September 2005

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Craig kicked off our August meeting with announcements and reminding members to wear name tags. The library has added magazines to the holdings. It now offers books, tapes, CDs, DVDs and magazines for $3 per month. The list is on our web site or our newsletter editor always has copies and also in the library.

The 4th Annual Kickoff Dinner and Competitive Show and Tell will be held in lieu or our regular meeting on September 15th. This is one where members are encouraged to bring their significant other. Robbie Fanning described the arrangements that have been made. It will be held at the Senior Center in Redwood City. The cost is $20 per person. Dinner begins at 6:30pm. The menu includes a Spring Mix salad, Chicken Parmesan with Angel Hair pasta, green beans Almandine, bread and for dessert Lemon bars, brownies and a cake. Members can bring their own beer and wine but no hard liquor. The cutoff date for sign ups will be on 9/6/05 since she has to tell the caterer how many meals to provide for. She warned that if a member didn't sign up then there will be no food available for that member. A Show and Tell competition will be held at the September meeting following dinner. Separate categories have been established for professionals (who sell their work) and woodworking lovers. As a added attraction, Stan Booker's wife will have a showing of African artifacts from Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda. Items will be on sale also.

The Woodworking Show is tentatively scheduled for October 28-30, 2005. Volunteers can sign up at the September meeting.

Our Rafflemeister Stan Booker showed off the goodies to be raffled off. Two large Maple boards also a Padauk board. For the Door prizes, there was Gorilla glue, a magnetic strip for tool hanging and two gift certificates.

Frank Colvin, the owner of the Sawdust Shop, announced that they are adding a vacuum press and Multi-router to their equipment arsenal. They have recently become distributors for the Tormek, Kreg and Flexcut product lines. Shop time at the Sawdust Shop is charged at 10 hours for $200 and staff is available to show how a tool works. There are also classes available and a retail store.

Next came Show and Tell.

John Blackmore showed some prototype alder, tongue and groove cabinet doors. One door used end splines, the other an overlapping breadboard to add structural strength and prevent possible bowing of the door.

Claude Godcharles had purchased a double bladed axe for $0.50 at the Alameda Antique Tool Fair. He modified an old hickory baseball bat to make a handle for the axe. In addition, Claude had purchased a Didgeridoo instrument for $20. Made in India, it is a copy of the Australian aboriginal musical instrument. The Australian instruments are created from tree branches that have been hollowed out by termites. Claude is trying to improve the musical quality of his instrument by hollowing it out more and asked for ideas. Several members offered to donate termites.

John Schmidt has been making pens from a new material -- corn cobs. He purchases his corn cobs from a pet shop in Modesto. You have to go to the Squirrel section, he added. He removes the kernels from the cob, then fills the open structure with a cyanoacrylate glue. It usually takes three layers of glue to create an even coating. He sands first with 100 grit, building to 600 grit. He finishes with a resin sealer, French polish and renaissance wax. He will take gift pens to his 62nd high school reunion in Iowa -- just a bunch of farmers. One member suggested he try making pens from pine cones. How about watermelons, John?

The Woodcraft Store will be conducting a competition to see who can make the longest, thinnest shaving using a Lie Nielsen hand plane. The prize is a $200 gift certificate.

The evenings featured speaker was Jared Rusten of the J. Rusten Furniture Studio.

Jared opened his furniture studio in San Jose two years ago after returning to the Bay Area from Arizona. His focus is to build solid wood furniture in a clean, modern style.

After high school, Jared began studying for a design degree in college. Soon he became discouraged, feeling a strong desired "to build". Following his passion, he returned to the West Coast from Arizona investigating several college woodworking programs. One weekend he decided to visit the Cerritos College program in Anaheim. Not expecting more than an empty small shop, he was delighted to find a 20,000 square foot shop filled with industrious students, all busily working on a Sunday afternoon. He was home.

After graduating, Jared worked for several woodworkers in Pasadena, including William Stranger. He was active in the Woodworking Guild of Southern California. He returned to San Jose two years ago and has opened his shop in an old Hell's Angel store front. Wanting to change the image of the building, Jared covered the front windows with paper patterns he had salvage from a stained-glass shop in Pasadena. Now visitors are greeted with gothic images of friars and vicars.

His first job was to make custom cabinets and it enabled him to get established. A film-making friend of his, David Thompson, made a documentary movie showing Jared making his signature piece chair. Titled "Palo Alto" after the name of the chair, the film was shown at the San Francisco film festival in February 2005 and has led good press "buzz" and to a series of commissions. The film was then showed.

Jared is making two lines of furniture today, the Palo Alto and the Cupertino. The names were chosen to commemorate Jared's return to the Bay Area.

Jared uses highly figured Claro Walnut for the seats and backs of his Palo Alto chair. He came by his Walnut in a most unusual way. A pallet maker in the Central Valley had surplus Walnut and was seeking ways to get rid of it. Jared saw the highly figured wood and offered to trade a chair for all he could carry away. The pallet maker accepted and Jared loaded his truck with 1000 board feet of 28" wide quarter sawn slabs of 6/4 and 8/4 Claro Walnut. With the treasure trove of 66 slabs carefully racked and stored, purchase offers are politely declined.

The Palo Alto Chair is distinguished by its cantilevered seat and curved legs. The design was realized by approaching the piece as it will be used and viewed. Jared did a lot of sitting. The asymmetrical curve on the front legs incorporate different radii of curvature above and below the seat. The legs taper slightly from top to bottom. The seat sits in a dado on the legs, supported by a front stretcher. The back is glue in place with Gorilla glue. The assembled chair is sanded to 400 grit, then finished with linseed oil and varnish. Jared is experimenting with a new tung oil made by Southerland and Wells. It is manufactured with more user friendly solvents.

Currently Jared is building a set of 8 Palo Alto chairs, in two groups of 4. A Palo Alto desk is also being built. He is experimenting with bent laminations for another line of furniture. A prospective client has asked him to design and build a 48" x 96" Cherry dining room table. His objective is to produce 10 pieces of furniture per month, a goal he can achieve without having to hire employees.

The Palo Alto Chair sells in the gallery for $2500. Galleries typically buy at a 50% discount. Jared prices his work using a formula of $500 per day for labor plus materials. He will be attending a Furniture Show in New York City. His furniture is also shown in two San Diego galleries.

Following his presentation, he fielded many questions and a good discussion followed. The meeting ended with Tom Romer disappearing into the night with the 2 Maple boards. The Padauk board will have to wait until more tickets are sold. The door prize winners disappeared into the night before their names were recorded. Another successful and educating meeting ended with satisfied members going home clutching their purchases from the Saw Dust shop.


John Blackmore & Mark Rand