Ho ho ho - boy!  Was Santa good to us this season!!  Our library was enhanced last month by the addition of six new instructional DVD's featuring various well known experts.  I had a chance to view most of them over the break, so I thought I'd pick three and describe them this month.  I plan to do a write-up on the remaining three in the next newsletter.

The first DVD is entitled "Building a Shaker Table" by Kelly Mehler.  You may recognize the name - we've had his "Table Saw Book" in our library for over a year now (it's even autographed with a dedication to our Guild).  This DVD runs approximately one hour and makes a round trip that begins in Mr. Mehler's showroom (which holds several finished tables), passes through various stages in his workshop, then ends back in the showroom with the completed table.  In between he covers all of the steps necessary to build a fine piece of furniture, such as choosing and preparing stock, jointing and glue-up, fitting, and finishing.  He also explains his decisions along the way; one example being how he pins tenons with square pegs of the same species, then uses a simple grain change to make the detail "pop".

Kelly is a very capable teacher.  I had the opportunity to talk with him briefly at "The Woodworker's Show" a couple of years ago.  He's very patient and thorough with his delivery, and his demeanor comes through in the DVD.  My favorite part of his instruction was when it came time for him to smooth the table top he made.  He used a Stanley scraper and bench plane to smooth it.  But not only that, he first showed how to prepare the scraper blade, then setup the tool to produce the proper shaving.  I had never seen an expert detail the steps visually prior to that.  Very informative.

The second DVD is entitled "Master Your Bandsaw" by Mark Duginske.  Mr. Duginske seems to be the first person woodworkers think of when it comes to tuning or using a bandsaw.  He's written several books on the subject, and this DVD sort of compresses all of that information into a brief overview.  He begins with the basics of handling and changing blades, along with which type of blade is appropriate for different woodcutting operations.  He spends an adequate amount of time discussing saw setup and operation, and then progresses to cutting different pieces to exemplify his instruction.

Mark really knows how to turn the bandsaw into a precision cutting tool.  How many folks do you know will actually smooth the back edges of a new blade to reduce friction and prolong blade life?  I have to admit, I've never done it (when all else fails, I just push harder!!).  I guess that's why he's on TV, and I'm the one watching him!  He uses the bandsaw for all sorts of operations; resawing (including consistently cutting very thin veneers), dovetailing, cutting circles and cones.  The latter was fun to watch; it looks like nothing is happening at first, then all of the sudden a cone appears out of the wood.  He also shows how to compensate for blade tracking, and explains when a pin block is better than a rip fence.  He does a quick demo on box cutting as well, but then we have some masters of our own in that department, don't we?!

The third DVD is entitled "Mastering Your Tablesaw", again by Kelly Mehler.  You should definitely be familiar with Kelly by now, especially  since I just mentioned him three paragraphs ago!  This DVD is all about getting the most out of what he considers to be "…the most essential tool in the shop…".  He takes us back to his workshop for a complete "hands-on" demonstration of how to setup, tune, and use a table saw for all sorts of operations.  He takes a very practical approach to all of this as well.  To convince us these techniques work, he not only uses his big, beefy cabinet saw during the instruction, but a much less expensive version as well.  Final results from the sawn boards speak for themselves.

There are many folks that can deliver a presentation on how to use a power tool.  I think what set's this DVD apart from others is Kelly's devotion to safety.  The instruction and the cuts produced are the product of how the tool is used, in both a safe and clever manor.  He enhances the use of the saw with many jigs.  These enable him to work carefully, regardless of whether the final cut renders a paper-thin slice or a piece of wood several feet wide.  This is all brought about by a series of deliberate events; proper alignment of the blade and fence, accurate miter gauge settings, and jigs that allow a user to maintain board position and feed rates as the wood is cut.  It all combines for a very effective presentation.

I'm thrilled to see these DVD's in our library.  They provide an alternate means of education towards our hobby, and are ideal if you're short on time.  They can also direct you to other sources of information should you want to pursue some aspect of the craft in greater detail.  The drawback is they require us to keep current with the technology, meaning access to a DVD player or computer with DVD capability is a must.  However, these devices seem to be relatively commonplace at this point.