“The 2009 Fresh Wood Student Competition highlights outstanding construction and design achievements by students from the best high school and post-secondary woodworking programs in North America.” That’s according to the AWFS website. But the competition is so much more. There were so many fantastic pieces on display and unfortunately I couldn’t film them all. But I got the vast majority and I hope you enjoy the footage. Some of the talent in this competition is simply mind boggling.

Music courtesy of MusicAlley.com. The first track was Juxtaposition by B.D. Lenz and the second track was Phideauxs Strut by Brian McRae.

AWFS is always a blast, even though this year we could see the effects of the economy in both corporate presence and attendance. But there were still some great products to see. In this video, you’ll see the following demos:
Rockler: Tapering Jig, Box Joint Jig, Bench Cookies
Tenryu: Festool Blades, Silencer series
Kreg: Beaded Faceframe System
DeWalt: New Lithium Ion Battery technology
SawStop: Professional Cabinet Saw
Gorilla Gripper: The Gorilla Gripper

We just got back from another great AWFS Fair in Las Vegas. If you aren’t familiar, AWFS is the Association of Woodworking & Furnishings Suppliers and its a show that occurs every other year at the Las Vegas Convention Center. This is just a quick video to give you an idea of what the show is like. Booths and product displays as far as the eye can see and lots of neat stuff to drool over. I even have some footage of the all wood sports car, “The Splinter”, as well as a quick look at the Belt Sander Races. And as if that wasn’t enough, the one and only Matt Vanderlist from Matt’s Basement Workshop makes a guest appearance at the end of the video! Tool demos and the student furniture exhibit will soon follow.

Darrell Peart is a furniture-maker, author, and instructor living in the Pacific Northwest. His work is heavily influenced by the work of the Greene brothers and as you can see on his website, Darrell likes to put his own spin on it. This interview took place in March of 2009 at the William Ng School. I took Darrell’s Aurora End Table class and he was kind enough to sit and chat with me about all kinds of things: influences, design theories, copying other works, and Greene & Greene. Darrell also gives a few tips to help bring out that inner designer inside of all of us (if it isn’t coming out naturally).

If you are interested in learning more about Greene & Greene history and techniques, you have to check out Darrell’s book. You can pick it up directly on his website and he’ll even autograph it for you!

A quick look into David’s latest creation. Its a massive disc-shaped turned piece with a big marquetry image on the front. David gives us a rundown on his process and some of the challenges he is facing with this piece. Its almost like an episode of Woodworks…..sort of.

David Marks finishes up his tour with a review of his wood boiling apparatus (used for drying out turnings), and his art gallery. The gallery contains many beautiful pieces by David as well as other amazing woodworkers. David caps off the tour by showing us his skills on the drums! And believe it or not, we have a few outtakes!

Also, David recently released his Scrapers DVD. It contains everything you need to know to properly sharpen card scrapers, cabinet scrapers, and gooseneck scrapers. I watched the DVD a few weeks ago and I instantly felt like I was watching a new episode of Woodworks (only more REAL!) You can pick the DVD up here.

Last summer, on our Gadget Station delivery trip, we decided to stop and visit the one and only David Marks. If you’re not familiar with David, he is an incredible woodworker, and used to host a show on HGTV and the DIY Network called Woodworks. But the show has been over for nearly 5 years and David has moved on to bigger and better things. While we were there, he was kind enough to give us a nice shop tour. This is pure gold for any big Woodworks fans out there!

Also, David recently released his Scrapers DVD. It contains everything you need to know to properly sharpen card scrapers, cabinet scrapers, and gooseneck scrapers. I watched this for the first time last week and I instantly felt like I was watching a new episode of Woodworks (only more REAL!) You can pick the DVD up here.

Some of you may recall our visit to Ohio last spring. While we were there, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to visit a woodworking store that I had heard great things about: The Wood Werks Store in Columbus, OH. Pictures just can’t do this place justice! Wall to wall tools, lumber from floor to ceiling, and a Rockler store built-in! Amazing! Since this store is essentially a woodworkers playground, I thought it would be fun to give you a little tour. Wood Werks has also made great efforts to bring the magic of their retail location online. So you can now shop for all the latest and greatest tools and supplies at WoodWerks.com. And I can’t forget to mention Wood Werks’ Powermatic Custom program. Its a PM2000 on steroids!!

The title says it all. We drove all the way up to Petaluma, CA to deliver the gadget station to the one and only, Leo Laporte. We had the pleasure of hanging out in the TWiT Cottage where Leo records all of his shows, and streams them live at TwitLive.tv. And the coolest part is that the gadget station seems to have found a permanent home on the shelf behind Leo’s desk. Nicole and I were quite ecstatic to meet Leo. Mission accomplished!

Road Trip! I was originally convinced that the Gadget Station would call for knife hinges. But just for fun I decided to take a trip to my local Woodcraft to see what they might suggest. Well, surprise surprise! I discovered a hinge that I had never noticed before. The Soss Invisible Hinge. I actually like this hinge better and I think it will suit this application perfectly. I hope you enjoy this little review of common hinges with our friend Frank Galloway, at the Chandler, AZ Woodcraft Store.

This series is now available on DVD! Order your copy today!

Links:
Gadget Station (Pt. 1)
Gadget Station (Pt. 2)
Gadget Station (Pt. 3)
Gadget Station (Pt. 4)
Gadget Station (Pt. 5)
Gadget Station (Pt. 6)
Gadget Station (Pt. 7)
Gadget Station (Pt. 8)
Gadget Station (Pt. 9)
Gadget Station (Pt. 10)
Gadget Station (Pt. 11)
Gadget Station (Pt. 12)