AW #131.pdf - Karatunov.net

Birth of aWoodworker
I visited dozens of woodworkers across the U.S. and Canada over
the past several months. For some, woodworking is a livelihood; for
others, a pastime. Meeting so many creative and talented people, I
was reminded how versatile wood can be. It's pretty amazing stuff.
Wood can be shaped, carved and joined with relative ease, producing
a product that is strong, beautiful and useful. If properly cared for,
our wooden creations will last for many generations.
In Boston, I visited the legendary North Bennet Street School,
where students master both hand and power tools while building
Queen Anne, Chippendale and.other traditional styles of furniture.
Across the Charles River in Cambridge, I visited the MIT
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Hobby Shop (see page 28).
In this combination wood and metal shop, students build projects
that range from wood-strip canoes to high-end audio speakers to
competition robots.
On the other side of the country and north across the border in
British Columbia, Canada, I spent a couple very enjoyable days
attending the Furniture Society's annual conference (see page 36).
This gathering of woodworkers from across North America and
abroad really demonstrated that our craft is alive and active. I met
many college-age students who were there to learn more about furniture
building, which was extremely encouraging. Wandering through
the conference's many exhibits, I saw everything from futuristic furniture
to native northwestern woodcarving, such as the eagle pictured
below. Go to www.americanwoodworker.com,/FS2007 to view more
photos from Furniture 2007.
Back home in Minnesota, I made my annual visit to our county fair,
where I cheered on my son Zack, as he herded his 3001b. pig around
the arena, and my daughter Clara, who enjoys goats as much as I
enjoy woodworking. Later in the day, we strolled around the rest of
the fair and stopped at a working sawmill display. It was an old, very
basic mill, and a bit scary as we watched an unguarded 4foot diameter
blade buzz it's way through the logs. The two men operating the
mill seemed unfazed by the open belts and gears rotating only inches
from their legs. The crowd, however, was mesmerized by the slabs of
wood as they were sliced off the log. Over the noise of the saw, a man
next to me loudly remarked "WoW that's beautiful wood! Do you
know what kind it is?" 'Yes,
it's red oak," I replied. "That's beautiful
wood," he said again, only more quietly, to himself. Yep, I thought,
next week he'll be buyrng a tablesaw,
andjoining the rest of us.
aeS*--
Until next time.
RandyJohnson
Editor
rjohnson@americanwoodworker.com
6 American Woodworker ocroBEFt 2oo7