained how varying the size and shape of the post and feet allowed hime to come up with two unique pieces. Scott presented on a split top Roubo workbench that he built using plans from the Woodwhisperer Guild. He covered the plans, material used, where he purchased it, construction steps and his experiences using the bench. Thanks to our three presenters for an interesting evening.  

July 2021 

Our guest speaker for July was woodworker and author Andy Rae.  Andy began his career working as a finisher for George Nakashima and working in Frank Klaus’ workshop. Subsequent to that he was a contributor to various woodworking publications, an  associate editor for American Woodworker magazine and the author of several books. Andy’s tool cabinet is the well known piece that graces the front cover of Jim Tolpin’s “The Toolbox Book”. Andy spoke about his journey as a woodworker and an author. He also shared some of the techniques he’s used for designing and building furniture.  He currently has his own workshop where he splits his time between taking on commissions and using woodworking to support recovering addicts. If you’d like to see more of his work, you can find him at Andy Rae Woodworking & Writing Studios on Facebook and @andyraewoodworkingstudio on Instagram.

June 2021 

The topic for June’s meeting was member workbenches. About 25 members posted pictures of their workbenches in a gallery on our website. Each member in attendance was given a few minutes to talk about their workbench. Several members did more in depth presentations. Our opening speaker was Dave Petersen who took us through the design and construction of his Roubo style workbench. There was quite a variety of workbenches build in different styles and using different construction techniques and material. The workbench gallery is still available using this link.

 This was the first regular meeting where members met in person since February of 2020. In order to accommodate as many attendees as possible we provided three options for attending. Members could meet indoors at our traditional location, they could attend via Zoom or they could opt for a middle ground where viewed the meeting via Zoom from the backyard at our location in Pompton Plains. 

May 2021 

Our presenter for May was master carver and teacher Mary May. Last year Mary had given us an overview of carving. This meeting was more of a hands on meeting (via Zoom) where Mary took us through the steps to carving two different versions of an Acanthus leaf. While carving each version, she described the tools and techniques that she was using. Although this was an opportunity to carve along with Mary, it would be quite a challenge to carve as quickly as she did. With this in mind, the session was recorded and sent out to members so that they could go through this at their own speed. 

She recently finished first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In addition to our regular meeting, the club held a skill session on May 15th. Three members presented on various sharpening topics. Bob demonstrated how to sharpen turning tools on a grinder, Gordon focused on sharpening chisels and plane irons on flat stones and Charlie taught the particulars of sharpening carving tools,

April 2021 

April’s guest presenter was Bob Van Dyke, the founder and director of the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. Bob’s topic was stock preparation, make it flat, straight and square. A Fine Woodworking contribution editor, Bob took us step by step through the process he uses to take lumber from the rough stage to being milled 4 square. Speaking from the CVSW workshop, his talk focused on the use of four machines to mill lumber, the  jointer, planer, bandsaw and table saw. Bob did cover spring joints, a technique for developing highly reliable edge joints. For that process he used a hand plane. Also included in his presentation was the topic of yield, which is the amount of milled stock that can be gotten from a rough board. Bob explained how to approximate the yield, why warp and twist in a board reduces yield and how to maximize the yield. Bob also highlighted some of the situations that would lead to less than optimal stock preparation including poor machine set up and errors in technique.  

March 2021 

March’s guest presenter was Joel Moskowitz, the owner of Tools for Working Wood. An avid collector of historical woodworking and craft texts, Joel is also the author of the popular woodworking blog “Joel’s Blog”. In addition he manufactures his own line of tools under the brands Gramercy Tools and BT&C (Brooklyn Tool and Craft). A passionate student of woodworking history, Joel’s spoke on how early woodworking texts have informed the design and development of modern tools in particular many of the tools designed and made by his company. Among the texts that he referred to during his talk was Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanic Exercises” pointing to some of the pictures in his copy of the 1683 edition, one of only a few hundred in print. Thanks to Joel for and interesting and education evening.

On Monday March 1st meeting at 7PM, we held an open discussion and presentation of our prospective projects for the Witness Tree project.  Members exchanged their ideas and were able to find out if there were any duplicate or similar items in the planning.  For members who have decided on a project, we will be able to present them to The Hermitage Staff and hear their reaction and comments.  Many members have posted their ideas to a photo album which can be viewed at the following link: witness tree project ideas.

February 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. His topic for the evening was an overview of spindle turning which is the type of turning that is most useful for furniture makers. Tom covered numerous topics including tools, sharpening, setting up the lathe, the types of cuts used in spindle turning and using templates. Tom also discussed the importance of a fair curve in order to give your furniture a professional and pleasing look. Thanks to Tom for a great introduction to woodturning for furniture makers. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure (the link for Tom’s May of 2020 video presentation is also still active).

January  2021 

Our kickoff meeting for 2021 began with a reap of our 2020 activities and elections for the board of directors. Following club business, we had three member presentations.

• Greg D. walked us through the design and construction of his home drying room. The room, which is attached to his shop, was built from the ground up and allows Greg to dry wood that he has milled himself
• Ben S. spoke about a branding iron that he recently purchased. Included in his discussion was the trial and error that he went through to develop a technique that would yield a clear image on his work. 
• Sri spoke on a Carolina Candle Stand which he just completed. Among the topics covered were creating the mortise and tenons for attaching the feet to the post and how to attach the top to account for wood movement. 

December 2020 

Our guest speaker for this month was Russell M, a technical specialist with JPW Industries, the makers of Jet and Powermatic tools. He covered a broad range of topic including: 

• Trends in woodworking machine technology
• The key features to look for when shopping for a woodworking machine 
• Maintenance concepts and practices for the types of machines that most of us are likely to own (i.e., bandsaw, planer, jointer, drill press, sanders, tablesaw, etc.)
• Key decision points, e.g. straight vs. segmented knives
• Some key usage points, common mistakes to avoid, safety and accuracy practices

Many thanks to Russell for an informative and interesting evening

November 2020 

For this month’s meeting, we had a virtual tour of the Stickley Museum in Fayetteville NY.  The museum which opened in 2007 explores over a century of furniture making excellence. It highlights the inspiration and craftsmanship that made Stickley America’s foremost fine furniture maker and the craftspeople whose commitment to quality led to Stickley’s reputation for manufacturing heirloom quality furniture. Many thanks to the museum’s head Amanda C., who gave a wonderful tour despite the fact that her only connection to her audience was via faces on an iPad. 

In addition to our regular monthly meeting, we held a swap meet in the early part of the month. Approximately 20 members (and a few non-members) set up tables to sell a variety of tools. Another 20 or so participated as buyers only. The event was held outdoors and masks were required. After being quarantined for a good part of the year, it was a good way to catch up with our fellow NJWA members.  

October 2020 

October’s guest speaker was Mary May, a master carver who works out of her workshop on John’s Island South Carolina. During her two hour presentation, Mary took us through an overview of the basics of carving. The topics included the various types of tools, the convention for identifying the various shapes and sizes and how to sharpen them; the types of wood that are appropriate for carving and some basic techniques. Mary is also a teacher who has taught at such places as the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana, Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School and the Connecticut Valley School. She recently finished her first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In early October we had a second event at John M’s saw mill where we began the process of milling the witness tree. Also, as some of John’s property was being sold off, members helped to clear lumber off that portion of his yard.  

September 2020 

Chuck Bender, a well known period furniture maker and the founder of the Acanthus Workshop, a woodworking school in Jim Thorpe Pa., was September’s presenter. His topic was modern methods for making federal style furniture. Chuck spoke about jigs and machine use among other things. A large part of the presentation was spent exploring the reasons that period furniture failed due to wood movement and the techniques that he uses to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the reproductions that he builds. Several examples from his portfolio are below. To learn more about Chuck’s  work and school, you can visit acanthus.com.

August 2020 

This month’s featured presenter was artist, sculptor and furniture maker Scott Grove. His topic was advanced veneering. You can use his link to Scott’s website to learn more about his work: scottgrove.com

July 2020 

July’s meeting featured 4 member presentations.

• Ben’s presentation covered the various construction elements and techniques involved in building an interesting workbench.
• Roy’s flag box – which described the build process including his approach to cutting the angled components for the triangular form
•  David’s row boat rocker – built for his grand daughter, there were a number of challenging angled components that needed to be cut.
•  Cliff’s segmented vase –  a short review of how he cut the angled components for the segments that were used to create the vase.

In addition to our regular July meeting, we’ll have an informal get together where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

June 2020 

Tis month’s guest presenter was Steve Latta. A teacher, writer, craftsman and contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, Steve’s main job is developing the furniture makers of tomorrow at the Thaddeus Steven’s College in Lancaster Pennsylvania. His topic for our meeting was creating and adding inlays to furniture. You can view some of his FWW articles at: https://www.finewoodworking.com/author/steve-latta

 In addition to our regular June meeting, we’ll have an informal get together on Monday June 1st where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

May 2020 

Our virtual presenter at May’s meeting was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. There were 45 members in attendance. Tom’s topic was the uses for and methods of creating mortise and tenon joints. Many thanks to Tom for an interesting and engaging night. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure.  

April 2020 

April’s online meeting was composed of a number of short member presentations. There were 22 members in attendance. Although that’s about half of our normal attendance and we were all remote, the discussion was very lively. The members who presented were:

• Brian described the Pekovich bench jig that he made for working with small parts
• Abe gave us a tour of his Pekovich hanging tool cabinet and also did a brief shop tour
• Verne gave us a complete tour of his shop
• Alan showed a sliding table that enables him to cut  small logs on his band saw and toured some of his shop and equipment
• Charlie showed us some carvings including a beautiful carved banana and some carved swans that he’s making as holiday gifts
• Gordon spoke about test pieces he was making for veneered drawer fronts
• John showed two pieces, a three legged stool and a saw horse. He also talked about the shop stool project which he’s facilitating
• Sri is building a large dresser with sliding dovetails. He had pictures of the jigs he built to cut them as well as his method for handling large pieces on his router table
• Tal completed his music stand, which he displayed and spoke about some of the techniques he used to build it.
• Several pictures from the evening are below. To see more member work from the evening, please use this link.

March 2020 

Sadly our March meeting was cancelled due to the Corona virus. Although we were looking forward to our guest speaker, Joel Moskowitz of Tools for Working Wood, the club made a decision which respected the health of our members and the community in which we meet.

March was also the annual woodworking show. NJWA had a booth where, over the 3 days of the event, 15 members supported our effort to promote the club and recruit new members. The show also conducted a Project Challenge, which provided an opportunity for craftspeople to display their work and for attendees to vote on their favorite piece. NJWA member Jay Siegelaub’s natural edge side table was the 2020 winner. Congratulations to Jay. If you’d like to see more of Jay’s work, use this link to check out his website. 

 

View 2019 Meeting Summaries

View 2018 Meeting Summaries

View 2017 Meeting Summaries

View 2016 Meeting Summaries

January 2022 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog

December 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog – Giant Cypress.

November 2021 

We had four members present their work this month. Freddie spoke about his experience building a canoe at the Adirondak Folk School. The school, which is located in Lake Luzerne NY is dedicated to teaching the arts, crafts, and cultural heritage of the Adirondack region. The build, which takes place over two weeks, is limited to four students. It took Freddie several years of trying to register for the class before he was finally able to secure a spot in a class. Next up was Steve talking about his shop built Microjig Ultimate Workbench. For his presentation, Steve played an entertaining YouTube video (accessible via this link), which he created to document the build process. Sri was up next speaking about the build of a round pedestal dining table. The table is made of Sapele, has a 42″ wide solid top and is stunning. Last up was Greg who spoken on the tools and techniques that he uses to flatten slabs. The slabs were cut on his sawmill and dried in the drying room on which he had presented on several months back. Thanks to the presenters for an educational and interesting evening.  

October 2021 

Our guest presenter for October was Ramon Valdez, a furniture maker known for integrating interesting and exquisite marquetry into his work. Ramon’s topic was the “double bevel” marquetry technique! This is a fantastic process for creating beautiful motifs that can be used to decorate a box, add visual interest to a piece of furniture or even as a stand alone picture. Among the items covered by Ramon were layout, building your marquetry in layers, application to a substrate, sawing technique, the principles of double bevel marquetry and tool set.  Thank you to Ramon for an interesting evening and for opening a new way to add interest and beauty to our work. Should you be interested in learning more about Ramon, he has a broad presence on social media. As a starting point, you can check out his website, www.ramonvaldezfinefurniture.com. Also, along with fellow woodworkers Philip Morley and Ben Brunick, he is the host of the  “Woodworkers Podcast”.

The club also held two additional in-person events during October. Early in the month, aboubt 10 member gathered in the parking lot to attend Gordon’s skill building session on the art of hammer veneering. His session included a discussion of the tool set, preping the material and the hammer vereering technique. Gordon provided some veneered samples and then demonstrated the process. Gordon’s demo also covered how to join smaller pieces of veneer so that a large substrate could be covered. There were plenty of material and supplies on hand so that each attendee was able to try their hand at hammer veneering a small board.

On October 30th we held and a branding / swap meet in the parking lot. The branding activity provided members who had made items for the Hermitage Museum with the opportunity to identify their work as being created by an NJWA Club Memeber. At the swap meet about a dozen or so members offered surplus tools, books and material for sale. 

September 2021 

September’s guest presenter was David Fisher whose topic was “Greenwood Carving, Following, Finding and Feeling Flow”.  A full time history teacher in the town in which he’s spent his whole life, Dave has become known internationally for his carving. His work, all of which is done by hand, includes bowls, spoons and vessels.  Many pieces are adorned with beautifully lettered phrases. 

Dave’s talk was a whirlwind tour of his technique, tools and philosophy. On tools, he shapes his work with a minimal tool set without using powered tools. Many of those tools have been passed down from previous generations and will be passed on in the future. On his philosophy, he sees the art that exists in the wood as opposed to forcing his art into the material. On technique, he uses time honored techniques of swinging and ax and pushing gouges and knives while in close contact with the material.

Dave rounded out the evening with an overview of his approach to the carved lettering that he uses to adorn his work. This was an interesting evening spent with a special craftsman. If you’d like to learn more about Dave and his work, you can visit: https://davidffisher.com.

August 2021 

At our August meeting we had three member presentations. Alan gave a detailed presention on a trompe l’oeil table that he built. Trompe l’oeil means fool the eye. The table has what looks like a folded piece of linen drapped over the top. However, what appears to be linen is in fact solid wood. Alan took us through the process of constructing the layers of a solid wood top. He followed that with a detailed description of how he carved a large piece of solid wood so that it appeared to be linen. He described the tools used (power and hand) as well as his carving technique.  He then went on to give a brief description of how he finished the piece. Kevin spoke about two Shaker candle stands that he built. He explained how varying the size and shape of the post and feet allowed hime to come up with two unique pieces. Scott presented on a split top Roubo workbench that he built using plans from the Woodwhisperer Guild. He covered the plans, material used, where he purchased it, construction steps and his experiences using the bench. Thanks to our three presenters for an interesting evening.  

July 2021 

Our guest speaker for July was woodworker and author Andy Rae.  Andy began his career working as a finisher for George Nakashima and working in Frank Klaus’ workshop. Subsequent to that he was a contributor to various woodworking publications, an  associate editor for American Woodworker magazine and the author of several books. Andy’s tool cabinet is the well known piece that graces the front cover of Jim Tolpin’s “The Toolbox Book”. Andy spoke about his journey as a woodworker and an author. He also shared some of the techniques he’s used for designing and building furniture.  He currently has his own workshop where he splits his time between taking on commissions and using woodworking to support recovering addicts. If you’d like to see more of his work, you can find him at Andy Rae Woodworking & Writing Studios on Facebook and @andyraewoodworkingstudio on Instagram.

June 2021 

The topic for June’s meeting was member workbenches. About 25 members posted pictures of their workbenches in a gallery on our website. Each member in attendance was given a few minutes to talk about their workbench. Several members did more in depth presentations. Our opening speaker was Dave Petersen who took us through the design and construction of his Roubo style workbench. There was quite a variety of workbenches build in different styles and using different construction techniques and material. The workbench gallery is still available using this link.

 This was the first regular meeting where members met in person since February of 2020. In order to accommodate as many attendees as possible we provided three options for attending. Members could meet indoors at our traditional location, they could attend via Zoom or they could opt for a middle ground where viewed the meeting via Zoom from the backyard at our location in Pompton Plains. 

May 2021 

Our presenter for May was master carver and teacher Mary May. Last year Mary had given us an overview of carving. This meeting was more of a hands on meeting (via Zoom) where Mary took us through the steps to carving two different versions of an Acanthus leaf. While carving each version, she described the tools and techniques that she was using. Although this was an opportunity to carve along with Mary, it would be quite a challenge to carve as quickly as she did. With this in mind, the session was recorded and sent out to members so that they could go through this at their own speed. 

She recently finished first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In addition to our regular meeting, the club held a skill session on May 15th. Three members presented on various sharpening topics. Bob demonstrated how to sharpen turning tools on a grinder, Gordon focused on sharpening chisels and plane irons on flat stones and Charlie taught the particulars of sharpening carving tools,

April 2021 

April’s guest presenter was Bob Van Dyke, the founder and director of the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. Bob’s topic was stock preparation, make it flat, straight and square. A Fine Woodworking contribution editor, Bob took us step by step through the process he uses to take lumber from the rough stage to being milled 4 square. Speaking from the CVSW workshop, his talk focused on the use of four machines to mill lumber, the  jointer, planer, bandsaw and table saw. Bob did cover spring joints, a technique for developing highly reliable edge joints. For that process he used a hand plane. Also included in his presentation was the topic of yield, which is the amount of milled stock that can be gotten from a rough board. Bob explained how to approximate the yield, why warp and twist in a board reduces yield and how to maximize the yield. Bob also highlighted some of the situations that would lead to less than optimal stock preparation including poor machine set up and errors in technique.  

March 2021 

March’s guest presenter was Joel Moskowitz, the owner of Tools for Working Wood. An avid collector of historical woodworking and craft texts, Joel is also the author of the popular woodworking blog “Joel’s Blog”. In addition he manufactures his own line of tools under the brands Gramercy Tools and BT&C (Brooklyn Tool and Craft). A passionate student of woodworking history, Joel’s spoke on how early woodworking texts have informed the design and development of modern tools in particular many of the tools designed and made by his company. Among the texts that he referred to during his talk was Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanic Exercises” pointing to some of the pictures in his copy of the 1683 edition, one of only a few hundred in print. Thanks to Joel for and interesting and education evening.

On Monday March 1st meeting at 7PM, we held an open discussion and presentation of our prospective projects for the Witness Tree project.  Members exchanged their ideas and were able to find out if there were any duplicate or similar items in the planning.  For members who have decided on a project, we will be able to present them to The Hermitage Staff and hear their reaction and comments.  Many members have posted their ideas to a photo album which can be viewed at the following link: witness tree project ideas.

February 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. His topic for the evening was an overview of spindle turning which is the type of turning that is most useful for furniture makers. Tom covered numerous topics including tools, sharpening, setting up the lathe, the types of cuts used in spindle turning and using templates. Tom also discussed the importance of a fair curve in order to give your furniture a professional and pleasing look. Thanks to Tom for a great introduction to woodturning for furniture makers. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure (the link for Tom’s May of 2020 video presentation is also still active).

January  2021 

Our kickoff meeting for 2021 began with a reap of our 2020 activities and elections for the board of directors. Following club business, we had three member presentations.

• Greg D. walked us through the design and construction of his home drying room. The room, which is attached to his shop, was built from the ground up and allows Greg to dry wood that he has milled himself
• Ben S. spoke about a branding iron that he recently purchased. Included in his discussion was the trial and error that he went through to develop a technique that would yield a clear image on his work. 
• Sri spoke on a Carolina Candle Stand which he just completed. Among the topics covered were creating the mortise and tenons for attaching the feet to the post and how to attach the top to account for wood movement. 

December 2020 

Our guest speaker for this month was Russell M, a technical specialist with JPW Industries, the makers of Jet and Powermatic tools. He covered a broad range of topic including: 

• Trends in woodworking machine technology
• The key features to look for when shopping for a woodworking machine 
• Maintenance concepts and practices for the types of machines that most of us are likely to own (i.e., bandsaw, planer, jointer, drill press, sanders, tablesaw, etc.)
• Key decision points, e.g. straight vs. segmented knives
• Some key usage points, common mistakes to avoid, safety and accuracy practices

Many thanks to Russell for an informative and interesting evening

November 2020 

For this month’s meeting, we had a virtual tour of the Stickley Museum in Fayetteville NY.  The museum which opened in 2007 explores over a century of furniture making excellence. It highlights the inspiration and craftsmanship that made Stickley America’s foremost fine furniture maker and the craftspeople whose commitment to quality led to Stickley’s reputation for manufacturing heirloom quality furniture. Many thanks to the museum’s head Amanda C., who gave a wonderful tour despite the fact that her only connection to her audience was via faces on an iPad. 

In addition to our regular monthly meeting, we held a swap meet in the early part of the month. Approximately 20 members (and a few non-members) set up tables to sell a variety of tools. Another 20 or so participated as buyers only. The event was held outdoors and masks were required. After being quarantined for a good part of the year, it was a good way to catch up with our fellow NJWA members.  

October 2020 

October’s guest speaker was Mary May, a master carver who works out of her workshop on John’s Island South Carolina. During her two hour presentation, Mary took us through an overview of the basics of carving. The topics included the various types of tools, the convention for identifying the various shapes and sizes and how to sharpen them; the types of wood that are appropriate for carving and some basic techniques. Mary is also a teacher who has taught at such places as the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana, Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School and the Connecticut Valley School. She recently finished her first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In early October we had a second event at John M’s saw mill where we began the process of milling the witness tree. Also, as some of John’s property was being sold off, members helped to clear lumber off that portion of his yard.  

September 2020 

Chuck Bender, a well known period furniture maker and the founder of the Acanthus Workshop, a woodworking school in Jim Thorpe Pa., was September’s presenter. His topic was modern methods for making federal style furniture. Chuck spoke about jigs and machine use among other things. A large part of the presentation was spent exploring the reasons that period furniture failed due to wood movement and the techniques that he uses to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the reproductions that he builds. Several examples from his portfolio are below. To learn more about Chuck’s  work and school, you can visit acanthus.com.

August 2020 

This month’s featured presenter was artist, sculptor and furniture maker Scott Grove. His topic was advanced veneering. You can use his link to Scott’s website to learn more about his work: scottgrove.com

July 2020 

July’s meeting featured 4 member presentations.

• Ben’s presentation covered the various construction elements and techniques involved in building an interesting workbench.
• Roy’s flag box – which described the build process including his approach to cutting the angled components for the triangular form
•  David’s row boat rocker – built for his grand daughter, there were a number of challenging angled components that needed to be cut.
•  Cliff’s segmented vase –  a short review of how he cut the angled components for the segments that were used to create the vase.

In addition to our regular July meeting, we’ll have an informal get together where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

June 2020 

Tis month’s guest presenter was Steve Latta. A teacher, writer, craftsman and contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, Steve’s main job is developing the furniture makers of tomorrow at the Thaddeus Steven’s College in Lancaster Pennsylvania. His topic for our meeting was creating and adding inlays to furniture. You can view some of his FWW articles at: https://www.finewoodworking.com/author/steve-latta

 In addition to our regular June meeting, we’ll have an informal get together on Monday June 1st where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

May 2020 

Our virtual presenter at May’s meeting was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. There were 45 members in attendance. Tom’s topic was the uses for and methods of creating mortise and tenon joints. Many thanks to Tom for an interesting and engaging night. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure.  

April 2020 

April’s online meeting was composed of a number of short member presentations. There were 22 members in attendance. Although that’s about half of our normal attendance and we were all remote, the discussion was very lively. The members who presented were:

• Brian described the Pekovich bench jig that he made for working with small parts
• Abe gave us a tour of his Pekovich hanging tool cabinet and also did a brief shop tour
• Verne gave us a complete tour of his shop
• Alan showed a sliding table that enables him to cut  small logs on his band saw and toured some of his shop and equipment
• Charlie showed us some carvings including a beautiful carved banana and some carved swans that he’s making as holiday gifts
• Gordon spoke about test pieces he was making for veneered drawer fronts
• John showed two pieces, a three legged stool and a saw horse. He also talked about the shop stool project which he’s facilitating
• Sri is building a large dresser with sliding dovetails. He had pictures of the jigs he built to cut them as well as his method for handling large pieces on his router table
• Tal completed his music stand, which he displayed and spoke about some of the techniques he used to build it.
• Several pictures from the evening are below. To see more member work from the evening, please use this link.

March 2020 

Sadly our March meeting was cancelled due to the Corona virus. Although we were looking forward to our guest speaker, Joel Moskowitz of Tools for Working Wood, the club made a decision which respected the health of our members and the community in which we meet.

March was also the annual woodworking show. NJWA had a booth where, over the 3 days of the event, 15 members supported our effort to promote the club and recruit new members. The show also conducted a Project Challenge, which provided an opportunity for craftspeople to display their work and for attendees to vote on their favorite piece. NJWA member Jay Siegelaub’s natural edge side table was the 2020 winner. Congratulations to Jay. If you’d like to see more of Jay’s work, use this link to check out his website. 

 

View 2019 Meeting Summaries

View 2018 Meeting Summaries

View 2017 Meeting Summaries

View 2016 Meeting Summaries

September 2022 

Our guest speaker for September was author, teacher and Fine Woodworking contributing editor Steve Latta. A professional furniture and cabinet maker for over 30 years, he has spent the last 20 years as a professor of cabinet making and wood technology at the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster Pa. Well know for his expertise on period furniture, Steve is an in-demand lecturer at places such as Winterthur, Colonial Williamsburg and The American Furniture Study Center at Yale University. His topic was flow as it applies to furniture making. Steve focused on the building of a small, one-drawer night stand. He began with lumber selection and progressed through dimensioning and joinery. He explained “which cut, in which order, and why”. The information packed into Steve’s presentation has the potential to improve the quality of our projects while reducing workshop frustration and mistakes.  

August 2022 

Our guest speaker for August was author, teacher and Fine Woodworking contributing editor Roland “Rollie” Johnson. A longtime professional woodworker in Sauk Rapids, MN, Rollie opened his first workshop in 1976. A self professed gear head, he’s FWW’s expert on hand and machine tool maintenance, authoring  several video series on the topic as well as providing numerous tool reviews. In addition, he’s taught finishing at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine and has written several books on woodworking. Rollie’s topic was coloring wood. He touched on products, types of stain, how different woods accept stain and numerous other topics. While many of us were familiar with Rollie from his work at the Woodworking Shows we weren’t prepared for the depth of knowledge that he shared with us during the evening. David Levenberg has gone through the the recording and summarized Rollie’s presentation. Here’s a link to that document.

July 2022 

Our July meeting took place at the Mr. Sawdust School of Professional Woodworking in Hackettstown NJ. Our host was Wally Kunkel the owner of the school. His father, Wallace Kunkel Sr. known as Mr. Sawdust, had a school in Chester NJ which is where Wally began his woodworking education eventually becoming a professional furniture maker. Following in his father’s footsteps, he now runs his own school offering a wide variety of courses. One of his specialties, which he demonstrated for us, is using the radial arm saw to cut complex joinery. In addition to a detailed tour of the school, Wally arranged for Frank Klauz to do a short presentation and Q&A on cutting dovetails by hand. Should you want more information on Wally and his school you can visit him at the Mr. Sawdust School’s website.

June 2022 

June’s guest speaker was Nick DeMars, the woodworking Product Specialist at Klingspor Abrasives who spoke about all things sandpaper and sanding. Nick covered hand and machine sanding, sanding techniques and answered questions such as what sandpaper characteristics are appropriate for wood removal vs. finish prep. As Klingspor’s router bit specialist he was also able to give us an overview router bits and their uses.

May 2022 

For May’s meeting we took a break from paid presenters and focused on the work of our members. Our first presenter was Tim who described his Morris Chair build. He presented on construction details as well as his personal design decisions that went into creating the piece. There were many interesting aspects to the build including his technique for getting quarter sawn faces on all of the legs. Thanks to Tim for an interesting presentation which included a short video for each step of the build. Gordon followed with a talk on a credenza that he built. The piece has 3 drawers with veneered fronts surrounded by cock beading. It also has a shelf below the drawers that’s suspended from four delecate legs. Gordon shared his approach to overcoming each of the challenges inherent in building this piece. Last was a short talk by David on an bandsaw technique for creating interesting curved designs. The technique that he described allows him to create artistic pieces composed of a variety of wood species and shapes. Thanks to our presenters for sharing some very interesting techniques and designs.

April 2022 

April’s guest presenter was Shannon Rogers, the host of Shannon’s Lumber Industry Update. Drawing on his day job as the Director of Marketing for one of the oldest lumber companies in the US, J. Gibson McIlvain, he offered a deep understanding and unique perspective on the industry. In addition, he runs his own online woodworking school devoted to hand tools called appropriately enough The Hand Tool School.  Shannon spoke on a variety of topics as varied as domestic and imported hardwoods, sheet goods, the economics of the lumber industry and the restoration of Notre Dame.

March 2022 

Andrew Hunter was our March of 2022 presenter. A frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking and a good friend to the club, Andrew is also a well respected expert on Japanese tools and techniques. His topic was accurate joinery layout, how to ensure that your joints are well fitting and tight. 

February 2022 

Our guest presenter for February was Bob Behnke of Franklin International, the makers of Titebond glues. Bob was our featured presenter in July of 2018. Member surveys have rated his presentation as among the best we’ve ever had, so we invited him to present again. 

January 2022 

January’s meeting was our kickoff meeting for 2022. We focused on club business including elections, a review of last year meetings and our plans for 2022. That was followed up by several member presentations. Charlie spoke about a pair of shore birds that he carved for a charity auction, Pat spoke on the crusher/destemmer that he made for his wine making hobby. We had some time left at the end and were able to have another member present an overview of thier workbench review. Thanks to Jim Mueller for taking us through the build and use of his bench

December 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog – Giant Cypress.

November 2021 

We had four members present their work this month. Freddie spoke about his experience building a canoe at the Adirondak Folk School. The school, which is located in Lake Luzerne NY is dedicated to teaching the arts, crafts, and cultural heritage of the Adirondack region. The build, which takes place over two weeks, is limited to four students. It took Freddie several years of trying to register for the class before he was finally able to secure a spot in a class. Next up was Steve talking about his shop built Microjig Ultimate Workbench. For his presentation, Steve played an entertaining YouTube video (accessible via this link), which he created to document the build process. Sri was up next speaking about the build of a round pedestal dining table. The table is made of Sapele, has a 42″ wide solid top and is stunning. Last up was Greg who spoken on the tools and techniques that he uses to flatten slabs. The slabs were cut on his sawmill and dried in the drying room on which he had presented on several months back. Thanks to the presenters for an educational and interesting evening.  

October 2021 

Our guest presenter for October was Ramon Valdez, a furniture maker known for integrating interesting and exquisite marquetry into his work. Ramon’s topic was the “double bevel” marquetry technique! This is a fantastic process for creating beautiful motifs that can be used to decorate a box, add visual interest to a piece of furniture or even as a stand alone picture. Among the items covered by Ramon were layout, building your marquetry in layers, application to a substrate, sawing technique, the principles of double bevel marquetry and tool set.  Thank you to Ramon for an interesting evening and for opening a new way to add interest and beauty to our work. Should you be interested in learning more about Ramon, he has a broad presence on social media. As a starting point, you can check out his website, www.ramonvaldezfinefurniture.com. Also, along with fellow woodworkers Philip Morley and Ben Brunick, he is the host of the  “Woodworkers Podcast”.

The club also held two additional in-person events during October. Early in the month, aboubt 10 member gathered in the parking lot to attend Gordon’s skill building session on the art of hammer veneering. His session included a discussion of the tool set, preping the material and the hammer vereering technique. Gordon provided some veneered samples and then demonstrated the process. Gordon’s demo also covered how to join smaller pieces of veneer so that a large substrate could be covered. There were plenty of material and supplies on hand so that each attendee was able to try their hand at hammer veneering a small board.

On October 30th we held and a branding / swap meet in the parking lot. The branding activity provided members who had made items for the Hermitage Museum with the opportunity to identify their work as being created by an NJWA Club Memeber. At the swap meet about a dozen or so members offered surplus tools, books and material for sale. 

September 2021 

September’s guest presenter was David Fisher whose topic was “Greenwood Carving, Following, Finding and Feeling Flow”.  A full time history teacher in the town in which he’s spent his whole life, Dave has become known internationally for his carving. His work, all of which is done by hand, includes bowls, spoons and vessels.  Many pieces are adorned with beautifully lettered phrases. 

Dave’s talk was a whirlwind tour of his technique, tools and philosophy. On tools, he shapes his work with a minimal tool set without using powered tools. Many of those tools have been passed down from previous generations and will be passed on in the future. On his philosophy, he sees the art that exists in the wood as opposed to forcing his art into the material. On technique, he uses time honored techniques of swinging and ax and pushing gouges and knives while in close contact with the material.

Dave rounded out the evening with an overview of his approach to the carved lettering that he uses to adorn his work. This was an interesting evening spent with a special craftsman. If you’d like to learn more about Dave and his work, you can visit: https://davidffisher.com.

August 2021 

At our August meeting we had three member presentations. Alan gave a detailed presention on a trompe l’oeil table that he built. Trompe l’oeil means fool the eye. The table has what looks like a folded piece of linen drapped over the top. However, what appears to be linen is in fact solid wood. Alan took us through the process of constructing the layers of a solid wood top. He followed that with a detailed description of how he carved a large piece of solid wood so that it appeared to be linen. He described the tools used (power and hand) as well as his carving technique.  He then went on to give a brief description of how he finished the piece. Kevin spoke about two Shaker candle stands that he built. He explained how varying the size and shape of the post and feet allowed hime to come up with two unique pieces. Scott presented on a split top Roubo workbench that he built using plans from the Woodwhisperer Guild. He covered the plans, material used, where he purchased it, construction steps and his experiences using the bench. Thanks to our three presenters for an interesting evening.  

July 2021 

Our guest speaker for July was woodworker and author Andy Rae.  Andy began his career working as a finisher for George Nakashima and working in Frank Klaus’ workshop. Subsequent to that he was a contributor to various woodworking publications, an  associate editor for American Woodworker magazine and the author of several books. Andy’s tool cabinet is the well known piece that graces the front cover of Jim Tolpin’s “The Toolbox Book”. Andy spoke about his journey as a woodworker and an author. He also shared some of the techniques he’s used for designing and building furniture.  He currently has his own workshop where he splits his time between taking on commissions and using woodworking to support recovering addicts. If you’d like to see more of his work, you can find him at Andy Rae Woodworking & Writing Studios on Facebook and @andyraewoodworkingstudio on Instagram.

June 2021 

The topic for June’s meeting was member workbenches. About 25 members posted pictures of their workbenches in a gallery on our website. Each member in attendance was given a few minutes to talk about their workbench. Several members did more in depth presentations. Our opening speaker was Dave Petersen who took us through the design and construction of his Roubo style workbench. There was quite a variety of workbenches build in different styles and using different construction techniques and material. The workbench gallery is still available using this link.

 This was the first regular meeting where members met in person since February of 2020. In order to accommodate as many attendees as possible we provided three options for attending. Members could meet indoors at our traditional location, they could attend via Zoom or they could opt for a middle ground where viewed the meeting via Zoom from the backyard at our location in Pompton Plains. 

May 2021 

Our presenter for May was master carver and teacher Mary May. Last year Mary had given us an overview of carving. This meeting was more of a hands on meeting (via Zoom) where Mary took us through the steps to carving two different versions of an Acanthus leaf. While carving each version, she described the tools and techniques that she was using. Although this was an opportunity to carve along with Mary, it would be quite a challenge to carve as quickly as she did. With this in mind, the session was recorded and sent out to members so that they could go through this at their own speed. 

She recently finished first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In addition to our regular meeting, the club held a skill session on May 15th. Three members presented on various sharpening topics. Bob demonstrated how to sharpen turning tools on a grinder, Gordon focused on sharpening chisels and plane irons on flat stones and Charlie taught the particulars of sharpening carving tools,

April 2021 

April’s guest presenter was Bob Van Dyke, the founder and director of the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. Bob’s topic was stock preparation, make it flat, straight and square. A Fine Woodworking contribution editor, Bob took us step by step through the process he uses to take lumber from the rough stage to being milled 4 square. Speaking from the CVSW workshop, his talk focused on the use of four machines to mill lumber, the  jointer, planer, bandsaw and table saw. Bob did cover spring joints, a technique for developing highly reliable edge joints. For that process he used a hand plane. Also included in his presentation was the topic of yield, which is the amount of milled stock that can be gotten from a rough board. Bob explained how to approximate the yield, why warp and twist in a board reduces yield and how to maximize the yield. Bob also highlighted some of the situations that would lead to less than optimal stock preparation including poor machine set up and errors in technique.  

March 2021 

March’s guest presenter was Joel Moskowitz, the owner of Tools for Working Wood. An avid collector of historical woodworking and craft texts, Joel is also the author of the popular woodworking blog “Joel’s Blog”. In addition he manufactures his own line of tools under the brands Gramercy Tools and BT&C (Brooklyn Tool and Craft). A passionate student of woodworking history, Joel’s spoke on how early woodworking texts have informed the design and development of modern tools in particular many of the tools designed and made by his company. Among the texts that he referred to during his talk was Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanic Exercises” pointing to some of the pictures in his copy of the 1683 edition, one of only a few hundred in print. Thanks to Joel for and interesting and education evening.

On Monday March 1st meeting at 7PM, we held an open discussion and presentation of our prospective projects for the Witness Tree project.  Members exchanged their ideas and were able to find out if there were any duplicate or similar items in the planning.  For members who have decided on a project, we will be able to present them to The Hermitage Staff and hear their reaction and comments.  Many members have posted their ideas to a photo album which can be viewed at the following link: witness tree project ideas.

February 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. His topic for the evening was an overview of spindle turning which is the type of turning that is most useful for furniture makers. Tom covered numerous topics including tools, sharpening, setting up the lathe, the types of cuts used in spindle turning and using templates. Tom also discussed the importance of a fair curve in order to give your furniture a professional and pleasing look. Thanks to Tom for a great introduction to woodturning for furniture makers. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure (the link for Tom’s May of 2020 video presentation is also still active).

January  2021 

Our kickoff meeting for 2021 began with a reap of our 2020 activities and elections for the board of directors. Following club business, we had three member presentations.

• Greg D. walked us through the design and construction of his home drying room. The room, which is attached to his shop, was built from the ground up and allows Greg to dry wood that he has milled himself
• Ben S. spoke about a branding iron that he recently purchased. Included in his discussion was the trial and error that he went through to develop a technique that would yield a clear image on his work. 
• Sri spoke on a Carolina Candle Stand which he just completed. Among the topics covered were creating the mortise and tenons for attaching the feet to the post and how to attach the top to account for wood movement. 

December 2020 

Our guest speaker for this month was Russell M, a technical specialist with JPW Industries, the makers of Jet and Powermatic tools. He covered a broad range of topic including: 

• Trends in woodworking machine technology
• The key features to look for when shopping for a woodworking machine 
• Maintenance concepts and practices for the types of machines that most of us are likely to own (i.e., bandsaw, planer, jointer, drill press, sanders, tablesaw, etc.)
• Key decision points, e.g. straight vs. segmented knives
• Some key usage points, common mistakes to avoid, safety and accuracy practices

Many thanks to Russell for an informative and interesting evening

November 2020 

For this month’s meeting, we had a virtual tour of the Stickley Museum in Fayetteville NY.  The museum which opened in 2007 explores over a century of furniture making excellence. It highlights the inspiration and craftsmanship that made Stickley America’s foremost fine furniture maker and the craftspeople whose commitment to quality led to Stickley’s reputation for manufacturing heirloom quality furniture. Many thanks to the museum’s head Amanda C., who gave a wonderful tour despite the fact that her only connection to her audience was via faces on an iPad. 

In addition to our regular monthly meeting, we held a swap meet in the early part of the month. Approximately 20 members (and a few non-members) set up tables to sell a variety of tools. Another 20 or so participated as buyers only. The event was held outdoors and masks were required. After being quarantined for a good part of the year, it was a good way to catch up with our fellow NJWA members.  

October 2020 

October’s guest speaker was Mary May, a master carver who works out of her workshop on John’s Island South Carolina. During her two hour presentation, Mary took us through an overview of the basics of carving. The topics included the various types of tools, the convention for identifying the various shapes and sizes and how to sharpen them; the types of wood that are appropriate for carving and some basic techniques. Mary is also a teacher who has taught at such places as the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana, Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School and the Connecticut Valley School. She recently finished her first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In early October we had a second event at John M’s saw mill where we began the process of milling the witness tree. Also, as some of John’s property was being sold off, members helped to clear lumber off that portion of his yard.  

September 2020 

Chuck Bender, a well known period furniture maker and the founder of the Acanthus Workshop, a woodworking school in Jim Thorpe Pa., was September’s presenter. His topic was modern methods for making federal style furniture. Chuck spoke about jigs and machine use among other things. A large part of the presentation was spent exploring the reasons that period furniture failed due to wood movement and the techniques that he uses to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the reproductions that he builds. Several examples from his portfolio are below. To learn more about Chuck’s  work and school, you can visit acanthus.com.

August 2020 

This month’s featured presenter was artist, sculptor and furniture maker Scott Grove. His topic was advanced veneering. You can use his link to Scott’s website to learn more about his work: scottgrove.com

July 2020 

July’s meeting featured 4 member presentations.

• Ben’s presentation covered the various construction elements and techniques involved in building an interesting workbench.
• Roy’s flag box – which described the build process including his approach to cutting the angled components for the triangular form
•  David’s row boat rocker – built for his grand daughter, there were a number of challenging angled components that needed to be cut.
•  Cliff’s segmented vase –  a short review of how he cut the angled components for the segments that were used to create the vase.

In addition to our regular July meeting, we’ll have an informal get together where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

June 2020 

Tis month’s guest presenter was Steve Latta. A teacher, writer, craftsman and contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, Steve’s main job is developing the furniture makers of tomorrow at the Thaddeus Steven’s College in Lancaster Pennsylvania. His topic for our meeting was creating and adding inlays to furniture. You can view some of his FWW articles at: https://www.finewoodworking.com/author/steve-latta

 In addition to our regular June meeting, we’ll have an informal get together on Monday June 1st where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

May 2020 

Our virtual presenter at May’s meeting was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. There were 45 members in attendance. Tom’s topic was the uses for and methods of creating mortise and tenon joints. Many thanks to Tom for an interesting and engaging night. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure.  

April 2020 

April’s online meeting was composed of a number of short member presentations. There were 22 members in attendance. Although that’s about half of our normal attendance and we were all remote, the discussion was very lively. The members who presented were:

• Brian described the Pekovich bench jig that he made for working with small parts
• Abe gave us a tour of his Pekovich hanging tool cabinet and also did a brief shop tour
• Verne gave us a complete tour of his shop
• Alan showed a sliding table that enables him to cut  small logs on his band saw and toured some of his shop and equipment
• Charlie showed us some carvings including a beautiful carved banana and some carved swans that he’s making as holiday gifts
• Gordon spoke about test pieces he was making for veneered drawer fronts
• John showed two pieces, a three legged stool and a saw horse. He also talked about the shop stool project which he’s facilitating
• Sri is building a large dresser with sliding dovetails. He had pictures of the jigs he built to cut them as well as his method for handling large pieces on his router table
• Tal completed his music stand, which he displayed and spoke about some of the techniques he used to build it.
• Several pictures from the evening are below. To see more member work from the evening, please use this link.

March 2020 

Sadly our March meeting was cancelled due to the Corona virus. Although we were looking forward to our guest speaker, Joel Moskowitz of Tools for Working Wood, the club made a decision which respected the health of our members and the community in which we meet.

March was also the annual woodworking show. NJWA had a booth where, over the 3 days of the event, 15 members supported our effort to promote the club and recruit new members. The show also conducted a Project Challenge, which provided an opportunity for craftspeople to display their work and for attendees to vote on their favorite piece. NJWA member Jay Siegelaub’s natural edge side table was the 2020 winner. Congratulations to Jay. If you’d like to see more of Jay’s work, use this link to check out his website. 

 

View 2019 Meeting Summaries

View 2018 Meeting Summaries

View 2017 Meeting Summaries

View 2016 Meeting Summaries

January 2022 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog

December 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog – Giant Cypress.

November 2021 

We had four members present their work this month. Freddie spoke about his experience building a canoe at the Adirondak Folk School. The school, which is located in Lake Luzerne NY is dedicated to teaching the arts, crafts, and cultural heritage of the Adirondack region. The build, which takes place over two weeks, is limited to four students. It took Freddie several years of trying to register for the class before he was finally able to secure a spot in a class. Next up was Steve talking about his shop built Microjig Ultimate Workbench. For his presentation, Steve played an entertaining YouTube video (accessible via this link), which he created to document the build process. Sri was up next speaking about the build of a round pedestal dining table. The table is made of Sapele, has a 42″ wide solid top and is stunning. Last up was Greg who spoken on the tools and techniques that he uses to flatten slabs. The slabs were cut on his sawmill and dried in the drying room on which he had presented on several months back. Thanks to the presenters for an educational and interesting evening.  

October 2021 

Our guest presenter for October was Ramon Valdez, a furniture maker known for integrating interesting and exquisite marquetry into his work. Ramon’s topic was the “double bevel” marquetry technique! This is a fantastic process for creating beautiful motifs that can be used to decorate a box, add visual interest to a piece of furniture or even as a stand alone picture. Among the items covered by Ramon were layout, building your marquetry in layers, application to a substrate, sawing technique, the principles of double bevel marquetry and tool set.  Thank you to Ramon for an interesting evening and for opening a new way to add interest and beauty to our work. Should you be interested in learning more about Ramon, he has a broad presence on social media. As a starting point, you can check out his website, www.ramonvaldezfinefurniture.com. Also, along with fellow woodworkers Philip Morley and Ben Brunick, he is the host of the  “Woodworkers Podcast”.

The club also held two additional in-person events during October. Early in the month, aboubt 10 member gathered in the parking lot to attend Gordon’s skill building session on the art of hammer veneering. His session included a discussion of the tool set, preping the material and the hammer vereering technique. Gordon provided some veneered samples and then demonstrated the process. Gordon’s demo also covered how to join smaller pieces of veneer so that a large substrate could be covered. There were plenty of material and supplies on hand so that each attendee was able to try their hand at hammer veneering a small board.

On October 30th we held and a branding / swap meet in the parking lot. The branding activity provided members who had made items for the Hermitage Museum with the opportunity to identify their work as being created by an NJWA Club Memeber. At the swap meet about a dozen or so members offered surplus tools, books and material for sale. 

September 2021 

September’s guest presenter was David Fisher whose topic was “Greenwood Carving, Following, Finding and Feeling Flow”.  A full time history teacher in the town in which he’s spent his whole life, Dave has become known internationally for his carving. His work, all of which is done by hand, includes bowls, spoons and vessels.  Many pieces are adorned with beautifully lettered phrases. 

Dave’s talk was a whirlwind tour of his technique, tools and philosophy. On tools, he shapes his work with a minimal tool set without using powered tools. Many of those tools have been passed down from previous generations and will be passed on in the future. On his philosophy, he sees the art that exists in the wood as opposed to forcing his art into the material. On technique, he uses time honored techniques of swinging and ax and pushing gouges and knives while in close contact with the material.

Dave rounded out the evening with an overview of his approach to the carved lettering that he uses to adorn his work. This was an interesting evening spent with a special craftsman. If you’d like to learn more about Dave and his work, you can visit: https://davidffisher.com.

August 2021 

At our August meeting we had three member presentations. Alan gave a detailed presention on a trompe l’oeil table that he built. Trompe l’oeil means fool the eye. The table has what looks like a folded piece of linen drapped over the top. However, what appears to be linen is in fact solid wood. Alan took us through the process of constructing the layers of a solid wood top. He followed that with a detailed description of how he carved a large piece of solid wood so that it appeared to be linen. He described the tools used (power and hand) as well as his carving technique.  He then went on to give a brief description of how he finished the piece. Kevin spoke about two Shaker candle stands that he built. He explained how varying the size and shape of the post and feet allowed hime to come up with two unique pieces. Scott presented on a split top Roubo workbench that he built using plans from the Woodwhisperer Guild. He covered the plans, material used, where he purchased it, construction steps and his experiences using the bench. Thanks to our three presenters for an interesting evening.  

July 2021 

Our guest speaker for July was woodworker and author Andy Rae.  Andy began his career working as a finisher for George Nakashima and working in Frank Klaus’ workshop. Subsequent to that he was a contributor to various woodworking publications, an  associate editor for American Woodworker magazine and the author of several books. Andy’s tool cabinet is the well known piece that graces the front cover of Jim Tolpin’s “The Toolbox Book”. Andy spoke about his journey as a woodworker and an author. He also shared some of the techniques he’s used for designing and building furniture.  He currently has his own workshop where he splits his time between taking on commissions and using woodworking to support recovering addicts. If you’d like to see more of his work, you can find him at Andy Rae Woodworking & Writing Studios on Facebook and @andyraewoodworkingstudio on Instagram.

June 2021 

The topic for June’s meeting was member workbenches. About 25 members posted pictures of their workbenches in a gallery on our website. Each member in attendance was given a few minutes to talk about their workbench. Several members did more in depth presentations. Our opening speaker was Dave Petersen who took us through the design and construction of his Roubo style workbench. There was quite a variety of workbenches build in different styles and using different construction techniques and material. The workbench gallery is still available using this link.

 This was the first regular meeting where members met in person since February of 2020. In order to accommodate as many attendees as possible we provided three options for attending. Members could meet indoors at our traditional location, they could attend via Zoom or they could opt for a middle ground where viewed the meeting via Zoom from the backyard at our location in Pompton Plains. 

May 2021 

Our presenter for May was master carver and teacher Mary May. Last year Mary had given us an overview of carving. This meeting was more of a hands on meeting (via Zoom) where Mary took us through the steps to carving two different versions of an Acanthus leaf. While carving each version, she described the tools and techniques that she was using. Although this was an opportunity to carve along with Mary, it would be quite a challenge to carve as quickly as she did. With this in mind, the session was recorded and sent out to members so that they could go through this at their own speed. 

She recently finished first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In addition to our regular meeting, the club held a skill session on May 15th. Three members presented on various sharpening topics. Bob demonstrated how to sharpen turning tools on a grinder, Gordon focused on sharpening chisels and plane irons on flat stones and Charlie taught the particulars of sharpening carving tools,

April 2021 

April’s guest presenter was Bob Van Dyke, the founder and director of the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. Bob’s topic was stock preparation, make it flat, straight and square. A Fine Woodworking contribution editor, Bob took us step by step through the process he uses to take lumber from the rough stage to being milled 4 square. Speaking from the CVSW workshop, his talk focused on the use of four machines to mill lumber, the  jointer, planer, bandsaw and table saw. Bob did cover spring joints, a technique for developing highly reliable edge joints. For that process he used a hand plane. Also included in his presentation was the topic of yield, which is the amount of milled stock that can be gotten from a rough board. Bob explained how to approximate the yield, why warp and twist in a board reduces yield and how to maximize the yield. Bob also highlighted some of the situations that would lead to less than optimal stock preparation including poor machine set up and errors in technique.  

