A huge group of members, would be members and guests convened at our April meeting in Foster City. Craig started the meeting with the Officer reports.

Reports

Membership-Harold reported that the box of badges has been purged of out of date names and blue tags have been placed on those of new members.

The Toy Workshop will take place May 10th at Peter Wronsky's shop in Corte Madera. We will be building two-person chairs from the remaining "Holy Oak."

Programs-Jay reported the schedule of coming events. In July we will have Ron Hock at the Japan Woodworker. In September, the Fall kickoff meeting. October-Jigs and Fixtures. See the EVENTS column for more details.

Rebuilding Together-In the absence of Bill Henzel, Tony Fanning gave the details. It will occur at the Malcolm X Academy in Hunters Point. We will be assembling cubbies, bookcases, and shelving for 23 classrooms and other rooms. Tony mentioned that this would be the biggest undertaking that BAWA has ever been involved in. Lyle Bartlett has volunteered his time and machines to fabricate the pieces for us to assemble. If you remember, Lyle has that space age machine that takes a 4X8 sheet and drills shelf holes, cuts grooves, cuts each panel to the size required. It does everything except sharpen your saw blades. We owe a big thanks to him because without his help, we would not have been able to tackle this project.

Treasurer-Gene reported that "We're doing fine." He also reminded us that Woodcraft is giving us 3% of everything we purchase from them so keep your receipts and give them to Gene Wagg.

Rafflemeister-Stan Booker as usual had a whole array of raffle items and door prizes. See the end of this report for the items and lucky winners. Also the description of the Silent Auction items.

Announcements

• Mike Bray is on the cover of the latest Woodwork Magazine.
• Architectual Forest Products is going out of business and is having an auction. The preview is this coming Monday and Tuesday.
• Brusso Hardware also is going out of business.
• Global Woodsource opened by some employees of the now closed Northern Lumber has just opened at 1575 Terminal Ave. in San Jose.
• Arnie is having a plane making class on May 3,4. For future classes see the Classifieds section of this newsletter.
• Mark Rand gave away woodcarving magazines.
• Mike Bray told us about Smith and Fong, a place in San Francisco that sells bamboo (www.plyboo.com). They sell bamboo plywood in 3/4x4x8 sheets, veneer, tamboor and flooring also.
• Jeremy Ashley gave away some plastic boxes.

Show and Tell

Jamie Buxton showed a sample of California Live Oak, a common oak found in our area which, when milled, exposes a rather dramatic grain pattern and works like other oaks. Yeung Chan showed a beautiful box he made for his hand made plane. Linda Salter showed one of her "simple" segmented turned vases with only 265 pieces in it!

Guests

Craig called upon our guests to identify themselves and share their interests with us. Fred Molnar has set up a wood shop. Ernest Naples, the cousin of Don Naples came all the way from New York City to come to our meeting.

Ah, the Box Contest!

There were 10 entries. Members did the voting. The descriptions and prizes awarded are listed below. Unfortunately, Craig could not arrange new Cadillacs as prizes. Instead, a certificate was awarded to each winner.

Mike Bray-two types of Bamboo with sliding top and through mortise construction with a wipe on varnish. (Most original). Mark Rand-turned boxes nestled inside each other made from scraps with the Beall Finishing method. (Most Modern). Fred Reicher-Bandsawn box of Cherry finished with Watco oil and paste wax. (Most Classic). Tony Fanning-Headset holder and beer bottle opener made from Walnut. (Open category). John Blackmore-Mitered box with biscuits. Box made of Birdseye Maple w/tray finished in Tung oil and paste wax. (Most Intricate). Don Naples-Tea box with divided compartments made of Maple and Brazilian Rosewood. Each compartment had a lid with it's own distinctive wood. He forgot the lids at home! The seal coat was Shellac followed by Varnish.(Best of Show). Neal White-Box of Birdseye Maple and Cherry with splined miter joints finished with spray varnish, a birthday gift. (Best Execution). Paul Reif-A tray with compound mitered angled joints in Silky Oak and Koa finished in laquer, rotten stone and pumice (Open category). Peter Wronsky-Magic coin box/savings bank in Walnut finished with lacquer and wax and Mark Rand lost his quarter to the Magic Box. (Most Unusual) and a jewelry box in Maple, Bloodwood keys and a Lacewood top. (Most Useful). What a great effort by all who participated, we truly have a talented bunch of woodworkers.

Main Presentation

John Levine, Editor of Woodwork Magazine has been a woodworker for 25 years and editor of Woodwork Magazine for the past 6 years. He started as a part time carpenter evolving into a finish carpenter. He attended Laney College to get shop experience and heard a talk given by Ikoto Imai, a temple builder who spoke of building an altar using only hand tools. He was so inspired by the joinery used that he enrolled in Ikoto's classes. He became a furniture maker, improved his skills and added a Japanese theme, but didn't make much money. John entered a tansu on wheels of cratewood in a show in Napa where he caught the eye of the then editor of Woodwork Magazine, MacDonald. When he left the magazine, John was offered the editorship. He keeps a shop but rarely has time to work in it. Woodwork Magazine is a small magazine in terms of staff. Besides the editor, there is an illustrator, our own Mike Bray. Then there are the contributing editors. There is an important 3 way interface between the editor, illustrator and the contributing editor. He wants the magazine to have many voices, not the same voice. Pictures are of critical importance. It does not matter how good a piece might be, if it isn't well shown it won't have the desired impact and can't be included in the magazine. When an article is being considered for publication several questions need to be answered: Who might read the article? Is the audience wide enough to merit inclusion? How can it be fleshed out in 2-4 pages? Are the photos of sufficient quality to show off the work? Will the contributor follow up with changes in a timely manner? Next, the article is sent off to Hong Kong for pre-press imaging and comes back as galleys. The editor then reads the article carefully for errors and sends it off to North Carolina for final printing and mailing. John then reemphasized the importance of taking quality photographs of one's wood work. He recommends a single lens reflex camera with slide film, mounted on a tripod with a cable release. He suggests turning off all lights and then lighting the subject with 250-watt photo flood bulbs, about 8 of them. They can be purchased at Orchard Supply. He suggests putting diffusers in front of them which can be purchased at a photo shop. The subject is best shown in front of a neutral background. Fuji tungsten film, he says, works best for warmth of color. In any case do not rely on digital or point and shoot cameras. The quality just won't be there. Thanks to John, we can now all get our Box Contest items included in the next issue of Fine Woodworking! Thank you, John.

The meeting ended with "goodies" being carted away by members as follows. A Bubinga board in the raffle was won by Richard Shirasawa. Door prizes of book matched veneers, Gorilla glue and veneers from Brian Harrington were won by Linda Salter, Rudy Labrado, Scott Bloomquist, Russell Linscott, Fred Reicher and Jim Voos. In the Silent Auction, Scott Bloomquist became the proud owner of two braces and Manny Hernandez of workbench hold downs. Another great meeting!