September 2020 Newsletter

Dedicated to the art of woodworking since 1984.

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Next Meeting:

NO
In-Person MEETING IN SEPTEMBER

Meeting Location:

 Video Presentation OnLine in SEPTEMBER

President’s Letter — September 2020

Things are still slow but starting to pick up a little.  Classes at the shop are filling up and if you are interested in them, be sure to sign up earlier as opposed to later.  Don’t forget that attendance is limited for social distancing reasons.  To see what is offered, go to https://slwg.org/events/.

We have signed up six new members in the last couple of months.  They have seen the value of membership even if there is no general meeting each month.  Use of the shop and discounts from our partners are enough to attract their attention and get them to join.

Speaking of general meetings:

It is our plan to live stream a meeting on the third Thursday of the month in October.  We hope to have committee reports, Show and Tell, a speaker, and who knows what else.  We are going this route because it is uncertain when we might again be allowed to meet at the Shriner’s. Keep an eye on emails and next month’s Newsletter for more information.

We will have another good speaker for the video meeting with Bob Lang this month and a tour planned for David Stine’s facility on the 26th.  David builds live edge furniture and his presentation last year was enthusiastically received.  See elsewhere in the Newsletter for more information.

That’s all for now and Stay Safe in all you do,

Wayne Humphrey

THIS MONTH’S PROGRAM
(Online Presentation)

Arts & Crafts Furniture Style

presented by

Robert Lang

The virtual presentation for the September 17th meeting will be on the subject of Arts & Crafts Furniture Style.  The presenter will be Bob Lang who is currently Editor of American Period Furniture, the annual journal of the Society of American Period Furniture Makers, and is also Editor of Pins & Tails Newsletter.  He is a former Executive Editor for Popular Woodworking Magazine. Check out Bob’s website HERE.

Details regarding the virtual presentation will be made available nearer to the presentation date. We will post this information on the SLWG website and send an email notice to all members.

LAST MONTH’S PROGRAM

SHAKER OVAL BOXES
Jay Noffsinger hosted a John Wilson video program on Making Shaker Oval Boxes at the August Membership Virtual meeting.

This presentation was a lead-in to the workshop that Jay led on August 22 and August 29.  See S&T section below for one of the participant’s accomplishments at the workshop.

Members can access a recording of the presentation HERE.

Guild (Picnic) Tour

September 26, 2020

The Guild annual “picnic” tour has been scheduled for September 26 at David Stine Furniture.  (Due to the pandemic, we are going to forgo the eating so everyone can keep a mask in place.)  Dave Stine made a presentation at a regular Guild meeting about a year ago, for those who remember. His shop is north of Grafton, Illinois between Alton and Jerseyville, almost exactly 45 minutes from Clayton.  See his website for the furniture he builds – https://www.stinewoodworking.com/.
An email will be sent to the Membership with additional details closer to the date.

The Guild has received a donation of $34.22 from the AmazonSmile Foundation

The Guild thanks you for using AmazonSmile when making your Amazon purchases.

See below for details on how to designate the Guild as your preferred charity.

NEW GUILD PARTNER

We would like to welcome Taylor Toolworks as a Guild partner.  Members can get a 10% discount on mail order or in person purchases.  See the member’s only portion of the website for the discount code.

Go to their website HERE.

ATTENTION:  CRAFT FAIR VENDORS

Do you sell items that you make at craft fairs in the St Louis area?  If so, I would like to pick you brain for a few minutes about how the Guild may be able to participate in craft shows.  Please call Wayne Humphrey at 314-440-2173.

SHOW AND TELL

Editor’s Note:

Show and Tell in the Newsletter has been a success and we will be continuing to feature the great projects of our Members.


Please send items you would like to post in future SLWG Newsletters to grady.vaughan@gmail.com.

GV

April Hazel writes:
Last month, I worked on my first wood working project, a sofa table. I made a lot of mistakes and learned a ton and had a blast. I especially am proud of the time I took to add the depression on the seats-it is so comfortable to sit at! 

I bought a few new tools and things and spent a lot of time just reading instructions 🙂

Also, I have completed my next project and finally have some organization. I used the plans from https://www.woodstore.net/Bench-tool-System-p/gr-00560.htm except I made the tall cart 6 inches wider than the plan.

I learned the half lap joint during the project also– I’m feeling proud of my first non-screw joint.
All the pegboard is so fun to organize and I love that I can roll around my carts. With a garage workspace, this is absolutely what I needed.