March 2021 

March’s guest presenter was Joel Moskowitz, the owner of Tools for Working Wood. An avid collector of historical woodworking and craft texts, Joel is also the author of the popular woodworking blog “Joel’s Blog”. In addition he manufactures his own line of tools under the brands Gramercy Tools and BT&C (Brooklyn Tool and Craft). A passionate student of woodworking history, Joel’s spoke on how early woodworking texts have informed the design and development of modern tools in particular many of the tools designed and made by his company. Among the texts that he referred to during his talk was Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanic Exercises” pointing to some of the pictures in his copy of the 1683 edition, one of only a few hundred in print. Thanks to Joel for and interesting and education evening.

On Monday March 1st meeting at 7PM, we held an open discussion and presentation of our prospective projects for the Witness Tree project.  Members exchanged their ideas and were able to find out if there were any duplicate or similar items in the planning.  For members who have decided on a project, we will be able to present them to The Hermitage Staff and hear their reaction and comments.  Many members have posted their ideas to a photo album which can be viewed at the following link: witness tree project ideas.

February 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. His topic for the evening was an overview of spindle turning which is the type of turning that is most useful for furniture makers. Tom covered numerous topics including tools, sharpening, setting up the lathe, the types of cuts used in spindle turning and using templates. Tom also discussed the importance of a fair curve in order to give your furniture a professional and pleasing look. Thanks to Tom for a great introduction to woodturning for furniture makers. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure (the link for Tom’s May of 2020 video presentation is also still active).

January  2021 

Our kickoff meeting for 2021 began with a reap of our 2020 activities and elections for the board of directors. Following club business, we had three member presentations.

• Greg D. walked us through the design and construction of his home drying room. The room, which is attached to his shop, was built from the ground up and allows Greg to dry wood that he has milled himself
• Ben S. spoke about a branding iron that he recently purchased. Included in his discussion was the trial and error that he went through to develop a technique that would yield a clear image on his work. 
• Sri spoke on a Carolina Candle Stand which he just completed. Among the topics covered were creating the mortise and tenons for attaching the feet to the post and how to attach the top to account for wood movement. 

December 2020 

Our guest speaker for this month was Russell M, a technical specialist with JPW Industries, the makers of Jet and Powermatic tools. He covered a broad range of topic including: 

• Trends in woodworking machine technology
• The key features to look for when shopping for a woodworking machine 
• Maintenance concepts and practices for the types of machines that most of us are likely to own (i.e., bandsaw, planer, jointer, drill press, sanders, tablesaw, etc.)
• Key decision points, e.g. straight vs. segmented knives
• Some key usage points, common mistakes to avoid, safety and accuracy practices

Many thanks to Russell for an informative and interesting evening

November 2020 

For this month’s meeting, we had a virtual tour of the Stickley Museum in Fayetteville NY.  The museum which opened in 2007 explores over a century of furniture making excellence. It highlights the inspiration and craftsmanship that made Stickley America’s foremost fine furniture maker and the craftspeople whose commitment to quality led to Stickley’s reputation for manufacturing heirloom quality furniture. Many thanks to the museum’s head Amanda C., who gave a wonderful tour despite the fact that her only connection to her audience was via faces on an iPad. 

In addition to our regular monthly meeting, we held a swap meet in the early part of the month. Approximately 20 members (and a few non-members) set up tables to sell a variety of tools. Another 20 or so participated as buyers only. The event was held outdoors and masks were required. After being quarantined for a good part of the year, it was a good way to catch up with our fellow NJWA members.  

October 2020 

October’s guest speaker was Mary May, a master carver who works out of her workshop on John’s Island South Carolina. During her two hour presentation, Mary took us through an overview of the basics of carving. The topics included the various types of tools, the convention for identifying the various shapes and sizes and how to sharpen them; the types of wood that are appropriate for carving and some basic techniques. Mary is also a teacher who has taught at such places as the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana, Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School and the Connecticut Valley School. She recently finished her first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In early October we had a second event at John M’s saw mill where we began the process of milling the witness tree. Also, as some of John’s property was being sold off, members helped to clear lumber off that portion of his yard.  

September 2020 

Chuck Bender, a well known period furniture maker and the founder of the Acanthus Workshop, a woodworking school in Jim Thorpe Pa., was September’s presenter. His topic was modern methods for making federal style furniture. Chuck spoke about jigs and machine use among other things. A large part of the presentation was spent exploring the reasons that period furniture failed due to wood movement and the techniques that he uses to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the reproductions that he builds. Several examples from his portfolio are below. To learn more about Chuck’s  work and school, you can visit acanthus.com.

August 2020 

This month’s featured presenter was artist, sculptor and furniture maker Scott Grove. His topic was advanced veneering. You can use his link to Scott’s website to learn more about his work: scottgrove.com

July 2020 

July’s meeting featured 4 member presentations.

• Ben’s presentation covered the various construction elements and techniques involved in building an interesting workbench.
• Roy’s flag box – which described the build process including his approach to cutting the angled components for the triangular form
•  David’s row boat rocker – built for his grand daughter, there were a number of challenging angled components that needed to be cut.
•  Cliff’s segmented vase –  a short review of how he cut the angled components for the segments that were used to create the vase.

In addition to our regular July meeting, we’ll have an informal get together where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

June 2020 

Tis month’s guest presenter was Steve Latta. A teacher, writer, craftsman and contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, Steve’s main job is developing the furniture makers of tomorrow at the Thaddeus Steven’s College in Lancaster Pennsylvania. His topic for our meeting was creating and adding inlays to furniture. You can view some of his FWW articles at: https://www.finewoodworking.com/author/steve-latta

 In addition to our regular June meeting, we’ll have an informal get together on Monday June 1st where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

May 2020 

Our virtual presenter at May’s meeting was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. There were 45 members in attendance. Tom’s topic was the uses for and methods of creating mortise and tenon joints. Many thanks to Tom for an interesting and engaging night. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure.  

April 2020 

April’s online meeting was composed of a number of short member presentations. There were 22 members in attendance. Although that’s about half of our normal attendance and we were all remote, the discussion was very lively. The members who presented were:

• Brian described the Pekovich bench jig that he made for working with small parts
• Abe gave us a tour of his Pekovich hanging tool cabinet and also did a brief shop tour
• Verne gave us a complete tour of his shop
• Alan showed a sliding table that enables him to cut  small logs on his band saw and toured some of his shop and equipment
• Charlie showed us some carvings including a beautiful carved banana and some carved swans that he’s making as holiday gifts
• Gordon spoke about test pieces he was making for veneered drawer fronts
• John showed two pieces, a three legged stool and a saw horse. He also talked about the shop stool project which he’s facilitating
• Sri is building a large dresser with sliding dovetails. He had pictures of the jigs he built to cut them as well as his method for handling large pieces on his router table
• Tal completed his music stand, which he displayed and spoke about some of the techniques he used to build it.
• Several pictures from the evening are below. To see more member work from the evening, please use this link.

March 2020 

Sadly our March meeting was cancelled due to the Corona virus. Although we were looking forward to our guest speaker, Joel Moskowitz of Tools for Working Wood, the club made a decision which respected the health of our members and the community in which we meet.

March was also the annual woodworking show. NJWA had a booth where, over the 3 days of the event, 15 members supported our effort to promote the club and recruit new members. The show also conducted a Project Challenge, which provided an opportunity for craftspeople to display their work and for attendees to vote on their favorite piece. NJWA member Jay Siegelaub’s natural edge side table was the 2020 winner. Congratulations to Jay. If you’d like to see more of Jay’s work, use this link to check out his website. 

 

View 2019 Meeting Summaries

View 2018 Meeting Summaries

View 2017 Meeting Summaries

View 2016 Meeting Summaries

September 2022 

Our guest speaker for September was author, teacher and Fine Woodworking contributing editor Steve Latta. A professional furniture and cabinet maker for over 30 years, he has spent the last 20 years as a professor of cabinet making and wood technology at the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster Pa. Well know for his expertise on period furniture, Steve is an in-demand lecturer at places such as Winterthur, Colonial Williamsburg and The American Furniture Study Center at Yale University. His topic was flow as it applies to furniture making. Steve focused on the building of a small, one-drawer night stand. He began with lumber selection and progressed through dimensioning and joinery. He explained “which cut, in which order, and why”. The information packed into Steve’s presentation has the potential to improve the quality of our projects while reducing workshop frustration and mistakes.  

August 2022 

Our guest speaker for August was author, teacher and Fine Woodworking contributing editor Roland “Rollie” Johnson. A longtime professional woodworker in Sauk Rapids, MN, Rollie opened his first workshop in 1976. A self professed gear head, he’s FWW’s expert on hand and machine tool maintenance, authoring  several video series on the topic as well as providing numerous tool reviews. In addition, he’s taught finishing at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine and has written several books on woodworking. Rollie’s topic was coloring wood. He touched on products, types of stain, how different woods accept stain and numerous other topics. While many of us were familiar with Rollie from his work at the Woodworking Shows we weren’t prepared for the depth of knowledge that he shared with us during the evening. David Levenberg has gone through the the recording and summarized Rollie’s presentation. Here’s a link to that document.

July 2022 

Our July meeting took place at the Mr. Sawdust School of Professional Woodworking in Hackettstown NJ. Our host was Wally Kunkel the owner of the school. His father, Wallace Kunkel Sr. known as Mr. Sawdust, had a school in Chester NJ which is where Wally began his woodworking education eventually becoming a professional furniture maker. Following in his father’s footsteps, he now runs his own school offering a wide variety of courses. One of his specialties, which he demonstrated for us, is using the radial arm saw to cut complex joinery. In addition to a detailed tour of the school, Wally arranged for Frank Klauz to do a short presentation and Q&A on cutting dovetails by hand. Should you want more information on Wally and his school you can visit him at the Mr. Sawdust School’s website.

June 2022 

June’s guest speaker was Nick DeMars, the woodworking Product Specialist at Klingspor Abrasives who spoke about all things sandpaper and sanding. Nick covered hand and machine sanding, sanding techniques and answered questions such as what sandpaper characteristics are appropriate for wood removal vs. finish prep. As Klingspor’s router bit specialist he was also able to give us an overview router bits and their uses.

May 2022 

For May’s meeting we took a break from paid presenters and focused on the work of our members. Our first presenter was Tim who described his Morris Chair build. He presented on construction details as well as his personal design decisions that went into creating the piece. There were many interesting aspects to the build including his technique for getting quarter sawn faces on all of the legs. Thanks to Tim for an interesting presentation which included a short video for each step of the build. Gordon followed with a talk on a credenza that he built. The piece has 3 drawers with veneered fronts surrounded by cock beading. It also has a shelf below the drawers that’s suspended from four delecate legs. Gordon shared his approach to overcoming each of the challenges inherent in building this piece. Last was a short talk by David on an bandsaw technique for creating interesting curved designs. The technique that he described allows him to create artistic pieces composed of a variety of wood species and shapes. Thanks to our presenters for sharing some very interesting techniques and designs.

April 2022 

April’s guest presenter was Shannon Rogers, the host of Shannon’s Lumber Industry Update. Drawing on his day job as the Director of Marketing for one of the oldest lumber companies in the US, J. Gibson McIlvain, he offered a deep understanding and unique perspective on the industry. In addition, he runs his own online woodworking school devoted to hand tools called appropriately enough The Hand Tool School.  Shannon spoke on a variety of topics as varied as domestic and imported hardwoods, sheet goods, the economics of the lumber industry and the restoration of Notre Dame.

March 2022 

Andrew Hunter was our March of 2022 presenter. A frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking and a good friend to the club, Andrew is also a well respected expert on Japanese tools and techniques. His topic was accurate joinery layout, how to ensure that your joints are well fitting and tight. 

February 2022 

Our guest presenter for February was Bob Behnke of Franklin International, the makers of Titebond glues. Bob was our featured presenter in July of 2018. Member surveys have rated his presentation as among the best we’ve ever had, so we invited him to present again. 

January 2022 

January’s meeting was our kickoff meeting for 2022. We focused on club business including elections, a review of last year meetings and our plans for 2022. That was followed up by several member presentations. Charlie spoke about a pair of shore birds that he carved for a charity auction, Pat spoke on the crusher/destemmer that he made for his wine making hobby. We had some time left at the end and were able to have another member present an overview of thier workbench review. Thanks to Jim Mueller for taking us through the build and use of his bench

December 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog – Giant Cypress.

November 2021 

We had four members present their work this month. Freddie spoke about his experience building a canoe at the Adirondak Folk School. The school, which is located in Lake Luzerne NY is dedicated to teaching the arts, crafts, and cultural heritage of the Adirondack region. The build, which takes place over two weeks, is limited to four students. It took Freddie several years of trying to register for the class before he was finally able to secure a spot in a class. Next up was Steve talking about his shop built Microjig Ultimate Workbench. For his presentation, Steve played an entertaining YouTube video (accessible via this link), which he created to document the build process. Sri was up next speaking about the build of a round pedestal dining table. The table is made of Sapele, has a 42″ wide solid top and is stunning. Last up was Greg who spoken on the tools and techniques that he uses to flatten slabs. The slabs were cut on his sawmill and dried in the drying room on which he had presented on several months back. Thanks to the presenters for an educational and interesting evening.  

October 2021 

Our guest presenter for October was Ramon Valdez, a furniture maker known for integrating interesting and exquisite marquetry into his work. Ramon’s topic was the “double bevel” marquetry technique! This is a fantastic process for creating beautiful motifs that can be used to decorate a box, add visual interest to a piece of furniture or even as a stand alone picture. Among the items covered by Ramon were layout, building your marquetry in layers, application to a substrate, sawing technique, the principles of double bevel marquetry and tool set.  Thank you to Ramon for an interesting evening and for opening a new way to add interest and beauty to our work. Should you be interested in learning more about Ramon, he has a broad presence on social media. As a starting point, you can check out his website, www.ramonvaldezfinefurniture.com. Also, along with fellow woodworkers Philip Morley and Ben Brunick, he is the host of the  “Woodworkers Podcast”.

The club also held two additional in-person events during October. Early in the month, aboubt 10 member gathered in the parking lot to attend Gordon’s skill building session on the art of hammer veneering. His session included a discussion of the tool set, preping the material and the hammer vereering technique. Gordon provided some veneered samples and then demonstrated the process. Gordon’s demo also covered how to join smaller pieces of veneer so that a large substrate could be covered. There were plenty of material and supplies on hand so that each attendee was able to try their hand at hammer veneering a small board.

On October 30th we held and a branding / swap meet in the parking lot. The branding activity provided members who had made items for the Hermitage Museum with the opportunity to identify their work as being created by an NJWA Club Memeber. At the swap meet about a dozen or so members offered surplus tools, books and material for sale. 

September 2021 

September’s guest presenter was David Fisher whose topic was “Greenwood Carving, Following, Finding and Feeling Flow”.  A full time history teacher in the town in which he’s spent his whole life, Dave has become known internationally for his carving. His work, all of which is done by hand, includes bowls, spoons and vessels.  Many pieces are adorned with beautifully lettered phrases. 

Dave’s talk was a whirlwind tour of his technique, tools and philosophy. On tools, he shapes his work with a minimal tool set without using powered tools. Many of those tools have been passed down from previous generations and will be passed on in the future. On his philosophy, he sees the art that exists in the wood as opposed to forcing his art into the material. On technique, he uses time honored techniques of swinging and ax and pushing gouges and knives while in close contact with the material.

Dave rounded out the evening with an overview of his approach to the carved lettering that he uses to adorn his work. This was an interesting evening spent with a special craftsman. If you’d like to learn more about Dave and his work, you can visit: https://davidffisher.com.

August 2021 

At our August meeting we had three member presentations. Alan gave a detailed presention on a trompe l’oeil table that he built. Trompe l’oeil means fool the eye. The table has what looks like a folded piece of linen drapped over the top. However, what appears to be linen is in fact solid wood. Alan took us through the process of constructing the layers of a solid wood top. He followed that with a detailed description of how he carved a large piece of solid wood so that it appeared to be linen. He described the tools used (power and hand) as well as his carving technique.  He then went on to give a brief description of how he finished the piece. Kevin spoke about two Shaker candle stands that he built. He explained how varying the size and shape of the post and feet allowed hime to come up with two unique pieces. Scott presented on a split top Roubo workbench that he built using plans from the Woodwhisperer Guild. He covered the plans, material used, where he purchased it, construction steps and his experiences using the bench. Thanks to our three presenters for an interesting evening.  

July 2021 

Our guest speaker for July was woodworker and author Andy Rae.  Andy began his career working as a finisher for George Nakashima and working in Frank Klaus’ workshop. Subsequent to that he was a contributor to various woodworking publications, an  associate editor for American Woodworker magazine and the author of several books. Andy’s tool cabinet is the well known piece that graces the front cover of Jim Tolpin’s “The Toolbox Book”. Andy spoke about his journey as a woodworker and an author. He also shared some of the techniques he’s used for designing and building furniture.  He currently has his own workshop where he splits his time between taking on commissions and using woodworking to support recovering addicts. If you’d like to see more of his work, you can find him at Andy Rae Woodworking & Writing Studios on Facebook and @andyraewoodworkingstudio on Instagram.

June 2021 

The topic for June’s meeting was member workbenches. About 25 members posted pictures of their workbenches in a gallery on our website. Each member in attendance was given a few minutes to talk about their workbench. Several members did more in depth presentations. Our opening speaker was Dave Petersen who took us through the design and construction of his Roubo style workbench. There was quite a variety of workbenches build in different styles and using different construction techniques and material. The workbench gallery is still available using this link.

 This was the first regular meeting where members met in person since February of 2020. In order to accommodate as many attendees as possible we provided three options for attending. Members could meet indoors at our traditional location, they could attend via Zoom or they could opt for a middle ground where viewed the meeting via Zoom from the backyard at our location in Pompton Plains. 

May 2021 

Our presenter for May was master carver and teacher Mary May. Last year Mary had given us an overview of carving. This meeting was more of a hands on meeting (via Zoom) where Mary took us through the steps to carving two different versions of an Acanthus leaf. While carving each version, she described the tools and techniques that she was using. Although this was an opportunity to carve along with Mary, it would be quite a challenge to carve as quickly as she did. With this in mind, the session was recorded and sent out to members so that they could go through this at their own speed. 

She recently finished first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In addition to our regular meeting, the club held a skill session on May 15th. Three members presented on various sharpening topics. Bob demonstrated how to sharpen turning tools on a grinder, Gordon focused on sharpening chisels and plane irons on flat stones and Charlie taught the particulars of sharpening carving tools,

April 2021 

April’s guest presenter was Bob Van Dyke, the founder and director of the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. Bob’s topic was stock preparation, make it flat, straight and square. A Fine Woodworking contribution editor, Bob took us step by step through the process he uses to take lumber from the rough stage to being milled 4 square. Speaking from the CVSW workshop, his talk focused on the use of four machines to mill lumber, the  jointer, planer, bandsaw and table saw. Bob did cover spring joints, a technique for developing highly reliable edge joints. For that process he used a hand plane. Also included in his presentation was the topic of yield, which is the amount of milled stock that can be gotten from a rough board. Bob explained how to approximate the yield, why warp and twist in a board reduces yield and how to maximize the yield. Bob also highlighted some of the situations that would lead to less than optimal stock preparation including poor machine set up and errors in technique.  

March 2021 

March’s guest presenter was Joel Moskowitz, the owner of Tools for Working Wood. An avid collector of historical woodworking and craft texts, Joel is also the author of the popular woodworking blog “Joel’s Blog”. In addition he manufactures his own line of tools under the brands Gramercy Tools and BT&C (Brooklyn Tool and Craft). A passionate student of woodworking history, Joel’s spoke on how early woodworking texts have informed the design and development of modern tools in particular many of the tools designed and made by his company. Among the texts that he referred to during his talk was Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanic Exercises” pointing to some of the pictures in his copy of the 1683 edition, one of only a few hundred in print. Thanks to Joel for and interesting and education evening.

On Monday March 1st meeting at 7PM, we held an open discussion and presentation of our prospective projects for the Witness Tree project.  Members exchanged their ideas and were able to find out if there were any duplicate or similar items in the planning.  For members who have decided on a project, we will be able to present them to The Hermitage Staff and hear their reaction and comments.  Many members have posted their ideas to a photo album which can be viewed at the following link: witness tree project ideas.

February 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. His topic for the evening was an overview of spindle turning which is the type of turning that is most useful for furniture makers. Tom covered numerous topics including tools, sharpening, setting up the lathe, the types of cuts used in spindle turning and using templates. Tom also discussed the importance of a fair curve in order to give your furniture a professional and pleasing look. Thanks to Tom for a great introduction to woodturning for furniture makers. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure (the link for Tom’s May of 2020 video presentation is also still active).

January  2021 

Our kickoff meeting for 2021 began with a reap of our 2020 activities and elections for the board of directors. Following club business, we had three member presentations.

• Greg D. walked us through the design and construction of his home drying room. The room, which is attached to his shop, was built from the ground up and allows Greg to dry wood that he has milled himself
• Ben S. spoke about a branding iron that he recently purchased. Included in his discussion was the trial and error that he went through to develop a technique that would yield a clear image on his work. 
• Sri spoke on a Carolina Candle Stand which he just completed. Among the topics covered were creating the mortise and tenons for attaching the feet to the post and how to attach the top to account for wood movement. 

December 2020 

Our guest speaker for this month was Russell M, a technical specialist with JPW Industries, the makers of Jet and Powermatic tools. He covered a broad range of topic including: 

• Trends in woodworking machine technology
• The key features to look for when shopping for a woodworking machine 
• Maintenance concepts and practices for the types of machines that most of us are likely to own (i.e., bandsaw, planer, jointer, drill press, sanders, tablesaw, etc.)
• Key decision points, e.g. straight vs. segmented knives
• Some key usage points, common mistakes to avoid, safety and accuracy practices

Many thanks to Russell for an informative and interesting evening

November 2020 

For this month’s meeting, we had a virtual tour of the Stickley Museum in Fayetteville NY.  The museum which opened in 2007 explores over a century of furniture making excellence. It highlights the inspiration and craftsmanship that made Stickley America’s foremost fine furniture maker and the craftspeople whose commitment to quality led to Stickley’s reputation for manufacturing heirloom quality furniture. Many thanks to the museum’s head Amanda C., who gave a wonderful tour despite the fact that her only connection to her audience was via faces on an iPad. 

In addition to our regular monthly meeting, we held a swap meet in the early part of the month. Approximately 20 members (and a few non-members) set up tables to sell a variety of tools. Another 20 or so participated as buyers only. The event was held outdoors and masks were required. After being quarantined for a good part of the year, it was a good way to catch up with our fellow NJWA members.  

October 2020 

October’s guest speaker was Mary May, a master carver who works out of her workshop on John’s Island South Carolina. During her two hour presentation, Mary took us through an overview of the basics of carving. The topics included the various types of tools, the convention for identifying the various shapes and sizes and how to sharpen them; the types of wood that are appropriate for carving and some basic techniques. Mary is also a teacher who has taught at such places as the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana, Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School and the Connecticut Valley School. She recently finished her first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In early October we had a second event at John M’s saw mill where we began the process of milling the witness tree. Also, as some of John’s property was being sold off, members helped to clear lumber off that portion of his yard.  

September 2020 

Chuck Bender, a well known period furniture maker and the founder of the Acanthus Workshop, a woodworking school in Jim Thorpe Pa., was September’s presenter. His topic was modern methods for making federal style furniture. Chuck spoke about jigs and machine use among other things. A large part of the presentation was spent exploring the reasons that period furniture failed due to wood movement and the techniques that he uses to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the reproductions that he builds. Several examples from his portfolio are below. To learn more about Chuck’s  work and school, you can visit acanthus.com.

August 2020 

This month’s featured presenter was artist, sculptor and furniture maker Scott Grove. His topic was advanced veneering. You can use his link to Scott’s website to learn more about his work: scottgrove.com

July 2020 

July’s meeting featured 4 member presentations.

• Ben’s presentation covered the various construction elements and techniques involved in building an interesting workbench.
• Roy’s flag box – which described the build process including his approach to cutting the angled components for the triangular form
•  David’s row boat rocker – built for his grand daughter, there were a number of challenging angled components that needed to be cut.
•  Cliff’s segmented vase –  a short review of how he cut the angled components for the segments that were used to create the vase.

In addition to our regular July meeting, we’ll have an informal get together where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

June 2020 

Tis month’s guest presenter was Steve Latta. A teacher, writer, craftsman and contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, Steve’s main job is developing the furniture makers of tomorrow at the Thaddeus Steven’s College in Lancaster Pennsylvania. His topic for our meeting was creating and adding inlays to furniture. You can view some of his FWW articles at: https://www.finewoodworking.com/author/steve-latta

 In addition to our regular June meeting, we’ll have an informal get together on Monday June 1st where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

May 2020 

Our virtual presenter at May’s meeting was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. There were 45 members in attendance. Tom’s topic was the uses for and methods of creating mortise and tenon joints. Many thanks to Tom for an interesting and engaging night. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure.  

April 2020 

April’s online meeting was composed of a number of short member presentations. There were 22 members in attendance. Although that’s about half of our normal attendance and we were all remote, the discussion was very lively. The members who presented were:

• Brian described the Pekovich bench jig that he made for working with small parts
• Abe gave us a tour of his Pekovich hanging tool cabinet and also did a brief shop tour
• Verne gave us a complete tour of his shop
• Alan showed a sliding table that enables him to cut  small logs on his band saw and toured some of his shop and equipment
• Charlie showed us some carvings including a beautiful carved banana and some carved swans that he’s making as holiday gifts
• Gordon spoke about test pieces he was making for veneered drawer fronts
• John showed two pieces, a three legged stool and a saw horse. He also talked about the shop stool project which he’s facilitating
• Sri is building a large dresser with sliding dovetails. He had pictures of the jigs he built to cut them as well as his method for handling large pieces on his router table
• Tal completed his music stand, which he displayed and spoke about some of the techniques he used to build it.
• Several pictures from the evening are below. To see more member work from the evening, please use this link.

March 2020 

Sadly our March meeting was cancelled due to the Corona virus. Although we were looking forward to our guest speaker, Joel Moskowitz of Tools for Working Wood, the club made a decision which respected the health of our members and the community in which we meet.

March was also the annual woodworking show. NJWA had a booth where, over the 3 days of the event, 15 members supported our effort to promote the club and recruit new members. The show also conducted a Project Challenge, which provided an opportunity for craftspeople to display their work and for attendees to vote on their favorite piece. NJWA member Jay Siegelaub’s natural edge side table was the 2020 winner. Congratulations to Jay. If you’d like to see more of Jay’s work, use this link to check out his website. 

 

View 2019 Meeting Summaries

View 2018 Meeting Summaries

View 2017 Meeting Summaries

View 2016 Meeting Summaries

January 2022 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog

December 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog – Giant Cypress.

November 2021 

We had four members present their work this month. Freddie spoke about his experience building a canoe at the Adirondak Folk School. The school, which is located in Lake Luzerne NY is dedicated to teaching the arts, crafts, and cultural heritage of the Adirondack region. The build, which takes place over two weeks, is limited to four students. It took Freddie several years of trying to register for the class before he was finally able to secure a spot in a class. Next up was Steve talking about his shop built Microjig Ultimate Workbench. For his presentation, Steve played an entertaining YouTube video (accessible via this link), which he created to document the build process. Sri was up next speaking about the build of a round pedestal dining table. The table is made of Sapele, has a 42″ wide solid top and is stunning. Last up was Greg who spoken on the tools and techniques that he uses to flatten slabs. The slabs were cut on his sawmill and dried in the drying room on which he had presented on several months back. Thanks to the presenters for an educational and interesting evening.  

October 2021 

Our guest presenter for October was Ramon Valdez, a furniture maker known for integrating interesting and exquisite marquetry into his work. Ramon’s topic was the “double bevel” marquetry technique! This is a fantastic process for creating beautiful motifs that can be used to decorate a box, add visual interest to a piece of furniture or even as a stand alone picture. Among the items covered by Ramon were layout, building your marquetry in layers, application to a substrate, sawing technique, the principles of double bevel marquetry and tool set.  Thank you to Ramon for an interesting evening and for opening a new way to add interest and beauty to our work. Should you be interested in learning more about Ramon, he has a broad presence on social media. As a starting point, you can check out his website, www.ramonvaldezfinefurniture.com. Also, along with fellow woodworkers Philip Morley and Ben Brunick, he is the host of the  “Woodworkers Podcast”.

The club also held two additional in-person events during October. Early in the month, aboubt 10 member gathered in the parking lot to attend Gordon’s skill building session on the art of hammer veneering. His session included a discussion of the tool set, preping the material and the hammer vereering technique. Gordon provided some veneered samples and then demonstrated the process. Gordon’s demo also covered how to join smaller pieces of veneer so that a large substrate could be covered. There were plenty of material and supplies on hand so that each attendee was able to try their hand at hammer veneering a small board.

On October 30th we held and a branding / swap meet in the parking lot. The branding activity provided members who had made items for the Hermitage Museum with the opportunity to identify their work as being created by an NJWA Club Memeber. At the swap meet about a dozen or so members offered surplus tools, books and material for sale. 

September 2021 

September’s guest presenter was David Fisher whose topic was “Greenwood Carving, Following, Finding and Feeling Flow”.  A full time history teacher in the town in which he’s spent his whole life, Dave has become known internationally for his carving. His work, all of which is done by hand, includes bowls, spoons and vessels.  Many pieces are adorned with beautifully lettered phrases. 

Dave’s talk was a whirlwind tour of his technique, tools and philosophy. On tools, he shapes his work with a minimal tool set without using powered tools. Many of those tools have been passed down from previous generations and will be passed on in the future. On his philosophy, he sees the art that exists in the wood as opposed to forcing his art into the material. On technique, he uses time honored techniques of swinging and ax and pushing gouges and knives while in close contact with the material.

Dave rounded out the evening with an overview of his approach to the carved lettering that he uses to adorn his work. This was an interesting evening spent with a special craftsman. If you’d like to learn more about Dave and his work, you can visit: https://davidffisher.com.

August 2021 

At our August meeting we had three member presentations. Alan gave a detailed presention on a trompe l’oeil table that he built. Trompe l’oeil means fool the eye. The table has what looks like a folded piece of linen drapped over the top. However, what appears to be linen is in fact solid wood. Alan took us through the process of constructing the layers of a solid wood top. He followed that with a detailed description of how he carved a large piece of solid wood so that it appeared to be linen. He described the tools used (power and hand) as well as his carving technique.  He then went on to give a brief description of how he finished the piece. Kevin spoke about two Shaker candle stands that he built. He explained how varying the size and shape of the post and feet allowed hime to come up with two unique pieces. Scott presented on a split top Roubo workbench that he built using plans from the Woodwhisperer Guild. He covered the plans, material used, where he purchased it, construction steps and his experiences using the bench. Thanks to our three presenters for an interesting evening.  

July 2021 

Our guest speaker for July was woodworker and author Andy Rae.  Andy began his career working as a finisher for George Nakashima and working in Frank Klaus’ workshop. Subsequent to that he was a contributor to various woodworking publications, an  associate editor for American Woodworker magazine and the author of several books. Andy’s tool cabinet is the well known piece that graces the front cover of Jim Tolpin’s “The Toolbox Book”. Andy spoke about his journey as a woodworker and an author. He also shared some of the techniques he’s used for designing and building furniture.  He currently has his own workshop where he splits his time between taking on commissions and using woodworking to support recovering addicts. If you’d like to see more of his work, you can find him at Andy Rae Woodworking & Writing Studios on Facebook and @andyraewoodworkingstudio on Instagram.

June 2021 

The topic for June’s meeting was member workbenches. About 25 members posted pictures of their workbenches in a gallery on our website. Each member in attendance was given a few minutes to talk about their workbench. Several members did more in depth presentations. Our opening speaker was Dave Petersen who took us through the design and construction of his Roubo style workbench. There was quite a variety of workbenches build in different styles and using different construction techniques and material. The workbench gallery is still available using this link.

 This was the first regular meeting where members met in person since February of 2020. In order to accommodate as many attendees as possible we provided three options for attending. Members could meet indoors at our traditional location, they could attend via Zoom or they could opt for a middle ground where viewed the meeting via Zoom from the backyard at our location in Pompton Plains. 

May 2021 

Our presenter for May was master carver and teacher Mary May. Last year Mary had given us an overview of carving. This meeting was more of a hands on meeting (via Zoom) where Mary took us through the steps to carving two different versions of an Acanthus leaf. While carving each version, she described the tools and techniques that she was using. Although this was an opportunity to carve along with Mary, it would be quite a challenge to carve as quickly as she did. With this in mind, the session was recorded and sent out to members so that they could go through this at their own speed. 

She recently finished first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In addition to our regular meeting, the club held a skill session on May 15th. Three members presented on various sharpening topics. Bob demonstrated how to sharpen turning tools on a grinder, Gordon focused on sharpening chisels and plane irons on flat stones and Charlie taught the particulars of sharpening carving tools,

April 2021 

April’s guest presenter was Bob Van Dyke, the founder and director of the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. Bob’s topic was stock preparation, make it flat, straight and square. A Fine Woodworking contribution editor, Bob took us step by step through the process he uses to take lumber from the rough stage to being milled 4 square. Speaking from the CVSW workshop, his talk focused on the use of four machines to mill lumber, the  jointer, planer, bandsaw and table saw. Bob did cover spring joints, a technique for developing highly reliable edge joints. For that process he used a hand plane. Also included in his presentation was the topic of yield, which is the amount of milled stock that can be gotten from a rough board. Bob explained how to approximate the yield, why warp and twist in a board reduces yield and how to maximize the yield. Bob also highlighted some of the situations that would lead to less than optimal stock preparation including poor machine set up and errors in technique.  

March 2021 

March’s guest presenter was Joel Moskowitz, the owner of Tools for Working Wood. An avid collector of historical woodworking and craft texts, Joel is also the author of the popular woodworking blog “Joel’s Blog”. In addition he manufactures his own line of tools under the brands Gramercy Tools and BT&C (Brooklyn Tool and Craft). A passionate student of woodworking history, Joel’s spoke on how early woodworking texts have informed the design and development of modern tools in particular many of the tools designed and made by his company. Among the texts that he referred to during his talk was Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanic Exercises” pointing to some of the pictures in his copy of the 1683 edition, one of only a few hundred in print. Thanks to Joel for and interesting and education evening.

On Monday March 1st meeting at 7PM, we held an open discussion and presentation of our prospective projects for the Witness Tree project.  Members exchanged their ideas and were able to find out if there were any duplicate or similar items in the planning.  For members who have decided on a project, we will be able to present them to The Hermitage Staff and hear their reaction and comments.  Many members have posted their ideas to a photo album which can be viewed at the following link: witness tree project ideas.

February 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. His topic for the evening was an overview of spindle turning which is the type of turning that is most useful for furniture makers. Tom covered numerous topics including tools, sharpening, setting up the lathe, the types of cuts used in spindle turning and using templates. Tom also discussed the importance of a fair curve in order to give your furniture a professional and pleasing look. Thanks to Tom for a great introduction to woodturning for furniture makers. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure (the link for Tom’s May of 2020 video presentation is also still active).

January  2021 

Our kickoff meeting for 2021 began with a reap of our 2020 activities and elections for the board of directors. Following club business, we had three member presentations.

• Greg D. walked us through the design and construction of his home drying room. The room, which is attached to his shop, was built from the ground up and allows Greg to dry wood that he has milled himself
• Ben S. spoke about a branding iron that he recently purchased. Included in his discussion was the trial and error that he went through to develop a technique that would yield a clear image on his work. 
• Sri spoke on a Carolina Candle Stand which he just completed. Among the topics covered were creating the mortise and tenons for attaching the feet to the post and how to attach the top to account for wood movement. 

December 2020 

Our guest speaker for this month was Russell M, a technical specialist with JPW Industries, the makers of Jet and Powermatic tools. He covered a broad range of topic including: 

• Trends in woodworking machine technology
• The key features to look for when shopping for a woodworking machine 
• Maintenance concepts and practices for the types of machines that most of us are likely to own (i.e., bandsaw, planer, jointer, drill press, sanders, tablesaw, etc.)
• Key decision points, e.g. straight vs. segmented knives
• Some key usage points, common mistakes to avoid, safety and accuracy practices

Many thanks to Russell for an informative and interesting evening

November 2020 

For this month’s meeting, we had a virtual tour of the Stickley Museum in Fayetteville NY.  The museum which opened in 2007 explores over a century of furniture making excellence. It highlights the inspiration and craftsmanship that made Stickley America’s foremost fine furniture maker and the craftspeople whose commitment to quality led to Stickley’s reputation for manufacturing heirloom quality furniture. Many thanks to the museum’s head Amanda C., who gave a wonderful tour despite the fact that her only connection to her audience was via faces on an iPad. 

In addition to our regular monthly meeting, we held a swap meet in the early part of the month. Approximately 20 members (and a few non-members) set up tables to sell a variety of tools. Another 20 or so participated as buyers only. The event was held outdoors and masks were required. After being quarantined for a good part of the year, it was a good way to catch up with our fellow NJWA members.  

October 2020 

October’s guest speaker was Mary May, a master carver who works out of her workshop on John’s Island South Carolina. During her two hour presentation, Mary took us through an overview of the basics of carving. The topics included the various types of tools, the convention for identifying the various shapes and sizes and how to sharpen them; the types of wood that are appropriate for carving and some basic techniques. Mary is also a teacher who has taught at such places as the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana, Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School and the Connecticut Valley School. She recently finished her first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In early October we had a second event at John M’s saw mill where we began the process of milling the witness tree. Also, as some of John’s property was being sold off, members helped to clear lumber off that portion of his yard.  

September 2020 

Chuck Bender, a well known period furniture maker and the founder of the Acanthus Workshop, a woodworking school in Jim Thorpe Pa., was September’s presenter. His topic was modern methods for making federal style furniture. Chuck spoke about jigs and machine use among other things. A large part of the presentation was spent exploring the reasons that period furniture failed due to wood movement and the techniques that he uses to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the reproductions that he builds. Several examples from his portfolio are below. To learn more about Chuck’s  work and school, you can visit acanthus.com.

August 2020 

This month’s featured presenter was artist, sculptor and furniture maker Scott Grove. His topic was advanced veneering. You can use his link to Scott’s website to learn more about his work: scottgrove.com

July 2020 

July’s meeting featured 4 member presentations.

• Ben’s presentation covered the various construction elements and techniques involved in building an interesting workbench.
• Roy’s flag box – which described the build process including his approach to cutting the angled components for the triangular form
•  David’s row boat rocker – built for his grand daughter, there were a number of challenging angled components that needed to be cut.
•  Cliff’s segmented vase –  a short review of how he cut the angled components for the segments that were used to create the vase.

In addition to our regular July meeting, we’ll have an informal get together where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

June 2020 

Tis month’s guest presenter was Steve Latta. A teacher, writer, craftsman and contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, Steve’s main job is developing the furniture makers of tomorrow at the Thaddeus Steven’s College in Lancaster Pennsylvania. His topic for our meeting was creating and adding inlays to furniture. You can view some of his FWW articles at: https://www.finewoodworking.com/author/steve-latta

 In addition to our regular June meeting, we’ll have an informal get together on Monday June 1st where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

May 2020 

Our virtual presenter at May’s meeting was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. There were 45 members in attendance. Tom’s topic was the uses for and methods of creating mortise and tenon joints. Many thanks to Tom for an interesting and engaging night. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure.  

April 2020 

April’s online meeting was composed of a number of short member presentations. There were 22 members in attendance. Although that’s about half of our normal attendance and we were all remote, the discussion was very lively. The members who presented were:

• Brian described the Pekovich bench jig that he made for working with small parts
• Abe gave us a tour of his Pekovich hanging tool cabinet and also did a brief shop tour
• Verne gave us a complete tour of his shop
• Alan showed a sliding table that enables him to cut  small logs on his band saw and toured some of his shop and equipment
• Charlie showed us some carvings including a beautiful carved banana and some carved swans that he’s making as holiday gifts
• Gordon spoke about test pieces he was making for veneered drawer fronts
• John showed two pieces, a three legged stool and a saw horse. He also talked about the shop stool project which he’s facilitating
• Sri is building a large dresser with sliding dovetails. He had pictures of the jigs he built to cut them as well as his method for handling large pieces on his router table
• Tal completed his music stand, which he displayed and spoke about some of the techniques he used to build it.
• Several pictures from the evening are below. To see more member work from the evening, please use this link.

March 2020 

Sadly our March meeting was cancelled due to the Corona virus. Although we were looking forward to our guest speaker, Joel Moskowitz of Tools for Working Wood, the club made a decision which respected the health of our members and the community in which we meet.

March was also the annual woodworking show. NJWA had a booth where, over the 3 days of the event, 15 members supported our effort to promote the club and recruit new members. The show also conducted a Project Challenge, which provided an opportunity for craftspeople to display their work and for attendees to vote on their favorite piece. NJWA member Jay Siegelaub’s natural edge side table was the 2020 winner. Congratulations to Jay. If you’d like to see more of Jay’s work, use this link to check out his website. 

 

View 2019 Meeting Summaries

View 2018 Meeting Summaries

View 2017 Meeting Summaries

View 2016 Meeting Summaries

February  2023

February’s guest speaker had a family emergency and was unable to join us. Once we realized that our speaker wouldn’t be joining us we did a quick pivot and focued on member work and experiences. About 20 members contributed input to the night. Despite a rocky beginning, it turned out to be a great meeting. Here’s a link to a  presentation on a shop built ambient air cleaner that was presented at February’s meeting.

January 2023

January’s meeting was our kickoff meeting for 2023. We began the meeting with club business including elections, a review of last year meetings and our plans for 2023. We followed that with 4 member presentations. David L. presented a summary of the member survey. He also presented on shaft keys, what they are, where they’re used and how to diagnose problems when they come loose. Here are links to the member survey and the shaft key presentations. Mark gave a demo on creating a spring joint. Abe rounded out the evening with a presentation on his star wars river table. During that presentation he shared his experiences on how to effectively build up epoxy layers to mimic the flow of a river, how to flatten a slab and a variety of options for creating legs for river tables and slab furniture.  

December 2022

In December we resumed our annual holiday get together. At this meeting members had a chance to display their work and share a meal with friends and family.  Due to Covid we haven’t held this event since 2019, so members were free to bring anything they’ve built in the interim. It was also open to those who wanted to bring anything they created for the bird house or shop stool challenges. Many members brought multiple projects so there was quite a display of member work to go along with the catered feast. Below are a small sample of the work presented at the event. To see more of the work on display at you can view the following video created by one of our members.

November 2022 

November’s guest speaker was Scott Severns, an award-winning master craftsman with 25+ years of experience creating functional and beautiful pieces of furniture and cabinetry. He is the founder of Oak Mountain Custom Woodwork which specializes in hand made furniture, cabinetry and millwork as well as the New Jersey School of Woodwork. As a non-profit, the school’s mission is to grow the craft through instruction and hands on experience in a friendly relaxed environment. In addition, Scott is the current president of the Society of American Period Furniture Makers (SAPFM). His topic will be machine maintenance, focusing primarily on the table and band saws. If you wish to learn more about the New Jersey School of Woodwork, click here to visit their website.

October 2022 

At October’s meeting, four members spoke about their approach to finishing. Each presenter talked about a particular category of finish as well as the specific product that they use. Among the various finishing aspects covered were, surface preparation, application method, sanding schedule, general formulation as well as available products in the category.  Alan opened the evening with a talk about his home brew Maloof finish using a formula which was given to him by Sam Maloof himself. Here’s a link to Alan’s presentation which contains the formula for mixing your own version of the finish. Kevin spoke about using Osmo for a finish, while Freddie talked about oil finishes in particular Bush’s Oil. Both of these presenters brought examples of their work. Bob finished the night with two separate topics. First he spoke about spraying finishes. He covered tools, technique, the suitability of particular finishes for spraying and how to maintain a spray gun. He followed that up with a demonstration of how to apply a super glue finish, a type of finish that is especially favored by turners. Thanks to our four presenters for an interesting and instructional evening. 

In late October we held an in person parking lot event in Pompton Plains. About 30 members gathered on a beautiful fall Saturday to participate in our annual swap meet. This is a chance for members to sell items that they no longer use and for other members to pick up needed tools at very reasonable prices. On this day, many items changed hands. This was also a chance for those participated to display the creations they had made for the bird house challenge. Below are several pictures from the event.

September 2022 

Our guest speaker for September was author, teacher and Fine Woodworking contributing editor Steve Latta. A professional furniture and cabinet maker for over 30 years, he has spent the last 20 years as a professor of cabinet making and wood technology at the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster Pa. Well know for his expertise on period furniture, Steve is an in-demand lecturer at places such as Winterthur, Colonial Williamsburg and The American Furniture Study Center at Yale University. His topic was flow as it applies to furniture making. Steve focused on the building of a small, one-drawer night stand. He began with lumber selection and progressed through dimensioning and joinery. He explained “which cut, in which order, and why”. The information packed into Steve’s presentation has the potential to improve the quality of our projects while reducing workshop frustration and mistakes.  

August 2022 

Our guest speaker for August was author, teacher and Fine Woodworking contributing editor Roland “Rollie” Johnson. A longtime professional woodworker in Sauk Rapids, MN, Rollie opened his first workshop in 1976. A self professed gear head, he’s FWW’s expert on hand and machine tool maintenance, authoring  several video series on the topic as well as providing numerous tool reviews. In addition, he’s taught finishing at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine and has written several books on woodworking. Rollie’s topic was coloring wood. He touched on products, types of stain, how different woods accept stain and numerous other topics. While many of us were familiar with Rollie from his work at the Woodworking Shows we weren’t prepared for the depth of knowledge that he shared with us during the evening. David Levenberg has gone through the the recording and summarized Rollie’s presentation. Here’s a link to that document.

July 2022 

Our July meeting took place at the Mr. Sawdust School of Professional Woodworking in Hackettstown NJ. Our host was Wally Kunkel the owner of the school. His father, Wallace Kunkel Sr. known as Mr. Sawdust, had a school in Chester NJ which is where Wally began his woodworking education eventually becoming a professional furniture maker. Following in his father’s footsteps, he now runs his own school offering a wide variety of courses. One of his specialties, which he demonstrated for us, is using the radial arm saw to cut complex joinery. In addition to a detailed tour of the school, Wally arranged for Frank Klauz to do a short presentation and Q&A on cutting dovetails by hand. Should you want more information on Wally and his school you can visit him at the Mr. Sawdust School’s website.

June 2022 

June’s guest speaker was Nick DeMars, the woodworking Product Specialist at Klingspor Abrasives who spoke about all things sandpaper and sanding. Nick covered hand and machine sanding, sanding techniques and answered questions such as what sandpaper characteristics are appropriate for wood removal vs. finish prep. As Klingspor’s router bit specialist he was also able to give us an overview router bits and their uses.

May 2022 

For May’s meeting we took a break from paid presenters and focused on the work of our members. Our first presenter was Tim who described his Morris Chair build. He presented on construction details as well as his personal design decisions that went into creating the piece. There were many interesting aspects to the build including his technique for getting quarter sawn faces on all of the legs. Thanks to Tim for an interesting presentation which included a short video for each step of the build. Gordon followed with a talk on a credenza that he built. The piece has 3 drawers with veneered fronts surrounded by cock beading. It also has a shelf below the drawers that’s suspended from four delecate legs. Gordon shared his approach to overcoming each of the challenges inherent in building this piece. Last was a short talk by David on an bandsaw technique for creating interesting curved designs. The technique that he described allows him to create artistic pieces composed of a variety of wood species and shapes. Thanks to our presenters for sharing some very interesting techniques and designs.

April 2022 

April’s guest presenter was Shannon Rogers, the host of Shannon’s Lumber Industry Update. Drawing on his day job as the Director of Marketing for one of the oldest lumber companies in the US, J. Gibson McIlvain, he offered a deep understanding and unique perspective on the industry. In addition, he runs his own online woodworking school devoted to hand tools called appropriately enough The Hand Tool School.  Shannon spoke on a variety of topics as varied as domestic and imported hardwoods, sheet goods, the economics of the lumber industry and the restoration of Notre Dame.

March 2022 

Andrew Hunter was our March of 2022 presenter. A frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking and a good friend to the club, Andrew is also a well respected expert on Japanese tools and techniques. His topic was accurate joinery layout, how to ensure that your joints are well fitting and tight. 

February 2022 

Our guest presenter for February was Bob Behnke of Franklin International, the makers of Titebond glues. Bob was our featured presenter in July of 2018. Member surveys have rated his presentation as among the best we’ve ever had, so we invited him to present again. 

January 2022 

January’s meeting was our kickoff meeting for 2022. We focused on club business including elections, a review of last year meetings and our plans for 2022. That was followed up by several member presentations. Charlie spoke about a pair of shore birds that he carved for a charity auction, Pat spoke on the crusher/destemmer that he made for his wine making hobby. We had some time left at the end and were able to have another member present an overview of thier workbench review. Thanks to Jim Mueller for taking us through the build and use of his bench

December 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog – Giant Cypress.

November 2021 

We had four members present their work this month. Freddie spoke about his experience building a canoe at the Adirondak Folk School. The school, which is located in Lake Luzerne NY is dedicated to teaching the arts, crafts, and cultural heritage of the Adirondack region. The build, which takes place over two weeks, is limited to four students. It took Freddie several years of trying to register for the class before he was finally able to secure a spot in a class. Next up was Steve talking about his shop built Microjig Ultimate Workbench. For his presentation, Steve played an entertaining YouTube video (accessible via this link), which he created to document the build process. Sri was up next speaking about the build of a round pedestal dining table. The table is made of Sapele, has a 42″ wide solid top and is stunning. Last up was Greg who spoken on the tools and techniques that he uses to flatten slabs. The slabs were cut on his sawmill and dried in the drying room on which he had presented on several months back. Thanks to the presenters for an educational and interesting evening.  

October 2021 

Our guest presenter for October was Ramon Valdez, a furniture maker known for integrating interesting and exquisite marquetry into his work. Ramon’s topic was the “double bevel” marquetry technique! This is a fantastic process for creating beautiful motifs that can be used to decorate a box, add visual interest to a piece of furniture or even as a stand alone picture. Among the items covered by Ramon were layout, building your marquetry in layers, application to a substrate, sawing technique, the principles of double bevel marquetry and tool set.  Thank you to Ramon for an interesting evening and for opening a new way to add interest and beauty to our work. Should you be interested in learning more about Ramon, he has a broad presence on social media. As a starting point, you can check out his website, www.ramonvaldezfinefurniture.com. Also, along with fellow woodworkers Philip Morley and Ben Brunick, he is the host of the  “Woodworkers Podcast”.

The club also held two additional in-person events during October. Early in the month, aboubt 10 member gathered in the parking lot to attend Gordon’s skill building session on the art of hammer veneering. His session included a discussion of the tool set, preping the material and the hammer vereering technique. Gordon provided some veneered samples and then demonstrated the process. Gordon’s demo also covered how to join smaller pieces of veneer so that a large substrate could be covered. There were plenty of material and supplies on hand so that each attendee was able to try their hand at hammer veneering a small board.

