What a beautiful area this is! It has been a very busy weekend at the Woodworking in America Show in Pasadena, CA. The photo is taken out of my hotel room on Friday morning on the 10th floor of the Westin Hotel in Pasadena. It was a magnificent sunrise.
The whole weekend was very busy and I didn’t really have much opportunity to take photos of the show itself, as I was either doing my demo or watching some of the other people that were demoing. Incredible woodworking talent and knowledge in this group! Can’t wait until Cincinnati Nov. 2, 3 & 4 – same thing, only bigger. It was the first time they tried it out on the west coast, and I hope it worked out well enough for them to have it again here. I thought it was a great show.
I got to sit in on demos by Matthew Teague on figuring out proportions for furniture, Glen Huey on cutting dovetails (believe it or not, I have NEVER cut dovetails, and am now determined to try it – just because), David Marks on inlay and also curved laminated wood, and Roy Underhill on making a rake – in the wonderfully traditional way with all those cool old tools that he uses. All were excellent demos and my brain has expanded almost to maximum capacity.
Today we got to experience the wild side of California – Venice Beach. Not quite the same as sleepy old Charleston, SC.
Heading home tomorrow for a much needed rest.
One thing I wanted to throw out there. I have had this desire to develop a set of American made woodcarving tools – particularly my favorites – fishtails. Probably not the full set of all sizes, but maybe 10 to 15 of the typical ones I use. I realize that hand forging is time consuming, not necessarily consistent, and will probably end up being too expensive. However, with the CNC technology out there, does anyone know where I can go to develop a gouge that can be formed with a CNC machine? I am thinking CNC because of the consistency of shape that it can produce. I can get the original shape forged, but will need a quick and inexpensive way to duplicate that shape. Then I would need to have the tip hardened to the proper hardness (maybe by the same manufacturer) and then get someone to make handles. Then I’d have to figure out how to get them razor sharp so when new students receive them, they can use them right away without having to worry about getting them properly sharpened. I asked several tool makers this weekend that were at the show and they all seemed to say that it would be too difficult. These were people who mainly focused on making flat blade tools – planes, and chisels. I think there can be a real market here for this, and I don’t see why we need to import them. We definitely have the technology here, but I just don’t know if all this can be done inexpensively enough to be able to sell these for $30 to $40/tool. If anyone has any ideas of which direction I need to go to pursue this, please let me know. You can e-mail me directly also if you wish – Contact form.
As if I don’t have enough on my plate…
Mary, your demonstrations at the show were awesome. Thank you for sharing your craft with all of us!
Thanks! It was a great experience in Pasadena. Looking forward to Cincinnati!
Mary – I really enjoyed your demonstration at WIA in Pasadena. Thank you for sharing. A class would be even better! – now to find some open dates. I look forward to seeing you when come to Connecticut next March. Also nice bio article in P-W!
Thanks Al. See you next year. I have never been to Connecticut, so this is a new experience for me!