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President’s Letter — May 2020
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Been a tough few months, but things appear to be looking up some from the health standpoint and re-opening the shop. At this point we are looking at re-opening the shop the second weekend in July for open shop hours. Details have yet to be worked out but there will be some protective equipment required and a limit on the number of people in the shop at a time. You will need to make reservations to use the shop to keep too many people from being there at one time. Stay tuned for more details and when available they will go in the newsletter and be emailed to everyone.
Does this mean classes will start again then? Not so sure. It will be tough to keep social distancing when in a hands-on instruction situation. We will evaluate the types of classes we may offer and see if any of them would be appropriate for this social situation.
The Sketch Up class is being re-scheduled because it will be few participants and social distance can be maintained. Information will be mailed out as soon as details are available.
Video general meetings have been discussed but we are not pleased with the results we have seen from trying to do our type of meeting with video. We are working on an alternative to a meeting with an instructional video session produced by a professional woodworker with a national reputation. When details become available we will let you know who, what, when, and where.
Six or seven woodworking guilds across the country held a video gathering to share ideas and ask questions. I participated in this conference and found that we all have similar issues and I picked up some ideas that can improve our programs.
- A major concern of all guilds is to how to get members back in the habit of attending meetings and the health concerns of members. All guilds seem to have an abundance of older members and would like to have more younger ones.
- Most guilds have toy programs of one type or the other. One smaller guild than ours produces about twice as many toys per year as we do. Toy programs in some guilds are a major source of revenue, the toys being sold at fairs. There are some good ideas they have that we will probably end up borrowing.
- No one had a book box program like ours or one that produced personalized boxes for children in foster care situations and I am sure some will pick up on these ideas.
- Most guilds don’t have shops because they don’t have enough members to swing it financially. Ones that do have significantly higher membership fees for use of the shop.
It is hoped that these meetings will be quarterly and more guilds will become involved.
Our St. Louis Guild has a list of 17 different activities or types of activities that are on hold or moving in slow motion due to Covid-19 issues. We have been informed that the picnic table projects with the Torchbearers group in St. Louis will be postponed to 2021 due to cancellation of most of their summer program. We have decided to build our Faust Park storage shed, but will have to wait until we can get a group together to build it.
As conditions evolve we will keep in touch by email and newsletter. Please make sure your email settings allow our emails to get to your inbox.
Stay safe in all you do. |
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In anticipation of the Shop re-opening, the Guild is trying to purchase hand sanitizer and cleaning wipes for use in the shop. If you are in a store and find these available for purchase, please purchase them and let us know. We will be happy to reimburse you.
Wayne Watson, Shop Manager workswood@earthlink.net
Tom Tierney, Treasurer, tmtierney@gmail.com
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The SLWG program team is working on a video streaming program event to occur possibly as soon as June! Watch out for an email coming from SLWG if they are able to make it happen. |
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| Editor’s Note:
Show and Tell in the Newsletter has been a success and we would like to continue this indefinitely. While photos are great, videos can be even better. Use your cellphone and shoot a short video of you describing your project. This works really well on small items that can be rotated in your hands and large items that have moving or opening and closing parts. These will go on our YouTube channel and links in the newsletter to get to them.
GV |
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Mike Peery created these three projects recently on his CNC machine. |
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Dave Schlinder sent in this photo of his shop last month with the following comment:
Everyone is talking about organizing their shop or doing projects during the quarantine but this is what my shop looks like.
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| It has looked like this since March 20th and I can’t move my tools back for another 2 weeks. |
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Wayne Humphrey says the he has gone back and picked up a project started a year ago to build two “Motorcycle Rockers”. All but two parts are cut and most are painted. Just mostly a question of glue-up (and I am running out of glue) and assembly. Still need some wood screws so may be a while to finish. |
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However, he did find enough glue and screws to finish one of them in time for this month’s Newsletter. |
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Wayne also had a project to make some small animal cutouts.
