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(upbeat music)
Marc: Ah, the woodworking shows.
A place where everyone knows your name
and you're always greeted by a friendly face.
Well, at least two people knew my name
and Nicole was one of them.
But for the Jersey boy with that gleam in his eye,
the woodworking shows are a wondrous toy land
full of the stuff woodworking dreams are made of.
The woodworking shows are a great place to do some shopping,
observe cool new tools in action,
do some shopping,
meet up with friends from the local guild,
maybe do a little shopping,
annoy the guy at the wire-cutting booth,
do a little shopping,
and observe some excellent free and paid demonstrations.
In this episode of the Wood Whisperer,
I'm going to give you a quick introduction
to the woodworking shows
and show you just what they're all about.
We even have some great interviews
with a few of the experts from the show.
Our story begins with a 45 minute car ride to Scottsdale
and me dropping some of my coveted pearls of wisdom.
Nicole: (laughs) Are you excited?
(laughs)
Marc: No. Yeah!
Well we first had a hearty breakfast.
A hearty, healthy breakfast.
Nicole: Watch the road.
Marc: I am watching the road.
Nicole: No you're not.
I would like to say I do not condone
videotaping him driving. Because-
Marc: Yeah we do.
Nicole: that could cause an accident.
(laughs)
Marc: And now that we have full bellies
we're going to go to the wood show and cause some trouble.
Ask questions and try and find some interviews.
So it should be a good time.
I think. I hope.
Nicole: We'll find out. Stay tuned.
Marc: And I'm going to be flexing the plastic today.
Nicole: Oh yes.
Marc: Time to purchase some new toys.
I have a couple of tips for everybody
on your way to the wood show,
just a couple of things to think about.
Number one, I'm just making these up as I go along.
Number one, always plan on spending more
than you think you're going to spend.
Because there's always going to be something
that you go "Oh I need that."
And then you'll probably take it back to your shop
and put it in a cabinet somewhere and never touch it again.
But that's not the point.
You're going to spend more than you expect to spend.
Number two,
resist the urge to bring your wife.
Nicole: (laughs)
Marc: Go by yourself, get a buddy, go with a friend,
that's really the best way to spend money.
You can encourage each other to spend money.
And the funny thing is, as you go to these shows
there's nothing funnier than watching the husband walk around.
And it's sort of the role reversal
that you see when you're at the mall
and the husband is tailing the wife
and she's having the time of her life.
Same thing here, it's just reversed
where the guy's walking around like a kid in a candy store
and the wife has a pout on her face,
you know maybe she has a Diet Coke.
(upbeat music)
As they say in Europe, "Off to the wood show."
Or as they say in Sweden, [unintelligible].
Nicole: What does that mean? (laughs)
Marc: Or as they say in Jersey,
"Let's go to the wood show. Oh!"
Nicole: (laughs)
Marc: The first things you notice at the woodworking shows
are lots of people and lots of tools.
I mean, lots and lots of tools.
Pretty much every major tool manufacturer is present here.
And if you're anything like me,
you like to get a little hands on time
before making a major purchase.
That's not an option when you're buying online
but it sure is here at the woodworking shows.
If you adventure a little further into the show
you'll soon come across numerous
live demonstrations and seminars.
Believe it or not, they're all free.
There are paid seminars that you can sign up for
on the woodworking shows website
at TheWoodworkingShows.com.
Now let's listen in for a moment
on this seminar given by Jim Heavey.
Jim: [unintelligible] put a whole bunch of patches
that look like small footballs,
but they've cut out a bad spot
and they've put another piece of veneer into that spot.
Works very well for projects where
you're only going to see one side.
So you can easily use that to save a lot of money
by buying what's called shop grade plywood.
On the other side of that is what's called
cabinet grade plywood.
That's what this is.
Both sides of this are just as nice.
So on a cabinet where both sides are going to show,
you're sometimes stuck with buying
something like cabinet grade plywood.
If they were these book projects or bookshelves,
bookcases on the side here,
in many cases those are up against a wall
or they're built into a small little opening in a wall.
You could easily use shop grade plywood
there without a problem.
But on something like this where it's visible from both sides
and it shows top and bottom and everything,
I think you may want to start looking at the cabinet grade.
(upbeat music)
Marc: I was actually at the hot-dog stand
and I ran into some guy
who we're going to ask a few questions.
Actually this is Jim Heavey.
He's a master craftsman for Wood Magazine
and also the representative here at the show today.
We're going to ask him some questions about the show.
How are you doing Jim?
Jim: Nice to see you.
Marc: Good to see you.
Now, let's see.
I'm just going to be completely unprofessional here.
So what is your role here at the show today?
Jim: What I'm doing for the show
is representing Wood Magazine and a few of my sponsors
and providing three different projects during the weekend.
One of the old ideas was to have one project
and kind of expound on it over a three day period
but for a lot of people, if they didn't like that project
then they didn't come back again.
Or if they saw one part or they see a table,
and say "Oh I'm not into tables."
So I came up with three different projects
which we think interest across the spectrum
of different woodworking tools and techniques.
So my job in here is to spend three days
teaching three different types of projects
and giving people tips and techniques.
Marc: Ok, that's awesome.
What would you say is your favorite thing
about working at the shows?
What do you like the most about your job here?
