“It’s your chance to enjoy the company of other passionate craftspeople as you learn from the experts whose work you’ve seen in our pages. Live demonstrations and hands-on workshops are at the heart of this limited-attendance event.”

Sound familiar? Reminds me of another event we have come to know and love from that other magazine we enjoy reading. *Cough* Woodworking in America *Cough* (it is very difficult to work that into a cough. Try it!). While this is a pretty obvious “me too” concept, I say bring it on! In many things, competition means the consumer wins and I feel this is no exception. I lost interest in the travelling woodworking shows years ago and I was surprised and elated to see the recent growth of Woodworking in America. I was even more excited with their recent promise to do two shows in two cities. But now with Fine Woodworking throwing their hat in the ring, there has never been a better time to attend a woodworking conference!

Something worth mentioning is that I don’t see any reference to a vendor area. One of the most popular features of Woodworking in America is the vendor floor. But I am wondering if that has more to do with the Hand Tool Olympics than the presence of the fancy boutique tool dealers. Perhaps leaving the vendor area out means that Fine Woodworking will be focusing more heavily on providing high quality instruction and ACTUAL hands-on opportunities. Oh, and Nick Offerman at the banquet HAS GOT to be better than the comedic stylings of Klausz and Underhill! hehe!

You can read the full announcement for yourself here. Be sure to come back and let me know your opinion. How do you think it will compare to Woodworking in America? If you could only go to one event, which would it be?

Email us at woodtalkonline@gmail.com or call and leave us a voice mail at (623) 242-5180 or Skype us at WoodTalkOnline.

And we’re back!

Since Woodworking in America just took place last week, we devote the entire episode to discussing everyone’s impressions of the event. We hear from Tom Iovino, Tom Buhl, Nik Brown, Matt Gradwohl, Dyami Plotke, and Aaron Marshall.

Since most of this feedback comes from the active blogging community, I can imagine how we might show some bias. So if you went to WIA, give us some feedback on the event! We’d love to hear from you!

The Wood Talk Online boys are taking a Summer break! But here’s one last show for you to enjoy…..sort of… I’m hosting this one solo but I managed to get the guys to send in a couple of relevant audio clips.

This week, I’m heading out to the big tool show in Vegas, AWFS.. I’m going to be one of the judges of the Fresh Wood Competition. Want to see footage from previous competitions? Check these videos out:
Fresh Wood Competition 2007
Fresh Wood Competition 2009

We also have a big Charity Build coming up that you won’t want to miss!

And don’t forget the Christmas in July Sale in the Wood Whisperer Store coming up on July 22nd.

If you’re going to Woodworking in America, we’ll see ya there. And that’s when you can expect the next Wood Talk Online Radio show since Matt, Shannon, and I will be there in person! Should be an awesome way to kick off the next season of WTOR.

After taking a couple days to catch up on stuff, I am finally ready to share my Woodworking in America experience with you. This was my first WIA and my expectations were building all year long. I even vowed to skip IWF (the big tool show in Atlanta), just to make sure I could focus all my attention on this education-focused conference. And am I ever glad I did!

The Marketplace

The show consists of two main areas: a marketplace and the educational sessions. The marketplace was approximately the same size as the show floor at the traveling woodworking shows, only the vendors here were much more engaged and of a higher caliber. Even if you didn’t attend a single session, you could get some quality hands-on right on the marketplace floor! Somehow, I managed not to spend a dime but many of my comrades weren’t so lucky. In fact, I wound up helping some folks spend their hard-earned cash. And while the marketplace could easily eat up a full day, I filled most of my time with the sessions upstairs.

The Sessions

I originally had a nice schedule set up, but its amazing how quickly that all changes when you start meeting up with friends and going to sessions together. Here are some of the highlights from the sessions I attended:

Michael Fortune:
I went to Michael’s discussion on cutting veneer. The funny thing about a class like this is that there is very little discussion about actually cutting veneer. 95% of the talk is about setting up your bandsaw. Obviously you won’t get very far if your bandsaw isn’t set up properly. I enjoyed hearing Michael’s perspective on the bandsaw and some of the things he considers to be myths. These are things that directly conflict with some of the conventional wisdom that I learned from some very knowledgeable folks, like David Marks. It just goes to show you that there is always room for more than one right way to do something. To sum up, Michael says that by using low tension and setting the blade in the middle of the tire, there should be no need to adjust for the drift of the blade. And if you use an aggressive blade for resawing, a 1/3HP machine should be powerful enough for just about any resaw task. He also says the whole coplaner wheel thing is crap. This talk truly made me re-examine a number of things I simply accepted as fact.

