Another relative newcomer, this time to woodworking as a whole, is high schooler Trina Hendrickson, whose Craftsmen Influence End Table won in the Youth Award category. Inspired by her grandfather’s cabin in, appropriately, the north woods of Minnesota, Trina’s table makes use of walnut dowels, Western red alder, black walnut, rock maple, Douglas fir, plywood and Masonite. It marks her first try at inlays, pegging dowels, and using no metal fasteners.

Guild member Mark Laub’s “Queen of the Slipstream” took home the Most Technically Accomplished award. Drawing on inspiration ranging from a hotel’s revolving door, to a scarab beetle, to the location for building some of the piece — Van Morrison’s California home recording studio — the walk-about cabinet has no straight lines, and neither front nor back. Made of Bastogne walnut, soft maple, patinated copper, Morrocan tile, mother of pearl, abalone, art glass and brass, the Queen has drawers within drawers, carousels within carousels, and a screw-driven lift for the top.

Craig Johnson’s “Jeffersonian Book Stand” was the winning piece in the Best Traditional Piece category. It’s a modern take on Thomas Jefferson’s 1810 revolving book stand design and also uses wood with a history: the yellow birch is recovered submerged lumber, retrieved from the logging days of 150 years ago. He used both the sapwood and the heartwood of the birch, as well as bird’s-eye maple, plus brass fasteners.

John Walkowiak’s winning piece in the “Best Detail” category is called A Cradle for Ella because it was a cradle for his granddaughter, named Ella. It’s a scale model of a yacht lifeboat, which he plans to repurpose with shelves and a platform to store books, stuffed animals, etc. The cradle includes hand hammered copper rivets and is made from ash, walnut and cherry.

Winner of the Peer Award, voted on by other Guild members and sponsored by Rockler Woodworking and Hardware, was Tim Gorman for his Columnar Cabinet piece — which is a repurposing of an earlier, failed attempt at a bubinga-veneered tabletop. Tim designed the piece using 3D modeling software, to proportions that will allow it to hold a 32″ television. In addition to the bubinga, the piece incorporates birch plywood, maple, ebony, holly, brass, nickel, aluminum and glass.

And, for the Woodworking for Pleasure category, Karl Heal took home the award with a Greene and Greene Style Morris Chair that combines elements of Greene and Greene and Stickley designs, has a footstool that slides under the chair for storage, and doesn’t take up a lot of space in Karl’s living room. It’s made from white oak and ebony.

To see more winners of the 2016 Northern Woods show, and find out more about the Minnesota Woodworkers Guild, visit their website.

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JET hopes to break these blade-swapping barriers with its new JWSS-22 Scroll Saw. Its upper blade-changing mechanism both clamps and tensions pinless scroll saw blades in a single, cam-lever action. No tools or other clamping elements are required. It’s an innovative feature only available on this scroll saw, JET says.

Further, the removable lower blade holder grips the blade with a single wing-type knob. A storage rack on the machine has a built-in wrench that makes it fast and easy to install this lower blade holder on the blade. Once it’s installed, just slip the lower blade holder into place on the saw without tools, and secure the upper end of the blade in the top cam mechanism. You can mount other blades on additional lower blade holders (sold separately) and stow them, pre-loaded, in slots on the saw’s built-in storage rack.

“Our focus is on the user and their passion for scroll sawing. So we were determined to design the most innovative and efficient scroll saw on the market. Our blade change system is just one of the many features that bring a better experience to the user,” says Katie Davidson, JET’s Product Manager.

Among those other features, the JWSS-22 has a 12-7/8- x 23-in. cast-iron table to improve stability during sawing and help minimize vibration. A front slot in the table will make blade changes even easier — no need to thread them up through a throatplate hole.

This saw’s tilt-up, spring-loaded arm offers 22-in. of throat capacity and 2-in. of cutting depth for managing larger workpieces, and it tilts 40 degrees left and 45 degrees right for making bevel cuts. The saw table remains stationary and level to ensure optimal workpiece and cutting control.

A 1.3-amp (50-watt) induction motor powers the saw. You can change its variable speed capacity up or down between 400 and 1,550 strokes per minute with a dial on top. The saw delivers a 3/4-in. stroke length.

For cleaner cutting, the JWSS-22 has built-in dust collection, too. A removable 1-1/2-in.-dia. dust port connects to a custom-fit tray beneath the table and collects dust and chips at the source. There’s also an articulating dust blower to clear the blade area of tabletop dust and help improve cutline visibility.

JET sells the saw in two configurations: as a kit, which includes the saw, steel stand and a foot switch, for $989.99; or you can buy just the saw and foot switch for $899.99. A set of three lower blade holders (item 727201) is also available as an accessory for $19.99.

JET covers your saw purchase with a 5-year warranty as well as its RED Assurance service and support guarantee.

Learn more about JET’s new JWSS-22 Scroll Saw, and locate your nearest JET dealer, by visiting jettools.com. To see a video of the saw in action, click here.

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Tim Inman: Bamboo grows like weeds. It is not endangered, it replenishes very quickly, and it grows almost anywhere. Thus, in that sense it is sustainable because it readily replenishes itself. Glue: Some glues are better/worse than others. Formaldehyde is included in some adhesives, not in others. You can research this on a product specific basis and make your choices accordingly. I would guess the relative energy to transport, cut and finish the material would be very similar regardless of the wood. So, all in all, bamboo is probably a good “green” choice — if you like the look and other characteristics of bamboo. Oak and maple work, too.

Chris Marshall: In an age where the term “green,” when applied to building materials and practices, may encourage us to assume that all is well and good for the environment, we shouldn’t abandon reason. So, you are raising sensible questions about the “green-ness” of bamboo building products such as flooring, lumber and sheet goods. But, there is no simple answer to your question. Bamboo is still a relatively new building material here in the West. And, much of the harvesting and production of bamboo building products occurs in China and southeast Asia, where some businesses there may not adhere to sustainable forest management, harvesting or environmentally friendly manufacturing processes. So, some “green” bamboo products actually might not be so green after all. We need to be vigilant consumers.

If you are really committed to finding answers to these questions, dig in and do your online homework. And, more power to you! Here’s one of many places to start: Dovetail Partners. It’s a nonprofit education organization that offers information about the impacts and tradeoffs of environmental decisions such as consumption choices, land use and policy alternatives. A quick search on their website will bring you to several downloadable documents focusing on bamboo products and the environmental ramifications of this emerging industry. Two of them, published in 2005 (click here) and 2014 (click here), concentrate on bamboo flooring, specifically. You can download and read these documents for free. I’m sure they’ll shed some light and deepen your reflection on this important and complex subject.

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-Dave Germain
Dubuque, IA

See the Slideshow Below:

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