(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..