October 14th Meeting

Our next meeting will be this coming Wednesday, October 14, at 7:00PM.  On tap we will have Bruce Hogan, founder of The Wood Joint, a school of woodworking located in Monmouth County.  Bruce has a background in boat building as well as a trained cabinet maker.  His latest shop has ample room for machinery as well as plenty of bench space.  We held our last dovetail seminar at this new location and plan on incorporating future events in this space. 

Bob Emmons will show the design and process of his latest cabinet; and ironing station for his wife Anna.  He was tired of looking at an ironing board next to his beautiful piano, and decided to build a more appropriate chest of drawers / ironing station that looks more pleasing in this area.

Membership Chair Lance Kounitz will share with us his latest workbench build.  Lance operates in limited space of a garage shop that also houses his garden tools in Hamilton Township, NJ.

September 9th Meeting

We have an outside presenter for the September meeting. Ray Spitz-Becker will give a talk / presentation on building Violins.

Marc listened to his presentation about a year ago at one of the CRAFTS (antique tool clubs) meeting. It was incredibly interesting and he got a new appreciation for the amount of handwork that goes into building one of these instruments.  

June 10th Meeting

June is our annual member exhibition.  Please bring something in to share with the group. This is always a fun meeting ,seeing the variety of different projects.

We also have the 4bd ft Poplar challenge. The members will be voting on which build they like the best and that will determine the Rockler gift card awards. 

Hope to see everyone there.

May 13th Meeting- Reproduction John Townsend Document Chest

 Ray Spitz-Becker a professional Violin maker and restorer will be rescheduled for September.

Marc going to talk about the reproduction John Townsend Document Chest that is now completed. This was probably the most complicated piece he has built, since there were over 250 dovetails with the majority half blind. Much of the work had to be done with hand tools to duplicate the moldings  and the carved elements. It still amazes Marc that the original was built around 1760 in Newport RI.

April 8th Meeting

This month’s meeting will start with Carl Anderson discussing and demonstrating a Shooting Board. This process is a very effective way to precisely fit parts together.

Steve Altman will follow with a talk on Accuracy in Joinery and the clamps and glue type chosen for precise glue ups. He will bring one of his recent boxes to show specific joinery that’s used. He will also talk about the 4 miter planes that he uses in hand tool joinery. Steve is always an interesting and entertaining presenter, so this talk shouldn’t be missed.

Marc Gaertner will finish with a build in process, of an 18 century reproduction Document Chest that was originally built by John Townsend in Newport RI around 1760. Although this piece is small it is very complicated and he’s been working on it for the past 3 months.

This meeting is open to all, members and guests are most welcome!