Bill Meuth continues to have opportunities for new projects:

My daughter is opening her own body art studio and is in the process of gathering the furnishings to make it her own.   She asked me to build a bookshelf to bit a 5′ shallow nook in the shop so I undertook the task of building a 5’x7′ office style bookshelf to fill her needs.
I used birch plywood for the shelves and spruce for all the front facing and bracing.  Other than a wood strip canoe I built in the 90’s, this is by far the largest project I have ever attempted.
Now that I’m done with it, I have resumed making a herd of dinosaurs to use up some of the scraps I have laying around.  I think the kids will love them at Christmas.

Paul Bailey writes:

My daughter asked if I could make some cabinets for her apartment to match the sideboard that her roommate had. Only difference was the height but they were to be a standard kitchen type cabinet.

My standing ‘rule’ to my kids is that if there is something they would like me to build for them, first they must measure it out, and give me a drawing with dimensions.

Well, here’s where graph paper comes in really handy!
I scaled out her request, and measured all the pieces (three cabinets-two simple side ones and a rather large corner piece.)
Turned out, that she had the corner piece so large, that it would not fit out the back door of our basement OR into the front door of her ground floor apartment OR down the stairs to where she wanted it!  Thank goodness for scale drawings.

SO, we ‘adjusted’ and I made them.  Having NEVER made any similar cabinets, I found a great ‘help’ video on-of course-YOUTUBE (most useful one I found for me was from downtoearthwoodworks.com, with Steve Johnson).  See this LINK for the video.

I also made face frames for the doors. She chose knobs she liked at World Market and put them on her self!   I also added floor levelers on all three since again, most floors and especially those in apartments are very irregular. Cutting holes in corners of the cabinets was tricky to be sure they were right over the access to the levelers!
I chose to make them out of 3/4 maple plywood since I knew that someday they would be taken apart (I’d screwed them together), and moved and the standard lighter weight cabinets might not survive a couple moves.

It’s typical–I made them from nice maple plywood, BUT she wanted then gloss black to match her room mate’s sideboards!

She also wanted a for cups above the cabinets. SO I made it to match. To hang it on their wall, keeping in mind it was a rented apartment, I made the mounting pieces for a French cleat to run the whole length of both sides.. IT is really steady and sturdy once I found the studs to attach to..grateful they were wood and not metal!!
All will be easy to move later….thought the cabinets are quite heavy!
This is yet another project I do not have at home! hahahahaha

Don Snyder worked on the design of a woodworking aid in August for 3D printing.  With a dial indicator mounted on it, the aid is used to set saw blades accurately and repeatably to 90° from the saw’s surface.  The aid can also be used to set fences on table saws and jointers to 90°.  Setting 45° and other angles is also possible.

Don notes that he designed this aid using OpenScad, which is readily available, free software for doing 3D designs and producing STL files used by 3D printers.
For details on this project and more, click on this LINK and download the Word document.

Akiko Takeda writes:

After 1.5 + yrs, I finally completed the tool chest that was a part of Wayne Watson’s “Fundamentals of Woodworking” class.  As a beginner, I learned a great deal about woodworking through the project and enjoyed the process immensely thanks to Wayne’s patient and superb guidance.

Tool chest with two drawers and a paneled drop-down door

1. wood: poplar
2. size: width 27-3/4″, depth 13-1/2″, height 21″
3. stain: analine dye, “Dark Vintage Maple” by TransTint (kindly provided by Wayne Watson). Solutions of two different dye concentrations were prepared in distilled water and applied to the light (with more diluted dye) and dark (with more concentrated dye) areas.
4. finish: lacquer/satin spray

Dan Vianello sent in a pic of his new work bench awaiting vise delivery.

David Schindler writes:

Here are the shaker oval boxes that I make during the class put on by Jay Noffsinger. I enjoyed the class and learned quite a lot not only on the way to make the boxes but also on numerous other aspects of woodworking. A big Thank You to Jay for the effort he put into presenting the class.

David Zemon’s cutting board journey:

I built my first cutting board in 2018 after being astonished at the price of large end-grain boards at local stores. When my dad saw the finished product, he loved it, and I immediately knew I had a good gift idea for the future. It took until July of this year, but I finally got around to building him his own cutting board. Much of the fun was in not telling him who the cutting board was for – only that I was building another one – which meant I was able to share each of these pictures with him in real-time as I was building it.

A big thank you goes out to Tom Tierney, who both advised me along the way and made his home shop available for part of the build.

