Woodworking Seminars Blog

Winter Woodworking Seminar Schedule 2012

Sue Banker — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 20:30:50 +0000

JANUARY 6:30 – 7:30
12–Shop Layout with Jim Downing, Senior Project Designer, Woodsmith & ShopNotes Magazines
19–Tablesaw Fundamentals with Dennis Perkins, Associate Editor, Woodsmith Magazine
26–Router Table Basics with Phil Huber, Senior Editor, ShopNotes Magazine

FEBRUARY 6:30 – 7:30
2–Turning Bowls with Garry Rowe, Woodsmith Store Professional
9–Basic Sharpening with Randy Maxey, Senior Editor, ShopNotes Magazine
16–Cabinetmaking with Pocket Hole Joinery with Randy Maxey, Senior Editor, ShopNotes Magazine
23–Cabinet Door Construction with Phil Huber, Senior Editor, ShopNotes Magazine

MARCH 6:30 – 7:30
1–Building Drawers with Dennis Perkins, Associate Editor, Woodsmith Magazine
8–Choosing & Using Hardware with Dave Fremming, Woodsmith Store Professional
15–Introduction to SketchUp with Randy Maxey, Senior Editor, ShopNotes Magazine
22–Hand Planes in the Workshop with Randy Maxey, Senior Editor, ShopNotes Magazine
29–Finishing: Faster & Better with James Bruton, Assistant Editor, ShopNotes Magazine

Fall 2011 Woodworking Seminar Schedule

Administrator — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 16:19:29 +0000

All seminars start at 6:30 in the Woodsmith Store Seminar Room

Oct 6 – Pen Turning Made Easy with Garry Rowe
Watch a demonstation on turning a stylish pen. Learn about the process, materials, and techniques used for perfect pen turning.

Oct 13 – Router Basics with Randy Maxey
Get back to basics with these routing tips and techniques. Learn a few fundamental skills that help you get perfect results with your router.

Oct 20 – Inlay Techniques with Ted DuPuy
Ted will discuss the basics of wood inlay, the differences between inlay, marquetry, and intarsia, methods, where to use inlays, the tools needed, and the process using a router and template.

Oct 27 – Best-Ever Shop Tips with Phil Huber
Learning simple tricks can make you a better woodworker and give you shop-tested ways to build great-looking projects. Discover foolproof ways to save time and money and enjoy your shop time more.

Nov 3 – Scroll Saw Basics with Terry Zuck
Terry will deliver an overall introduction to scroll sawing, including an overview of the different types of saws and blades, pattern and material selection, and fundamental techniques. You’ll walk away with helpful tips for cutting everything from precise curves and circles to sharp corners and straight lines.

Nov 10 – Making Small Boxes with Dennis Perkins
Small boxes are great projects that can really help build your woodworking skills. Dennis will cover the basics of building a small box. Techniques will include milling the lumber, joinery options, and assembly tips.

Nov 17 – Dovetail Basics with Terry Zuck
Learn the basics that lead to great-looking, tight-fitting dovetail joints. You’ll pick up great tips to help ensure your success, such as proper router setup, bit care, template selection, and determining cutting depth.

Dec 1 – Basic Turning with Garry Rowe
Learn about the tools, process, materials, and techniques used for perfect turning.

Dec 8 – Veneering Techniques with Dennis Perkins
This will be an overview of veneer, how it’s made, the different types available, and some tips for getting started with using veneer in your projects. Dennis will also talk briefly about glues and clamping techniques.

Dec 15 – Bandsaw Basics with Phil Huber
Discover how to make this compact, versatile tool do everything from circles and curves to joinery and making custom lumber for your projects.