The animals are color copies that have been glued to plywood. Mod Podge glue does a good job with minimal wrinkling of the paper. The better the quality of paper, the less the wrinkles. Finished with coats of spray poly. |
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| Collin Preftakes sent in a few pictures of a cherry bookcase he recently finished. |
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The bookcase is 5 ft tall with adjustable shelves, raised panel sides, and a ship-lapped back. I used the guild shop to re-saw the boards for the back and do some milling, but everything else was done with hand tools in my “spare bedroom shop”, including all the joinery (22 mortise and tenons). The raised panels were also done by hand, which went easier than I thought. It was finished with three coats of Danish oil. |
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| Collin sent in also several photos of the project in progress which are available on the SLWG website via this LINK. |
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John Bronson writes: Here is a photo of my latest project. It is a live-edge (walnut slab) coffee table I made for my daughter. It has 3 hairpin legs (from Rockler) and I finished it with 2 coats of Famowood Glaze Coat epoxy. I bought the slab a couple of years ago while at a SLWG shop tour of a sawmill in Illinois. |
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Tom Tierney sent in his favorite everyday tools: Three inch caliper and six inch scale. Both are small enough to fit in my apron pocket. Use each of them often on all projects. Caliper accurate enough for most operations. |
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| Bill Love built a Campaign Furniture style bookcase for his daughter. He made a video of the assembly process and put it on YouTube. |
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Tom Clemmons built a sink base cabinet to match his cabinets in a utility room.
He also embarked on a router base project with a unique lift mechanism shown in the photos below.
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Tom Tupper writes: Above are a couple of pictures of a project I worked on during the last couple of weeks if you would like to use them in the May Newsletter. You may recall that I brought a pickup load of wood and furniture to a Guild meeting last fall that a former Guild member wanted to donate to the Guild. She said it was teak, but no one at the Guild could confirm that this was the case. As it turned out, only a few pieces of the load were taken by Guild members that night. So I was stuck with all this old wood.
One of the pieces was a damaged table that was quite old and the finish has deteriorated to nearly a black color. So, since I had the time, I decided to see what was under the finish. It turned out to be a very attractive red-hued wood that appears to me to be mahogany, but I guess could be teak. Anyway, I sanded it down, repaired the broken pieces, and applied a coat of teak oil so it could be used outdoors. It came out looking pretty good.
I had promised my daughter a picnic table and decided this would fill the bill. I made four Aldo Leopold benches out of treated lumber and also finished them with teak oil. My daughter was surprised and delighted to get this set. They are pictured in her backyard. |
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Vickie Berry designed the pattern for these coordinating footstools for new patio chairs and table. Chairs are made with WoodLike Poly material and are from Suburban Leisure Center. She made the footstools out of cedar and painted them black to match. |
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| Vickie also made this walnut and epoxy serving tray in the Don Iverson class this past February.
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Bill Meuth writes:
Hi everybody, hope this finds you and yours well. Kathy and I are
“staying in”, meaning that we really haven’t left the house (except to
get gas for the mower) since mid-March. So far so scary good.
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| I got another batch of Teddy Bears and thought they needed something to ride around in. They’re a lazy bunch, so I consulted Mr. Bill and his friends and they came up with the idea of a little wagon for them. It turned out pretty good considering I didn’t even draw up a plan. It’s a little more complex than the Adirondack chairs, which meets the goal of soaking up some time to build. |
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| Bill Schuchat sent in a write-up on his experience with sharpening jointer blades: |
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I surfaced jointed some 7″ wide boards and found that my jointer made a very rough cut; the blades were nicked and I noticed some corrosion on these areas of the blades. The jointer is 30 years old and the blades have never been sharpened. New blades run $36 to $65. I contacted Dan Coleman to see if he knew of some place to get them sharpened. He offered a jig to use instead. It worked great. It is a jig like the one at http://lumberjocks.com/projects/70562. |
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| Dan’s jig is shown in the photo above; pics of the one from lumberjocks are below. One of my 4 knives had a nick worse then the others. I used a Crystalon stone on the course side to work out the nick. Took about 600 strokes. Finished it with the fine side and honed it with a leather strop. When I was done I face jointed some more 7″ wide boards and they came out perfectly. |
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Grady Vaughan built this storage cabinet to go over the toilet in a small bathroom. |
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| Paul Bailey writes in about some Teacher Project Items that he has made. |
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If you have a spouse, or child who is a teacher, there are some things which they can use and will always appreciate.