The board is maple, cherry, and walnut. I used Cutting Board Designer  to design and plan the build. It is approximately 13x18x1.3.
Given that I don’t have a large enough planer, I decided to try using a jig with my router instead. This was the scariest part of the entire project because I tried this in 2018 as well (with a cheaper router and smaller straight bit) and it did such a terrible job that I had to join the local woodworkers guild in search of help!
Luckily for me, I found that a quality router with a large straight bit and a well-clamped board resulted in a very flat surface (two wedges on each side of the board held it in place against the aluminum walls). It took the better part of an hour to do both faces, plus more with the belt sander, but in the end I had myself a beautiful, flat, and smooth cutting board.
Once it was flat, I spent a bit more time with my brand new (to me) router table to round over the edges and dig out some handles.

Just a quick reminder for the stay at home time. Enjoy.

Rich Sanders

John Koenig sent in these pictures of a beautiful Walnut Cocktail table that he made with individually turned, tapered walnut legs with brass ferrules.  The solid walnut top has a deep chamfer, sculpted to blend into the radius of the legs.  

SELECTED VIDEOS

Scott Grove has a newsletter and videos on Creative craftsman techniques that may pique some Member’s interest. Click this LINK for more info!

TOOL RECALLS

 Here is a link to a site that lists safety recall notices for woodworking tools.  LINK

SLWG Surplus Woodworking Equipment SALE
No items to be posted in September.  Stay Tuned.


COMMUNITY

St. Louis Woodworkers Guild contributions to the local community

SPECIAL REQUEST
from
St. Louis Children’s Hospital Delivered
Recently, the Toy Committee was contacted by St. Louis Children’s Hospital about a need to have “Alphabet Letters” fabricated for their Art Department use.  Many of you asked to help.

Don Turner was able to supply 165 letters in just a few days.  Thank you to Don and those who reached out to help.

Julie Gant, Expressive arts supervisor for St. Louis Children’s Hospital, accepts 165 alphabet letters from the St. Louis Woodworkers Toy Committee on September 3, 2020.

  Toy Committee Update

 In late August, Toy Committee members Hal Donavan, Bill Schuchat, and Dan Lender along with VP Wayne Humphrey were invited to visit Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital.  It was heartening to see the children, parents, and staff.  The toys you build are much appreciated.

The Toy Committee continues to not have a need to collect more shop made toys.  We do appreciate what you have done in the past and look forward to your efforts again.   We are delivering to five of our seven partners (Yea)!  We have developed a three-month collection/distribution plan and anticipate collecting toys from you again starting in October 2020.  An emailing will be sent giving details for the collection when the date gets closer.

If you would like to contribute in a different way, consider making a more complex larger toy for the Toys-for-Tots St. Louis Program.  You are encouraged to finish these toys with bright colors for the holidays.  The Committee will be collecting your toys mid-October/November 2020.

Thank you to all who took advantage of the St. Louis Woodworkers Guild class event which was led by Bill Schuchat to built a Toys-for-Tots toy.

Dan Lender
Toy Committee Chair

You Asked…

I wasn’t able to bring my toys to the August Toy Pick Up – will there be another opportunity?

Yes, we will have one more collection day before the end of the year on October 6th.  We have enough toys for our delivery to regular hospitals and agencies through the end of the year –  so, we encourage members to make toys specific for the Toys for Tots program. The October pickup will be the last month for us to collect for Toys for Tots as we make our donation in early November.

Vickie Berry has volunteered to act as a collection point for members during the rest of September and October for those that want to contribute and won’t be able to make it to our next collection day.  She lives in Glendale and is available most days and times – just call or text her at 972-741-1944 to schedule a delivery time.

Toy Tally

Collected
September — 390
YTD — 4,316

Delivered
September — 0
YTD — 3,336

Since 1994 — 73,198!*
*No Deliveries March-July

2020 Toy Program Major Contributors

Over 1000 Club
Wayne Humphrey -1,142

Over 750 Club
Bill Meuth – 801

Over 500 Club
Rich Sanders – 564

Over 100 Club
Bill Schuchat – 221
Linda Turner – 217
Vickie Berry – 208
Keith Lissant – 169
Bob Baird – 154
Steve Briner – 142
Al Carlson – 123

FIRST-TIME CONTRIBUTORS

None this month – great opportunity!

