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September 14, 2007
Speaker: Michael Mascelli, upholstery conservator from Latham, NY
Location: Basil Hall, St. John Fisher College
Time: 7:00 PM (pre-meeting display); 8:00 PM (lecture)
Michael Mascelli, a master in furniture upholstering, refinishing, conservation, and repair is again in town to share his experiences with RWS members.
His resume is impressive:
- Masters Degree in Education, lecturer and author of numerous magazine articles
- Member of the Professional Refinishers Group, Early American Industries Association, and the American Institute for Conservation (AIC)
- Upholstering experience: all historic methods and materials, including hand tied webbed and sprung, cotton and horsehair. Full range of modern sewing, tufting, pleating etc, on all fabrics, leather, and modern materials.
- Furniture repair and restoration experience: traditional methods and tools, as well as complete modern shop capabilities. Complete finishing including French polishing, classic lacquer, varnishes and modern materials, faux finishing, gilding, and stenciling.
- General cleaning, repair and conservation experience in historic and heirloom objects, antique woodworking tools, and classic car interiors.
His workshop on Saturday will focus on how to get professional finishing results using off-the-shelf materials.
October 26, 2007
Speaker: Kelly Mehler
Location: Basil Hall, St. John Fisher College
Time: 7:00 PM (pre-meeting display); 8:00 PM (lecture)
Kelly Mehler's professional woodworking career spans 28 years. Kelly opened his commercial furniture making shop in 1978 in Berea, Kentucky, a town known for an abundance of local artisans.
Kelly Mehler's School of Woodworking is designed to give skilled and hobbyist woodworkers the focused attention and encouragement needed to build their skills, comfort level and repertoire of woodworking techniques. Kelly's experience as an instructor and his extensive knowledge of joinery and shop techniques make his teaching useful to participants at all levels of woodworking expertise.
Kelly's woodworking business has been devoted to finely crafted custom pieces that emphasize the beauty of the natural color and grain of hardwoods. Kelly selects wood carefully, primarily from the abundant forest resources of the Appalachian region. Kelly's trademark solid wood pieces use strikingly figured and matched wood that has been carefully air dried and sawed from a single tree.Kelly's formal training began at the University of Cincinnati's Ohio College of Applied Science in 1974. He continued to study Industrial Arts at Berea College in Kentucky where he was mentored by instructor and wood turner Rude Osolnik.
Kelly Mehler is the author of The Tablesaw Book (1992/2002, Taunton Press). Kelly is featured in two Fine Woodworking videos, Build a Shaker Table With Kelly Mehler, and Mastering Your Tablesaw. Kelly has contributed numerous articles to Fine Woodworking magazine, and has been published in Wood magazine (Better Homes and Gardens), American Woodworker, Popular Woodworking, Woodworker's Journal, Custom Woodworking Business magazine, and in the Time / Life woodworking book series.
A commitment to advise and educate woodworkers and manufacturers on table saw safety has been a strong interest of Kelly's. Kelly is currently working with the Advisory Council for Machine Tool Safety of Underwriter's Laboratory.
November 16, 2007
Speaker: Gene Landon
Location: Basil Hall, St. John Fisher College
Time: 7:00 PM (pre-meeting display); 8:00 PM (lecture)
Gene Landon is a world-famous Master Cabinetmaker who specializes in authentic 18th century techniques to make his quality products. Landon's shop is based in Montoursville.
Gene pursued his undergraduate work at Lycoming College and his master’s degree in biology and chemistry at Cornell. His professional career, industrial chemistry, and his hobby, furniture making, seem diverse yet they are similar. “I like to see how things are put together,” he explains.
His preparation for producing an item of furniture includes photographing every detail and measuring each element of the piece. Landon then produces a penciled profile or template of each major component. Then the carving begins. Except for the roughing out of a component with a power-driven tool, Landon accomplishes all his work with hand tools, selected from his extensive collection of 18th and early 19th-century molding planes and carving tools, neatly placed on shelves in close proximity to glue pots, cage drill bits and chisels. “As they would have done, I use handmade nails and old glues in the production of furniture,” he explains.
