SPLINTERS

Tennessee Valley Woodworkers
   Vol. 16/ Issue9               September 2001               Editor: Tom Gillard Jr. 

Meeting Notice:
The next meeting of the TN Valley Woodworkers
Will be held, September 18 at 7:00 p.m. in the
 Duck River Electric Building, Decherd, TN
All interested woodworkers are invited!


The following people have agreed to serve as contacts for their particular skills.  If you have questions, suggestions
for activities, or other comments relating to these skills, please call these folks.  Their interest is to help the
club better serve their area of expertise.  Your participation with them will help them achieve that goal.

Alice Berry     454-3815    Design                    Phil Bishop         967-4626    Finishing
Tom Church   967-4460   Turning                   Harry May          962-0215     Carving
Bob Reese      728-7974   Sharpening              Jim Van Cleave    455-8150    Joinery

Maurice Ryan  962-1555   Health and Safety



          NOTE from DOYLE
The Club will be able to take their exhibits to the Fair exhibit building on Sat, September 15 from  9AM until 4 PM and on Sunday September 16 from 1 PM until 5 PM.  We encourage all members to participate.  The exhibit will be for exhibit only and the items will not be judged.  We will have a presence at the Morton Village each night from 6 AM until 9 AM. and we will be
demonstrating on Friday, September 21 and Saturday September 22 from around 10 AM until.  We encourage  as many as can to come and join in.  If you have a project underway that can be brought, bring it.  If you have a lathe, scroll saw, band saw, carving tools or just yourself  plan on participating.
Any one interested in sitting with the display let Loyd Ackerman, Henry Davis, or me know.
Let us all have a good time.  If you have anything to sell bring it.
Doyle McConnell


              Calendar of Events                                                     List of Club Officer
                  Event                             Date                                                      President:  Tom Cowan
        Coffee County Fair              9/20-22                                                       V. President: Bob Leonard
        Fall Seminar 'Turning'              10-20                                                       Secretary: Shirley Bishop
        Christmas Party                       12/7                                                         Treasurer: Henry Davis
                                                                                                                       Publicity: Maurice Ryan
                                                                                                                       Newsletter Editor: Tom Gillard Jr.



  Black Ash

 The thirstiest tree  in the swamp. Basket makers venture deep into the wetlands to  harvest black ash for plying their traditional craft.

Northwood's basket makers know black ash (Fraxinus nigra) well. In Maine, for instance, this tree of the swamps was cut, pounded, and peeled into thin, strong, bendable strips to form the state's field-worthy potato  baskets. Portaging canoeists, hunters, and trappers traditionally hunkered under the load  of reliable pack baskets made of "basket" ash.

 Although never a cherished target of lumbermen because of its comparatively small size, the black ash rates as unique because its dark-brown heartwood occupies nearly the entire girth of its trunk, leaving  little room for lighter-colored sapwood. And in its springtime rush to grow,  the tree puts on a layer of large-pored early wood. It's this band that cleanly cleaves from the latewood, providing the thin, tough, and durable  strips that craftsmen turn into baskets, woven chair seats, and once upon a time, the hoops that held together the staves of wooden barrels.

Native to the northern wetlands, the black ash shares its soggy habitat with other water-loving trees, such as tamarack and black spruce. Few trees, though, can match its aggressiveness in sending out a massive root system. A fierce competitor, the tree sucks up water and nutrients at a rate that, over the long run, other trees can't match. So the black ash has few close neighbors. In fact, the tree's great demand for water eventually leaves it high and dry. Swamps occupied for decades by black ash become shallower, creating fertile conditions for successor trees like basswood, elm, and red maple that can't stand getting their "feet" wet.



Just a reminder to resister at the meeting for the router drawing.
Remember that the only way you can register is to be at the meeting.


Note from Jim Del Toro, Fall Seminar chair…

The fall seminar is set for Saturday, Oct 20th. This year's speaker will be Bobby Clemons, a nationally recognized wood turner. He is President of the Tennessee Association of Woodturners, a member of the Brasstown Woodturners Guild in Brasstown, N. C., and was the founding President of the Cumberland Woodturners of Crossville, Tennessee. Bobby has taught classes at the Appalachian Craft Center, the John C. Campbell Folk school and the Arrowmont School of Crafts. He was featured on HGTV’s Modern Masters Christmas show in 1999 and 2000 demonstrating his technique on turning his style of Christmas ornament. He and his turnings were also featured in the December 2000 issue of the “TENNESSEE MAGAZINE”. He has also been featured on the “TENNESSEE CROSSROADS” television show on PBS stations in Tennessee. Bobby will provide turning demonstrations on his Christmas ornaments as well as turning salad bowl, and rough edge bowls. More details will follow in future issues of SPLINTERS".

Mark your calendars!


Thoughts and Prayers are needed for the following Club members:

Don Helton


No matter what blade you're using, or what material you're cutting, you'll almost always have splintering along the edges of a freehand saber saw cut.

To prevent this, make a plate of 1/8" Masonite that attaches to the base of the sabre  saw with double sided carpet tape, see above.

A slot in the Masonite fits tightly against the sides of the blade preventing splintering.  A notch at the front of the plate helps you follow the pencil line.
 
 
 
 
 


Using Contact Adhesive

Contact adhesive will never replace regular yellow wood glue in my shop. But it does have its advantages. For gluing up two large surfaces it's quick and easy to use without having to worry about clamps or messy glue squeeze-out.
To apply contact adhesive, a regular paintbrush is all that's needed. I "paint" a uniform layer on one face of both pieces, see top photo. Then let it dry and apply another coat.
The key is to let the second coat dry completely. If the adhesive is shiny, it's too wet.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Once the surfaces are dry, the pieces can be joined together.
But since the adhesive grips on contact, you'll want to use spacers between
the pieces so that the workpiece can be adjusted as needed.
I lay dowels between  the pieces to start with, see middle photo.

Then after the workpiece is where I want it,
I start removing the dowels from one end.
Rolling the laminate down as you go will help
create a good bond, see bottom photo.




Doyle, Hugh, Henry, John, Tom
Loyd, Steve
@ TN Association of Woodturners in Gatlinburg, TN
 
 




WEB SITES of INTEREST

Arrowmont School of Arts and Craft

WOOD ONLINE newsletter

Falls Mill

Appalachain Center for the Arts

Forest Products Lab. 1999 Wood Handbook

Jim DelToro

Highland Hardware

Woodworker's Journal

Steve Graham's Page

WOOD Online TVWW page

Kevin's Woodturnings




Saw Blade Sharpening Services: Branching Out is now offering their services as a drop off spot to have your saw blades sharpened.  The blades will be picked up (Tuesdays), sharpened, and dropped back off at Branching Out.  The Leitz Tooling Systems out of Collierville, TN will do the sharpening.  Call (393-0525) or stop by for details.
 
 
 

Webmaster:
Tom Gillard Jr.