Message from the President
This season we are focused on toy making. I can’t help but get into the holiday spirit when I see all the toys you are making to put smiles on the faces of kids here in the Inland Empire and all over the world. When I talk to companies and describe our mission and goals, they are inspired by the fine people we have and the wonderful things you all do in our community. Hats off to you all.
This month, we welcomed SurfPrep Sanding to our club meeting. They brought their high-end sanding products, premium sanding abrasives, and dust collection systems. Skyler and Hannah gave an informative and skill-building demonstration providing our members present with helpful alternatives to some of their most challenging sanding issues. They also gave out gift certificates for our raffle, stickers, and samples. I can’t thank them enough for their generosity and appreciation for the woodworker’s quest for perfection. They also provided banners to members for you to proudly hang in your shop. I have a few extras if you are interested. I’ll bring them to the next meeting. We look forward to working together in possible future endeavors.
Next month’s meeting (10 Oct) we are inviting Harvey-Bridge City Tools to come out and demonstrate some of their premium hand tools and jigs, and talk about their high-performance power tools. They are a local Inland Empire business, with a long and storied history, and I had the opportunity to meet with them and tour their facility in Montclair. I was very impressed with their talented design staff and the many things coming soon. They have a vast array of hand tools and specialty jigs that we got to try out at the AWFS Fair in July. We had a lot of fun ooo’ing and ahh’ing over the innovative power tools Harvey International has to offer. Samantha, Hang, and Jeremy, as well as so many other of their friendly staff, proudly provided us opportunities to try out and ask questions about their high-quality tools.
I highly encourage you to come out and join us at the next meeting. You won’t be disappointed.
Club Business
Mike Trejo brought the September 2023 meeting to order at 6:00pm. There were 18 members and several guests. Mike began the meeting by introducing the guests: Wayne McKenzie, who is a friend of Bonnie & John; Brett Nissley, a regular attendee of the monthly CNC Training Group, Michael Mark, Hannah Khalaf, the Marketing Manager for SurfPrep and newest member of the Inland Woodworkers, Skylar Faria, co-founder of SurfPrep, and Michael Townsend, a Field Representative for Assembly Member Eloise Gomez Reyes of the fiftieth district, covering the Fontana area, and Hung Nguyen, the Technical Director & Product Specialist for Harvey Industries International. Welcome everyone, we look forward to seeing you again!
501(c)3 update – the lawyer is still on track to complete the process this year. Mike will use his address for the initial corporation filing, and will then transition to a post office box address next year.
Toy Drive update – the donation event will take place mid-November; the date to be announced next month when Mike Sullivan returns. There will be 14 charities receiving our toys this year, including Samaritan’s Purse (https://samaritanspurse.org/). Please start preparing your contributions. Additional materials will be available at the October meeting.
Mike attended a craft fair at Tractor Supply Company. Each location plans its own events. We’re told there are more events in the future. Please check the website for events in your area and report details at an upcoming meeting.
Show & Tell
RJ Monsma kicked off this month’s show & tell session by presenting a trivet that he made for his grandmother in Michigan. He engraved the roses and letting with a handheld router, using a 1mm router bit. The wood is mahogany. He made this for her 2 years before her 100th birthday, and she enjoyed it for 3-1/2 years. He finished the trivet with a high-temperature epoxy, and filled the letters with a blue translucent ink.
RJ also made a golfer using his scroll saw.
He sold his first one for $60, and is in the process of making more. He reported getting scorch marks from the blade. He tried pine, but that scorched and yielded poor results. RJ also tried balsa wood, but that was not strong enough. He did find success using poplar, but when sanding with his Dremel tool, he found that it removed some detail.
Cutting the silhouettes took about 45 minutes; adding in the sanding process brought the overall time to 3.5 hours, making the overall project less than cost effective. One suggestion was to use an emery board or nail file. Another was to try yellow pine, which is a harder wood.
