Last nights meeting of the Atlantic Woodworkers Association was an informational and entertaining one. We were treated to the seemingly endless wisdom of Mel Larsen, the Canadian representative of SIA Abrasives.

SIA Abrasives, with their head office in Frauenfeld, Switzerland, is the oldest manufacturer of coated abrasives in the world and a popular choice among woodworkers. Their noticeable yellow sandpaper is commonplace in many home workshops as well as widely used in industry applications including wood, automotive and metal.

Mel took a different approach for this presentation than he has taken in the past. Instead of focusing on the SIA product line and its use he took a broader view and spoke on wood and the steps to take to create a quality finish as well as the pitfalls and concerns.

Here, in point form, are the notes I was able to make from this fast-paced, tip-laden presentation:

Continue reading 'A Sand Storm Sweeps The AWA'

We were treated to two great presentations last night at this months Nova Woodturners Guild meeting. The first was a sharpening presentation by Don Moore and the second was an information session on hollow turning by Dave Wilkins.

Don began the evening showing us the various facets of correctly sharpening our woodturning tools. Some of the information he imparted (and/or reminded us of) included:

I just added a photo gallery for photos of my woodworking projects. I added this to give me (and you) a quick view of my work to date, sort of a ‘power wall’.

The gallery shows a thumbnail display where you can click the thumbnail to show the full size photo. From there you can continue to view the other photos in the gallery in full size by clicking either previous or next. The projects are shown in chronological order with the latest ones shown first.

There is also a slideshow option where you can sit back and watch as it randomly rotates through the photos automatically.

Yon can view this gallery of woodworking photos by clicking the ‘Gallery’ tab on the top menu or by clicking here.

You can also still view the full information posts for each of the individual projects in the ‘My Projects’ category here.

Enjoy!

Back to the shop…

Here’s a bowl of fire! Well, that’s what it looks like to me. I used an African hardwood called Padauk to create this bowl. With its rich grain and fiery red color it certainly makes a fine piece.

The bowl is 6″ in diameter and 2″ tall and finished with the new finishes that I recently bought. You can see how these finishes really enhances the project.

Padauk ranges in color from a deep red to a bright orange and it will darken overtime to a dark reddish brown.

Continue reading 'Pretty Padauk – A Bowl Of Fire'