General Meeting April 2019 – John Slazak – Bandsaw Boxes

There were a total of 50 in attendance including 3 guests at our regular April meeting.

Announcements

A big thank you to all who helped with the Picnic
The PICNIC and 2×4 contest held at the Farm Bureau pavilion on Palmer Blvd, was a great success. The club would really appreciate members filling out the comment cards on what they would like to see done differently for next year. We are already planning to push the start back to 1:00 PM so folks have time to freshen up after church etc.
The addition of gift card door prizes was well received.
The club in a desire to share its wealth with members will be drawing one winner of an educational grant of up to $1,000 for one lucky club member. Applications were sent out.
Rosewood blanks are available for the bowl project. They will be passed out after the meeting. This is a very powerful and valuable community effort where 97% of what is raised goes to the cause.
Looking for other ideas for the club… Maybe a scroll saw workshop, this could be very doable, but we need your ideas. Allen Brown will be doing a turning class next week.
The Website Password has changed with the changing of the Presidents it is now….
Due to an illness our presenter could not make it so John Slezak will be doing a demo on Band Saw boxes.

Presentation:

John Slezak: Bandsaw boxes and techniques for quality, effectiveness and profitrability.

Pick your pattern many available on the internet. Size it to match you piece of wood. Staples or other office supply stores can resize prints, to meet your needs.
Spray glue: both paper packing and wood for a tight seal
Blade selection the finer the blade and more teeth the less sanding. John likes a 3/16”
Center your blade on the cut line and move slowly. More teeth going past a spot on the wood = a smoother finish.
Don’t push the wood steer it gently through the blade.
After cutting the shape, cut the back off, then inside cuts.
When you glue and clamp to close cut lines draws will be tight, just sand them down until they glide smoothly.
Making a simple sander stand for your orbital sander will add a lot of efficiency and control.
To glue the joint slide in a piece of paper squirt in the glue and slide the paper down pulling the glue through the joint.
You really can make tight cuts, even turning off the saw, turning the piece, then turning on the saw and the blade will snap into the cut line.
To improve skills practice making reindeer and other trinkets on inexpensive stock.
Rounding off the edge of the draw with sandpaper disguises small imperfections in fit.
Lining, Satin like material with a sticky side works well. Cut to size. Press in the leading edge and pull the backing off as you press it into place. Use the Draw cutout waste as the draw side template for cutting the liner material. An Exacto knife held on an angle makes a nice clean cut.
John does not like to use a hard finish. Mostly Danish oil applied with and orbital sander. This way the finish is “in” the wood not “on” the wood.

This box , made from black and white ebony, won both first place and best of show at the state fair. John used black ebony for the draw fronts only because he dropped and broke one of the original ones.

John had more tips and tricks than you can shake a stick (or 2×4 at) It was a very entertaining and informative presentation.

Treasurers report.

We have $8,574 in the bank. With the Picnic, paying our insurance, and new name badges expenditure were heavy, but well worth it, about $1,000 however we took in about $400 during the period.

General Discussion w/ Follow up

o The Shop meet will be held at John Peasly’s shop – 160 Deerfield Ave NW, Port Charlotte

o We have started looking at manufacturer’s discount programs for members, please let Larry know if you wish to opt out. If after a few emails you change your mind you can always opt out later.

o will be no demo meet this month

o Al Brown will be conducting a hands-on turning workshop in his personal shop not to exceed 5 people. If demand is high enough there may be future sessions. The goal is to keep this truly value added thus for learning and safety class sizes will be limited. This is a fabulous opportunity for members and a great enhancement for club members. Thank you, Al!

Show & Tell

This month Show & Tell, following past practice was limited to the 2X4 projects submitted at the Picnic competition. As one might expect from this crowd there was no limit to the imagination.

Fred Damianos; Milk painted serving platter