2020 Target and Challenge

Progress towards our 2020 targets:

Target for Delivered Items:  7,138

47% ACHIEVED
Reduced demand due to the Pandemic

22% Member Participation Target

11% ACHIEVED
26 Members so far

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/

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

Toy Committee

Dan Lender
Paul Bailey
Vickie Berry
Hal Donovan

Steve Mettes
Bill Schuchat
Rick Weitzman

Please contact us with comments, suggestions or if you need to arrange pickup or delivery of toys.

Bring Me A Book Team News
It is important for our Members to know even though we are not building boxes at this time, the BMABStL program is still providing books to kids and exploring additional partnerships to continue distributing books and book boxes in the future. 

Hopefully, we will be building boxes before too much longer.  Stay tuned.

Tom Tierney

Book Box Tally

As of August 31, 2020

Unassembled Box Kits ready for members to pick up      0

Undistributed Book Boxes on Hand                                8

    Book Boxes Collected and in QC                                 14

Book Boxes Completed and Delivered  to BMABStl    
    since beginning of program in April 2018                 1045

Book Box Committee

Tom Tierney: (314) 412-1817
Jack McKay: (314) 435-2232

Charles Schrock: (314) 822-3709

Check out the Events Calendar on the SLWG website HERE.

Woodworking Classes

Held at Faust Park Workshop

Upcoming Classes
SketchUp Class
As a follow up to the SketchUp Class that was held in June, an email was sent to all Guild members to see how much interest that there is in a follow up class(es).  19 members have indicated interest in more classes with about a 50:50 split in interest in Beginner Classes versus Advanced Classes.

The Guild is planning an Advanced SketchUp Class 1.0 on October 1, 2020.  It will be open to all members who have at least basic skills in SketchUp including navigation, basic drawing commands, and inference points.

Location: Class will be at SSC Engineering, 18207 Edison, Chesterfield, MO 63005.

 Date:   October 1, 2020
Time:   7:00 PM
Duration:  1 hour
Cost:     $10
Each student will need to bring a laptop or personal computer.  If you will be working from the cloud, you will need to be able to connect to a wireless network.

Faust Park Workshop Information

SEE SHOP MANAGER’S LETTER BELOW FOR SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS DUE TO THE PANDEMIC

  • 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. 

October Shop Hours
October 6 & 7       10 am – 2 pm
October 10 & 11    9 am – 5 pm
October 13 & 14   10 am – 2 pm
October 17 & 18    9 am – 5 pm
October 24            9 am – 5 pm

Make Checks for Safety Class payable to SLWG and attendees must bring their current Guild membership card.

Next Shop Safety Class

When:
Thursday, October 1, 6:30 PM
Where:
Faust Park Workshop
Duration:
Plan for 3 Hours
Cost:
$20 for Current Members

Link to Safety Class Signup and Directions to the shop on the SLWG website HERE. Limit of 4 per class.

Faust Park Shop Rules to Keep Us Safe!

Rule 1 If you feel unwell or were in contact with someone who feels unwell please do not use the shop until you have been cleared by a health professional.

Rule 2 The number of people using the shop is limited to four (in addition to the Shop Monitor) at all times. Shop usage is on a “a first come, first served basis. A new phone number has been activated so that you may call ahead to ensure that the shop is below maximum capacity. The number is 314-348-3945. This number is only available during “open shop hours” It is not available at other hours.

Rule 3 Every person in the shop must wear a facemask at all times while indoors. Safety glasses must also be used at all times.

Rule 4:  Everyone entering the shop must have their temperature taken by the Shop Monitor. Anyone with a temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher will be denied entry. This is a St. Louis County health requirement for anyone using any building within Faust Park.

Rule 5:  Each person entering the shop must use hand sanitizer before they start working in the shop. Hand sanitizer is available in the shop for your use. Sanitizer first, sign in second!

Rule 6:  The Shop Monitor will be enforcing “social distancing” to the extent possible within our space. He or she will assign appropriate workbenches as required to maintain the best separation among all users.

Rule 7:  The Shop Monitors well be sanitizing the machine controls such as on/off switches, adjustment knobs etc. on a regular basis.

I would also like to point out that the Shop Monitors have all volunteered to continue to serve the Guild during these trying times, so please make their efforts easier by adhering to these health precautions. Doing this will ensure that we all can continue to enjoy one of the Guild’s greatest benefits.

Wayne Watson
Shop Manager

Join The Guild Today!

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.

Click here to pay dues online

WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS

Steven Anderson

Sara Burkhart


Jeremy Howard

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.

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 .

SLWG Officers, Board Members and Committee Leaders

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

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:
Bob Fuerman

Legal Counsel:
Bill Hobson


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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