Business meeting

Craig Mineweaser, President, led the meeting. He announced that Robbie and Tony Fanning were collecting the annual dues and encouraged those who had not paid to settle their accounts this evening. Stan Booker will continue to do the door prizes, but he suggested that we look for volunteers to do the monthly hospitality. Enough response was elicited to take care of the meetings for the next 6 months. (More information elsewhere in this Newsletter.)

Jay Perrine confirmed that the Box Contest will take place in April.

A workshop constructing flag display cases in honor of 9-11 will take place at Bill Henzel's shop on Jan 26 @ 9 am.

Craig welcomed a guest, Nathan Perlman to the meeting.

Arnie Champagne announced that the College of the Redwoods summer class schedule is out. Contact Arnie at 415/282-1704 for more information.

Raffle-Security had to be called as Stan Booker was overwhelmed in the demand for raffle tickets for the Reckoning Block. Tony Fanning was the lucky winner.

Show and Tell

1. Bill Manix displayed a rocking cradle of Honduras Mahogony he just completed for his and his wife's new baby. He used Japanese type joints which are a mortise & tenon with ½ dovetail called Shitage Kama. He also had 68 mortises for the side slots. The cradle was in parts and he actually put it together for us. There was much discussion as to the best waterproof plywood to use for the bottom. Bill will report to us in 6 months.

2. Nick Korens displayed a spice box of Cherry. He had a block of Cherry and had to re-saw it for the pieces. He said it was a good beginner's project because it used a lot of different techniques. He used a gel finish.

3. Arnie showed pictures of tables that he has made, among them one with curved rails made of wiggle wood. He showed one table with no right angles. It was of Rosewood with a Mahogany top.

Hospitality

We don't have a permanent person(s) for this position. A number of people have volunteered on an interim basis. Cheryl Bentson will type up a check list to hand over to each team. The schedule is as follows:

Feb Cheryl & Gary Bentson

March Richard Winslow, Dough Ryan

April Cheryl & Gary

May PLEASE VOLUNTEER!

June David Heim

July Harold Patterson

August onward?..Like coffee & donuts? PLEASE VOLUNTEER!

Let Robbie Fanning or Craig Mineweaser know.

Main Presentation

Jay Perrine introduced our host, Lee Jester, a manufacturer, restorer and retailer of Arts and Crafts furniture. His Berkeley store is called Craftsman Home located at 3048 Claremont Berkeley.

Craftsman Home is housed in a unique military building which was used to repair jet engines. He has been operating for seven years, with the production being done in Alameda and the retail sales in Berkeley. He restores old and builds new Shaker style furniture. Lee attempts to honor the methods and woods used by the old craftsmen of the Arts and Crafts era. Mortise & tenon joinery is used to last 100 years. Quartersawn White Oak from the Ohio Valley is the preferred wood. Cherry is used but is not as stable as Oak. Primarily custom pieces are built, with design work of the one-of-a-kind pieces being done at the Alameda location. Each of the workers is given broad responsibility to build the pieces before them, with Lee overseeing the total operation. Although fuming was the traditional method of finishing seen in Arts and Crafts furniture, it is not done at Craftsman Home due to the threat of lung damage. Alcohol-based Aniline dyes and wax are used in the finishing process. Some matching of color is done when an old piece is repaired. Some staining is also done however Lee has found that Aniline dyes age well. The finishing room is unique since it is a closed room with very thick concrete walls and steel door. This is where the jet engines were secured and actually run. He also has an exhaust system required for the finishing work. The membership as a whole appreciated the hospitality of Lee Jester. It is always nice to see a successful furniture making operation.