Before the meeting started, there was an announcement that Linda Salter had brought items that had belonged to her husband and she was giving them away. It is a sad time for her and our sympathies are with her.

There was a "first" at this meeting: the coffee was ready before the meeting had started. Glenn Krueg, the Hospitality volunteer had come an hour early and set out the coffee and donuts. He reported that he did not make the donuts.

Our meeting started with our Program Chair Jay Perrine requesting John Schmidt to introduce Ronnie Sorgi who was our speaker for the evening. John's club, the Tuolomne Woodworkers, had had Ronnie at their meeting and he told us that we were in for a treat.

Ronnie started with a little of her background. She was born in Santa Cruz (one of the few that actually was a native of Santa Cruz) but as an adult traveled extensively and her experiences left a lasting impression on her. Being an artist, she decided on woodworking for her art.

She got her degree in Fine Creative Woodworking at Rockingham Community College in North Carolina. There she designed her Crab Desk which won Best of Show at the local Fine Arts Festival. The desk was then displayed at various east coast cities. Later, her reproduction of a Windsor rocking chair was shown at the Raleigh State building. Another design was chosen to be shown at the Hickory Museum.

She stayed at the college and taught and took commissions for about two years while she developed and expanded as a furniture maker. One commission was selected for the American Woodworker's gallery for the American Woodworker's Show in Philadelphia.

Ronnie told us that she would be speaking and showing slides (with the able help of Don Naples) about 18th Century Furniture and the different styles characteristics of the Jacobean, William and Mary, Queen Anne, Chippendale and Federal Periods.

But first she showed us some of the pieces that she had made. A round table with scalloped edges which had won a 3rd prize. Slides were then shown of her Crab desk an original design made of spalted Big Leaf Maple burl, a Windsor rocking chair, a curved front cabinet of Bolivian Rosewood with marquetry of a tiger lily and a humming bird and a 4-poster bed with fluted posts which were over 5 feet high with finials. The posts are removable for ease of moving. She designed the bed by getting ideas from photographs. Very unusual and beautiful pieces.

She then started her talk illustrated with slides about 18th century furniture which covered a period from the 1600's to the early 1800's. These pieces were built either from drawings or from memory of the craftsperson who saw the piece and would include their own interpretations when building the piece.

Jacobean period was from around 1640 to 1700. Since sawmills and roads were few, they used local wood such as Oak and Maple and used splitters. They used frame and panels with elaborate carving, full and split turnings, painting with significant family dates on them. They were mostly utilitarian pieces with more elaborate pieces for the upper class.

The William & Mary period covered from 1690 to about 1740. Case construction was used then. Where the Jacobean furniture was massive, this period had lighter pieces because boards were thinner with better joinery. Dovetail joints were re-introduced. Spindle legs were dowelled into the case requiring stretchers which were very elaborate. Squashed ball feet and exaggerated turnings and very elaborate detail was used. Pieces had artistic drawings of Asian type motifs involving a many step process and finally using Gesso. The Gesso didn't stand up with time, so there are very few of these pieces left.

From 1720 to 1765 saw the Queen Anne period evolve. Most pieces were understated and they used case construction with carved cabriole legs on very high pieces. Rails were dovetailed into the posts so stretchers were no longer used with very thin legs. An example of a side chair showed a flat back with decoration where the legs joined the seat and the claw foot came into use.

1755 to 1785 was the Chippendale period. Here was the Queen Anne period but all details were exaggerated. Cabriole legs were more massive and shorter and the ball and claw foot was used. Elaborate carving and the corners were ornamented. Finials and brass handles were used.

1775-1815 was the Federal period. The style was opposite to the Chippendale style. Curved lines were not used and the ornamentation was with veneer including book matching. The style was very symmetrical with eagle insignia and urn shaped finials. A book case did have cathedral type shapes on the doors with glass backing. Different parts of the country had different styles. For example, Rhode Island was more traditional and Philadelphia had Chippendale.

This was the end of Ronnie's presentation which followed with many questions and a lot of discussion. Ronnie was a dynamic speaker and we all learned a lot about furniture styles and design of this period.

Guest introductions was next. We welcomed Mike Gollub of Mountain View who is just starting and heard about us from the BAWA Yahoo Group and Ken Rives of Millbrae who does carpentry and was "dragged" to the meeting by Carl Johnson.

After a break, the meeting continued with Announcements. Craig talked about the September Fall Kickoff Dinner which is covered in detail in this newsletter. He mentioned that planning for the October San Mateo Wood show would be discussed. Volunteers will be needed to staff our booth. Planning for next year's officers was also on the agenda. Craig called for volunteers to serve on the Nominating Committee. With very few volunteers, Craig volunteered as did Gene Wagg and Tony Fanning. Jay Perrine talked about shirts and hats and promised some for the next meeting. Harold Patterson said that the membership list will be distributed shortly. He also said that there will be a Toy workshop on on 9/25. See Events for details. He then read a letter from the Principal of Audubon Elementary School in Foster City thanking us for the 10 wooden boxes filled with stamped number blocks. He said that the students would be using them for years to come. Jay Perrine listed the programs for the following months. See the Events column for details.

Member Eric McCrystal announced that he will be opening a Woodcraft store at 1121B Industrial Road, San Carlos. He hopes to open on 10/18. Right now he is looking for full or part time sales people and also for instructors. If you are interested contact him at woodcraft561@rcn.com or at 650/631-WOOD.

Arnie Champagne asked if someone could help him set up his web site. Contact him at 415/282-1704 or at arnoldchampagne@mindspring.com. He also announced his new schedule of classes. They can be found under CLASSIFIEDS.

There was an update on Peter Wronsky who in September will be moving to Washington State for four weeks for new treatments for his lymphoma.

Show & Tell

Jamie Buxton reported that he had found a PVA glue which bonds to end-grain! When he broke the glue line, the wood actually broke instead of the glue line. The glue is Elmers ProBond Interior. He was not sure how he would use this information but it was an interesting test. He also showed a curved Front Hall table which would fit around a circular staircase. The end of the table below the higher part of the staircase was wider than the other end. He felt it would relate to the air space above the table in relationship to the stair case. The table had two curved supports of coopered Curly Western Maple. The top was a beautiful South/Central America wood called Cancharana. The finish was 6 coats of wipe on Barclays Gel Varnish. The finish is not as resistant as other coatings but shows off the wood better. He had just enough wood for the top. He had never seen this wood sold again.

Yeung Chan showed another of his classic planes made of Bubinga. He had a Cherry handle which is held on with double stick tape. The tape holds well and the handle can be knocked off with a chisel if a new one is required.

Arnie Champagne while traveling through Iowa and Wisconsin found a very old plane in someone's barn. The handles were two crosswise pieces extending beyond the sides of the plane with sliding dovetails. He bought it for $5.

Jay Perrine while traveling in Italy went to the Agazzani band saw factory. They make very fine bandsaws. He was surprised that there were only 50 employees. He had photographs showing the Euro guide that they use. When he asked why they don't use Carter guides, they said that they were not as good. This started a spirited discussion among the members about guides.

With all this traveling, surprisingly no one had traveled to Bangladesh.

On that note, another great meeting came to an end.