Chris Fitch has become one of our favorite presenters during the seminars and his seminar on making picture frames in your own shop was one of the most popular from last spring, so he’s doing an encore presentation.

Chris has an easy-going style that makes him a natural for teaching basic woodworking techniques. He’s a senior project designer for Woodsmith, ShopNotes, and Workbench magazines He’s also a craftsman whose specialty landed him on the pages of Workbench magazine not too long ago. Make sure you check it out by clicking on the Workbench link.

The Des Moines Woodworker’s Association is sponsoring a free Woodturning Demonstration this Friday, December 2, from 6:30-8:30PM in the Seminar Room at the Woodsmith Store. The speaker, Alan Lacer, is an internationally known woodturner, author, and teacher. If you would like to know more about Alan and see some examples of his work, go to www.alanlacer.com.

There is usually a fee to attend one of Alan’s demonstrations, so we are very grateful that the Des Moines Woodworker’s are sponsoring this event and offering it for free to the public.

I hope you are able to attend!

 -Doug

Besides the usual — loving family, great friends, good health, our troops — as a woodworker, I’m thankful that I have a job where I can enjoy my hobby each and every day. I’m also thankful that I paid attention during wood shop class! Here are a few of the other things I’m thankful for:

• Sharp tools
• the Woodsmith Store
• Quartersawn white Oak 
• Norm Abram, Paul Sellers, my dad & grand-dad, and all the other great teachers I’ve had
• a warm shop and the time, desire, and a little extra money to build things there.

See you in December.

Best, Joel

Last night’s seminar offered one stand-out learning moment for me…and I’ll bet for a lot of others in the room, too. After making the first cut with the taper jig, I began to pull the jig back towards me. It caught on the back edge of the blade, and instantly began to climb the blade. I had a firm enough grip on the jig to keep it in place while I shut off the saw with my left hand. What caused this? Force of habit trumped thinking through an operation.

If you’ve ever made a call to the Woodsmith Store, you’ve likely had a conversation with Craig Ruegsegger.

A one-sided conversation. That’s his voice you hear on the voice mail system.

Craig is a man of many talents. As a teenager, he helped his dad with his construction business — building pole barns during the summer. He also has a background in broadcasting (as a producer at WHO Radio). Some of his voice-over work is legendary (Ahhhhh, the dovetail jig…!), and have graced most of the How-To videos you see online and at the store. He’s a Senior Editor. All of this experience has been a huge benefit in his efforts to spearhead the August Home Publishing video production department.

He’s also an avid woodworker. "I bought my first table saw from the Woodsmith Store over 10 years ago and I’m still using it," Craig says. "I’ve built a lot of projects with it, made many upgrades to it (including a workstation I’m rather proud of), and built lots of jigs that have enabled me to do lots more than just rip and crosscut boards. I’ll share some of the things I’ve learned on Thursday."

See if you can get him to tell you some stories about Jim Zabel. 

Craig modified his base, as you
can see in the photo above. Instead
of three wide sections, he moved
the saw to the right and made room
for two smaller sections for drawers.

I did Phil a disservice last evening when I introduced him as an expert on the box joint jig. It was an off-hand remark that I regretted as soon as I made it. It was unfair because it could have put a lot of pressure on him and, in a sense, on you — the people who came to learn.

One of the things I’ve always appreciated about Woodsmith, Workbench and ShopNotes is the way they offer suggestions or solutions to a problem. They don’t present themselves as "experts." The editors for each magazine have always preferred a more open-minded approach. You’ll never hear them say this is the ONLY way to do something; instead, you’re more likely to hear them explain WHY something is done as opposed to just HOW to do it.

That point became clear to me last night after I interrupted Phil twice with suggestions. I was hesitant to do so, because I didn’t want it to appear as if I was trying to show him up. I can tell you from experience; it’s a lot easier to think clearly when you’re sitting behind the "curtain" than when you’re up in front of 120 people! (Those of you who caught my box joint jig mini-seminar at the 2005 EXPO know what I’m talking about!) On the other hand, there are times during the seminars when we’ve kept our mouths shut rather than interrupt the speaker. It’s a dilemma.

So my question to you is this. (And I’d really like to get some discussion going on this, so please respond if you have an opinion.) Should Doug or I speak up when we have some input? Or would you rather we sat in the corner and minded our own business? Let me know.

