LatestNews

Thanks to Susan for covering our January meeting for me. I understand she did a great job and we had a good turn-out. Thanks to Daryl for his presentation on turning and building pens. The president from the Tampa club was present and very impressed.

If you have not paid your dues for 2012, please do so as soon as possible, to date we only have 32 members signed up.
The February meeting is our tool auction. This is a good time to add to your tool collection or dispose of those unneeded tools. Please mark the items you bring in for auction with your name. This is a big help to the auctioneer and the recorder.
The Board met on Feb. 2. The budget was approved, and that insurance and incorporation was updated. We also discussed the need for more members to help with activities in the club. If more people help, it lightens the load on everyone. We need someone to take over the Library (DVD Tapes). We are consolidating the DVD’s into, two small metal carry cases to make it much easer to transport and store.
Terry Bair

January 16 - Turner's Meet

Denny had one piece glued up from plywood ready to turn and another with cherry and maple to demonstrate the glue up process with.

He also showed another piece that had sheared apart when he had a catch while turning it.

A sled is used to cut the segments.

The cut segments are not very large. Since there is not a lot of wood turned away, the completed piece uses a surprisingly small amount of wood.

The piece has been rough turned and the nature of the plywood shows at the edges of the segments. The glue up on this piece took about 5 hours. Not bad for a bowl that contains 1105 individual pieces of wood.

You should always wear a full face mask when turning. If you are turning an open segment piece, no need to tell you that, because it blows the chips everywhere.

January 11 - Main Meeting

The January meeting was called to order with 28 members and 2 guests present.

President Terry Bair was unable to attend so the meeting was presided over by our new Vice President, Sue Darovec.

Our guests were David White who is building a library table and Bill Rizi who was visiting from Woodcrafts of Tampa.

He also brought his lathe and the tools he uses to turn pens.

He demonstrated setting up the lathe and turning the pen.

He sanded it and applied a finish.

Using his press to assemble the pen.

The completed pen. There was a lot discussion and sharing of information during the demonstration.

Past President Paul Anderson showed a very nice miniature room box containing a boat building workshop.

Reuel Detweiler displayed a well done intarsia project of a Bongo Antelope.

John Slezak brought in pictures of an installed mirror and cabinets he has been working on. He also showed a sample of the casework on a door project he is starting.

Mike Swart paid a visit to the Florida Craftsman Museum and brought back pictures of the woodworking items displayed there.

Larry Simmons showed a Walnut picture frame he made and discussed its construction.

Dan Harle won the raffle and took home a set of countersink drill bits.

Door prizes went to Barry Taylor, Russ Wilt, Carlton Parkhurst, Jack Branson, and Lawton Walters.

I wish everyone a Happy New Year. This is a good time to look back at all the fine woodwork we have created this past year and better yet to get started on all those new projects we never got around to.
The holiday party was a big success with (44 members and guests) attending. There was plenty of good food and great fellowship. The wood gifts that you brought in were some of the finest and most creative I have seen. The auction was a big success, bringing in $570. Thanks to all that participated with the gifts, food, set-up and clean-up.

I am honored to be your new president and think I speak for all of us in thanking Paul Anderson for the excellent job he performed during his year as president.
This should be an exciting year. I am in the process of lining up the programs for the new year. We will start with Daryl Walters’s pen making presentation at our January meeting. We still need people to help with the State Fair in February, please see John Slezak to sign up. Also we need someone to take over the club library. This is not a difficult job as all the setup work is done and only requires that you keep track of loaning out and returns of the DVD’s. Anyone interested in giving a presentation to the club, please contact me. Also we still need some volunteers for shop meets (April, June, September, October & November).
Keep our tool auction in mind for the February meeting. This is a good time to dispose of your un-needed tools or pick-up some much need new tools.
If you have not paid your dues for 2012, please do so as soon as possible. This is what keeps our club running. Dues cost is only $35 for the year. Thanks to those that have already paid your dues. Also this is a good time to bring in a new member.
It is unfortunate that I will not make the first meeting, as I have a prior long standing commitment. You will be in good hands with your new vice president, Susan Darovec.

December 19 - Turner's Meet

To save some rough turning he fastened a circle to the top side as a guide for cutting it round on the band saw.

As you can see it made good base to start with.

The outside was turned in the conventional manner using the head and tail stock.

The bowl bottom was turned to fit into the lathe chuck.

Calipers were used to get the desired wall thickness.

This fixture was used to clamp the top of the bowl for finishing the base.

December 14 - Main Meeting- Christmas Party

President Paul Anderson welcomed the group of 45 members and guests to the Christmas program tonight at Bee Ridge Park.

Everyone had their fill of the great food.

