This week’s seminar focuses on cutting cove moldings. Not the kind you’ll find around the ceiling, but the kind that “crown” the top of a cabinet. In this case, the editor’s of Woodsmith needed some custom molding for a media center that was featured in a recent issue of the magazine. Rather than go out and buy stock molding off the shelf, they made their own on the table saw.

It’s an interesting technique and one that uses the table saw in a different way. First, the table saw is used create the shallow cove profile. The secret is to push the cove molding blank across the blade at an angle. Then, the table saw gets used in a more traditional manner to add the simple bevels that give the molding its unique shape and fit. These two distinct operations result in a piece of molding that’s one of a kind.

Ted Raife, senior editor for Woodsmith will host the seminar. It start’s on Thursday, February 26th at 6:30 pm at the Woodsmith Store in Clive, IA.

This week’s bonus download is a 12-page article (split into two parts) and a 2 page technique article from Woodsmith:

Flat-Screen Media Center, Part 1

Flat-Screen Media Center, Part 2

Shop Notebook

Rescheduled from February 24th:

Susanne Elson, Faux Finishing and Painting Professional, Fun & Elegance

Susanne can be reached at shelson4@mchsi.com, or by phone at 515-707-2094

ShopNotes magazine may be one of the most unique woodworking magazines out there. Dedicated exclusively to shop projects, the magazine is just beginning its sixteenth year. The fact that they continue to come up with interesting projects is amazing and some of the most popular projects featured in the magazine are the shop-made hand tools, like the try square shown at right.

From dovetailed shoulder planes to shop-made marking knives to custom scratch awls (my personal favorites), all of these projects have two things in common — they incorporate non-traditional woodworking materials like aluminum, brass, and copper and they were all designed by Chris Fitch.

Chris is the presenter for this week’s woodworking seminar: “Metalworking for Woodworkers.” During the seminar, he’ll show us how he built a try square out of aluminum. The best part about this square is that it’s easy to adjust if it should ever get out of square. Four cap screws hold the blade securely to the handle of the square. If it ever gets knocks out of alignment, you can loosen the screws, adjust it back to 90°, and then retighten the screws.

He’ll also have many of the other shop-made tools on hand for everyone to take a look at — kind of a woodworkers show and tell!

This week’s bonus download is an article from ShopNotes Issue No. 88: Tips and Tools – Metalworking Techniques

And, if you’re interested in purchasing plans for the dovetailed shoulder plane featured in the bonus download above, you can find them at PlansNow.com: Dovetailed Shoulder Plane

Many of us dreamed of the day when we’ve finally saved enough money to buy the Leigh D4 dovetail jig (shown at right). After all, it’s the one Norm uses every week on his popular PBS woodworking show. The problem is, at over $400, it’s a big investment.

Now, of course, that has all changed with the introduction of the Leigh Super dovetail jig. No other jig equals the versatility and precision of Leigh Super Jigs. And, at a little over $200 for the 12″ version, there’s no longer any excuse for waiting to add the jig to your workshop arsenal.

This jig, which will be demonstrated during this week’s seminar, includes everything you need to get started right away cutting through, half blind, and even sliding dovetails. And, except for just a few minor differences, it does everything the Leigh D4 will do.

The secret to the Leigh jigs success is a unique template, with fully-adjustable fingers instead of a fixed fingers. The template is reversible with a set of half fingers and a pair of dual scales. One end of the fingers is for tails and the other is for pins. The dual scales help you accurately position the  template depending on which type of dovetail joint your cutting.

Terry Zuck has been demonstrating Leigh jigs at the Woodsmith Store for many years now. His demonstration for how it’s used — with tips for making set up easy — is sure to be extremely intersting and educational. Hope you can be there.

The bonus download for this week includes a couple of articles, one from Woodsmith magazine and the other from ShopNotes magazine: Bonus Download

Have you ever looked for just the right shade or color of stain, but didn’t find exactly what you were looking for? If that’s the case, then this weeks seminar may be of interest to you. During the seminar, Carol Beronich will give us some tips for mixing your own custom stains using a mixture of just three basic pigment colors and boiled linseed oil (BLO).

The oil paints she is using are commonly found in art supply stores. The three colors she uses most often are Van Dyke brown, cadmium red, and cadmium yellow. Mixed with BLO, the colors can range from a light honey oak to a rich mission-looking brown. Of course, you can use any color of pigment, mixed with oil, to come up with your own custom stain, you’ll just have to experiment a little.

There are no bonus downloads for this week.

This seminar has been postponed due to a family emergency. It has been rescheduled for Tuesday, March 24th.

Susanne Elson, Faux Finishing and Painting Professional, Fun & Elegance

Susanne can be reached at shelson4@mchsi.com, or by phone at 515-707-2094

Chris Fitch, Senior Project Designer, Woodsmith, ShopNotes, and Workbench Magazines

Carol Beronich, Assistant Editor, Woodsmith Magazine

Special Hands-On Workshop, Pre-registration required at the Woodsmith Store. $75 per session.

Saturday, February 28, 2009 @ 9:30am – 12:30pm. Limit 6 people maximum per session.

Learn the best methods for using table saw to make safe, accurate rips and crosscuts. No experience required.

Ted Raife, Senior Editor, Woodsmith Magazine

February Club Meeting, Tuesday, February 10, 2009 in the Seminar Room at the Woodsmith Store

Des Moines Woodworkers Association