General Meeting January 2019 – Parker Converse – Maloof rocking chair

President John Peasely called the meeting to order.

There were 59 present at the meeting on January 9 at Advantage Lumber. Our best attendance last year was 62. It was great to see so many old friends and new faces.

Announcements:

A Representative from advantage lumber got up in front of the group to remind the members of the great sale 15% off on a few items 4/4 Tiger wood, Brazilian Cherry etc.

Signup sheets for the Wood Show January 25, 26, 27 Free admission for volunteers.

State Fair is February 17, 18. Signup sheet volunteers needed and they get 2 free admission tickets per shift taken

Sign up sheet for Demo Meet and Shop Meets was passed around. Please sign up for a shop or demo meet, it’s the other half of the club. This is where you get to know members better and pick up tips on setting up your shop and how to make things. Just send an email to (webmaster.flawcwoodworkers@gmail.com) and I’ll get you on the list. To see which dates are open go to the shop meet and demo meet pages on this website.

Presentation:

Parker Converse builds custom Maloof style rocking chairs out of Walnut, Cherry, or quilted Maple, or other wood species for an extra charge. Parker has made 150 chairs to date. He started making flat board projects like bookcase in 1986. He got his start with chairs when he saw a Sam Maloof book in 2001 and went to Hal Taylors shop in Virginia and paid him $800 to show him how to make chairs. When finished with the class he advised Hal to double his price as quality and craftmanship has real value. Hal went from selling as low at $2,500 to a high of about $20,000.

Parker uses a Maloof joint where the front leg joins the seat and makes the back braces flexible through use of laminated strips, usually different species of wood, for flexibility and comfort. Setup must be meticulous a ¼ degree error will chase you throughout the project. When you make a small error fix it right away. He typically makes 3 sizes Small, Medium and Large plus an occasional child’s chair

Parker’s shop is set up for production efficiency; with 7 dedicated Routers on a custom router table! Oscillating spindle sander, high speed grinders for shaping arms, headrest and joints, plus home-made tools round out the essentials. He uses a spherical cutter heads on his planner and jointer for the best finish. The most expensive and difficult chair he ever made was using a giant $8,500 burl from California to make three $30,000 chairs.

He claims to be a better marketer than a woodworker. A few chairs are sold through his wife’s fancy food store in Sarasota, but the best marketing is not advertising but by writing articles for editors of magazines and getting them to publish. He has even been in Forbs magazine.

His finish is Watco Danish oil after sanding with an orbital sander with 220 the 320 sandpaper.

His favorite wood is Virginia Black Walnut because if finishes so beautifully and machines well. He allows $500 for materials customer pays to upgrade from there.

All in all impressive work and presentation

Reports

Treasurer Randy Cooper reminded member to re-up for 2019 Cash, Check or ETF transfer is fie let him know if you wish to use Credit Card is so member will pay the CC fee.

Cash Checking Total

Starting Balance $288 $7,580.94 $7,868.94

Ending Balance $110 $9,525.58 $9,635.58

General Discussion w/ Follow up

Volunteer(s) are needed to pick up the slack when John Slezack abandons Florida to move up North. It could be possible to divide the tasks up into logical elements but we need a plan in place by March.

Show & Tell