On October 30th we held and a branding / swap meet in the parking lot. The branding activity provided members who had made items for the Hermitage Museum with the opportunity to identify their work as being created by an NJWA Club Memeber. At the swap meet about a dozen or so members offered surplus tools, books and material for sale. 

September 2021 

September’s guest presenter was David Fisher whose topic was “Greenwood Carving, Following, Finding and Feeling Flow”.  A full time history teacher in the town in which he’s spent his whole life, Dave has become known internationally for his carving. His work, all of which is done by hand, includes bowls, spoons and vessels.  Many pieces are adorned with beautifully lettered phrases. 

Dave’s talk was a whirlwind tour of his technique, tools and philosophy. On tools, he shapes his work with a minimal tool set without using powered tools. Many of those tools have been passed down from previous generations and will be passed on in the future. On his philosophy, he sees the art that exists in the wood as opposed to forcing his art into the material. On technique, he uses time honored techniques of swinging and ax and pushing gouges and knives while in close contact with the material.

Dave rounded out the evening with an overview of his approach to the carved lettering that he uses to adorn his work. This was an interesting evening spent with a special craftsman. If you’d like to learn more about Dave and his work, you can visit: https://davidffisher.com.

August 2021 

At our August meeting we had three member presentations. Alan gave a detailed presention on a trompe l’oeil table that he built. Trompe l’oeil means fool the eye. The table has what looks like a folded piece of linen drapped over the top. However, what appears to be linen is in fact solid wood. Alan took us through the process of constructing the layers of a solid wood top. He followed that with a detailed description of how he carved a large piece of solid wood so that it appeared to be linen. He described the tools used (power and hand) as well as his carving technique.  He then went on to give a brief description of how he finished the piece. Kevin spoke about two Shaker candle stands that he built. He explained how varying the size and shape of the post and feet allowed hime to come up with two unique pieces. Scott presented on a split top Roubo workbench that he built using plans from the Woodwhisperer Guild. He covered the plans, material used, where he purchased it, construction steps and his experiences using the bench. Thanks to our three presenters for an interesting evening.  

July 2021 

Our guest speaker for July was woodworker and author Andy Rae.  Andy began his career working as a finisher for George Nakashima and working in Frank Klaus’ workshop. Subsequent to that he was a contributor to various woodworking publications, an  associate editor for American Woodworker magazine and the author of several books. Andy’s tool cabinet is the well known piece that graces the front cover of Jim Tolpin’s “The Toolbox Book”. Andy spoke about his journey as a woodworker and an author. He also shared some of the techniques he’s used for designing and building furniture.  He currently has his own workshop where he splits his time between taking on commissions and using woodworking to support recovering addicts. If you’d like to see more of his work, you can find him at Andy Rae Woodworking & Writing Studios on Facebook and @andyraewoodworkingstudio on Instagram.

June 2021 

The topic for June’s meeting was member workbenches. About 25 members posted pictures of their workbenches in a gallery on our website. Each member in attendance was given a few minutes to talk about their workbench. Several members did more in depth presentations. Our opening speaker was Dave Petersen who took us through the design and construction of his Roubo style workbench. There was quite a variety of workbenches build in different styles and using different construction techniques and material. The workbench gallery is still available using this link.

 This was the first regular meeting where members met in person since February of 2020. In order to accommodate as many attendees as possible we provided three options for attending. Members could meet indoors at our traditional location, they could attend via Zoom or they could opt for a middle ground where viewed the meeting via Zoom from the backyard at our location in Pompton Plains. 

May 2021 

Our presenter for May was master carver and teacher Mary May. Last year Mary had given us an overview of carving. This meeting was more of a hands on meeting (via Zoom) where Mary took us through the steps to carving two different versions of an Acanthus leaf. While carving each version, she described the tools and techniques that she was using. Although this was an opportunity to carve along with Mary, it would be quite a challenge to carve as quickly as she did. With this in mind, the session was recorded and sent out to members so that they could go through this at their own speed. 

She recently finished first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In addition to our regular meeting, the club held a skill session on May 15th. Three members presented on various sharpening topics. Bob demonstrated how to sharpen turning tools on a grinder, Gordon focused on sharpening chisels and plane irons on flat stones and Charlie taught the particulars of sharpening carving tools,

April 2021 

April’s guest presenter was Bob Van Dyke, the founder and director of the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. Bob’s topic was stock preparation, make it flat, straight and square. A Fine Woodworking contribution editor, Bob took us step by step through the process he uses to take lumber from the rough stage to being milled 4 square. Speaking from the CVSW workshop, his talk focused on the use of four machines to mill lumber, the  jointer, planer, bandsaw and table saw. Bob did cover spring joints, a technique for developing highly reliable edge joints. For that process he used a hand plane. Also included in his presentation was the topic of yield, which is the amount of milled stock that can be gotten from a rough board. Bob explained how to approximate the yield, why warp and twist in a board reduces yield and how to maximize the yield. Bob also highlighted some of the situations that would lead to less than optimal stock preparation including poor machine set up and errors in technique.  

March 2021 

March’s guest presenter was Joel Moskowitz, the owner of Tools for Working Wood. An avid collector of historical woodworking and craft texts, Joel is also the author of the popular woodworking blog “Joel’s Blog”. In addition he manufactures his own line of tools under the brands Gramercy Tools and BT&C (Brooklyn Tool and Craft). A passionate student of woodworking history, Joel’s spoke on how early woodworking texts have informed the design and development of modern tools in particular many of the tools designed and made by his company. Among the texts that he referred to during his talk was Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanic Exercises” pointing to some of the pictures in his copy of the 1683 edition, one of only a few hundred in print. Thanks to Joel for and interesting and education evening.

On Monday March 1st meeting at 7PM, we held an open discussion and presentation of our prospective projects for the Witness Tree project.  Members exchanged their ideas and were able to find out if there were any duplicate or similar items in the planning.  For members who have decided on a project, we will be able to present them to The Hermitage Staff and hear their reaction and comments.  Many members have posted their ideas to a photo album which can be viewed at the following link: witness tree project ideas.

February 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. His topic for the evening was an overview of spindle turning which is the type of turning that is most useful for furniture makers. Tom covered numerous topics including tools, sharpening, setting up the lathe, the types of cuts used in spindle turning and using templates. Tom also discussed the importance of a fair curve in order to give your furniture a professional and pleasing look. Thanks to Tom for a great introduction to woodturning for furniture makers. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure (the link for Tom’s May of 2020 video presentation is also still active).

January  2021 

Our kickoff meeting for 2021 began with a reap of our 2020 activities and elections for the board of directors. Following club business, we had three member presentations.

• Greg D. walked us through the design and construction of his home drying room. The room, which is attached to his shop, was built from the ground up and allows Greg to dry wood that he has milled himself
• Ben S. spoke about a branding iron that he recently purchased. Included in his discussion was the trial and error that he went through to develop a technique that would yield a clear image on his work. 
• Sri spoke on a Carolina Candle Stand which he just completed. Among the topics covered were creating the mortise and tenons for attaching the feet to the post and how to attach the top to account for wood movement. 

December 2020 

Our guest speaker for this month was Russell M, a technical specialist with JPW Industries, the makers of Jet and Powermatic tools. He covered a broad range of topic including: 

• Trends in woodworking machine technology
• The key features to look for when shopping for a woodworking machine 
• Maintenance concepts and practices for the types of machines that most of us are likely to own (i.e., bandsaw, planer, jointer, drill press, sanders, tablesaw, etc.)
• Key decision points, e.g. straight vs. segmented knives
• Some key usage points, common mistakes to avoid, safety and accuracy practices

Many thanks to Russell for an informative and interesting evening

November 2020 

For this month’s meeting, we had a virtual tour of the Stickley Museum in Fayetteville NY.  The museum which opened in 2007 explores over a century of furniture making excellence. It highlights the inspiration and craftsmanship that made Stickley America’s foremost fine furniture maker and the craftspeople whose commitment to quality led to Stickley’s reputation for manufacturing heirloom quality furniture. Many thanks to the museum’s head Amanda C., who gave a wonderful tour despite the fact that her only connection to her audience was via faces on an iPad. 

In addition to our regular monthly meeting, we held a swap meet in the early part of the month. Approximately 20 members (and a few non-members) set up tables to sell a variety of tools. Another 20 or so participated as buyers only. The event was held outdoors and masks were required. After being quarantined for a good part of the year, it was a good way to catch up with our fellow NJWA members.  

October 2020 

October’s guest speaker was Mary May, a master carver who works out of her workshop on John’s Island South Carolina. During her two hour presentation, Mary took us through an overview of the basics of carving. The topics included the various types of tools, the convention for identifying the various shapes and sizes and how to sharpen them; the types of wood that are appropriate for carving and some basic techniques. Mary is also a teacher who has taught at such places as the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana, Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School and the Connecticut Valley School. She recently finished her first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In early October we had a second event at John M’s saw mill where we began the process of milling the witness tree. Also, as some of John’s property was being sold off, members helped to clear lumber off that portion of his yard.  

September 2020 

Chuck Bender, a well known period furniture maker and the founder of the Acanthus Workshop, a woodworking school in Jim Thorpe Pa., was September’s presenter. His topic was modern methods for making federal style furniture. Chuck spoke about jigs and machine use among other things. A large part of the presentation was spent exploring the reasons that period furniture failed due to wood movement and the techniques that he uses to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the reproductions that he builds. Several examples from his portfolio are below. To learn more about Chuck’s  work and school, you can visit acanthus.com.

August 2020 

This month’s featured presenter was artist, sculptor and furniture maker Scott Grove. His topic was advanced veneering. You can use his link to Scott’s website to learn more about his work: scottgrove.com

July 2020 

July’s meeting featured 4 member presentations.

• Ben’s presentation covered the various construction elements and techniques involved in building an interesting workbench.
• Roy’s flag box – which described the build process including his approach to cutting the angled components for the triangular form
•  David’s row boat rocker – built for his grand daughter, there were a number of challenging angled components that needed to be cut.
•  Cliff’s segmented vase –  a short review of how he cut the angled components for the segments that were used to create the vase.

In addition to our regular July meeting, we’ll have an informal get together where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

June 2020 

Tis month’s guest presenter was Steve Latta. A teacher, writer, craftsman and contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, Steve’s main job is developing the furniture makers of tomorrow at the Thaddeus Steven’s College in Lancaster Pennsylvania. His topic for our meeting was creating and adding inlays to furniture. You can view some of his FWW articles at: https://www.finewoodworking.com/author/steve-latta

 In addition to our regular June meeting, we’ll have an informal get together on Monday June 1st where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

May 2020 

Our virtual presenter at May’s meeting was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. There were 45 members in attendance. Tom’s topic was the uses for and methods of creating mortise and tenon joints. Many thanks to Tom for an interesting and engaging night. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure.  

April 2020 

April’s online meeting was composed of a number of short member presentations. There were 22 members in attendance. Although that’s about half of our normal attendance and we were all remote, the discussion was very lively. The members who presented were:

• Brian described the Pekovich bench jig that he made for working with small parts
• Abe gave us a tour of his Pekovich hanging tool cabinet and also did a brief shop tour
• Verne gave us a complete tour of his shop
• Alan showed a sliding table that enables him to cut  small logs on his band saw and toured some of his shop and equipment
• Charlie showed us some carvings including a beautiful carved banana and some carved swans that he’s making as holiday gifts
• Gordon spoke about test pieces he was making for veneered drawer fronts
• John showed two pieces, a three legged stool and a saw horse. He also talked about the shop stool project which he’s facilitating
• Sri is building a large dresser with sliding dovetails. He had pictures of the jigs he built to cut them as well as his method for handling large pieces on his router table
• Tal completed his music stand, which he displayed and spoke about some of the techniques he used to build it.
• Several pictures from the evening are below. To see more member work from the evening, please use this link.

March 2020 

Sadly our March meeting was cancelled due to the Corona virus. Although we were looking forward to our guest speaker, Joel Moskowitz of Tools for Working Wood, the club made a decision which respected the health of our members and the community in which we meet.

March was also the annual woodworking show. NJWA had a booth where, over the 3 days of the event, 15 members supported our effort to promote the club and recruit new members. The show also conducted a Project Challenge, which provided an opportunity for craftspeople to display their work and for attendees to vote on their favorite piece. NJWA member Jay Siegelaub’s natural edge side table was the 2020 winner. Congratulations to Jay. If you’d like to see more of Jay’s work, use this link to check out his website. 

 

View 2019 Meeting Summaries

View 2018 Meeting Summaries

View 2017 Meeting Summaries

View 2016 Meeting Summaries

January 2022 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog

December 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog – Giant Cypress.

November 2021 

We had four members present their work this month. Freddie spoke about his experience building a canoe at the Adirondak Folk School. The school, which is located in Lake Luzerne NY is dedicated to teaching the arts, crafts, and cultural heritage of the Adirondack region. The build, which takes place over two weeks, is limited to four students. It took Freddie several years of trying to register for the class before he was finally able to secure a spot in a class. Next up was Steve talking about his shop built Microjig Ultimate Workbench. For his presentation, Steve played an entertaining YouTube video (accessible via this link), which he created to document the build process. Sri was up next speaking about the build of a round pedestal dining table. The table is made of Sapele, has a 42″ wide solid top and is stunning. Last up was Greg who spoken on the tools and techniques that he uses to flatten slabs. The slabs were cut on his sawmill and dried in the drying room on which he had presented on several months back. Thanks to the presenters for an educational and interesting evening.  

October 2021 

Our guest presenter for October was Ramon Valdez, a furniture maker known for integrating interesting and exquisite marquetry into his work. Ramon’s topic was the “double bevel” marquetry technique! This is a fantastic process for creating beautiful motifs that can be used to decorate a box, add visual interest to a piece of furniture or even as a stand alone picture. Among the items covered by Ramon were layout, building your marquetry in layers, application to a substrate, sawing technique, the principles of double bevel marquetry and tool set.  Thank you to Ramon for an interesting evening and for opening a new way to add interest and beauty to our work. Should you be interested in learning more about Ramon, he has a broad presence on social media. As a starting point, you can check out his website, www.ramonvaldezfinefurniture.com. Also, along with fellow woodworkers Philip Morley and Ben Brunick, he is the host of the  “Woodworkers Podcast”.

The club also held two additional in-person events during October. Early in the month, aboubt 10 member gathered in the parking lot to attend Gordon’s skill building session on the art of hammer veneering. His session included a discussion of the tool set, preping the material and the hammer vereering technique. Gordon provided some veneered samples and then demonstrated the process. Gordon’s demo also covered how to join smaller pieces of veneer so that a large substrate could be covered. There were plenty of material and supplies on hand so that each attendee was able to try their hand at hammer veneering a small board.

On October 30th we held and a branding / swap meet in the parking lot. The branding activity provided members who had made items for the Hermitage Museum with the opportunity to identify their work as being created by an NJWA Club Memeber. At the swap meet about a dozen or so members offered surplus tools, books and material for sale. 

September 2021 

September’s guest presenter was David Fisher whose topic was “Greenwood Carving, Following, Finding and Feeling Flow”.  A full time history teacher in the town in which he’s spent his whole life, Dave has become known internationally for his carving. His work, all of which is done by hand, includes bowls, spoons and vessels.  Many pieces are adorned with beautifully lettered phrases. 

Dave’s talk was a whirlwind tour of his technique, tools and philosophy. On tools, he shapes his work with a minimal tool set without using powered tools. Many of those tools have been passed down from previous generations and will be passed on in the future. On his philosophy, he sees the art that exists in the wood as opposed to forcing his art into the material. On technique, he uses time honored techniques of swinging and ax and pushing gouges and knives while in close contact with the material.

Dave rounded out the evening with an overview of his approach to the carved lettering that he uses to adorn his work. This was an interesting evening spent with a special craftsman. If you’d like to learn more about Dave and his work, you can visit: https://davidffisher.com.

August 2021 

At our August meeting we had three member presentations. Alan gave a detailed presention on a trompe l’oeil table that he built. Trompe l’oeil means fool the eye. The table has what looks like a folded piece of linen drapped over the top. However, what appears to be linen is in fact solid wood. Alan took us through the process of constructing the layers of a solid wood top. He followed that with a detailed description of how he carved a large piece of solid wood so that it appeared to be linen. He described the tools used (power and hand) as well as his carving technique.  He then went on to give a brief description of how he finished the piece. Kevin spoke about two Shaker candle stands that he built. He explained how varying the size and shape of the post and feet allowed hime to come up with two unique pieces. Scott presented on a split top Roubo workbench that he built using plans from the Woodwhisperer Guild. He covered the plans, material used, where he purchased it, construction steps and his experiences using the bench. Thanks to our three presenters for an interesting evening.  

July 2021 

Our guest speaker for July was woodworker and author Andy Rae.  Andy began his career working as a finisher for George Nakashima and working in Frank Klaus’ workshop. Subsequent to that he was a contributor to various woodworking publications, an  associate editor for American Woodworker magazine and the author of several books. Andy’s tool cabinet is the well known piece that graces the front cover of Jim Tolpin’s “The Toolbox Book”. Andy spoke about his journey as a woodworker and an author. He also shared some of the techniques he’s used for designing and building furniture.  He currently has his own workshop where he splits his time between taking on commissions and using woodworking to support recovering addicts. If you’d like to see more of his work, you can find him at Andy Rae Woodworking & Writing Studios on Facebook and @andyraewoodworkingstudio on Instagram.

June 2021 

The topic for June’s meeting was member workbenches. About 25 members posted pictures of their workbenches in a gallery on our website. Each member in attendance was given a few minutes to talk about their workbench. Several members did more in depth presentations. Our opening speaker was Dave Petersen who took us through the design and construction of his Roubo style workbench. There was quite a variety of workbenches build in different styles and using different construction techniques and material. The workbench gallery is still available using this link.

 This was the first regular meeting where members met in person since February of 2020. In order to accommodate as many attendees as possible we provided three options for attending. Members could meet indoors at our traditional location, they could attend via Zoom or they could opt for a middle ground where viewed the meeting via Zoom from the backyard at our location in Pompton Plains. 

May 2021 

Our presenter for May was master carver and teacher Mary May. Last year Mary had given us an overview of carving. This meeting was more of a hands on meeting (via Zoom) where Mary took us through the steps to carving two different versions of an Acanthus leaf. While carving each version, she described the tools and techniques that she was using. Although this was an opportunity to carve along with Mary, it would be quite a challenge to carve as quickly as she did. With this in mind, the session was recorded and sent out to members so that they could go through this at their own speed. 

She recently finished first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In addition to our regular meeting, the club held a skill session on May 15th. Three members presented on various sharpening topics. Bob demonstrated how to sharpen turning tools on a grinder, Gordon focused on sharpening chisels and plane irons on flat stones and Charlie taught the particulars of sharpening carving tools,

April 2021 

April’s guest presenter was Bob Van Dyke, the founder and director of the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. Bob’s topic was stock preparation, make it flat, straight and square. A Fine Woodworking contribution editor, Bob took us step by step through the process he uses to take lumber from the rough stage to being milled 4 square. Speaking from the CVSW workshop, his talk focused on the use of four machines to mill lumber, the  jointer, planer, bandsaw and table saw. Bob did cover spring joints, a technique for developing highly reliable edge joints. For that process he used a hand plane. Also included in his presentation was the topic of yield, which is the amount of milled stock that can be gotten from a rough board. Bob explained how to approximate the yield, why warp and twist in a board reduces yield and how to maximize the yield. Bob also highlighted some of the situations that would lead to less than optimal stock preparation including poor machine set up and errors in technique.  

March 2021 

March’s guest presenter was Joel Moskowitz, the owner of Tools for Working Wood. An avid collector of historical woodworking and craft texts, Joel is also the author of the popular woodworking blog “Joel’s Blog”. In addition he manufactures his own line of tools under the brands Gramercy Tools and BT&C (Brooklyn Tool and Craft). A passionate student of woodworking history, Joel’s spoke on how early woodworking texts have informed the design and development of modern tools in particular many of the tools designed and made by his company. Among the texts that he referred to during his talk was Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanic Exercises” pointing to some of the pictures in his copy of the 1683 edition, one of only a few hundred in print. Thanks to Joel for and interesting and education evening.

On Monday March 1st meeting at 7PM, we held an open discussion and presentation of our prospective projects for the Witness Tree project.  Members exchanged their ideas and were able to find out if there were any duplicate or similar items in the planning.  For members who have decided on a project, we will be able to present them to The Hermitage Staff and hear their reaction and comments.  Many members have posted their ideas to a photo album which can be viewed at the following link: witness tree project ideas.

February 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. His topic for the evening was an overview of spindle turning which is the type of turning that is most useful for furniture makers. Tom covered numerous topics including tools, sharpening, setting up the lathe, the types of cuts used in spindle turning and using templates. Tom also discussed the importance of a fair curve in order to give your furniture a professional and pleasing look. Thanks to Tom for a great introduction to woodturning for furniture makers. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure (the link for Tom’s May of 2020 video presentation is also still active).

January  2021 

Our kickoff meeting for 2021 began with a reap of our 2020 activities and elections for the board of directors. Following club business, we had three member presentations.

• Greg D. walked us through the design and construction of his home drying room. The room, which is attached to his shop, was built from the ground up and allows Greg to dry wood that he has milled himself
• Ben S. spoke about a branding iron that he recently purchased. Included in his discussion was the trial and error that he went through to develop a technique that would yield a clear image on his work. 
• Sri spoke on a Carolina Candle Stand which he just completed. Among the topics covered were creating the mortise and tenons for attaching the feet to the post and how to attach the top to account for wood movement. 

December 2020 

Our guest speaker for this month was Russell M, a technical specialist with JPW Industries, the makers of Jet and Powermatic tools. He covered a broad range of topic including: 

• Trends in woodworking machine technology
• The key features to look for when shopping for a woodworking machine 
• Maintenance concepts and practices for the types of machines that most of us are likely to own (i.e., bandsaw, planer, jointer, drill press, sanders, tablesaw, etc.)
• Key decision points, e.g. straight vs. segmented knives
• Some key usage points, common mistakes to avoid, safety and accuracy practices

Many thanks to Russell for an informative and interesting evening

November 2020 

For this month’s meeting, we had a virtual tour of the Stickley Museum in Fayetteville NY.  The museum which opened in 2007 explores over a century of furniture making excellence. It highlights the inspiration and craftsmanship that made Stickley America’s foremost fine furniture maker and the craftspeople whose commitment to quality led to Stickley’s reputation for manufacturing heirloom quality furniture. Many thanks to the museum’s head Amanda C., who gave a wonderful tour despite the fact that her only connection to her audience was via faces on an iPad. 

In addition to our regular monthly meeting, we held a swap meet in the early part of the month. Approximately 20 members (and a few non-members) set up tables to sell a variety of tools. Another 20 or so participated as buyers only. The event was held outdoors and masks were required. After being quarantined for a good part of the year, it was a good way to catch up with our fellow NJWA members.  

October 2020 

October’s guest speaker was Mary May, a master carver who works out of her workshop on John’s Island South Carolina. During her two hour presentation, Mary took us through an overview of the basics of carving. The topics included the various types of tools, the convention for identifying the various shapes and sizes and how to sharpen them; the types of wood that are appropriate for carving and some basic techniques. Mary is also a teacher who has taught at such places as the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana, Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School and the Connecticut Valley School. She recently finished her first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In early October we had a second event at John M’s saw mill where we began the process of milling the witness tree. Also, as some of John’s property was being sold off, members helped to clear lumber off that portion of his yard.  

September 2020 

Chuck Bender, a well known period furniture maker and the founder of the Acanthus Workshop, a woodworking school in Jim Thorpe Pa., was September’s presenter. His topic was modern methods for making federal style furniture. Chuck spoke about jigs and machine use among other things. A large part of the presentation was spent exploring the reasons that period furniture failed due to wood movement and the techniques that he uses to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the reproductions that he builds. Several examples from his portfolio are below. To learn more about Chuck’s  work and school, you can visit acanthus.com.

August 2020 

This month’s featured presenter was artist, sculptor and furniture maker Scott Grove. His topic was advanced veneering. You can use his link to Scott’s website to learn more about his work: scottgrove.com

July 2020 

July’s meeting featured 4 member presentations.

• Ben’s presentation covered the various construction elements and techniques involved in building an interesting workbench.
• Roy’s flag box – which described the build process including his approach to cutting the angled components for the triangular form
•  David’s row boat rocker – built for his grand daughter, there were a number of challenging angled components that needed to be cut.
•  Cliff’s segmented vase –  a short review of how he cut the angled components for the segments that were used to create the vase.

In addition to our regular July meeting, we’ll have an informal get together where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

June 2020 

Tis month’s guest presenter was Steve Latta. A teacher, writer, craftsman and contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, Steve’s main job is developing the furniture makers of tomorrow at the Thaddeus Steven’s College in Lancaster Pennsylvania. His topic for our meeting was creating and adding inlays to furniture. You can view some of his FWW articles at: https://www.finewoodworking.com/author/steve-latta

 In addition to our regular June meeting, we’ll have an informal get together on Monday June 1st where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

May 2020 

Our virtual presenter at May’s meeting was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. There were 45 members in attendance. Tom’s topic was the uses for and methods of creating mortise and tenon joints. Many thanks to Tom for an interesting and engaging night. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure.  

April 2020 

April’s online meeting was composed of a number of short member presentations. There were 22 members in attendance. Although that’s about half of our normal attendance and we were all remote, the discussion was very lively. The members who presented were:

• Brian described the Pekovich bench jig that he made for working with small parts
• Abe gave us a tour of his Pekovich hanging tool cabinet and also did a brief shop tour
• Verne gave us a complete tour of his shop
• Alan showed a sliding table that enables him to cut  small logs on his band saw and toured some of his shop and equipment
• Charlie showed us some carvings including a beautiful carved banana and some carved swans that he’s making as holiday gifts
• Gordon spoke about test pieces he was making for veneered drawer fronts
• John showed two pieces, a three legged stool and a saw horse. He also talked about the shop stool project which he’s facilitating
• Sri is building a large dresser with sliding dovetails. He had pictures of the jigs he built to cut them as well as his method for handling large pieces on his router table
• Tal completed his music stand, which he displayed and spoke about some of the techniques he used to build it.
• Several pictures from the evening are below. To see more member work from the evening, please use this link.

March 2020 

Sadly our March meeting was cancelled due to the Corona virus. Although we were looking forward to our guest speaker, Joel Moskowitz of Tools for Working Wood, the club made a decision which respected the health of our members and the community in which we meet.

March was also the annual woodworking show. NJWA had a booth where, over the 3 days of the event, 15 members supported our effort to promote the club and recruit new members. The show also conducted a Project Challenge, which provided an opportunity for craftspeople to display their work and for attendees to vote on their favorite piece. NJWA member Jay Siegelaub’s natural edge side table was the 2020 winner. Congratulations to Jay. If you’d like to see more of Jay’s work, use this link to check out his website. 

 

View 2019 Meeting Summaries

View 2018 Meeting Summaries

View 2017 Meeting Summaries

View 2016 Meeting Summaries

September 2022 

Our guest speaker for September was author, teacher and Fine Woodworking contributing editor Steve Latta. A professional furniture and cabinet maker for over 30 years, he has spent the last 20 years as a professor of cabinet making and wood technology at the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster Pa. Well know for his expertise on period furniture, Steve is an in-demand lecturer at places such as Winterthur, Colonial Williamsburg and The American Furniture Study Center at Yale University. His topic was flow as it applies to furniture making. Steve focused on the building of a small, one-drawer night stand. He began with lumber selection and progressed through dimensioning and joinery. He explained “which cut, in which order, and why”. The information packed into Steve’s presentation has the potential to improve the quality of our projects while reducing workshop frustration and mistakes.  

August 2022 

Our guest speaker for August was author, teacher and Fine Woodworking contributing editor Roland “Rollie” Johnson. A longtime professional woodworker in Sauk Rapids, MN, Rollie opened his first workshop in 1976. A self professed gear head, he’s FWW’s expert on hand and machine tool maintenance, authoring  several video series on the topic as well as providing numerous tool reviews. In addition, he’s taught finishing at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine and has written several books on woodworking. Rollie’s topic was coloring wood. He touched on products, types of stain, how different woods accept stain and numerous other topics. While many of us were familiar with Rollie from his work at the Woodworking Shows we weren’t prepared for the depth of knowledge that he shared with us during the evening. David Levenberg has gone through the the recording and summarized Rollie’s presentation. Here’s a link to that document.

July 2022 

Our July meeting took place at the Mr. Sawdust School of Professional Woodworking in Hackettstown NJ. Our host was Wally Kunkel the owner of the school. His father, Wallace Kunkel Sr. known as Mr. Sawdust, had a school in Chester NJ which is where Wally began his woodworking education eventually becoming a professional furniture maker. Following in his father’s footsteps, he now runs his own school offering a wide variety of courses. One of his specialties, which he demonstrated for us, is using the radial arm saw to cut complex joinery. In addition to a detailed tour of the school, Wally arranged for Frank Klauz to do a short presentation and Q&A on cutting dovetails by hand. Should you want more information on Wally and his school you can visit him at the Mr. Sawdust School’s website.

June 2022 

June’s guest speaker was Nick DeMars, the woodworking Product Specialist at Klingspor Abrasives who spoke about all things sandpaper and sanding. Nick covered hand and machine sanding, sanding techniques and answered questions such as what sandpaper characteristics are appropriate for wood removal vs. finish prep. As Klingspor’s router bit specialist he was also able to give us an overview router bits and their uses.

May 2022 

For May’s meeting we took a break from paid presenters and focused on the work of our members. Our first presenter was Tim who described his Morris Chair build. He presented on construction details as well as his personal design decisions that went into creating the piece. There were many interesting aspects to the build including his technique for getting quarter sawn faces on all of the legs. Thanks to Tim for an interesting presentation which included a short video for each step of the build. Gordon followed with a talk on a credenza that he built. The piece has 3 drawers with veneered fronts surrounded by cock beading. It also has a shelf below the drawers that’s suspended from four delecate legs. Gordon shared his approach to overcoming each of the challenges inherent in building this piece. Last was a short talk by David on an bandsaw technique for creating interesting curved designs. The technique that he described allows him to create artistic pieces composed of a variety of wood species and shapes. Thanks to our presenters for sharing some very interesting techniques and designs.

April 2022 

April’s guest presenter was Shannon Rogers, the host of Shannon’s Lumber Industry Update. Drawing on his day job as the Director of Marketing for one of the oldest lumber companies in the US, J. Gibson McIlvain, he offered a deep understanding and unique perspective on the industry. In addition, he runs his own online woodworking school devoted to hand tools called appropriately enough The Hand Tool School.  Shannon spoke on a variety of topics as varied as domestic and imported hardwoods, sheet goods, the economics of the lumber industry and the restoration of Notre Dame.

March 2022 

Andrew Hunter was our March of 2022 presenter. A frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking and a good friend to the club, Andrew is also a well respected expert on Japanese tools and techniques. His topic was accurate joinery layout, how to ensure that your joints are well fitting and tight. 

February 2022 

Our guest presenter for February was Bob Behnke of Franklin International, the makers of Titebond glues. Bob was our featured presenter in July of 2018. Member surveys have rated his presentation as among the best we’ve ever had, so we invited him to present again. 

January 2022 

January’s meeting was our kickoff meeting for 2022. We focused on club business including elections, a review of last year meetings and our plans for 2022. That was followed up by several member presentations. Charlie spoke about a pair of shore birds that he carved for a charity auction, Pat spoke on the crusher/destemmer that he made for his wine making hobby. We had some time left at the end and were able to have another member present an overview of thier workbench review. Thanks to Jim Mueller for taking us through the build and use of his bench

December 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog – Giant Cypress.

November 2021 

We had four members present their work this month. Freddie spoke about his experience building a canoe at the Adirondak Folk School. The school, which is located in Lake Luzerne NY is dedicated to teaching the arts, crafts, and cultural heritage of the Adirondack region. The build, which takes place over two weeks, is limited to four students. It took Freddie several years of trying to register for the class before he was finally able to secure a spot in a class. Next up was Steve talking about his shop built Microjig Ultimate Workbench. For his presentation, Steve played an entertaining YouTube video (accessible via this link), which he created to document the build process. Sri was up next speaking about the build of a round pedestal dining table. The table is made of Sapele, has a 42″ wide solid top and is stunning. Last up was Greg who spoken on the tools and techniques that he uses to flatten slabs. The slabs were cut on his sawmill and dried in the drying room on which he had presented on several months back. Thanks to the presenters for an educational and interesting evening.  

October 2021 

Our guest presenter for October was Ramon Valdez, a furniture maker known for integrating interesting and exquisite marquetry into his work. Ramon’s topic was the “double bevel” marquetry technique! This is a fantastic process for creating beautiful motifs that can be used to decorate a box, add visual interest to a piece of furniture or even as a stand alone picture. Among the items covered by Ramon were layout, building your marquetry in layers, application to a substrate, sawing technique, the principles of double bevel marquetry and tool set.  Thank you to Ramon for an interesting evening and for opening a new way to add interest and beauty to our work. Should you be interested in learning more about Ramon, he has a broad presence on social media. As a starting point, you can check out his website, www.ramonvaldezfinefurniture.com. Also, along with fellow woodworkers Philip Morley and Ben Brunick, he is the host of the  “Woodworkers Podcast”.

The club also held two additional in-person events during October. Early in the month, aboubt 10 member gathered in the parking lot to attend Gordon’s skill building session on the art of hammer veneering. His session included a discussion of the tool set, preping the material and the hammer vereering technique. Gordon provided some veneered samples and then demonstrated the process. Gordon’s demo also covered how to join smaller pieces of veneer so that a large substrate could be covered. There were plenty of material and supplies on hand so that each attendee was able to try their hand at hammer veneering a small board.

On October 30th we held and a branding / swap meet in the parking lot. The branding activity provided members who had made items for the Hermitage Museum with the opportunity to identify their work as being created by an NJWA Club Memeber. At the swap meet about a dozen or so members offered surplus tools, books and material for sale. 

September 2021 

September’s guest presenter was David Fisher whose topic was “Greenwood Carving, Following, Finding and Feeling Flow”.  A full time history teacher in the town in which he’s spent his whole life, Dave has become known internationally for his carving. His work, all of which is done by hand, includes bowls, spoons and vessels.  Many pieces are adorned with beautifully lettered phrases. 

Dave’s talk was a whirlwind tour of his technique, tools and philosophy. On tools, he shapes his work with a minimal tool set without using powered tools. Many of those tools have been passed down from previous generations and will be passed on in the future. On his philosophy, he sees the art that exists in the wood as opposed to forcing his art into the material. On technique, he uses time honored techniques of swinging and ax and pushing gouges and knives while in close contact with the material.

Dave rounded out the evening with an overview of his approach to the carved lettering that he uses to adorn his work. This was an interesting evening spent with a special craftsman. If you’d like to learn more about Dave and his work, you can visit: https://davidffisher.com.

August 2021 

At our August meeting we had three member presentations. Alan gave a detailed presention on a trompe l’oeil table that he built. Trompe l’oeil means fool the eye. The table has what looks like a folded piece of linen drapped over the top. However, what appears to be linen is in fact solid wood. Alan took us through the process of constructing the layers of a solid wood top. He followed that with a detailed description of how he carved a large piece of solid wood so that it appeared to be linen. He described the tools used (power and hand) as well as his carving technique.  He then went on to give a brief description of how he finished the piece. Kevin spoke about two Shaker candle stands that he built. He explained how varying the size and shape of the post and feet allowed hime to come up with two unique pieces. Scott presented on a split top Roubo workbench that he built using plans from the Woodwhisperer Guild. He covered the plans, material used, where he purchased it, construction steps and his experiences using the bench. Thanks to our three presenters for an interesting evening.  

July 2021 

Our guest speaker for July was woodworker and author Andy Rae.  Andy began his career working as a finisher for George Nakashima and working in Frank Klaus’ workshop. Subsequent to that he was a contributor to various woodworking publications, an  associate editor for American Woodworker magazine and the author of several books. Andy’s tool cabinet is the well known piece that graces the front cover of Jim Tolpin’s “The Toolbox Book”. Andy spoke about his journey as a woodworker and an author. He also shared some of the techniques he’s used for designing and building furniture.  He currently has his own workshop where he splits his time between taking on commissions and using woodworking to support recovering addicts. If you’d like to see more of his work, you can find him at Andy Rae Woodworking & Writing Studios on Facebook and @andyraewoodworkingstudio on Instagram.

June 2021 

The topic for June’s meeting was member workbenches. About 25 members posted pictures of their workbenches in a gallery on our website. Each member in attendance was given a few minutes to talk about their workbench. Several members did more in depth presentations. Our opening speaker was Dave Petersen who took us through the design and construction of his Roubo style workbench. There was quite a variety of workbenches build in different styles and using different construction techniques and material. The workbench gallery is still available using this link.

 This was the first regular meeting where members met in person since February of 2020. In order to accommodate as many attendees as possible we provided three options for attending. Members could meet indoors at our traditional location, they could attend via Zoom or they could opt for a middle ground where viewed the meeting via Zoom from the backyard at our location in Pompton Plains. 

May 2021 

Our presenter for May was master carver and teacher Mary May. Last year Mary had given us an overview of carving. This meeting was more of a hands on meeting (via Zoom) where Mary took us through the steps to carving two different versions of an Acanthus leaf. While carving each version, she described the tools and techniques that she was using. Although this was an opportunity to carve along with Mary, it would be quite a challenge to carve as quickly as she did. With this in mind, the session was recorded and sent out to members so that they could go through this at their own speed. 

She recently finished first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In addition to our regular meeting, the club held a skill session on May 15th. Three members presented on various sharpening topics. Bob demonstrated how to sharpen turning tools on a grinder, Gordon focused on sharpening chisels and plane irons on flat stones and Charlie taught the particulars of sharpening carving tools,

April 2021 

April’s guest presenter was Bob Van Dyke, the founder and director of the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. Bob’s topic was stock preparation, make it flat, straight and square. A Fine Woodworking contribution editor, Bob took us step by step through the process he uses to take lumber from the rough stage to being milled 4 square. Speaking from the CVSW workshop, his talk focused on the use of four machines to mill lumber, the  jointer, planer, bandsaw and table saw. Bob did cover spring joints, a technique for developing highly reliable edge joints. For that process he used a hand plane. Also included in his presentation was the topic of yield, which is the amount of milled stock that can be gotten from a rough board. Bob explained how to approximate the yield, why warp and twist in a board reduces yield and how to maximize the yield. Bob also highlighted some of the situations that would lead to less than optimal stock preparation including poor machine set up and errors in technique.  

March 2021 

March’s guest presenter was Joel Moskowitz, the owner of Tools for Working Wood. An avid collector of historical woodworking and craft texts, Joel is also the author of the popular woodworking blog “Joel’s Blog”. In addition he manufactures his own line of tools under the brands Gramercy Tools and BT&C (Brooklyn Tool and Craft). A passionate student of woodworking history, Joel’s spoke on how early woodworking texts have informed the design and development of modern tools in particular many of the tools designed and made by his company. Among the texts that he referred to during his talk was Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanic Exercises” pointing to some of the pictures in his copy of the 1683 edition, one of only a few hundred in print. Thanks to Joel for and interesting and education evening.

On Monday March 1st meeting at 7PM, we held an open discussion and presentation of our prospective projects for the Witness Tree project.  Members exchanged their ideas and were able to find out if there were any duplicate or similar items in the planning.  For members who have decided on a project, we will be able to present them to The Hermitage Staff and hear their reaction and comments.  Many members have posted their ideas to a photo album which can be viewed at the following link: witness tree project ideas.

February 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. His topic for the evening was an overview of spindle turning which is the type of turning that is most useful for furniture makers. Tom covered numerous topics including tools, sharpening, setting up the lathe, the types of cuts used in spindle turning and using templates. Tom also discussed the importance of a fair curve in order to give your furniture a professional and pleasing look. Thanks to Tom for a great introduction to woodturning for furniture makers. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure (the link for Tom’s May of 2020 video presentation is also still active).

January  2021 

Our kickoff meeting for 2021 began with a reap of our 2020 activities and elections for the board of directors. Following club business, we had three member presentations.

• Greg D. walked us through the design and construction of his home drying room. The room, which is attached to his shop, was built from the ground up and allows Greg to dry wood that he has milled himself
• Ben S. spoke about a branding iron that he recently purchased. Included in his discussion was the trial and error that he went through to develop a technique that would yield a clear image on his work. 
• Sri spoke on a Carolina Candle Stand which he just completed. Among the topics covered were creating the mortise and tenons for attaching the feet to the post and how to attach the top to account for wood movement. 

December 2020 

Our guest speaker for this month was Russell M, a technical specialist with JPW Industries, the makers of Jet and Powermatic tools. He covered a broad range of topic including: 

• Trends in woodworking machine technology
• The key features to look for when shopping for a woodworking machine 
• Maintenance concepts and practices for the types of machines that most of us are likely to own (i.e., bandsaw, planer, jointer, drill press, sanders, tablesaw, etc.)
• Key decision points, e.g. straight vs. segmented knives
• Some key usage points, common mistakes to avoid, safety and accuracy practices

Many thanks to Russell for an informative and interesting evening

November 2020 

For this month’s meeting, we had a virtual tour of the Stickley Museum in Fayetteville NY.  The museum which opened in 2007 explores over a century of furniture making excellence. It highlights the inspiration and craftsmanship that made Stickley America’s foremost fine furniture maker and the craftspeople whose commitment to quality led to Stickley’s reputation for manufacturing heirloom quality furniture. Many thanks to the museum’s head Amanda C., who gave a wonderful tour despite the fact that her only connection to her audience was via faces on an iPad. 

In addition to our regular monthly meeting, we held a swap meet in the early part of the month. Approximately 20 members (and a few non-members) set up tables to sell a variety of tools. Another 20 or so participated as buyers only. The event was held outdoors and masks were required. After being quarantined for a good part of the year, it was a good way to catch up with our fellow NJWA members.  

October 2020 

October’s guest speaker was Mary May, a master carver who works out of her workshop on John’s Island South Carolina. During her two hour presentation, Mary took us through an overview of the basics of carving. The topics included the various types of tools, the convention for identifying the various shapes and sizes and how to sharpen them; the types of wood that are appropriate for carving and some basic techniques. Mary is also a teacher who has taught at such places as the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana, Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School and the Connecticut Valley School. She recently finished her first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In early October we had a second event at John M’s saw mill where we began the process of milling the witness tree. Also, as some of John’s property was being sold off, members helped to clear lumber off that portion of his yard.  

September 2020 

Chuck Bender, a well known period furniture maker and the founder of the Acanthus Workshop, a woodworking school in Jim Thorpe Pa., was September’s presenter. His topic was modern methods for making federal style furniture. Chuck spoke about jigs and machine use among other things. A large part of the presentation was spent exploring the reasons that period furniture failed due to wood movement and the techniques that he uses to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the reproductions that he builds. Several examples from his portfolio are below. To learn more about Chuck’s  work and school, you can visit acanthus.com.

August 2020 

This month’s featured presenter was artist, sculptor and furniture maker Scott Grove. His topic was advanced veneering. You can use his link to Scott’s website to learn more about his work: scottgrove.com

July 2020 

July’s meeting featured 4 member presentations.

• Ben’s presentation covered the various construction elements and techniques involved in building an interesting workbench.
• Roy’s flag box – which described the build process including his approach to cutting the angled components for the triangular form
•  David’s row boat rocker – built for his grand daughter, there were a number of challenging angled components that needed to be cut.
•  Cliff’s segmented vase –  a short review of how he cut the angled components for the segments that were used to create the vase.

In addition to our regular July meeting, we’ll have an informal get together where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

June 2020 

Tis month’s guest presenter was Steve Latta. A teacher, writer, craftsman and contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, Steve’s main job is developing the furniture makers of tomorrow at the Thaddeus Steven’s College in Lancaster Pennsylvania. His topic for our meeting was creating and adding inlays to furniture. You can view some of his FWW articles at: https://www.finewoodworking.com/author/steve-latta

 In addition to our regular June meeting, we’ll have an informal get together on Monday June 1st where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

May 2020 

Our virtual presenter at May’s meeting was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. There were 45 members in attendance. Tom’s topic was the uses for and methods of creating mortise and tenon joints. Many thanks to Tom for an interesting and engaging night. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure.  

April 2020 

April’s online meeting was composed of a number of short member presentations. There were 22 members in attendance. Although that’s about half of our normal attendance and we were all remote, the discussion was very lively. The members who presented were:

• Brian described the Pekovich bench jig that he made for working with small parts
• Abe gave us a tour of his Pekovich hanging tool cabinet and also did a brief shop tour
• Verne gave us a complete tour of his shop
• Alan showed a sliding table that enables him to cut  small logs on his band saw and toured some of his shop and equipment
• Charlie showed us some carvings including a beautiful carved banana and some carved swans that he’s making as holiday gifts
• Gordon spoke about test pieces he was making for veneered drawer fronts
• John showed two pieces, a three legged stool and a saw horse. He also talked about the shop stool project which he’s facilitating
• Sri is building a large dresser with sliding dovetails. He had pictures of the jigs he built to cut them as well as his method for handling large pieces on his router table
• Tal completed his music stand, which he displayed and spoke about some of the techniques he used to build it.
• Several pictures from the evening are below. To see more member work from the evening, please use this link.

March 2020 

Sadly our March meeting was cancelled due to the Corona virus. Although we were looking forward to our guest speaker, Joel Moskowitz of Tools for Working Wood, the club made a decision which respected the health of our members and the community in which we meet.

March was also the annual woodworking show. NJWA had a booth where, over the 3 days of the event, 15 members supported our effort to promote the club and recruit new members. The show also conducted a Project Challenge, which provided an opportunity for craftspeople to display their work and for attendees to vote on their favorite piece. NJWA member Jay Siegelaub’s natural edge side table was the 2020 winner. Congratulations to Jay. If you’d like to see more of Jay’s work, use this link to check out his website. 

 

View 2019 Meeting Summaries

View 2018 Meeting Summaries

View 2017 Meeting Summaries

View 2016 Meeting Summaries

January 2022 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog

December 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog – Giant Cypress.

November 2021 

We had four members present their work this month. Freddie spoke about his experience building a canoe at the Adirondak Folk School. The school, which is located in Lake Luzerne NY is dedicated to teaching the arts, crafts, and cultural heritage of the Adirondack region. The build, which takes place over two weeks, is limited to four students. It took Freddie several years of trying to register for the class before he was finally able to secure a spot in a class. Next up was Steve talking about his shop built Microjig Ultimate Workbench. For his presentation, Steve played an entertaining YouTube video (accessible via this link), which he created to document the build process. Sri was up next speaking about the build of a round pedestal dining table. The table is made of Sapele, has a 42″ wide solid top and is stunning. Last up was Greg who spoken on the tools and techniques that he uses to flatten slabs. The slabs were cut on his sawmill and dried in the drying room on which he had presented on several months back. Thanks to the presenters for an educational and interesting evening.  

October 2021 

Our guest presenter for October was Ramon Valdez, a furniture maker known for integrating interesting and exquisite marquetry into his work. Ramon’s topic was the “double bevel” marquetry technique! This is a fantastic process for creating beautiful motifs that can be used to decorate a box, add visual interest to a piece of furniture or even as a stand alone picture. Among the items covered by Ramon were layout, building your marquetry in layers, application to a substrate, sawing technique, the principles of double bevel marquetry and tool set.  Thank you to Ramon for an interesting evening and for opening a new way to add interest and beauty to our work. Should you be interested in learning more about Ramon, he has a broad presence on social media. As a starting point, you can check out his website, www.ramonvaldezfinefurniture.com. Also, along with fellow woodworkers Philip Morley and Ben Brunick, he is the host of the  “Woodworkers Podcast”.

The club also held two additional in-person events during October. Early in the month, aboubt 10 member gathered in the parking lot to attend Gordon’s skill building session on the art of hammer veneering. His session included a discussion of the tool set, preping the material and the hammer vereering technique. Gordon provided some veneered samples and then demonstrated the process. Gordon’s demo also covered how to join smaller pieces of veneer so that a large substrate could be covered. There were plenty of material and supplies on hand so that each attendee was able to try their hand at hammer veneering a small board.

On October 30th we held and a branding / swap meet in the parking lot. The branding activity provided members who had made items for the Hermitage Museum with the opportunity to identify their work as being created by an NJWA Club Memeber. At the swap meet about a dozen or so members offered surplus tools, books and material for sale. 

September 2021 

September’s guest presenter was David Fisher whose topic was “Greenwood Carving, Following, Finding and Feeling Flow”.  A full time history teacher in the town in which he’s spent his whole life, Dave has become known internationally for his carving. His work, all of which is done by hand, includes bowls, spoons and vessels.  Many pieces are adorned with beautifully lettered phrases. 

Dave’s talk was a whirlwind tour of his technique, tools and philosophy. On tools, he shapes his work with a minimal tool set without using powered tools. Many of those tools have been passed down from previous generations and will be passed on in the future. On his philosophy, he sees the art that exists in the wood as opposed to forcing his art into the material. On technique, he uses time honored techniques of swinging and ax and pushing gouges and knives while in close contact with the material.

Dave rounded out the evening with an overview of his approach to the carved lettering that he uses to adorn his work. This was an interesting evening spent with a special craftsman. If you’d like to learn more about Dave and his work, you can visit: https://davidffisher.com.

August 2021 

At our August meeting we had three member presentations. Alan gave a detailed presention on a trompe l’oeil table that he built. Trompe l’oeil means fool the eye. The table has what looks like a folded piece of linen drapped over the top. However, what appears to be linen is in fact solid wood. Alan took us through the process of constructing the layers of a solid wood top. He followed that with a detailed description of how he carved a large piece of solid wood so that it appeared to be linen. He described the tools used (power and hand) as well as his carving technique.  He then went on to give a brief description of how he finished the piece. Kevin spoke about two Shaker candle stands that he built. He explained how varying the size and shape of the post and feet allowed hime to come up with two unique pieces. Scott presented on a split top Roubo workbench that he built using plans from the Woodwhisperer Guild. He covered the plans, material used, where he purchased it, construction steps and his experiences using the bench. Thanks to our three presenters for an interesting evening.  

July 2021 

Our guest speaker for July was woodworker and author Andy Rae.  Andy began his career working as a finisher for George Nakashima and working in Frank Klaus’ workshop. Subsequent to that he was a contributor to various woodworking publications, an  associate editor for American Woodworker magazine and the author of several books. Andy’s tool cabinet is the well known piece that graces the front cover of Jim Tolpin’s “The Toolbox Book”. Andy spoke about his journey as a woodworker and an author. He also shared some of the techniques he’s used for designing and building furniture.  He currently has his own workshop where he splits his time between taking on commissions and using woodworking to support recovering addicts. If you’d like to see more of his work, you can find him at Andy Rae Woodworking & Writing Studios on Facebook and @andyraewoodworkingstudio on Instagram.

