Evergreen Woodworkers Guild » woodworking

Ukes on Fire

George K — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 03:51:21 +0000

While teaching a uke building class how to use hot hide glue on June 6th, one student pointed out that it was the anniversary of the great Seattle fire of 1889, which wiped out 120 acres (25 city blocks) of downtown Seattle. The rebuild created what is now the underground Seattle tour. Interestingly, the fire was started by a woodworker whose hide glue, heated on a gasoline fire, boiled over, igniting the turpentine and sawdust on the floor. Here’s a concise article on it from the UW library archives.

http://content.lib.washington.edu/extras/seattle-fire.html

Michael Dresdner

www.michaeldresdner.com

Woodcraft signs on to sponsor Tommy MacDonald’s WGBH woodworking show – Fine Woodworking

admin — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 05:26:49 +0000

Woodcraft signs on to sponsor Tommy MacDonald’s WGBH woodworking show – Fine Woodworking.

Amazing Carvings

willcee — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 02:54:09 +0000

Dalton Ghetti has been carving teeny, tiny pencil tip sculptures for 25 years.

The New York Times reports,

“Mr. Ghetti, who owns about as many possessions as a monk, is aware how unusual his craft is. He started carving tree bark when he was a child and experimented with everything from soap to chalk before settling on graphite. It’s second nature now, and for 90 percent of his work, all he needs is a sewing needle, a razor blade and a carpenter’s or No. 2 pencil.

‘The pencil tip is great; it’s like a pure, very homogenous material,’ he said. ‘It cuts in the same direction, not like wood, which has a grain. But when I tell people how long it takes, that’s when they don’t believe it. That’s what amazes people more, the patience. Because everything nowadays has to be fast, fast, fast.’”

Insane. Serious patience. Impeccable eye-sight. Incredible motor skills. Apparently Ghetti takes “years and years” to finish each project. Check it out.

2×4 Winners for 2010

willcee — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 06:14:50 +0000

2 X 4 CHALLENGE WINNERS:

BEST NOVICE:x Tom Pranger

BEST INTERMEDIATE ENTRY: Larry Omo

BEST EXPERT ENTRY: Neil Bonn

BEST RED GREEN ENTRY: Carol Zandell

MOST ORIGINAL/CREATIVE: Carol Zandell

MOST EFFECTIVE USE OF WOOD: Neil Bonn

BEST QUICKIE ENTRY: Carol Zandell

BEST USE OF A 2X4: Dan Haavisto

Many thanks to all the other participants, Ed Grondin, Jerry Ableidinger, and Jerry Wheeler. This year there were 19 entries from 10 people and pretty much everyone received a prize or a certificate.

Tablesaw Law

willcee — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 06:30:49 +0000

SawStop brings table saw blades to a halt

Last week, a Boston jury agreed in a landmark trial, awarding a Massachusetts man $1.5 million for mangling his hand on a table saw made by Ryobi, one of the world’s largest saw makers.

Now, 60 similar cases nationwide claim that the standard design of table saws, unchanged for decades, is defective. In addition, they claim manufacturers are negligent in failing to adopt a flesh-detecting technology like SawStop’s, which has been on the market since 2004.

Ryobi, Black & Decker and the Power Tool Institute, an industry group, declined to comment for this story, citing the litigation.

For SawStop, the cases — along with renewed interest from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission — represent a major score in the long fight for acceptance, which could lead to big dividends for the Tualatin-based company.