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

The President's Corner, Steve's First! - September 2012

Steve’s Shavings

I don’t know whether to blame or thank long time TWA member Fred Ford for talking me into consideration for President. It is with some anxiety and a great deal of humility that I agreed, along with Fred’s overpowering skills of persuasion. Thankfully, we are blessed with an outstanding group of dedicated members who have stepped forward, some for multiple years, to carry on the myriad of details it takes to run this club. It is this type of unselfish dedication that makes TWA successful. One example is Allan Campbell. A special thanks to Allan for his most accom­plished leadership as President the past couple of years

As way of introduction, I am a retired professional geolo­gist, grew up in Cary, and married to my bride, Elaine, for 41 years. Several of my ancestors were woodworkers; some built spiral stair­cases completely out of wood, furniture, houses, ran a flooring mill, or operated a saw mill. Fortunately, I was able to acquire some of their woodworking hand tools. As a kid growing up in the Triangle, I would play with my grandfather’s hand tools building wooden toys, speaker cabinets, book shelves, and refinishing furniture built by my great grandfather. While I have known of the TWA for many years, it was not until my retirement from a demanding job, that I had the time to enjoy woodworking and join TWA.

Why did I join TWA? As you know, woodworking is usually a solitary activity, just some wood - tools - and you. However, woodworkers are very sharing individuals and thus the importance of organizations such as TWA. I have found this to be a very friendly & most helpful group of individuals, interested in all aspects of working with wood. Members have demonstrated expertise in furniture building, wood turning, carving, developing & building jigs, and use of hand and power woodworking tools. However, TWA is not limited to woodworking experts but those with beginning and intermediate skills. We have members from the true professional woodworkers, to serious hobbyists, to novices just seeking a satisfying and rewarding hobby.

Some reasons to join TWA include:

• TWA has a Mentor list of woodworking specialists published in each Newsletter who are only a phone call or e-mail away from expert guidance and assistance.
• TWA has a monthly meeting, that exposes those in attendance to skill building presentations from regionally and nationally known artisans. Two nationally renowned speakers are coming in 2013, Chris Swartz and Chuck Bender.
• TWA sponsors 2 or more special workshops. 2013 workshops are with Chris and Chuck. Also, look for a return of Mike Payst’s popular workshop. 
• The costs of the TWA workshops are a fraction of what one would pay elsewhere.
• The TWA has an extensive library of woodworking related books, videos, and a DVD of monthly meetings.
• This year we are adding a raffle good for atten­dance by a TWA member at one TWA sponsored workshop. To become eligible your annual dues must be paid before October 1, 2012.

At our most recent TWA Board meeting it came to my attention that while the vast majority have renewed their membership - I am surprised by the number who have not paid their dues for the current year (Sept. 1, 2012-Aug. 31, 2013). If you have paid, many thanks, if you have yet to pay your annual dues, it is not too late, see Kay Baker and she will be glad to get your membership current. We cannot exist without you continued support.

Now, go make some shavings and see you at the next TWA meeting.

President: Steve J. Steinbeck

The President's Corner, Allan's Final! - September 2012

At the August meeting, we elected new Board members, Pete Bucki & Steve Steinbeck, each have a 3 year term beginning in September. At our Board meeting, Steve was elected President. With Steve holding the reins, I know the club is in good hands. He is starting with great enthusiasm and energy. He also has a fine Board and many members to help him.

Kay reports the book give-away was a great success, both in eliminating excess books and in encouraging payment of dues. Donations were welcomed and appreciated. I am sure we will see a repeat event.

The Board has authorized the purchase of new A/V equipment, so things should run more smoothly for Tommy and his team in the future. We are going to experiment with remote internet access to meetings for those who are unable to attend. We will keep you posted.

Don’t forget that Klingspor is again sponsoring the Woodworkers Showcase in 2012. The date is September 15th, which should give us time to prepare our entries. This event is a lot of fun, with demonstrations, sales, a great competition, and a chance to see other’s projects. I encourage everyone to enter something in the show. The largest group of entries is from our members. I have entered something each year and can tell you that it is fun to be part of the event whether your entry wins or not. Without our participation I really think this event would cease to exist, so let’s get behind it and make it another big success.

As my term on the Board and as President come to an end, I want to thank all who have helped and guided me through the last 2 years. I have had an opportunity to work with many members who I probably would not have gotten to know. You have all made my life richer and more enjoyable. Now I look forward to being able to visit at my leisure.

As I turn over the reins I still want to encourage club membership. We rely on members to bring in "name" present­ers. I know all of us enjoy meeting those with great knowledge and I would hate to see that end because membership is not enough to afford big names. So, please continue your efforts to add to our numbers.

Somebody save me a seat in the galley for the September meeting -- I will see you all there and look forward to the start of Steve's rein.

