Sasco, formerly known locally as ChemCraft, manufactures and carries a full spectrum of environmentally responsible wood coatings and finishes, wood protection and wood preservation for every market.

Owners Sam and Lizzie Sorenson spoke extensively on a wide variety of products, explaining their use and how to apply them properly for best results.

You can find out more about Sasco and their product line at http://www.sasco.ca

There were 30 members in attendance for this informative and entertaining presentation.

Back to the shop…

Kevin, who used to be a professional cabinet maker before working with LV, focused his presentation on the most common questions regarding hinges that they are asked at Lee Valley. Since most of the questions they receive are about kitchen cabinet hinges his talk centered around these types of hinges.

He spoke on decorative butt hinges, European style hinges, lift-off hinges, overlay hinges and more. He also spoke on table hinges, pivot hinges, screen hinges, barrel hinges, SOSS hinges and strap hinges. Each of the hinges that he explained were attached to a cabinet sample which made it very easy to see how they would look in a real application. This also helped in understanding how the hinge worked, in particular the SOSS, table and screen hinges.

Continue reading 'The AWA Gets Unhinged At Lee Valley'

Mike uses the program quite extensively and therefore he is quite familiar with it, and it showed. He took us on an excellent tour through the program, showing us a variety of features, by creating a table and a chair.

While creating these items he explained the extensive menu bar. Each component was quickly created with the push/pull feature and accurately measured to plan. The table even had tapered legs and the chair had an arced back and styled seat!

Using these real-life examples it became clear to us the simplicity of using Sketchup in our woodworking design and why it could be a valuable tool in the workshop. Thanks Mike, excellent presentation!

There was also a silent auction held for a variety of tools. These tools were owned by the AWA and used for the Children’s Workshop that was held each year in conjunction with the Halifax Woodshow, which, unfortunately, is no more. The tools included 5 Ryobi scroll saws, 3 Ryobi bench-top belt sanders, 1 Ryobi 10″ drill press, 3 Ryobi disk sanders, 1 Rigid bench-top oscillating sander and 1 Craftsman scroll saw.

Continue reading 'The AWA Gets All Sketched Up!'

The exhibition held May 17-28 1988 was hosted at the Anna Leonowens Gallery and the exhibition held in 1992 was held from September 10th to November 14th at the Mary E. Black Gallery. This was the 10th anniversary of the club and it was a juried exhibition.

The amateur video was earlier converted from VHS to DVD and although it is showing its age it is an excellent snapshot into the history of the club and clearly shows the professional level achieved by the members.

What really took my breath away when I first saw this video was not only the high quality of the projects but their diversity. There were carvings, both portrait and wildlife, Windsor chairs of several varieties, formal chairs with ball and claw legs, Krenov-style cabinets, tables with gear driven drawers, boxes, toys, all styles of woodturnings and a lot more.

In addition to the video presentation was a quick review of the newsletters from these periods highlighting the following:

Continue reading 'AWA – A Trip Down Memory Lane'

John, who recently won the Lieutenant Governor’s Master Arts Award for his piece entitled CSDC 3-8 (Compound Spiral Double Cone No. 3, 8 Sided), happily took us on an exciting journey through his creative process, carrying us from concept to creation, pausing only to reflect. Here, in his studio, we were witness to the artist in his environment.

John’s studio for the past ten years features a combination of antique tools that have been collected over time and quite a few tools that were designed and built by himself, each with their own story, like the bandsaw and horizontal lathe that he picked up from a Canadian Navy selloff. (There’s even a canoe that was once owned by painter Alex Coleville!)

Then there’s the jewel of the studio, his 30 foot vertical lathe that he built specifically for creating his signature helical shapes and conical forms. Being vertical the lathe removes the constraints, like gravity and length, that a traditional horizontal lathe are prone to with long pieces. Since some of his pieces are almost 30 feet long the space needed to do this horizontally would be restrictive. As well, turning something this length, especially something spiral, would pose another whole set of problems with bowing and whipping.

Continue reading 'The AWA Visits John Macnab’s Studio'

Twenty members of the AWA met at our local Busy Bee Tools for an excellent presentation by store Manager, Bill Luther, on the ins and outs, whys and wherefores of dust collection. (Get it?, sucked – dust collection… LOL! Groaner! I know, I kill me! )

Bill gave us a relaxed and down to earth presentation that took a lot of the mystery out of purchasing, installing and using dust collection and filtering systems. He began with the necessary safety considerations of airborne dust and its possible health consequences. He then gave an overview of the available solutions for this problem including dust collectors, dust filters, dust masks, downdraft tables and more.

In order to help us determine which system we would require for our individual use he explained the minimum cfm’s (cubic feet per minute) required for different size shops. He also made suggestions for permanent installations and the need for 4″ piping for unrestricted airflow.

Bill also explained the need for properly grounding the dust collection system. Although this is another one of those often debated issues within the woodworking community the solution is so simple that it is better to be safe than sorry. The problem is that the motion of dust and air through the pipes can cause electrical charges to build up, and this is turn can cause the fine dust particles to literally explode! The solution is to provide a low-resistance path for the static electricity to travel to ground and the easy and simplest way to do this is to install bare-wire grounding from the tools that you are collecting the dust from, like your table saw, through the inside of the dust collection hose or piping and to the grounded chassis of your dust collector.

Continue reading 'The AWA – Dust Collection At The Bee'

The meeting got off to a quick start with reviews of the year-end and financial reports. This was followed by the executive nominations and approvals. Finally, the proposed changes to our By-laws were voted on and accepted.

The AGM portion of the meeting only took about a half hour (gotta like it! ) which allowed lots of time for other things including Show and Tell which there were several pieces brought in for.

Here’s a turned bowl that was made out a 3/4″ thick piece of wood. Circles were scroll sawed on an angled, refitted, glued and then turned:

Continue reading 'The AWA Annual General Meeting'

For this presentation Dave took a 3 to 4 inch square of wood and turned it into a small winged bowl.

He started by gluing the piece of scrap to a plywood faceplate ensuring that it was centered. This was facilitated by using the tail stock. Then he turned the inside first, maintaining a proper wall thickness. Once the walls were at the desired thickness he reversed the wood and then finished the outside, creating a delightful small project.

Here are some photos:

Continue reading 'Scrap Wood? There’s No Such Thing!'

Kevin is a member of the Atlantic Tool Collectors Association and has been collecting tools for many years. He recently bought a farm here in Port Williams that has several large barns that will be used exclusively for this endeavor. His goal is that over the next five years he will be able to get his tools organized and displayed into the different areas of specialties like livery, cooper and wheelwright. There’s even plans to hold workshops in the use of these tools and the making of their specific wares!

The highlight of the tour was the collection of pedal operated tools from the W.F. & John Barnes Company of Rockford, Illinois that were built in the 1870′s. Here are a few photos of these fantastic tools:

Continue reading 'AWA – A Tool Museum In The Making'

Troy began by telling us that the company started because of the passion he has with period architecture and that he had found how hard it was to find well built wooden windows and doors. Using tried and true building techniques, modern technology, high quality woods and with the help of two employees he crafts real, old fashioned quality windows and doors.

Restoration and replication is a large part of their business. Troy swears by the use of AutoCad which ensures authenticity and correct details. Then, using Thermopane glass units modern functionality is ensured with historic attributes.

Most of the windows made here are for great rooms and grand entrances with about 40% of the finished product being shipped to the Eastern United States.

Continue reading 'AWA Wooden Window & Door Tour'