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Just for our WOOD Fans

Written on October 31, 2011 at 6:54 pm , by Jim Heavey

There are 17 shows left in this season’s Woodworking Show line up. The WOOD Magazine booth is one of many free educational seminars guaranteed to pique your interest and improve your skills as a craftsman. Want another incentive?

The Woodworking Shows has given our readers a gift. Just follow the link http://thewoodworkingshows.com/styled-6/index.html and receive a $2.00 discount off the admission price.

We will be in Sacramento California this weekend, November 4-6 and in Portland Oregon on November 11-14. You can check out my blogs to see what’s been happening on the previous shows and visit thewoodworkingshows.com to get an idea of what is to come.

We’re having a good time and I hope that you can join us. We’ll make it worth your while. And $2 bucks off is a good start.

‘Til then, I’ll see you on the road.

Jim Heavey

WOOD Magazine Traveling Ambassador

New project: A box full of blocks

Written on August 23, 2011 at 8:55 am , by Bob Hunter

My sister and her husband in Indiana recently adopted a one-year-old girl from South Korea. Since this is their first child, she asked me to make a set of building blocks for her. So I did just that, making over 100 total blocks in 12 different shapes. I made them from cutoffs from 2×10 and 2×12 Douglas fir construction lumber. After they were all cut out and sanded smooth with edges rounded over, my wife and daughters and I painted each shape a different color. Then I stacked all the blocks into a haystack-like shape, measured the stack’s dimensions, and built a box to store all the blocks. I made it about an inch larger in all three dimensions so my niece wouldn’t have to be precise in stacking the blocks back into the box. The box is also made of Douglas fir, with 3/8-inch box joints at the corners and Rockler Lid-Stay Torsion Hinges on the lid to keep it from slamming on her fingers. This was not a particularly difficult project, but it sure was fun to do knowing she’d have lots of fun playing with the blocks for years to come. And, when they came to visit us in Iowa a month ago, in true kid fashion, she liked playing in the box almost as much as playing with the blocks.

AWFS Fair delivers innovative tools and products

Written on July 25, 2011 at 2:49 pm , by Bob Hunter

Despite what we all know are tough economic times, many tool and woodworking-product manufacturers continue to bring new and innovative tools to the market. I got to see many of these first-hand the past few days at the Association of Woodworking and Furnishings Suppliers Fair in Las Vegas, the biggest U.S. tradeshow of the year for woodworking. Over 500 manufacturers showed up to display and demonstrate their new products (and some launched in recent years), hoping to generate business with retail distributors and end users.

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Dremel adds new tools, new features to older tools

Written on June 14, 2011 at 3:04 pm , by Bob Hunter

Sticking with what must be a company directive, Dremel is launching four new tools this year that are compact, versatile, and hold broad appeal to users of varying skills and interests. Representatives from Dremel stopped by the WOOD Magazine offices today to show us these new tools, as well as lots of new accessories to go with them.

First up is an all-new tool, a hybrid of an angle grinder, oscillating multifunction tool, and circular saw. The Saw-Max, due out in October, is a compact cutting tool that uses 3”-diameter blades embedded with abrasives (carbide, diamond, aluminum oxide) for cutting edges rather than teeth. Powered by a 6-amp motor, the Saw-Max generates 17,000 rpms. The tool has a spring-loaded shoe that’s adjustable up to a ¾”-deep maximum cut, or can be set at zero and the tool used as a plunge-cut saw for cuts where you don’t want an entry or exit. Four blades come with the standard kit for cutting wood, tile, and metal; one blade has an offset flange to allow for flush-cutting at the edge of the blade housing. (There’s no blade guard on the left side of the tool.) The kit with four blades will sell for $129. Attachments also available will be a dust-collection port, a straight-cutting guide to fit a 2×4, and a miter- and bevel-cutting guide.

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Bosch launches innovative new tools

Written on June 9, 2011 at 4:03 pm , by Bob Hunter

Never a company to sit back and rest after launching a line of tools, Bosch instead keeps on finding ways to make their tools better. I spent two days this week at Bosch’s U.S. headquarters in Chicago getting a first-hand look at new cordless drills, random-orbit sanders, a benchtop tablesaw, measuring tools, and lots of other tools related to construction and concrete work.

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DeWalt launches hand tools, new 20V Max platform

Written on June 3, 2011 at 4:07 pm , by Craig Ruegsegger

DeWalt’s yellow power tools have long been prominent on most any job site and in the shops of serious DIYers. They’re now looking to move even deeper into tradesmen’s tool belts with a broad line of new hand tools, and a new battery platform for cordless tools. I had an opportunity to sample the wares during a recent trip to Stanley-Black & Decker University in Towson, Maryland, just outside Baltimore. (DeWalt is a division of  Stanley-Black & Decker.) Let’s talk hand tools first. Read more

It’s A Wrap

Written on April 5, 2011 at 2:15 pm , by Jim Heavey

 

The Woodworking Shows closed the 2010-2011 season this last weekend in Houston. It seemed fitting that we would end a great string of shows on a near perfect sunny 80 degree day. The Houston crowds were typical of the approximately 100,000 woodworkers we saw this year over the 21 show circuit. Regardless of where they’re from, the enthusiasm  and their love of the craft seemed to be as strong as ever. Read more

Memories of Charlotte

Written on March 29, 2011 at 6:02 pm , by Jim Heavey

 

The Woodworking Show moved to Charlotte, North Carolina this last weekend ending our appearances on the east coast this season. Read more

You Met Me In St. Louis

Written on February 15, 2011 at 2:32 pm , by Jim Heavey

Week 14 in the current Woodworking Show season took place this last weekend in St. Louis. All the signs were there for a good show: weather in the 40’s and 50’s, sunshine and a well run venue in Collinsville, Illinois. It turned out to be a record breaker.

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Travel Plans Vs Mother Nature

Written on February 7, 2011 at 12:28 pm , by Jim Heavey

With the roads clear in my rural part of the county a day after the blizzard of 2011, I fully expected the nation’s second busiest airport of O’Hare to be ready for business and a short flight to Columbus. Read more