The President's Corner - October 2012

Steve's Shavings

The September TWA meeting will hold special memories for me in several ways. I hope all who attended expanded their knowledge of spray wood finishing presented by our own expert, Dave Bubacz (long time club member). Our audio/video equipment has been upgraded thanks to Tom Revelle, Audio Visual Chair. Did you noticed the greatly improved A/V quality? This shows the vital importance of membership dues. This was also my first meeting as your President. I greatly appreciate the support, input, and patience. My goal is to continue to make TWA a premier Woodworking Association that serves it’s members and all of our vast wood­working interests.

Last month I discussed some of the reasons I joined TWA and continue my membership. This month I will add another; the overwhelming support the members of TWA give to T4T. We can take great pride and sense of accomplishment in the creation of member crafted wooden toys that will brighten the face of a child in our community at Christmas. Your gift of time, skill, material, and money is what makes woodworkers and the Triangle Woodworkers Association special.

Fall has arrived and that can only mean Christmas is coming and Santa’s Helpers are busy in various woodwork­ing shops preparing wooden treasures. Toys for Tots has been a special outreach project of ours for 27 years and has provided thousands of children in our community a special hand crafted gift. If you can donate time, money, or material, please contact T4T Chairman, Fred Ford.

Speaking of T4T, beginning at the October meeting, Pete Bucki will have a fast paced auction of 1-2 woodworking related items. Current TWA members may join in the bidding process. All proceeds are going to support the T4T program. Pete will ne showing off the auction items before the meeting begins so you will have half a meeting to think about where you want to start your bidding war. All items up for auction have been donated and Pete is always looking for more so if you have an items you wish to donate to a worthy cause please connect with Pete.

Let the bidding & fun begin!

Thanks to the leadership of our newly retired president, Allan Campbell, members of TWA provided significant support to the annual NC Woodworking Showcase held at Klingspor’s on September 15th. TWA members assisted with registration, judging, demonstrations, and food service. The participants ranged from Boy Scouts to professional woodworkers.

TWA Member Ed Hobbs hosted the Annual Mid-West Tool Collectors Area Q meeting. Several TWA members were seen walking the grounds of Ed's farm. Over 275 antique and wood­working tool enthusiasts were registered. Personally, I was able to obtain a much needed part for my Bedrock 607 Jointer Plane, and purchased a Bedrock 605C Jack Plane in excellent condi­tion, along with a Miller Falls No.1 hand drill. The tool hunting was good. If you appreciate antique quality hand tools and enjoy meeting fascinating people from several states, make plans to travel down Lake Wheeler Road to Ed Hobbs’ farm next year.

By becoming a member of TWA you have already demonstrated your interest and desire for more knowledge about woodworking. Connecting to the Internet gives you access to a plethora of knowledge and information to advance your woodworking skills, and the good news...it is free. There are many websites related to woodworking and I am sure you have already book marked your favorites. I am providing my top five list in hopes that I am able to share with you and add to your current base of websites:

www.woodworking.com; Topics include, Shop Class, Specialty Woodworking (from Carving to Wood turning), Finishing, and Wood Species.

www.finewoodworking.com; While some topics require a subscription many do not and include Videos, Plans & Projects, Techniques, and a Tool Guide.

www.popularwoodworking.com; This site includes topics covering, Plans & Projects, Tools & Reviews, Videos, Sketchup, Blogs, including the ever popular and entertaining blog by Chris Schwarz, and of course Roy Underhill.

www.thehighlandwoodworker.com; The Highland Woodworker Newsletter is always of interest, as are the Videos, Tips, and Blogs.

www.woodsmithshop.com; This site contains, Etips, Videos, and Plans.

A HUGE Thank You goes out to Fred Ford and his awesome powers of persuasion. Fred has convinced newly retired President Allan Campbell to stay close to the committees by becoming our new Publicity Chairman. As you are all aware we recently lost our friend and fellow member Charles Buenzli, he was, at the time of his passing our Publicity Chairman. This committee is very important to the club as the duties and responsibilities include; main­taining a list of personal media contacts, providing notices to the media of special TWA events (such as Toys 4 Tots), and preparing news releases and background information for the media. Having this seat vacant means many things including the fact that we do not reach out to potential new members by informing folks of events they can attend and learn more about who we are. A huge Thank You to you Allan for being willing to fill this void. We are in very capable hands with you on board.

Your comments, suggestions, and recommendations are always welcome, just send me an email at; stevejstein­beck@gmail.com.

I look forward to seeing you at the October meeting.

Now, let’s go make some wood shavings,

President: Steve Steinbeck