Thanks, Joel

Sorry I missed the seminar on box joints tonight. I’m sure Phil did a good job as he is a very good speaker and demonstrator. Hope you all enjoyed it and learned something.

Actually, I am writing this from Minneapolis where I am taking care of family members while one of them has surgery. Fortunately, the surgery went very well and my brother-in-law now has a couple screws in his hip. (I told him from the x-ray they looked like about  "No. 12 Flatheads, perhaps with a Phillips or Square Drive."… Yes, my mind is always thinking woodworking.)

Anyway, while I was sitting in the waiting room at the hospital I decided to put together some of the results about future seminars from the survey all of you filled out last week. This should really be of help as we are starting to plan the seminars from Mid-January into April. Here are the most popular seminar topics so you are likely to see many of these coming up at the Woodsmith Store this winter:

Building Drawers

Router Table: Tips, Tricks, and Techniques

Tips for Setting Up a Great Home Shop

How to Build Your Own Jigs and Fixtures

Oils and Varnishes

Solving Problems with Jigs

Trim Carpentry

Tips for Working with Plywood

How to Build a Frame and Raised Panel

Buying and Getting the Most Out of a Band Saw

Setting Up Your Table Saw for Perfect Cuts

Machine-Cut Dovetails with a "Hand-Cut" Look

There were 24 choices on the survey and those were the "Top 12." (Sorry, those of you who have been after me to do a seminar on "Turning Pens on the Lathe." That came in at No. 23!)

We try to provide you with the seminars that YOU, the audience, want. If you have other thoughts or suggestions, leave me a comment and let’s get some discussion going.

I’ll be back next Thursday! — Doug

Through the years, Woodsmith and ShopNotes have designed at least five different shop-made jigs for cutting box joints. One of the very first ones was so popular that it led to the manufacture of the Woodsmith Box Joint Jig you’ll see Phil Huber using during the seminar this Thursday. Phil is an associate editor with Woodsmith and ShopNotes. He’s been honing the woodworking skills he learned in his father’s shop for the past 17 years. He’s also been using more handtools recently to avoid waking his 10-month-old daughter.

The box joint jig is for sale at the Woodsmith Store (and online at WoodsmithStore.com). During the seminar Thursday night only, the store is offering the Box joint DVD free with the purchase of a Woodsmith aluminum box joint jig. This DVD is a $9.95 value and is a great way to take the information you’ll learn in the seminar home with you.
 

If you like the seminars, you should really like WoodworkingTips.com. Each week, an editor from Workbench, Woodsmith, or ShopNotes sends out an email with a great tip. These tips are fast and simple to use. You have to sign up to receive these tips and you can do so by clicking here.

Dan Chodur attended last night’s seminar and wanted to know if it was possible to joint a board with the table saw. Well, we try to cover as much as we can in the seminars, but sometimes we just can’t get to everything! That’s why I’m excited about this blog. It’s just another way to provide you with the information you ask for. For example, by subscribing to our free weekly etips from WoodworkingTips.com (or to Workbench magazine!) then you would have received this great tip on jointing with a table saw way back in January.

Here’s what I took from last night’s seminar:

• Whether you buy unfinished lumber from a mill or S4S from the big box, you still have work to do before you start building furniture
• A good jointer is an "important" addition to any shop
• Pay attention to the wood. Checks, twist, bow and warp in your wood can derail even the best laid plans
• Be thorough. Follow the seven (or so) steps that Ted talked about, and you’ll be sure to end up with a perfect workpiece

Now I know a little bit more about the extra work it takes to be a successful woodworker.

A lot of woodworking publications downplay the need to own a jointer and thickness planer. That’s because they’re expensive tools. Or at least they used to be beyond the budget of many home shops. But there are a lot of moderately priced planers and jointers out there if you know where to look for them. (I bought my first Delta 4" jointer and 12" portable planer for $250 used.) So I recommend both of these tools. They’ll help you get the most out of your woodworking.

And when you consider the differences in the cost of finished lumber against rough (sometimes as much as $4-5 per board foot), these two tools will quickly pay for themselves. Well, am I sounding too much like a salesman? I thought Ted did a great job. I’m looking forward to his next seminar.