Business meeting

I apologize in advance for any and all errors in this report.

We had 19 visitors -- our booth at the San Mateo Woodworking show brought them in.

Clarence Kellogg -- founding member of Peninsula Woodworkers. Does woodworking, turning and baskets.

George Pugsworth -- has his workshop in the kitchen of his condo, uses the Palo Alto Adult Woodworking Shop.

Dale Chorney -- has been "making sawdust most of my life."

Barry Goyette -- inherited all the tools of his English woodcarver grandfather.

Joe & Susanne Czyzowsky -- Joe has made planters and stands, wants to refine his skills.

Rob Kutner -- once a commercial carpenter; now building his own furniture.

Andy Sobieski -- playing with woodworking now. In the dangerous business of buying tools.

Mark Atlas -- tuning his skills; has made outdoor furniture. Has time off from the .com.

Matt Hively -- has industrial design degree; makes (notes bad!)

Greg Irty -- (my notes are bad!)

Lutz Windisch -- built his own cabin at Lake Tahoe; now wants to make finer things of wood.

Toy Cera -- worked in wood originally; tried concrete; wife like wood, so he's returning to wood.

Don Lynch -- been in BAWA for a some time; this is his first meeting. A marine engineer with extensive tool collection

Gary Friesen -- moved from S. Diego to SF. does simple woodworking projects

Larry Perry -- has done lots of carpentry; would like to do more satisfying woodwork.

Carter Thomas -- home remodeling etc. would like to do smaller and more intricate projects.

Andre & Arni Friedner -- want to move into woodworking.

Treasurer Don Stern reported we have about $2,000.00 in our account. V.P. and Newsletter Guy Mark Rand reported the proposal to change dues paying anniversary to January for everyone. BAWA members voted to change the by-laws accordingly. Don Stern will calculate payments for all in the interim.

Holiday Party Co-Chair Connie Voos said although 37 people have signed up for the Dec 13th (banquet) meeting, only 13 have paid their $10/piece. PLEASE PAY UP! Connie passed around a sign-up sheet for additional members to attend.

Nominating Committee member Tony Fanning announced that Robbie Fanning has volunteered to take on the position of Shows Chair next year. This is really important to the club, as this is where most of tonight's visitors, and indeed most of our members, found out about us -- at our booth at the Woodworking Show. Tony also said that while the remaining committee chair and officer positions are filling rapidly, we still need volunteers for the positions of Secretary and of Hospitality Chair. This is a great way to get to know your fellow club members, learn more about BAWA and woodworking, and help the club. Please volunteer before the December party/meeting. E-mail Tony tonyfanning@mac.com and say, "I'll help out!"

Program Chair Jay Perrine announced the January meeting at the workshop of the Craftsman Home and Studio Furniture Store. The store is in Berkeley, but we will be meeting at their factory/workshop at the Alameda Naval Air Station in Alameda.

Hospitality Chair Stan Booker explained to our guests how our monthly raffle and refreshment systems operate. Mike Downey asked for information on turning baseball bats. Robbie Fanning reminded everyone that she still has the blue and red jacket that someone apparently left at last month's meeting. Mark Rand passed around some pictures of myrtle wood he purchased from Pacific Coast Woods. He found this company through www.woodfinders.net, a website where you can query for any type of wood.

Show & tell

Jamie Buxton showed several interesting wooden puzzles he makes for Holiday presents. He's looking for more designs. Email him if you know of any at Buxton@tdl.com

Jim Voos brought a work in progress, the faceplate for a Shaker style table. He received several helpful suggestions from members when he asked how to cut the drawer fronts out of the faceplate and have them fit really tight, with a gap smaller than a saw kerf. When finished, this promises to be a very nice table.

Bill Manix says BAWA has really helped him grow as a woodworker. He demonstrated a little more about the "tapping out" process for sharpening Japanese woodworking tools.

Silent auction

Don Stern donated a brass letterbox cover and Linda Salter donated an electric drill.

Main presentation

Carl Johnson introduced Brian Burns our speaker for the evening. Brian is also a Luthier, teaches Flamenco Guitar and makes classical guitars. I cannot begin to faithfully describe his method and approach in putting a back bevel on his plane irons. You need his book (which he has) to fully absorb his method. He developed the back bevel approach because he had a problem when he worked with woods such as curly Maple. There was so much tear out when he planed the wood that he used to lose as much as 20% of his wood. He had heard about the back bevel method and decided to try it. When he finally developed his back bevel, his tear out rate dropped to around 1%. He has different angles for different types of woods. He showed different types of planes that he uses. He has developed his own Honing Guide after he tried several commercially made ones and didn't like them. He uses a box with 3-3M stones of 200, 1800 and 8000 grits. He uses soap and water to moisten the edge and stone. His box has a lower part on which rest the wheels of the honing guide. He can vary the angle of the bevel by placing different thickness boards on the platform under the wheels. He has the boards coded so he knows which ones to use for certain angles. He also demonstrated his approach on some chisels that he had brought. As a grand finale, he showed a plank that he had planed and then coated with a finish. The surface was like glass! It was a great presentation.