Woodworking in America Calls

I am really looking forward to meeting all my good friends and woodworking peers this weekend.  I have been asked to teach a couple of classes, and my wife Kristen and I will also have a booth in the Trade Show area of the conference.

To see a list of classes click here:WIA Lectures

Our booth will be representing the American School of French Marquetry, and I hope to attract new students both to my school in San Diego, and also to Marc Adams School of Woodworking, where I will return to teach next fall.

Marc has graciously sent to the conference one of the chevalets he built for my class.  Unfortunately, the classic chevalet doesn't fit into the typical baggage requirements, so having one of his on loan is a great help.  Thank you Marc.

We are also selling bottles of Old Brown Glue at our booth.  That is assuming the TSA doesn't look at a 49 lb bag of gelled organic glue as a threat.  We included in the package the MSDS just in case.

I used to wonder at Don Weber, the "bodger of paint Lick, Kentucky," when he would stay with us.  His baggage contained a dozen razor sharp turning tools.  I guess if you look authentic, they don't mess with you.

I have had my share of interesting stops by TSA.  One I am thinking of was the time I transported 2 kilos of sand, which I paid a good price for in Paris.  This particular sand comes from Fontainebleau and is used for burning wood in marquetry.  As they ran their hands through the sand, looking for something, they finally asked me, "What is this?"  All I could say was "Sand."

But the most memorable and dramatic event was when I arrived from Paris to clear customs in Philadelphia.  I had a bag which was 50 pounds.  I had purchased a variety of traditional stains, in powder form, as well as kilos of pumice and "soie" which is a silk filtered mineral for French polishing.  At the same time, since American pewter is different than traditional French pewter, I had several sheets of 1mm thick pewter lining the sides of the bag.

So, when I was asked to open my bag for inspection, the inspector looked into a bag, lined with lead sheeting and filled with hand made brown paper kilos of different powders.  He asked me to empty the bag, and as I lifted each kilo out to place it on the table, different colored powders would leak out.  I tried as best as I could to explain why I had placed pewter on the sides of the bag, but he wasn't impressed with my knowledge of traditional marquetry and special materials.

As he reached for the telephone to call a superior my heat sank, thinking my stop over in Philadelphia was going to take longer than I had expected.  However at that same instant a 777 had just arrived and there were about 300 people rushing the gate.  He just gave up, looked at me sternly, and said, "Pack your bag and go."

I guess it does matter if you look authentic. Hope to see you in Winston Salem!