Kenneth Thomas noted that saw dust gets caught in the blade. He recommended trying a blade with fewer teeth per inch (TPI), perhaps a #5 with skip teeth. The gullets won’t fill as quickly. Or maybe a crown tooth saw blade, which might cut better, requiring less sanding. These cut slower but clear the sawdust better.
Nathan Lindsey made a tray and engraved it using his friend’s laser engraver.
He wants to engrave the end. In order to cut, he needs at least 60 watts or more to cut into the wood, with better results at 100W (more cutting, less burning). Anything less seems to result in burning. He also wants to cut finger slots on the end of the board. He made a jig for his router table, but any mishap could ruin the entire piece. Nathan makes the cutting boards in different thicknesses and widths, so the jig needs to be adjustable. He is looking for suggestions. Perhaps the JDS multi-router (now made by WoodPecker) would work, albeit at a steep cost.
Chuck Petrovich made a mushroom napkin holder from Baltic birch, based on a photo he saw in a magazine. And while watching a television advertisement, he saw a bird house that caught his eye. He drew the design and created his own version.
Chuck also made a bird feeder from a pattern that his wife found on the internet. He made it out of redwood, and with today’s lumber prices, he’ll need to charge premium rent!
Wayne McKenzie brought in his project portfolio and talked about a few of his scroll saw projects. He paints them using water colors so they are non-toxic. He also makes toy cars and animals that he donates to Good Samaritans. He makes about 150 toys each year.
Ernie Gonzalez shared his latest jeep designs. He is always modifying his projects to improve creativity as well as authenticity.
Michael Townsend introduced himself. He is a Field Representative for Assembly Member Eloise Gomez Reyes. Michael is a beginning woodworker who enjoys seeing the creativity and beautiful art work of others. There was plenty of both at tonight’s meeting!
Raffle Time
Special thanks to Hannah for donating SurfPrep gift certificates. The sanding abrasives will come in handy as we prepare our toys for the upcoming toy drive.
Special Presentation
SurfPrep co-owner Skylar Faria and Marketing Manager Hannah Khalaf (his eldest daughter) discussed the history of their family owned and operated sanding business. Hannah first learned about Inland Woodworkers at the 2021 AWFS Fair. She invited Mike Trejo to tour their Lake Elsinore facility a few weeks back, and showed him the west coast operations, including the production and manufacturing of cloth belt and foam back abrasives that are made in California.
Skylar is a Cal Poly Pomona alumni who started off playing baseball. In 1985, he found his way into sandpaper sales. Dixon Enterprises started at the OEM level through industrial distributors. Their 3×4 air sander was originally designed for Toyota in Japan. It was used for sanding the door jams on the vehicle assembly line. A few years ago, he created the SurfPrep sanding system. It is a foam abrasive that is attached to the sander. The system has less vibration and runs quieter than a traditional random-orbital sander. The electric sander uses the same footprint as the air sander.
For tonight’s presentation, Skylar brought in an electric 3×4 inch sander. He talked about the components, and noted that all parts are kept in local inventory. He connected the sander to a SurfPrep dust collector system, and then demonstrated its operations. It was very quiet, and no dust was visible. But seeing is not believing to woodworkers, so Skylar invited the group to give it a try. Which we did! Here is Ray, testing the sander on one of his toy cars, which produced great results.
Upcoming Events
OC Maker Faire – October 21. Go to https://oc.makerfaire.com/ for details.
Anderson Plywood Old Tool Swap Meet: Saturday, November 18. 4020 Sepulveda Blvd, Culver City, Ca. 90230 https://www.andersonplywood.com/old-tool-swap-meet/
SkillsUSA Regional Contest: tentatively scheduled for Saturday, January 27, 2024.
SkillsUSA State Finals: Saturday, April 6, 2024. Chaffey High School, Ontario. Volunteers needed.
Corona Heritage Park Old Tool Sale: (https://coronaheritage.org/) Saturday, September 9th, 6:00 a.m. to Noon. Tools of all the early trades will be available in quantity.
Next month – Harvey Industries International will present their tools.
