I made a trip to Moncton, New Brunswick this past weekend to attend the 8th Annual Moncton Woodworking Show. Since the cancellation of the Halifax show a couple of years ago this has become an annual trip for me… and always a rewarding one too. Of course, by that I mean that I always find a way to reward myself with a little something (or two) when I get there!

I arrived just as Vic Tesolin, editor of Canadian Woodworking magazine, was beginning his seminar on ‘Tuning a Smoothing Plane’. He gave us a short and sweet version of the key adjustments that need to be made before using a smoothing plane. He also covered the set-up of a smoother and the proper planing technique for effective hand planing, including the proper stance.

Vic also had a booth here at the show where he was willing to answer any woodworking questions that you might have and to give more in depth explanation of the plane.

Continue reading 'The Moncton Wood Show 2009'

The highpoint of the American Association of Woodturners Symposium, if there can be anything above what I have already written about , would have to be the exhibits. This is where one gets to get up close to hundreds of woodturnings by the best turners in the world!

There were several different exhibits that included the Instant Gallery, The Spindle exhibit, exhibits by Gary Knox Bennett and Merryll Saylan, the Chapter Collaborative Challenge and the Spirit of the Southwest exhibition.

The Instant Gallery is an annual event where the attendees to the Symposium are invited to bring pieces in for this presentation. Each year, the attendees bring a wide range of beautiful pieces from all skill levels, from novice to professional.

This is the largest of the exhibits with the last estimate that I heard was around 900 pieces! Unfortunately, although I took hundreds of photos, I can only post a small sampling here:

Continue reading 'The AAW 2009 Symposium Exhibits'

The Trade Shows at the AAW Symposiums are obviously one of the popular spots and here at the 2009 Symposium with almost fifty vendors it was no different.

The Trade Show was opened throughout the Symposium which allowed you drop by anytime. As you can imagine it was a hubbub of activity.

There were tool suppliers, lathe manufactures, wood suppliers, books, videos and a full variety of woodturning accessories. Some of the vendors included Craft Supplies, Fox Chapel Publishing, Jet/Powermatic, Oneway Manufacturing, Packard Woodworks, Stubby Lathe USA, Tropical Exotic Hardwoods, Unique Mesquite, Woodworker’s Supply and dozens more.

One of the neatest things about walking around this area was not only the fantastic tools, deals and buying opportunities was some of ‘big names’ of woodturning that you would meet.

Here’s a few photos taken from the show room floor:

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The first Rotation that I went to on the third and final day of the American Association of Woodturner’s 23rd Annual Symposium was “Signature Dye Stain” with Chris Pytlik.

Chris demonstrated the painting and finishing technique that he uses on his vessels and discussed the development of a signature dye for hollow forms. He also explained in-depth his lacquering and buffing process.

The vibrant colors are achieved through this unique staining process and the brilliance of the finish is a result of up to a dozen coats of carefully applied lacquer.

Seeing this pieces up close and being able to handle a few of them was worth the price of admission!

Continue reading 'The AAW 2009 Symposium – Day 3'