June 2021 

The topic for June’s meeting was member workbenches. About 25 members posted pictures of their workbenches in a gallery on our website. Each member in attendance was given a few minutes to talk about their workbench. Several members did more in depth presentations. Our opening speaker was Dave Petersen who took us through the design and construction of his Roubo style workbench. There was quite a variety of workbenches build in different styles and using different construction techniques and material. The workbench gallery is still available using this link.

 This was the first regular meeting where members met in person since February of 2020. In order to accommodate as many attendees as possible we provided three options for attending. Members could meet indoors at our traditional location, they could attend via Zoom or they could opt for a middle ground where viewed the meeting via Zoom from the backyard at our location in Pompton Plains. 

May 2021 

Our presenter for May was master carver and teacher Mary May. Last year Mary had given us an overview of carving. This meeting was more of a hands on meeting (via Zoom) where Mary took us through the steps to carving two different versions of an Acanthus leaf. While carving each version, she described the tools and techniques that she was using. Although this was an opportunity to carve along with Mary, it would be quite a challenge to carve as quickly as she did. With this in mind, the session was recorded and sent out to members so that they could go through this at their own speed. 

She recently finished first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In addition to our regular meeting, the club held a skill session on May 15th. Three members presented on various sharpening topics. Bob demonstrated how to sharpen turning tools on a grinder, Gordon focused on sharpening chisels and plane irons on flat stones and Charlie taught the particulars of sharpening carving tools,

April 2021 

April’s guest presenter was Bob Van Dyke, the founder and director of the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. Bob’s topic was stock preparation, make it flat, straight and square. A Fine Woodworking contribution editor, Bob took us step by step through the process he uses to take lumber from the rough stage to being milled 4 square. Speaking from the CVSW workshop, his talk focused on the use of four machines to mill lumber, the  jointer, planer, bandsaw and table saw. Bob did cover spring joints, a technique for developing highly reliable edge joints. For that process he used a hand plane. Also included in his presentation was the topic of yield, which is the amount of milled stock that can be gotten from a rough board. Bob explained how to approximate the yield, why warp and twist in a board reduces yield and how to maximize the yield. Bob also highlighted some of the situations that would lead to less than optimal stock preparation including poor machine set up and errors in technique.  

March 2021 

March’s guest presenter was Joel Moskowitz, the owner of Tools for Working Wood. An avid collector of historical woodworking and craft texts, Joel is also the author of the popular woodworking blog “Joel’s Blog”. In addition he manufactures his own line of tools under the brands Gramercy Tools and BT&C (Brooklyn Tool and Craft). A passionate student of woodworking history, Joel’s spoke on how early woodworking texts have informed the design and development of modern tools in particular many of the tools designed and made by his company. Among the texts that he referred to during his talk was Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanic Exercises” pointing to some of the pictures in his copy of the 1683 edition, one of only a few hundred in print. Thanks to Joel for and interesting and education evening.

On Monday March 1st meeting at 7PM, we held an open discussion and presentation of our prospective projects for the Witness Tree project.  Members exchanged their ideas and were able to find out if there were any duplicate or similar items in the planning.  For members who have decided on a project, we will be able to present them to The Hermitage Staff and hear their reaction and comments.  Many members have posted their ideas to a photo album which can be viewed at the following link: witness tree project ideas.

February 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. His topic for the evening was an overview of spindle turning which is the type of turning that is most useful for furniture makers. Tom covered numerous topics including tools, sharpening, setting up the lathe, the types of cuts used in spindle turning and using templates. Tom also discussed the importance of a fair curve in order to give your furniture a professional and pleasing look. Thanks to Tom for a great introduction to woodturning for furniture makers. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure (the link for Tom’s May of 2020 video presentation is also still active).

January  2021 

Our kickoff meeting for 2021 began with a reap of our 2020 activities and elections for the board of directors. Following club business, we had three member presentations.

• Greg D. walked us through the design and construction of his home drying room. The room, which is attached to his shop, was built from the ground up and allows Greg to dry wood that he has milled himself
• Ben S. spoke about a branding iron that he recently purchased. Included in his discussion was the trial and error that he went through to develop a technique that would yield a clear image on his work. 
• Sri spoke on a Carolina Candle Stand which he just completed. Among the topics covered were creating the mortise and tenons for attaching the feet to the post and how to attach the top to account for wood movement. 

December 2020 

Our guest speaker for this month was Russell M, a technical specialist with JPW Industries, the makers of Jet and Powermatic tools. He covered a broad range of topic including: 

• Trends in woodworking machine technology
• The key features to look for when shopping for a woodworking machine 
• Maintenance concepts and practices for the types of machines that most of us are likely to own (i.e., bandsaw, planer, jointer, drill press, sanders, tablesaw, etc.)
• Key decision points, e.g. straight vs. segmented knives
• Some key usage points, common mistakes to avoid, safety and accuracy practices

Many thanks to Russell for an informative and interesting evening

November 2020 

For this month’s meeting, we had a virtual tour of the Stickley Museum in Fayetteville NY.  The museum which opened in 2007 explores over a century of furniture making excellence. It highlights the inspiration and craftsmanship that made Stickley America’s foremost fine furniture maker and the craftspeople whose commitment to quality led to Stickley’s reputation for manufacturing heirloom quality furniture. Many thanks to the museum’s head Amanda C., who gave a wonderful tour despite the fact that her only connection to her audience was via faces on an iPad. 

In addition to our regular monthly meeting, we held a swap meet in the early part of the month. Approximately 20 members (and a few non-members) set up tables to sell a variety of tools. Another 20 or so participated as buyers only. The event was held outdoors and masks were required. After being quarantined for a good part of the year, it was a good way to catch up with our fellow NJWA members.  

October 2020 

October’s guest speaker was Mary May, a master carver who works out of her workshop on John’s Island South Carolina. During her two hour presentation, Mary took us through an overview of the basics of carving. The topics included the various types of tools, the convention for identifying the various shapes and sizes and how to sharpen them; the types of wood that are appropriate for carving and some basic techniques. Mary is also a teacher who has taught at such places as the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana, Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School and the Connecticut Valley School. She recently finished her first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In early October we had a second event at John M’s saw mill where we began the process of milling the witness tree. Also, as some of John’s property was being sold off, members helped to clear lumber off that portion of his yard.  

September 2020 

Chuck Bender, a well known period furniture maker and the founder of the Acanthus Workshop, a woodworking school in Jim Thorpe Pa., was September’s presenter. His topic was modern methods for making federal style furniture. Chuck spoke about jigs and machine use among other things. A large part of the presentation was spent exploring the reasons that period furniture failed due to wood movement and the techniques that he uses to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the reproductions that he builds. Several examples from his portfolio are below. To learn more about Chuck’s  work and school, you can visit acanthus.com.

August 2020 

This month’s featured presenter was artist, sculptor and furniture maker Scott Grove. His topic was advanced veneering. You can use his link to Scott’s website to learn more about his work: scottgrove.com

July 2020 

July’s meeting featured 4 member presentations.

• Ben’s presentation covered the various construction elements and techniques involved in building an interesting workbench.
• Roy’s flag box – which described the build process including his approach to cutting the angled components for the triangular form
•  David’s row boat rocker – built for his grand daughter, there were a number of challenging angled components that needed to be cut.
•  Cliff’s segmented vase –  a short review of how he cut the angled components for the segments that were used to create the vase.

In addition to our regular July meeting, we’ll have an informal get together where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

June 2020 

Tis month’s guest presenter was Steve Latta. A teacher, writer, craftsman and contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, Steve’s main job is developing the furniture makers of tomorrow at the Thaddeus Steven’s College in Lancaster Pennsylvania. His topic for our meeting was creating and adding inlays to furniture. You can view some of his FWW articles at: https://www.finewoodworking.com/author/steve-latta

 In addition to our regular June meeting, we’ll have an informal get together on Monday June 1st where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

May 2020 

Our virtual presenter at May’s meeting was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. There were 45 members in attendance. Tom’s topic was the uses for and methods of creating mortise and tenon joints. Many thanks to Tom for an interesting and engaging night. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure.  

April 2020 

April’s online meeting was composed of a number of short member presentations. There were 22 members in attendance. Although that’s about half of our normal attendance and we were all remote, the discussion was very lively. The members who presented were:

• Brian described the Pekovich bench jig that he made for working with small parts
• Abe gave us a tour of his Pekovich hanging tool cabinet and also did a brief shop tour
• Verne gave us a complete tour of his shop
• Alan showed a sliding table that enables him to cut  small logs on his band saw and toured some of his shop and equipment
• Charlie showed us some carvings including a beautiful carved banana and some carved swans that he’s making as holiday gifts
• Gordon spoke about test pieces he was making for veneered drawer fronts
• John showed two pieces, a three legged stool and a saw horse. He also talked about the shop stool project which he’s facilitating
• Sri is building a large dresser with sliding dovetails. He had pictures of the jigs he built to cut them as well as his method for handling large pieces on his router table
• Tal completed his music stand, which he displayed and spoke about some of the techniques he used to build it.
• Several pictures from the evening are below. To see more member work from the evening, please use this link.

March 2020 

Sadly our March meeting was cancelled due to the Corona virus. Although we were looking forward to our guest speaker, Joel Moskowitz of Tools for Working Wood, the club made a decision which respected the health of our members and the community in which we meet.

March was also the annual woodworking show. NJWA had a booth where, over the 3 days of the event, 15 members supported our effort to promote the club and recruit new members. The show also conducted a Project Challenge, which provided an opportunity for craftspeople to display their work and for attendees to vote on their favorite piece. NJWA member Jay Siegelaub’s natural edge side table was the 2020 winner. Congratulations to Jay. If you’d like to see more of Jay’s work, use this link to check out his website. 

 

View 2019 Meeting Summaries

View 2018 Meeting Summaries

View 2017 Meeting Summaries

View 2016 Meeting Summaries

September 2022 

Our guest speaker for September was author, teacher and Fine Woodworking contributing editor Steve Latta. A professional furniture and cabinet maker for over 30 years, he has spent the last 20 years as a professor of cabinet making and wood technology at the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster Pa. Well know for his expertise on period furniture, Steve is an in-demand lecturer at places such as Winterthur, Colonial Williamsburg and The American Furniture Study Center at Yale University. His topic was flow as it applies to furniture making. Steve focused on the building of a small, one-drawer night stand. He began with lumber selection and progressed through dimensioning and joinery. He explained “which cut, in which order, and why”. The information packed into Steve’s presentation has the potential to improve the quality of our projects while reducing workshop frustration and mistakes.  

August 2022 

Our guest speaker for August was author, teacher and Fine Woodworking contributing editor Roland “Rollie” Johnson. A longtime professional woodworker in Sauk Rapids, MN, Rollie opened his first workshop in 1976. A self professed gear head, he’s FWW’s expert on hand and machine tool maintenance, authoring  several video series on the topic as well as providing numerous tool reviews. In addition, he’s taught finishing at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine and has written several books on woodworking. Rollie’s topic was coloring wood. He touched on products, types of stain, how different woods accept stain and numerous other topics. While many of us were familiar with Rollie from his work at the Woodworking Shows we weren’t prepared for the depth of knowledge that he shared with us during the evening. David Levenberg has gone through the the recording and summarized Rollie’s presentation. Here’s a link to that document.

July 2022 

Our July meeting took place at the Mr. Sawdust School of Professional Woodworking in Hackettstown NJ. Our host was Wally Kunkel the owner of the school. His father, Wallace Kunkel Sr. known as Mr. Sawdust, had a school in Chester NJ which is where Wally began his woodworking education eventually becoming a professional furniture maker. Following in his father’s footsteps, he now runs his own school offering a wide variety of courses. One of his specialties, which he demonstrated for us, is using the radial arm saw to cut complex joinery. In addition to a detailed tour of the school, Wally arranged for Frank Klauz to do a short presentation and Q&A on cutting dovetails by hand. Should you want more information on Wally and his school you can visit him at the Mr. Sawdust School’s website.

June 2022 

June’s guest speaker was Nick DeMars, the woodworking Product Specialist at Klingspor Abrasives who spoke about all things sandpaper and sanding. Nick covered hand and machine sanding, sanding techniques and answered questions such as what sandpaper characteristics are appropriate for wood removal vs. finish prep. As Klingspor’s router bit specialist he was also able to give us an overview router bits and their uses.

May 2022 

For May’s meeting we took a break from paid presenters and focused on the work of our members. Our first presenter was Tim who described his Morris Chair build. He presented on construction details as well as his personal design decisions that went into creating the piece. There were many interesting aspects to the build including his technique for getting quarter sawn faces on all of the legs. Thanks to Tim for an interesting presentation which included a short video for each step of the build. Gordon followed with a talk on a credenza that he built. The piece has 3 drawers with veneered fronts surrounded by cock beading. It also has a shelf below the drawers that’s suspended from four delecate legs. Gordon shared his approach to overcoming each of the challenges inherent in building this piece. Last was a short talk by David on an bandsaw technique for creating interesting curved designs. The technique that he described allows him to create artistic pieces composed of a variety of wood species and shapes. Thanks to our presenters for sharing some very interesting techniques and designs.

April 2022 

April’s guest presenter was Shannon Rogers, the host of Shannon’s Lumber Industry Update. Drawing on his day job as the Director of Marketing for one of the oldest lumber companies in the US, J. Gibson McIlvain, he offered a deep understanding and unique perspective on the industry. In addition, he runs his own online woodworking school devoted to hand tools called appropriately enough The Hand Tool School.  Shannon spoke on a variety of topics as varied as domestic and imported hardwoods, sheet goods, the economics of the lumber industry and the restoration of Notre Dame.

March 2022 

Andrew Hunter was our March of 2022 presenter. A frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking and a good friend to the club, Andrew is also a well respected expert on Japanese tools and techniques. His topic was accurate joinery layout, how to ensure that your joints are well fitting and tight. 

February 2022 

Our guest presenter for February was Bob Behnke of Franklin International, the makers of Titebond glues. Bob was our featured presenter in July of 2018. Member surveys have rated his presentation as among the best we’ve ever had, so we invited him to present again. 

January 2022 

January’s meeting was our kickoff meeting for 2022. We focused on club business including elections, a review of last year meetings and our plans for 2022. That was followed up by several member presentations. Charlie spoke about a pair of shore birds that he carved for a charity auction, Pat spoke on the crusher/destemmer that he made for his wine making hobby. We had some time left at the end and were able to have another member present an overview of thier workbench review. Thanks to Jim Mueller for taking us through the build and use of his bench

December 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog – Giant Cypress.

November 2021 

We had four members present their work this month. Freddie spoke about his experience building a canoe at the Adirondak Folk School. The school, which is located in Lake Luzerne NY is dedicated to teaching the arts, crafts, and cultural heritage of the Adirondack region. The build, which takes place over two weeks, is limited to four students. It took Freddie several years of trying to register for the class before he was finally able to secure a spot in a class. Next up was Steve talking about his shop built Microjig Ultimate Workbench. For his presentation, Steve played an entertaining YouTube video (accessible via this link), which he created to document the build process. Sri was up next speaking about the build of a round pedestal dining table. The table is made of Sapele, has a 42″ wide solid top and is stunning. Last up was Greg who spoken on the tools and techniques that he uses to flatten slabs. The slabs were cut on his sawmill and dried in the drying room on which he had presented on several months back. Thanks to the presenters for an educational and interesting evening.  

October 2021 

Our guest presenter for October was Ramon Valdez, a furniture maker known for integrating interesting and exquisite marquetry into his work. Ramon’s topic was the “double bevel” marquetry technique! This is a fantastic process for creating beautiful motifs that can be used to decorate a box, add visual interest to a piece of furniture or even as a stand alone picture. Among the items covered by Ramon were layout, building your marquetry in layers, application to a substrate, sawing technique, the principles of double bevel marquetry and tool set.  Thank you to Ramon for an interesting evening and for opening a new way to add interest and beauty to our work. Should you be interested in learning more about Ramon, he has a broad presence on social media. As a starting point, you can check out his website, www.ramonvaldezfinefurniture.com. Also, along with fellow woodworkers Philip Morley and Ben Brunick, he is the host of the  “Woodworkers Podcast”.

The club also held two additional in-person events during October. Early in the month, aboubt 10 member gathered in the parking lot to attend Gordon’s skill building session on the art of hammer veneering. His session included a discussion of the tool set, preping the material and the hammer vereering technique. Gordon provided some veneered samples and then demonstrated the process. Gordon’s demo also covered how to join smaller pieces of veneer so that a large substrate could be covered. There were plenty of material and supplies on hand so that each attendee was able to try their hand at hammer veneering a small board.

On October 30th we held and a branding / swap meet in the parking lot. The branding activity provided members who had made items for the Hermitage Museum with the opportunity to identify their work as being created by an NJWA Club Memeber. At the swap meet about a dozen or so members offered surplus tools, books and material for sale. 

September 2021 

September’s guest presenter was David Fisher whose topic was “Greenwood Carving, Following, Finding and Feeling Flow”.  A full time history teacher in the town in which he’s spent his whole life, Dave has become known internationally for his carving. His work, all of which is done by hand, includes bowls, spoons and vessels.  Many pieces are adorned with beautifully lettered phrases. 

Dave’s talk was a whirlwind tour of his technique, tools and philosophy. On tools, he shapes his work with a minimal tool set without using powered tools. Many of those tools have been passed down from previous generations and will be passed on in the future. On his philosophy, he sees the art that exists in the wood as opposed to forcing his art into the material. On technique, he uses time honored techniques of swinging and ax and pushing gouges and knives while in close contact with the material.

Dave rounded out the evening with an overview of his approach to the carved lettering that he uses to adorn his work. This was an interesting evening spent with a special craftsman. If you’d like to learn more about Dave and his work, you can visit: https://davidffisher.com.

August 2021 

At our August meeting we had three member presentations. Alan gave a detailed presention on a trompe l’oeil table that he built. Trompe l’oeil means fool the eye. The table has what looks like a folded piece of linen drapped over the top. However, what appears to be linen is in fact solid wood. Alan took us through the process of constructing the layers of a solid wood top. He followed that with a detailed description of how he carved a large piece of solid wood so that it appeared to be linen. He described the tools used (power and hand) as well as his carving technique.  He then went on to give a brief description of how he finished the piece. Kevin spoke about two Shaker candle stands that he built. He explained how varying the size and shape of the post and feet allowed hime to come up with two unique pieces. Scott presented on a split top Roubo workbench that he built using plans from the Woodwhisperer Guild. He covered the plans, material used, where he purchased it, construction steps and his experiences using the bench. Thanks to our three presenters for an interesting evening.  

July 2021 

Our guest speaker for July was woodworker and author Andy Rae.  Andy began his career working as a finisher for George Nakashima and working in Frank Klaus’ workshop. Subsequent to that he was a contributor to various woodworking publications, an  associate editor for American Woodworker magazine and the author of several books. Andy’s tool cabinet is the well known piece that graces the front cover of Jim Tolpin’s “The Toolbox Book”. Andy spoke about his journey as a woodworker and an author. He also shared some of the techniques he’s used for designing and building furniture.  He currently has his own workshop where he splits his time between taking on commissions and using woodworking to support recovering addicts. If you’d like to see more of his work, you can find him at Andy Rae Woodworking & Writing Studios on Facebook and @andyraewoodworkingstudio on Instagram.

June 2021 

The topic for June’s meeting was member workbenches. About 25 members posted pictures of their workbenches in a gallery on our website. Each member in attendance was given a few minutes to talk about their workbench. Several members did more in depth presentations. Our opening speaker was Dave Petersen who took us through the design and construction of his Roubo style workbench. There was quite a variety of workbenches build in different styles and using different construction techniques and material. The workbench gallery is still available using this link.

 This was the first regular meeting where members met in person since February of 2020. In order to accommodate as many attendees as possible we provided three options for attending. Members could meet indoors at our traditional location, they could attend via Zoom or they could opt for a middle ground where viewed the meeting via Zoom from the backyard at our location in Pompton Plains. 

May 2021 

Our presenter for May was master carver and teacher Mary May. Last year Mary had given us an overview of carving. This meeting was more of a hands on meeting (via Zoom) where Mary took us through the steps to carving two different versions of an Acanthus leaf. While carving each version, she described the tools and techniques that she was using. Although this was an opportunity to carve along with Mary, it would be quite a challenge to carve as quickly as she did. With this in mind, the session was recorded and sent out to members so that they could go through this at their own speed. 

She recently finished first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In addition to our regular meeting, the club held a skill session on May 15th. Three members presented on various sharpening topics. Bob demonstrated how to sharpen turning tools on a grinder, Gordon focused on sharpening chisels and plane irons on flat stones and Charlie taught the particulars of sharpening carving tools,

April 2021 

April’s guest presenter was Bob Van Dyke, the founder and director of the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. Bob’s topic was stock preparation, make it flat, straight and square. A Fine Woodworking contribution editor, Bob took us step by step through the process he uses to take lumber from the rough stage to being milled 4 square. Speaking from the CVSW workshop, his talk focused on the use of four machines to mill lumber, the  jointer, planer, bandsaw and table saw. Bob did cover spring joints, a technique for developing highly reliable edge joints. For that process he used a hand plane. Also included in his presentation was the topic of yield, which is the amount of milled stock that can be gotten from a rough board. Bob explained how to approximate the yield, why warp and twist in a board reduces yield and how to maximize the yield. Bob also highlighted some of the situations that would lead to less than optimal stock preparation including poor machine set up and errors in technique.  

March 2021 

March’s guest presenter was Joel Moskowitz, the owner of Tools for Working Wood. An avid collector of historical woodworking and craft texts, Joel is also the author of the popular woodworking blog “Joel’s Blog”. In addition he manufactures his own line of tools under the brands Gramercy Tools and BT&C (Brooklyn Tool and Craft). A passionate student of woodworking history, Joel’s spoke on how early woodworking texts have informed the design and development of modern tools in particular many of the tools designed and made by his company. Among the texts that he referred to during his talk was Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanic Exercises” pointing to some of the pictures in his copy of the 1683 edition, one of only a few hundred in print. Thanks to Joel for and interesting and education evening.

On Monday March 1st meeting at 7PM, we held an open discussion and presentation of our prospective projects for the Witness Tree project.  Members exchanged their ideas and were able to find out if there were any duplicate or similar items in the planning.  For members who have decided on a project, we will be able to present them to The Hermitage Staff and hear their reaction and comments.  Many members have posted their ideas to a photo album which can be viewed at the following link: witness tree project ideas.

February 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. His topic for the evening was an overview of spindle turning which is the type of turning that is most useful for furniture makers. Tom covered numerous topics including tools, sharpening, setting up the lathe, the types of cuts used in spindle turning and using templates. Tom also discussed the importance of a fair curve in order to give your furniture a professional and pleasing look. Thanks to Tom for a great introduction to woodturning for furniture makers. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure (the link for Tom’s May of 2020 video presentation is also still active).

January  2021 

Our kickoff meeting for 2021 began with a reap of our 2020 activities and elections for the board of directors. Following club business, we had three member presentations.

• Greg D. walked us through the design and construction of his home drying room. The room, which is attached to his shop, was built from the ground up and allows Greg to dry wood that he has milled himself
• Ben S. spoke about a branding iron that he recently purchased. Included in his discussion was the trial and error that he went through to develop a technique that would yield a clear image on his work. 
• Sri spoke on a Carolina Candle Stand which he just completed. Among the topics covered were creating the mortise and tenons for attaching the feet to the post and how to attach the top to account for wood movement. 

December 2020 

Our guest speaker for this month was Russell M, a technical specialist with JPW Industries, the makers of Jet and Powermatic tools. He covered a broad range of topic including: 

• Trends in woodworking machine technology
• The key features to look for when shopping for a woodworking machine 
• Maintenance concepts and practices for the types of machines that most of us are likely to own (i.e., bandsaw, planer, jointer, drill press, sanders, tablesaw, etc.)
• Key decision points, e.g. straight vs. segmented knives
• Some key usage points, common mistakes to avoid, safety and accuracy practices

Many thanks to Russell for an informative and interesting evening

November 2020 

For this month’s meeting, we had a virtual tour of the Stickley Museum in Fayetteville NY.  The museum which opened in 2007 explores over a century of furniture making excellence. It highlights the inspiration and craftsmanship that made Stickley America’s foremost fine furniture maker and the craftspeople whose commitment to quality led to Stickley’s reputation for manufacturing heirloom quality furniture. Many thanks to the museum’s head Amanda C., who gave a wonderful tour despite the fact that her only connection to her audience was via faces on an iPad. 

In addition to our regular monthly meeting, we held a swap meet in the early part of the month. Approximately 20 members (and a few non-members) set up tables to sell a variety of tools. Another 20 or so participated as buyers only. The event was held outdoors and masks were required. After being quarantined for a good part of the year, it was a good way to catch up with our fellow NJWA members.  

October 2020 

October’s guest speaker was Mary May, a master carver who works out of her workshop on John’s Island South Carolina. During her two hour presentation, Mary took us through an overview of the basics of carving. The topics included the various types of tools, the convention for identifying the various shapes and sizes and how to sharpen them; the types of wood that are appropriate for carving and some basic techniques. Mary is also a teacher who has taught at such places as the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana, Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School and the Connecticut Valley School. She recently finished her first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In early October we had a second event at John M’s saw mill where we began the process of milling the witness tree. Also, as some of John’s property was being sold off, members helped to clear lumber off that portion of his yard.  

September 2020 

Chuck Bender, a well known period furniture maker and the founder of the Acanthus Workshop, a woodworking school in Jim Thorpe Pa., was September’s presenter. His topic was modern methods for making federal style furniture. Chuck spoke about jigs and machine use among other things. A large part of the presentation was spent exploring the reasons that period furniture failed due to wood movement and the techniques that he uses to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the reproductions that he builds. Several examples from his portfolio are below. To learn more about Chuck’s  work and school, you can visit acanthus.com.

August 2020 

This month’s featured presenter was artist, sculptor and furniture maker Scott Grove. His topic was advanced veneering. You can use his link to Scott’s website to learn more about his work: scottgrove.com

July 2020 

July’s meeting featured 4 member presentations.

• Ben’s presentation covered the various construction elements and techniques involved in building an interesting workbench.
• Roy’s flag box – which described the build process including his approach to cutting the angled components for the triangular form
•  David’s row boat rocker – built for his grand daughter, there were a number of challenging angled components that needed to be cut.
•  Cliff’s segmented vase –  a short review of how he cut the angled components for the segments that were used to create the vase.

In addition to our regular July meeting, we’ll have an informal get together where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

June 2020 

Tis month’s guest presenter was Steve Latta. A teacher, writer, craftsman and contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, Steve’s main job is developing the furniture makers of tomorrow at the Thaddeus Steven’s College in Lancaster Pennsylvania. His topic for our meeting was creating and adding inlays to furniture. You can view some of his FWW articles at: https://www.finewoodworking.com/author/steve-latta

 In addition to our regular June meeting, we’ll have an informal get together on Monday June 1st where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

May 2020 

Our virtual presenter at May’s meeting was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. There were 45 members in attendance. Tom’s topic was the uses for and methods of creating mortise and tenon joints. Many thanks to Tom for an interesting and engaging night. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure.  

April 2020 

April’s online meeting was composed of a number of short member presentations. There were 22 members in attendance. Although that’s about half of our normal attendance and we were all remote, the discussion was very lively. The members who presented were:

• Brian described the Pekovich bench jig that he made for working with small parts
• Abe gave us a tour of his Pekovich hanging tool cabinet and also did a brief shop tour
• Verne gave us a complete tour of his shop
• Alan showed a sliding table that enables him to cut  small logs on his band saw and toured some of his shop and equipment
• Charlie showed us some carvings including a beautiful carved banana and some carved swans that he’s making as holiday gifts
• Gordon spoke about test pieces he was making for veneered drawer fronts
• John showed two pieces, a three legged stool and a saw horse. He also talked about the shop stool project which he’s facilitating
• Sri is building a large dresser with sliding dovetails. He had pictures of the jigs he built to cut them as well as his method for handling large pieces on his router table
• Tal completed his music stand, which he displayed and spoke about some of the techniques he used to build it.
• Several pictures from the evening are below. To see more member work from the evening, please use this link.

March 2020 

Sadly our March meeting was cancelled due to the Corona virus. Although we were looking forward to our guest speaker, Joel Moskowitz of Tools for Working Wood, the club made a decision which respected the health of our members and the community in which we meet.

March was also the annual woodworking show. NJWA had a booth where, over the 3 days of the event, 15 members supported our effort to promote the club and recruit new members. The show also conducted a Project Challenge, which provided an opportunity for craftspeople to display their work and for attendees to vote on their favorite piece. NJWA member Jay Siegelaub’s natural edge side table was the 2020 winner. Congratulations to Jay. If you’d like to see more of Jay’s work, use this link to check out his website. 

 

View 2019 Meeting Summaries

View 2018 Meeting Summaries

View 2017 Meeting Summaries

View 2016 Meeting Summaries

January 2022 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog

December 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog – Giant Cypress.

November 2021 

We had four members present their work this month. Freddie spoke about his experience building a canoe at the Adirondak Folk School. The school, which is located in Lake Luzerne NY is dedicated to teaching the arts, crafts, and cultural heritage of the Adirondack region. The build, which takes place over two weeks, is limited to four students. It took Freddie several years of trying to register for the class before he was finally able to secure a spot in a class. Next up was Steve talking about his shop built Microjig Ultimate Workbench. For his presentation, Steve played an entertaining YouTube video (accessible via this link), which he created to document the build process. Sri was up next speaking about the build of a round pedestal dining table. The table is made of Sapele, has a 42″ wide solid top and is stunning. Last up was Greg who spoken on the tools and techniques that he uses to flatten slabs. The slabs were cut on his sawmill and dried in the drying room on which he had presented on several months back. Thanks to the presenters for an educational and interesting evening.  

October 2021 

Our guest presenter for October was Ramon Valdez, a furniture maker known for integrating interesting and exquisite marquetry into his work. Ramon’s topic was the “double bevel” marquetry technique! This is a fantastic process for creating beautiful motifs that can be used to decorate a box, add visual interest to a piece of furniture or even as a stand alone picture. Among the items covered by Ramon were layout, building your marquetry in layers, application to a substrate, sawing technique, the principles of double bevel marquetry and tool set.  Thank you to Ramon for an interesting evening and for opening a new way to add interest and beauty to our work. Should you be interested in learning more about Ramon, he has a broad presence on social media. As a starting point, you can check out his website, www.ramonvaldezfinefurniture.com. Also, along with fellow woodworkers Philip Morley and Ben Brunick, he is the host of the  “Woodworkers Podcast”.

The club also held two additional in-person events during October. Early in the month, aboubt 10 member gathered in the parking lot to attend Gordon’s skill building session on the art of hammer veneering. His session included a discussion of the tool set, preping the material and the hammer vereering technique. Gordon provided some veneered samples and then demonstrated the process. Gordon’s demo also covered how to join smaller pieces of veneer so that a large substrate could be covered. There were plenty of material and supplies on hand so that each attendee was able to try their hand at hammer veneering a small board.

On October 30th we held and a branding / swap meet in the parking lot. The branding activity provided members who had made items for the Hermitage Museum with the opportunity to identify their work as being created by an NJWA Club Memeber. At the swap meet about a dozen or so members offered surplus tools, books and material for sale. 

September 2021 

September’s guest presenter was David Fisher whose topic was “Greenwood Carving, Following, Finding and Feeling Flow”.  A full time history teacher in the town in which he’s spent his whole life, Dave has become known internationally for his carving. His work, all of which is done by hand, includes bowls, spoons and vessels.  Many pieces are adorned with beautifully lettered phrases. 

Dave’s talk was a whirlwind tour of his technique, tools and philosophy. On tools, he shapes his work with a minimal tool set without using powered tools. Many of those tools have been passed down from previous generations and will be passed on in the future. On his philosophy, he sees the art that exists in the wood as opposed to forcing his art into the material. On technique, he uses time honored techniques of swinging and ax and pushing gouges and knives while in close contact with the material.

Dave rounded out the evening with an overview of his approach to the carved lettering that he uses to adorn his work. This was an interesting evening spent with a special craftsman. If you’d like to learn more about Dave and his work, you can visit: https://davidffisher.com.

August 2021 

At our August meeting we had three member presentations. Alan gave a detailed presention on a trompe l’oeil table that he built. Trompe l’oeil means fool the eye. The table has what looks like a folded piece of linen drapped over the top. However, what appears to be linen is in fact solid wood. Alan took us through the process of constructing the layers of a solid wood top. He followed that with a detailed description of how he carved a large piece of solid wood so that it appeared to be linen. He described the tools used (power and hand) as well as his carving technique.  He then went on to give a brief description of how he finished the piece. Kevin spoke about two Shaker candle stands that he built. He explained how varying the size and shape of the post and feet allowed hime to come up with two unique pieces. Scott presented on a split top Roubo workbench that he built using plans from the Woodwhisperer Guild. He covered the plans, material used, where he purchased it, construction steps and his experiences using the bench. Thanks to our three presenters for an interesting evening.  

July 2021 

Our guest speaker for July was woodworker and author Andy Rae.  Andy began his career working as a finisher for George Nakashima and working in Frank Klaus’ workshop. Subsequent to that he was a contributor to various woodworking publications, an  associate editor for American Woodworker magazine and the author of several books. Andy’s tool cabinet is the well known piece that graces the front cover of Jim Tolpin’s “The Toolbox Book”. Andy spoke about his journey as a woodworker and an author. He also shared some of the techniques he’s used for designing and building furniture.  He currently has his own workshop where he splits his time between taking on commissions and using woodworking to support recovering addicts. If you’d like to see more of his work, you can find him at Andy Rae Woodworking & Writing Studios on Facebook and @andyraewoodworkingstudio on Instagram.

June 2021 

The topic for June’s meeting was member workbenches. About 25 members posted pictures of their workbenches in a gallery on our website. Each member in attendance was given a few minutes to talk about their workbench. Several members did more in depth presentations. Our opening speaker was Dave Petersen who took us through the design and construction of his Roubo style workbench. There was quite a variety of workbenches build in different styles and using different construction techniques and material. The workbench gallery is still available using this link.

 This was the first regular meeting where members met in person since February of 2020. In order to accommodate as many attendees as possible we provided three options for attending. Members could meet indoors at our traditional location, they could attend via Zoom or they could opt for a middle ground where viewed the meeting via Zoom from the backyard at our location in Pompton Plains. 

May 2021 

Our presenter for May was master carver and teacher Mary May. Last year Mary had given us an overview of carving. This meeting was more of a hands on meeting (via Zoom) where Mary took us through the steps to carving two different versions of an Acanthus leaf. While carving each version, she described the tools and techniques that she was using. Although this was an opportunity to carve along with Mary, it would be quite a challenge to carve as quickly as she did. With this in mind, the session was recorded and sent out to members so that they could go through this at their own speed. 

She recently finished first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In addition to our regular meeting, the club held a skill session on May 15th. Three members presented on various sharpening topics. Bob demonstrated how to sharpen turning tools on a grinder, Gordon focused on sharpening chisels and plane irons on flat stones and Charlie taught the particulars of sharpening carving tools,

April 2021 

April’s guest presenter was Bob Van Dyke, the founder and director of the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. Bob’s topic was stock preparation, make it flat, straight and square. A Fine Woodworking contribution editor, Bob took us step by step through the process he uses to take lumber from the rough stage to being milled 4 square. Speaking from the CVSW workshop, his talk focused on the use of four machines to mill lumber, the  jointer, planer, bandsaw and table saw. Bob did cover spring joints, a technique for developing highly reliable edge joints. For that process he used a hand plane. Also included in his presentation was the topic of yield, which is the amount of milled stock that can be gotten from a rough board. Bob explained how to approximate the yield, why warp and twist in a board reduces yield and how to maximize the yield. Bob also highlighted some of the situations that would lead to less than optimal stock preparation including poor machine set up and errors in technique.  

March 2021 

March’s guest presenter was Joel Moskowitz, the owner of Tools for Working Wood. An avid collector of historical woodworking and craft texts, Joel is also the author of the popular woodworking blog “Joel’s Blog”. In addition he manufactures his own line of tools under the brands Gramercy Tools and BT&C (Brooklyn Tool and Craft). A passionate student of woodworking history, Joel’s spoke on how early woodworking texts have informed the design and development of modern tools in particular many of the tools designed and made by his company. Among the texts that he referred to during his talk was Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanic Exercises” pointing to some of the pictures in his copy of the 1683 edition, one of only a few hundred in print. Thanks to Joel for and interesting and education evening.

On Monday March 1st meeting at 7PM, we held an open discussion and presentation of our prospective projects for the Witness Tree project.  Members exchanged their ideas and were able to find out if there were any duplicate or similar items in the planning.  For members who have decided on a project, we will be able to present them to The Hermitage Staff and hear their reaction and comments.  Many members have posted their ideas to a photo album which can be viewed at the following link: witness tree project ideas.

February 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. His topic for the evening was an overview of spindle turning which is the type of turning that is most useful for furniture makers. Tom covered numerous topics including tools, sharpening, setting up the lathe, the types of cuts used in spindle turning and using templates. Tom also discussed the importance of a fair curve in order to give your furniture a professional and pleasing look. Thanks to Tom for a great introduction to woodturning for furniture makers. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure (the link for Tom’s May of 2020 video presentation is also still active).

January  2021 

Our kickoff meeting for 2021 began with a reap of our 2020 activities and elections for the board of directors. Following club business, we had three member presentations.

• Greg D. walked us through the design and construction of his home drying room. The room, which is attached to his shop, was built from the ground up and allows Greg to dry wood that he has milled himself
• Ben S. spoke about a branding iron that he recently purchased. Included in his discussion was the trial and error that he went through to develop a technique that would yield a clear image on his work. 
• Sri spoke on a Carolina Candle Stand which he just completed. Among the topics covered were creating the mortise and tenons for attaching the feet to the post and how to attach the top to account for wood movement. 

December 2020 

Our guest speaker for this month was Russell M, a technical specialist with JPW Industries, the makers of Jet and Powermatic tools. He covered a broad range of topic including: 

• Trends in woodworking machine technology
• The key features to look for when shopping for a woodworking machine 
• Maintenance concepts and practices for the types of machines that most of us are likely to own (i.e., bandsaw, planer, jointer, drill press, sanders, tablesaw, etc.)
• Key decision points, e.g. straight vs. segmented knives
• Some key usage points, common mistakes to avoid, safety and accuracy practices

Many thanks to Russell for an informative and interesting evening

November 2020 

For this month’s meeting, we had a virtual tour of the Stickley Museum in Fayetteville NY.  The museum which opened in 2007 explores over a century of furniture making excellence. It highlights the inspiration and craftsmanship that made Stickley America’s foremost fine furniture maker and the craftspeople whose commitment to quality led to Stickley’s reputation for manufacturing heirloom quality furniture. Many thanks to the museum’s head Amanda C., who gave a wonderful tour despite the fact that her only connection to her audience was via faces on an iPad. 

In addition to our regular monthly meeting, we held a swap meet in the early part of the month. Approximately 20 members (and a few non-members) set up tables to sell a variety of tools. Another 20 or so participated as buyers only. The event was held outdoors and masks were required. After being quarantined for a good part of the year, it was a good way to catch up with our fellow NJWA members.  

October 2020 

October’s guest speaker was Mary May, a master carver who works out of her workshop on John’s Island South Carolina. During her two hour presentation, Mary took us through an overview of the basics of carving. The topics included the various types of tools, the convention for identifying the various shapes and sizes and how to sharpen them; the types of wood that are appropriate for carving and some basic techniques. Mary is also a teacher who has taught at such places as the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana, Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School and the Connecticut Valley School. She recently finished her first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In early October we had a second event at John M’s saw mill where we began the process of milling the witness tree. Also, as some of John’s property was being sold off, members helped to clear lumber off that portion of his yard.  

September 2020 

Chuck Bender, a well known period furniture maker and the founder of the Acanthus Workshop, a woodworking school in Jim Thorpe Pa., was September’s presenter. His topic was modern methods for making federal style furniture. Chuck spoke about jigs and machine use among other things. A large part of the presentation was spent exploring the reasons that period furniture failed due to wood movement and the techniques that he uses to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the reproductions that he builds. Several examples from his portfolio are below. To learn more about Chuck’s  work and school, you can visit acanthus.com.

August 2020 

This month’s featured presenter was artist, sculptor and furniture maker Scott Grove. His topic was advanced veneering. You can use his link to Scott’s website to learn more about his work: scottgrove.com

July 2020 

July’s meeting featured 4 member presentations.

• Ben’s presentation covered the various construction elements and techniques involved in building an interesting workbench.
• Roy’s flag box – which described the build process including his approach to cutting the angled components for the triangular form
•  David’s row boat rocker – built for his grand daughter, there were a number of challenging angled components that needed to be cut.
•  Cliff’s segmented vase –  a short review of how he cut the angled components for the segments that were used to create the vase.

In addition to our regular July meeting, we’ll have an informal get together where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

June 2020 

Tis month’s guest presenter was Steve Latta. A teacher, writer, craftsman and contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, Steve’s main job is developing the furniture makers of tomorrow at the Thaddeus Steven’s College in Lancaster Pennsylvania. His topic for our meeting was creating and adding inlays to furniture. You can view some of his FWW articles at: https://www.finewoodworking.com/author/steve-latta

 In addition to our regular June meeting, we’ll have an informal get together on Monday June 1st where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

May 2020 

Our virtual presenter at May’s meeting was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. There were 45 members in attendance. Tom’s topic was the uses for and methods of creating mortise and tenon joints. Many thanks to Tom for an interesting and engaging night. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure.  

April 2020 

April’s online meeting was composed of a number of short member presentations. There were 22 members in attendance. Although that’s about half of our normal attendance and we were all remote, the discussion was very lively. The members who presented were:

• Brian described the Pekovich bench jig that he made for working with small parts
• Abe gave us a tour of his Pekovich hanging tool cabinet and also did a brief shop tour
• Verne gave us a complete tour of his shop
• Alan showed a sliding table that enables him to cut  small logs on his band saw and toured some of his shop and equipment
• Charlie showed us some carvings including a beautiful carved banana and some carved swans that he’s making as holiday gifts
• Gordon spoke about test pieces he was making for veneered drawer fronts
• John showed two pieces, a three legged stool and a saw horse. He also talked about the shop stool project which he’s facilitating
• Sri is building a large dresser with sliding dovetails. He had pictures of the jigs he built to cut them as well as his method for handling large pieces on his router table
• Tal completed his music stand, which he displayed and spoke about some of the techniques he used to build it.
• Several pictures from the evening are below. To see more member work from the evening, please use this link.

March 2020 

Sadly our March meeting was cancelled due to the Corona virus. Although we were looking forward to our guest speaker, Joel Moskowitz of Tools for Working Wood, the club made a decision which respected the health of our members and the community in which we meet.

March was also the annual woodworking show. NJWA had a booth where, over the 3 days of the event, 15 members supported our effort to promote the club and recruit new members. The show also conducted a Project Challenge, which provided an opportunity for craftspeople to display their work and for attendees to vote on their favorite piece. NJWA member Jay Siegelaub’s natural edge side table was the 2020 winner. Congratulations to Jay. If you’d like to see more of Jay’s work, use this link to check out his website. 

 

View 2019 Meeting Summaries

View 2018 Meeting Summaries

View 2017 Meeting Summaries

View 2016 Meeting Summaries

September 2023

Our guest speaker for September was Gregg Perry. 

August 2023

Our guest speaker for August was Eric Bunn. An expert carver and teacher, Eric owned his own carving school in Wayne for many years. He is also the teacher who is working with a number of members at the New Jersey School of Woodwork. The goal of that engagement is to teach the skills and techniques necessary to complete a Philadelphia Chippendale dressing table. The table has intricately carved ball and claw feet, the carving of which Eric demonstrated at this month’s meeting. 

July  2023

July’s meeting featured presentations by two club members. Gordon presented on a serpentine front dresser that he recently completed. He shared many of the techniques he used to build the components of the piece. Tim presented on several traditional Windsor and stick chairs that he’s built. He covered the construction techniques as well as the sources of information that he used to develop his chair building skills. Tim also brought some of the chair specfic tools that he used inthe build process. Members were able to try out the tools as well as receive guidance on their proper use. The work of both members can only be described as stunning. The pieces were on display at our annual holiday get-together. If you’d like a look at some of their work, you can look at the pictures and/or video attached to the recap of our December 2022 meeting.

June  2023

June’s guest speaker, who was remote, failed to join us. Interesting to note that in the history of the club this has only happened twice. This month and February of this year, both by the same speaker. Upon realizing that we’d been stood up for a second time, we shifted to member discussion. Thanks to the members who contributed to the discussion and helped turn a disaster into an interesting evening.  

May 2023

May’s meeting was a joint meeting held with the New Jersey Woodturners at their usual meeting location in Roseland.  The presenter was our own Bob Sheppard. His topic was turning for furniture which he accomplished by building a three legged stool. Bob began the evening by turning the seat. Because he came with two of the legs already turned his next topic was how to duplicate a furniture part to matched an existing piece. He used an existing leg to mark the low points on the new leg, a parting tool and dividers to bring the shallow points to the correct depth and then showed how to gracefully connect the shallow points to create a matching leg. He also demonstrated how to create and fit a tenon as well as how to drill out the mortise. Bob explained how he built the shop made tool he used to taper the  mortises. When the stool was asssembled, he showed how to level the legs. The meeting was complete when one of the attendees won a raffle for the stool. Thanks to Bob for an interesting and educational evening.

April 2023

April’s guest speaker was workshop dust expert Bill Pentz. An engineer and woodworker, he has spent the last 25 years researching and writing about dust in the workshop. Along the way he has built an extensive blog which is the go to source for information about the dangers of exposure to fine dust, the challenges of dust collection, requirements for efficient dust collection systems and strategies for keeping yourself healthy in the workshop. During his presentation he touched on all of those aspect in detail. The evening proved to be interesting and at times upsetting as he described the potential health impact of fine dust in the workshop. In the end he provided a lot of actionable advice that is sure to help improve the workshop environments of our members.  If you’d like to learn more about Bill’s research, you can visit his website: https://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/index.php

March 2023

March’s guest speaker was master woodcarver Ray Kinman. A carver for over 30 years, Ray made a name for himself as a sign carver for Disney and has had a hand in dozens of well know signs in Disney’s parks. He currently does commision work and teaches at his shop in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains in Northern California. Ray presented an overview of his journey to becoming a master carver and shared an overview of his technique for creating stunning carvings. Several examples of his work are below. Here’s a link to Ray’s website where you can learn more about Ray and see other examples of his work.

February  2023

February’s guest speaker had a family emergency and was unable to join us. Once we realized that our speaker wouldn’t be joining us we did a quick pivot and focued on member work and experiences. About 20 members contributed input to the night. Despite a rocky beginning, it turned out to be a great meeting. Here’s a link to a  presentation on a shop built ambient air cleaner that was presented at the meeting.

January 2023

January’s meeting was our kickoff meeting for 2023. We began the meeting with club business including elections, a review of last year meetings and our plans for 2023. We followed that with 4 member presentations. David L. presented a summary of the member survey. He also presented on shaft keys, what they are, where they’re used and how to diagnose problems when they come loose. Here are links to the member survey and the shaft key presentations. Mark gave a demo on creating a spring joint. Abe rounded out the evening with a presentation on his star wars river table. During that presentation he shared his experiences on how to effectively build up epoxy layers to mimic the flow of a river, how to flatten a slab and a variety of options for creating legs for river tables and slab furniture. Several pictures of the table are below.

December 2022

In December we resumed our annual holiday get together. At this meeting members had a chance to display their work and share a meal with friends and family.  Due to Covid we haven’t held this event since 2019, so members were free to bring anything they’ve built in the interim. It was also open to those who wanted to bring anything they created for the bird house or shop stool challenges. Many members brought multiple projects so there was quite a display of member work to go along with the catered feast. Below are a small sample of the work presented at the event. To see more of the work on display at you can view the following video created by one of our members.

November 2022 

November’s guest speaker was Scott Severns, an award-winning master craftsman with 25+ years of experience creating functional and beautiful pieces of furniture and cabinetry. He is the founder of Oak Mountain Custom Woodwork which specializes in hand made furniture, cabinetry and millwork as well as the New Jersey School of Woodwork. As a non-profit, the school’s mission is to grow the craft through instruction and hands on experience in a friendly relaxed environment. In addition, Scott is the current president of the Society of American Period Furniture Makers (SAPFM). His topic will be machine maintenance, focusing primarily on the table and band saws. If you wish to learn more about the New Jersey School of Woodwork, click here to visit their website.

October 2022 

At October’s meeting, four members spoke about their approach to finishing. Each presenter talked about a particular category of finish as well as the specific product that they use. Among the various finishing aspects covered were, surface preparation, application method, sanding schedule, general formulation as well as available products in the category.  Alan opened the evening with a talk about his home brew Maloof finish using a formula which was given to him by Sam Maloof himself. Here’s a link to Alan’s presentation which contains the formula for mixing your own version of the finish. Kevin spoke about using Osmo for a finish, while Freddie talked about oil finishes in particular Bush’s Oil. Both of these presenters brought examples of their work. Bob finished the night with two separate topics. First he spoke about spraying finishes. He covered tools, technique, the suitability of particular finishes for spraying and how to maintain a spray gun. He followed that up with a demonstration of how to apply a super glue finish, a type of finish that is especially favored by turners. Thanks to our four presenters for an interesting and instructional evening. 

In late October we held an in person parking lot event in Pompton Plains. About 30 members gathered on a beautiful fall Saturday to participate in our annual swap meet. This is a chance for members to sell items that they no longer use and for other members to pick up needed tools at very reasonable prices. On this day, many items changed hands. This was also a chance for those participated to display the creations they had made for the bird house challenge. Below are several pictures from the event.

September 2022 

Our guest speaker for September was author, teacher and Fine Woodworking contributing editor Steve Latta. A professional furniture and cabinet maker for over 30 years, he has spent the last 20 years as a professor of cabinet making and wood technology at the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster Pa. Well know for his expertise on period furniture, Steve is an in-demand lecturer at places such as Winterthur, Colonial Williamsburg and The American Furniture Study Center at Yale University. His topic was flow as it applies to furniture making. Steve focused on the building of a small, one-drawer night stand. He began with lumber selection and progressed through dimensioning and joinery. He explained “which cut, in which order, and why”. The information packed into Steve’s presentation has the potential to improve the quality of our projects while reducing workshop frustration and mistakes.  

August 2022 

Our guest speaker for August was author, teacher and Fine Woodworking contributing editor Roland “Rollie” Johnson. A longtime professional woodworker in Sauk Rapids, MN, Rollie opened his first workshop in 1976. A self professed gear head, he’s FWW’s expert on hand and machine tool maintenance, authoring  several video series on the topic as well as providing numerous tool reviews. In addition, he’s taught finishing at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine and has written several books on woodworking. Rollie’s topic was coloring wood. He touched on products, types of stain, how different woods accept stain and numerous other topics. While many of us were familiar with Rollie from his work at the Woodworking Shows we weren’t prepared for the depth of knowledge that he shared with us during the evening. David Levenberg has gone through the the recording and summarized Rollie’s presentation. Here’s a link to that document.

