Summary of April 2012 Chesapeake Chapter Meeting

[Mark Maleski]

The SAPFM Chesapeake Chapter held our first meeting of 2012 on 21 April at the J. Gibson McIlvain Lumber Company located in White Marsh, Maryland, which is about 5 miles North of the Baltimore.  We had 42 members/guests in attendance.

We began our meeting with a tour of the facility, led jointly by Gib McIlvain (President) and Shannon Rogers (Director of Marketing).  This was an extensive tour covering exotic import processing, hardwood and softwood storage, and custom millwork operations.  Gib explained that they're one of the largest importers on the east coast and "if you've bought imported lumber from around here your lumber probably came through J. Gibson McIlvain."  Discussion topics included impact of Lacey Act on imported lumber (J Gibson provides certification for all their imports), effects of soil and climate on Swietenia Macrophylia (and suggestions to help select the best timber), and tips on new species to consider for specialized uses (e.g., Spanish cedar for carving).  This tour lasted well over an hour, covered multiple acres populated with stacks and stacks of timber, and varied operations (sorting, drying, cataloguing, and in some cases, milling).  We ended at the processing center for hardwoodtogo.com; this is Shannon Rogers' project to select and sell individual boards of interesting timber that would otherwise have been shuffled in with the rest of their shipments.  The group was rather breathless after this tour, and we next took a short break to gather our wits.

 

[Mark Maleski]

Next up: Show & Tell.  Shannon Rogers led off with a description of his joinery bench with planning beam.  His bench has a flip-up bench hook on the side and integral planning stop.  The bench and beam fully knock down for transportation.

 

[Mark Maleski]

Keri Hultman presented her Knockdown Roubo bench.  Built of cherry and maple, Keri has documented the construction of this bench on her blog.  It was a treat to see it in person - a beautiful bench, indeed.

 

[Mark Maleski]

Bill Ghio next presented his writer's stool.  Based on a design by Peter Galbert and built of cherry, Bill explained that his wife is a professional writer and sits on the stool every day.

 

[Mark Maleski]

Tom Devilio presented his federal style card table, and discussed the method he followed for bricking and making the paterae.

 

[Mark Maleski]

Larry Barrett presented a white oak carved box.  Larry followed a carving pattern from Peter Follensbee, used Tremont nails and formed gimmel hinges from cotter pins.

 

[Mark Maleski]

Slightly out of sequence, but here's another photo from the lumberyard tour.

 

[Mark Maleski]

And another of the tour.

 

[Mark Maleski]

Brian Landis presented walking sticks /canes made from kingwood with purpleheart shaft.

 

[Mark Maleski]

William duffield presented a framesaw he made from scrap and with a putsch blade.

 

[Mark Maleski]

Dennis Orr presented an American style hall table and discussed his successful French polishing technique.

 

[Mark Maleski]

Mark Hochstein presented a tea table made from curly cherry via a class with Chuck Bender.

 

[Mark Maleski]

Don Williams presented his Gragg chair, which was featured in his article in the current American Period Furniture, SAPFM's annual journal.

 

[Mark Maleski]

Don next presented a dovetail saw he made one afternoon - this one has no set but instead has a tapered blade (20 though @ teeth, 18.5 though at brass).  The brass back was first annealed then bent with crimping blocks.  The handle is fully bespoke for his hand, and therefore much more comfortable than any other he has held.  I somehow managed not to capture a decent photo of this saw.

Don also held up the Roubo working manuscript that's been publicized for some time now via Lost Art Press.  The collective woodworking community is eagerly anticipating the releast of this translation, and we were privileged to get and advanced peek at it.  Don said that he's learned many new processes that has changed the way he approaches finishing...then he demonstrated several of those techniques to us.

 

[Mark Maleski]

Don was our featured presenter for the afternoon.  He presented and demonstrated "Traditional Finishing for Today" based on his years of training and practical experiences in finishing, restoration and preservation.  He began with a bibliography coverging the most important/authoritative texts for traditional finishing techniques.  He announced that he is preparing his own finishing text, the SAPFM Finisher's Manual through Lost Art Press.  He then demonstrated surface preparation techniques and encouraged us to consider this the first step in finishing.  He demonstrated traditional finishing techniques, applying beeswax (as a final finish) with soldering iron, brushing shellac, and "English polish."  The group gained tips on selecting the best shellac, perfecting brush technique, selecting the best solvent for shellac, and others too numerous to mention.  This was a lengthy session packed with information, and Don held the group's focus throughout.  No simple post such as this could hope to adequately characterize the details or impact of Don's presentation.  Best of all, Don said he had a great time too!

In the picture below, Don is demonstrating the burnisher he derived from his Roubo translation (hopefully to be offered for sale soon via a source of his).

 

[chobbs66]

Mark,

Sounds like a great meeting.  Question:  does McIlvain sell to individuals, or do they work strictly on the supplier/wholesale market?  Cal

 

[Mark Maleski]

Calvin, It was a fantastic meeting and more than one participant (and perhaps even one featured presenter) was heard to say how much they valued the gathering and exchange of ideas.  Shannon Rogers would be able to provide the official answer to your question, but I believe that until very recently the answer would have been "no."  However, we now have our own embedded SAPFM agent (aka Shannon) to sort out the poor quality stuff (e.g., unwanted rift-sawn mahogany, boards that won't make good moulding because of birdseye, too much flame, etc) and offer it up via hardwoodtogo.com.  Shannon has a small selection posted on the site, but you can also contact him to ask him to keep his eye out for something specific you have in mind.  (Note that for now this is a project Shannon's running in addition to his primary responsibilities).