My oldest daughter is a third-grade teacher and found that she needed some things which would last for her classroom. She’s been teaching for 12 years now and these have stood the test of time quite well.
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Most, if not all teachers need something to use for what we call a ‘mail box’, for distributing paperwork to their students. My daughter had one made of corrugated cardboard—and it barely lasted a school year from simple wear and tear.
I took some measurements and made what you see here. It is simply ¾ pine, with lock miter corner joints, I used a dado blade to cut the grooves for the shelves. The shelves of which there are 30 (10×3 layers), are Masonite with grooves cut to slide them into each other. On the front, there is ¾ half round to lock the shelves into place. On the back there is a sheet of Masonite to hold the back together and the shelves in place. You can see I used steel corner braces on the back corners as well to make this as sturdy as possible. She needed it higher, so I made a box with two large drawers which have metal shelf sliders and notice the handles. Half round handles. That was intentional as she had one student with serious ADD try to climb the box, he did succeed with NO damage to the shelves, but the handles prevent a foot hold. Also note that I put nylon sliders on bottom corners so wood would not splinter when it is moved. IT is HEAVY!!
Many of my daughter’s fellow teachers have salivated over this as they all need one! It’s really a simple project, but takes lots of time and cutting. I did a few coats of urethane on whole project for durability. Currently, it has lasted as you see in photos-TEN years and still looks great! |
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Another ‘project’ for my teacher-daughter:
She, like most teachers, decorates their bulletin boards with colored borders for various seasons and events, often pre-printed in set lengths. The problem is that storing them is tough and most folks roll them up. They become wrinkled and soon are not usable. |
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My daughter was seeking a way to store the borders which are about three feet in length without rolling them up.
My two daughters often come up with something they need/want. My ‘rule’ is—you draw what you’d like, and I will try to come up with something. |
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| I came up with this idea. Again, no plans were available for something like this, so, I made it up as it went along.
It’s simply a box, about three feet long by six by six with a lid attached with a piano hinge.This allows the borders to be stored, un-wrinkled, un-rolled up.
It is made from ½ inch birch plywood. I was experimenting with box joints so I did that for all the corners. It is glued and the bottom is simply attached with screws. (CAREFULLY!)
I finished it with a few coats of urethane for durability. Eventually, though this set of photos does not show it, I bought brass corners for the bottom as they started to chip away due to handling. I also put handles on the ends to help carrying it. Turns out, in hindsight, I should have made it deep enough for two levels/shelves of borders as the supply grew, so I made a second box as well. |
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| We have had a request for a place to post links to selected videos and articles of interest, so here it is! |
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Don Snyder writes:
Here is an addition that will warm the heart of any collector of hand planes. It’s a tiny plane for a special purpose. Get out your pencils, and sharpen them with a hand tool. Like most hand tools, it is enjoyable to look at and use, and it is much less noisy than the electric power tool it replaces. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zRGVe0Jl8A. |
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| Wayne Humphrey submitted:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOhZxvgkWNM
6 common things you might be doing wrong with your table saw.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HI_1bj4J1U
8 miter saw pro tips and tricks
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| There has been a safety recall on Craftsman radial-arm saws for a few years. If you own one, you can possibly get some cash for it by responding to the recall. See http://radialarmsawrecall.com/ |
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| Here is a link to a site that lists safety recall notices for woodworking tools. http://http://www.benchnotes.com/Tool Recalls/tool_recalls.htm |
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Surplus Woodworking Equipment SALE
The SLWG Surplus Woodworking Equipment Auctions have been temporarily suspended. Keep an eye on this spot for when we will restart the program.
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COMMUNITY
St. Louis Woodworkers Guild contributions to the local community
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Our Toy Builders are really eager to get started again and make unique fun things like these for the kids in the hospitals!!!
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YOU ASKED…
We know we have many creative woodworkers who design their own toys – as such, we’d love it if you’d share your creativity. It’s now possible for members (from the Members Only section of the website) to upload their own patterns. To ensure consistency in instructions and patterns, detailed instructions were developed and are on the website.