Frank Klausz:
Frank’s demonstration was on the secret mitered dovetail. I don’t have a picture but I’ll try to explain this. Imaging a drawer with a mitered corner. But behind that miter, hidden inside is a set of dovetails. The process involves cutting a short miter into the adjoining piece first, then cutting a half-blind dovetail inside the new edge. Sounds more complicated than it is but Frank’s humor and accent would make watching him play a game of ball in a cup fun and entertaining. I’m half Hungarian so maybe that’s why I like him so much. Anyway, after watching the demonstration, I turned to my buddy Aaron Marshall and asked him if he would ever bother. Imagine going through the trouble of cutting a dovetail by hand only to hide it behind a miter joint? Luckily, a passerby overheard the discussion and explained that a real practical use for it would be in a bracket foot. You don’t want anything more than a miter visible from the outside, but a dovetail would give the foot tremendous strength. The light bulb went off! Makes perfect sense. Thanks random woodworking dude!

George Walker:
You guys have heard me talk about George many times by now. I love how he teaches design. But after watching his DVDs, most of the session was review for me. He covered all the standard ratio business and classic forms and all that jazz. He also went into some detail on the use of dividers, which works very nicely with my personal adherence to Relative Dimensioning. The most compelling part of the session for me was when an audience member asked George to address the Golden Rectangle and how it relates to the whole number ratios. After all, the Golden Ratio is NOT a whole number ratio. George’s answer was pretty straight forward. He basically said that the Golden Ratio is sexy to talk about, but if you really look at old furniture and forms, you’ll see that the prevalence of whole number ratios is undeniable. He had many examples to support his position. Good stuff!

Chris Schwarz:
Chris did a number of sessions throughout the conference but I could only make it to two of them. The first was on one of my favorite hand tools: the router plane. Chris gave us a bunch of background and usage information as well as tips on maintenance and sharpening. The second class was on scraper planes, which was a little less interesting to me. Frankly I was there simply because I was following Matt around and that’s where we ended up. But, the session was packed with good information. The take-home message there was don’t waste your money on the big expensive scraper planes when a $30 Stanley #80 will not only suffice, but actually work better than most other options. As an owner of two of these beauties, I agree 100%. I love Chris’ presentation style and it was a pleasure to learn from him in person.

Marc Adams:
I have been a fan of Marc Adams since I first started woodworking. A buddy of mine let me borrow some of his woodworking DVDs, and that includes a number of Marc Adams titles. Marc is a very clear and concise presenter and he has the added bonus of spelling his first name the proper way. He covered a few simple jigs for making circles and ellipses. I have made/used circle-cutting jigs for the router in the past, but I never had to cut an ellipse. Marc shows us a simple fixture that works in conjunction with the circle cutting jig to create ellipses of pretty much any size. I may not have picked up all the details but he said the entire thing is covered in his DVD, which I believe I still have in my collection. So I’ll be checking that out later. Marc’s enthusiasm and teaching style make me wish I had more disposable income so I could take a class at his school. Its one of the best in the country and I have yet to attend. Someday…..

The People

Between the sessions and the marketplace, it was a very busy weekend. But there was another thing to factor into the experience, and that was the people. Frankly, this was the best part of the event. It was like being back in school with a bunch of my old friends. I had a chance to put faces to names as well as catch up with some old friends like Tom Iovino and Matt Vanderlist. At some point, our little group grew to about 10 somewhat rowdy guys who were clearly having more fun than they were supposed to. Walking to White Castle with a bunch of goobers all wearing “May the Schwarz be with You” shirts was a sight to see! Watching them all scramble back to the convention center to address the resulting bowel issues was even funnier!

The very last thing on my schedule was the Guild BBQ on Saturday evening at Allen’s house. When we initially planned this, I assumed there wouldn’t be enough Guild members going to the event to actually make a real “get-together”. Holy smokes was I wrong. I think Allen’s final RSVP count was 30 people and if I’m not mistaken, they all showed up! That many people squeezed into Allen’s house was hilarious and quite a bonding moment. It really made me pause and think about the power of what we are all creating here with not only the Guild and TWW, but the woodworking community on the whole. Powerful stuff my friends…..powerful stuff…..

The excitement and buzz was infectious all weekend long and there was never a dull moment. If we were laughing in class or causing trouble on the marketplace floor, we were drinking beers and trading war stories from the shop. Certainly an event I’ll remember for a long time. Thanks to the folks at PopularWoodworking.com for creating this event and helping to push the woodworking community forward!

For more coverage of Woodworking in America, check out all the content in the Woodworking in America Round Up thread in the forum.

Questions or Comments? You can get a hold of us by either dropping us an email at woodtalkonline@gmail.com or you can pick up the phone and leave us a message on our voice mail at 623-242-2450.

