David J Marks message

[Jim Barrett]

Here is a copy from David Marks posted on the Yahoo Mini Max group site:

5 8 04

On January 30, 2004, I was in Ontario, California, doing an
appearance for Woodworks (an industry trade show). I was there for
three days and had the chance to meet many of my fellow woodworkers,
some old friends and I made some new ones. While I was there I was
introduced to the guys at Woodline (who were hosting Sam Maloof's
appearance), as well as Jim Strain, President of Mini Max and Dain
Kirkpatrick, Sales Executive for Mini Max. Jim and Dain were kind
enough to let me use their 20-inch Mini Max bandsaw to demonstrate
resawing. Honestly, I was very impressed with the machine and now
I'm actually in the process of buying one for myself. Last weekend
there was a woodworking show going on in Sacramento, California, and
since Jim and Dain were in town for the show, they drove up to my
home in Santa Rosa to participate in a musical jam session. As it
turns out, Dain happens to be a killer piano player. I had my hands
full trying to keep up with him on the drums while my good friend
Tom Ribbecke tore it up on the guitar (not bad for a bunch of old
guys!). The following Saturday Tom Ribbecke and I drove to
Sacramento to check out Mini Max's display at the trade show. This
further convinced me of the quality of their machines. After
brainstorming with Jim and Dain, I decided it would be a fun idea to
teach a few small seminars in my shop demonstrating my techniques
while using some of their machines. My goal for the seminars is to
keep the classes small (10-12 people) and keep it a working, open
forum so everyone will have a chance to ask questions and watch my
demonstrations "up close". To start, I am offering a few seminar
this summer. Surprisingly, the first three-day seminar scheduled
for July 16-18, 2004, is already full, but I will be adding another
one in late July or August. Each three-day seminar will be
dedicated to only one topic. Here are a few topics I propose, but
I'm definitely open to other suggestions:

1) Bentwood Lamination: I will demonstrate resawing on the bandsaw,
designing and building forms, gluing up the laminates in the form,
milling the cured laminates and discussing joinery. If time permits,
I will also cut some joinery.

2) Bandsawn Veneers: I will demonstrate resawing veneers on the
bandsaw, edge-gluing veneers and using the vacuum press to glue the
veneers to the substrate. If time permits, I will also cut some
joinery.


3) Dovetails: I will demonstrate cutting 2-inch thick dovetails on
the bandsaw. Also I will demonstrate chopping and paring the
dovetails by hand with sharp chisels. If time permits, I will do a
glue-up and possibly some shaping.

If you are interested in attending an upcoming seminar, or have any
questions, please contact Dain Kirkpatrick at (800) 830-2515 or
email him at dkirkpatrick@m....

I hope to see some of you this summer!

Best regards,
David J. Marks

[Chris Padilla]

This guy's name sounds familiar...who is he? I had a chance to meet Jim Strain at the Sac wood show and ended up ordering an FS 41 Elite from him. Later, I made an offer for John Ormby's MM20 (also posted on the MiniMax forum) and will pick that up in Sacramento next Sunday (5/16).

[Jim Becker]

Chris, David Marks is an artist in wood, both spinny and flat and has his own show on DIY network. You can learn more about him at his web site which is located at: http://www.djmarks.com/ . You can also read an article by him in the latest issue of Fine Woodworking--it discusses his "patinating" technique.

[Aaron Heck]

This sounded like it could have been really fun, but it seems to have turned into a $250-a-day deal to watch someone do woodworking. I like David and all, and I'll still watch all of his shows, but that seems a little steep. It only seems to be on one topic per session and doesn't seem to be very hands on. Too bad......

Maybe it'd be different if I was in the area and didn't have travel and lodging, etc costs.

Aaron

[Jim Barrett]

Yes it is a lot of money! I signed up for the seminar and probably going to cost me close to $1.5k by the time I am finished, seminar cost, hotel, food, flight, car, etc... But what the heck, you only live once!!! Plus my SWMBO said "go for it."

JimB

[Jim Becker]

Gee, Jim. You might consider driving down to N California to David's shop. Might be a good excuse to bring back some lumber along the way! Cost you an extra couple of "days", but would save the airfare and car rental.

[Jim Barrett]

Hey Jim,

Good idea, you got my SWMBO thinking...her parents live on the way in Grants Pass, OR and in fact she grew up in the Bay area, Cupertino, and have relatives in Sacramento....hmmmmm....
JimB

[James Carmichael]

I just caught his show for the first time on DIY, very good, I thought. I like the Rosendahls show, but all they really do is router joinery and Rick talks too damn fast for a drawling Texan like me. I enjoy the way Marks goes through all the steps, stock preparation and all.

[Jim Barrett]

Yeah, I think he has awsome talent. I understand he is just a "regular guy." Again... it is a lot of money... but for ME... it is worth it. Should be a blast!

JimB

[Chris Padilla]

Hey, I got space in my house, Jim! I'm in South San Jose.

[Jim Barrett]

I just returned from 3 fantastic days with 7 other woodworkers who
participated in David Marks bentwood lamination seminar at his shop
in Santa Rosa, CA. I had an absolutely great time!!! David is a
fantastic craftsman and instructor and an absolutely great guy!!
David did all of the cutting of material on an MM20 bandsaw and MM CU
300 Smart combo machine. He recently purchased a MM 36 bandsaw and is
in the process of setting it up in his shop!
David took us through the design and construction of a bentwood
lamination project using purple heart.
David set up the MM 20 bandsaw (he really likes the Lenox bi-metal
1/2" 6 tpi blades) and showed us how he adjust the fence for drift
and sets up the guides before cutting the ~1/16" laminates for our
project.
David constructed several forms for our project and he demonstrated
the glue ups of the laminations. This really opens up a whole new
world for me!!!
Between glue ups David was answering any and all questions about
woodworking. From sharpening his scrapers to discussing bowl turning.
(David is an awsome turner with a Oneway lathe in his shop).
David has several more classes coming up this summer in his shop. The
other class is on Band Sawn veneers which I am sure is going to be
fantastic.
An extra treat was sitting in David's living room eating lunch and
watching a couple of new "Woodworks" episodes... yet to be seen
(except for 8 lucky woodworkers!!!)
Jim

[Bob_Hammond]

What size is his jointer? 12"? It's a big one.

He made a bench last week that my wife happened to see him make, and now she wants me to make. It was a combination of tarnished copper for the bases and a big walnut slab for the seat.

Bob

[Jim Barrett]

His Jointer is 16", during the seminar he used the 12" jointer on the MM 300 Smart.

Jim

[Michael Perata]

I was there with Jim and the whole group had a great time and learned some good techniques.

David is a very interesting person, in person, and is very approachable.

BTW: You've heard that TV makes everthing appear larger. His shop is really tight and not what it appears on the TV. I have a hard time imagining the camera locations.

Jim: Hope my instructions on getting to I-5 helped you out sunday night. Took me and my wife 1.5 hours to get across the GG briddge from San Raphael.

[Jim Barrett]

Sent you a PM