At the business meeting the new officers were elected and Paul passed the gavel to incoming president Terry.

All of the guests received a gift following the meal.

The new officers are, from left, John Philips - treasurer, Adam Ross - Secretary, Sue Darovec - Vice President, Floyd Yoder - Founding member, Terry Bair - President and Paul Anderson past President.

December President’s Message

This is my last message before I hand the reins over to Terry Bair, your incoming President. It has been a privilege and a learning experience to lead the club this year. I have come to appreciate how many members contribute their time and expertise to make the club what it is, year after year, for 20 years. I hope you have

enjoyed the variety of programs; setting up the programs has allowed me to come in contact with some very interesting fellow woodworkers.
Our annual Holiday Party is December 14^th for all members who have signed up or called Terry. Full details are elsewhere on the website. If you have not signed up yet, you still have time, but please let Terry know so he can coordinate all the food. Remember to bring your two homemade gifts for the guest giveaway and auction, and come prepared to show your support of the club and your fellow members by bidding. As a reminder, the Holiday Party, for the first time, is a Bring Your Own (alcoholic) Bottle party. Soft drinks will be provided by the club.
Lastly, it is time to begin paying your $35 annual dues for 2012. If you are coming to the Party, please bring your dues to give to our Treasurer, John Phillips to make his job easier so he doesn’t have to call you in January.

November 9 - Main Meeting

John Slezak showed several jigs he had made. He had one for routing dados, one for routing hinge pockets, one for cutting circles with a router, a band saw fence for ripping at an angle, and a resaw fence.	Gene Mathes brought in a sled he uses on his router table and samples of the cuts he can make on it.

Mike Swart is just finishing a nice looking drill press table.	Jack Branson showed a simple way to drill through the center of a cylinder and a jig to draw an offset line along a curved edge.

Rick Anderson brought in a jig he used to drill angled stretcher holes in splayed chair legs.	John Philips made a fixture to index his lathe and a steady rest for it.

Sue Darovec showed a clamp for drilling pen blanks and a lathe thickness caliper.

Jaremi Diesenroth brought in the jig he uses to get an even draw on both ends of the bows he makes. He also brought in one of the bows for show and tell.

Todd Estabrook showed a nice Walnut jewelry box he made. He claimed he cut the pieces so they didn’t line up on purpose.

Paul Anderson had a turned Carrot wood bowl and a Japanese style lamp with stained glass shades.

Reuel Detweiler has just returned from up north. He brought a piece of Mulberry Wood and a chunk of Pine Tree root with him but hasn’t had time to work on them yet.

Larry Simmons is building a beautiful table out of Curly Maple and Walnut. It uses very unusual joinery to deal with cross grain expansion.

Sue Darovec has turned a pedestal bowl out of Red Gum. The wood looks very good when it is finished.

Joe Mathis brought a picture of an intarsia project he had donated to a charity. He used 63 pieces in 5 species to create the scene of a boy and his dog.

The lottery winner was Denny Wetter. He took home a tool table that will work great under the new sander he just bought.

Door prizes went to Sue Darovec, Brad Meilink, Lawton Walters, Joe Mathis, Barry Taylor, And Felix Troiano.

Those of us who used to do woodworking up north know that this was prime time. The yard work was done until next April, the weather turned cold, and we could retreat to our basement shops and make sawdust. After 10 years in Florida and working out of my garage, I have discovered that this is

still prime time. I can open up the garage doors and make sawdust without the sticky dust clinging to every surface and rusting the machinery. It is also prime time for our club as we get ready for another year and new leadership. There are four signups circulating now and if you are not signing up, you are not participating in what the club has to offer. Terry is circulating three signups, one for the Holiday Party, one for 2012 shop meets and the other for 2012 presenters. John Slezak is circulating the signup for the 2012 State Fair in February. Details for all these events are on the signup sheets or website. For those attending the Holiday Party, now is the time to be working on your two donated gifts. Remember the Holiday Party auction is our only fundraiser of the year. Come to November’s meeting with your favorite Jigs and Fixtures and any ideas to make woodworking safer, faster, more accurate or just more enjoyable. As a reminder, the annual auction, which used to be coupled with the Jigs and Fixtures evening, is once again being rescheduled on another month to allow more time for the member’s Jigs and Fixtures presentations.

October 24 - Shop Meet

The shop meet was held tonight at Rick Borovicka's Shop in Bradenton.

There were 11 present to snoop around in this beautiful shop. Thanks Rick for having us and for the great refreshments.

October 17 - Turner's Meet

There were 5 members present at the turner's meet at Denny's shop tonight.

Denny showed us the turning of a cup with a rustic base using the blank on the left.