Show Topics:
Safety Week 2010
Woodworking in America Schedules
Something new in the world of blotch control from Charles Neil
Your Voicemails!

What’s on the Bench:
Marc is traveling a lot and working on the design of the Summer Guild Build project (a chest of drawers). Matt recently went to a Lie-Nielsen even and is finishing up a storage bench.

Voicemail Questions:
Bill – Advice on making knobs?
Roberto – Cutting metal on bandsaw? Marc recommends a Lenox Bi-Metal Blade
Adam – Why does the suction drop off dramatically when going from 4″ pipe to 2 1/2″ pipe.
Mark – Should I resaw or plane 4/4 stock for drawer material.
Roberto – triple hinges? Adam Nolen sent us a link for a 3-way hinge.

Tip Clips:
Tom’s Tip – Safety glasses for every tool!
See more from Tom at TomsWorkbench.com
Kari’s tip – Benefits to being safe in the shop.
Enjoy more of Kari’s work at Villagecarpenter.blogspot.com

Sweet Deals:
Eagle America: For WTO listeners only, get FREE Super Saver Shipping on Any Size Web Order. Offer good now thru 5/31/2010. Must use Promo Code WOODTALK69 during checkout
Highland Woodworking Free Ground Shipping on Festool Machines within lower 48 states.
Woodcraft.com spend $25 get free shipping

Voicemail Comments:
Shannon Rogers – hand tools and power tools
John Ohio – Loves his jointer!
Tony V – Explains his tablesaw incident

And for those of you who like video, here’s the live video version:

Questions or Comments?You can get a hold of us by either dropping us an email at woodtalkonline@gmail.com or you can pick up the phone and leave us a message on our voice mail at 623-242-2450.

This week, we have a special guest host with us: Shannon Rogers from the Renaissance Woodworker.

What’s on the Bench:
Shannon is putting the final touches on his workbench project and is enjoying his time with his new Lie Nielsen tongue and groove plane. Marc is back from his classes at the William Ng School. Matt is trying to figure out how the heck he is going to get that new granite-topped tablesaw down into his basement.

News:
Woodworking in America conference announced: take the survey and win a prize!
Should there be power tool instruction at this conference? Tell us what you think in the comments.

Last chance to win a Super FMT!

Around the Web:
Be sure to check out The Spoken Wood Podcast, Matt’s new show! Subscribe in iTunes!
Clark sent us this link: an amazing mini boat-builder.
Brett sent us this link: furniture from wine staves

The Unplugged Woodshop

Highland Woodworking and Fine Wood Working magazine New Year’s Sweepstakes ends January 31.

LumberJock’s Winter Awards

Sweet Deals:
Eagle America – FREE Super Saver Shipping on any size web order. Must use promo code WOODTALK66 at checkout. Offer valid now thru 2/14/2010

Highland Woodworking still offering free shipping (in the lower 48) on all Festool machine purchases.

Woodcraft
- Free shipping on orders $75 or more coupon code 12010 (lower 48 states only and expires Jan 31, 2010)
-15% Off One Regular Priced Item Offer excludes All power tools, SawStop, Festool Products, Leigh Jigs and Gift Card purchases. Not valid with other coupon offers. Offer ends 1/31/2010. Use coupon code: 10110

It Came From the Forum:
What to buy a starting woodworker?

Email:
Carla asks about dust collection in a basement shop. Marc recommended Bill Pentz’s site for more information on dust collection.

Voicemail:
Lee- jigsaw not cutting straight
BedrockBob – Recommendation for wide bench chisel.
ShopMonger – How to tell whether a chessboard is veneer or solid wood.

Toms Tip: Flattening the back of those used chisels.
Kari’s Tip: Take time to befuddle future generations.

What’s on the Bench?
Marc is prepping for the big move. Matt has is “banana plane” back (the no.4-1/2). Its back from it’s rehab session and is performing like a champ.

Around the Web:
Lumberjocks.com.

Benjamin Moore iPhone App. NYTimes Article

News:
Woodworking in America: Furniture Construction and Design
Aug. 14-16, 2009, Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles, Ill.
Woodworking in America: Hand Tools and Techniques
Oct. 2-4, 2009, Valley Forge, Penn.
Register Today!

Sweet Deals:
Eagle America special Wood Talk Online offer: Free super saver shipping when you use the code “WOODTALK55″ at checkout and select Free Shipping as your shipping method. Offer good through 5/31/09. You have to check out their new site!

Peachtree Buy 3 get 1 free clamp sale and also they are having a big Memorial Day Sale.

Highland Woodworking Steel City 14″ bandsaw kit now $499, down from $799.

Woodcraft is offering 15% off a full line of finishing products and related items until May 25th.

