I’m still on a big time high after coming back from Woodworking in America, the midwest edition. I mean, when you can get folks together and talk woodworking – ALL weekend – I mean, come on!  It’s about as woodwork geeky as you can get!  So, what was it like? Well, lemme show you!

While it was sad to see the show wrap up, I flew back to Florida excited to think about next year.

And, yes, it was fun, but I think there were a few things that could improve the event next year. With two shows – the first one held a month ago in Pasadena, California – it split the WIA audience into three segments – those who attended Pasadena, those who attended Covington and those who didn’t attend either show because everyone wouldn’t be together.  Rumor has it that next year, they will go back to one show… And, I hope to see y’all there!

Now that Woodworking in America is over, there is a mountain of photos, stories and other stuff I have to sort through to bring you a few decent posts. But, I do have to start off  by saying what an awesome weekend it was. Sure, a lot of folks either went to WIA west in Pasadena or stayed home because the whole gang wasn’t there, but hey, we had ourselves a blast!

Now, I saw some impressive stuff while I was there. I got to handle a Scott Meek plane. I got to watch Chris Schwarz build a saw bench in under an hour. I even got to see one of the most impressive chairs  built by Don Williams (That chair in itself is worth an entire post).

But, what impressed me most was the feat of dovetailing magic performed by Mike Siemsen, the ringleader of the Hand Tool Olympics.

You see, Mike is of the mind that you don’t need a whole bunch of expensive tools to do dovetailing. And, he proved it with this kit. A hacksaw. A screwdriver sharpened to a chisel point. A board with a screw that had a sharpened head as a marking gauge. I think he spent $12 at the local home improvement center for the whole shebang.

Using his cutting gauge, Mike marked out the baselines of the tails and pins on the board. The sharpened screw head sliced cleanly, and before you know it, he had the board in the vise. The hacksaw cut surprisingly straight and quickly, leaving a very thin kerf.

Rather than use a coping saw to cut out the majority of the waste, Mike turned to his chisel – a straight bladed screwdriver.  The model he chose – a $2 plastic handled one – did OK, but Mike was quick to point out that had he gone for the $5 model, the steel would have held a better edge. Oh, well, there’s always next time! And, the best part – his mallet was a piece of 2×4 that he had shaped into a club. Hey, it did the job!

After the tails were cut, Mike went over to the pin board, marked it and followed quickly with his cuts. A chop here, a pare there, and the results were something else to look at!

Now, I’m sure you have to be wondering how long it took him. After all, these are not high-priced beauties. I knew it wasn’t taking a long time, but wow, the final time was a real eye-popper. And that was even with me asking Mike to stop a few times so I could have him pose.

So, what’s the moral of the story?  You really don’t need to break the bank to do excellent work. Even the most expensive saws and chisels will only work as well as the operator makes them. So, get out and practice. And, if you have a spare $12 lying around, you might even want try your hand at low-budget dovetailing.

All year, I have been looking forward to the Woodworking in America Midwest event taking place this week in Cincinnati. But, I was thrown off the track by a few things… Tropical Storm Debby, Hurricane Isaac, the Republican National Convention, and most recently when Hurricane Sandy decided to make a late season rush at the northeast. Since I’m a transplanted guy from Jersey, I had a lot of folks up in the that mid-Atlantic area I was concerned about – my parents, relatives, friends… the works.

While I was relieved to see that my peeps weathered the storm surprisingly well, that’s not the case for everyone. In fact, Sandy could end up being one of the most disastrous storms to hit the United States in its history.  Many places I can remember visiting up in that neck of the woods are completely torn up, flooded and many people are going to take a long time to recover. Thoughts and prayers go out to them.

I was also glad to see that many of the woodworkers from that area who were going to attend are OK as well, and their  travel plans – while threatened – are not cancelled.  That’s why I’ll be traveling up for this year’s Midwest edition of Woodworking in America.

The fun begins at the Keystone Bar and Grill on Thursday night 8 p.m. until midnight, when we get as many people together as possible to meet up before the big event begins. Last year’s meetup was one for the history books, and there’s no reason why this year shouldn’t be a HUGE deal!  Join us starting at 8 p.m. for a little nosh, a few drinks and some great conversation.

Starting Friday, you can look me – and Dyami Plotke –  up a the Modern Woodworkers Association booth in the marketplace. We’ll be bouncing between that booth and the Hand Tool Olympics booth run by Mike Siemsen.

And, remember, we get an EXTRA HOUR for free at the Woodworking in America Midwest event this year – yup, we turn the clocks back an hour early Sunday morning…
I’m definitely looking forward to catching up with everyone… now, I’ll have to pack my thermal underwear.  November weather in Cincinnati is too chilly for this thin-blooded Floridian!