If you could take a stack of boards, rip them to width and cut them to length, and then build a simple, yet beautiful project using nothing more than a simple jig and a handful of screws for joinery, would you be excited to learn about that jig?

We’re betting you will be after tonight’s seminar, because that is exactly what Randy Maxey intends to do. The side table you see in the photo at right was built in a weekend.

There are lots of ways to make pocket holes. Randy’s favorite happens to be the K3 Master System from Kreg Tool Company. It’s a simple system that provides quick, sturdy, and foolproof joinery in a matter of minutes. Randy has provided a SketchUp model for his table design. You can find it here: Randy’s Side Table. If you don’t already have SketchUp you can download the latest version here: Google SketchUp v7.1. It’s a great way to create 3D drawings of your projects and it’s a free download. Finally, Randy has provided a short video showing how the project goes together: Woodsmith Seminar Pocket Hole Project

Four steps, 5 steps, 7 steps. Whatever it takes, the goal is to end up with a workpiece that will fit into your project perfectly. During tonight’s seminar, Dennis Perkins will outline his technique for squaring up a rough piece of lumber — from flattening one face, to jointing an edge, to ripping the board to width and crosscutting it to length, and even a few steps in between.

He’ll also spend some time talking about the different types of lumber, including rough, S2S, S3S, and S4S, and what it all means.

There are no bonus downloads for tonight’s seminar.

During this week’s seminar, Dave Fremming will touch base on his favorite reasons for using water-based finishes. Dave is a sales professional for the Woodsmith Store, a woodworker, and our resident go-to guy for all things finishing.

Dave will talk about why to use a water-based finish over solvent based. He’ll explain the different products that are available and how to tell the difference between them. And he’ll talk about the supplies needed and the techniques he uses to prepare and apply a water-based finish.

There are no bonus downloads for this week.

This seminar was canceled due to a snowstorm back in December. (And it seems as if we’ve just had one continual snowstorm since then, doesn’t it?) So that means there may be a few of you who are sitting on unused tickets. If that is the case, bring them tonight and we will honor them. If you’re buying a season ticket, you will receive a $5 discount off your purchase, to cover the twelve seminars you’re being charged for. Of course, you’ll also receive the $5 $awbuck coupon as well. So in effect, we’re paying you $2 to attend tomorrow’s seminar! Quite a deal, huh?

Dennis Perkins will take us step-by-step through the process he uses to create these interesting wood sculptures. He’ll talk about the tools (including traditional and micro-plane rasps) he uses and the technique he developed for making spiral candlesticks.

Here is a list of upcoming seminars presented every Thursday evenings at the Woodsmith Store, starting on January 28th and ending on April 15th, 2010:

January 28: Sculpting a Spiral Candlestick
Dennis Perkins, Associate Editor, Woodsmith Magazine

February 4: Easy Water-Based Finishes for Woodworking
Dave Fremming, Sales Associate, Woodsmith Store

February 11: Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Band Saw
Chris Fitch, Senior Project Designer, ShopNotes Magazine

February 18: Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Router Table
Bob Zimmerman, Senior Graphic Designer, Woodsmith Magazine

February 25: 7 Tips to a Perfect Workpiece: Squaring Up Lumber
Dennis Perkins, Associate Editor, Woodsmith Magazine

March 4: Secrets of Pocket Hole Joinery
Randy Maxey, Associate Editor, ShopNotes Magazine

March 11: 3 Fancy Cuts on the Table Saw
Carol Beronich, Assistant Editor, Woodsmith Magazine

March 18: Resawing On the Band Saw
Phil Huber, Senior Editor, ShopNotes Magazine

March 25: Table Saw Dovetails
Bryan Nelson, Managing Editor, ShopNotes Magazine

April 1: Turning Pens on the Lathe
Garry Rowe, Sales Associate, Woodsmith Store

April 8: 3 Fast & Easy Methods for Cutting a Mortise & Tenon
Joel Hess, Associate Editor, ShopNotes Magazine

April 15: Furniture Refinishing Tips & Techniques
Dave Fremming, Sales Associate, Woodsmith Store

Regular Tickets are $8 per seminar. A Season Pass, good for all 12 seminars is only $80, a $16 savings over buying a weekly ticket. Plus, you receive a $5 $awbucks coupon  for each paid seminar ticket, good for anything in the Woodsmith Store.

The seminar this week “Sculpting a Spiral Candlestick,” has been canceled. It may be rescheduled for a later time in 2010. The Woodsmith Store is closed today, Thursday, December 10 because of a water line break. We apologize for any inconvenience this late cancellation may have caused.

Joel Hess

Dennis Perkins is an editor for Woodsmith. He likes to push the envelope and try new things. One of his recent projects called for delicate inlays and Dennis turned to a tool that’s not often thought of by woodworkers — a rotary tool.

Dennis builds guitars and that’s how he first discovered the usefulness of this small tool. By adding a stable base and a few accessories, he realized it could be used as a precision router for small, intricate work like inlays and banding.

There are two 2-page articles available as bonus downloads for tonight’s seminar: Bonus Download-Inlays

After the table saw, the router table may be one of the most used “tools” in my shop. I use it to add profiles to workpieces, especially when they’re over sized, or when I need more control. But, to get the full potential from my router table, I also turn to it for many simple operations like routing rabbets, grooves, and even to joint an edge.

Phil Huber explains his techniques for getting those three operations completed successfully on the router table. Time permitting, he might even have a couple of extra tips to share with us during tonight’s seminar.

There are two bonus downloads for this seminar, one from Woodsmith and the other from ShopNotes:

5 Tips for Taming Router Table Tearout, and

Foolproof Profile Routing Tips.

All it takes to turn unruly boards into perfect stock for your next project is three shop tools and a few machining techniques. Many of you already have one of the tools (a table saw). In this seminar, Joel Hess will make the case for owning the other two, while showing you the simple techniques he uses for milling up rough lumber.

During this seminar, you’ll see the steps taken to turn a piece of rough lumber into a straight, flat, and square piece of stock that’s ready for your best projects. But we’ll also talk a little bit about “why” milling your own rough lumber down to size makes sense. In fact, it will save you money in the long run to make the investment in both the jointer and thickness planer now.

There are no online bonus articles this week.

Queen Anne and Chippendale furniture each have many distinctive features that set them apart from your run-of-the-mill pieces. For examply, they’re both known for using cabriole legs. The name comes from the French word “cabrioler,” meaning caper or jump. The fact the leg looks like, well, the leg of an animal is no accident.

During the seminar this week, Vince Ancona will take us step-by-step through the making of one of these “S-shaped” legs. Vince will use several props to get his techniques across in a timely manner, but rest assured, he’ll be using a band saw, plus a few hand tools to show us an easy method for making cabriole legs.

There is one bonus download this week. It is a two-page article from Woodsmith magazine: High-Tech, Smooth-Cutting Rasps