Save an extra 10% on your order at Popular Woodworking’s Book Store, with offer code WWMEM09. Remember Every order over $25 gets free standard shipping!

Email:
We received a great email from David (runningwood) about traditional woodworking programming and how it reinforces the misconception that project should be done in a very short amount of time.

Voicemails:

Tim asked about washing filter bags. John is concerned about wearing gloves in the shop but doesn’t want to deal with splinters. Jim is having difficulty keeping his engrain from staining darker than his face grain. Bob has a question about putting a burr on his scraper.
Check out there helpful links on the subject of card scrapers:
Wood Whisperer – Barely Scraping By
Todd Clippinger’s Scraper Sharpening Method

Audio Segments:
Random Person Tip – Matthew Groves gives us a great Ebay tip.
Tom’s Tip – A neat use for Teflon tape!

Click to play

If you have any comments, or questions about something you hear today or something you haven’t heard, you can get a hold of us by either dropping us an email at woodtalkonline@gmail.com or you can pick up the phone and leave us a message on our voice mail at 623-242-2450.

What’s on the Bench?
Marc finally finished up the Hall Frame article and the Barbecue Cart for the Better Homes & Gardens 48-hr Blog Challenge. With an impending move and a new shop build on the horizon, its a busy time in the Spagnuolo house. Matt recently attended a class with “The Schwarz” and tells us all about it.

Around the Web:
The Saw Dust Chronicles 30 Day Challenge
Tool-Talker.com

News:
Woodworkers Safety Week 2009 starts Monday.
Don’t keep your chargers plugged in: Tool Crib article

Registration for Woodworking in America starts tomorrow!!!
Furniture Construction and Design Aug. 14-16 in St Charles, IL
Hand Tools and Techniques Oct. 2-4 Valley Forge, PA
Register NOW!

Sign up for the Wood Whisperer Giveaway!

Sweet Deals:
59″ Parallel Pro Clamp 4 Pack
Regular Catalog Price $149.99 (4 clamps)
E-Direct Special Offer $104.99 (4 clamps)

Email:
Zach wrote in and asked:
“I just recently began listening to your show, so if a similar question has already been asked, I apologize. Anyway, I’m very new to woodworking and I’ve become a bit discouraged as of late when I’m working on a project and things don’t really come out as I had planned, or I just flat out destroy something. So, did either of you guys experience anything like that or do I just really need to slow down and think things through more?”

Jimmy from Sweden wrote in and asked:
“Please ask your European fans if there is an good online store for woodworkers in Europe.
I am trying to get an hold of a combination blade from Freud for an 30mm arbor with no luck.”

Voicemails:
No Name – Outdoor wood recommendations.
Roberto – Refinishing a gun stock.

Editor’s Tip:
Cheap chisel protectors.

Status Report: Marc goes into a bit more detail on his Gadget Station: grain direction and acclimation. Matt is making his new bench out of……….(drum roll)……….PLYWOOD!

Around the Web:
If you aren’t on Twitter, you are missing out on the fun! We also review Charles Neils website, AntiquesBuiltDaily.com. Charles has a great collection of incredible videos and DVDs on all kinds of topics. We can all learn something from Charles’ years of experience.

Safety reminder - Tablesaw injuries to remind us of what we learned during safety week.

Review of Final Cut Saw Blade and more info.

News:
Woodworking in America hands-on classes sell like hotcakes!!
Fine Woodworking starting to sell ebook versions of popular titles. Currently you can buy individual chapters downloadable as PDFs for $2 or buy the whole book (ebook version) for $15.

Hot Deals:
Pop WW’ing 50% off back issues
Bessey K-Body Clamps 25% Off
Simple Green Cleaning towels (pop up container) almost 40% off.

Topics:
We discuss a recent article by Bob Flexner in the August issue of Popular Woodworking, titled “7 Myths of Polyurethane”

if you have a question or comment, you can email us at woodtalkonline@gmail.com or leave us a message at 623-242-2450.

Topics:

A Safety Week recap. Matt’s upcoming steam bending class. A reminder about Woodworking in America- Hand Tool & Technique Conference: Nov. 14th-16th in Berea, KY. A voicemail about hickory and color change from Denis, the Teenage Woodworker, and a voicemail from Craig about jointing boards with a hand plane and possible glue up issues. We then went into our main feature for the day: a basic review of bench vises. We have a few recommended articles for reference: “Making Sense of Vises” by Garrett Hack – May/June 2007 Fine Woodworking and also “The Workbench” by Graham Blackburn – Tools & Shop 2002 also by Fine Woodworking. We also reference Chris Schwarz’s Workbenches Book.

If you want to leave us a voicemail: 623-242-2450