July 2022 

Our July meeting took place at the Mr. Sawdust School of Professional Woodworking in Hackettstown NJ. Our host was Wally Kunkel the owner of the school. His father, Wallace Kunkel Sr. known as Mr. Sawdust, had a school in Chester NJ which is where Wally began his woodworking education eventually becoming a professional furniture maker. Following in his father’s footsteps, he now runs his own school offering a wide variety of courses. One of his specialties, which he demonstrated for us, is using the radial arm saw to cut complex joinery. In addition to a detailed tour of the school, Wally arranged for Frank Klauz to do a short presentation and Q&A on cutting dovetails by hand. Should you want more information on Wally and his school you can visit him at the Mr. Sawdust School’s website.

June 2022 

June’s guest speaker was Nick DeMars, the woodworking Product Specialist at Klingspor Abrasives who spoke about all things sandpaper and sanding. Nick covered hand and machine sanding, sanding techniques and answered questions such as what sandpaper characteristics are appropriate for wood removal vs. finish prep. As Klingspor’s router bit specialist he was also able to give us an overview router bits and their uses.

May 2022 

For May’s meeting we took a break from paid presenters and focused on the work of our members. Our first presenter was Tim who described his Morris Chair build. He presented on construction details as well as his personal design decisions that went into creating the piece. There were many interesting aspects to the build including his technique for getting quarter sawn faces on all of the legs. Thanks to Tim for an interesting presentation which included a short video for each step of the build. Gordon followed with a talk on a credenza that he built. The piece has 3 drawers with veneered fronts surrounded by cock beading. It also has a shelf below the drawers that’s suspended from four delecate legs. Gordon shared his approach to overcoming each of the challenges inherent in building this piece. Last was a short talk by David on an bandsaw technique for creating interesting curved designs. The technique that he described allows him to create artistic pieces composed of a variety of wood species and shapes. Thanks to our presenters for sharing some very interesting techniques and designs.

April 2022 

April’s guest presenter was Shannon Rogers, the host of Shannon’s Lumber Industry Update. Drawing on his day job as the Director of Marketing for one of the oldest lumber companies in the US, J. Gibson McIlvain, he offered a deep understanding and unique perspective on the industry. In addition, he runs his own online woodworking school devoted to hand tools called appropriately enough The Hand Tool School.  Shannon spoke on a variety of topics as varied as domestic and imported hardwoods, sheet goods, the economics of the lumber industry and the restoration of Notre Dame.

March 2022 

Andrew Hunter was our March of 2022 presenter. A frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking and a good friend to the club, Andrew is also a well respected expert on Japanese tools and techniques. His topic was accurate joinery layout, how to ensure that your joints are well fitting and tight. 

February 2022 

Our guest presenter for February was Bob Behnke of Franklin International, the makers of Titebond glues. Bob was our featured presenter in July of 2018. Member surveys have rated his presentation as among the best we’ve ever had, so we invited him to present again. 

January 2022 

January’s meeting was our kickoff meeting for 2022. We focused on club business including elections, a review of last year meetings and our plans for 2022. That was followed up by several member presentations. Charlie spoke about a pair of shore birds that he carved for a charity auction, Pat spoke on the crusher/destemmer that he made for his wine making hobby. We had some time left at the end and were able to have another member present an overview of thier workbench review. Thanks to Jim Mueller for taking us through the build and use of his bench

December 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog – Giant Cypress.

November 2021 

We had four members present their work this month. Freddie spoke about his experience building a canoe at the Adirondak Folk School. The school, which is located in Lake Luzerne NY is dedicated to teaching the arts, crafts, and cultural heritage of the Adirondack region. The build, which takes place over two weeks, is limited to four students. It took Freddie several years of trying to register for the class before he was finally able to secure a spot in a class. Next up was Steve talking about his shop built Microjig Ultimate Workbench. For his presentation, Steve played an entertaining YouTube video (accessible via this link), which he created to document the build process. Sri was up next speaking about the build of a round pedestal dining table. The table is made of Sapele, has a 42″ wide solid top and is stunning. Last up was Greg who spoken on the tools and techniques that he uses to flatten slabs. The slabs were cut on his sawmill and dried in the drying room on which he had presented on several months back. Thanks to the presenters for an educational and interesting evening.  

October 2021 

Our guest presenter for October was Ramon Valdez, a furniture maker known for integrating interesting and exquisite marquetry into his work. Ramon’s topic was the “double bevel” marquetry technique! This is a fantastic process for creating beautiful motifs that can be used to decorate a box, add visual interest to a piece of furniture or even as a stand alone picture. Among the items covered by Ramon were layout, building your marquetry in layers, application to a substrate, sawing technique, the principles of double bevel marquetry and tool set.  Thank you to Ramon for an interesting evening and for opening a new way to add interest and beauty to our work. Should you be interested in learning more about Ramon, he has a broad presence on social media. As a starting point, you can check out his website, www.ramonvaldezfinefurniture.com. Also, along with fellow woodworkers Philip Morley and Ben Brunick, he is the host of the  “Woodworkers Podcast”.

The club also held two additional in-person events during October. Early in the month, aboubt 10 member gathered in the parking lot to attend Gordon’s skill building session on the art of hammer veneering. His session included a discussion of the tool set, preping the material and the hammer vereering technique. Gordon provided some veneered samples and then demonstrated the process. Gordon’s demo also covered how to join smaller pieces of veneer so that a large substrate could be covered. There were plenty of material and supplies on hand so that each attendee was able to try their hand at hammer veneering a small board.

On October 30th we held and a branding / swap meet in the parking lot. The branding activity provided members who had made items for the Hermitage Museum with the opportunity to identify their work as being created by an NJWA Club Memeber. At the swap meet about a dozen or so members offered surplus tools, books and material for sale. 

September 2021 

September’s guest presenter was David Fisher whose topic was “Greenwood Carving, Following, Finding and Feeling Flow”.  A full time history teacher in the town in which he’s spent his whole life, Dave has become known internationally for his carving. His work, all of which is done by hand, includes bowls, spoons and vessels.  Many pieces are adorned with beautifully lettered phrases. 

Dave’s talk was a whirlwind tour of his technique, tools and philosophy. On tools, he shapes his work with a minimal tool set without using powered tools. Many of those tools have been passed down from previous generations and will be passed on in the future. On his philosophy, he sees the art that exists in the wood as opposed to forcing his art into the material. On technique, he uses time honored techniques of swinging and ax and pushing gouges and knives while in close contact with the material.

Dave rounded out the evening with an overview of his approach to the carved lettering that he uses to adorn his work. This was an interesting evening spent with a special craftsman. If you’d like to learn more about Dave and his work, you can visit: https://davidffisher.com.

August 2021 

At our August meeting we had three member presentations. Alan gave a detailed presention on a trompe l’oeil table that he built. Trompe l’oeil means fool the eye. The table has what looks like a folded piece of linen drapped over the top. However, what appears to be linen is in fact solid wood. Alan took us through the process of constructing the layers of a solid wood top. He followed that with a detailed description of how he carved a large piece of solid wood so that it appeared to be linen. He described the tools used (power and hand) as well as his carving technique.  He then went on to give a brief description of how he finished the piece. Kevin spoke about two Shaker candle stands that he built. He explained how varying the size and shape of the post and feet allowed hime to come up with two unique pieces. Scott presented on a split top Roubo workbench that he built using plans from the Woodwhisperer Guild. He covered the plans, material used, where he purchased it, construction steps and his experiences using the bench. Thanks to our three presenters for an interesting evening.  

July 2021 

Our guest speaker for July was woodworker and author Andy Rae.  Andy began his career working as a finisher for George Nakashima and working in Frank Klaus’ workshop. Subsequent to that he was a contributor to various woodworking publications, an  associate editor for American Woodworker magazine and the author of several books. Andy’s tool cabinet is the well known piece that graces the front cover of Jim Tolpin’s “The Toolbox Book”. Andy spoke about his journey as a woodworker and an author. He also shared some of the techniques he’s used for designing and building furniture.  He currently has his own workshop where he splits his time between taking on commissions and using woodworking to support recovering addicts. If you’d like to see more of his work, you can find him at Andy Rae Woodworking & Writing Studios on Facebook and @andyraewoodworkingstudio on Instagram.

June 2021 

The topic for June’s meeting was member workbenches. About 25 members posted pictures of their workbenches in a gallery on our website. Each member in attendance was given a few minutes to talk about their workbench. Several members did more in depth presentations. Our opening speaker was Dave Petersen who took us through the design and construction of his Roubo style workbench. There was quite a variety of workbenches build in different styles and using different construction techniques and material. The workbench gallery is still available using this link.

 This was the first regular meeting where members met in person since February of 2020. In order to accommodate as many attendees as possible we provided three options for attending. Members could meet indoors at our traditional location, they could attend via Zoom or they could opt for a middle ground where viewed the meeting via Zoom from the backyard at our location in Pompton Plains. 

May 2021 

Our presenter for May was master carver and teacher Mary May. Last year Mary had given us an overview of carving. This meeting was more of a hands on meeting (via Zoom) where Mary took us through the steps to carving two different versions of an Acanthus leaf. While carving each version, she described the tools and techniques that she was using. Although this was an opportunity to carve along with Mary, it would be quite a challenge to carve as quickly as she did. With this in mind, the session was recorded and sent out to members so that they could go through this at their own speed. 

She recently finished first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In addition to our regular meeting, the club held a skill session on May 15th. Three members presented on various sharpening topics. Bob demonstrated how to sharpen turning tools on a grinder, Gordon focused on sharpening chisels and plane irons on flat stones and Charlie taught the particulars of sharpening carving tools,

April 2021 

April’s guest presenter was Bob Van Dyke, the founder and director of the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. Bob’s topic was stock preparation, make it flat, straight and square. A Fine Woodworking contribution editor, Bob took us step by step through the process he uses to take lumber from the rough stage to being milled 4 square. Speaking from the CVSW workshop, his talk focused on the use of four machines to mill lumber, the  jointer, planer, bandsaw and table saw. Bob did cover spring joints, a technique for developing highly reliable edge joints. For that process he used a hand plane. Also included in his presentation was the topic of yield, which is the amount of milled stock that can be gotten from a rough board. Bob explained how to approximate the yield, why warp and twist in a board reduces yield and how to maximize the yield. Bob also highlighted some of the situations that would lead to less than optimal stock preparation including poor machine set up and errors in technique.  

March 2021 

March’s guest presenter was Joel Moskowitz, the owner of Tools for Working Wood. An avid collector of historical woodworking and craft texts, Joel is also the author of the popular woodworking blog “Joel’s Blog”. In addition he manufactures his own line of tools under the brands Gramercy Tools and BT&C (Brooklyn Tool and Craft). A passionate student of woodworking history, Joel’s spoke on how early woodworking texts have informed the design and development of modern tools in particular many of the tools designed and made by his company. Among the texts that he referred to during his talk was Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanic Exercises” pointing to some of the pictures in his copy of the 1683 edition, one of only a few hundred in print. Thanks to Joel for and interesting and education evening.

On Monday March 1st meeting at 7PM, we held an open discussion and presentation of our prospective projects for the Witness Tree project.  Members exchanged their ideas and were able to find out if there were any duplicate or similar items in the planning.  For members who have decided on a project, we will be able to present them to The Hermitage Staff and hear their reaction and comments.  Many members have posted their ideas to a photo album which can be viewed at the following link: witness tree project ideas.

February 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. His topic for the evening was an overview of spindle turning which is the type of turning that is most useful for furniture makers. Tom covered numerous topics including tools, sharpening, setting up the lathe, the types of cuts used in spindle turning and using templates. Tom also discussed the importance of a fair curve in order to give your furniture a professional and pleasing look. Thanks to Tom for a great introduction to woodturning for furniture makers. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure (the link for Tom’s May of 2020 video presentation is also still active).

January  2021 

Our kickoff meeting for 2021 began with a reap of our 2020 activities and elections for the board of directors. Following club business, we had three member presentations.

• Greg D. walked us through the design and construction of his home drying room. The room, which is attached to his shop, was built from the ground up and allows Greg to dry wood that he has milled himself
• Ben S. spoke about a branding iron that he recently purchased. Included in his discussion was the trial and error that he went through to develop a technique that would yield a clear image on his work. 
• Sri spoke on a Carolina Candle Stand which he just completed. Among the topics covered were creating the mortise and tenons for attaching the feet to the post and how to attach the top to account for wood movement. 

December 2020 

Our guest speaker for this month was Russell M, a technical specialist with JPW Industries, the makers of Jet and Powermatic tools. He covered a broad range of topic including: 

• Trends in woodworking machine technology
• The key features to look for when shopping for a woodworking machine 
• Maintenance concepts and practices for the types of machines that most of us are likely to own (i.e., bandsaw, planer, jointer, drill press, sanders, tablesaw, etc.)
• Key decision points, e.g. straight vs. segmented knives
• Some key usage points, common mistakes to avoid, safety and accuracy practices

Many thanks to Russell for an informative and interesting evening

November 2020 

For this month’s meeting, we had a virtual tour of the Stickley Museum in Fayetteville NY.  The museum which opened in 2007 explores over a century of furniture making excellence. It highlights the inspiration and craftsmanship that made Stickley America’s foremost fine furniture maker and the craftspeople whose commitment to quality led to Stickley’s reputation for manufacturing heirloom quality furniture. Many thanks to the museum’s head Amanda C., who gave a wonderful tour despite the fact that her only connection to her audience was via faces on an iPad. 

In addition to our regular monthly meeting, we held a swap meet in the early part of the month. Approximately 20 members (and a few non-members) set up tables to sell a variety of tools. Another 20 or so participated as buyers only. The event was held outdoors and masks were required. After being quarantined for a good part of the year, it was a good way to catch up with our fellow NJWA members.  

October 2020 

October’s guest speaker was Mary May, a master carver who works out of her workshop on John’s Island South Carolina. During her two hour presentation, Mary took us through an overview of the basics of carving. The topics included the various types of tools, the convention for identifying the various shapes and sizes and how to sharpen them; the types of wood that are appropriate for carving and some basic techniques. Mary is also a teacher who has taught at such places as the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana, Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School and the Connecticut Valley School. She recently finished her first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In early October we had a second event at John M’s saw mill where we began the process of milling the witness tree. Also, as some of John’s property was being sold off, members helped to clear lumber off that portion of his yard.  

September 2020 

Chuck Bender, a well known period furniture maker and the founder of the Acanthus Workshop, a woodworking school in Jim Thorpe Pa., was September’s presenter. His topic was modern methods for making federal style furniture. Chuck spoke about jigs and machine use among other things. A large part of the presentation was spent exploring the reasons that period furniture failed due to wood movement and the techniques that he uses to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the reproductions that he builds. Several examples from his portfolio are below. To learn more about Chuck’s  work and school, you can visit acanthus.com.

August 2020 

This month’s featured presenter was artist, sculptor and furniture maker Scott Grove. His topic was advanced veneering. You can use his link to Scott’s website to learn more about his work: scottgrove.com

July 2020 

July’s meeting featured 4 member presentations.

• Ben’s presentation covered the various construction elements and techniques involved in building an interesting workbench.
• Roy’s flag box – which described the build process including his approach to cutting the angled components for the triangular form
•  David’s row boat rocker – built for his grand daughter, there were a number of challenging angled components that needed to be cut.
•  Cliff’s segmented vase –  a short review of how he cut the angled components for the segments that were used to create the vase.

In addition to our regular July meeting, we’ll have an informal get together where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

June 2020 

Tis month’s guest presenter was Steve Latta. A teacher, writer, craftsman and contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, Steve’s main job is developing the furniture makers of tomorrow at the Thaddeus Steven’s College in Lancaster Pennsylvania. His topic for our meeting was creating and adding inlays to furniture. You can view some of his FWW articles at: https://www.finewoodworking.com/author/steve-latta

 In addition to our regular June meeting, we’ll have an informal get together on Monday June 1st where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

May 2020 

Our virtual presenter at May’s meeting was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. There were 45 members in attendance. Tom’s topic was the uses for and methods of creating mortise and tenon joints. Many thanks to Tom for an interesting and engaging night. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure.  

April 2020 

April’s online meeting was composed of a number of short member presentations. There were 22 members in attendance. Although that’s about half of our normal attendance and we were all remote, the discussion was very lively. The members who presented were:

• Brian described the Pekovich bench jig that he made for working with small parts
• Abe gave us a tour of his Pekovich hanging tool cabinet and also did a brief shop tour
• Verne gave us a complete tour of his shop
• Alan showed a sliding table that enables him to cut  small logs on his band saw and toured some of his shop and equipment
• Charlie showed us some carvings including a beautiful carved banana and some carved swans that he’s making as holiday gifts
• Gordon spoke about test pieces he was making for veneered drawer fronts
• John showed two pieces, a three legged stool and a saw horse. He also talked about the shop stool project which he’s facilitating
• Sri is building a large dresser with sliding dovetails. He had pictures of the jigs he built to cut them as well as his method for handling large pieces on his router table
• Tal completed his music stand, which he displayed and spoke about some of the techniques he used to build it.
• Several pictures from the evening are below. To see more member work from the evening, please use this link.

March 2020 

Sadly our March meeting was cancelled due to the Corona virus. Although we were looking forward to our guest speaker, Joel Moskowitz of Tools for Working Wood, the club made a decision which respected the health of our members and the community in which we meet.

March was also the annual woodworking show. NJWA had a booth where, over the 3 days of the event, 15 members supported our effort to promote the club and recruit new members. The show also conducted a Project Challenge, which provided an opportunity for craftspeople to display their work and for attendees to vote on their favorite piece. NJWA member Jay Siegelaub’s natural edge side table was the 2020 winner. Congratulations to Jay. If you’d like to see more of Jay’s work, use this link to check out his website. 

 

View 2019 Meeting Summaries

View 2018 Meeting Summaries

View 2017 Meeting Summaries

View 2016 Meeting Summaries

January 2022 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog

December 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog – Giant Cypress.

November 2021 

We had four members present their work this month. Freddie spoke about his experience building a canoe at the Adirondak Folk School. The school, which is located in Lake Luzerne NY is dedicated to teaching the arts, crafts, and cultural heritage of the Adirondack region. The build, which takes place over two weeks, is limited to four students. It took Freddie several years of trying to register for the class before he was finally able to secure a spot in a class. Next up was Steve talking about his shop built Microjig Ultimate Workbench. For his presentation, Steve played an entertaining YouTube video (accessible via this link), which he created to document the build process. Sri was up next speaking about the build of a round pedestal dining table. The table is made of Sapele, has a 42″ wide solid top and is stunning. Last up was Greg who spoken on the tools and techniques that he uses to flatten slabs. The slabs were cut on his sawmill and dried in the drying room on which he had presented on several months back. Thanks to the presenters for an educational and interesting evening.  

October 2021 

Our guest presenter for October was Ramon Valdez, a furniture maker known for integrating interesting and exquisite marquetry into his work. Ramon’s topic was the “double bevel” marquetry technique! This is a fantastic process for creating beautiful motifs that can be used to decorate a box, add visual interest to a piece of furniture or even as a stand alone picture. Among the items covered by Ramon were layout, building your marquetry in layers, application to a substrate, sawing technique, the principles of double bevel marquetry and tool set.  Thank you to Ramon for an interesting evening and for opening a new way to add interest and beauty to our work. Should you be interested in learning more about Ramon, he has a broad presence on social media. As a starting point, you can check out his website, www.ramonvaldezfinefurniture.com. Also, along with fellow woodworkers Philip Morley and Ben Brunick, he is the host of the  “Woodworkers Podcast”.

The club also held two additional in-person events during October. Early in the month, aboubt 10 member gathered in the parking lot to attend Gordon’s skill building session on the art of hammer veneering. His session included a discussion of the tool set, preping the material and the hammer vereering technique. Gordon provided some veneered samples and then demonstrated the process. Gordon’s demo also covered how to join smaller pieces of veneer so that a large substrate could be covered. There were plenty of material and supplies on hand so that each attendee was able to try their hand at hammer veneering a small board.

On October 30th we held and a branding / swap meet in the parking lot. The branding activity provided members who had made items for the Hermitage Museum with the opportunity to identify their work as being created by an NJWA Club Memeber. At the swap meet about a dozen or so members offered surplus tools, books and material for sale. 

September 2021 

September’s guest presenter was David Fisher whose topic was “Greenwood Carving, Following, Finding and Feeling Flow”.  A full time history teacher in the town in which he’s spent his whole life, Dave has become known internationally for his carving. His work, all of which is done by hand, includes bowls, spoons and vessels.  Many pieces are adorned with beautifully lettered phrases. 

Dave’s talk was a whirlwind tour of his technique, tools and philosophy. On tools, he shapes his work with a minimal tool set without using powered tools. Many of those tools have been passed down from previous generations and will be passed on in the future. On his philosophy, he sees the art that exists in the wood as opposed to forcing his art into the material. On technique, he uses time honored techniques of swinging and ax and pushing gouges and knives while in close contact with the material.

Dave rounded out the evening with an overview of his approach to the carved lettering that he uses to adorn his work. This was an interesting evening spent with a special craftsman. If you’d like to learn more about Dave and his work, you can visit: https://davidffisher.com.

August 2021 

At our August meeting we had three member presentations. Alan gave a detailed presention on a trompe l’oeil table that he built. Trompe l’oeil means fool the eye. The table has what looks like a folded piece of linen drapped over the top. However, what appears to be linen is in fact solid wood. Alan took us through the process of constructing the layers of a solid wood top. He followed that with a detailed description of how he carved a large piece of solid wood so that it appeared to be linen. He described the tools used (power and hand) as well as his carving technique.  He then went on to give a brief description of how he finished the piece. Kevin spoke about two Shaker candle stands that he built. He explained how varying the size and shape of the post and feet allowed hime to come up with two unique pieces. Scott presented on a split top Roubo workbench that he built using plans from the Woodwhisperer Guild. He covered the plans, material used, where he purchased it, construction steps and his experiences using the bench. Thanks to our three presenters for an interesting evening.  

July 2021 

Our guest speaker for July was woodworker and author Andy Rae.  Andy began his career working as a finisher for George Nakashima and working in Frank Klaus’ workshop. Subsequent to that he was a contributor to various woodworking publications, an  associate editor for American Woodworker magazine and the author of several books. Andy’s tool cabinet is the well known piece that graces the front cover of Jim Tolpin’s “The Toolbox Book”. Andy spoke about his journey as a woodworker and an author. He also shared some of the techniques he’s used for designing and building furniture.  He currently has his own workshop where he splits his time between taking on commissions and using woodworking to support recovering addicts. If you’d like to see more of his work, you can find him at Andy Rae Woodworking & Writing Studios on Facebook and @andyraewoodworkingstudio on Instagram.

June 2021 

The topic for June’s meeting was member workbenches. About 25 members posted pictures of their workbenches in a gallery on our website. Each member in attendance was given a few minutes to talk about their workbench. Several members did more in depth presentations. Our opening speaker was Dave Petersen who took us through the design and construction of his Roubo style workbench. There was quite a variety of workbenches build in different styles and using different construction techniques and material. The workbench gallery is still available using this link.

 This was the first regular meeting where members met in person since February of 2020. In order to accommodate as many attendees as possible we provided three options for attending. Members could meet indoors at our traditional location, they could attend via Zoom or they could opt for a middle ground where viewed the meeting via Zoom from the backyard at our location in Pompton Plains. 

May 2021 

Our presenter for May was master carver and teacher Mary May. Last year Mary had given us an overview of carving. This meeting was more of a hands on meeting (via Zoom) where Mary took us through the steps to carving two different versions of an Acanthus leaf. While carving each version, she described the tools and techniques that she was using. Although this was an opportunity to carve along with Mary, it would be quite a challenge to carve as quickly as she did. With this in mind, the session was recorded and sent out to members so that they could go through this at their own speed. 

She recently finished first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In addition to our regular meeting, the club held a skill session on May 15th. Three members presented on various sharpening topics. Bob demonstrated how to sharpen turning tools on a grinder, Gordon focused on sharpening chisels and plane irons on flat stones and Charlie taught the particulars of sharpening carving tools,

April 2021 

April’s guest presenter was Bob Van Dyke, the founder and director of the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. Bob’s topic was stock preparation, make it flat, straight and square. A Fine Woodworking contribution editor, Bob took us step by step through the process he uses to take lumber from the rough stage to being milled 4 square. Speaking from the CVSW workshop, his talk focused on the use of four machines to mill lumber, the  jointer, planer, bandsaw and table saw. Bob did cover spring joints, a technique for developing highly reliable edge joints. For that process he used a hand plane. Also included in his presentation was the topic of yield, which is the amount of milled stock that can be gotten from a rough board. Bob explained how to approximate the yield, why warp and twist in a board reduces yield and how to maximize the yield. Bob also highlighted some of the situations that would lead to less than optimal stock preparation including poor machine set up and errors in technique.  

March 2021 

March’s guest presenter was Joel Moskowitz, the owner of Tools for Working Wood. An avid collector of historical woodworking and craft texts, Joel is also the author of the popular woodworking blog “Joel’s Blog”. In addition he manufactures his own line of tools under the brands Gramercy Tools and BT&C (Brooklyn Tool and Craft). A passionate student of woodworking history, Joel’s spoke on how early woodworking texts have informed the design and development of modern tools in particular many of the tools designed and made by his company. Among the texts that he referred to during his talk was Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanic Exercises” pointing to some of the pictures in his copy of the 1683 edition, one of only a few hundred in print. Thanks to Joel for and interesting and education evening.

On Monday March 1st meeting at 7PM, we held an open discussion and presentation of our prospective projects for the Witness Tree project.  Members exchanged their ideas and were able to find out if there were any duplicate or similar items in the planning.  For members who have decided on a project, we will be able to present them to The Hermitage Staff and hear their reaction and comments.  Many members have posted their ideas to a photo album which can be viewed at the following link: witness tree project ideas.

February 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. His topic for the evening was an overview of spindle turning which is the type of turning that is most useful for furniture makers. Tom covered numerous topics including tools, sharpening, setting up the lathe, the types of cuts used in spindle turning and using templates. Tom also discussed the importance of a fair curve in order to give your furniture a professional and pleasing look. Thanks to Tom for a great introduction to woodturning for furniture makers. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure (the link for Tom’s May of 2020 video presentation is also still active).

January  2021 

Our kickoff meeting for 2021 began with a reap of our 2020 activities and elections for the board of directors. Following club business, we had three member presentations.

• Greg D. walked us through the design and construction of his home drying room. The room, which is attached to his shop, was built from the ground up and allows Greg to dry wood that he has milled himself
• Ben S. spoke about a branding iron that he recently purchased. Included in his discussion was the trial and error that he went through to develop a technique that would yield a clear image on his work. 
• Sri spoke on a Carolina Candle Stand which he just completed. Among the topics covered were creating the mortise and tenons for attaching the feet to the post and how to attach the top to account for wood movement. 

December 2020 

Our guest speaker for this month was Russell M, a technical specialist with JPW Industries, the makers of Jet and Powermatic tools. He covered a broad range of topic including: 

• Trends in woodworking machine technology
• The key features to look for when shopping for a woodworking machine 
• Maintenance concepts and practices for the types of machines that most of us are likely to own (i.e., bandsaw, planer, jointer, drill press, sanders, tablesaw, etc.)
• Key decision points, e.g. straight vs. segmented knives
• Some key usage points, common mistakes to avoid, safety and accuracy practices

Many thanks to Russell for an informative and interesting evening

November 2020 

For this month’s meeting, we had a virtual tour of the Stickley Museum in Fayetteville NY.  The museum which opened in 2007 explores over a century of furniture making excellence. It highlights the inspiration and craftsmanship that made Stickley America’s foremost fine furniture maker and the craftspeople whose commitment to quality led to Stickley’s reputation for manufacturing heirloom quality furniture. Many thanks to the museum’s head Amanda C., who gave a wonderful tour despite the fact that her only connection to her audience was via faces on an iPad. 

In addition to our regular monthly meeting, we held a swap meet in the early part of the month. Approximately 20 members (and a few non-members) set up tables to sell a variety of tools. Another 20 or so participated as buyers only. The event was held outdoors and masks were required. After being quarantined for a good part of the year, it was a good way to catch up with our fellow NJWA members.  

October 2020 

October’s guest speaker was Mary May, a master carver who works out of her workshop on John’s Island South Carolina. During her two hour presentation, Mary took us through an overview of the basics of carving. The topics included the various types of tools, the convention for identifying the various shapes and sizes and how to sharpen them; the types of wood that are appropriate for carving and some basic techniques. Mary is also a teacher who has taught at such places as the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana, Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School and the Connecticut Valley School. She recently finished her first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In early October we had a second event at John M’s saw mill where we began the process of milling the witness tree. Also, as some of John’s property was being sold off, members helped to clear lumber off that portion of his yard.  

September 2020 

Chuck Bender, a well known period furniture maker and the founder of the Acanthus Workshop, a woodworking school in Jim Thorpe Pa., was September’s presenter. His topic was modern methods for making federal style furniture. Chuck spoke about jigs and machine use among other things. A large part of the presentation was spent exploring the reasons that period furniture failed due to wood movement and the techniques that he uses to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the reproductions that he builds. Several examples from his portfolio are below. To learn more about Chuck’s  work and school, you can visit acanthus.com.

August 2020 

This month’s featured presenter was artist, sculptor and furniture maker Scott Grove. His topic was advanced veneering. You can use his link to Scott’s website to learn more about his work: scottgrove.com

July 2020 

July’s meeting featured 4 member presentations.

• Ben’s presentation covered the various construction elements and techniques involved in building an interesting workbench.
• Roy’s flag box – which described the build process including his approach to cutting the angled components for the triangular form
•  David’s row boat rocker – built for his grand daughter, there were a number of challenging angled components that needed to be cut.
•  Cliff’s segmented vase –  a short review of how he cut the angled components for the segments that were used to create the vase.

In addition to our regular July meeting, we’ll have an informal get together where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

June 2020 

Tis month’s guest presenter was Steve Latta. A teacher, writer, craftsman and contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, Steve’s main job is developing the furniture makers of tomorrow at the Thaddeus Steven’s College in Lancaster Pennsylvania. His topic for our meeting was creating and adding inlays to furniture. You can view some of his FWW articles at: https://www.finewoodworking.com/author/steve-latta

 In addition to our regular June meeting, we’ll have an informal get together on Monday June 1st where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

May 2020 

Our virtual presenter at May’s meeting was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. There were 45 members in attendance. Tom’s topic was the uses for and methods of creating mortise and tenon joints. Many thanks to Tom for an interesting and engaging night. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure.  

April 2020 

April’s online meeting was composed of a number of short member presentations. There were 22 members in attendance. Although that’s about half of our normal attendance and we were all remote, the discussion was very lively. The members who presented were:

• Brian described the Pekovich bench jig that he made for working with small parts
• Abe gave us a tour of his Pekovich hanging tool cabinet and also did a brief shop tour
• Verne gave us a complete tour of his shop
• Alan showed a sliding table that enables him to cut  small logs on his band saw and toured some of his shop and equipment
• Charlie showed us some carvings including a beautiful carved banana and some carved swans that he’s making as holiday gifts
• Gordon spoke about test pieces he was making for veneered drawer fronts
• John showed two pieces, a three legged stool and a saw horse. He also talked about the shop stool project which he’s facilitating
• Sri is building a large dresser with sliding dovetails. He had pictures of the jigs he built to cut them as well as his method for handling large pieces on his router table
• Tal completed his music stand, which he displayed and spoke about some of the techniques he used to build it.
• Several pictures from the evening are below. To see more member work from the evening, please use this link.

March 2020 

Sadly our March meeting was cancelled due to the Corona virus. Although we were looking forward to our guest speaker, Joel Moskowitz of Tools for Working Wood, the club made a decision which respected the health of our members and the community in which we meet.

March was also the annual woodworking show. NJWA had a booth where, over the 3 days of the event, 15 members supported our effort to promote the club and recruit new members. The show also conducted a Project Challenge, which provided an opportunity for craftspeople to display their work and for attendees to vote on their favorite piece. NJWA member Jay Siegelaub’s natural edge side table was the 2020 winner. Congratulations to Jay. If you’d like to see more of Jay’s work, use this link to check out his website. 

 

View 2019 Meeting Summaries

View 2018 Meeting Summaries

View 2017 Meeting Summaries

View 2016 Meeting Summaries

September 2022 

Our guest speaker for September was author, teacher and Fine Woodworking contributing editor Steve Latta. A professional furniture and cabinet maker for over 30 years, he has spent the last 20 years as a professor of cabinet making and wood technology at the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster Pa. Well know for his expertise on period furniture, Steve is an in-demand lecturer at places such as Winterthur, Colonial Williamsburg and The American Furniture Study Center at Yale University. His topic was flow as it applies to furniture making. Steve focused on the building of a small, one-drawer night stand. He began with lumber selection and progressed through dimensioning and joinery. He explained “which cut, in which order, and why”. The information packed into Steve’s presentation has the potential to improve the quality of our projects while reducing workshop frustration and mistakes.  

August 2022 

Our guest speaker for August was author, teacher and Fine Woodworking contributing editor Roland “Rollie” Johnson. A longtime professional woodworker in Sauk Rapids, MN, Rollie opened his first workshop in 1976. A self professed gear head, he’s FWW’s expert on hand and machine tool maintenance, authoring  several video series on the topic as well as providing numerous tool reviews. In addition, he’s taught finishing at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine and has written several books on woodworking. Rollie’s topic was coloring wood. He touched on products, types of stain, how different woods accept stain and numerous other topics. While many of us were familiar with Rollie from his work at the Woodworking Shows we weren’t prepared for the depth of knowledge that he shared with us during the evening. David Levenberg has gone through the the recording and summarized Rollie’s presentation. Here’s a link to that document.

July 2022 

Our July meeting took place at the Mr. Sawdust School of Professional Woodworking in Hackettstown NJ. Our host was Wally Kunkel the owner of the school. His father, Wallace Kunkel Sr. known as Mr. Sawdust, had a school in Chester NJ which is where Wally began his woodworking education eventually becoming a professional furniture maker. Following in his father’s footsteps, he now runs his own school offering a wide variety of courses. One of his specialties, which he demonstrated for us, is using the radial arm saw to cut complex joinery. In addition to a detailed tour of the school, Wally arranged for Frank Klauz to do a short presentation and Q&A on cutting dovetails by hand. Should you want more information on Wally and his school you can visit him at the Mr. Sawdust School’s website.

June 2022 

June’s guest speaker was Nick DeMars, the woodworking Product Specialist at Klingspor Abrasives who spoke about all things sandpaper and sanding. Nick covered hand and machine sanding, sanding techniques and answered questions such as what sandpaper characteristics are appropriate for wood removal vs. finish prep. As Klingspor’s router bit specialist he was also able to give us an overview router bits and their uses.

May 2022 

For May’s meeting we took a break from paid presenters and focused on the work of our members. Our first presenter was Tim who described his Morris Chair build. He presented on construction details as well as his personal design decisions that went into creating the piece. There were many interesting aspects to the build including his technique for getting quarter sawn faces on all of the legs. Thanks to Tim for an interesting presentation which included a short video for each step of the build. Gordon followed with a talk on a credenza that he built. The piece has 3 drawers with veneered fronts surrounded by cock beading. It also has a shelf below the drawers that’s suspended from four delecate legs. Gordon shared his approach to overcoming each of the challenges inherent in building this piece. Last was a short talk by David on an bandsaw technique for creating interesting curved designs. The technique that he described allows him to create artistic pieces composed of a variety of wood species and shapes. Thanks to our presenters for sharing some very interesting techniques and designs.

April 2022 

April’s guest presenter was Shannon Rogers, the host of Shannon’s Lumber Industry Update. Drawing on his day job as the Director of Marketing for one of the oldest lumber companies in the US, J. Gibson McIlvain, he offered a deep understanding and unique perspective on the industry. In addition, he runs his own online woodworking school devoted to hand tools called appropriately enough The Hand Tool School.  Shannon spoke on a variety of topics as varied as domestic and imported hardwoods, sheet goods, the economics of the lumber industry and the restoration of Notre Dame.

March 2022 

Andrew Hunter was our March of 2022 presenter. A frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking and a good friend to the club, Andrew is also a well respected expert on Japanese tools and techniques. His topic was accurate joinery layout, how to ensure that your joints are well fitting and tight. 

February 2022 

Our guest presenter for February was Bob Behnke of Franklin International, the makers of Titebond glues. Bob was our featured presenter in July of 2018. Member surveys have rated his presentation as among the best we’ve ever had, so we invited him to present again. 

January 2022 

January’s meeting was our kickoff meeting for 2022. We focused on club business including elections, a review of last year meetings and our plans for 2022. That was followed up by several member presentations. Charlie spoke about a pair of shore birds that he carved for a charity auction, Pat spoke on the crusher/destemmer that he made for his wine making hobby. We had some time left at the end and were able to have another member present an overview of thier workbench review. Thanks to Jim Mueller for taking us through the build and use of his bench

December 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog – Giant Cypress.

November 2021 

We had four members present their work this month. Freddie spoke about his experience building a canoe at the Adirondak Folk School. The school, which is located in Lake Luzerne NY is dedicated to teaching the arts, crafts, and cultural heritage of the Adirondack region. The build, which takes place over two weeks, is limited to four students. It took Freddie several years of trying to register for the class before he was finally able to secure a spot in a class. Next up was Steve talking about his shop built Microjig Ultimate Workbench. For his presentation, Steve played an entertaining YouTube video (accessible via this link), which he created to document the build process. Sri was up next speaking about the build of a round pedestal dining table. The table is made of Sapele, has a 42″ wide solid top and is stunning. Last up was Greg who spoken on the tools and techniques that he uses to flatten slabs. The slabs were cut on his sawmill and dried in the drying room on which he had presented on several months back. Thanks to the presenters for an educational and interesting evening.  

October 2021 

Our guest presenter for October was Ramon Valdez, a furniture maker known for integrating interesting and exquisite marquetry into his work. Ramon’s topic was the “double bevel” marquetry technique! This is a fantastic process for creating beautiful motifs that can be used to decorate a box, add visual interest to a piece of furniture or even as a stand alone picture. Among the items covered by Ramon were layout, building your marquetry in layers, application to a substrate, sawing technique, the principles of double bevel marquetry and tool set.  Thank you to Ramon for an interesting evening and for opening a new way to add interest and beauty to our work. Should you be interested in learning more about Ramon, he has a broad presence on social media. As a starting point, you can check out his website, www.ramonvaldezfinefurniture.com. Also, along with fellow woodworkers Philip Morley and Ben Brunick, he is the host of the  “Woodworkers Podcast”.

The club also held two additional in-person events during October. Early in the month, aboubt 10 member gathered in the parking lot to attend Gordon’s skill building session on the art of hammer veneering. His session included a discussion of the tool set, preping the material and the hammer vereering technique. Gordon provided some veneered samples and then demonstrated the process. Gordon’s demo also covered how to join smaller pieces of veneer so that a large substrate could be covered. There were plenty of material and supplies on hand so that each attendee was able to try their hand at hammer veneering a small board.

On October 30th we held and a branding / swap meet in the parking lot. The branding activity provided members who had made items for the Hermitage Museum with the opportunity to identify their work as being created by an NJWA Club Memeber. At the swap meet about a dozen or so members offered surplus tools, books and material for sale. 

September 2021 

September’s guest presenter was David Fisher whose topic was “Greenwood Carving, Following, Finding and Feeling Flow”.  A full time history teacher in the town in which he’s spent his whole life, Dave has become known internationally for his carving. His work, all of which is done by hand, includes bowls, spoons and vessels.  Many pieces are adorned with beautifully lettered phrases. 

Dave’s talk was a whirlwind tour of his technique, tools and philosophy. On tools, he shapes his work with a minimal tool set without using powered tools. Many of those tools have been passed down from previous generations and will be passed on in the future. On his philosophy, he sees the art that exists in the wood as opposed to forcing his art into the material. On technique, he uses time honored techniques of swinging and ax and pushing gouges and knives while in close contact with the material.

Dave rounded out the evening with an overview of his approach to the carved lettering that he uses to adorn his work. This was an interesting evening spent with a special craftsman. If you’d like to learn more about Dave and his work, you can visit: https://davidffisher.com.

August 2021 

At our August meeting we had three member presentations. Alan gave a detailed presention on a trompe l’oeil table that he built. Trompe l’oeil means fool the eye. The table has what looks like a folded piece of linen drapped over the top. However, what appears to be linen is in fact solid wood. Alan took us through the process of constructing the layers of a solid wood top. He followed that with a detailed description of how he carved a large piece of solid wood so that it appeared to be linen. He described the tools used (power and hand) as well as his carving technique.  He then went on to give a brief description of how he finished the piece. Kevin spoke about two Shaker candle stands that he built. He explained how varying the size and shape of the post and feet allowed hime to come up with two unique pieces. Scott presented on a split top Roubo workbench that he built using plans from the Woodwhisperer Guild. He covered the plans, material used, where he purchased it, construction steps and his experiences using the bench. Thanks to our three presenters for an interesting evening.  

July 2021 

Our guest speaker for July was woodworker and author Andy Rae.  Andy began his career working as a finisher for George Nakashima and working in Frank Klaus’ workshop. Subsequent to that he was a contributor to various woodworking publications, an  associate editor for American Woodworker magazine and the author of several books. Andy’s tool cabinet is the well known piece that graces the front cover of Jim Tolpin’s “The Toolbox Book”. Andy spoke about his journey as a woodworker and an author. He also shared some of the techniques he’s used for designing and building furniture.  He currently has his own workshop where he splits his time between taking on commissions and using woodworking to support recovering addicts. If you’d like to see more of his work, you can find him at Andy Rae Woodworking & Writing Studios on Facebook and @andyraewoodworkingstudio on Instagram.

June 2021 

The topic for June’s meeting was member workbenches. About 25 members posted pictures of their workbenches in a gallery on our website. Each member in attendance was given a few minutes to talk about their workbench. Several members did more in depth presentations. Our opening speaker was Dave Petersen who took us through the design and construction of his Roubo style workbench. There was quite a variety of workbenches build in different styles and using different construction techniques and material. The workbench gallery is still available using this link.

 This was the first regular meeting where members met in person since February of 2020. In order to accommodate as many attendees as possible we provided three options for attending. Members could meet indoors at our traditional location, they could attend via Zoom or they could opt for a middle ground where viewed the meeting via Zoom from the backyard at our location in Pompton Plains. 

May 2021 

Our presenter for May was master carver and teacher Mary May. Last year Mary had given us an overview of carving. This meeting was more of a hands on meeting (via Zoom) where Mary took us through the steps to carving two different versions of an Acanthus leaf. While carving each version, she described the tools and techniques that she was using. Although this was an opportunity to carve along with Mary, it would be quite a challenge to carve as quickly as she did. With this in mind, the session was recorded and sent out to members so that they could go through this at their own speed. 

She recently finished first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In addition to our regular meeting, the club held a skill session on May 15th. Three members presented on various sharpening topics. Bob demonstrated how to sharpen turning tools on a grinder, Gordon focused on sharpening chisels and plane irons on flat stones and Charlie taught the particulars of sharpening carving tools,

April 2021 

April’s guest presenter was Bob Van Dyke, the founder and director of the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. Bob’s topic was stock preparation, make it flat, straight and square. A Fine Woodworking contribution editor, Bob took us step by step through the process he uses to take lumber from the rough stage to being milled 4 square. Speaking from the CVSW workshop, his talk focused on the use of four machines to mill lumber, the  jointer, planer, bandsaw and table saw. Bob did cover spring joints, a technique for developing highly reliable edge joints. For that process he used a hand plane. Also included in his presentation was the topic of yield, which is the amount of milled stock that can be gotten from a rough board. Bob explained how to approximate the yield, why warp and twist in a board reduces yield and how to maximize the yield. Bob also highlighted some of the situations that would lead to less than optimal stock preparation including poor machine set up and errors in technique.  

March 2021 

March’s guest presenter was Joel Moskowitz, the owner of Tools for Working Wood. An avid collector of historical woodworking and craft texts, Joel is also the author of the popular woodworking blog “Joel’s Blog”. In addition he manufactures his own line of tools under the brands Gramercy Tools and BT&C (Brooklyn Tool and Craft). A passionate student of woodworking history, Joel’s spoke on how early woodworking texts have informed the design and development of modern tools in particular many of the tools designed and made by his company. Among the texts that he referred to during his talk was Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanic Exercises” pointing to some of the pictures in his copy of the 1683 edition, one of only a few hundred in print. Thanks to Joel for and interesting and education evening.

On Monday March 1st meeting at 7PM, we held an open discussion and presentation of our prospective projects for the Witness Tree project.  Members exchanged their ideas and were able to find out if there were any duplicate or similar items in the planning.  For members who have decided on a project, we will be able to present them to The Hermitage Staff and hear their reaction and comments.  Many members have posted their ideas to a photo album which can be viewed at the following link: witness tree project ideas.

February 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. His topic for the evening was an overview of spindle turning which is the type of turning that is most useful for furniture makers. Tom covered numerous topics including tools, sharpening, setting up the lathe, the types of cuts used in spindle turning and using templates. Tom also discussed the importance of a fair curve in order to give your furniture a professional and pleasing look. Thanks to Tom for a great introduction to woodturning for furniture makers. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure (the link for Tom’s May of 2020 video presentation is also still active).

January  2021 

Our kickoff meeting for 2021 began with a reap of our 2020 activities and elections for the board of directors. Following club business, we had three member presentations.

• Greg D. walked us through the design and construction of his home drying room. The room, which is attached to his shop, was built from the ground up and allows Greg to dry wood that he has milled himself
• Ben S. spoke about a branding iron that he recently purchased. Included in his discussion was the trial and error that he went through to develop a technique that would yield a clear image on his work. 
• Sri spoke on a Carolina Candle Stand which he just completed. Among the topics covered were creating the mortise and tenons for attaching the feet to the post and how to attach the top to account for wood movement. 

December 2020 

Our guest speaker for this month was Russell M, a technical specialist with JPW Industries, the makers of Jet and Powermatic tools. He covered a broad range of topic including: 

• Trends in woodworking machine technology
• The key features to look for when shopping for a woodworking machine 
• Maintenance concepts and practices for the types of machines that most of us are likely to own (i.e., bandsaw, planer, jointer, drill press, sanders, tablesaw, etc.)
• Key decision points, e.g. straight vs. segmented knives
• Some key usage points, common mistakes to avoid, safety and accuracy practices

Many thanks to Russell for an informative and interesting evening

November 2020 

For this month’s meeting, we had a virtual tour of the Stickley Museum in Fayetteville NY.  The museum which opened in 2007 explores over a century of furniture making excellence. It highlights the inspiration and craftsmanship that made Stickley America’s foremost fine furniture maker and the craftspeople whose commitment to quality led to Stickley’s reputation for manufacturing heirloom quality furniture. Many thanks to the museum’s head Amanda C., who gave a wonderful tour despite the fact that her only connection to her audience was via faces on an iPad. 

In addition to our regular monthly meeting, we held a swap meet in the early part of the month. Approximately 20 members (and a few non-members) set up tables to sell a variety of tools. Another 20 or so participated as buyers only. The event was held outdoors and masks were required. After being quarantined for a good part of the year, it was a good way to catch up with our fellow NJWA members.  

October 2020 

October’s guest speaker was Mary May, a master carver who works out of her workshop on John’s Island South Carolina. During her two hour presentation, Mary took us through an overview of the basics of carving. The topics included the various types of tools, the convention for identifying the various shapes and sizes and how to sharpen them; the types of wood that are appropriate for carving and some basic techniques. Mary is also a teacher who has taught at such places as the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana, Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School and the Connecticut Valley School. She recently finished her first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In early October we had a second event at John M’s saw mill where we began the process of milling the witness tree. Also, as some of John’s property was being sold off, members helped to clear lumber off that portion of his yard.  

September 2020 

Chuck Bender, a well known period furniture maker and the founder of the Acanthus Workshop, a woodworking school in Jim Thorpe Pa., was September’s presenter. His topic was modern methods for making federal style furniture. Chuck spoke about jigs and machine use among other things. A large part of the presentation was spent exploring the reasons that period furniture failed due to wood movement and the techniques that he uses to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the reproductions that he builds. Several examples from his portfolio are below. To learn more about Chuck’s  work and school, you can visit acanthus.com.

August 2020 

This month’s featured presenter was artist, sculptor and furniture maker Scott Grove. His topic was advanced veneering. You can use his link to Scott’s website to learn more about his work: scottgrove.com

July 2020 

July’s meeting featured 4 member presentations.

• Ben’s presentation covered the various construction elements and techniques involved in building an interesting workbench.
• Roy’s flag box – which described the build process including his approach to cutting the angled components for the triangular form
•  David’s row boat rocker – built for his grand daughter, there were a number of challenging angled components that needed to be cut.
•  Cliff’s segmented vase –  a short review of how he cut the angled components for the segments that were used to create the vase.

In addition to our regular July meeting, we’ll have an informal get together where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

June 2020 

Tis month’s guest presenter was Steve Latta. A teacher, writer, craftsman and contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, Steve’s main job is developing the furniture makers of tomorrow at the Thaddeus Steven’s College in Lancaster Pennsylvania. His topic for our meeting was creating and adding inlays to furniture. You can view some of his FWW articles at: https://www.finewoodworking.com/author/steve-latta

 In addition to our regular June meeting, we’ll have an informal get together on Monday June 1st where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

May 2020 

Our virtual presenter at May’s meeting was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. There were 45 members in attendance. Tom’s topic was the uses for and methods of creating mortise and tenon joints. Many thanks to Tom for an interesting and engaging night. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure.  

April 2020 

April’s online meeting was composed of a number of short member presentations. There were 22 members in attendance. Although that’s about half of our normal attendance and we were all remote, the discussion was very lively. The members who presented were:

• Brian described the Pekovich bench jig that he made for working with small parts
• Abe gave us a tour of his Pekovich hanging tool cabinet and also did a brief shop tour
• Verne gave us a complete tour of his shop
• Alan showed a sliding table that enables him to cut  small logs on his band saw and toured some of his shop and equipment
• Charlie showed us some carvings including a beautiful carved banana and some carved swans that he’s making as holiday gifts
• Gordon spoke about test pieces he was making for veneered drawer fronts
• John showed two pieces, a three legged stool and a saw horse. He also talked about the shop stool project which he’s facilitating
• Sri is building a large dresser with sliding dovetails. He had pictures of the jigs he built to cut them as well as his method for handling large pieces on his router table
• Tal completed his music stand, which he displayed and spoke about some of the techniques he used to build it.
• Several pictures from the evening are below. To see more member work from the evening, please use this link.

March 2020 

Sadly our March meeting was cancelled due to the Corona virus. Although we were looking forward to our guest speaker, Joel Moskowitz of Tools for Working Wood, the club made a decision which respected the health of our members and the community in which we meet.

March was also the annual woodworking show. NJWA had a booth where, over the 3 days of the event, 15 members supported our effort to promote the club and recruit new members. The show also conducted a Project Challenge, which provided an opportunity for craftspeople to display their work and for attendees to vote on their favorite piece. NJWA member Jay Siegelaub’s natural edge side table was the 2020 winner. Congratulations to Jay. If you’d like to see more of Jay’s work, use this link to check out his website. 