Th outside of the cup was then formed and completed.

A series of forsner bits were used to remove the bulk of the inside.

The inside was then turned leaving about a ¼ inch wall thickness.

All that needs to be done is a finish of some kind.

October 12 - Main Meeting

President Paul Anderson called the meeting to order with 23 members and 1 guest present.

Our guest, Jeremy, makes bows and arrows and does a bit of cabinetry.

He also demonstrated how the tools work.

These are samples of the finished work that can be done with the tools.

This will convert the part of a log you don’t want into sawdust very quickly.

This is one of the small detailing tools.

Mike Swart brought in pictures of a neat intarsia teddy bear keepsake box he made as a gift.

John Philips brought in a spalted Birch bowl and a Norfolk Island Pine bowl. He also explained how he used an epoxy crack filler kit on them.

John Slezak showed a device he is making for a doctor that will allow part of an X-ray to be viewed.

Larry Simmons spent some time playing with a lathe. He ended up with a couple nice carving mallets.

Rick Camp took home a Lancelot carving tool donated by King Arthur Tools.

Jay Oyster won a dial caliper in the raffle.

Door prizes went to Mike Swart, Tony D’Alberto, Sue Darovec, and Jeremy.

If you have been to most of the meetings and in particular the meetings with presenters who are not members of our club, you may have noticed a

deliberate pattern. None of these presenters would call themselves woodworkers. They all work with wood because the love the material and each have been inspired by and found their own way to be creative. Tools and techniques are important and our members are very talented with both. But tools and techniques are only a means to an end. I hope these presenters well as our August President’s Challenge night have shown how much inspiration and creativity can play a vital role in our woodworking activities.
October’s presentation will be back to tools and sawdust, with a demo of King Arthur’s carving and wood shaping tools. It promises to be an interesting night. November’s meeting will be our annual jigs and fixtures evening. Start thinking now about what you bring to share with the group to help us work more accurately, faster, pleasurably or safer.

Eugene W. McCall, 59, of Englewood died March 1, 2011. Gene was a past member of the Florida Westcoast Woodworkers Club. Survived by his wife, Sandie, and his children Kate McCall Bunton, son Taylor McCall, Gene’s mother Verna McCall Gibble, and brother Barry McCall and family.

September 26 - Shop Meet

There were nine members at the shop meet tonight at Terry Bair's home. We had a good time and great snacks. Thanks Terry.

September 18 - Turner's Meet

There were 10 club members at the Turner's Meet held at Denny's shop tonight.

Denny continued the turning of marine pulleys from last month. The slot was first cut and then this piece was turned to shape.

The first turning was the wheel for inside the pulley.

The block with the slot was turned utilizing the template shown here.

This gave the basic shape to the housing.

Denny used an open end wrench as a template for the end supports while still in the lathe.

This fixture was used to put the rope slots in the narrow ends.

The rope slots in the long sides were done with this fixture.

The slots were the cleaned with a rat-tail file.

this shows the finished pulley with the ropes attached.

September 14 - Main Meeting

President Paul Anderson called the meeting to order with 30 members and one guest present.

Our guest was Rick Anderson’s brother Teron who was in town for a visit.

He also brought in some of the tools he uses. This is his favorite chop saw.

And this is a small but very precise table saw.

The lamp shades are made from a type of paper called Washi Paper. He has to import most of the paper he uses from the Far East.

He sells his lamps at craft shows and these are samples of types of wood he uses.

John Philips has spent some time at the lathe tuning this Cocobolo bowl. Very nice finish, John.

Joe Mathis brought in an intarsia puppy in a basket. The great job with shading really makes the 3^rd dimension pop out.

John Slezak is going to be doing his woodworking with one arm tied behind his back for a while. He still has several projects going on while he recovers from surgery.

Terry Bair showed a small table he built to his wife’s spec’s. It’s made of Red Oak with a super smooth poly finish.

The winner of the show and tell award for the 3^rd quarter is John Darovec. He took home a gift certificate to Woodcraft.

Tony D’Alberto had the winning ticket for the raffle and won a dust collection system controller.

The door prize winners from left to right; Gordon Cook, John Darovec, Lawson Walters, Theron Anderson, Felix Troiano, Bob Eslinger, and Carlton Parkhurst.

