Adam Cherubini
Well-known member
I'm home from Woodworking in America, Popular Woodworking magazine's hand tool only ww conference. The conference had more than a little content that would have been of interest to sapfm members.
Aside from my 18th c demo booth in the market place with hi-def video projection for scribe line level resolution, traditional tool makers Clark and Williams, Philly Planes (phillyplanes.co.uk- Phil makes a sweet drawer bottom plow)), and Mike Wenzloff and Sons saw makers were on hand.
Just in case you were looking for a sweet cove and bead plane to top your new bookcase or flat top chest on frame, old tool dealer Clarence Blanchard was there with 2 in stock. I picked up a nice shallow Addis gouge. Joel, from toolsforworkingwood.com had a nice booth and was generous enough to lend tools, whetstones, dt saws, to offer my visitors a chance to compare his products with the many others' that cluttered my bench. His sweet little frame saw with an awesome coping saw blade, perfect for coping out dt waste, was tough to say goodbye to. I use a hardware store coping saw which, until this weekend, I always figured was "good enough". Wrong. Joel's blades are longer and better than any I've ever used.
While there theere was no official sapfm booth or representation (why is that again?) Minnesota Chapter's President Mike Siemsen was on hand and left a stack of sapfm brochures on my bench (carefully positioned under the hi-def camera) which were quickly snapped up.
Welsh bodger Don Weber had his lathe set up. Mike Dunbar gave talks on bench planes, sharpening curved tools, and Roy Underhill led a class on chisels, and hand cut mortises. Frank Klaus was on hand to discuss dovetails.
Though I know many of you would sooner give up your muskets as give up your table saws, the hand tool demographhic is said to be the only growing market in the ww industry. It's also a younger demographic, essential for ensuring the vitality of organizations like sapfm and the ww industry as a whole.
While the focus was on hand tools, I felt there was a hunger for more information about their application. I did a couple demos on 18th c fitting planes which, though unintentional, had the effect and feeling of a TV informercial. Let's face it, most of us know dado planes and match planes and well tuned rabbets work with jaw dropping speed. But most guys don't.
I hope sapfm as an organization and more sapfm members consider attending future conferences of this sort. It's pretty clear there's an interest in this sort of thing. If I had it to do all over again, I would have brought sample joints or partly finished pieces to help guys relate the tools to specific period joints/surfaces. I recommend this approach for a sapfm booth, even if it's just "this is the tool that cut this joint" sort of thing.
It was great meeting Mike and Dean Jansa and a handful of other sapfm members. But as the days wore on I was disappointed that more members didn't attend as I think they would have enjoyed it and I think the organization would have benefitted from being there.
Adam
Aside from my 18th c demo booth in the market place with hi-def video projection for scribe line level resolution, traditional tool makers Clark and Williams, Philly Planes (phillyplanes.co.uk- Phil makes a sweet drawer bottom plow)), and Mike Wenzloff and Sons saw makers were on hand.
Just in case you were looking for a sweet cove and bead plane to top your new bookcase or flat top chest on frame, old tool dealer Clarence Blanchard was there with 2 in stock. I picked up a nice shallow Addis gouge. Joel, from toolsforworkingwood.com had a nice booth and was generous enough to lend tools, whetstones, dt saws, to offer my visitors a chance to compare his products with the many others' that cluttered my bench. His sweet little frame saw with an awesome coping saw blade, perfect for coping out dt waste, was tough to say goodbye to. I use a hardware store coping saw which, until this weekend, I always figured was "good enough". Wrong. Joel's blades are longer and better than any I've ever used.
While there theere was no official sapfm booth or representation (why is that again?) Minnesota Chapter's President Mike Siemsen was on hand and left a stack of sapfm brochures on my bench (carefully positioned under the hi-def camera) which were quickly snapped up.
Welsh bodger Don Weber had his lathe set up. Mike Dunbar gave talks on bench planes, sharpening curved tools, and Roy Underhill led a class on chisels, and hand cut mortises. Frank Klaus was on hand to discuss dovetails.
Though I know many of you would sooner give up your muskets as give up your table saws, the hand tool demographhic is said to be the only growing market in the ww industry. It's also a younger demographic, essential for ensuring the vitality of organizations like sapfm and the ww industry as a whole.
While the focus was on hand tools, I felt there was a hunger for more information about their application. I did a couple demos on 18th c fitting planes which, though unintentional, had the effect and feeling of a TV informercial. Let's face it, most of us know dado planes and match planes and well tuned rabbets work with jaw dropping speed. But most guys don't.
I hope sapfm as an organization and more sapfm members consider attending future conferences of this sort. It's pretty clear there's an interest in this sort of thing. If I had it to do all over again, I would have brought sample joints or partly finished pieces to help guys relate the tools to specific period joints/surfaces. I recommend this approach for a sapfm booth, even if it's just "this is the tool that cut this joint" sort of thing.
It was great meeting Mike and Dean Jansa and a handful of other sapfm members. But as the days wore on I was disappointed that more members didn't attend as I think they would have enjoyed it and I think the organization would have benefitted from being there.
Adam