February 8, 2012

Posts Comments

You are here: Home / Archives for Woodworking in America

I will be unable to attend Woodworking in America 2011

September 26, 2011 By

 

I announced the following on Google+ over the weekend:

To everyone attending #WoodworkingInAmerica #WIA:

To all my readers:

It is time share with you that Sandy and I will not be attending Woodworking in America 2011.

Sometimes, priorities get in the way. Heck, that is the reason they are called priorities. We have attended ALL WIA conferences to date. WIA 2011 will be the first we will miss. We regret missing it. But it is going to happen, sooner or later, to others, too.

What I am doing:

In case you wonder what could be more important than WIA 2011, here is the slate:

  1. I am working on becoming a Certified Court Interpreter – LOTS of study, to learn the slang equivalents in both English and Spanish, plus ALL the legal terminology that goes with being a good Court Interpreter.
  2. and
  3. I will take the Written Exam on November 6, 2011, which is not that far away. And I must study like crazy!
  4. I am also hoping that the State of Missouri will offer the 3-day Interpreter Skills Workshop, in late October, in Jefferson City (the State Capital).
  5. I will announce this a bit later, but there IS another big task I am currently focused on. More on this at some point in the future.

I will miss you all – the people, as it IS the people that makes WIA tick!

I will schedule a Google+ hangout, and will announce it here. If anyone reading this knows how to stream and record to LiveStream, please let me know. Thanks!

But isn’t THAT what the Google+ video conferences called Hangouts are for? If we miss attending, maybe we should hold a hangout or two, to show off the technology in Google+ to our fellow woodworkers?

To ALL my woodworking friends:

Go, attend, participate, and have a LOAD of fun! There is NOTHING in the world that can possibly replace Woodworking in America. And, while you are at it, please celebrate because you are there, and maybe even because I am not there :-)

Enjoy, guys and gals!!!

What about YOU?

  1. Will YOU attend this year’ Woodworking in America later this week?
  2. Or do you also have other things tugging at your sides?
  3. Will you be able attend a hangout on Google+?

— Al Navas

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , , , , ,

How much do you know about a Doric column?

August 6, 2011 By

 

I did not know much about a Doric column, or the Doric orders of classical architecture. I knew even less how they apply to the design work I do, as I was not trained as a woodworker (I learned it the hard way). But I learned a lot of the basics from George Walker during the Woodworking in America (WIA) conference in 2010. I am certain he can talk about the columns, and the intricacies of the Doric order, for days on end:

George Walker on design - the Doric column

George taught several sessions on Design in at least two conferences. Although he won’t be an instructor at the 2011 conference in Cincinnati, he will be working the SAPFM booth. You will have a chance to pick his brain, in person, and in a totally informal way.

That is what I find fascinating about the WIA conferences. As  woodworkers, we have a chance to meet and talk to people who have expertise beyond anything we have today, to help us grow in whatever we tackle in our craft.

This year, for example, the focus of the conference is joinery:

Popular Woodworking Magazine has gathered the top craftsmen working today to help you perfect your skills, particularly when it comes to joinery. You’ll get up-close-and-personal with these legends of woodworking during hands-on sessions that answer all your joinery questions.
Woodworking in America
Speakers page
I stole this from the WIA Speakers page. I invite you to read that page; based on the expertise of the presenters invited, we can again expect a terrific conference in 2011 — dare I predict the best yet?

Your plans?

  • Are YOU interested in Joinery as a main topic?
  • Do you struggle with some types of joinery more than others?
  • What is your favorite joinery to make boxes?

— Al Navas

Filed Under: Blog, Cincinnati 2011, Conference, Woodworking in America Tagged With: , , ,

“An amazing moment” at Woodworking in America 2010

December 1, 2010 By

Racing between sessions on Saturday during Woodworking in America 2010 I noticed a very small group gathering by an outside window of the second floor of the Covington (Kentucky) Convention Center. I recognized two of the people, and moved in closer. Wilbur Pan was showing Christopher Schwarz how he uses Japanese hand planes. For me this meant an immediate change in plans; I decided to stay, listen, and maybe catch some video. The video at the bottom of this article is from that informal session in the hallway by the window.

The following is a screen capture image of the event, after Frank Klausz, woodworker extraordinaire and dovetail savant, joined in the informal session:

Left-to-right: Christopher Schwarz, Wilbur Pan, and Frank Klausz.

I just received my copy of the latest issues of Popular Woodworking Magazine. In the magazine, Schwarz writes his Editorial article under the title On the Level. In the latest, he writes about “What I Learned at Woodworking in America” – it is a terrific article. He describes the “amazing moment” he had when Pan holds “…his ground and explains the things he has learned to Klausz…” Don’t miss this video episode; I loved it, and I think you will too!

Right-click to download this episode in Quicktime format
Duration — 25:16 minutes
Size: 438 MB

— Al Navas

Filed Under: Blog, Cincinnati, Conference, Video, Woodworking in America Tagged With: , , ,

Page optimized by WP Minify WordPress Plugin