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Toy Committee Update
A reminder to those Guild members who want to provide toys to our partnering hospitals and agencies during these uncertain times, they continue to not accept toys. We are reaching out to them to see when they will be ready to accept new toys, but until we hear back from them, the Toy Committee will not be collecting toys until further notice. We do appreciate what you have done and look forward to getting this program rolling again.
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Collected
April — 0
YTD — 3,533
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Delivered
YTD — 1,475
Since 1994 — 71,337!*
*No Deliveries in March or April
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2020 Toy Program Major Contributors
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Over 1000 Club
Wayne Humphrey -1,142
Over 750 Club
Bill Meuth – 801
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Over 100 Club
Rich Sanders – 254
Vickie Berry – 208
Keith Lissant – 166
Bob Baird – 154
Bill Schuchat – 141
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2020 Target and Challenge
Progress towards our 2020 targets:
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| Target for Delivered Items: 7,138 |
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21% ACHIEVED
A Good Start!
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| 22% Member Participation Target |
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11% ACHIEVED
24 Members so far
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Toy Pattern Library is Growing
Keep checking the website for new patterns throughout the year as well as the schedule for donating seasonal items. We’ll continue to add new and interesting patterns for all levels of woodcrafters so check back often.
Find patterns at: https://slwg.org/community-involvement/toy-program/ |
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Organizations that we currently donate toys to include:
Foster and Adoptive Care Coalition
Mercy Children’s Hospital St. Louis
Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital
Shriners Hospitals for Children – St. Louis
SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital
St. Louis Children’s Hospital
Rockwood School District
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Dan Lender
Paul Bailey
Vickie Berry
Hal Donovan
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Steve Mettes
Bill Schuchat
Rick Weitzman
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| Please contact us with comments, suggestions or if you need to arrange pickup or delivery of toys. |
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Bring Me A Book Team News
NOTICE to Members who have assembled boxes:
A Pick Up will be held at the Shriners building on Saturday, June 6 from 10:00 AM until noon.
BMABStL has suspended operations until further notice. We are holding completed boxes in our inventory until we can deliver to them. We will have a better idea in late May or early June as to when they will restart their programs for 2020.
Tom Tierney |
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LOOKY! LOOKY! LOOKY!
See this article published in St. Louis Magazine about the Book Box Program.
Click Here |
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As of April 30, 2020
Unassembled Box Kits ready for members to pick up 0
Undistributed Book Boxes on Hand 22
Book Boxes Collected and in QC 42
Book Boxes Completed and Delivered to BMABStl
since beginning of program in April 2018 1003
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Book Box Program Major Contributors
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We will be posting major contributors for 2020 as the program moves forward.
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Tom Tierney: (314) 412-1817
Jack McKay: (314) 435-2232
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Charles Schrock: (314) 822-3709
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Check out the Events Calendar on the SLWG website HERE. |
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Woodworking Classes
Held at Faust Park Workshop |
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Upcoming Classes
To Be Announced by Email — Join the Guild to be able to take classes!!!
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Payment for classes:
-Payment in advance is required to be registered
– By check, mailed to Guild’s PO Box
– Pay online Guild web page through PayPal
– Pay at the meeting to Bill Schuchat
Please note that registration closes by the 5th of the month in which the class is scheduled. For example, for a class held in July, registration is due by July 5.
Registration or Questions?
Contact Bill Schuchat at wschuchat@gmail.com or (314) 406-1823
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Faust Park Workshop Information
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- To participate in the Workshop Safety Class or use the shop, you must have paid the current year Guild dues and have your current membership card with appropriate marking.
- To use the Guild Workshop during open hours, you must have passed a Workshop Safety Class.
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Shop Hours
SHOP IS TEMPORARILY CLOSED
Make Checks for Safety Class payable to SLWG and attendees must bring their current Guild membership card.
Link to Safety Class Signup and Directions to the shop on the SLWG website HERE.