He is currently working on the carving of an impressive life-sized bald eagle. The block of wood is tulip poplar, salvaged from the last remaining Liberty tree, which was located on the campus of St. John’s College in Annapolis, Md. Once carved, the eagle will be painted in naturalistic colors and will grace Constitution Hall in Philadelphia.
Landon teaches at the Pennsylvania College of Technology and in conjunction with the Olde Mill Carpentry Shop. His extensive knowledge of 18th-century cabinetmaking techniques is graciously and easily shared with willing students.
January 25, 2007
Speaker: Tom Pafk
Location: Basil Hall, St. John Fisher College
Time: 7:00 PM (pre-meeting display); 8:00 PM (lecture)
With a college degree in model making and varied work experience, Thomas struck out on his own in 1987, designing and building architectural models, prototypes and exhibits. Occasionally, he would accept commissions for custom furniture. In doing so, he found that he liked designing and building one-of-a-kind pieces. Eventually the challenges of design and a reverence for beautiful wood ignited his passion for furniture making.
The common themes linking his work are uniqueness of design, commitment to high quality, and attention to detail. As a Roycroft Master Artisan, his first-love is Arts & Crafts style. He refers to his original designs as "Arts & Crafts style for the 21st century."
His goal has been, and continues to be, to design and build the highest quality furniture to suit a client's specific needs. Each piece is created individually, taking as much time as necessary to achieve perfection.
Roycroft founder, Elbert Hubbard said, "Blessed is that man who has found his work." I truly consider myself blessed.
RWS toured the shops of several Roycroft craftsmen a couple of years ago and we were very impressed with Tom's use of veneers. (He's lucky enough to be located just a couple of miles from Certainly Wood).
His workshop will focus on veneering techniques.
April 18, 2007
Speaker: Don Geiger
Location: Basil Hall, St. John Fisher College
Time: 7:00 PM (pre-meeting display); 8:00 PM (lecture)
Don Geiger was born in Gainesville, Florida in 1953 and currently resides on ten acres near Newberry, Florida. He started woodturning in 1999 and now openly admits that woodturning is now his passion.
Don attended the Arrowmont School of Art and Crafts and studied woodturning under master turner David Ellsworth in June 2001. He attended the David Ellsworth School of Woodturning, in Quakertown, PA in April 2002. He later assisted Ellsworth, at Arrowmont, with a class on "Turning a Hollow Form" in June 2002. Don assisted John Jordan with a class, at Arrowmont, in October 2002 titled "Inspirations & Surface Design for Intermediate to Advanced Woodturners" that focused on sources of inspiration and ideas, form and design, and hands-on exploration of carving, texture, and surface decoration. Don has also attended three national and two regional symposiums of the American Association of Woodturners (AAW).
Don usually turns wood that is obtained locally and doesn't have to pay for it. He and fellow woodturning buddies help each other harvest wood from trees that are already down and would otherwise be burned or put into a land fill. He and his buddies are frequently asked: "What type of wood did you turn that piece out of?" The reply is usually, "Free!" He has turned numerous natural edge bowls, smooth edge bowls, lidded vessels, hollow forms, and Ikebana vases.
Don is an active member of Hands-On Woodturners (Beverly Hills, Florida) and The American Association of Woodturners, USA.
September 15, 2007
Basic Brown and Shiny (Demonstration)
or How to Get Professional Finishing Results Using Off the Shelf Materials
Presenter: Michael Mascelli
The basis of this working demonstration is to demystify the most fundamental elements of getting a professional finish on wood, using common materials available at hardware stores and home centers. The session includes in-depth work with color, both dye and pigment, as well as time spent on all of the major finishes, shellac, lacquer, varnish and waterbase.
Due to the amount of material presented, the approach will be a “talking demo” which actually SHOWS all of the products, techniques and effects discussed using real products on real wood.
Using a “go around” approach, each participant will be included in several hands on steps of both coloring and finishing, and that by the end of the day a set of fully completed samples to which all have contributed, and the accompanying written schedules (or recipes) will be available to all.
