Beginner Woodworking Classes in Bridgewater starting Feb. 25

CJWA member Michael Melofchik of Dream Forest Studios will be teaching a series of three woodworking classes aimed at the beginning woodworker through The Jointure for Community Adult Education. The classes are titled Woodworking I - Woodworking for the Total Beginner, Woodworking II - Finishing for the Total Beginner, and Woodworking III - From Quality Design to Quality Woodworking. Each class consists of two weekly 1-1/2 hour sessions, and tuition is only $49 for each class. The classes will be held at the Bridgewater Raritan Middle School in Bridgewater, and the series starts on Feb. 25.

The Jointure has been providing adult education classes in Somerset County for over 80 years.  You can get more information and register for the classes online at The Jointure’s website.

February Meeting: Steve Altman on Box Making

The February CJWA meeting will be at 7 PM on February 10, and features a presentation by Steve Altman, maker of Kandi Boxes.  Steve will talk about making boxes, the techniques he uses to create his boxes, and discuss the decisions and choices involved in designing and building different kinds of boxes. If you know Steve, you’ll also know that besides making incredible work, he’ll also be very entertaining and thought-provoking as well.

What You Can Do With A Home Made CNC Router

As an aside to his experiences with SketchUp, Roger Ackerman mentioned an acquaintance who had made his own CNC router machine.  Roger took the bandsaw box that was made at our October 2008 meeting and carved in a picture of a house in the lid using the CNC router.  The photo doesn’t really do justice to the detail that could be achieved with the CNC router.  The CNC router did take quite a bit of time to finish this carving, however, and probably was quite a bit noisier than using carving tools to do the same.

If you are interested in building a CNC router, you can start with this article from IEEE Spectrum magazine that will give you a good start.

January Meeting: SketchUp for Woodworkers

We started off the first CJWA meeting of the decade with five new members at our meeting. Frank Vucolo presented an update on plans for our booth at The Woodworking Show at the Garden State Exhibit Center in Somerset on Feb. 19-21. Although we have had a booth at The Woodworking Show every year in the past, this will be our biggest effort yet. Not only will we be showing projects that CJWA members have made, there also will be a full slate of demonstrations by CJWA members throughout the show.

Elections were held for CJWA officers for 2010. The current officers were re-elected.

For this year, one project that CJWA will take on for the Old Brick Reformed Church will be to build some storage shelves for use in the storage area just off of our meeting room. Dave White and John Steinmetz will head up this project. Thanks, Dave and John!

Our featured speaker was Robert Lafferty of Blackpoint Woodworking, who gave a demonstration of how he uses Google SketchUp in planning projects. He was able to show how to mock up a kitchen cabinet layout using SketchUp, including dimensioning the carcasses, showing how to easily add decorative elements like crown molding, and adding grain patterns using Wood Workshop, a program that will add wood patterns to SketchUp objects.

In addition to creating SketchUp objects from scratch, there are many woodworking related SketchUp models uploaded by SketchUp users that are available on the internet. Popular Woodworking magazine has an extensive selection of SketchUp models related to articles from their magazine and related publications.

Roger Ackerman and Matt Greco also showed how they used SketchUp in their projects. Roger used SketchUp for planning and building a shed. Matt showed how he used SketchUp to facilitate getting client approval for projects, and showed how to use SketchUp to create a table.

Jerry Fishlin showed a Greene and Greene inspired small table made of white oak. The top was quartersawn white oak, and it was finished using Japan Colors, shellac, and wax. Hopefully he will bring it to exhibit at our booth at the Woodworking show.

January Meeting: SketchUp for Woodworkers

The first CJWA meeting of the decade will be at 7 PM on January 13, and features a presentation by Robert Lafferty of Blackpoint Woodworking.  Robert will be demonstrating how to use SketchUp in designing woodworking projects. Matt Greco and Roger Ackerman, who both have also used SketchUp, will also be weighing in on the discussion. SketchUp is a free program from Google that allows you to build 3-dimensional models of your projects. Many woodworkers have started using SketchUp in creating their designs.

Membership renewals are also due in January, so don’t forget to bring your dues payment.  CJWA annual dues are $40, $30 for senior citizens. Please see our website for details.