Chesapeake Chapter Meeting (19 Nov 2022)

Mark Maleski

Administrator
The Chesapeake Chapter is pleased to announce our upcoming IN PERSON meeting on Saturday, 19 November 2022 in Harrisburg, PA. Thanks to Woodcraft of Harrisburg for hosting us, and to Ron Tatman for volunteering to give a presentation on windsor chairs (more details below). We are still seeking volunteers for show & tell and for additional presentations.

Chesapeake Chapter Lobster Net


Date: Saturday, 19 November 2022
Location: Woodcraft @ 3831 Union Deposit Rd, Harrisburg, PA
Time: 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

AGENDA

1. Open doors at 10:00am


Arrive, relax, have some coffee

2. Introductions and Show & Tell, 10:30am – 12:00pm
The “show and tell” is an ice breaker. Please bring anything you would like to show off. If you have a special piece, a project or even a jig, please bring them. For those who haven’t attended a previous meeting, this is a quick introduction, a display of your skills, interests, projects both past and present, jig, etc. It can even be a request for help in a particular area. After we go around the room, we will break for 30 min. During this break, you can seek out the other members who have similar interest and/or have already built a project/jig you want to build. This break will give you the opportunity to meet and establish a new friendship, pick their brains, and continue communicating with them after the meeting. This is extremely helpful for highly specialized niches, like inlays, marquetry, carving, Bombay chest, etc.

3. Lunch, 12:00 – 1:00pm

Our location offers multiple fast casual lunch options within the same shopping center

4. Demonstrations 1:00pm to 5:00pm
- Legging up a windsor chair by Ron Tatman
- Additional demonstrations TBD

Please send an email to [email protected] so we can have a head-count, and to let us know if you would like to participate in the Show/Tell or have a presentation for the group.
 
I believe we've determined our second presenter for the day: David Niescior is the tradesman at the Old Barracks Museum in Trenton, NJ. In that role he wears many hats, including shoemaker, toolmaker, joiner, and cabinetmaker. See his work here: David Niescior, Mechanick (@davidthemechanick) • Instagram photos and videos We are still working out the details of his presentation but anticipate he will begin with an overview of the recent projects he's made for the museum (including tavern table with hand-ground linseed oil paint, chests, sash, chairs, etc). He will then give a demonstration on the construction of several traditional hand planes, including his focus on replicating the "weirdness of early user-made tools."
 
Update:

Our next SAPFM Chesapeake Chapter meeting is less than 2 weeks away and we still have seats available. We've solidified our agenda and are excited about the planned presentations - details below. If you are interested in attending and have not already registered, please send a note to [email protected] to let us know to plan for your attendance.

Presentation #1: Chapter member Ron Tatman is an experienced hand with windsor chairs. We had the opportunity to witness Ron teaching attendees all about windsor chairs at the recent Hearne Hardwoods Open House. Ron brings a wealth of knowledge of the best choices of materials used in chairs and his favored construction methods. He handled every question thrown his way at Hearne, and can answer any you have as well. For his presentation, Ron plans to focus on his approach to "legging up" a windsor, though he will likely include diversions into other aspects of windsor chair building as well.

Presentation #2: David Niescior is the tradesman at the Old Barracks Museum in Trenton, NJ. You can see his work through Instagram and a Facebook Group that he started which focuses on 18th century carpentry and woodworking. He has generated a substantial following on those two channels, earning enthusiastic praise from experts in the field. His presentation will focus on the methods the 18th-century craftsman used and the resulting tell-tale marks that are present in period pieces. His session will focus on two parts:
(i) a talk showing photos of the various projects he's completed at Old Barracks Museum (e.g., a tavern table finished with linseed oil paint that he ground by hand, a window sash/frame that he built to replace a storm-damaged window at Old Barracks, shoemaker's bench, blanket chest, looking glass, and various period-correct tools including mortise gauge, and a full family of bench planes (jointer, fore, jack, and coffin smoother) and the lessons he learned along the way.
(ii) a demonstration at the workbench of making a raised-panel door, focusing on making the rail/stile joint and flattening/raising the panel using 18th-century methods. As he performs this demonstration, he will share his observations of period pieces and how to accurately reproduce this important element of period furniture.
If there's extra time, we can pick David's brain on plane making and what he's learned that helps him replicate the "weirdness" (his term) of early user-made tools.

Oh also, we have two (so far) show and tell items, including a demo of the new Accu-burr.

It's an excellent program that we're looking forward to - don't miss it!
 
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