2008 Seminar Season Begins January 17th
Blame it on weather that was either too good or too bad, whatever the reason, attendance was down during the fall seminar season. But, thanks to what we hope will be a fantastic line up for the Winter and Spring ’08 seminars, the future is looking brighter. The woodworking seminars are held each Thursday, starting at 6:30pm, at the Woodsmith Store in Clive, IA.
Phil Huber leads off in January with a demonstration focused on drawers: “Building Drawers Using Drawer Joint Bits.” (Jan. 17th) Phil will demonstrate a couple of different ways to build drawers using a specialized drawer joint bit. Time permitting, he’ll also give us a look at how to build a drawer using just a straight bit.
Then Randy Maxey returns for another of his informative hand tool seminars. During this seminar “Three Hand Planes Every Shop Should Have,” (Jan. 24th) Randy will use his many years of experience using hand planes to give us his take on the three best hand planes that every shop should have.
A little over a year ago, there was a member of our seminar audience who asked some very good questions. After talking to her, we discovered that Carol Beronich was not only a woodworker, but had a degree in journalism. We suggested she send us her resume and the rest is history. Now, not only is Carol an assistant editor with ShopNotes and Woodsmith magazines, we’ve recruited her to give a seminar on using “A Shop-Made Jig for Cutting Tenons.” (Jan. 31st) Carol worked closely with the designers to develop this jig and now you’ll get a chance to see it in use. Instructions for how to build and use the jig will be provided at this seminar.
Hosting one of our most popular past seminars, Vince Ancona will bring us up-to-date with all his tricks for “Table Saw Set Up and Maintenance.” (Feb. 7th) Vince has recently become managing editor of Woodsmith magazine and we welcome his return as a seminar presenter.
There are three relatively new types of joinery that have become quite popular with home woodworkers around the world. During “3 New Innovations in Joinery,” (Feb. 14th) Joel Hess (yours truly) will spend the hour discussing the merits of the Miller Dowel System, BeadLock Loose-Tenon Joinery, and the brand-new Domino Joiner from Festool.
If you’ve ever started a finishing project and ran out of lint-free rags (or any other of our “12 Must-Have Finishing Supplies”) (Feb. 21st) before you’re finished, you’ll understand the importance of being prepared. Dennis Perkins has compiled a list of the most important supplies that you want to have on hand next time you start a finishing project.
Those of you who have been to one of Doug Hicks’ seminars in the past will know that he usually has so much information to provide, that his seminars tend to run a little long. This time, Doug had a hard time paring his list of “5 Surprising Woodworking Techniques You Didn’t Know About” (Feb. 28th) down to size. (He originally came up with 13!) But in the interests of time, he’ll use a table saw, jointer and a router (both in a table and hand-held) to demonstrate his surprising discoveries.
Randy Maxey is back to demonstrate the surprisingly easy-to-use WorkSharp Sharpening System. But don’t despair, he hasn’t tossed out his plate glass and sandpaper quite yet. He’ll also compare his inexpensive technique for sharpening by hand to the “machine” in “Sharpening Basics: Man vs. Machine (Mar. 6th)
In “Three Fast Joints — All in One Hour,” (Mar. 13th) Ted Kralicek shows how traditional joinery techniques don’t have to be time-consuming efforts. Ted demonstrates three of his favorites — and he’ll finish in about an hour, leaving time for all your questions.
Wrapping up the Winter session of seminars, Linda Anderson will be teaching a seminar on her specialty — the scroll saw. Since “Scroll Saw Tips and Techniques” (Mar. 20th) is a subject we’ve always wanted to highlight, we jumped at the chance to put her front and center. She has a lot of great tips for making scroll sawing fun and easy to do.
The Spring seminar season starts off with Bryan Nelson “cutting” box joints, but with a twist. During “Two Methods for Perfect Box Joints,” (Mar. 27th) not only will Bryan demonstrate how to cut them with the “tried and true” Woodsmith Box Joint Jig, but he’ll also be demonstrating a brand new product from Leigh: the 18″ Super Jig with their E Bush for fine adjustments. The jig allows you to cut perfect box joints that fit using a hand-held router.
Constructing a solid case can be something like putting together a puzzle, what with all the rabbets, dadoes and grooves used to hold one together. Chris takes all the mystery out of this puzzle with another of his informative and entertaining seminars: “Case Construction: Routing Rabbets, Dadoes, and Grooves.” (Apr. 3rd)
Sometimes a door needs to have a little stronger joinery than a simple tongue and groove can provide. That’s where a “haunched” mortise and tenon comes in. The mortise and tenon provides the strength — and the haunch conceals the groove cut in the door frame for the panel.
An alternative to haunched mortise and tenon joints is to use “open floating” tenon joinery. Dennis will demonstrate both techniques during “Mortise and Tenon — Two Variations for Making a Frame and Panel Door.” (Apr. 10th)
A hand-rubbed, high-gloss finish can make a project look like a million bucks. And best of all, it’s easy to do. Doug Hicks returns to show us all the right techniques in “Hand Rubbing a Fabulous Finish. (Apr. 17th)
“Building a Bookshelf: From Start to Finish, Parts 1 and 2“ (Apr. 24th & May 1st) is really the first of our seminars, that I can recall, where an entire project was built from start to finish. Even though it’s a simple project, there are so many good techniques used, Phil wanted to break it down into two seminars. The first week he’ll cover cutting the curved fronts on the case and how to hide the exposed plies. The next week, Phil demonstrates the techniques he used to drill the shelf holes and he’ll show us how to install the Minifix Quick-Connect Fastener’s as he completes the bookcase project.
Season tickets are on sale at the Woodsmith Store now. Once again, tickets will be available for single sessions and in a variety of season passes. Check out our website for details. Woodsmith Store Specials.