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Next Shop Safety Class
When:
To Be Announced
Where:
Faust Park Workshop
Duration:
Plan for 3 Hours
Cost:
$20 for Current Members
To attend Safety Class, must RSVP by Monday prior to vicepresident@slwg.org
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GUILD MEMBERSHIP
Annual Dues Renewals
Annual membership renewal is available online with PayPal (preferred, as this speeds up the check-in process at the meeting) or at the meeting when you sign in.
If you are coming to the meeting and want to avoid a long line, put your funds in an envelope with your name on it and what you are paying for. You can just drop it at the table and not have to wait in line.
Current membership status is required for use of the Faust Park Shop.
Annual Membership Dues:
Basic Membership $40 (4 uses of the Guild Shop during 2020)
Full Shop Membership $75 (Unlimited use of the Guild Shop during 2020)
A basic membership entitles the member to four uses of the Guild Shop during the year. A shop membership entitles the member to unlimited use of the shop during open shop hours.
Member benefits also include:
> Discounts at Guild sponsors
> Access to Project Workshops
> Access to a local community of woodworkers
> Access to the secure portion of the website
Just Complete & Return This Application!
Or, bring the completed form to the next meeting and Join right there!!! Cash, checks, PayPal or credit cards accepted. |
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WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS
Christopher Broussard
Luke Havel
Robert Hazel
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If you are a current or retired Boeing employee you can now contribute to the St. Louis Woodworker’s guild through the Boeing Gift Match program. The guild is now an approved charitable organization with the Boeing program. As an employee participant, your donation of $25.00 USD or more or the equivalent volunteer hours of 25 hours or more will be matched 1:1 by Boeing. The maximum individual contribution is $6,000.00 or 6,000 volunteer hours. Your contribution is tax deductible as long as you follow three simple steps:
Step 1: Eligible Boeing employees or retirees first make a contribution directly to the guild
Step 2: After making your donation go to Total Access and click on My Community Giving – GIVE – Gift Match on the Boeing Gift Match page.
Step 3: Register your donation whether it’s monetary or volunteer hours and select The St. Louis Woodworker’s Guild and enter the total amount and the date of the contribution.
It’s that easy, you get a great tax break and it benefits the guild directly. If you have any questions, please email Wayne Humphrey at president@slwg.org and if I don’t know the answer, I will try to find it for you. |
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The St. Louis Woodworker’s Guild is now listed with Amazon Smile.
AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support your favorite woodworker’s guild every time you shop at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you’ll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to the St. Louis Woodworker’s Guild.
Simply go to smile.amazon.com and select the St. Louis Woodworker’s Guild as your organization that you want to receive donations from your eligible purchases. The AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price from your eligible AmazonSmile purchases. You don’t make the donation, Amazon Smile does. It truly is at no cost to you. Just make sure you go to smile.amazon.com instead of amazon.com. If you have any questions on how the program works, just send an email to Wayne Humphrey at president@slwg.org . |
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SLWG Officers, Board Members and Committee Leaders |
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President:
Wayne Humphrey – 314-440-2173
Vice President:
Bill Schuchat – 314-406-1823 |
Secretary:
Adam Connors – 314-495-1772
Treasurer:
Tom Tierney – 314-412-1817 |
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Directors:
Jay Noffsinger (exp. 2024)
Vickie Berry (exp. 2021)
Dan Sudkamp (exp. 2022)
Don Turner (exp. 2023)
Immediate Past President:
Bob Brinkmann
Marketing & Membership Chair:
Wayne Watson
Membership Coordinator:
David Schindler
Woodworking Show Coordinator:
Wayne Watson
Book Box Committee Chair:
Tom Tierney
Outreach Coordinator:
Open |
Newsletter Editor:
Grady Vaughan
Librarian:
Al Carlson
Toy Committee Chair:
Dan Lender
Shop Manager:
Wayne Watson
Classes and Workshops Coordinator:
Bill Schuchat
Web Master:
David Zemon
Media Coordinator:
Open
Legal Counsel:
Bill Hobson |
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Our Sponsors
The St. Louis Woodworkers Guild relies heavily on sponsorship to execute on our mission statement of education, community service, and local development. Please support our sponsors.
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(In-store only)
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