December 07 last meeting

Bill started the meeting with Announcements. The elections will be held next month. Although all the officers agreed to stay on for another year, he urged members to consider running because the officers are getting tired and will gladly step aside. Contact Bill if you are interested.

He also described the program at the December meeting. Details are elsewhere in this newsletter.

Mark started his yearly ritual of "begging" members to pay their dues. The dues are $30 for an individual and $35 for a family membership. Make the check out to BAWA and mail them to Mark Rand, 665 27th St. San Francisco 94131. Cash will also be accepted at the meeting.

Stan Booker said that he will be going to Africa in January. As usual, most of the luggage will contain hand tools which are badly needed in the schools and workshops. In addition, if you have a used or low priced laptop to donate, it would be appreciated. If you have something call Stan at 510 522-7879 or sbooker07@alamedanet.net

Frank Ramsay with the help of Per Madsen made boxes to place in lumber yards and hardware stores in the Bay Area with our business cards. Frank said that he needs volunteers to keep the boxes full otherwise they get thrown out when empty. If you can monitor a box, once a month in your area let Frank know at frankramsay8@aol.com or 415 495-7002.

Per Madsen wanted to know the interest in a tool making seminar by Yeung Chan. There was a good indication of interest so he will try to arrange this for next year.

Harold Patterson announced a Toy workshop 10 am-4 pm for Saturday, December 1 at Per Madsen's shop in San Francisco. He said many kits are built and need to be completed. Contact Harold at haroldp16@comcast.net or 650 349-7922.

Library talk by Dan Goodman - He reviewed a book called Woodshop Jigs & Fixtures by Sandor Nagyszalanczy. There are many very helpful and some unusual jigs to cut out complex shapes and even to make a sphere. He thought that the book was excellent.

There are two copies in the library and for a $1/month you can borrow it and many more books, videos, CD's etc..

Tool Talk Jay Perrine - He needed a bigger router table for his kitchen remodel project at home. He talked to Manny Hernandez who really liked the Bench Dog. Jay talked about the plusses and minuses of a number of tables including the Rockler (whose parts are not interchangeable with other models) and the Jessem. He bought a Bench Dog but thought that Jessem had a better fence. Of course since he had a one speed Porter Cable router, he had to buy a new one.

Bill then called for guests to identify themselves. We welcomed Joe Irber of El Granada who had been a member at one time and now has re-joined. Also, Bob Young of San Carlos. I forgot to mention that last month, we had Mark Jones of Morgan Hill as a guest.

Arnie Champagne then gave us an almost complete description as to how to make a door. He had a door to demonstrate on. First of all, he could not see paying $10/LF for Fir. So, he bought two old doors, planes them and had a new door for $20. He was afraid that the lock wouldn't fit since he had planed the door thickness but in checking on a piece of scrap, it appeared to be ok.

To keep us awake, he asked questions such as what's better quarter sawn or rift sawn wood for doors. He said rift sawn because the grain will run correctly. On exterior doors, he said that double tenons at the top, middle and bottom of the door are needed. Laminating the wood using two ¾" boards will not have a splitting problem.

There was much more that Arnie told us but one item that we should all heed is that the top and bottom of our exterior doors should be varnished at least every two years to prevent the door from splitting. Once split, you are looking at a new door. See Arnie.

Following the Break, we had a Silent Auction item which was a saw arm fence which Stan Booker sneakily out bid me at $67. The Pagoda board is still in the raffle. $1 per ticket or 6 for $5.

Show and Tell was next with Frank Taylor showing several items. He showed a a series of boxes with arches which he built for his daughter for storing money on a film shoot. Many of the directors and actors signed each of the boxes. Another was a secret compartment within a grouping of book fronts. He said kids love secret compartments. Then there were a series of exercise boards made from different woods with a System 3 epoxy which is workable for an hour.

Mark Bouquet showed a shoulder plane which had good ergonomics and a low profile.

Richard Winslow showed some boxes he bought in Russia and Eastern Europe. One was a Birch burl box and has a hidden drawer. Also a Cedar octagonal box from glued up tree limbs. He said that this is a dying art in that part of the world.

The Box Contest was next. There were 4 boxes from the Non Pro ranks and three boxes from the Pros. In the Non Pro group, Jerry Robinson had a chess board made of Maple and Cherry with a Bocote drawer pull. He made it for his wife who inherited an antique ivory chess set. He got a prize for Most Modern also Most Intricate.