Attendence for the seminars this fall was great — we averaged about 120 people for each Thursday seminar. Sales of season tickets were a big surprise. But the greatest thing was seeing all the new faces each week. The number of women and young people attending the seminars was very encouraging. Woodworking isn’t just a hobby for retired men anymore!
Coming up with topics for the seminars can be a little daunting. In order to keep them interesting, up-do-date, and informative we sometimes have to dig, but when we do, it usually leads to some real winners, like the "Table Saw" seminar Craig Ruegsegger put on. Doug Hicks does such a great job of teaching the fundamentals that we had him host three great seminars last fall. He’s always got a lot of useful props to help make things clear.
Bryan Nelson did his usual great job of sharing some of his tips and tricks for using a router. Steve Curtis and Dave Stone helped clear up some of the mysteries of selecting lumber, and first-time presenter Ted Raife did a great job of teaching us how to square-up that lumber. If joinery is your bag, then you surely appreciated the box joint and mortise and tenon seminars put on by Phil Huber and yours truly. Finally, Chris Fitch and Brian Simmons did an excellent job of demonstrating their specialties.
Hopefully by now you’ve had a chance to check out the schedule for the Winter 2006 seminars at the Woodsmith Store. Season tickets are for sale at the store. We’ve done something a little different this year — we’ve let you choose what seminars you’d most like to see. Some of them are no surprise. For example, Jim Downing will be back to give us some tips on setting up a great home shop. Phil, Steve Curtis, and Craig focus on router bits, the table saw, and shop jigs in weeks two through four.
Right around Valentine’s Day, Doug will explain why he chose a band saw to take with him to a deserted island. Considering he knows Cindy Crawford personally, that’s saying something! The next week, Phil will be back to share some tips and tricks for getting the most from your router table.
Then we’ll be doing something a little different. On March 2nd, Jonathan Benson a master furniture designer, builder, and author, will take us step-by-step through some of his favorite methods for veneering. Jonathan has his own website with examples of his work. He builds beautiful furniture and I’m sure this will be one you won’t want to miss.
A lot of woodworkers got their start while working on their own homes. If that’s the case, you’ll want to make sure you attend on March 9th. Erich Lage has years of experience as a trim carpenter and he’ll be sharing some tips and tricks for improving your home. Chris is back the next week building drawers. I’ll be teaching you how to build a frame and raised panel with some help from Randy Chalfant. To wrap things up, Doug will give us some pointers for using oils and varnish finishes, and Dave will provide some timely tips for working with plywood.
That’s enough for now. I’ll talk a little bit next week about the all new format for the Saturday seminars. A little hint, if you enjoyed the "Now YOU Try It" booths at the EXPO, you’ll like these seminars.