In addition, each participant will receive a custom made packet of printed excerpts from various sources, which accompany the presentation, and provide additional information on each of the topics covered.
The emphasis will be on participation in an informal small group setting such that questions are voiced, answered and incorporated as part of the flow. Participants will be polled ahead of the session to determine if they have appropriate pieces they would be willing to bring for the demonstration, and every effort will be made to focus on the areas of interests for the majority of attendees. A variety of woods, both solid and engineered, and types of pieces including flat surfaces, lathe turned and veneered will be discussed.
NOTE: See the RWS Library for workshop video.
October 6, 2007
Incised Letter Carving (Hands-on Workshop)Presenter: Chuck Reinhart
This will be a “hands-on” workshop to develop the skills required to carve incised letter forms in wood. The workshop will follow skill exercises outlined in Chris Pye's book, LETTER CARVING IN WOOD. These skills start with letter forms made up of vertical and horizontal lines. Next letter forms involving angled lines are added, and finally those involving straight and curved lines.
Tool requirements include straight chisels of various widths, a few carving gouges of various “sweeps” and widths and a “v” or parting tool. A mallet, ruler, tri-square and pencil completes the list. Wood blanks for carving will be supplied.
The carving tool list is taken from those recommended by Chris Pye, in his book. These tools should be purchased prior to the workshop, if they are not already part of your carving tool set. It is also recommended that a copy of Chris Pye's book be acquired. Look for a used copy, through amazon.com or other source.
Tool list:*
Straight Chisel #1 6mm, 15mm, 25mm
Straight Gouge #5 16mm, #6 10mm, 16mm, 20mm
Fishtail Chisel #1 13mm
Fishtail Gouge #4 16mm
* A deviation of 1 or 2 mm from the widths listed will work.
October 27, 2007
Side Table with Drawer (Demonstration)Presenter: Kelly Mehler
NOTE: See the RWS Library for workshop video.
November 3, 2007
Sharpening Hand Planes and Scrapers (Hands-on Workshop)Presenter: Ken Turner
This hands-on workshop will consist of demonstrations followed by actual sharpening of hand plane irons and scrapers (straight and cabinet style) by class participants.
November 17, 2007
Building Period-style Doors Demonstration
Presenter: Gene Landon
At his Saturday workshop, Gene will demonstrate building period style doors – both raised panel, and glass pane. Construction methods will include mortise and tenon joints, making molding, raising panels, carving arched tops, and making mullion for glass panes. If time permits, we might get Gene to demonstrate some carving.
[As Tom Meiller's article puts it... "If you are a “Power tool junky”, don’t worry. Once you understand Gene’s period methods, you’ll be able to apply them using routers and table saws - but don’t let Gene know I told you!"]
NOTE: See the RWS Library for workshop video.
January 5, 2008
Pine Dovetail Box (Hands-on Workshop)Presenter: Tom Meiller
This hands-on class will involve laying out and cutting dovetails. A wooden molding plane will be used to apply a decorative profile. Hand planes will be used to make the sliding raised panel lid. The bottom will be attached with hand-made trenails. Wood will be provided.
Tool list:
Dovetail saw, bench chisels, smoothing plane, square, 6” ruler, marking gage, bevel gage, marking knife.
January 26, 2008
Veneering Techniques DemonstrationPresenter: Tom Pafk
NOTE: See the RWS Library for workshop video.
February 2, 2008
Harvesting Green Wood and Turning Green Bowls (Demonstration)Presenter: Ed DeMay
Ed will be covering several topics of interest during this informative workshop that include:
- Chain saws and chain saw safety: gas powered vs. electric chain saws, with an emphasis on chain saw cutting techniques, and safety along with many dos and don’ts for using a chain saw.
- Harvesting and preserving bowl blanks along with reading the grain direction of the blanks.
- Mounting green wood blanks for turning.
- Use of coring systems to maximize the number of bowls out of a blank.
- Determining wall thickness, drying of green blanks, and discussion of various drying techniques.