Jim: The travel. I know it sounds lousy
but the people in the area,
every different community has a unique group of people
and every part of the country is unique.
So as we see woodworkers,
and woodworkers are very nice people to begin with.
Marc: Sure.
Jim: Just, you find some interesting people.
And with my connection with the magazine,
I get a chance to see what the
average person thinks about our magazine.
Rather than have an editorial viewpoint,
mine is actually based on content.
It's whatever these people are looking for.
I get a chance to talk to them
and then I bring that back to the issue.
Marc: Oh, fantastic.
Now what would you say, if there is one,
what would the mission of the woodworking shows be?
What is their ultimate goal to the woodworking community?
Jim: You know, I'd like to say that the woodworking show's
ultimate goal is to provide a learning experience
from both the beginning to the advanced woodworker
in any way they possibly can.
I have a feeling that over time
shows in general like this are going to morph though.
Marc: Ok.
Jim: If you look at TV shows now,
the more popular TV shows have a lot of DIY interest to it.
Marc: Absolutely.
Jim: And I have a feeling that maybe
combining this with furniture construction
along with crowning your room or something like that
will add even more interest.
But I think the show's goal
is to appeal to a very broad range of people.
Right now it's woodworkers
and we're trying to approach every different front we can.
From education to tools and techniques
and that kind of thing in hopes of doing that.
Marc: Ok. That makes a lot of sense.
We watch TV all the time and it's all DIY.
Jim: Exactly.
Marc: Everything is DIY.
Now I remember we were here last year
and I think you were working
Jim: I was.
Marc: I actually got to sit in.
It was an excellent seminar.
If you could give, I know finishing for most woodworkers
is probably one of the most perplexing topics.
They get in their head
that it's just a really difficult thing
and they usually,
that's the worst part of their project in their minds.
For a lot of beginning woodworkers,
they could really use a piece of advice from a pro
that might give them an idea that
this really isn't as hard as it seems.
What advice what you give somebody
in terms of finishing, to sort of settle their minds
and maybe fall back on some old reliable techniques.
What kind of advice would you have for
woodworkers in that regard?
Jim: I think my biggest advice to them
is always to experiment on something
before they tackle their finished project.
And I know it sounds very simplistic,
it sounds like something everybody should know,
but nobody does it.
Marc: True. I don't do it. Jim: They take all of these things,
they've always done this stain,
they've always done this finish,
they do it on a project and find out it didn't work.
Marc: Right.
Jim: So if they would set up from the pieces of wood
that they have as part of their project
sample sets that will allow them to try
not only the woodworking techniques
but the finishing techniques,
they would be a lot more comfortable.
And I think lastly, to not be afraid to make mistakes.
All woodworkers make them.
I think that they feel a better woodworker never makes them
and it's just the better workers
find ways to disguise the mistakes they made.
Marc: Ok.
Jim: And if they would learn to lay back a little bit
and be a little bit more understanding,
I think that they'd be just fine.
Marc: That's good advice there.
Jim, thanks very much.
Jim: Thank you.
Marc: Have fun at the show Jim: I will.
Marc: and we're going to check out your seminar
in a few minutes.
Jim: Sounds great. Thank you. Marc: Great, thanks.
Jim: See you.
(upbeat music)
Nicole: So what do you have for us
here at the woodworking show?
Tall Man: This is the best assembly system on the market.
It's a 3D square.
Nicole: Ok, can you give us a little demo of it?
Tall Man: I'd love to.
You know no matter how many years you do this,
holding parts together just doesn't get any simpler.
Nicole: I know. You only have two hands right?
Tall Man: That's correct.
Well now you've got three.
Nicole: Alright.
Tall Man: You stick a 3D square into your project,
that does two things for you.
The first thing it does is,
it just holds those parts together
so they don't fall time every time you touch them.
But the really cool thing is,
it actually squares up your project
and it keeps it square even when you put on your glue clamp.
Now a lot of times you put a glue clamp on a project
and it racks everything out of square.
And then of course the glue's drying, the clock's ticking,
you're clamping those diagonals together trying to fix it.
Now you put on a glue clamp,
the 3D square holds everything in alignment
and you got yourself a square project.
Nicole: That's pretty cool.
Tall Man: Isn't that cool?
Nicole: That's very cool.
Tall Man: Now that works because they're precise.
We machine them, guarantee them plus or minus
2000th's of an inch over the whole length of a square.
That anchor square is guaranteed at 1000th's of an inch.
That shows you how precise we are.
We're actually the fourth most precise
square in woodworking.
Nicole: Ok.
Tall Man: Bridge City and Starret, they're the Cadillacs.
[unintelligible] the third most precise
at 1000th's of an inch.
So we're only the fourth most precise,
but we're the first in assembly.
Nicole: There you go.
Tall Man: If you're doing a bigger project,
like a bookcase and a cabinet,
even when you've got help in the shop
you can't hold this many parts together.
Nicole: Right.
Tall Man: Well now you set that square where you need it,
that first clamp anchors the square.
Look at how easy that is.
That holds everything steady, keeps it square.
You can assemble large projects all by yourself.
Nicole: Well thanks so much.
Tall Man: Thank you very much.
Nicole: Alright, you bet. Cut.
Marc: Be sure to check out part two
of our woodworking show episode
where we have a few more interviews
and some more senseless babble coming out of my mouth.