The Club Board meets several times a year to discuss club policies, programming, and finances. We met in August and adopted two changes. Effective with the upcoming Holiday Party in

December, alcoholic beverages will no longer be provided by the club. This new policy is consistent with the position most clubs are now taking on providing or serving alcohol at club functions. Members will be welcome to bring their own alcoholic beverages to the two social functions that the club sponsors each year, the Spring Picnic and the December Holiday Party. The other change, effective January 2012, reinstates the appreciation Gift Card award to Club Members who are the primary presenter at the regular monthly meeting. The Gift Card to club members was suspended in 2010 as a fiscal precautionary measure to compensate for the unexpected facility rental expense incurred as a result of the closure of the Woodcraft Store. The current financial position of the club allows us to both make this policy change and maintain the current dues of $35 per annum for 2012.

August 22 - Shop Meet

There were ten at the shop meet tonight at John Philips' home. Lots of good conversation and great snacks. Thanks John.

August 15 - Turner's Meet

There were eight at the turner's meet tonight at Denny's shop. There was no actual turning tonight because the meeting was short.

The piece was then placed on this plate for the turning of the slot in the ends. A little bit of work with a rasp and the shape is complete.

August 10 - Main Meeting

President Paul Anderson called the meeting to order with 24 members and 1 guest in attendance.

Our guest, Alan Bainok enjoys making furniture.

Ed Goldberg works on one project at a time and finishes it before starting another.

Mike Swart spoke about how he uses his woodworking hobby to relax while keeping it separate from his contractor work.

John Slezak started woodworking as a hobby and uses it as extra income.

John Slezak has almost completed the gun cabinet with the bark doors. He is working on the locking system. The cabinet looks great.

Jay Oyster has made a box to hold a TV cable box for his dad. The box is made of Popular with a stained top. The finish is very good.

Mike Swart showed pictures of a tool cabinet he made for his son to keep tools in. It’s way too nice a piece to put in the garage and it will probably never be used to hold tools.

John Philips had a picture of an antique table he repaired. This is difficult work and the amount of tome required is always more than the customer wants to pay for.

There were two raffle winners: Steve Kandel took home a set of Stanley chisels and Barry Taylor got a poster of a fancy tool box.

Door prizes went to Felix Troiano, Fred Sckowske, Brian Wilt, Floyd Yoder, Larry Simmons, and Herb Osmussen.

First a bit of housekeeping. Every member needs to check the membership list posted on the website to check that the info is correct. In particular, check that the email and telephone number that you want to be

used to contact you is up to date. With your emails, be sure to also check that the ending, .com, etc ,is correct. Some of you have changed internet carriers, kept the same email except the ending is different. If you do not remember how to sign in to get to the membership list, contact either myself of Gene Mathes for the password.

Our August meeting presentation will be different. We are having five of our own members present their own experience and tips on how to get inspired to start a woodworking project. If you have the shop but feel stuck in a rut and want to make some sawdust or make something different, this will be the evening for you to get inspired. As always, bring your show and tell, the summer months tend to be a little empty on the show and tell table. See you all on August 10^th.

July 25 - Shop Meet

There were 13 that attended the shop meet held at Tony D'Alberto's shop tonight. Lots of great snacks and good conversation.

July 13 - Main Meeting

President Paul Anderson called the meeting to order with 26 members present.

Our main program was presented by our own John Petti on the use of Fiberglas and epoxy. He gave an elaborate slide show presentation and brought samples to pass around. It was very informative and very well done.

Daryl Walters has been working at his new lathe and brought in a couple pens he has turned from rosewood.

Meryl Lilly has also been spending time at his lathe. He had a couple pieces to show for it. A nice bowl from Rosewood crotch and a red cedar vase.

John Petti is building Live Oak cabinets for his shop. He brought in one of the doors that features inlaid banding that he made.

The raffle prize was a neat automatic dust collector switch box. Herb Osmussen was the winner. Now all he needs is a dust collector.

Door prizes went to Dick Koster, Carlton Parkhurst, Jack Branson, Leslie Somos, Ed Goldberg, Barry Taylor, and Daryl Walters.

Our club has committed to two days of staffing for the 2012 State Fair. The dates are February 19^th and 20^th, 2012, a Sunday and a Monday. John Slezak, our state fair coordinator, attended the annual State Fair planning session on June 18^th and will be bringing more details of Fair participation to our upcoming meetings. Strongly

consider signing up to take a shift staffing the State Fair for next year. In several months, John will be circulating a sign-up sheet to solicit volunteers from our membership. If you are a snowbird and may otherwise be unable to contribute with hosting shop meets or other events throughout the year, this is a great opportunity to contribute to the club’s efforts while you are here in Florida. Remember that the State Fair is the one event each year that our club interacts publicly with the other West Coast Clubs. We want to be well represented.

Being July, other news is minimal. There will be no Turners Meet this month as Denny takes a vacation. However our regular meeting on July 13^th should be fascinating with John Petti presenting everything (almost) you ever wanted to know about fabricating with fiberglass.