 

View 2019 Meeting Summaries

View 2018 Meeting Summaries

View 2017 Meeting Summaries

View 2016 Meeting Summaries

January 2022 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog

December 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog – Giant Cypress.

November 2021 

We had four members present their work this month. Freddie spoke about his experience building a canoe at the Adirondak Folk School. The school, which is located in Lake Luzerne NY is dedicated to teaching the arts, crafts, and cultural heritage of the Adirondack region. The build, which takes place over two weeks, is limited to four students. It took Freddie several years of trying to register for the class before he was finally able to secure a spot in a class. Next up was Steve talking about his shop built Microjig Ultimate Workbench. For his presentation, Steve played an entertaining YouTube video (accessible via this link), which he created to document the build process. Sri was up next speaking about the build of a round pedestal dining table. The table is made of Sapele, has a 42″ wide solid top and is stunning. Last up was Greg who spoken on the tools and techniques that he uses to flatten slabs. The slabs were cut on his sawmill and dried in the drying room on which he had presented on several months back. Thanks to the presenters for an educational and interesting evening.  

October 2021 

Our guest presenter for October was Ramon Valdez, a furniture maker known for integrating interesting and exquisite marquetry into his work. Ramon’s topic was the “double bevel” marquetry technique! This is a fantastic process for creating beautiful motifs that can be used to decorate a box, add visual interest to a piece of furniture or even as a stand alone picture. Among the items covered by Ramon were layout, building your marquetry in layers, application to a substrate, sawing technique, the principles of double bevel marquetry and tool set.  Thank you to Ramon for an interesting evening and for opening a new way to add interest and beauty to our work. Should you be interested in learning more about Ramon, he has a broad presence on social media. As a starting point, you can check out his website, www.ramonvaldezfinefurniture.com. Also, along with fellow woodworkers Philip Morley and Ben Brunick, he is the host of the  “Woodworkers Podcast”.

The club also held two additional in-person events during October. Early in the month, aboubt 10 member gathered in the parking lot to attend Gordon’s skill building session on the art of hammer veneering. His session included a discussion of the tool set, preping the material and the hammer vereering technique. Gordon provided some veneered samples and then demonstrated the process. Gordon’s demo also covered how to join smaller pieces of veneer so that a large substrate could be covered. There were plenty of material and supplies on hand so that each attendee was able to try their hand at hammer veneering a small board.

On October 30th we held and a branding / swap meet in the parking lot. The branding activity provided members who had made items for the Hermitage Museum with the opportunity to identify their work as being created by an NJWA Club Memeber. At the swap meet about a dozen or so members offered surplus tools, books and material for sale. 

September 2021 

September’s guest presenter was David Fisher whose topic was “Greenwood Carving, Following, Finding and Feeling Flow”.  A full time history teacher in the town in which he’s spent his whole life, Dave has become known internationally for his carving. His work, all of which is done by hand, includes bowls, spoons and vessels.  Many pieces are adorned with beautifully lettered phrases. 

Dave’s talk was a whirlwind tour of his technique, tools and philosophy. On tools, he shapes his work with a minimal tool set without using powered tools. Many of those tools have been passed down from previous generations and will be passed on in the future. On his philosophy, he sees the art that exists in the wood as opposed to forcing his art into the material. On technique, he uses time honored techniques of swinging and ax and pushing gouges and knives while in close contact with the material.

Dave rounded out the evening with an overview of his approach to the carved lettering that he uses to adorn his work. This was an interesting evening spent with a special craftsman. If you’d like to learn more about Dave and his work, you can visit: https://davidffisher.com.

August 2021 

At our August meeting we had three member presentations. Alan gave a detailed presention on a trompe l’oeil table that he built. Trompe l’oeil means fool the eye. The table has what looks like a folded piece of linen drapped over the top. However, what appears to be linen is in fact solid wood. Alan took us through the process of constructing the layers of a solid wood top. He followed that with a detailed description of how he carved a large piece of solid wood so that it appeared to be linen. He described the tools used (power and hand) as well as his carving technique.  He then went on to give a brief description of how he finished the piece. Kevin spoke about two Shaker candle stands that he built. He explained how varying the size and shape of the post and feet allowed hime to come up with two unique pieces. Scott presented on a split top Roubo workbench that he built using plans from the Woodwhisperer Guild. He covered the plans, material used, where he purchased it, construction steps and his experiences using the bench. Thanks to our three presenters for an interesting evening.  

July 2021 

Our guest speaker for July was woodworker and author Andy Rae.  Andy began his career working as a finisher for George Nakashima and working in Frank Klaus’ workshop. Subsequent to that he was a contributor to various woodworking publications, an  associate editor for American Woodworker magazine and the author of several books. Andy’s tool cabinet is the well known piece that graces the front cover of Jim Tolpin’s “The Toolbox Book”. Andy spoke about his journey as a woodworker and an author. He also shared some of the techniques he’s used for designing and building furniture.  He currently has his own workshop where he splits his time between taking on commissions and using woodworking to support recovering addicts. If you’d like to see more of his work, you can find him at Andy Rae Woodworking & Writing Studios on Facebook and @andyraewoodworkingstudio on Instagram.

June 2021 

The topic for June’s meeting was member workbenches. About 25 members posted pictures of their workbenches in a gallery on our website. Each member in attendance was given a few minutes to talk about their workbench. Several members did more in depth presentations. Our opening speaker was Dave Petersen who took us through the design and construction of his Roubo style workbench. There was quite a variety of workbenches build in different styles and using different construction techniques and material. The workbench gallery is still available using this link.

 This was the first regular meeting where members met in person since February of 2020. In order to accommodate as many attendees as possible we provided three options for attending. Members could meet indoors at our traditional location, they could attend via Zoom or they could opt for a middle ground where viewed the meeting via Zoom from the backyard at our location in Pompton Plains. 

May 2021 

Our presenter for May was master carver and teacher Mary May. Last year Mary had given us an overview of carving. This meeting was more of a hands on meeting (via Zoom) where Mary took us through the steps to carving two different versions of an Acanthus leaf. While carving each version, she described the tools and techniques that she was using. Although this was an opportunity to carve along with Mary, it would be quite a challenge to carve as quickly as she did. With this in mind, the session was recorded and sent out to members so that they could go through this at their own speed. 

She recently finished first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In addition to our regular meeting, the club held a skill session on May 15th. Three members presented on various sharpening topics. Bob demonstrated how to sharpen turning tools on a grinder, Gordon focused on sharpening chisels and plane irons on flat stones and Charlie taught the particulars of sharpening carving tools,

April 2021 

April’s guest presenter was Bob Van Dyke, the founder and director of the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. Bob’s topic was stock preparation, make it flat, straight and square. A Fine Woodworking contribution editor, Bob took us step by step through the process he uses to take lumber from the rough stage to being milled 4 square. Speaking from the CVSW workshop, his talk focused on the use of four machines to mill lumber, the  jointer, planer, bandsaw and table saw. Bob did cover spring joints, a technique for developing highly reliable edge joints. For that process he used a hand plane. Also included in his presentation was the topic of yield, which is the amount of milled stock that can be gotten from a rough board. Bob explained how to approximate the yield, why warp and twist in a board reduces yield and how to maximize the yield. Bob also highlighted some of the situations that would lead to less than optimal stock preparation including poor machine set up and errors in technique.  

March 2021 

March’s guest presenter was Joel Moskowitz, the owner of Tools for Working Wood. An avid collector of historical woodworking and craft texts, Joel is also the author of the popular woodworking blog “Joel’s Blog”. In addition he manufactures his own line of tools under the brands Gramercy Tools and BT&C (Brooklyn Tool and Craft). A passionate student of woodworking history, Joel’s spoke on how early woodworking texts have informed the design and development of modern tools in particular many of the tools designed and made by his company. Among the texts that he referred to during his talk was Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanic Exercises” pointing to some of the pictures in his copy of the 1683 edition, one of only a few hundred in print. Thanks to Joel for and interesting and education evening.

On Monday March 1st meeting at 7PM, we held an open discussion and presentation of our prospective projects for the Witness Tree project.  Members exchanged their ideas and were able to find out if there were any duplicate or similar items in the planning.  For members who have decided on a project, we will be able to present them to The Hermitage Staff and hear their reaction and comments.  Many members have posted their ideas to a photo album which can be viewed at the following link: witness tree project ideas.

February 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. His topic for the evening was an overview of spindle turning which is the type of turning that is most useful for furniture makers. Tom covered numerous topics including tools, sharpening, setting up the lathe, the types of cuts used in spindle turning and using templates. Tom also discussed the importance of a fair curve in order to give your furniture a professional and pleasing look. Thanks to Tom for a great introduction to woodturning for furniture makers. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure (the link for Tom’s May of 2020 video presentation is also still active).

January  2021 

Our kickoff meeting for 2021 began with a reap of our 2020 activities and elections for the board of directors. Following club business, we had three member presentations.

• Greg D. walked us through the design and construction of his home drying room. The room, which is attached to his shop, was built from the ground up and allows Greg to dry wood that he has milled himself
• Ben S. spoke about a branding iron that he recently purchased. Included in his discussion was the trial and error that he went through to develop a technique that would yield a clear image on his work. 
• Sri spoke on a Carolina Candle Stand which he just completed. Among the topics covered were creating the mortise and tenons for attaching the feet to the post and how to attach the top to account for wood movement. 

December 2020 

Our guest speaker for this month was Russell M, a technical specialist with JPW Industries, the makers of Jet and Powermatic tools. He covered a broad range of topic including: 

• Trends in woodworking machine technology
• The key features to look for when shopping for a woodworking machine 
• Maintenance concepts and practices for the types of machines that most of us are likely to own (i.e., bandsaw, planer, jointer, drill press, sanders, tablesaw, etc.)
• Key decision points, e.g. straight vs. segmented knives
• Some key usage points, common mistakes to avoid, safety and accuracy practices

Many thanks to Russell for an informative and interesting evening

November 2020 

For this month’s meeting, we had a virtual tour of the Stickley Museum in Fayetteville NY.  The museum which opened in 2007 explores over a century of furniture making excellence. It highlights the inspiration and craftsmanship that made Stickley America’s foremost fine furniture maker and the craftspeople whose commitment to quality led to Stickley’s reputation for manufacturing heirloom quality furniture. Many thanks to the museum’s head Amanda C., who gave a wonderful tour despite the fact that her only connection to her audience was via faces on an iPad. 

In addition to our regular monthly meeting, we held a swap meet in the early part of the month. Approximately 20 members (and a few non-members) set up tables to sell a variety of tools. Another 20 or so participated as buyers only. The event was held outdoors and masks were required. After being quarantined for a good part of the year, it was a good way to catch up with our fellow NJWA members.  

October 2020 

October’s guest speaker was Mary May, a master carver who works out of her workshop on John’s Island South Carolina. During her two hour presentation, Mary took us through an overview of the basics of carving. The topics included the various types of tools, the convention for identifying the various shapes and sizes and how to sharpen them; the types of wood that are appropriate for carving and some basic techniques. Mary is also a teacher who has taught at such places as the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana, Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School and the Connecticut Valley School. She recently finished her first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In early October we had a second event at John M’s saw mill where we began the process of milling the witness tree. Also, as some of John’s property was being sold off, members helped to clear lumber off that portion of his yard.  

September 2020 

Chuck Bender, a well known period furniture maker and the founder of the Acanthus Workshop, a woodworking school in Jim Thorpe Pa., was September’s presenter. His topic was modern methods for making federal style furniture. Chuck spoke about jigs and machine use among other things. A large part of the presentation was spent exploring the reasons that period furniture failed due to wood movement and the techniques that he uses to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the reproductions that he builds. Several examples from his portfolio are below. To learn more about Chuck’s  work and school, you can visit acanthus.com.

August 2020 

This month’s featured presenter was artist, sculptor and furniture maker Scott Grove. His topic was advanced veneering. You can use his link to Scott’s website to learn more about his work: scottgrove.com

July 2020 

July’s meeting featured 4 member presentations.

• Ben’s presentation covered the various construction elements and techniques involved in building an interesting workbench.
• Roy’s flag box – which described the build process including his approach to cutting the angled components for the triangular form
•  David’s row boat rocker – built for his grand daughter, there were a number of challenging angled components that needed to be cut.
•  Cliff’s segmented vase –  a short review of how he cut the angled components for the segments that were used to create the vase.

In addition to our regular July meeting, we’ll have an informal get together where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

June 2020 

Tis month’s guest presenter was Steve Latta. A teacher, writer, craftsman and contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, Steve’s main job is developing the furniture makers of tomorrow at the Thaddeus Steven’s College in Lancaster Pennsylvania. His topic for our meeting was creating and adding inlays to furniture. You can view some of his FWW articles at: https://www.finewoodworking.com/author/steve-latta

 In addition to our regular June meeting, we’ll have an informal get together on Monday June 1st where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

May 2020 

Our virtual presenter at May’s meeting was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. There were 45 members in attendance. Tom’s topic was the uses for and methods of creating mortise and tenon joints. Many thanks to Tom for an interesting and engaging night. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure.  

April 2020 

April’s online meeting was composed of a number of short member presentations. There were 22 members in attendance. Although that’s about half of our normal attendance and we were all remote, the discussion was very lively. The members who presented were:

• Brian described the Pekovich bench jig that he made for working with small parts
• Abe gave us a tour of his Pekovich hanging tool cabinet and also did a brief shop tour
• Verne gave us a complete tour of his shop
• Alan showed a sliding table that enables him to cut  small logs on his band saw and toured some of his shop and equipment
• Charlie showed us some carvings including a beautiful carved banana and some carved swans that he’s making as holiday gifts
• Gordon spoke about test pieces he was making for veneered drawer fronts
• John showed two pieces, a three legged stool and a saw horse. He also talked about the shop stool project which he’s facilitating
• Sri is building a large dresser with sliding dovetails. He had pictures of the jigs he built to cut them as well as his method for handling large pieces on his router table
• Tal completed his music stand, which he displayed and spoke about some of the techniques he used to build it.
• Several pictures from the evening are below. To see more member work from the evening, please use this link.

March 2020 

Sadly our March meeting was cancelled due to the Corona virus. Although we were looking forward to our guest speaker, Joel Moskowitz of Tools for Working Wood, the club made a decision which respected the health of our members and the community in which we meet.

March was also the annual woodworking show. NJWA had a booth where, over the 3 days of the event, 15 members supported our effort to promote the club and recruit new members. The show also conducted a Project Challenge, which provided an opportunity for craftspeople to display their work and for attendees to vote on their favorite piece. NJWA member Jay Siegelaub’s natural edge side table was the 2020 winner. Congratulations to Jay. If you’d like to see more of Jay’s work, use this link to check out his website. 

 

View 2019 Meeting Summaries

View 2018 Meeting Summaries

View 2017 Meeting Summaries

View 2016 Meeting Summaries

September 2022 

Our guest speaker for September was author, teacher and Fine Woodworking contributing editor Steve Latta. A professional furniture and cabinet maker for over 30 years, he has spent the last 20 years as a professor of cabinet making and wood technology at the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster Pa. Well know for his expertise on period furniture, Steve is an in-demand lecturer at places such as Winterthur, Colonial Williamsburg and The American Furniture Study Center at Yale University. His topic was flow as it applies to furniture making. Steve focused on the building of a small, one-drawer night stand. He began with lumber selection and progressed through dimensioning and joinery. He explained “which cut, in which order, and why”. The information packed into Steve’s presentation has the potential to improve the quality of our projects while reducing workshop frustration and mistakes.  

August 2022 

Our guest speaker for August was author, teacher and Fine Woodworking contributing editor Roland “Rollie” Johnson. A longtime professional woodworker in Sauk Rapids, MN, Rollie opened his first workshop in 1976. A self professed gear head, he’s FWW’s expert on hand and machine tool maintenance, authoring  several video series on the topic as well as providing numerous tool reviews. In addition, he’s taught finishing at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine and has written several books on woodworking. Rollie’s topic was coloring wood. He touched on products, types of stain, how different woods accept stain and numerous other topics. While many of us were familiar with Rollie from his work at the Woodworking Shows we weren’t prepared for the depth of knowledge that he shared with us during the evening. David Levenberg has gone through the the recording and summarized Rollie’s presentation. Here’s a link to that document.

July 2022 

Our July meeting took place at the Mr. Sawdust School of Professional Woodworking in Hackettstown NJ. Our host was Wally Kunkel the owner of the school. His father, Wallace Kunkel Sr. known as Mr. Sawdust, had a school in Chester NJ which is where Wally began his woodworking education eventually becoming a professional furniture maker. Following in his father’s footsteps, he now runs his own school offering a wide variety of courses. One of his specialties, which he demonstrated for us, is using the radial arm saw to cut complex joinery. In addition to a detailed tour of the school, Wally arranged for Frank Klauz to do a short presentation and Q&A on cutting dovetails by hand. Should you want more information on Wally and his school you can visit him at the Mr. Sawdust School’s website.

June 2022 

June’s guest speaker was Nick DeMars, the woodworking Product Specialist at Klingspor Abrasives who spoke about all things sandpaper and sanding. Nick covered hand and machine sanding, sanding techniques and answered questions such as what sandpaper characteristics are appropriate for wood removal vs. finish prep. As Klingspor’s router bit specialist he was also able to give us an overview router bits and their uses.

May 2022 

For May’s meeting we took a break from paid presenters and focused on the work of our members. Our first presenter was Tim who described his Morris Chair build. He presented on construction details as well as his personal design decisions that went into creating the piece. There were many interesting aspects to the build including his technique for getting quarter sawn faces on all of the legs. Thanks to Tim for an interesting presentation which included a short video for each step of the build. Gordon followed with a talk on a credenza that he built. The piece has 3 drawers with veneered fronts surrounded by cock beading. It also has a shelf below the drawers that’s suspended from four delecate legs. Gordon shared his approach to overcoming each of the challenges inherent in building this piece. Last was a short talk by David on an bandsaw technique for creating interesting curved designs. The technique that he described allows him to create artistic pieces composed of a variety of wood species and shapes. Thanks to our presenters for sharing some very interesting techniques and designs.

April 2022 

April’s guest presenter was Shannon Rogers, the host of Shannon’s Lumber Industry Update. Drawing on his day job as the Director of Marketing for one of the oldest lumber companies in the US, J. Gibson McIlvain, he offered a deep understanding and unique perspective on the industry. In addition, he runs his own online woodworking school devoted to hand tools called appropriately enough The Hand Tool School.  Shannon spoke on a variety of topics as varied as domestic and imported hardwoods, sheet goods, the economics of the lumber industry and the restoration of Notre Dame.

March 2022 

Andrew Hunter was our March of 2022 presenter. A frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking and a good friend to the club, Andrew is also a well respected expert on Japanese tools and techniques. His topic was accurate joinery layout, how to ensure that your joints are well fitting and tight. 

February 2022 

Our guest presenter for February was Bob Behnke of Franklin International, the makers of Titebond glues. Bob was our featured presenter in July of 2018. Member surveys have rated his presentation as among the best we’ve ever had, so we invited him to present again. 

January 2022 

January’s meeting was our kickoff meeting for 2022. We focused on club business including elections, a review of last year meetings and our plans for 2022. That was followed up by several member presentations. Charlie spoke about a pair of shore birds that he carved for a charity auction, Pat spoke on the crusher/destemmer that he made for his wine making hobby. We had some time left at the end and were able to have another member present an overview of thier workbench review. Thanks to Jim Mueller for taking us through the build and use of his bench

December 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog – Giant Cypress.

November 2021 

We had four members present their work this month. Freddie spoke about his experience building a canoe at the Adirondak Folk School. The school, which is located in Lake Luzerne NY is dedicated to teaching the arts, crafts, and cultural heritage of the Adirondack region. The build, which takes place over two weeks, is limited to four students. It took Freddie several years of trying to register for the class before he was finally able to secure a spot in a class. Next up was Steve talking about his shop built Microjig Ultimate Workbench. For his presentation, Steve played an entertaining YouTube video (accessible via this link), which he created to document the build process. Sri was up next speaking about the build of a round pedestal dining table. The table is made of Sapele, has a 42″ wide solid top and is stunning. Last up was Greg who spoken on the tools and techniques that he uses to flatten slabs. The slabs were cut on his sawmill and dried in the drying room on which he had presented on several months back. Thanks to the presenters for an educational and interesting evening.  

October 2021 

Our guest presenter for October was Ramon Valdez, a furniture maker known for integrating interesting and exquisite marquetry into his work. Ramon’s topic was the “double bevel” marquetry technique! This is a fantastic process for creating beautiful motifs that can be used to decorate a box, add visual interest to a piece of furniture or even as a stand alone picture. Among the items covered by Ramon were layout, building your marquetry in layers, application to a substrate, sawing technique, the principles of double bevel marquetry and tool set.  Thank you to Ramon for an interesting evening and for opening a new way to add interest and beauty to our work. Should you be interested in learning more about Ramon, he has a broad presence on social media. As a starting point, you can check out his website, www.ramonvaldezfinefurniture.com. Also, along with fellow woodworkers Philip Morley and Ben Brunick, he is the host of the  “Woodworkers Podcast”.

The club also held two additional in-person events during October. Early in the month, aboubt 10 member gathered in the parking lot to attend Gordon’s skill building session on the art of hammer veneering. His session included a discussion of the tool set, preping the material and the hammer vereering technique. Gordon provided some veneered samples and then demonstrated the process. Gordon’s demo also covered how to join smaller pieces of veneer so that a large substrate could be covered. There were plenty of material and supplies on hand so that each attendee was able to try their hand at hammer veneering a small board.

On October 30th we held and a branding / swap meet in the parking lot. The branding activity provided members who had made items for the Hermitage Museum with the opportunity to identify their work as being created by an NJWA Club Memeber. At the swap meet about a dozen or so members offered surplus tools, books and material for sale. 

September 2021 

September’s guest presenter was David Fisher whose topic was “Greenwood Carving, Following, Finding and Feeling Flow”.  A full time history teacher in the town in which he’s spent his whole life, Dave has become known internationally for his carving. His work, all of which is done by hand, includes bowls, spoons and vessels.  Many pieces are adorned with beautifully lettered phrases. 

Dave’s talk was a whirlwind tour of his technique, tools and philosophy. On tools, he shapes his work with a minimal tool set without using powered tools. Many of those tools have been passed down from previous generations and will be passed on in the future. On his philosophy, he sees the art that exists in the wood as opposed to forcing his art into the material. On technique, he uses time honored techniques of swinging and ax and pushing gouges and knives while in close contact with the material.

Dave rounded out the evening with an overview of his approach to the carved lettering that he uses to adorn his work. This was an interesting evening spent with a special craftsman. If you’d like to learn more about Dave and his work, you can visit: https://davidffisher.com.

August 2021 

At our August meeting we had three member presentations. Alan gave a detailed presention on a trompe l’oeil table that he built. Trompe l’oeil means fool the eye. The table has what looks like a folded piece of linen drapped over the top. However, what appears to be linen is in fact solid wood. Alan took us through the process of constructing the layers of a solid wood top. He followed that with a detailed description of how he carved a large piece of solid wood so that it appeared to be linen. He described the tools used (power and hand) as well as his carving technique.  He then went on to give a brief description of how he finished the piece. Kevin spoke about two Shaker candle stands that he built. He explained how varying the size and shape of the post and feet allowed hime to come up with two unique pieces. Scott presented on a split top Roubo workbench that he built using plans from the Woodwhisperer Guild. He covered the plans, material used, where he purchased it, construction steps and his experiences using the bench. Thanks to our three presenters for an interesting evening.  

July 2021 

Our guest speaker for July was woodworker and author Andy Rae.  Andy began his career working as a finisher for George Nakashima and working in Frank Klaus’ workshop. Subsequent to that he was a contributor to various woodworking publications, an  associate editor for American Woodworker magazine and the author of several books. Andy’s tool cabinet is the well known piece that graces the front cover of Jim Tolpin’s “The Toolbox Book”. Andy spoke about his journey as a woodworker and an author. He also shared some of the techniques he’s used for designing and building furniture.  He currently has his own workshop where he splits his time between taking on commissions and using woodworking to support recovering addicts. If you’d like to see more of his work, you can find him at Andy Rae Woodworking & Writing Studios on Facebook and @andyraewoodworkingstudio on Instagram.

June 2021 

The topic for June’s meeting was member workbenches. About 25 members posted pictures of their workbenches in a gallery on our website. Each member in attendance was given a few minutes to talk about their workbench. Several members did more in depth presentations. Our opening speaker was Dave Petersen who took us through the design and construction of his Roubo style workbench. There was quite a variety of workbenches build in different styles and using different construction techniques and material. The workbench gallery is still available using this link.

 This was the first regular meeting where members met in person since February of 2020. In order to accommodate as many attendees as possible we provided three options for attending. Members could meet indoors at our traditional location, they could attend via Zoom or they could opt for a middle ground where viewed the meeting via Zoom from the backyard at our location in Pompton Plains. 

May 2021 

Our presenter for May was master carver and teacher Mary May. Last year Mary had given us an overview of carving. This meeting was more of a hands on meeting (via Zoom) where Mary took us through the steps to carving two different versions of an Acanthus leaf. While carving each version, she described the tools and techniques that she was using. Although this was an opportunity to carve along with Mary, it would be quite a challenge to carve as quickly as she did. With this in mind, the session was recorded and sent out to members so that they could go through this at their own speed. 

She recently finished first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In addition to our regular meeting, the club held a skill session on May 15th. Three members presented on various sharpening topics. Bob demonstrated how to sharpen turning tools on a grinder, Gordon focused on sharpening chisels and plane irons on flat stones and Charlie taught the particulars of sharpening carving tools,

April 2021 

April’s guest presenter was Bob Van Dyke, the founder and director of the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. Bob’s topic was stock preparation, make it flat, straight and square. A Fine Woodworking contribution editor, Bob took us step by step through the process he uses to take lumber from the rough stage to being milled 4 square. Speaking from the CVSW workshop, his talk focused on the use of four machines to mill lumber, the  jointer, planer, bandsaw and table saw. Bob did cover spring joints, a technique for developing highly reliable edge joints. For that process he used a hand plane. Also included in his presentation was the topic of yield, which is the amount of milled stock that can be gotten from a rough board. Bob explained how to approximate the yield, why warp and twist in a board reduces yield and how to maximize the yield. Bob also highlighted some of the situations that would lead to less than optimal stock preparation including poor machine set up and errors in technique.  

March 2021 

March’s guest presenter was Joel Moskowitz, the owner of Tools for Working Wood. An avid collector of historical woodworking and craft texts, Joel is also the author of the popular woodworking blog “Joel’s Blog”. In addition he manufactures his own line of tools under the brands Gramercy Tools and BT&C (Brooklyn Tool and Craft). A passionate student of woodworking history, Joel’s spoke on how early woodworking texts have informed the design and development of modern tools in particular many of the tools designed and made by his company. Among the texts that he referred to during his talk was Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanic Exercises” pointing to some of the pictures in his copy of the 1683 edition, one of only a few hundred in print. Thanks to Joel for and interesting and education evening.

On Monday March 1st meeting at 7PM, we held an open discussion and presentation of our prospective projects for the Witness Tree project.  Members exchanged their ideas and were able to find out if there were any duplicate or similar items in the planning.  For members who have decided on a project, we will be able to present them to The Hermitage Staff and hear their reaction and comments.  Many members have posted their ideas to a photo album which can be viewed at the following link: witness tree project ideas.

February 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. His topic for the evening was an overview of spindle turning which is the type of turning that is most useful for furniture makers. Tom covered numerous topics including tools, sharpening, setting up the lathe, the types of cuts used in spindle turning and using templates. Tom also discussed the importance of a fair curve in order to give your furniture a professional and pleasing look. Thanks to Tom for a great introduction to woodturning for furniture makers. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure (the link for Tom’s May of 2020 video presentation is also still active).

January  2021 

Our kickoff meeting for 2021 began with a reap of our 2020 activities and elections for the board of directors. Following club business, we had three member presentations.

• Greg D. walked us through the design and construction of his home drying room. The room, which is attached to his shop, was built from the ground up and allows Greg to dry wood that he has milled himself
• Ben S. spoke about a branding iron that he recently purchased. Included in his discussion was the trial and error that he went through to develop a technique that would yield a clear image on his work. 
• Sri spoke on a Carolina Candle Stand which he just completed. Among the topics covered were creating the mortise and tenons for attaching the feet to the post and how to attach the top to account for wood movement. 

December 2020 

Our guest speaker for this month was Russell M, a technical specialist with JPW Industries, the makers of Jet and Powermatic tools. He covered a broad range of topic including: 

• Trends in woodworking machine technology
• The key features to look for when shopping for a woodworking machine 
• Maintenance concepts and practices for the types of machines that most of us are likely to own (i.e., bandsaw, planer, jointer, drill press, sanders, tablesaw, etc.)
• Key decision points, e.g. straight vs. segmented knives
• Some key usage points, common mistakes to avoid, safety and accuracy practices

Many thanks to Russell for an informative and interesting evening

November 2020 

For this month’s meeting, we had a virtual tour of the Stickley Museum in Fayetteville NY.  The museum which opened in 2007 explores over a century of furniture making excellence. It highlights the inspiration and craftsmanship that made Stickley America’s foremost fine furniture maker and the craftspeople whose commitment to quality led to Stickley’s reputation for manufacturing heirloom quality furniture. Many thanks to the museum’s head Amanda C., who gave a wonderful tour despite the fact that her only connection to her audience was via faces on an iPad. 

In addition to our regular monthly meeting, we held a swap meet in the early part of the month. Approximately 20 members (and a few non-members) set up tables to sell a variety of tools. Another 20 or so participated as buyers only. The event was held outdoors and masks were required. After being quarantined for a good part of the year, it was a good way to catch up with our fellow NJWA members.  

October 2020 

October’s guest speaker was Mary May, a master carver who works out of her workshop on John’s Island South Carolina. During her two hour presentation, Mary took us through an overview of the basics of carving. The topics included the various types of tools, the convention for identifying the various shapes and sizes and how to sharpen them; the types of wood that are appropriate for carving and some basic techniques. Mary is also a teacher who has taught at such places as the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana, Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School and the Connecticut Valley School. She recently finished her first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In early October we had a second event at John M’s saw mill where we began the process of milling the witness tree. Also, as some of John’s property was being sold off, members helped to clear lumber off that portion of his yard.  

September 2020 

Chuck Bender, a well known period furniture maker and the founder of the Acanthus Workshop, a woodworking school in Jim Thorpe Pa., was September’s presenter. His topic was modern methods for making federal style furniture. Chuck spoke about jigs and machine use among other things. A large part of the presentation was spent exploring the reasons that period furniture failed due to wood movement and the techniques that he uses to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the reproductions that he builds. Several examples from his portfolio are below. To learn more about Chuck’s  work and school, you can visit acanthus.com.

August 2020 

This month’s featured presenter was artist, sculptor and furniture maker Scott Grove. His topic was advanced veneering. You can use his link to Scott’s website to learn more about his work: scottgrove.com

July 2020 

July’s meeting featured 4 member presentations.

• Ben’s presentation covered the various construction elements and techniques involved in building an interesting workbench.
• Roy’s flag box – which described the build process including his approach to cutting the angled components for the triangular form
•  David’s row boat rocker – built for his grand daughter, there were a number of challenging angled components that needed to be cut.
•  Cliff’s segmented vase –  a short review of how he cut the angled components for the segments that were used to create the vase.

In addition to our regular July meeting, we’ll have an informal get together where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

June 2020 

Tis month’s guest presenter was Steve Latta. A teacher, writer, craftsman and contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, Steve’s main job is developing the furniture makers of tomorrow at the Thaddeus Steven’s College in Lancaster Pennsylvania. His topic for our meeting was creating and adding inlays to furniture. You can view some of his FWW articles at: https://www.finewoodworking.com/author/steve-latta

 In addition to our regular June meeting, we’ll have an informal get together on Monday June 1st where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

May 2020 

Our virtual presenter at May’s meeting was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. There were 45 members in attendance. Tom’s topic was the uses for and methods of creating mortise and tenon joints. Many thanks to Tom for an interesting and engaging night. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure.  

April 2020 

April’s online meeting was composed of a number of short member presentations. There were 22 members in attendance. Although that’s about half of our normal attendance and we were all remote, the discussion was very lively. The members who presented were:

• Brian described the Pekovich bench jig that he made for working with small parts
• Abe gave us a tour of his Pekovich hanging tool cabinet and also did a brief shop tour
• Verne gave us a complete tour of his shop
• Alan showed a sliding table that enables him to cut  small logs on his band saw and toured some of his shop and equipment
• Charlie showed us some carvings including a beautiful carved banana and some carved swans that he’s making as holiday gifts
• Gordon spoke about test pieces he was making for veneered drawer fronts
• John showed two pieces, a three legged stool and a saw horse. He also talked about the shop stool project which he’s facilitating
• Sri is building a large dresser with sliding dovetails. He had pictures of the jigs he built to cut them as well as his method for handling large pieces on his router table
• Tal completed his music stand, which he displayed and spoke about some of the techniques he used to build it.
• Several pictures from the evening are below. To see more member work from the evening, please use this link.

March 2020 

Sadly our March meeting was cancelled due to the Corona virus. Although we were looking forward to our guest speaker, Joel Moskowitz of Tools for Working Wood, the club made a decision which respected the health of our members and the community in which we meet.

March was also the annual woodworking show. NJWA had a booth where, over the 3 days of the event, 15 members supported our effort to promote the club and recruit new members. The show also conducted a Project Challenge, which provided an opportunity for craftspeople to display their work and for attendees to vote on their favorite piece. NJWA member Jay Siegelaub’s natural edge side table was the 2020 winner. Congratulations to Jay. If you’d like to see more of Jay’s work, use this link to check out his website. 

 

View 2019 Meeting Summaries

View 2018 Meeting Summaries

View 2017 Meeting Summaries

View 2016 Meeting Summaries

January 2022 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog

December 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog – Giant Cypress.

November 2021 

We had four members present their work this month. Freddie spoke about his experience building a canoe at the Adirondak Folk School. The school, which is located in Lake Luzerne NY is dedicated to teaching the arts, crafts, and cultural heritage of the Adirondack region. The build, which takes place over two weeks, is limited to four students. It took Freddie several years of trying to register for the class before he was finally able to secure a spot in a class. Next up was Steve talking about his shop built Microjig Ultimate Workbench. For his presentation, Steve played an entertaining YouTube video (accessible via this link), which he created to document the build process. Sri was up next speaking about the build of a round pedestal dining table. The table is made of Sapele, has a 42″ wide solid top and is stunning. Last up was Greg who spoken on the tools and techniques that he uses to flatten slabs. The slabs were cut on his sawmill and dried in the drying room on which he had presented on several months back. Thanks to the presenters for an educational and interesting evening.  

October 2021 

Our guest presenter for October was Ramon Valdez, a furniture maker known for integrating interesting and exquisite marquetry into his work. Ramon’s topic was the “double bevel” marquetry technique! This is a fantastic process for creating beautiful motifs that can be used to decorate a box, add visual interest to a piece of furniture or even as a stand alone picture. Among the items covered by Ramon were layout, building your marquetry in layers, application to a substrate, sawing technique, the principles of double bevel marquetry and tool set.  Thank you to Ramon for an interesting evening and for opening a new way to add interest and beauty to our work. Should you be interested in learning more about Ramon, he has a broad presence on social media. As a starting point, you can check out his website, www.ramonvaldezfinefurniture.com. Also, along with fellow woodworkers Philip Morley and Ben Brunick, he is the host of the  “Woodworkers Podcast”.

The club also held two additional in-person events during October. Early in the month, aboubt 10 member gathered in the parking lot to attend Gordon’s skill building session on the art of hammer veneering. His session included a discussion of the tool set, preping the material and the hammer vereering technique. Gordon provided some veneered samples and then demonstrated the process. Gordon’s demo also covered how to join smaller pieces of veneer so that a large substrate could be covered. There were plenty of material and supplies on hand so that each attendee was able to try their hand at hammer veneering a small board.

On October 30th we held and a branding / swap meet in the parking lot. The branding activity provided members who had made items for the Hermitage Museum with the opportunity to identify their work as being created by an NJWA Club Memeber. At the swap meet about a dozen or so members offered surplus tools, books and material for sale. 

September 2021 

September’s guest presenter was David Fisher whose topic was “Greenwood Carving, Following, Finding and Feeling Flow”.  A full time history teacher in the town in which he’s spent his whole life, Dave has become known internationally for his carving. His work, all of which is done by hand, includes bowls, spoons and vessels.  Many pieces are adorned with beautifully lettered phrases. 

Dave’s talk was a whirlwind tour of his technique, tools and philosophy. On tools, he shapes his work with a minimal tool set without using powered tools. Many of those tools have been passed down from previous generations and will be passed on in the future. On his philosophy, he sees the art that exists in the wood as opposed to forcing his art into the material. On technique, he uses time honored techniques of swinging and ax and pushing gouges and knives while in close contact with the material.

Dave rounded out the evening with an overview of his approach to the carved lettering that he uses to adorn his work. This was an interesting evening spent with a special craftsman. If you’d like to learn more about Dave and his work, you can visit: https://davidffisher.com.

August 2021 

At our August meeting we had three member presentations. Alan gave a detailed presention on a trompe l’oeil table that he built. Trompe l’oeil means fool the eye. The table has what looks like a folded piece of linen drapped over the top. However, what appears to be linen is in fact solid wood. Alan took us through the process of constructing the layers of a solid wood top. He followed that with a detailed description of how he carved a large piece of solid wood so that it appeared to be linen. He described the tools used (power and hand) as well as his carving technique.  He then went on to give a brief description of how he finished the piece. Kevin spoke about two Shaker candle stands that he built. He explained how varying the size and shape of the post and feet allowed hime to come up with two unique pieces. Scott presented on a split top Roubo workbench that he built using plans from the Woodwhisperer Guild. He covered the plans, material used, where he purchased it, construction steps and his experiences using the bench. Thanks to our three presenters for an interesting evening.  

July 2021 

Our guest speaker for July was woodworker and author Andy Rae.  Andy began his career working as a finisher for George Nakashima and working in Frank Klaus’ workshop. Subsequent to that he was a contributor to various woodworking publications, an  associate editor for American Woodworker magazine and the author of several books. Andy’s tool cabinet is the well known piece that graces the front cover of Jim Tolpin’s “The Toolbox Book”. Andy spoke about his journey as a woodworker and an author. He also shared some of the techniques he’s used for designing and building furniture.  He currently has his own workshop where he splits his time between taking on commissions and using woodworking to support recovering addicts. If you’d like to see more of his work, you can find him at Andy Rae Woodworking & Writing Studios on Facebook and @andyraewoodworkingstudio on Instagram.

June 2021 

The topic for June’s meeting was member workbenches. About 25 members posted pictures of their workbenches in a gallery on our website. Each member in attendance was given a few minutes to talk about their workbench. Several members did more in depth presentations. Our opening speaker was Dave Petersen who took us through the design and construction of his Roubo style workbench. There was quite a variety of workbenches build in different styles and using different construction techniques and material. The workbench gallery is still available using this link.

 This was the first regular meeting where members met in person since February of 2020. In order to accommodate as many attendees as possible we provided three options for attending. Members could meet indoors at our traditional location, they could attend via Zoom or they could opt for a middle ground where viewed the meeting via Zoom from the backyard at our location in Pompton Plains. 

May 2021 

Our presenter for May was master carver and teacher Mary May. Last year Mary had given us an overview of carving. This meeting was more of a hands on meeting (via Zoom) where Mary took us through the steps to carving two different versions of an Acanthus leaf. While carving each version, she described the tools and techniques that she was using. Although this was an opportunity to carve along with Mary, it would be quite a challenge to carve as quickly as she did. With this in mind, the session was recorded and sent out to members so that they could go through this at their own speed. 

She recently finished first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In addition to our regular meeting, the club held a skill session on May 15th. Three members presented on various sharpening topics. Bob demonstrated how to sharpen turning tools on a grinder, Gordon focused on sharpening chisels and plane irons on flat stones and Charlie taught the particulars of sharpening carving tools,

April 2021 

April’s guest presenter was Bob Van Dyke, the founder and director of the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. Bob’s topic was stock preparation, make it flat, straight and square. A Fine Woodworking contribution editor, Bob took us step by step through the process he uses to take lumber from the rough stage to being milled 4 square. Speaking from the CVSW workshop, his talk focused on the use of four machines to mill lumber, the  jointer, planer, bandsaw and table saw. Bob did cover spring joints, a technique for developing highly reliable edge joints. For that process he used a hand plane. Also included in his presentation was the topic of yield, which is the amount of milled stock that can be gotten from a rough board. Bob explained how to approximate the yield, why warp and twist in a board reduces yield and how to maximize the yield. Bob also highlighted some of the situations that would lead to less than optimal stock preparation including poor machine set up and errors in technique.  

March 2021 

March’s guest presenter was Joel Moskowitz, the owner of Tools for Working Wood. An avid collector of historical woodworking and craft texts, Joel is also the author of the popular woodworking blog “Joel’s Blog”. In addition he manufactures his own line of tools under the brands Gramercy Tools and BT&C (Brooklyn Tool and Craft). A passionate student of woodworking history, Joel’s spoke on how early woodworking texts have informed the design and development of modern tools in particular many of the tools designed and made by his company. Among the texts that he referred to during his talk was Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanic Exercises” pointing to some of the pictures in his copy of the 1683 edition, one of only a few hundred in print. Thanks to Joel for and interesting and education evening.

On Monday March 1st meeting at 7PM, we held an open discussion and presentation of our prospective projects for the Witness Tree project.  Members exchanged their ideas and were able to find out if there were any duplicate or similar items in the planning.  For members who have decided on a project, we will be able to present them to The Hermitage Staff and hear their reaction and comments.  Many members have posted their ideas to a photo album which can be viewed at the following link: witness tree project ideas.

February 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. His topic for the evening was an overview of spindle turning which is the type of turning that is most useful for furniture makers. Tom covered numerous topics including tools, sharpening, setting up the lathe, the types of cuts used in spindle turning and using templates. Tom also discussed the importance of a fair curve in order to give your furniture a professional and pleasing look. Thanks to Tom for a great introduction to woodturning for furniture makers. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure (the link for Tom’s May of 2020 video presentation is also still active).

January  2021 

Our kickoff meeting for 2021 began with a reap of our 2020 activities and elections for the board of directors. Following club business, we had three member presentations.

• Greg D. walked us through the design and construction of his home drying room. The room, which is attached to his shop, was built from the ground up and allows Greg to dry wood that he has milled himself
• Ben S. spoke about a branding iron that he recently purchased. Included in his discussion was the trial and error that he went through to develop a technique that would yield a clear image on his work. 
• Sri spoke on a Carolina Candle Stand which he just completed. Among the topics covered were creating the mortise and tenons for attaching the feet to the post and how to attach the top to account for wood movement. 

December 2020 

Our guest speaker for this month was Russell M, a technical specialist with JPW Industries, the makers of Jet and Powermatic tools. He covered a broad range of topic including: 

• Trends in woodworking machine technology
• The key features to look for when shopping for a woodworking machine 
• Maintenance concepts and practices for the types of machines that most of us are likely to own (i.e., bandsaw, planer, jointer, drill press, sanders, tablesaw, etc.)
• Key decision points, e.g. straight vs. segmented knives
• Some key usage points, common mistakes to avoid, safety and accuracy practices

Many thanks to Russell for an informative and interesting evening

November 2020 

For this month’s meeting, we had a virtual tour of the Stickley Museum in Fayetteville NY.  The museum which opened in 2007 explores over a century of furniture making excellence. It highlights the inspiration and craftsmanship that made Stickley America’s foremost fine furniture maker and the craftspeople whose commitment to quality led to Stickley’s reputation for manufacturing heirloom quality furniture. Many thanks to the museum’s head Amanda C., who gave a wonderful tour despite the fact that her only connection to her audience was via faces on an iPad. 

In addition to our regular monthly meeting, we held a swap meet in the early part of the month. Approximately 20 members (and a few non-members) set up tables to sell a variety of tools. Another 20 or so participated as buyers only. The event was held outdoors and masks were required. After being quarantined for a good part of the year, it was a good way to catch up with our fellow NJWA members.  

October 2020 

October’s guest speaker was Mary May, a master carver who works out of her workshop on John’s Island South Carolina. During her two hour presentation, Mary took us through an overview of the basics of carving. The topics included the various types of tools, the convention for identifying the various shapes and sizes and how to sharpen them; the types of wood that are appropriate for carving and some basic techniques. Mary is also a teacher who has taught at such places as the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana, Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School and the Connecticut Valley School. She recently finished her first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In early October we had a second event at John M’s saw mill where we began the process of milling the witness tree. Also, as some of John’s property was being sold off, members helped to clear lumber off that portion of his yard.  

September 2020 

Chuck Bender, a well known period furniture maker and the founder of the Acanthus Workshop, a woodworking school in Jim Thorpe Pa., was September’s presenter. His topic was modern methods for making federal style furniture. Chuck spoke about jigs and machine use among other things. A large part of the presentation was spent exploring the reasons that period furniture failed due to wood movement and the techniques that he uses to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the reproductions that he builds. Several examples from his portfolio are below. To learn more about Chuck’s  work and school, you can visit acanthus.com.

August 2020 

This month’s featured presenter was artist, sculptor and furniture maker Scott Grove. His topic was advanced veneering. You can use his link to Scott’s website to learn more about his work: scottgrove.com

July 2020 

July’s meeting featured 4 member presentations.

• Ben’s presentation covered the various construction elements and techniques involved in building an interesting workbench.
• Roy’s flag box – which described the build process including his approach to cutting the angled components for the triangular form
•  David’s row boat rocker – built for his grand daughter, there were a number of challenging angled components that needed to be cut.
•  Cliff’s segmented vase –  a short review of how he cut the angled components for the segments that were used to create the vase.

In addition to our regular July meeting, we’ll have an informal get together where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

June 2020 

Tis month’s guest presenter was Steve Latta. A teacher, writer, craftsman and contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, Steve’s main job is developing the furniture makers of tomorrow at the Thaddeus Steven’s College in Lancaster Pennsylvania. His topic for our meeting was creating and adding inlays to furniture. You can view some of his FWW articles at: https://www.finewoodworking.com/author/steve-latta

 In addition to our regular June meeting, we’ll have an informal get together on Monday June 1st where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

May 2020 

Our virtual presenter at May’s meeting was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. There were 45 members in attendance. Tom’s topic was the uses for and methods of creating mortise and tenon joints. Many thanks to Tom for an interesting and engaging night. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure.  

April 2020 

April’s online meeting was composed of a number of short member presentations. There were 22 members in attendance. Although that’s about half of our normal attendance and we were all remote, the discussion was very lively. The members who presented were:

• Brian described the Pekovich bench jig that he made for working with small parts
• Abe gave us a tour of his Pekovich hanging tool cabinet and also did a brief shop tour
• Verne gave us a complete tour of his shop
• Alan showed a sliding table that enables him to cut  small logs on his band saw and toured some of his shop and equipment
• Charlie showed us some carvings including a beautiful carved banana and some carved swans that he’s making as holiday gifts
• Gordon spoke about test pieces he was making for veneered drawer fronts
• John showed two pieces, a three legged stool and a saw horse. He also talked about the shop stool project which he’s facilitating
• Sri is building a large dresser with sliding dovetails. He had pictures of the jigs he built to cut them as well as his method for handling large pieces on his router table
• Tal completed his music stand, which he displayed and spoke about some of the techniques he used to build it.
• Several pictures from the evening are below. To see more member work from the evening, please use this link.

March 2020 

Sadly our March meeting was cancelled due to the Corona virus. Although we were looking forward to our guest speaker, Joel Moskowitz of Tools for Working Wood, the club made a decision which respected the health of our members and the community in which we meet.

March was also the annual woodworking show. NJWA had a booth where, over the 3 days of the event, 15 members supported our effort to promote the club and recruit new members. The show also conducted a Project Challenge, which provided an opportunity for craftspeople to display their work and for attendees to vote on their favorite piece. NJWA member Jay Siegelaub’s natural edge side table was the 2020 winner. Congratulations to Jay. If you’d like to see more of Jay’s work, use this link to check out his website. 

 

View 2019 Meeting Summaries

View 2018 Meeting Summaries

View 2017 Meeting Summaries

View 2016 Meeting Summaries

February  2023

February’s guest speaker had a family emergency and was unable to join us. Once we realized that our speaker wouldn’t be joining us we did a quick pivot and focued on member work and experiences. About 20 members contributed input to the night. Despite a rocky beginning, it turned out to be a great meeting. Here’s a link to a  presentation on a shop built ambient air cleaner that was presented at February’s meeting.

January 2023

January’s meeting was our kickoff meeting for 2023. We began the meeting with club business including elections, a review of last year meetings and our plans for 2023. We followed that with 4 member presentations. David L. presented a summary of the member survey. He also presented on shaft keys, what they are, where they’re used and how to diagnose problems when they come loose. Here are links to the member survey and the shaft key presentations. Mark gave a demo on creating a spring joint. Abe rounded out the evening with a presentation on his star wars river table. During that presentation he shared his experiences on how to effectively build up epoxy layers to mimic the flow of a river, how to flatten a slab and a variety of options for creating legs for river tables and slab furniture.  

December 2022

In December we resumed our annual holiday get together. At this meeting members had a chance to display their work and share a meal with friends and family.  Due to Covid we haven’t held this event since 2019, so members were free to bring anything they’ve built in the interim. It was also open to those who wanted to bring anything they created for the bird house or shop stool challenges. Many members brought multiple projects so there was quite a display of member work to go along with the catered feast. Below are a small sample of the work presented at the event. To see more of the work on display at you can view the following video created by one of our members.

November 2022 

November’s guest speaker was Scott Severns, an award-winning master craftsman with 25+ years of experience creating functional and beautiful pieces of furniture and cabinetry. He is the founder of Oak Mountain Custom Woodwork which specializes in hand made furniture, cabinetry and millwork as well as the New Jersey School of Woodwork. As a non-profit, the school’s mission is to grow the craft through instruction and hands on experience in a friendly relaxed environment. In addition, Scott is the current president of the Society of American Period Furniture Makers (SAPFM). His topic will be machine maintenance, focusing primarily on the table and band saws. If you wish to learn more about the New Jersey School of Woodwork, click here to visit their website.

October 2022 

At October’s meeting, four members spoke about their approach to finishing. Each presenter talked about a particular category of finish as well as the specific product that they use. Among the various finishing aspects covered were, surface preparation, application method, sanding schedule, general formulation as well as available products in the category.  Alan opened the evening with a talk about his home brew Maloof finish using a formula which was given to him by Sam Maloof himself. Here’s a link to Alan’s presentation which contains the formula for mixing your own version of the finish. Kevin spoke about using Osmo for a finish, while Freddie talked about oil finishes in particular Bush’s Oil. Both of these presenters brought examples of their work. Bob finished the night with two separate topics. First he spoke about spraying finishes. He covered tools, technique, the suitability of particular finishes for spraying and how to maintain a spray gun. He followed that up with a demonstration of how to apply a super glue finish, a type of finish that is especially favored by turners. Thanks to our four presenters for an interesting and instructional evening. 

