November 2, 2017

Total # of Attendees: 26

Notes:

  1. Mike opened the meeting at 7:15pm
  2. Introduced our guest speaker, Adam Cherubini (pic 1, 2, 3)
    1. Introduced himself and his particular brand of work -- hand tool woodworking, with an emphasis on the tools and techniques of the 18th century.
    2. Not trying to proselytize, but says it would be nice if folks had a hand tool way to do things, instead of just a power tool
    3. Talked about his early history, projects, studies, and what led him to study and utilize the tools and techniques of the early period
    4. Hand tools are typically cheaper than top-of-the-line power tools, you get a real feel for the work. His jointer plane was $6 at a flea market. Can furnish a whole shop for $300
    5. Very interested in tools & techniques, more than finished projects
    6. Hand tools are like musical instruments -- you can play with them pretty quickly, but to be really good takes time & practice
    7. Why does he wear colonial clothes? 18th century woodworking is a system, and if you take a part of the system out, it starts to break down. Use period tools (chisel) and period materials (not kiln dried rock maple), sharpened with Arkansas stone on bench, in order to work like them. He wears the clothes in order to "represent the system" Furniture was status symbol in the 18th century. Families would post the highboy in parlor, so people would see it and make a judgement on the family Had Rosemary come up with to show how to plane use hand tools -- specifically a square, Striking knife and handsaw
    8. Demonstrated a lot of other methods for hand tools (sawing, measuring & marking, etc.)
    9. Showed off his Tryplane, with concave/curved blade
    10. Discussed cost of tools then and compared them to prices now. Carpenters back then were similar to auto mechanics now. Specialized tools, can make equivalent of $50K/year -- more if he owned the shop
    11. Discussed sawing technique of 18th century saws
    12. Walked through planing techniques and types -- how he flattens and prepares boards
    13. Talked about using mineral oil, 3-in-1, for the Arkansas Oil Stones
    14. Discussed sharpening method
    15. Ended the night with some Roy Underhill stories
  3. Next Meeting on Thursday, Dec 7th at 7:30pm
  4. Meeting concluded at 9:20pm