Loss of a good friend! On Thursday, January 23rd NCWA member Steve Durkee passed away. Steve joined the club in May 2010. Steve loved his favorite pastime – woodworking. He would often share his special skills with the membership during bring-and-brag. Steve incorporated inlays into many of his woodworking projects. He enjoyed putting the inlay class together and teaching many NCWA members how to create detailed inlays. Steve’s family is planning on having a Celebration of Life gathering in the next month or so at the Hillcrest Lodge.

This month’s presentation is by George Knutson, one of our new members with a lot of talent. George will give us an overview of some of the uses he’s found for a vacuum pump. There’s the usual – veneering flat or curved surfaces, but you can also clamp straight or bent laminations (with the form inside the bag or outside the bag). And you can secure a work piece to your workbench or hold your work piece to a jig or fixture. George plans to demonstrate some of these applications and talk about the types of pumps that are available. George uses many of these techniques in his shop in Renton building primarily Greene & Greene style furniture, live edge slab pieces, recycled/reclaimed lumber projects, and some welding thrown in for variety.

MEETING CHANGES

The date for our March meeting has been changed to the second Tuesday, March 10th and the location will be at the new FastCap facility just north of Bellingham on I-5. This meeting will include a tour of the facility and a short presentation by president and owner, Paul Akers, a veteran woodworker and cabinet maker. FastCap specializes in innovative tools and products for woodworking.

Ok, who hasn’t bought a new tool or made a handy shop jig over the past year? Well, now is the time to show the rest of us what you spent your hard earned money on or got for Christmas. And while you’re at it, show us that new jig you thought up to solve a woodworking problem or simply make it safer and more efficient. We’ve done this kind of meeting almost every year in the past, and there are always new tools and jigs to see. You may have an antique wood plane that you have tuned up to work perfectly, or a brand new tool – it doesn’t matter. We like to see them all. If you bring one of your jigs, please bring a few copies of the plan that you used to make it, too. Thanks for your participation and Happy New Year!

The program for our Dec 2 meeting will be our second annual Christmas Dinner at Hillcrest Lodge. All members are invited to bring a guest for what will be a good time. We will again have a raffle to benefit Toys 4 Tots. Club elves (Jim Bucknell, Ed Pysher, and Al Ashley) have been busy collecting some great raffle items. We’ll have tools, wood, gift certificates and some neat things for the spouses in attendance who might not be woodworkers. The evening will also feature our 2×4 Woodworking Challenge and presentation of our annual Spirit Award.

Our evening will begin at 6:00 with a social hour that will give everyone a chance to view the raffle items and buy tickets. We’ll follow with a potluck dinner that begins at 7:00 with the club providing the main course (ham and rolls). All members are asked to bring a side-dish, entree, salad, or dessert. If you are unable to bring an item for the potluck, please still come to the meeting. We’ll have a donation bucket for Toys 4 Tots if you want to put in a few dollars as your contribution to the evening.

As a help to those preparing dinner we would ask that all members and guests please use the main entrance on the west side of Hillcrest Lodge. Your potluck items and 2×4 projects will be taken care of at the main door and you’ll be able to pick up a name tag for you and your guest. The sidewalk leading to the main entrance is off the west side of the parking lot about 75 feet south of the lodge. We look forward to seeing all of you there.