In late October we held an in person parking lot event in Pompton Plains. About 30 members gathered on a beautiful fall Saturday to participate in our annual swap meet. This is a chance for members to sell items that they no longer use and for other members to pick up needed tools at very reasonable prices. On this day, many items changed hands. This was also a chance for those participated to display the creations they had made for the bird house challenge. Below are several pictures from the event.

September 2022 

Our guest speaker for September was author, teacher and Fine Woodworking contributing editor Steve Latta. A professional furniture and cabinet maker for over 30 years, he has spent the last 20 years as a professor of cabinet making and wood technology at the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster Pa. Well know for his expertise on period furniture, Steve is an in-demand lecturer at places such as Winterthur, Colonial Williamsburg and The American Furniture Study Center at Yale University. His topic was flow as it applies to furniture making. Steve focused on the building of a small, one-drawer night stand. He began with lumber selection and progressed through dimensioning and joinery. He explained “which cut, in which order, and why”. The information packed into Steve’s presentation has the potential to improve the quality of our projects while reducing workshop frustration and mistakes.  

August 2022 

Our guest speaker for August was author, teacher and Fine Woodworking contributing editor Roland “Rollie” Johnson. A longtime professional woodworker in Sauk Rapids, MN, Rollie opened his first workshop in 1976. A self professed gear head, he’s FWW’s expert on hand and machine tool maintenance, authoring  several video series on the topic as well as providing numerous tool reviews. In addition, he’s taught finishing at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine and has written several books on woodworking. Rollie’s topic was coloring wood. He touched on products, types of stain, how different woods accept stain and numerous other topics. While many of us were familiar with Rollie from his work at the Woodworking Shows we weren’t prepared for the depth of knowledge that he shared with us during the evening. David Levenberg has gone through the the recording and summarized Rollie’s presentation. Here’s a link to that document.

July 2022 

Our July meeting took place at the Mr. Sawdust School of Professional Woodworking in Hackettstown NJ. Our host was Wally Kunkel the owner of the school. His father, Wallace Kunkel Sr. known as Mr. Sawdust, had a school in Chester NJ which is where Wally began his woodworking education eventually becoming a professional furniture maker. Following in his father’s footsteps, he now runs his own school offering a wide variety of courses. One of his specialties, which he demonstrated for us, is using the radial arm saw to cut complex joinery. In addition to a detailed tour of the school, Wally arranged for Frank Klauz to do a short presentation and Q&A on cutting dovetails by hand. Should you want more information on Wally and his school you can visit him at the Mr. Sawdust School’s website.

June 2022 

June’s guest speaker was Nick DeMars, the woodworking Product Specialist at Klingspor Abrasives who spoke about all things sandpaper and sanding. Nick covered hand and machine sanding, sanding techniques and answered questions such as what sandpaper characteristics are appropriate for wood removal vs. finish prep. As Klingspor’s router bit specialist he was also able to give us an overview router bits and their uses.

May 2022 

For May’s meeting we took a break from paid presenters and focused on the work of our members. Our first presenter was Tim who described his Morris Chair build. He presented on construction details as well as his personal design decisions that went into creating the piece. There were many interesting aspects to the build including his technique for getting quarter sawn faces on all of the legs. Thanks to Tim for an interesting presentation which included a short video for each step of the build. Gordon followed with a talk on a credenza that he built. The piece has 3 drawers with veneered fronts surrounded by cock beading. It also has a shelf below the drawers that’s suspended from four delecate legs. Gordon shared his approach to overcoming each of the challenges inherent in building this piece. Last was a short talk by David on an bandsaw technique for creating interesting curved designs. The technique that he described allows him to create artistic pieces composed of a variety of wood species and shapes. Thanks to our presenters for sharing some very interesting techniques and designs.

April 2022 

April’s guest presenter was Shannon Rogers, the host of Shannon’s Lumber Industry Update. Drawing on his day job as the Director of Marketing for one of the oldest lumber companies in the US, J. Gibson McIlvain, he offered a deep understanding and unique perspective on the industry. In addition, he runs his own online woodworking school devoted to hand tools called appropriately enough The Hand Tool School.  Shannon spoke on a variety of topics as varied as domestic and imported hardwoods, sheet goods, the economics of the lumber industry and the restoration of Notre Dame.

March 2022 

Andrew Hunter was our March of 2022 presenter. A frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking and a good friend to the club, Andrew is also a well respected expert on Japanese tools and techniques. His topic was accurate joinery layout, how to ensure that your joints are well fitting and tight. 

February 2022 

Our guest presenter for February was Bob Behnke of Franklin International, the makers of Titebond glues. Bob was our featured presenter in July of 2018. Member surveys have rated his presentation as among the best we’ve ever had, so we invited him to present again. 

January 2022 

January’s meeting was our kickoff meeting for 2022. We focused on club business including elections, a review of last year meetings and our plans for 2022. That was followed up by several member presentations. Charlie spoke about a pair of shore birds that he carved for a charity auction, Pat spoke on the crusher/destemmer that he made for his wine making hobby. We had some time left at the end and were able to have another member present an overview of thier workbench review. Thanks to Jim Mueller for taking us through the build and use of his bench

December 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog – Giant Cypress.

November 2021 

We had four members present their work this month. Freddie spoke about his experience building a canoe at the Adirondak Folk School. The school, which is located in Lake Luzerne NY is dedicated to teaching the arts, crafts, and cultural heritage of the Adirondack region. The build, which takes place over two weeks, is limited to four students. It took Freddie several years of trying to register for the class before he was finally able to secure a spot in a class. Next up was Steve talking about his shop built Microjig Ultimate Workbench. For his presentation, Steve played an entertaining YouTube video (accessible via this link), which he created to document the build process. Sri was up next speaking about the build of a round pedestal dining table. The table is made of Sapele, has a 42″ wide solid top and is stunning. Last up was Greg who spoken on the tools and techniques that he uses to flatten slabs. The slabs were cut on his sawmill and dried in the drying room on which he had presented on several months back. Thanks to the presenters for an educational and interesting evening.  

October 2021 

Our guest presenter for October was Ramon Valdez, a furniture maker known for integrating interesting and exquisite marquetry into his work. Ramon’s topic was the “double bevel” marquetry technique! This is a fantastic process for creating beautiful motifs that can be used to decorate a box, add visual interest to a piece of furniture or even as a stand alone picture. Among the items covered by Ramon were layout, building your marquetry in layers, application to a substrate, sawing technique, the principles of double bevel marquetry and tool set.  Thank you to Ramon for an interesting evening and for opening a new way to add interest and beauty to our work. Should you be interested in learning more about Ramon, he has a broad presence on social media. As a starting point, you can check out his website, www.ramonvaldezfinefurniture.com. Also, along with fellow woodworkers Philip Morley and Ben Brunick, he is the host of the  “Woodworkers Podcast”.

The club also held two additional in-person events during October. Early in the month, aboubt 10 member gathered in the parking lot to attend Gordon’s skill building session on the art of hammer veneering. His session included a discussion of the tool set, preping the material and the hammer vereering technique. Gordon provided some veneered samples and then demonstrated the process. Gordon’s demo also covered how to join smaller pieces of veneer so that a large substrate could be covered. There were plenty of material and supplies on hand so that each attendee was able to try their hand at hammer veneering a small board.

On October 30th we held and a branding / swap meet in the parking lot. The branding activity provided members who had made items for the Hermitage Museum with the opportunity to identify their work as being created by an NJWA Club Memeber. At the swap meet about a dozen or so members offered surplus tools, books and material for sale. 

September 2021 

September’s guest presenter was David Fisher whose topic was “Greenwood Carving, Following, Finding and Feeling Flow”.  A full time history teacher in the town in which he’s spent his whole life, Dave has become known internationally for his carving. His work, all of which is done by hand, includes bowls, spoons and vessels.  Many pieces are adorned with beautifully lettered phrases. 

Dave’s talk was a whirlwind tour of his technique, tools and philosophy. On tools, he shapes his work with a minimal tool set without using powered tools. Many of those tools have been passed down from previous generations and will be passed on in the future. On his philosophy, he sees the art that exists in the wood as opposed to forcing his art into the material. On technique, he uses time honored techniques of swinging and ax and pushing gouges and knives while in close contact with the material.

Dave rounded out the evening with an overview of his approach to the carved lettering that he uses to adorn his work. This was an interesting evening spent with a special craftsman. If you’d like to learn more about Dave and his work, you can visit: https://davidffisher.com.

August 2021 

At our August meeting we had three member presentations. Alan gave a detailed presention on a trompe l’oeil table that he built. Trompe l’oeil means fool the eye. The table has what looks like a folded piece of linen drapped over the top. However, what appears to be linen is in fact solid wood. Alan took us through the process of constructing the layers of a solid wood top. He followed that with a detailed description of how he carved a large piece of solid wood so that it appeared to be linen. He described the tools used (power and hand) as well as his carving technique.  He then went on to give a brief description of how he finished the piece. Kevin spoke about two Shaker candle stands that he built. He explained how varying the size and shape of the post and feet allowed hime to come up with two unique pieces. Scott presented on a split top Roubo workbench that he built using plans from the Woodwhisperer Guild. He covered the plans, material used, where he purchased it, construction steps and his experiences using the bench. Thanks to our three presenters for an interesting evening.  

July 2021 

Our guest speaker for July was woodworker and author Andy Rae.  Andy began his career working as a finisher for George Nakashima and working in Frank Klaus’ workshop. Subsequent to that he was a contributor to various woodworking publications, an  associate editor for American Woodworker magazine and the author of several books. Andy’s tool cabinet is the well known piece that graces the front cover of Jim Tolpin’s “The Toolbox Book”. Andy spoke about his journey as a woodworker and an author. He also shared some of the techniques he’s used for designing and building furniture.  He currently has his own workshop where he splits his time between taking on commissions and using woodworking to support recovering addicts. If you’d like to see more of his work, you can find him at Andy Rae Woodworking & Writing Studios on Facebook and @andyraewoodworkingstudio on Instagram.

June 2021 

The topic for June’s meeting was member workbenches. About 25 members posted pictures of their workbenches in a gallery on our website. Each member in attendance was given a few minutes to talk about their workbench. Several members did more in depth presentations. Our opening speaker was Dave Petersen who took us through the design and construction of his Roubo style workbench. There was quite a variety of workbenches build in different styles and using different construction techniques and material. The workbench gallery is still available using this link.

 This was the first regular meeting where members met in person since February of 2020. In order to accommodate as many attendees as possible we provided three options for attending. Members could meet indoors at our traditional location, they could attend via Zoom or they could opt for a middle ground where viewed the meeting via Zoom from the backyard at our location in Pompton Plains. 

May 2021 

Our presenter for May was master carver and teacher Mary May. Last year Mary had given us an overview of carving. This meeting was more of a hands on meeting (via Zoom) where Mary took us through the steps to carving two different versions of an Acanthus leaf. While carving each version, she described the tools and techniques that she was using. Although this was an opportunity to carve along with Mary, it would be quite a challenge to carve as quickly as she did. With this in mind, the session was recorded and sent out to members so that they could go through this at their own speed. 

She recently finished first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In addition to our regular meeting, the club held a skill session on May 15th. Three members presented on various sharpening topics. Bob demonstrated how to sharpen turning tools on a grinder, Gordon focused on sharpening chisels and plane irons on flat stones and Charlie taught the particulars of sharpening carving tools,

April 2021 

April’s guest presenter was Bob Van Dyke, the founder and director of the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. Bob’s topic was stock preparation, make it flat, straight and square. A Fine Woodworking contribution editor, Bob took us step by step through the process he uses to take lumber from the rough stage to being milled 4 square. Speaking from the CVSW workshop, his talk focused on the use of four machines to mill lumber, the  jointer, planer, bandsaw and table saw. Bob did cover spring joints, a technique for developing highly reliable edge joints. For that process he used a hand plane. Also included in his presentation was the topic of yield, which is the amount of milled stock that can be gotten from a rough board. Bob explained how to approximate the yield, why warp and twist in a board reduces yield and how to maximize the yield. Bob also highlighted some of the situations that would lead to less than optimal stock preparation including poor machine set up and errors in technique.  

March 2021 

March’s guest presenter was Joel Moskowitz, the owner of Tools for Working Wood. An avid collector of historical woodworking and craft texts, Joel is also the author of the popular woodworking blog “Joel’s Blog”. In addition he manufactures his own line of tools under the brands Gramercy Tools and BT&C (Brooklyn Tool and Craft). A passionate student of woodworking history, Joel’s spoke on how early woodworking texts have informed the design and development of modern tools in particular many of the tools designed and made by his company. Among the texts that he referred to during his talk was Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanic Exercises” pointing to some of the pictures in his copy of the 1683 edition, one of only a few hundred in print. Thanks to Joel for and interesting and education evening.

On Monday March 1st meeting at 7PM, we held an open discussion and presentation of our prospective projects for the Witness Tree project.  Members exchanged their ideas and were able to find out if there were any duplicate or similar items in the planning.  For members who have decided on a project, we will be able to present them to The Hermitage Staff and hear their reaction and comments.  Many members have posted their ideas to a photo album which can be viewed at the following link: witness tree project ideas.

February 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. His topic for the evening was an overview of spindle turning which is the type of turning that is most useful for furniture makers. Tom covered numerous topics including tools, sharpening, setting up the lathe, the types of cuts used in spindle turning and using templates. Tom also discussed the importance of a fair curve in order to give your furniture a professional and pleasing look. Thanks to Tom for a great introduction to woodturning for furniture makers. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure (the link for Tom’s May of 2020 video presentation is also still active).

January  2021 

Our kickoff meeting for 2021 began with a reap of our 2020 activities and elections for the board of directors. Following club business, we had three member presentations.

• Greg D. walked us through the design and construction of his home drying room. The room, which is attached to his shop, was built from the ground up and allows Greg to dry wood that he has milled himself
• Ben S. spoke about a branding iron that he recently purchased. Included in his discussion was the trial and error that he went through to develop a technique that would yield a clear image on his work. 
• Sri spoke on a Carolina Candle Stand which he just completed. Among the topics covered were creating the mortise and tenons for attaching the feet to the post and how to attach the top to account for wood movement. 

December 2020 

Our guest speaker for this month was Russell M, a technical specialist with JPW Industries, the makers of Jet and Powermatic tools. He covered a broad range of topic including: 

• Trends in woodworking machine technology
• The key features to look for when shopping for a woodworking machine 
• Maintenance concepts and practices for the types of machines that most of us are likely to own (i.e., bandsaw, planer, jointer, drill press, sanders, tablesaw, etc.)
• Key decision points, e.g. straight vs. segmented knives
• Some key usage points, common mistakes to avoid, safety and accuracy practices

Many thanks to Russell for an informative and interesting evening

November 2020 

For this month’s meeting, we had a virtual tour of the Stickley Museum in Fayetteville NY.  The museum which opened in 2007 explores over a century of furniture making excellence. It highlights the inspiration and craftsmanship that made Stickley America’s foremost fine furniture maker and the craftspeople whose commitment to quality led to Stickley’s reputation for manufacturing heirloom quality furniture. Many thanks to the museum’s head Amanda C., who gave a wonderful tour despite the fact that her only connection to her audience was via faces on an iPad. 

In addition to our regular monthly meeting, we held a swap meet in the early part of the month. Approximately 20 members (and a few non-members) set up tables to sell a variety of tools. Another 20 or so participated as buyers only. The event was held outdoors and masks were required. After being quarantined for a good part of the year, it was a good way to catch up with our fellow NJWA members.  

October 2020 

October’s guest speaker was Mary May, a master carver who works out of her workshop on John’s Island South Carolina. During her two hour presentation, Mary took us through an overview of the basics of carving. The topics included the various types of tools, the convention for identifying the various shapes and sizes and how to sharpen them; the types of wood that are appropriate for carving and some basic techniques. Mary is also a teacher who has taught at such places as the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana, Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School and the Connecticut Valley School. She recently finished her first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In early October we had a second event at John M’s saw mill where we began the process of milling the witness tree. Also, as some of John’s property was being sold off, members helped to clear lumber off that portion of his yard.  

September 2020 

Chuck Bender, a well known period furniture maker and the founder of the Acanthus Workshop, a woodworking school in Jim Thorpe Pa., was September’s presenter. His topic was modern methods for making federal style furniture. Chuck spoke about jigs and machine use among other things. A large part of the presentation was spent exploring the reasons that period furniture failed due to wood movement and the techniques that he uses to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the reproductions that he builds. Several examples from his portfolio are below. To learn more about Chuck’s  work and school, you can visit acanthus.com.

August 2020 

This month’s featured presenter was artist, sculptor and furniture maker Scott Grove. His topic was advanced veneering. You can use his link to Scott’s website to learn more about his work: scottgrove.com

July 2020 

July’s meeting featured 4 member presentations.

• Ben’s presentation covered the various construction elements and techniques involved in building an interesting workbench.
• Roy’s flag box – which described the build process including his approach to cutting the angled components for the triangular form
•  David’s row boat rocker – built for his grand daughter, there were a number of challenging angled components that needed to be cut.
•  Cliff’s segmented vase –  a short review of how he cut the angled components for the segments that were used to create the vase.

In addition to our regular July meeting, we’ll have an informal get together where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

June 2020 

Tis month’s guest presenter was Steve Latta. A teacher, writer, craftsman and contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, Steve’s main job is developing the furniture makers of tomorrow at the Thaddeus Steven’s College in Lancaster Pennsylvania. His topic for our meeting was creating and adding inlays to furniture. You can view some of his FWW articles at: https://www.finewoodworking.com/author/steve-latta

 In addition to our regular June meeting, we’ll have an informal get together on Monday June 1st where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

May 2020 

Our virtual presenter at May’s meeting was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. There were 45 members in attendance. Tom’s topic was the uses for and methods of creating mortise and tenon joints. Many thanks to Tom for an interesting and engaging night. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure.  

April 2020 

April’s online meeting was composed of a number of short member presentations. There were 22 members in attendance. Although that’s about half of our normal attendance and we were all remote, the discussion was very lively. The members who presented were:

• Brian described the Pekovich bench jig that he made for working with small parts
• Abe gave us a tour of his Pekovich hanging tool cabinet and also did a brief shop tour
• Verne gave us a complete tour of his shop
• Alan showed a sliding table that enables him to cut  small logs on his band saw and toured some of his shop and equipment
• Charlie showed us some carvings including a beautiful carved banana and some carved swans that he’s making as holiday gifts
• Gordon spoke about test pieces he was making for veneered drawer fronts
• John showed two pieces, a three legged stool and a saw horse. He also talked about the shop stool project which he’s facilitating
• Sri is building a large dresser with sliding dovetails. He had pictures of the jigs he built to cut them as well as his method for handling large pieces on his router table
• Tal completed his music stand, which he displayed and spoke about some of the techniques he used to build it.
• Several pictures from the evening are below. To see more member work from the evening, please use this link.

March 2020 

Sadly our March meeting was cancelled due to the Corona virus. Although we were looking forward to our guest speaker, Joel Moskowitz of Tools for Working Wood, the club made a decision which respected the health of our members and the community in which we meet.

March was also the annual woodworking show. NJWA had a booth where, over the 3 days of the event, 15 members supported our effort to promote the club and recruit new members. The show also conducted a Project Challenge, which provided an opportunity for craftspeople to display their work and for attendees to vote on their favorite piece. NJWA member Jay Siegelaub’s natural edge side table was the 2020 winner. Congratulations to Jay. If you’d like to see more of Jay’s work, use this link to check out his website. 

 

View 2019 Meeting Summaries

View 2018 Meeting Summaries

View 2017 Meeting Summaries

View 2016 Meeting Summaries

January 2022 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog

December 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog – Giant Cypress.

November 2021 

We had four members present their work this month. Freddie spoke about his experience building a canoe at the Adirondak Folk School. The school, which is located in Lake Luzerne NY is dedicated to teaching the arts, crafts, and cultural heritage of the Adirondack region. The build, which takes place over two weeks, is limited to four students. It took Freddie several years of trying to register for the class before he was finally able to secure a spot in a class. Next up was Steve talking about his shop built Microjig Ultimate Workbench. For his presentation, Steve played an entertaining YouTube video (accessible via this link), which he created to document the build process. Sri was up next speaking about the build of a round pedestal dining table. The table is made of Sapele, has a 42″ wide solid top and is stunning. Last up was Greg who spoken on the tools and techniques that he uses to flatten slabs. The slabs were cut on his sawmill and dried in the drying room on which he had presented on several months back. Thanks to the presenters for an educational and interesting evening.  

October 2021 

Our guest presenter for October was Ramon Valdez, a furniture maker known for integrating interesting and exquisite marquetry into his work. Ramon’s topic was the “double bevel” marquetry technique! This is a fantastic process for creating beautiful motifs that can be used to decorate a box, add visual interest to a piece of furniture or even as a stand alone picture. Among the items covered by Ramon were layout, building your marquetry in layers, application to a substrate, sawing technique, the principles of double bevel marquetry and tool set.  Thank you to Ramon for an interesting evening and for opening a new way to add interest and beauty to our work. Should you be interested in learning more about Ramon, he has a broad presence on social media. As a starting point, you can check out his website, www.ramonvaldezfinefurniture.com. Also, along with fellow woodworkers Philip Morley and Ben Brunick, he is the host of the  “Woodworkers Podcast”.

The club also held two additional in-person events during October. Early in the month, aboubt 10 member gathered in the parking lot to attend Gordon’s skill building session on the art of hammer veneering. His session included a discussion of the tool set, preping the material and the hammer vereering technique. Gordon provided some veneered samples and then demonstrated the process. Gordon’s demo also covered how to join smaller pieces of veneer so that a large substrate could be covered. There were plenty of material and supplies on hand so that each attendee was able to try their hand at hammer veneering a small board.

On October 30th we held and a branding / swap meet in the parking lot. The branding activity provided members who had made items for the Hermitage Museum with the opportunity to identify their work as being created by an NJWA Club Memeber. At the swap meet about a dozen or so members offered surplus tools, books and material for sale. 

September 2021 

September’s guest presenter was David Fisher whose topic was “Greenwood Carving, Following, Finding and Feeling Flow”.  A full time history teacher in the town in which he’s spent his whole life, Dave has become known internationally for his carving. His work, all of which is done by hand, includes bowls, spoons and vessels.  Many pieces are adorned with beautifully lettered phrases. 

Dave’s talk was a whirlwind tour of his technique, tools and philosophy. On tools, he shapes his work with a minimal tool set without using powered tools. Many of those tools have been passed down from previous generations and will be passed on in the future. On his philosophy, he sees the art that exists in the wood as opposed to forcing his art into the material. On technique, he uses time honored techniques of swinging and ax and pushing gouges and knives while in close contact with the material.

Dave rounded out the evening with an overview of his approach to the carved lettering that he uses to adorn his work. This was an interesting evening spent with a special craftsman. If you’d like to learn more about Dave and his work, you can visit: https://davidffisher.com.

August 2021 

At our August meeting we had three member presentations. Alan gave a detailed presention on a trompe l’oeil table that he built. Trompe l’oeil means fool the eye. The table has what looks like a folded piece of linen drapped over the top. However, what appears to be linen is in fact solid wood. Alan took us through the process of constructing the layers of a solid wood top. He followed that with a detailed description of how he carved a large piece of solid wood so that it appeared to be linen. He described the tools used (power and hand) as well as his carving technique.  He then went on to give a brief description of how he finished the piece. Kevin spoke about two Shaker candle stands that he built. He explained how varying the size and shape of the post and feet allowed hime to come up with two unique pieces. Scott presented on a split top Roubo workbench that he built using plans from the Woodwhisperer Guild. He covered the plans, material used, where he purchased it, construction steps and his experiences using the bench. Thanks to our three presenters for an interesting evening.  

July 2021 

Our guest speaker for July was woodworker and author Andy Rae.  Andy began his career working as a finisher for George Nakashima and working in Frank Klaus’ workshop. Subsequent to that he was a contributor to various woodworking publications, an  associate editor for American Woodworker magazine and the author of several books. Andy’s tool cabinet is the well known piece that graces the front cover of Jim Tolpin’s “The Toolbox Book”. Andy spoke about his journey as a woodworker and an author. He also shared some of the techniques he’s used for designing and building furniture.  He currently has his own workshop where he splits his time between taking on commissions and using woodworking to support recovering addicts. If you’d like to see more of his work, you can find him at Andy Rae Woodworking & Writing Studios on Facebook and @andyraewoodworkingstudio on Instagram.

June 2021 

The topic for June’s meeting was member workbenches. About 25 members posted pictures of their workbenches in a gallery on our website. Each member in attendance was given a few minutes to talk about their workbench. Several members did more in depth presentations. Our opening speaker was Dave Petersen who took us through the design and construction of his Roubo style workbench. There was quite a variety of workbenches build in different styles and using different construction techniques and material. The workbench gallery is still available using this link.

 This was the first regular meeting where members met in person since February of 2020. In order to accommodate as many attendees as possible we provided three options for attending. Members could meet indoors at our traditional location, they could attend via Zoom or they could opt for a middle ground where viewed the meeting via Zoom from the backyard at our location in Pompton Plains. 

May 2021 

Our presenter for May was master carver and teacher Mary May. Last year Mary had given us an overview of carving. This meeting was more of a hands on meeting (via Zoom) where Mary took us through the steps to carving two different versions of an Acanthus leaf. While carving each version, she described the tools and techniques that she was using. Although this was an opportunity to carve along with Mary, it would be quite a challenge to carve as quickly as she did. With this in mind, the session was recorded and sent out to members so that they could go through this at their own speed. 

She recently finished first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In addition to our regular meeting, the club held a skill session on May 15th. Three members presented on various sharpening topics. Bob demonstrated how to sharpen turning tools on a grinder, Gordon focused on sharpening chisels and plane irons on flat stones and Charlie taught the particulars of sharpening carving tools,

April 2021 

April’s guest presenter was Bob Van Dyke, the founder and director of the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. Bob’s topic was stock preparation, make it flat, straight and square. A Fine Woodworking contribution editor, Bob took us step by step through the process he uses to take lumber from the rough stage to being milled 4 square. Speaking from the CVSW workshop, his talk focused on the use of four machines to mill lumber, the  jointer, planer, bandsaw and table saw. Bob did cover spring joints, a technique for developing highly reliable edge joints. For that process he used a hand plane. Also included in his presentation was the topic of yield, which is the amount of milled stock that can be gotten from a rough board. Bob explained how to approximate the yield, why warp and twist in a board reduces yield and how to maximize the yield. Bob also highlighted some of the situations that would lead to less than optimal stock preparation including poor machine set up and errors in technique.  

March 2021 

March’s guest presenter was Joel Moskowitz, the owner of Tools for Working Wood. An avid collector of historical woodworking and craft texts, Joel is also the author of the popular woodworking blog “Joel’s Blog”. In addition he manufactures his own line of tools under the brands Gramercy Tools and BT&C (Brooklyn Tool and Craft). A passionate student of woodworking history, Joel’s spoke on how early woodworking texts have informed the design and development of modern tools in particular many of the tools designed and made by his company. Among the texts that he referred to during his talk was Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanic Exercises” pointing to some of the pictures in his copy of the 1683 edition, one of only a few hundred in print. Thanks to Joel for and interesting and education evening.

On Monday March 1st meeting at 7PM, we held an open discussion and presentation of our prospective projects for the Witness Tree project.  Members exchanged their ideas and were able to find out if there were any duplicate or similar items in the planning.  For members who have decided on a project, we will be able to present them to The Hermitage Staff and hear their reaction and comments.  Many members have posted their ideas to a photo album which can be viewed at the following link: witness tree project ideas.

February 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. His topic for the evening was an overview of spindle turning which is the type of turning that is most useful for furniture makers. Tom covered numerous topics including tools, sharpening, setting up the lathe, the types of cuts used in spindle turning and using templates. Tom also discussed the importance of a fair curve in order to give your furniture a professional and pleasing look. Thanks to Tom for a great introduction to woodturning for furniture makers. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure (the link for Tom’s May of 2020 video presentation is also still active).

January  2021 

Our kickoff meeting for 2021 began with a reap of our 2020 activities and elections for the board of directors. Following club business, we had three member presentations.

• Greg D. walked us through the design and construction of his home drying room. The room, which is attached to his shop, was built from the ground up and allows Greg to dry wood that he has milled himself
• Ben S. spoke about a branding iron that he recently purchased. Included in his discussion was the trial and error that he went through to develop a technique that would yield a clear image on his work. 
• Sri spoke on a Carolina Candle Stand which he just completed. Among the topics covered were creating the mortise and tenons for attaching the feet to the post and how to attach the top to account for wood movement. 

December 2020 

Our guest speaker for this month was Russell M, a technical specialist with JPW Industries, the makers of Jet and Powermatic tools. He covered a broad range of topic including: 

• Trends in woodworking machine technology
• The key features to look for when shopping for a woodworking machine 
• Maintenance concepts and practices for the types of machines that most of us are likely to own (i.e., bandsaw, planer, jointer, drill press, sanders, tablesaw, etc.)
• Key decision points, e.g. straight vs. segmented knives
• Some key usage points, common mistakes to avoid, safety and accuracy practices

Many thanks to Russell for an informative and interesting evening

November 2020 

For this month’s meeting, we had a virtual tour of the Stickley Museum in Fayetteville NY.  The museum which opened in 2007 explores over a century of furniture making excellence. It highlights the inspiration and craftsmanship that made Stickley America’s foremost fine furniture maker and the craftspeople whose commitment to quality led to Stickley’s reputation for manufacturing heirloom quality furniture. Many thanks to the museum’s head Amanda C., who gave a wonderful tour despite the fact that her only connection to her audience was via faces on an iPad. 

In addition to our regular monthly meeting, we held a swap meet in the early part of the month. Approximately 20 members (and a few non-members) set up tables to sell a variety of tools. Another 20 or so participated as buyers only. The event was held outdoors and masks were required. After being quarantined for a good part of the year, it was a good way to catch up with our fellow NJWA members.  

October 2020 

October’s guest speaker was Mary May, a master carver who works out of her workshop on John’s Island South Carolina. During her two hour presentation, Mary took us through an overview of the basics of carving. The topics included the various types of tools, the convention for identifying the various shapes and sizes and how to sharpen them; the types of wood that are appropriate for carving and some basic techniques. Mary is also a teacher who has taught at such places as the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana, Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School and the Connecticut Valley School. She recently finished her first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In early October we had a second event at John M’s saw mill where we began the process of milling the witness tree. Also, as some of John’s property was being sold off, members helped to clear lumber off that portion of his yard.  

September 2020 

Chuck Bender, a well known period furniture maker and the founder of the Acanthus Workshop, a woodworking school in Jim Thorpe Pa., was September’s presenter. His topic was modern methods for making federal style furniture. Chuck spoke about jigs and machine use among other things. A large part of the presentation was spent exploring the reasons that period furniture failed due to wood movement and the techniques that he uses to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the reproductions that he builds. Several examples from his portfolio are below. To learn more about Chuck’s  work and school, you can visit acanthus.com.

August 2020 

This month’s featured presenter was artist, sculptor and furniture maker Scott Grove. His topic was advanced veneering. You can use his link to Scott’s website to learn more about his work: scottgrove.com

July 2020 

July’s meeting featured 4 member presentations.

• Ben’s presentation covered the various construction elements and techniques involved in building an interesting workbench.
• Roy’s flag box – which described the build process including his approach to cutting the angled components for the triangular form
•  David’s row boat rocker – built for his grand daughter, there were a number of challenging angled components that needed to be cut.
•  Cliff’s segmented vase –  a short review of how he cut the angled components for the segments that were used to create the vase.

In addition to our regular July meeting, we’ll have an informal get together where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

June 2020 

Tis month’s guest presenter was Steve Latta. A teacher, writer, craftsman and contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, Steve’s main job is developing the furniture makers of tomorrow at the Thaddeus Steven’s College in Lancaster Pennsylvania. His topic for our meeting was creating and adding inlays to furniture. You can view some of his FWW articles at: https://www.finewoodworking.com/author/steve-latta

 In addition to our regular June meeting, we’ll have an informal get together on Monday June 1st where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

May 2020 

Our virtual presenter at May’s meeting was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. There were 45 members in attendance. Tom’s topic was the uses for and methods of creating mortise and tenon joints. Many thanks to Tom for an interesting and engaging night. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure.  

April 2020 

April’s online meeting was composed of a number of short member presentations. There were 22 members in attendance. Although that’s about half of our normal attendance and we were all remote, the discussion was very lively. The members who presented were:

• Brian described the Pekovich bench jig that he made for working with small parts
• Abe gave us a tour of his Pekovich hanging tool cabinet and also did a brief shop tour
• Verne gave us a complete tour of his shop
• Alan showed a sliding table that enables him to cut  small logs on his band saw and toured some of his shop and equipment
• Charlie showed us some carvings including a beautiful carved banana and some carved swans that he’s making as holiday gifts
• Gordon spoke about test pieces he was making for veneered drawer fronts
• John showed two pieces, a three legged stool and a saw horse. He also talked about the shop stool project which he’s facilitating
• Sri is building a large dresser with sliding dovetails. He had pictures of the jigs he built to cut them as well as his method for handling large pieces on his router table
• Tal completed his music stand, which he displayed and spoke about some of the techniques he used to build it.
• Several pictures from the evening are below. To see more member work from the evening, please use this link.

March 2020 

Sadly our March meeting was cancelled due to the Corona virus. Although we were looking forward to our guest speaker, Joel Moskowitz of Tools for Working Wood, the club made a decision which respected the health of our members and the community in which we meet.

March was also the annual woodworking show. NJWA had a booth where, over the 3 days of the event, 15 members supported our effort to promote the club and recruit new members. The show also conducted a Project Challenge, which provided an opportunity for craftspeople to display their work and for attendees to vote on their favorite piece. NJWA member Jay Siegelaub’s natural edge side table was the 2020 winner. Congratulations to Jay. If you’d like to see more of Jay’s work, use this link to check out his website. 

 

View 2019 Meeting Summaries

View 2018 Meeting Summaries

View 2017 Meeting Summaries

View 2016 Meeting Summaries

September 2022 

Our guest speaker for September was author, teacher and Fine Woodworking contributing editor Steve Latta. A professional furniture and cabinet maker for over 30 years, he has spent the last 20 years as a professor of cabinet making and wood technology at the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster Pa. Well know for his expertise on period furniture, Steve is an in-demand lecturer at places such as Winterthur, Colonial Williamsburg and The American Furniture Study Center at Yale University. His topic was flow as it applies to furniture making. Steve focused on the building of a small, one-drawer night stand. He began with lumber selection and progressed through dimensioning and joinery. He explained “which cut, in which order, and why”. The information packed into Steve’s presentation has the potential to improve the quality of our projects while reducing workshop frustration and mistakes.  

August 2022 

Our guest speaker for August was author, teacher and Fine Woodworking contributing editor Roland “Rollie” Johnson. A longtime professional woodworker in Sauk Rapids, MN, Rollie opened his first workshop in 1976. A self professed gear head, he’s FWW’s expert on hand and machine tool maintenance, authoring  several video series on the topic as well as providing numerous tool reviews. In addition, he’s taught finishing at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine and has written several books on woodworking. Rollie’s topic was coloring wood. He touched on products, types of stain, how different woods accept stain and numerous other topics. While many of us were familiar with Rollie from his work at the Woodworking Shows we weren’t prepared for the depth of knowledge that he shared with us during the evening. David Levenberg has gone through the the recording and summarized Rollie’s presentation. Here’s a link to that document.

July 2022 

Our July meeting took place at the Mr. Sawdust School of Professional Woodworking in Hackettstown NJ. Our host was Wally Kunkel the owner of the school. His father, Wallace Kunkel Sr. known as Mr. Sawdust, had a school in Chester NJ which is where Wally began his woodworking education eventually becoming a professional furniture maker. Following in his father’s footsteps, he now runs his own school offering a wide variety of courses. One of his specialties, which he demonstrated for us, is using the radial arm saw to cut complex joinery. In addition to a detailed tour of the school, Wally arranged for Frank Klauz to do a short presentation and Q&A on cutting dovetails by hand. Should you want more information on Wally and his school you can visit him at the Mr. Sawdust School’s website.

June 2022 

June’s guest speaker was Nick DeMars, the woodworking Product Specialist at Klingspor Abrasives who spoke about all things sandpaper and sanding. Nick covered hand and machine sanding, sanding techniques and answered questions such as what sandpaper characteristics are appropriate for wood removal vs. finish prep. As Klingspor’s router bit specialist he was also able to give us an overview router bits and their uses.

May 2022 

For May’s meeting we took a break from paid presenters and focused on the work of our members. Our first presenter was Tim who described his Morris Chair build. He presented on construction details as well as his personal design decisions that went into creating the piece. There were many interesting aspects to the build including his technique for getting quarter sawn faces on all of the legs. Thanks to Tim for an interesting presentation which included a short video for each step of the build. Gordon followed with a talk on a credenza that he built. The piece has 3 drawers with veneered fronts surrounded by cock beading. It also has a shelf below the drawers that’s suspended from four delecate legs. Gordon shared his approach to overcoming each of the challenges inherent in building this piece. Last was a short talk by David on an bandsaw technique for creating interesting curved designs. The technique that he described allows him to create artistic pieces composed of a variety of wood species and shapes. Thanks to our presenters for sharing some very interesting techniques and designs.

April 2022 

April’s guest presenter was Shannon Rogers, the host of Shannon’s Lumber Industry Update. Drawing on his day job as the Director of Marketing for one of the oldest lumber companies in the US, J. Gibson McIlvain, he offered a deep understanding and unique perspective on the industry. In addition, he runs his own online woodworking school devoted to hand tools called appropriately enough The Hand Tool School.  Shannon spoke on a variety of topics as varied as domestic and imported hardwoods, sheet goods, the economics of the lumber industry and the restoration of Notre Dame.

March 2022 

Andrew Hunter was our March of 2022 presenter. A frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking and a good friend to the club, Andrew is also a well respected expert on Japanese tools and techniques. His topic was accurate joinery layout, how to ensure that your joints are well fitting and tight. 

February 2022 

Our guest presenter for February was Bob Behnke of Franklin International, the makers of Titebond glues. Bob was our featured presenter in July of 2018. Member surveys have rated his presentation as among the best we’ve ever had, so we invited him to present again. 

January 2022 

January’s meeting was our kickoff meeting for 2022. We focused on club business including elections, a review of last year meetings and our plans for 2022. That was followed up by several member presentations. Charlie spoke about a pair of shore birds that he carved for a charity auction, Pat spoke on the crusher/destemmer that he made for his wine making hobby. We had some time left at the end and were able to have another member present an overview of thier workbench review. Thanks to Jim Mueller for taking us through the build and use of his bench

December 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog – Giant Cypress.

November 2021 

We had four members present their work this month. Freddie spoke about his experience building a canoe at the Adirondak Folk School. The school, which is located in Lake Luzerne NY is dedicated to teaching the arts, crafts, and cultural heritage of the Adirondack region. The build, which takes place over two weeks, is limited to four students. It took Freddie several years of trying to register for the class before he was finally able to secure a spot in a class. Next up was Steve talking about his shop built Microjig Ultimate Workbench. For his presentation, Steve played an entertaining YouTube video (accessible via this link), which he created to document the build process. Sri was up next speaking about the build of a round pedestal dining table. The table is made of Sapele, has a 42″ wide solid top and is stunning. Last up was Greg who spoken on the tools and techniques that he uses to flatten slabs. The slabs were cut on his sawmill and dried in the drying room on which he had presented on several months back. Thanks to the presenters for an educational and interesting evening.  

October 2021 

Our guest presenter for October was Ramon Valdez, a furniture maker known for integrating interesting and exquisite marquetry into his work. Ramon’s topic was the “double bevel” marquetry technique! This is a fantastic process for creating beautiful motifs that can be used to decorate a box, add visual interest to a piece of furniture or even as a stand alone picture. Among the items covered by Ramon were layout, building your marquetry in layers, application to a substrate, sawing technique, the principles of double bevel marquetry and tool set.  Thank you to Ramon for an interesting evening and for opening a new way to add interest and beauty to our work. Should you be interested in learning more about Ramon, he has a broad presence on social media. As a starting point, you can check out his website, www.ramonvaldezfinefurniture.com. Also, along with fellow woodworkers Philip Morley and Ben Brunick, he is the host of the  “Woodworkers Podcast”.

The club also held two additional in-person events during October. Early in the month, aboubt 10 member gathered in the parking lot to attend Gordon’s skill building session on the art of hammer veneering. His session included a discussion of the tool set, preping the material and the hammer vereering technique. Gordon provided some veneered samples and then demonstrated the process. Gordon’s demo also covered how to join smaller pieces of veneer so that a large substrate could be covered. There were plenty of material and supplies on hand so that each attendee was able to try their hand at hammer veneering a small board.

On October 30th we held and a branding / swap meet in the parking lot. The branding activity provided members who had made items for the Hermitage Museum with the opportunity to identify their work as being created by an NJWA Club Memeber. At the swap meet about a dozen or so members offered surplus tools, books and material for sale. 

September 2021 

September’s guest presenter was David Fisher whose topic was “Greenwood Carving, Following, Finding and Feeling Flow”.  A full time history teacher in the town in which he’s spent his whole life, Dave has become known internationally for his carving. His work, all of which is done by hand, includes bowls, spoons and vessels.  Many pieces are adorned with beautifully lettered phrases. 

Dave’s talk was a whirlwind tour of his technique, tools and philosophy. On tools, he shapes his work with a minimal tool set without using powered tools. Many of those tools have been passed down from previous generations and will be passed on in the future. On his philosophy, he sees the art that exists in the wood as opposed to forcing his art into the material. On technique, he uses time honored techniques of swinging and ax and pushing gouges and knives while in close contact with the material.

Dave rounded out the evening with an overview of his approach to the carved lettering that he uses to adorn his work. This was an interesting evening spent with a special craftsman. If you’d like to learn more about Dave and his work, you can visit: https://davidffisher.com.

August 2021 

At our August meeting we had three member presentations. Alan gave a detailed presention on a trompe l’oeil table that he built. Trompe l’oeil means fool the eye. The table has what looks like a folded piece of linen drapped over the top. However, what appears to be linen is in fact solid wood. Alan took us through the process of constructing the layers of a solid wood top. He followed that with a detailed description of how he carved a large piece of solid wood so that it appeared to be linen. He described the tools used (power and hand) as well as his carving technique.  He then went on to give a brief description of how he finished the piece. Kevin spoke about two Shaker candle stands that he built. He explained how varying the size and shape of the post and feet allowed hime to come up with two unique pieces. Scott presented on a split top Roubo workbench that he built using plans from the Woodwhisperer Guild. He covered the plans, material used, where he purchased it, construction steps and his experiences using the bench. Thanks to our three presenters for an interesting evening.  

July 2021 

Our guest speaker for July was woodworker and author Andy Rae.  Andy began his career working as a finisher for George Nakashima and working in Frank Klaus’ workshop. Subsequent to that he was a contributor to various woodworking publications, an  associate editor for American Woodworker magazine and the author of several books. Andy’s tool cabinet is the well known piece that graces the front cover of Jim Tolpin’s “The Toolbox Book”. Andy spoke about his journey as a woodworker and an author. He also shared some of the techniques he’s used for designing and building furniture.  He currently has his own workshop where he splits his time between taking on commissions and using woodworking to support recovering addicts. If you’d like to see more of his work, you can find him at Andy Rae Woodworking & Writing Studios on Facebook and @andyraewoodworkingstudio on Instagram.

June 2021 

The topic for June’s meeting was member workbenches. About 25 members posted pictures of their workbenches in a gallery on our website. Each member in attendance was given a few minutes to talk about their workbench. Several members did more in depth presentations. Our opening speaker was Dave Petersen who took us through the design and construction of his Roubo style workbench. There was quite a variety of workbenches build in different styles and using different construction techniques and material. The workbench gallery is still available using this link.

 This was the first regular meeting where members met in person since February of 2020. In order to accommodate as many attendees as possible we provided three options for attending. Members could meet indoors at our traditional location, they could attend via Zoom or they could opt for a middle ground where viewed the meeting via Zoom from the backyard at our location in Pompton Plains. 

May 2021 

Our presenter for May was master carver and teacher Mary May. Last year Mary had given us an overview of carving. This meeting was more of a hands on meeting (via Zoom) where Mary took us through the steps to carving two different versions of an Acanthus leaf. While carving each version, she described the tools and techniques that she was using. Although this was an opportunity to carve along with Mary, it would be quite a challenge to carve as quickly as she did. With this in mind, the session was recorded and sent out to members so that they could go through this at their own speed. 

She recently finished first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In addition to our regular meeting, the club held a skill session on May 15th. Three members presented on various sharpening topics. Bob demonstrated how to sharpen turning tools on a grinder, Gordon focused on sharpening chisels and plane irons on flat stones and Charlie taught the particulars of sharpening carving tools,

April 2021 

April’s guest presenter was Bob Van Dyke, the founder and director of the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. Bob’s topic was stock preparation, make it flat, straight and square. A Fine Woodworking contribution editor, Bob took us step by step through the process he uses to take lumber from the rough stage to being milled 4 square. Speaking from the CVSW workshop, his talk focused on the use of four machines to mill lumber, the  jointer, planer, bandsaw and table saw. Bob did cover spring joints, a technique for developing highly reliable edge joints. For that process he used a hand plane. Also included in his presentation was the topic of yield, which is the amount of milled stock that can be gotten from a rough board. Bob explained how to approximate the yield, why warp and twist in a board reduces yield and how to maximize the yield. Bob also highlighted some of the situations that would lead to less than optimal stock preparation including poor machine set up and errors in technique.  

March 2021 

March’s guest presenter was Joel Moskowitz, the owner of Tools for Working Wood. An avid collector of historical woodworking and craft texts, Joel is also the author of the popular woodworking blog “Joel’s Blog”. In addition he manufactures his own line of tools under the brands Gramercy Tools and BT&C (Brooklyn Tool and Craft). A passionate student of woodworking history, Joel’s spoke on how early woodworking texts have informed the design and development of modern tools in particular many of the tools designed and made by his company. Among the texts that he referred to during his talk was Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanic Exercises” pointing to some of the pictures in his copy of the 1683 edition, one of only a few hundred in print. Thanks to Joel for and interesting and education evening.

On Monday March 1st meeting at 7PM, we held an open discussion and presentation of our prospective projects for the Witness Tree project.  Members exchanged their ideas and were able to find out if there were any duplicate or similar items in the planning.  For members who have decided on a project, we will be able to present them to The Hermitage Staff and hear their reaction and comments.  Many members have posted their ideas to a photo album which can be viewed at the following link: witness tree project ideas.

February 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. His topic for the evening was an overview of spindle turning which is the type of turning that is most useful for furniture makers. Tom covered numerous topics including tools, sharpening, setting up the lathe, the types of cuts used in spindle turning and using templates. Tom also discussed the importance of a fair curve in order to give your furniture a professional and pleasing look. Thanks to Tom for a great introduction to woodturning for furniture makers. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure (the link for Tom’s May of 2020 video presentation is also still active).

January  2021 

Our kickoff meeting for 2021 began with a reap of our 2020 activities and elections for the board of directors. Following club business, we had three member presentations.

• Greg D. walked us through the design and construction of his home drying room. The room, which is attached to his shop, was built from the ground up and allows Greg to dry wood that he has milled himself
• Ben S. spoke about a branding iron that he recently purchased. Included in his discussion was the trial and error that he went through to develop a technique that would yield a clear image on his work. 
• Sri spoke on a Carolina Candle Stand which he just completed. Among the topics covered were creating the mortise and tenons for attaching the feet to the post and how to attach the top to account for wood movement. 

December 2020 

Our guest speaker for this month was Russell M, a technical specialist with JPW Industries, the makers of Jet and Powermatic tools. He covered a broad range of topic including: 

• Trends in woodworking machine technology
• The key features to look for when shopping for a woodworking machine 
• Maintenance concepts and practices for the types of machines that most of us are likely to own (i.e., bandsaw, planer, jointer, drill press, sanders, tablesaw, etc.)
• Key decision points, e.g. straight vs. segmented knives
• Some key usage points, common mistakes to avoid, safety and accuracy practices

Many thanks to Russell for an informative and interesting evening

November 2020 

For this month’s meeting, we had a virtual tour of the Stickley Museum in Fayetteville NY.  The museum which opened in 2007 explores over a century of furniture making excellence. It highlights the inspiration and craftsmanship that made Stickley America’s foremost fine furniture maker and the craftspeople whose commitment to quality led to Stickley’s reputation for manufacturing heirloom quality furniture. Many thanks to the museum’s head Amanda C., who gave a wonderful tour despite the fact that her only connection to her audience was via faces on an iPad. 

In addition to our regular monthly meeting, we held a swap meet in the early part of the month. Approximately 20 members (and a few non-members) set up tables to sell a variety of tools. Another 20 or so participated as buyers only. The event was held outdoors and masks were required. After being quarantined for a good part of the year, it was a good way to catch up with our fellow NJWA members.  

October 2020 

October’s guest speaker was Mary May, a master carver who works out of her workshop on John’s Island South Carolina. During her two hour presentation, Mary took us through an overview of the basics of carving. The topics included the various types of tools, the convention for identifying the various shapes and sizes and how to sharpen them; the types of wood that are appropriate for carving and some basic techniques. Mary is also a teacher who has taught at such places as the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana, Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School and the Connecticut Valley School. She recently finished her first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In early October we had a second event at John M’s saw mill where we began the process of milling the witness tree. Also, as some of John’s property was being sold off, members helped to clear lumber off that portion of his yard.  

September 2020 

Chuck Bender, a well known period furniture maker and the founder of the Acanthus Workshop, a woodworking school in Jim Thorpe Pa., was September’s presenter. His topic was modern methods for making federal style furniture. Chuck spoke about jigs and machine use among other things. A large part of the presentation was spent exploring the reasons that period furniture failed due to wood movement and the techniques that he uses to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the reproductions that he builds. Several examples from his portfolio are below. To learn more about Chuck’s  work and school, you can visit acanthus.com.

August 2020 

This month’s featured presenter was artist, sculptor and furniture maker Scott Grove. His topic was advanced veneering. You can use his link to Scott’s website to learn more about his work: scottgrove.com

July 2020 

July’s meeting featured 4 member presentations.

• Ben’s presentation covered the various construction elements and techniques involved in building an interesting workbench.
• Roy’s flag box – which described the build process including his approach to cutting the angled components for the triangular form
•  David’s row boat rocker – built for his grand daughter, there were a number of challenging angled components that needed to be cut.
•  Cliff’s segmented vase –  a short review of how he cut the angled components for the segments that were used to create the vase.