- Question and discussion throughout the workshop is encouraged and appreciated.
March 8, 2008
Using the Kreg Jig & Selection of Cabinet Hardware (Demonstration)Presenter: Mike Heiler
Mike will take us through the actual construction of cabinetry using the Kreg Jig. Selection and use of cabinet hardware will also be discussed.
April 5, 2008
Turning Pens and Bottle Stoppers (Hands-on Workshop)Presenter: Mike & Debbie Hachey
This hands-on workshop will consist of demonstrations followed by participant creation of Slim Line pens and bottle stoppers. Every participant will be using the same style pen and bottle stopper to maximize the skill-building potential for the workshop.
Tool list:*
Participants will need to supply their own Spindle and Roughing Gouges, #2 MT Jacobs Chuck, and a Scroll Chuck with Spigot Jaws.
* An additional charge for other materials is already included in the registration fee.
April 19, 2008
Sharpening Skills / Mastering the Side Ground Bowl Gouge (Demonstration)Presenter: Don Geiger
NOTE: See the RWS Library for workshop video.
August 25, 2007 - Saturday, 10:00AM
Woodswalk
The Western Finger Lakes Chapter of New York Forest Owners Association and the Finger Lakes Land Trust are hosting a woodswalk at the Krebs property near Springwater. The property is protected by a conservation easement held by the Land Trust, and is managed for timber production and wildlife habitat. This woodswalk will showcase how forest management and conservation easements can complement one another to protect land from development, promote wildlife conservation, support the local forest-products industries, and provide income to the landowner.
Betsy Landre of the Finger Lakes Land Trust will be on hand to discuss the conservation easement, the benefits it confers and the obligations it imposes on current and future owners of the property. She will also talk about recent changes in tax laws that make conservation easements more attractive to landowners, and whether and how landowners can pursue easements for their own property.
Billy Morris is a forester who has worked with the Krebs family to manage the property for many years. He will discuss the Krebs’ stewardship plan and show us a recent timber harvest on the property. He will also talk about how land management activities are influenced by the conservation easement.
For more details, contact Mike Seager at (585) 414 6511 or mtg-tr
rochesterwoodworkers.org.
Location: Meet at the intersection of Peglow and Dutch Hollow Roads in the town of Springwater.
Directions: From the village of Springwater, go north on State Route 15A. Take the first right north of the village, onto Wheaton Hill Road. Follow Wheaton Hill Road to its end at Wetmore Road. Turn left on Wetmore Road, then take a quick right onto Tabor Corners Road. Bear left onto Dutch Hollow Road, then the next intersection is Peglow Road. The total distance from the village of Springwater is about four miles.
Springwater can be reached from the north by taking Interstate 390 south to exit 9 (Lakeville). Follow state route 256 south to route 20A; take 20A east to Livionia. Follow state route 15 south from Livionia to Springwater.
From the south, take Interstate 390 to exit 3. Take state route 15 north through Wayland and into Springwater.
As always, your suggestions for possible tours are welcome. Please feel free to e-mail your ideas to tours@rochesterwoodworkers.org.
June 16, 2007 - Saturday, 12:30 PM
Sawmill Saturday
Greg Wolfe, Owner
585-315-8885
greg@gwwoidsinc.com3 Railroad Ave. Victor
(Village) NY, 14564
www.gwwoodsinc.comGW Woods invites you to their first “Sawmill Saturday” on June 16th, starting at 12:30 pm at the Victor location.*
Demonstrations: RWS member Brad Smith and his Timber Harvester Sawmill — see logs turned into the lumber you use for your projects. Lathe demonstrations provided by RWS member Ed De May.
Enjoy 10% all their products for one day only.
Greg Wolfe, GW Woods
585-315-8885 or greg@gwwoodsinc.com
* Directions:
GW Woods is located at 3 Railroad Ave. less than ¼ mile from Route 96. Simply take Rt. 96 into the village of Victor. Make a right onto School St. (look for the CNB Bank on the corner). Then a left onto Railroad St. just past the train tracks. Look for the big red brick barn. The entrance is in back.
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