James Bruton — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 14:21:51 +0000

Winter 2011 Woodworking Seminar Schedule

All seminars start at 6:30 in the Woodsmith Store Seminar Room

Jan 20 – Making a 6-Candle Centerpiece with Randy Maxey

Jan 27 – Making a Breadboard with Phil Huber

Feb 3 – Turning a Box with Rick Hutcheson

Feb 10 – Laminated-Top Box – Part 1 with Dennis Perkins

Feb 17 – Laminated-Top Box – Part 2 with Dennis Perkins

Feb 24 – Making a Basic Band Saw Box with Murray Ellis

Mar 3 – Scroll Saw Fretwork with Rick Hutcheson

Mar 10 – Create Your Own Picture Frame Moldings with Randy Maxey

March 17 – Make Eye-Catching Turnings with Rob Wallace

March 24 – Easy-to-Build Garden Bench – Part 1 with Phil Huber

March 31 – Easy-to-Build Garden Bench – Part 2

Fall 2010 Woodworking Seminar Schedule

James Bruton — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 19:26:58 +0000

It’s going to be a great seminar season! Click on each seminar for more information.

Oct 07 – Pocket Hole Jig Tips & Techniques with Randy Maxey

Oct 14 – Table Saw Tune Up with Phil Huber

Oct 21 – 3 Easy Steps to a Perfect Finish with Bill Leightner

Oct 28 – Creating Perfect Mortise & Tenons on the Leigh FMT with Terry Zuck

Nov 04 – Resawing on a Band Saw with Phil Huber

Nov 11 – Getting the Most from Hand Planes with Randy Maxey

Nov 18 – Scroll Saw Tips & Techniques with Rick Hutcheson

Dec 02 – Turning Holiday Ornaments with Chuck Dowler

Dec 09 – Furniture Repair: Tips & Techniques with Ron Stookey

Dec 16 – Pen Turning Made Easy with Garry Rowe

3 Fast & East Methods for Cutting a Mortise & Tenon

Joel Hess — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 14:38:44 +0000

Here are bonus downloads for this week’s seminar:

Hand-Cut-Tenons

Routing a Perfect Tenon

Top Notch Tenons

Turning Pens On the Lathe

Joel Hess — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 13:23:32 +0000

Garry Rowe, Woodsmith Store Sales Professional, hosts his first seminar. Garry has been turning pens for many years and gave many demonstrations while managing a Woodcraft Store in Indiana.

Here is the bonus download: WoodPens

Table Saw Dovetails

Joel Hess — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 14:24:28 +0000

That’s right, dovetails on the table saw! It’s a concept that takes a little getting used to. But the fact is, with some practice, plus a unique, shop-made jig and a specially-ground saw blade, you can use your table saw to make dovetails quickly, easily, and accurately. Best of all, this technique results in through dovetails with that distinct, “hand-cut” look with narrow pins and variable spacing if desired.

The jig is similar to a crosscut sled but the fence is adjustable to allow for cutting both the pins and tails. You can download plans for the jig here: Table Saw Dovetail Jig

Besides the jig, you’ll also need a special saw blade to cut dovetails on the saw. You can use a regular blade, but the cuts will require a fair amount of hand clean up to fit. But, with the help of any local sharpening service, you can get the teeth ground to match the angle of the dovetail. It can be done inexpensively and it’s well worth the effort.

3 Fancy Cuts With a Table Saw

Joel Hess — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:19:10 +0000

Crosscuts, rips, and the occasional miter. That’s the extent of most of our table saw usage. But it’s capable of so much more. For example, did you know you can cut coves on a table saw? All it takes is an auxiliary fence that’s skewed across the table top, which allows you to pass a board over the blade at an angle. The results are amazing and the uses too numerous to mention.

During this evenings seminar, Carol Beronich will talk about or demonstrate three “fancy” cuts that can be made. Don’t be confused by that word fancy though. It not so much the cuts that are impressive — it’s the results. Tapered legs, angled tenons, and raised panels…they all can be done on the table saw.

There is one bonus download for tonights seminar: Adjustable Taper Jig

In addition, the raised panel door was used on a project in Woodsmith Issue No. 187. If you’re interested in purchasing the project plans for the “Two-Tiered , you can pick up a copy at the Customer Service Desk at the store for only $4.95. Or call the Woodsmith Store at (800) 835-5084

Secrets of Pocket Hole Joinery

Joel Hess — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:10:54 +0000

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

7 Steps to a Perfect Workpiece: Squaring Up Lumber

Joel Hess — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:42:36 +0000

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.