In addition to our regular July meeting, we’ll have an informal get together where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

June 2020 

Tis month’s guest presenter was Steve Latta. A teacher, writer, craftsman and contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, Steve’s main job is developing the furniture makers of tomorrow at the Thaddeus Steven’s College in Lancaster Pennsylvania. His topic for our meeting was creating and adding inlays to furniture. You can view some of his FWW articles at: https://www.finewoodworking.com/author/steve-latta

 In addition to our regular June meeting, we’ll have an informal get together on Monday June 1st where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

May 2020 

Our virtual presenter at May’s meeting was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. There were 45 members in attendance. Tom’s topic was the uses for and methods of creating mortise and tenon joints. Many thanks to Tom for an interesting and engaging night. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure.  

April 2020 

April’s online meeting was composed of a number of short member presentations. There were 22 members in attendance. Although that’s about half of our normal attendance and we were all remote, the discussion was very lively. The members who presented were:

• Brian described the Pekovich bench jig that he made for working with small parts
• Abe gave us a tour of his Pekovich hanging tool cabinet and also did a brief shop tour
• Verne gave us a complete tour of his shop
• Alan showed a sliding table that enables him to cut  small logs on his band saw and toured some of his shop and equipment
• Charlie showed us some carvings including a beautiful carved banana and some carved swans that he’s making as holiday gifts
• Gordon spoke about test pieces he was making for veneered drawer fronts
• John showed two pieces, a three legged stool and a saw horse. He also talked about the shop stool project which he’s facilitating
• Sri is building a large dresser with sliding dovetails. He had pictures of the jigs he built to cut them as well as his method for handling large pieces on his router table
• Tal completed his music stand, which he displayed and spoke about some of the techniques he used to build it.
• Several pictures from the evening are below. To see more member work from the evening, please use this link.

March 2020 

Sadly our March meeting was cancelled due to the Corona virus. Although we were looking forward to our guest speaker, Joel Moskowitz of Tools for Working Wood, the club made a decision which respected the health of our members and the community in which we meet.

March was also the annual woodworking show. NJWA had a booth where, over the 3 days of the event, 15 members supported our effort to promote the club and recruit new members. The show also conducted a Project Challenge, which provided an opportunity for craftspeople to display their work and for attendees to vote on their favorite piece. NJWA member Jay Siegelaub’s natural edge side table was the 2020 winner. Congratulations to Jay. If you’d like to see more of Jay’s work, use this link to check out his website. 

 

View 2019 Meeting Summaries

View 2018 Meeting Summaries

View 2017 Meeting Summaries

View 2016 Meeting Summaries

January 2022 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog

December 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog – Giant Cypress.

November 2021 

We had four members present their work this month. Freddie spoke about his experience building a canoe at the Adirondak Folk School. The school, which is located in Lake Luzerne NY is dedicated to teaching the arts, crafts, and cultural heritage of the Adirondack region. The build, which takes place over two weeks, is limited to four students. It took Freddie several years of trying to register for the class before he was finally able to secure a spot in a class. Next up was Steve talking about his shop built Microjig Ultimate Workbench. For his presentation, Steve played an entertaining YouTube video (accessible via this link), which he created to document the build process. Sri was up next speaking about the build of a round pedestal dining table. The table is made of Sapele, has a 42″ wide solid top and is stunning. Last up was Greg who spoken on the tools and techniques that he uses to flatten slabs. The slabs were cut on his sawmill and dried in the drying room on which he had presented on several months back. Thanks to the presenters for an educational and interesting evening.  

October 2021 

Our guest presenter for October was Ramon Valdez, a furniture maker known for integrating interesting and exquisite marquetry into his work. Ramon’s topic was the “double bevel” marquetry technique! This is a fantastic process for creating beautiful motifs that can be used to decorate a box, add visual interest to a piece of furniture or even as a stand alone picture. Among the items covered by Ramon were layout, building your marquetry in layers, application to a substrate, sawing technique, the principles of double bevel marquetry and tool set.  Thank you to Ramon for an interesting evening and for opening a new way to add interest and beauty to our work. Should you be interested in learning more about Ramon, he has a broad presence on social media. As a starting point, you can check out his website, www.ramonvaldezfinefurniture.com. Also, along with fellow woodworkers Philip Morley and Ben Brunick, he is the host of the  “Woodworkers Podcast”.

The club also held two additional in-person events during October. Early in the month, aboubt 10 member gathered in the parking lot to attend Gordon’s skill building session on the art of hammer veneering. His session included a discussion of the tool set, preping the material and the hammer vereering technique. Gordon provided some veneered samples and then demonstrated the process. Gordon’s demo also covered how to join smaller pieces of veneer so that a large substrate could be covered. There were plenty of material and supplies on hand so that each attendee was able to try their hand at hammer veneering a small board.

On October 30th we held and a branding / swap meet in the parking lot. The branding activity provided members who had made items for the Hermitage Museum with the opportunity to identify their work as being created by an NJWA Club Memeber. At the swap meet about a dozen or so members offered surplus tools, books and material for sale. 

September 2021 

September’s guest presenter was David Fisher whose topic was “Greenwood Carving, Following, Finding and Feeling Flow”.  A full time history teacher in the town in which he’s spent his whole life, Dave has become known internationally for his carving. His work, all of which is done by hand, includes bowls, spoons and vessels.  Many pieces are adorned with beautifully lettered phrases. 

Dave’s talk was a whirlwind tour of his technique, tools and philosophy. On tools, he shapes his work with a minimal tool set without using powered tools. Many of those tools have been passed down from previous generations and will be passed on in the future. On his philosophy, he sees the art that exists in the wood as opposed to forcing his art into the material. On technique, he uses time honored techniques of swinging and ax and pushing gouges and knives while in close contact with the material.

Dave rounded out the evening with an overview of his approach to the carved lettering that he uses to adorn his work. This was an interesting evening spent with a special craftsman. If you’d like to learn more about Dave and his work, you can visit: https://davidffisher.com.

August 2021 

At our August meeting we had three member presentations. Alan gave a detailed presention on a trompe l’oeil table that he built. Trompe l’oeil means fool the eye. The table has what looks like a folded piece of linen drapped over the top. However, what appears to be linen is in fact solid wood. Alan took us through the process of constructing the layers of a solid wood top. He followed that with a detailed description of how he carved a large piece of solid wood so that it appeared to be linen. He described the tools used (power and hand) as well as his carving technique.  He then went on to give a brief description of how he finished the piece. Kevin spoke about two Shaker candle stands that he built. He explained how varying the size and shape of the post and feet allowed hime to come up with two unique pieces. Scott presented on a split top Roubo workbench that he built using plans from the Woodwhisperer Guild. He covered the plans, material used, where he purchased it, construction steps and his experiences using the bench. Thanks to our three presenters for an interesting evening.  

July 2021 

Our guest speaker for July was woodworker and author Andy Rae.  Andy began his career working as a finisher for George Nakashima and working in Frank Klaus’ workshop. Subsequent to that he was a contributor to various woodworking publications, an  associate editor for American Woodworker magazine and the author of several books. Andy’s tool cabinet is the well known piece that graces the front cover of Jim Tolpin’s “The Toolbox Book”. Andy spoke about his journey as a woodworker and an author. He also shared some of the techniques he’s used for designing and building furniture.  He currently has his own workshop where he splits his time between taking on commissions and using woodworking to support recovering addicts. If you’d like to see more of his work, you can find him at Andy Rae Woodworking & Writing Studios on Facebook and @andyraewoodworkingstudio on Instagram.

June 2021 

The topic for June’s meeting was member workbenches. About 25 members posted pictures of their workbenches in a gallery on our website. Each member in attendance was given a few minutes to talk about their workbench. Several members did more in depth presentations. Our opening speaker was Dave Petersen who took us through the design and construction of his Roubo style workbench. There was quite a variety of workbenches build in different styles and using different construction techniques and material. The workbench gallery is still available using this link.

 This was the first regular meeting where members met in person since February of 2020. In order to accommodate as many attendees as possible we provided three options for attending. Members could meet indoors at our traditional location, they could attend via Zoom or they could opt for a middle ground where viewed the meeting via Zoom from the backyard at our location in Pompton Plains. 

May 2021 

Our presenter for May was master carver and teacher Mary May. Last year Mary had given us an overview of carving. This meeting was more of a hands on meeting (via Zoom) where Mary took us through the steps to carving two different versions of an Acanthus leaf. While carving each version, she described the tools and techniques that she was using. Although this was an opportunity to carve along with Mary, it would be quite a challenge to carve as quickly as she did. With this in mind, the session was recorded and sent out to members so that they could go through this at their own speed. 

She recently finished first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In addition to our regular meeting, the club held a skill session on May 15th. Three members presented on various sharpening topics. Bob demonstrated how to sharpen turning tools on a grinder, Gordon focused on sharpening chisels and plane irons on flat stones and Charlie taught the particulars of sharpening carving tools,

April 2021 

April’s guest presenter was Bob Van Dyke, the founder and director of the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. Bob’s topic was stock preparation, make it flat, straight and square. A Fine Woodworking contribution editor, Bob took us step by step through the process he uses to take lumber from the rough stage to being milled 4 square. Speaking from the CVSW workshop, his talk focused on the use of four machines to mill lumber, the  jointer, planer, bandsaw and table saw. Bob did cover spring joints, a technique for developing highly reliable edge joints. For that process he used a hand plane. Also included in his presentation was the topic of yield, which is the amount of milled stock that can be gotten from a rough board. Bob explained how to approximate the yield, why warp and twist in a board reduces yield and how to maximize the yield. Bob also highlighted some of the situations that would lead to less than optimal stock preparation including poor machine set up and errors in technique.  

March 2021 

March’s guest presenter was Joel Moskowitz, the owner of Tools for Working Wood. An avid collector of historical woodworking and craft texts, Joel is also the author of the popular woodworking blog “Joel’s Blog”. In addition he manufactures his own line of tools under the brands Gramercy Tools and BT&C (Brooklyn Tool and Craft). A passionate student of woodworking history, Joel’s spoke on how early woodworking texts have informed the design and development of modern tools in particular many of the tools designed and made by his company. Among the texts that he referred to during his talk was Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanic Exercises” pointing to some of the pictures in his copy of the 1683 edition, one of only a few hundred in print. Thanks to Joel for and interesting and education evening.

On Monday March 1st meeting at 7PM, we held an open discussion and presentation of our prospective projects for the Witness Tree project.  Members exchanged their ideas and were able to find out if there were any duplicate or similar items in the planning.  For members who have decided on a project, we will be able to present them to The Hermitage Staff and hear their reaction and comments.  Many members have posted their ideas to a photo album which can be viewed at the following link: witness tree project ideas.

February 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. His topic for the evening was an overview of spindle turning which is the type of turning that is most useful for furniture makers. Tom covered numerous topics including tools, sharpening, setting up the lathe, the types of cuts used in spindle turning and using templates. Tom also discussed the importance of a fair curve in order to give your furniture a professional and pleasing look. Thanks to Tom for a great introduction to woodturning for furniture makers. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure (the link for Tom’s May of 2020 video presentation is also still active).

January  2021 

Our kickoff meeting for 2021 began with a reap of our 2020 activities and elections for the board of directors. Following club business, we had three member presentations.

• Greg D. walked us through the design and construction of his home drying room. The room, which is attached to his shop, was built from the ground up and allows Greg to dry wood that he has milled himself
• Ben S. spoke about a branding iron that he recently purchased. Included in his discussion was the trial and error that he went through to develop a technique that would yield a clear image on his work. 
• Sri spoke on a Carolina Candle Stand which he just completed. Among the topics covered were creating the mortise and tenons for attaching the feet to the post and how to attach the top to account for wood movement. 

December 2020 

Our guest speaker for this month was Russell M, a technical specialist with JPW Industries, the makers of Jet and Powermatic tools. He covered a broad range of topic including: 

• Trends in woodworking machine technology
• The key features to look for when shopping for a woodworking machine 
• Maintenance concepts and practices for the types of machines that most of us are likely to own (i.e., bandsaw, planer, jointer, drill press, sanders, tablesaw, etc.)
• Key decision points, e.g. straight vs. segmented knives
• Some key usage points, common mistakes to avoid, safety and accuracy practices

Many thanks to Russell for an informative and interesting evening

November 2020 

For this month’s meeting, we had a virtual tour of the Stickley Museum in Fayetteville NY.  The museum which opened in 2007 explores over a century of furniture making excellence. It highlights the inspiration and craftsmanship that made Stickley America’s foremost fine furniture maker and the craftspeople whose commitment to quality led to Stickley’s reputation for manufacturing heirloom quality furniture. Many thanks to the museum’s head Amanda C., who gave a wonderful tour despite the fact that her only connection to her audience was via faces on an iPad. 

In addition to our regular monthly meeting, we held a swap meet in the early part of the month. Approximately 20 members (and a few non-members) set up tables to sell a variety of tools. Another 20 or so participated as buyers only. The event was held outdoors and masks were required. After being quarantined for a good part of the year, it was a good way to catch up with our fellow NJWA members.  

October 2020 

October’s guest speaker was Mary May, a master carver who works out of her workshop on John’s Island South Carolina. During her two hour presentation, Mary took us through an overview of the basics of carving. The topics included the various types of tools, the convention for identifying the various shapes and sizes and how to sharpen them; the types of wood that are appropriate for carving and some basic techniques. Mary is also a teacher who has taught at such places as the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana, Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School and the Connecticut Valley School. She recently finished her first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In early October we had a second event at John M’s saw mill where we began the process of milling the witness tree. Also, as some of John’s property was being sold off, members helped to clear lumber off that portion of his yard.  

September 2020 

Chuck Bender, a well known period furniture maker and the founder of the Acanthus Workshop, a woodworking school in Jim Thorpe Pa., was September’s presenter. His topic was modern methods for making federal style furniture. Chuck spoke about jigs and machine use among other things. A large part of the presentation was spent exploring the reasons that period furniture failed due to wood movement and the techniques that he uses to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the reproductions that he builds. Several examples from his portfolio are below. To learn more about Chuck’s  work and school, you can visit acanthus.com.

August 2020 

This month’s featured presenter was artist, sculptor and furniture maker Scott Grove. His topic was advanced veneering. You can use his link to Scott’s website to learn more about his work: scottgrove.com

July 2020 

July’s meeting featured 4 member presentations.

• Ben’s presentation covered the various construction elements and techniques involved in building an interesting workbench.
• Roy’s flag box – which described the build process including his approach to cutting the angled components for the triangular form
•  David’s row boat rocker – built for his grand daughter, there were a number of challenging angled components that needed to be cut.
•  Cliff’s segmented vase –  a short review of how he cut the angled components for the segments that were used to create the vase.

In addition to our regular July meeting, we’ll have an informal get together where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

June 2020 

Tis month’s guest presenter was Steve Latta. A teacher, writer, craftsman and contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, Steve’s main job is developing the furniture makers of tomorrow at the Thaddeus Steven’s College in Lancaster Pennsylvania. His topic for our meeting was creating and adding inlays to furniture. You can view some of his FWW articles at: https://www.finewoodworking.com/author/steve-latta

 In addition to our regular June meeting, we’ll have an informal get together on Monday June 1st where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

May 2020 

Our virtual presenter at May’s meeting was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. There were 45 members in attendance. Tom’s topic was the uses for and methods of creating mortise and tenon joints. Many thanks to Tom for an interesting and engaging night. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure.  

April 2020 

April’s online meeting was composed of a number of short member presentations. There were 22 members in attendance. Although that’s about half of our normal attendance and we were all remote, the discussion was very lively. The members who presented were:

• Brian described the Pekovich bench jig that he made for working with small parts
• Abe gave us a tour of his Pekovich hanging tool cabinet and also did a brief shop tour
• Verne gave us a complete tour of his shop
• Alan showed a sliding table that enables him to cut  small logs on his band saw and toured some of his shop and equipment
• Charlie showed us some carvings including a beautiful carved banana and some carved swans that he’s making as holiday gifts
• Gordon spoke about test pieces he was making for veneered drawer fronts
• John showed two pieces, a three legged stool and a saw horse. He also talked about the shop stool project which he’s facilitating
• Sri is building a large dresser with sliding dovetails. He had pictures of the jigs he built to cut them as well as his method for handling large pieces on his router table
• Tal completed his music stand, which he displayed and spoke about some of the techniques he used to build it.
• Several pictures from the evening are below. To see more member work from the evening, please use this link.

March 2020 

Sadly our March meeting was cancelled due to the Corona virus. Although we were looking forward to our guest speaker, Joel Moskowitz of Tools for Working Wood, the club made a decision which respected the health of our members and the community in which we meet.

March was also the annual woodworking show. NJWA had a booth where, over the 3 days of the event, 15 members supported our effort to promote the club and recruit new members. The show also conducted a Project Challenge, which provided an opportunity for craftspeople to display their work and for attendees to vote on their favorite piece. NJWA member Jay Siegelaub’s natural edge side table was the 2020 winner. Congratulations to Jay. If you’d like to see more of Jay’s work, use this link to check out his website. 

 

View 2019 Meeting Summaries

View 2018 Meeting Summaries

View 2017 Meeting Summaries

View 2016 Meeting Summaries

September 2022 

Our guest speaker for September was author, teacher and Fine Woodworking contributing editor Steve Latta. A professional furniture and cabinet maker for over 30 years, he has spent the last 20 years as a professor of cabinet making and wood technology at the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster Pa. Well know for his expertise on period furniture, Steve is an in-demand lecturer at places such as Winterthur, Colonial Williamsburg and The American Furniture Study Center at Yale University. His topic was flow as it applies to furniture making. Steve focused on the building of a small, one-drawer night stand. He began with lumber selection and progressed through dimensioning and joinery. He explained “which cut, in which order, and why”. The information packed into Steve’s presentation has the potential to improve the quality of our projects while reducing workshop frustration and mistakes.  

August 2022 

Our guest speaker for August was author, teacher and Fine Woodworking contributing editor Roland “Rollie” Johnson. A longtime professional woodworker in Sauk Rapids, MN, Rollie opened his first workshop in 1976. A self professed gear head, he’s FWW’s expert on hand and machine tool maintenance, authoring  several video series on the topic as well as providing numerous tool reviews. In addition, he’s taught finishing at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine and has written several books on woodworking. Rollie’s topic was coloring wood. He touched on products, types of stain, how different woods accept stain and numerous other topics. While many of us were familiar with Rollie from his work at the Woodworking Shows we weren’t prepared for the depth of knowledge that he shared with us during the evening. David Levenberg has gone through the the recording and summarized Rollie’s presentation. Here’s a link to that document.

July 2022 

Our July meeting took place at the Mr. Sawdust School of Professional Woodworking in Hackettstown NJ. Our host was Wally Kunkel the owner of the school. His father, Wallace Kunkel Sr. known as Mr. Sawdust, had a school in Chester NJ which is where Wally began his woodworking education eventually becoming a professional furniture maker. Following in his father’s footsteps, he now runs his own school offering a wide variety of courses. One of his specialties, which he demonstrated for us, is using the radial arm saw to cut complex joinery. In addition to a detailed tour of the school, Wally arranged for Frank Klauz to do a short presentation and Q&A on cutting dovetails by hand. Should you want more information on Wally and his school you can visit him at the Mr. Sawdust School’s website.

June 2022 

June’s guest speaker was Nick DeMars, the woodworking Product Specialist at Klingspor Abrasives who spoke about all things sandpaper and sanding. Nick covered hand and machine sanding, sanding techniques and answered questions such as what sandpaper characteristics are appropriate for wood removal vs. finish prep. As Klingspor’s router bit specialist he was also able to give us an overview router bits and their uses.

May 2022 

For May’s meeting we took a break from paid presenters and focused on the work of our members. Our first presenter was Tim who described his Morris Chair build. He presented on construction details as well as his personal design decisions that went into creating the piece. There were many interesting aspects to the build including his technique for getting quarter sawn faces on all of the legs. Thanks to Tim for an interesting presentation which included a short video for each step of the build. Gordon followed with a talk on a credenza that he built. The piece has 3 drawers with veneered fronts surrounded by cock beading. It also has a shelf below the drawers that’s suspended from four delecate legs. Gordon shared his approach to overcoming each of the challenges inherent in building this piece. Last was a short talk by David on an bandsaw technique for creating interesting curved designs. The technique that he described allows him to create artistic pieces composed of a variety of wood species and shapes. Thanks to our presenters for sharing some very interesting techniques and designs.

April 2022 

April’s guest presenter was Shannon Rogers, the host of Shannon’s Lumber Industry Update. Drawing on his day job as the Director of Marketing for one of the oldest lumber companies in the US, J. Gibson McIlvain, he offered a deep understanding and unique perspective on the industry. In addition, he runs his own online woodworking school devoted to hand tools called appropriately enough The Hand Tool School.  Shannon spoke on a variety of topics as varied as domestic and imported hardwoods, sheet goods, the economics of the lumber industry and the restoration of Notre Dame.

March 2022 

Andrew Hunter was our March of 2022 presenter. A frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking and a good friend to the club, Andrew is also a well respected expert on Japanese tools and techniques. His topic was accurate joinery layout, how to ensure that your joints are well fitting and tight. 

February 2022 

Our guest presenter for February was Bob Behnke of Franklin International, the makers of Titebond glues. Bob was our featured presenter in July of 2018. Member surveys have rated his presentation as among the best we’ve ever had, so we invited him to present again. 

January 2022 

January’s meeting was our kickoff meeting for 2022. We focused on club business including elections, a review of last year meetings and our plans for 2022. That was followed up by several member presentations. Charlie spoke about a pair of shore birds that he carved for a charity auction, Pat spoke on the crusher/destemmer that he made for his wine making hobby. We had some time left at the end and were able to have another member present an overview of thier workbench review. Thanks to Jim Mueller for taking us through the build and use of his bench

December 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog – Giant Cypress.

November 2021 

We had four members present their work this month. Freddie spoke about his experience building a canoe at the Adirondak Folk School. The school, which is located in Lake Luzerne NY is dedicated to teaching the arts, crafts, and cultural heritage of the Adirondack region. The build, which takes place over two weeks, is limited to four students. It took Freddie several years of trying to register for the class before he was finally able to secure a spot in a class. Next up was Steve talking about his shop built Microjig Ultimate Workbench. For his presentation, Steve played an entertaining YouTube video (accessible via this link), which he created to document the build process. Sri was up next speaking about the build of a round pedestal dining table. The table is made of Sapele, has a 42″ wide solid top and is stunning. Last up was Greg who spoken on the tools and techniques that he uses to flatten slabs. The slabs were cut on his sawmill and dried in the drying room on which he had presented on several months back. Thanks to the presenters for an educational and interesting evening.  

October 2021 

Our guest presenter for October was Ramon Valdez, a furniture maker known for integrating interesting and exquisite marquetry into his work. Ramon’s topic was the “double bevel” marquetry technique! This is a fantastic process for creating beautiful motifs that can be used to decorate a box, add visual interest to a piece of furniture or even as a stand alone picture. Among the items covered by Ramon were layout, building your marquetry in layers, application to a substrate, sawing technique, the principles of double bevel marquetry and tool set.  Thank you to Ramon for an interesting evening and for opening a new way to add interest and beauty to our work. Should you be interested in learning more about Ramon, he has a broad presence on social media. As a starting point, you can check out his website, www.ramonvaldezfinefurniture.com. Also, along with fellow woodworkers Philip Morley and Ben Brunick, he is the host of the  “Woodworkers Podcast”.

The club also held two additional in-person events during October. Early in the month, aboubt 10 member gathered in the parking lot to attend Gordon’s skill building session on the art of hammer veneering. His session included a discussion of the tool set, preping the material and the hammer vereering technique. Gordon provided some veneered samples and then demonstrated the process. Gordon’s demo also covered how to join smaller pieces of veneer so that a large substrate could be covered. There were plenty of material and supplies on hand so that each attendee was able to try their hand at hammer veneering a small board.

On October 30th we held and a branding / swap meet in the parking lot. The branding activity provided members who had made items for the Hermitage Museum with the opportunity to identify their work as being created by an NJWA Club Memeber. At the swap meet about a dozen or so members offered surplus tools, books and material for sale. 

September 2021 

September’s guest presenter was David Fisher whose topic was “Greenwood Carving, Following, Finding and Feeling Flow”.  A full time history teacher in the town in which he’s spent his whole life, Dave has become known internationally for his carving. His work, all of which is done by hand, includes bowls, spoons and vessels.  Many pieces are adorned with beautifully lettered phrases. 

Dave’s talk was a whirlwind tour of his technique, tools and philosophy. On tools, he shapes his work with a minimal tool set without using powered tools. Many of those tools have been passed down from previous generations and will be passed on in the future. On his philosophy, he sees the art that exists in the wood as opposed to forcing his art into the material. On technique, he uses time honored techniques of swinging and ax and pushing gouges and knives while in close contact with the material.

Dave rounded out the evening with an overview of his approach to the carved lettering that he uses to adorn his work. This was an interesting evening spent with a special craftsman. If you’d like to learn more about Dave and his work, you can visit: https://davidffisher.com.

August 2021 

At our August meeting we had three member presentations. Alan gave a detailed presention on a trompe l’oeil table that he built. Trompe l’oeil means fool the eye. The table has what looks like a folded piece of linen drapped over the top. However, what appears to be linen is in fact solid wood. Alan took us through the process of constructing the layers of a solid wood top. He followed that with a detailed description of how he carved a large piece of solid wood so that it appeared to be linen. He described the tools used (power and hand) as well as his carving technique.  He then went on to give a brief description of how he finished the piece. Kevin spoke about two Shaker candle stands that he built. He explained how varying the size and shape of the post and feet allowed hime to come up with two unique pieces. Scott presented on a split top Roubo workbench that he built using plans from the Woodwhisperer Guild. He covered the plans, material used, where he purchased it, construction steps and his experiences using the bench. Thanks to our three presenters for an interesting evening.  

July 2021 

Our guest speaker for July was woodworker and author Andy Rae.  Andy began his career working as a finisher for George Nakashima and working in Frank Klaus’ workshop. Subsequent to that he was a contributor to various woodworking publications, an  associate editor for American Woodworker magazine and the author of several books. Andy’s tool cabinet is the well known piece that graces the front cover of Jim Tolpin’s “The Toolbox Book”. Andy spoke about his journey as a woodworker and an author. He also shared some of the techniques he’s used for designing and building furniture.  He currently has his own workshop where he splits his time between taking on commissions and using woodworking to support recovering addicts. If you’d like to see more of his work, you can find him at Andy Rae Woodworking & Writing Studios on Facebook and @andyraewoodworkingstudio on Instagram.

June 2021 

The topic for June’s meeting was member workbenches. About 25 members posted pictures of their workbenches in a gallery on our website. Each member in attendance was given a few minutes to talk about their workbench. Several members did more in depth presentations. Our opening speaker was Dave Petersen who took us through the design and construction of his Roubo style workbench. There was quite a variety of workbenches build in different styles and using different construction techniques and material. The workbench gallery is still available using this link.

 This was the first regular meeting where members met in person since February of 2020. In order to accommodate as many attendees as possible we provided three options for attending. Members could meet indoors at our traditional location, they could attend via Zoom or they could opt for a middle ground where viewed the meeting via Zoom from the backyard at our location in Pompton Plains. 

May 2021 

Our presenter for May was master carver and teacher Mary May. Last year Mary had given us an overview of carving. This meeting was more of a hands on meeting (via Zoom) where Mary took us through the steps to carving two different versions of an Acanthus leaf. While carving each version, she described the tools and techniques that she was using. Although this was an opportunity to carve along with Mary, it would be quite a challenge to carve as quickly as she did. With this in mind, the session was recorded and sent out to members so that they could go through this at their own speed. 

She recently finished first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In addition to our regular meeting, the club held a skill session on May 15th. Three members presented on various sharpening topics. Bob demonstrated how to sharpen turning tools on a grinder, Gordon focused on sharpening chisels and plane irons on flat stones and Charlie taught the particulars of sharpening carving tools,

April 2021 

April’s guest presenter was Bob Van Dyke, the founder and director of the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. Bob’s topic was stock preparation, make it flat, straight and square. A Fine Woodworking contribution editor, Bob took us step by step through the process he uses to take lumber from the rough stage to being milled 4 square. Speaking from the CVSW workshop, his talk focused on the use of four machines to mill lumber, the  jointer, planer, bandsaw and table saw. Bob did cover spring joints, a technique for developing highly reliable edge joints. For that process he used a hand plane. Also included in his presentation was the topic of yield, which is the amount of milled stock that can be gotten from a rough board. Bob explained how to approximate the yield, why warp and twist in a board reduces yield and how to maximize the yield. Bob also highlighted some of the situations that would lead to less than optimal stock preparation including poor machine set up and errors in technique.  

March 2021 

March’s guest presenter was Joel Moskowitz, the owner of Tools for Working Wood. An avid collector of historical woodworking and craft texts, Joel is also the author of the popular woodworking blog “Joel’s Blog”. In addition he manufactures his own line of tools under the brands Gramercy Tools and BT&C (Brooklyn Tool and Craft). A passionate student of woodworking history, Joel’s spoke on how early woodworking texts have informed the design and development of modern tools in particular many of the tools designed and made by his company. Among the texts that he referred to during his talk was Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanic Exercises” pointing to some of the pictures in his copy of the 1683 edition, one of only a few hundred in print. Thanks to Joel for and interesting and education evening.

On Monday March 1st meeting at 7PM, we held an open discussion and presentation of our prospective projects for the Witness Tree project.  Members exchanged their ideas and were able to find out if there were any duplicate or similar items in the planning.  For members who have decided on a project, we will be able to present them to The Hermitage Staff and hear their reaction and comments.  Many members have posted their ideas to a photo album which can be viewed at the following link: witness tree project ideas.

February 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. His topic for the evening was an overview of spindle turning which is the type of turning that is most useful for furniture makers. Tom covered numerous topics including tools, sharpening, setting up the lathe, the types of cuts used in spindle turning and using templates. Tom also discussed the importance of a fair curve in order to give your furniture a professional and pleasing look. Thanks to Tom for a great introduction to woodturning for furniture makers. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure (the link for Tom’s May of 2020 video presentation is also still active).

January  2021 

Our kickoff meeting for 2021 began with a reap of our 2020 activities and elections for the board of directors. Following club business, we had three member presentations.

• Greg D. walked us through the design and construction of his home drying room. The room, which is attached to his shop, was built from the ground up and allows Greg to dry wood that he has milled himself
• Ben S. spoke about a branding iron that he recently purchased. Included in his discussion was the trial and error that he went through to develop a technique that would yield a clear image on his work. 
• Sri spoke on a Carolina Candle Stand which he just completed. Among the topics covered were creating the mortise and tenons for attaching the feet to the post and how to attach the top to account for wood movement. 

December 2020 

Our guest speaker for this month was Russell M, a technical specialist with JPW Industries, the makers of Jet and Powermatic tools. He covered a broad range of topic including: 

• Trends in woodworking machine technology
• The key features to look for when shopping for a woodworking machine 
• Maintenance concepts and practices for the types of machines that most of us are likely to own (i.e., bandsaw, planer, jointer, drill press, sanders, tablesaw, etc.)
• Key decision points, e.g. straight vs. segmented knives
• Some key usage points, common mistakes to avoid, safety and accuracy practices

Many thanks to Russell for an informative and interesting evening

November 2020 

For this month’s meeting, we had a virtual tour of the Stickley Museum in Fayetteville NY.  The museum which opened in 2007 explores over a century of furniture making excellence. It highlights the inspiration and craftsmanship that made Stickley America’s foremost fine furniture maker and the craftspeople whose commitment to quality led to Stickley’s reputation for manufacturing heirloom quality furniture. Many thanks to the museum’s head Amanda C., who gave a wonderful tour despite the fact that her only connection to her audience was via faces on an iPad. 

In addition to our regular monthly meeting, we held a swap meet in the early part of the month. Approximately 20 members (and a few non-members) set up tables to sell a variety of tools. Another 20 or so participated as buyers only. The event was held outdoors and masks were required. After being quarantined for a good part of the year, it was a good way to catch up with our fellow NJWA members.  

October 2020 

October’s guest speaker was Mary May, a master carver who works out of her workshop on John’s Island South Carolina. During her two hour presentation, Mary took us through an overview of the basics of carving. The topics included the various types of tools, the convention for identifying the various shapes and sizes and how to sharpen them; the types of wood that are appropriate for carving and some basic techniques. Mary is also a teacher who has taught at such places as the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana, Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School and the Connecticut Valley School. She recently finished her first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In early October we had a second event at John M’s saw mill where we began the process of milling the witness tree. Also, as some of John’s property was being sold off, members helped to clear lumber off that portion of his yard.  

September 2020 

Chuck Bender, a well known period furniture maker and the founder of the Acanthus Workshop, a woodworking school in Jim Thorpe Pa., was September’s presenter. His topic was modern methods for making federal style furniture. Chuck spoke about jigs and machine use among other things. A large part of the presentation was spent exploring the reasons that period furniture failed due to wood movement and the techniques that he uses to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the reproductions that he builds. Several examples from his portfolio are below. To learn more about Chuck’s  work and school, you can visit acanthus.com.

August 2020 

This month’s featured presenter was artist, sculptor and furniture maker Scott Grove. His topic was advanced veneering. You can use his link to Scott’s website to learn more about his work: scottgrove.com

July 2020 

July’s meeting featured 4 member presentations.

• Ben’s presentation covered the various construction elements and techniques involved in building an interesting workbench.
• Roy’s flag box – which described the build process including his approach to cutting the angled components for the triangular form
•  David’s row boat rocker – built for his grand daughter, there were a number of challenging angled components that needed to be cut.
•  Cliff’s segmented vase –  a short review of how he cut the angled components for the segments that were used to create the vase.

In addition to our regular July meeting, we’ll have an informal get together where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

June 2020 

Tis month’s guest presenter was Steve Latta. A teacher, writer, craftsman and contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, Steve’s main job is developing the furniture makers of tomorrow at the Thaddeus Steven’s College in Lancaster Pennsylvania. His topic for our meeting was creating and adding inlays to furniture. You can view some of his FWW articles at: https://www.finewoodworking.com/author/steve-latta

 In addition to our regular June meeting, we’ll have an informal get together on Monday June 1st where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

May 2020 

Our virtual presenter at May’s meeting was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. There were 45 members in attendance. Tom’s topic was the uses for and methods of creating mortise and tenon joints. Many thanks to Tom for an interesting and engaging night. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure.  

April 2020 

April’s online meeting was composed of a number of short member presentations. There were 22 members in attendance. Although that’s about half of our normal attendance and we were all remote, the discussion was very lively. The members who presented were:

• Brian described the Pekovich bench jig that he made for working with small parts
• Abe gave us a tour of his Pekovich hanging tool cabinet and also did a brief shop tour
• Verne gave us a complete tour of his shop
• Alan showed a sliding table that enables him to cut  small logs on his band saw and toured some of his shop and equipment
• Charlie showed us some carvings including a beautiful carved banana and some carved swans that he’s making as holiday gifts
• Gordon spoke about test pieces he was making for veneered drawer fronts
• John showed two pieces, a three legged stool and a saw horse. He also talked about the shop stool project which he’s facilitating
• Sri is building a large dresser with sliding dovetails. He had pictures of the jigs he built to cut them as well as his method for handling large pieces on his router table
• Tal completed his music stand, which he displayed and spoke about some of the techniques he used to build it.
• Several pictures from the evening are below. To see more member work from the evening, please use this link.

March 2020 

Sadly our March meeting was cancelled due to the Corona virus. Although we were looking forward to our guest speaker, Joel Moskowitz of Tools for Working Wood, the club made a decision which respected the health of our members and the community in which we meet.

March was also the annual woodworking show. NJWA had a booth where, over the 3 days of the event, 15 members supported our effort to promote the club and recruit new members. The show also conducted a Project Challenge, which provided an opportunity for craftspeople to display their work and for attendees to vote on their favorite piece. NJWA member Jay Siegelaub’s natural edge side table was the 2020 winner. Congratulations to Jay. If you’d like to see more of Jay’s work, use this link to check out his website. 

 

View 2019 Meeting Summaries

View 2018 Meeting Summaries

View 2017 Meeting Summaries

View 2016 Meeting Summaries

January 2022 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog

December 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Wilbur Pan,  a student of and recognized expert on Japanese tools and methods of work. Wilbur is an interesting and engaging speaker who has spoken to the club several times in past. His talk this time was on Japanese saws. Among the topics he covered were, the types of saws, why they work so well, how to maintain them and what techniques lead to the best results. Thanks to Wilbur for a fun and informative evening. If you’re interested in finding out more about Wilbur, his woodworking interests and Japanese tools, check out his blog – Giant Cypress.

November 2021 

We had four members present their work this month. Freddie spoke about his experience building a canoe at the Adirondak Folk School. The school, which is located in Lake Luzerne NY is dedicated to teaching the arts, crafts, and cultural heritage of the Adirondack region. The build, which takes place over two weeks, is limited to four students. It took Freddie several years of trying to register for the class before he was finally able to secure a spot in a class. Next up was Steve talking about his shop built Microjig Ultimate Workbench. For his presentation, Steve played an entertaining YouTube video (accessible via this link), which he created to document the build process. Sri was up next speaking about the build of a round pedestal dining table. The table is made of Sapele, has a 42″ wide solid top and is stunning. Last up was Greg who spoken on the tools and techniques that he uses to flatten slabs. The slabs were cut on his sawmill and dried in the drying room on which he had presented on several months back. Thanks to the presenters for an educational and interesting evening.  

October 2021 

Our guest presenter for October was Ramon Valdez, a furniture maker known for integrating interesting and exquisite marquetry into his work. Ramon’s topic was the “double bevel” marquetry technique! This is a fantastic process for creating beautiful motifs that can be used to decorate a box, add visual interest to a piece of furniture or even as a stand alone picture. Among the items covered by Ramon were layout, building your marquetry in layers, application to a substrate, sawing technique, the principles of double bevel marquetry and tool set.  Thank you to Ramon for an interesting evening and for opening a new way to add interest and beauty to our work. Should you be interested in learning more about Ramon, he has a broad presence on social media. As a starting point, you can check out his website, www.ramonvaldezfinefurniture.com. Also, along with fellow woodworkers Philip Morley and Ben Brunick, he is the host of the  “Woodworkers Podcast”.

The club also held two additional in-person events during October. Early in the month, aboubt 10 member gathered in the parking lot to attend Gordon’s skill building session on the art of hammer veneering. His session included a discussion of the tool set, preping the material and the hammer vereering technique. Gordon provided some veneered samples and then demonstrated the process. Gordon’s demo also covered how to join smaller pieces of veneer so that a large substrate could be covered. There were plenty of material and supplies on hand so that each attendee was able to try their hand at hammer veneering a small board.

On October 30th we held and a branding / swap meet in the parking lot. The branding activity provided members who had made items for the Hermitage Museum with the opportunity to identify their work as being created by an NJWA Club Memeber. At the swap meet about a dozen or so members offered surplus tools, books and material for sale. 

September 2021 

September’s guest presenter was David Fisher whose topic was “Greenwood Carving, Following, Finding and Feeling Flow”.  A full time history teacher in the town in which he’s spent his whole life, Dave has become known internationally for his carving. His work, all of which is done by hand, includes bowls, spoons and vessels.  Many pieces are adorned with beautifully lettered phrases.  

Dave’s talk was a whirlwind tour of his technique, tools and philosophy. On tools, he shapes his work with a minimal tool set without using powered tools. Many of those tools have been passed down from previous generations and will be passed on in the future. On his philosophy, he sees the art that exists in the wood as opposed to forcing his art into the material. On technique, he uses time honored techniques of swinging and ax and pushing gouges and knives while in close contact with the material.

Dave rounded out the evening with an overview of his approach to the carved lettering that he uses to adorn his work. This was an interesting evening spent with a special craftsman. If you’d like to learn more about Dave and his work, you can visit: https://davidffisher.com.

August 2021 

At our August meeting we had three member presentations. Alan gave a detailed presention on a trompe l’oeil table that he built. Trompe l’oeil means fool the eye. The table has what looks like a folded piece of linen drapped over the top. However, what appears to be linen is in fact solid wood. Alan took us through the process of constructing the layers of a solid wood top. He followed that with a detailed description of how he carved a large piece of solid wood so that it appeared to be linen. He described the tools used (power and hand) as well as his carving technique.  He then went on to give a brief description of how he finished the piece. Kevin spoke about two Shaker candle stands that he built. He explained how varying the size and shape of the post and feet allowed hime to come up with two unique pieces. Scott presented on a split top Roubo workbench that he built using plans from the Woodwhisperer Guild. He covered the plans, material used, where he purchased it, construction steps and his experiences using the bench. Thanks to our three presenters for an interesting evening.  

July 2021 

Our guest speaker for July was woodworker and author Andy Rae.  Andy began his career working as a finisher for George Nakashima and working in Frank Klaus’ workshop. Subsequent to that he was a contributor to various woodworking publications, an  associate editor for American Woodworker magazine and the author of several books. Andy’s tool cabinet is the well known piece that graces the front cover of Jim Tolpin’s “The Toolbox Book”. Andy spoke about his journey as a woodworker and an author. He also shared some of the techniques he’s used for designing and building furniture.  He currently has his own workshop where he splits his time between taking on commissions and using woodworking to support recovering addicts. If you’d like to see more of his work, you can find him at Andy Rae Woodworking & Writing Studios on Facebook and @andyraewoodworkingstudio on Instagram.

June 2021 

The topic for June’s meeting was member workbenches. About 25 members posted pictures of their workbenches in a gallery on our website. Each member in attendance was given a few minutes to talk about their workbench. Several members did more in depth presentations. Our opening speaker was Dave Petersen who took us through the design and construction of his Roubo style workbench. There was quite a variety of workbenches build in different styles and using different construction techniques and material. The workbench gallery is still available using this link.

 This was the first regular meeting where members met in person since February of 2020. In order to accommodate as many attendees as possible we provided three options for attending. Members could meet indoors at our traditional location, they could attend via Zoom or they could opt for a middle ground where viewed the meeting via Zoom from the backyard at our location in Pompton Plains. 

May 2021 

Our presenter for May was master carver and teacher Mary May. Last year Mary had given us an overview of carving. This meeting was more of a hands on meeting (via Zoom) where Mary took us through the steps to carving two different versions of an Acanthus leaf. While carving each version, she described the tools and techniques that she was using. Although this was an opportunity to carve along with Mary, it would be quite a challenge to carve as quickly as she did. With this in mind, the session was recorded and sent out to members so that they could go through this at their own speed. 

She recently finished first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In addition to our regular meeting, the club held a skill session on May 15th. Three members presented on various sharpening topics. Bob demonstrated how to sharpen turning tools on a grinder, Gordon focused on sharpening chisels and plane irons on flat stones and Charlie taught the particulars of sharpening carving tools,

April 2021 

April’s guest presenter was Bob Van Dyke, the founder and director of the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. Bob’s topic was stock preparation, make it flat, straight and square. A Fine Woodworking contribution editor, Bob took us step by step through the process he uses to take lumber from the rough stage to being milled 4 square. Speaking from the CVSW workshop, his talk focused on the use of four machines to mill lumber, the  jointer, planer, bandsaw and table saw. Bob did cover spring joints, a technique for developing highly reliable edge joints. For that process he used a hand plane. Also included in his presentation was the topic of yield, which is the amount of milled stock that can be gotten from a rough board. Bob explained how to approximate the yield, why warp and twist in a board reduces yield and how to maximize the yield. Bob also highlighted some of the situations that would lead to less than optimal stock preparation including poor machine set up and errors in technique.  

March 2021 

March’s guest presenter was Joel Moskowitz, the owner of Tools for Working Wood. An avid collector of historical woodworking and craft texts, Joel is also the author of the popular woodworking blog “Joel’s Blog”. In addition he manufactures his own line of tools under the brands Gramercy Tools and BT&C (Brooklyn Tool and Craft). A passionate student of woodworking history, Joel’s spoke on how early woodworking texts have informed the design and development of modern tools in particular many of the tools designed and made by his company. Among the texts that he referred to during his talk was Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanic Exercises” pointing to some of the pictures in his copy of the 1683 edition, one of only a few hundred in print. Thanks to Joel for and interesting and education evening.

On Monday March 1st meeting at 7PM, we held an open discussion and presentation of our prospective projects for the Witness Tree project.  Members exchanged their ideas and were able to find out if there were any duplicate or similar items in the planning.  For members who have decided on a project, we will be able to present them to The Hermitage Staff and hear their reaction and comments.  Many members have posted their ideas to a photo album which can be viewed at the following link: witness tree project ideas.

February 2021 

Our guest presenter this month was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. His topic for the evening was an overview of spindle turning which is the type of turning that is most useful for furniture makers. Tom covered numerous topics including tools, sharpening, setting up the lathe, the types of cuts used in spindle turning and using templates. Tom also discussed the importance of a fair curve in order to give your furniture a professional and pleasing look. Thanks to Tom for a great introduction to woodturning for furniture makers. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure (the link for Tom’s May of 2020 video presentation is also still active).

January  2021 

Our kickoff meeting for 2021 began with a reap of our 2020 activities and elections for the board of directors. Following club business, we had three member presentations.

• Greg D. walked us through the design and construction of his home drying room. The room, which is attached to his shop, was built from the ground up and allows Greg to dry wood that he has milled himself
• Ben S. spoke about a branding iron that he recently purchased. Included in his discussion was the trial and error that he went through to develop a technique that would yield a clear image on his work. 
• Sri spoke on a Carolina Candle Stand which he just completed. Among the topics covered were creating the mortise and tenons for attaching the feet to the post and how to attach the top to account for wood movement. 

December 2020 

Our guest speaker for this month was Russell M, a technical specialist with JPW Industries, the makers of Jet and Powermatic tools. He covered a broad range of topic including: 

• Trends in woodworking machine technology
• The key features to look for when shopping for a woodworking machine 
• Maintenance concepts and practices for the types of machines that most of us are likely to own (i.e., bandsaw, planer, jointer, drill press, sanders, tablesaw, etc.)
• Key decision points, e.g. straight vs. segmented knives
• Some key usage points, common mistakes to avoid, safety and accuracy practices

Many thanks to Russell for an informative and interesting evening

November 2020 

For this month’s meeting, we had a virtual tour of the Stickley Museum in Fayetteville NY.  The museum which opened in 2007 explores over a century of furniture making excellence. It highlights the inspiration and craftsmanship that made Stickley America’s foremost fine furniture maker and the craftspeople whose commitment to quality led to Stickley’s reputation for manufacturing heirloom quality furniture. Many thanks to the museum’s head Amanda C., who gave a wonderful tour despite the fact that her only connection to her audience was via faces on an iPad. 

In addition to our regular monthly meeting, we held a swap meet in the early part of the month. Approximately 20 members (and a few non-members) set up tables to sell a variety of tools. Another 20 or so participated as buyers only. The event was held outdoors and masks were required. After being quarantined for a good part of the year, it was a good way to catch up with our fellow NJWA members.  

October 2020 

October’s guest speaker was Mary May, a master carver who works out of her workshop on John’s Island South Carolina. During her two hour presentation, Mary took us through an overview of the basics of carving. The topics included the various types of tools, the convention for identifying the various shapes and sizes and how to sharpen them; the types of wood that are appropriate for carving and some basic techniques. Mary is also a teacher who has taught at such places as the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana, Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School and the Connecticut Valley School. She recently finished her first book, “Carving the Acanthus Leaf”, which is published by Lost Art Press. To find out more about Mary, visit her website at https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/ 

In early October we had a second event at John M’s saw mill where we began the process of milling the witness tree. Also, as some of John’s property was being sold off, members helped to clear lumber off that portion of his yard.  

September 2020 

Chuck Bender, a well known period furniture maker and the founder of the Acanthus Workshop, a woodworking school in Jim Thorpe Pa., was September’s presenter. His topic was modern methods for making federal style furniture. Chuck spoke about jigs and machine use among other things. A large part of the presentation was spent exploring the reasons that period furniture failed due to wood movement and the techniques that he uses to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the reproductions that he builds. Several examples from his portfolio are below. To learn more about Chuck’s  work and school, you can visit acanthus.com.

August 2020 

This month’s featured presenter was artist, sculptor and furniture maker Scott Grove. His topic was advanced veneering. You can use his link to Scott’s website to learn more about his work: scottgrove.com

July 2020 

July’s meeting featured 4 member presentations.

• Ben’s presentation covered the various construction elements and techniques involved in building an interesting workbench.
• Roy’s flag box – which described the build process including his approach to cutting the angled components for the triangular form
•  David’s row boat rocker – built for his grand daughter, there were a number of challenging angled components that needed to be cut.
•  Cliff’s segmented vase –  a short review of how he cut the angled components for the segments that were used to create the vase.

In addition to our regular July meeting, we’ll have an informal get together where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

June 2020 

Tis month’s guest presenter was Steve Latta. A teacher, writer, craftsman and contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, Steve’s main job is developing the furniture makers of tomorrow at the Thaddeus Steven’s College in Lancaster Pennsylvania. His topic for our meeting was creating and adding inlays to furniture. You can view some of his FWW articles at: https://www.finewoodworking.com/author/steve-latta

 In addition to our regular June meeting, we’ll have an informal get together on Monday June 1st where we’ll view a portion of Ron Herman’s “Woodworkers Guide to Wood” dvd. Check your email for an invitation.

May 2020 

Our virtual presenter at May’s meeting was Tom McLaughlin who is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine and the host of PBS’ Classic Woodworking show. In addition, Tom is the founder of Epic Woodworking, which is a high end furniture maker and woodworking school in Canterbury New Hampshire. There were 45 members in attendance. Tom’s topic was the uses for and methods of creating mortise and tenon joints. Many thanks to Tom for an interesting and engaging night. If you missed the presentation, the link embedded in the meeting invitation is still active so that you can watch it at your leisure.  

April 2020 

April’s online meeting was composed of a number of short member presentations. There were 22 members in attendance. Although that’s about half of our normal attendance and we were all remote, the discussion was very lively. The members who presented were:

• Brian described the Pekovich bench jig that he made for working with small parts
• Abe gave us a tour of his Pekovich hanging tool cabinet and also did a brief shop tour
• Verne gave us a complete tour of his shop
• Alan showed a sliding table that enables him to cut  small logs on his band saw and toured some of his shop and equipment
• Charlie showed us some carvings including a beautiful carved banana and some carved swans that he’s making as holiday gifts
• Gordon spoke about test pieces he was making for veneered drawer fronts
• John showed two pieces, a three legged stool and a saw horse. He also talked about the shop stool project which he’s facilitating
• Sri is building a large dresser with sliding dovetails. He had pictures of the jigs he built to cut them as well as his method for handling large pieces on his router table
• Tal completed his music stand, which he displayed and spoke about some of the techniques he used to build it.
• Several pictures from the evening are below. To see more member work from the evening, please use this link.

March 2020 

Sadly our March meeting was cancelled due to the Corona virus. Although we were looking forward to our guest speaker, Joel Moskowitz of Tools for Working Wood, the club made a decision which respected the health of our members and the community in which we meet.

March was also the annual woodworking show. NJWA had a booth where, over the 3 days of the event, 15 members supported our effort to promote the club and recruit new members. The show also conducted a Project Challenge, which provided an opportunity for craftspeople to display their work and for attendees to vote on their favorite piece. NJWA member Jay Siegelaub’s natural edge side table was the 2020 winner. Congratulations to Jay. If you’d like to see more of Jay’s work, use this link to check out his website. 

 

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