Joni Matthiessen
We have been working hard at the Wood Shop trying to offer many classes to our newer members. We want to get folks assimilated and comfortable working with various equipment as soon as possible. One recent class was on making toys, and it was a very successful, productive class. Larry Ditch, who serves as our shop manager, organized and led the class. He started the class with each person gaining experience in prepping their wood, first with the planer, then cutting their wood to size on the compound miter saw. We then broke into two groups. Each person learned proper technique in using the drill press to make the axle holes, the band saw to cut out their patterns, and then sanding their toys using the orbital and spindle sanders to get a smooth finish. At the very end, we finally added wheels and ended the day excited at what everyone was able to accomplish in a short amount of time! We had six new people in the class: Danna Winiesdorffer, Terry Renan, Teresa Capps-McGill, Sharon Benzine, Steve Williams, and Stan Brein. Everyone was pleased at how cute their toys turned out.