The Central Minnesota Woodworker's Association is a group of men and women from around the St. Cloud Minnesota area who share a common interest in the art and business of woodworking. We meet monthly in Sauk Rapids to share information, techniques and topics of interest in the area of woodworking. Learn more about membership or support.
The 5th annual CMWA Wood Expo & Sale will be held March 13th, 2010. The event will run from 9am to 3pm at the St. Cloud National Guard Armory, 1710 Veteran’s Drive/8th St. N., St. Cloud, MN.
Mike of Mike Siemsen's School of Woodworking conducted a Woodworking Olympics for attendees at the February 17th Central Minnesota Woodworkers Association. It was a friendly competition to see which team could most quickly and accurately use hand tools to saw, joint, drill, dovetail and wood planes.
The Central Minnesota Woodworkers Association - Woodturners Group gather to produce 100 wooden bowls for the "Empty Bowl's" fundraiser. Participants of the fundraiser can show their support of the work hundreds of St. Cloud, MN area students, volunteers and artisans, including the Woodturners, who have made a new bowl just for them. Each Soup Feed attendee pays $10 (individual) or $30 (family) and each person receives a handmade bowl, soup, bread, and a beverage, and enjoys a variety of entertainment. Attendees keep their Benefactor Bowls after the event as a reminder that someone else's bowl is always empty.
Last Saturday's event was a huge success. As a group, we produced 42 bowls. This brings our total to 72. Many of you have communicated that you have additional bowls finished or near finished which will bring our total well over our goal of 100. Thanks to everyone for their support. Suggestions have been made to make this an annual event.
Hand Tool Olympics - Come cheer on or jeer your friends as they compete in the Hand Tool Olympics or join a team yourself and compete. They are being held Wednesday, February 17 at the 7 pm CMWA meeting, Sauk Rapids-Rice Middle School! It is a friendly competition to see which team can most quickly and accurately use hand tools to saw, joint, drill, dovetail and tenon wood. Participants will be assigned to a team and will only compete in one event. The fastest and most accurate team wins.
There will not be a specific meeting topic this month. Instead we will celebrate the past year with a pot luck dinner. Please bring your significant other and join us for a celebration of friendship and cheer. The doors of the school will open around 6:15 and we will plan on starting the buffet line about 6:30. Bring a dish to share and join us for a fun evening. We will have a show-and-tell session. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.
Plates, Cups, Glasses and silverware will be provided. Coffee and bottled water will be supplied. If you would prefer beverages other than these, please feel free to bring your own.
Time to shave: inshaves, spokeshaves, travishers, and drawknives.
These tools are great time savers when it comes to reducing large chunks of wood to smaller chunks. These tools reached their height of popularity during the 18th century when manpower did most of the woodworking and being able to remove a lot of wood quickly was important. Today these tools are used in much the same manner as then, but we also use them for fine trimming and shaping. In fact, Windsor chairs are primarily made using these tools. It will be an eye opening demo.
Rollie Johnson is going to demonstrate creating an inlay at the next meeting. This will be a hands-on demonstration so if you would like to try you hand at inlaying bring the smallest router you have with a 1/4in. straight bit installed, a chunk of wood at least a couple of feet long and the wider the better, 1/4in and 1/2in. bench chisels, mallet, razor knife and a couple of clamps to secure the board to the shop workbenches. This should open up some new design possibilities for your upcoming projects.
