Wood News Online, No. 5, Oct. 2005

Burning with Enthusiasm with Julie Bender
Julie Bender is an accomplished fine artist who is enthralled with pyrography, the art of wood burning. Her work is driven and motivated by her passion for art and nature, the animal and human form.
She successfully captures the soul and character of her subjects by bringing to her art work that "special spark" that sometimes is nothing more than a twinkle in someone's eye, or the mischievous bend in the corner of a smile.
Visit her website at www.burningwithenthusiasm.com.

We are pleased to have Julie at Highland Hardware as she shares her love of pyrography. Her class, Burning with Enthusiasm: Introduction to Pyrography" (991253) will be held on Tuesday & Wednesday, November 15 & 16.

We had the opportunity to speak with Julie from her studio in Decatur, Georgia.

Read our interview with Julie

View a slideshow of Julie's work





	A Call for Entries: The SAPFM 2006 Exhibition of Contemporary American Period Furniture The first Society of American Period Furniture Makers Exhibition of Contemporary American Period Furniture will take place at the Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah, Georgia from April 12 to May 28, 2006. The exhibition is open to all current members of the SAPFM. Non-members may join the society to be eligible. All furniture types that are representative of historical examples of American furniture made before the 20th century will be considered. Send us your best work by October 15, 2005! More information Download an entry form




			Woodworkers Offer Hurricane Assistance In response to the Katrina tragedy, the Cabinet Makers Association has joined forces with the Architectural Woodwork Institute , who has enlisted help from association and industry leaders throughout the nation. McGraw-Hill Construction launched www.katrina.construction.com , a central resource for all storm related construction. The site features the new Katrina Recovery Resources Directory, a searchable database of contractors, construction service providers and equipment suppliers who are prepared to support area recovery and rebuilding efforts. Users can also access job opportunities and post requests for materials and services.

Featured Classes

Relief Carving Class 991213 Sculptural Studio Furniture Carving with Sabiha Mujtaba

Friday-Monday
Oct. 14-17
9am-5pm
Class Size: 8
Tuition:$350
Item# 991220

Hollow Vessels Class 991209 Turning Birdhouse Ornaments with Hal Simmons

Saturday, Oct. 29
9am-5pm
Class Size: 8
Tuition:$95
Item# 991224

See Our Other October Classes

View slideshow of Sept. 12-17 Comb Back Windsor Chair class

Alan Noel's Finishing Corner
Finishing Figured Woods
To me, the most satisfying aspect of building a project with highly figured woods such as curly maple or ribbon mahogany is seeing the figure of the wood come alive in the finishing process.

To achieve this I always start with a penetrating oil such as Boiled Linseed Oil (8204206). or Minwax Natural Oil Stain (8294942). Doing this will make the figure come alive producing a 3-D effect, which enables me to see into the figure when looking at the wood from different angles.

One thing to keep in mind when using oil-based stains or finishing materials is to be sure to allow for a very thorough drying time between coats. Although the surface may feel dry to the touch, rushing through any oil-based finishing process could produce "oil bloom", a whitish hazy appearance in the film that may ultimately have to be stripped off! Patience…

Also, as mentioned in my Finishing Tip Numero Uno in the July issue of Wood News Online, when using oil-based finishes it is important to have good ventilation in your work space, and it is paramount to lay used rags flat out or to hang them to dry to keep them from spontaneously combusting.

Ask the Staff
E-mail us at woodnews@highlandhardware.com with your woodworking or finishing questions. Selected questions will be answered in future issues. If your question is selected for publication, we'll send you a free Highland Hardware hat.

Question: I am interested in giving my kitchen cabinets a "facelift." They are old and dingy-looking. I'm not sure what kind of wood they're made of, but they are stained a reddish brown and appear to have a thin coat of a clear finish over them. I would like to avoid stripping and re-staining them; I would simply like to enhance the existing finish and make it look a little richer.

Is this even possible? Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Answer

Hot New Item
Coming this month!
Lap-Sharp™ Sharpening Machine
$599.99

Lap-Sharp is a professional quality low-speed (200 RPM) sharpener that uses a series of adhesive disks (PSA backed sandpaper) to hone your tools. It will put a fine edge on any cutting tool from chisels, plane irons and kitchen knives to carving gouges, turning tools & planer/jointer blades. Lap-Sharp will also handle flattening the soles of planes and the grinding & polishing of metal objects, glass and tile.
With a simple change of the 8" diameter color-coded disks, you can go from coarse bevel shaping to final edge honing in just minutes.
Because the horizontally spinning discs produce a flat grind, it is ideal for laminated blades like those found in Japanese tools, antique irons and machine knives where a hollow grind would weaken the edge. The aluminum backing plates that the sandpaper discs adhere to are milled flat to within .003", making flattening the backs of edge tools easy work. Made in the USA.
Item# 176501

From the Wood News Archives
The following article was originally published in
Wood News No. 22, Winter 1989.

Instant Gratification
by Jack Warner

There is a suspicion in the minds of some woodworkers that people who spend most of their time at the lathe have forsaken real work in favor of instant gratification, dallying in a world of flash and filigree.
Let me tell you about this instant gratification business.

Sunday, 11:30 am. Opened up a plastic trash bag resident in the garage since two kind friends brought it to me from North Carolina at least two months ago. The large object in it is supposed to be a burl from a birch tree. The percussive effects in my lower back confirm the size; it weighs at least 50 pounds. Can't tell yet how much of it is burl; the cut face is fully oxidized and covered with mold.

11:45 am. Deposit wood on workbench, cut face up; prop it to stability with scrap chunks, run the portable planer over it a few times. The wood revealed is lovely.

More



	Highland Hardware Fall Tent Sale & Tool Festival Saturday, October 22, 2005 9am - 4pm Rain or Shine! Highland Hardware 1045 N. Highland Ave., NE Atlanta, Georgia 30306 You're invited to spend a festive day with us as we host our semi-annual tent sale and tool demonstration. We'll have vendors on hand showing off their latest & greatest products, as well as sale pricing on hundreds of our most popular items, free refreshments, free demonstrations and door prizes. The wealth of restaurants and shops in Virginia-Highlands will keep the whole family fed & entertained all day, so pack everybody in the car and come on down to your favorite woodworking store!

The Sharpening Process & Methods That Work: How Lap-Sharp™ Compares™
by Don Naples
Wood Artistry, LLC
The sharpening process is a topic frequently discussed among woodworkers. When demonstrating the Lap-Sharp , we are often asked about other sharpening systems or methods and how they compare to the Lap-Sharp. Frequently we are told of methods or information that is useful to woodworkers, but also some that is misinformation. This misinformation frequently causes woodworkers to have difficulty in achieving the sharpening results they want. They then assume it is an error in their approach, when it is actually a process error.
This document is intended to answer the questions we most frequently hear, to provide sufficient data to qualify the information provided, and to help woodworkers sift through the methods and machines so they may come to a conclusion of what will work best for them.

More

Look in Your Mailbox for Our New Catalog!

It's mailing this week!

If you do not currently receive our catalog and would like to do so, please contact our Catalog Request Department , or you may call our 24-Hour Toll-Free
CATALOG REQUEST LINE:
(888) 500-4466

See Previous Newsletters

Visit Highland Hardware to Subscribe to Our Newsletter