President: Allan Campbell

The President's Corner - August 2012

The Presidents Corner

At the August meeting, we will elect the new Board members. The candidates for the 2 open positions are Pete Bucki and Steve Steinbeck, each for a 3 year term beginning in September. Letter votes are permitted and encouraged if you can’t attend the August meeting. Send me ypur letter and I will see that it is counted. Although our governing documents do not mention e-mail voting, I will also accept e-mail as I believe the documents would allow it if we had thought of it at the time they were written.

I was saddened to here that Charles Buenzli, a valued Club member, Board member & our Publicity Chair passed away on July 17th. Charles was a truly good guy and we will miss his company and his good counsel. His family requests any memorial contributions to be made to the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Cancer Center at Duke: DUMC Box 3624, Durham NC 27710.

Dues are payable now and I hope everyone has already taken care of renewal so you can participate in the Great "Library Overstock Reduction". There will be 4 or 5 boxes of wonderful books available to go home with you. Paid dues & a donation of your choosing makes your personal library a bit larger. Kay does tell me that if you truly cannot afford a donation she will allow the book to go home with you anyway. Any books not claimed will be sold to a used bookstore which doesn't pay much, so let’s be sure that most, if not all, find good homes and our library and club have a few bucks to do something nice with.

Klingspor is sponsoring the 2012 Woodworkers Showcase. The date is September 15th, which should give us time to prepare our entries. The flyer is located on pages 8 & 9 of this newsletter. The event is a lot of fun, with demonstrations, sales, a great competition, and a chance to see other’s projects. I encourage everyone to enter something in the show. The largest group of entries is always from our members. I have entered something each year and can tell you that it is fun to be part of the event whether your entry wins something or not. Without our participation I really think this event would cease to exist, so let’s get behind it and make it another great success.
While we have eliminated most of the 1 person committees, there are still a few opportunities for members to help administer the club activities. I would like to add someone to the audio-visual committee and to the Facilities and refreshment committee. If you would be willing to volunteer for one of these assignments, please let me know. Also, if these committees do not seem to fit well with your skills and/or interests, but you would like to help the club in some capacity, please let me know.

I continue my efforts to increase membership in our Club and my desire to share our love for wood and ask my fellow members to invite a guest to visit and hopefully join. I am not suggesting a hard sell, but if you know someone who might enjoy us, please invite them to a meeting. To that end, we will have flyers available for you to give to your prospective guests

.
Hope to see many faces in August!

President: Allan Campbell

The President's Corner - July 2012

The Presidents Corner

As required by our governing documents, the Nominating Committee consisting of Fred Ford, Terry Tenhouse and Ed Mastin presented their slate of nominees for Board positions at the June meeting. Steve Steinbeck and Pete Bucki have agreed to join the Board for 3 year terms with Steve taking over as President. There were no nominations from the floor. There will be a chance for the nominees to introduce themselves at the July meeting. At the August meeting, we will elect the new Board members. Letter votes are allowed, so if you can’t attend the August meeting and want to vote, send me a letter with your vote and I will see that it is counted. Although our governing documents do not mention e-mail voting, I will also accept your vote by e-mail as I believe the documents would allow it if we had thought of e-mail at the time they were written.

I am very happy to announce that Klingspor will again sponsor the Woodworkers Showcase in 2012. The date is September 15th, which should give us time to prepare our entries. I will distribute flyers as soon as they are printed. This event is a lot of fun, with demonstrations, sales, a great competition, and a chance to see others projects. I encourage everyone to enter something in the show. The largest group of entries is usually from our members. I have entered something each year and can tell you that it is fun to be part of the event whether your entry wins something or not. Without our participation as entrants and workers - I really think this event would cease to exist, so let’s get behind it and make it another great success.

As I was in my reading room, not having a Sears catalog available, I was perusing the latest Popular Woodworking and came across a really good article on the rule joint. I have made one table with a rule joint and can tell you that for something that looks so simple, it is a bear to get right. This article is better than anything I have read previously. It explains the joints’ complexities, but also gives clear directions as to how to lay out and cut it and how to get the hinge in the right place. Who wrote such a fine article? None other than our own Bill Anderson. Why does that not surprise those of us who know him?

While we have eliminated most of the 1 person committees, there are still a few opportunities for members to help administer the club activities. I would like to add someone to the audio-visual committee and to the Facilities and Refreshment committee. If you would be willing to volunteer for one of these assignments, please let me know. Also, if these committees do not seem to fit well with your skills and/or interests, but you would like to help the club in some capacity, please let me know.

I continue my efforts to increase membership in our Club and my desire to share our love for wood and ask my fellow members to invite a guest to visit and hopefully join. I am not suggesting a hard sell, but if you know someone who might enjoy us, please invite them to a meeting. To that end, we will have flyers available for you to give to your prospective guests.

Hope to see many faces in July!

President: Allan Campbell