The classes will be offered at four times throughout the day, with start times of 9:30 and 11:30 am as well as 1:30 and 3:30 pm. Because pen turning is relatively simple, it’s ideal for anyone who wishes to participate, including those with little or no prior woodworking experience. Store staff will be on hand to answer questions and offer assistance. Each participant will leave with a completed pen, and the entire $10 enrollment fee for each participant will be donated to the National Veterans Foundation.

The National Veterans Foundation operates the only toll-free helpline for all U.S. veterans and their families for crisis management, referral needs and other services. They also spearhead public awareness efforts and outreach services that provide veterans with essential resources including food, clothing, transportation and employment.

“With Veterans Day fast approaching, we thought this would be a great way to honor our veterans while giving folks an opportunity to make something they can use every day,” says Scott Ekman, Rockler’s vice president of marketing. “This class is a great opportunity to learn basic skills, get some hands-on experience and meet other people interested in woodworking. Everyone leaves with a finished pen, and all of the proceeds will be donated to help our veterans.”

All 37 Rockler stores across the country will offer the pen turning classes. Class size will be limited to six participants per session, so lots of one-on-one help will be available. Attendees under the age of 18 will need to be accompanied by an adult. The class will last approximately 45 to 60 minutes.

You can register for the pen turning class nearest you by clicking here.

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The jig can be quickly and easily calibrated for drilling through 1/4-, 3/8-, 1/2-, 5/8- or 3/4-in.-thick workpieces. Once set, you can move and re-clamp the jig to drill the next hole (clamps are sold separately). Precisely molded reference lines and a clear alignment window enable fast and accurate setups. Included with the jig are interchangeable 1/8-, 1/4- and 3/8-in. steel drill guide assemblies and a case with room for extended-length drill bits (sold separately).

Rockler’s Corner Key Doweling Jig (item 59517) sells for $39.99.

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With dual 3-in. woofers, the speaker delivers premium sound with powerful bass and loud volume. Its controls enable you to play/pause, skip tracks and control the volume from the speaker. It does not contain a radio or CD player.

The 4 lb. speaker is compatible with 12V MAX* and 20V MAX* batteries (sold separately) and includes a standard detachable power cord to operate off of a 120-volt wall outlet. It can also be used with a FLEXVOLT® battery for extended runtime.

For maximum shop or jobsite durability, the speaker features a reinforced, impact-resistant housing and metal grille along with a robust carrying handle. The handle doubles as a mobile phone stand that holds the user’s device and displays the screen. An additional storage tray is available under the handle. The speaker includes both a USB charging port and auxiliary jack that provide mobile phone charging and alternate non-Bluetooth connection options.

Available where DEWALT products are sold, the 12V/20V MAX* Jobsite Bluetooth® Speaker (model DCR010) is priced at $99. DeWALT backs your purchase with a three-year limited warranty, one-year free service contract and 90-day money-back guarantee.

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Tim Inman: Epoxies generally do not like to be messed with. Adding a tint or coloring agent is almost surely the cause of your “white” complaint. The only other possibility that comes to mind is over-catalyzation. Unlike resin systems like polyester “Bondo,” which use a catalyst to trigger the hardening reaction, epoxies use a resin/hardener system that must be balanced. Too much of one (usually it is the hardener that gets overused) will yield a poor product after setting because the two actually bond together to make the “glue.” With polyesters, the catalyst is just triggering a cross-linking reaction. So, what to do? Follow the container directions to the T, especially when using epoxy. If you need colors, add powders and not anything liquid. Test on a sample first to be sure!

Chris Marshall: So, the epoxy cured clearly but turned white when you sanded it? Or, some areas became white even before sanding? This part of your description isn’t clear to me, but it could point to another possibility for the problem: your sanding technique. To what grit level did you sand the epoxy, and how carefully? The reason I ask is because sanding to, say, 120-grit will yield a different result than sanding to 1000-grit. Why? Well, the smaller the sanding scratches are on the surface, the better that light rays can penetrate into the epoxy. If the surface has a matrix of coarse scratches, it might be appearing white because light is diffusing in all directions rather than penetrating straight into the material. It’s the same effect that a hazy headlight lens will have on a car: it won’t shine a beam as far or as brightly as a clear lens will. So, you might try sanding the white areas again through successive grits up to a much finer grit level. As the scratches get smaller, the clarity should improve. Don’t skip any grits. But if that doesn’t help and the “whiteness” seems to be penetrating down into the epoxy, then as Tim says, the problem was in the mixing ratio or some other contaminant that’s impacting the clarity of the final cure.

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I started this in Mid August, but got delayed since our son was coming to town for a visit. Additionally, I had several upcoming shows that I had to create inventory for. Almost two months later, I was able to complete it.

This is made with 100% Louisiana Sinker Cypress with the exception of a small Wenge accent strip along the center and top and a glass panel in the top door. It is 62″ tall and 32″ wide.

Greg Little
Prairieville, LA

See the Gallery Below:

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“I’m definitely being more tuned in to air quality in the shop. In the past, I would go into the shop for ‘a few minutes’ or ‘just to do one thing’ and I wouldn’t turn on the air filtration or dust collectors. Now I’m making a habit of turning them on as soon as I walk in.” – Bill Sheridan

“I worked with wood off and on for many years, but was not concerned with dust collection. I moved my saws outside and just swept up when done. Now, as a retiree, I have a real, dedicated, woodshop. And suddenly, I also developed some allergy symptoms. I did install (from the outset) a chip collection unit, but it just wasn’t enough. So, after doing some research, I bought a large (~2000 CFM) 1 micron ambient air filter. Huge difference! Cherry dust is still not my friend, but the wood is once again. Oh, and suddenly my small pellet stove is a heating powerhouse. So, while I’m uncertain of the ‘new technology’ you mention, the existing technology is certainly working well for me.” – Steve Kendall

“I have a new shop that is in the finishing stages of construction. Worked on it for the past year. My breathing issues are important to me. I have an old Craftsman shop vac I have used for years. Cleaned (or replaced) the filter more times than I have fingers and toes to count. When my new shop got to the stage of actually making something, I bought a Dust Deputy and mounted it on a 20-gallon plastic barrel powered by my old Craftsman shop vac.  This thing works absolutely wonderful. I have emptied the plastic dust barrel numerous times and the shop vac has only a handful of debris and the filter is essentially clean. I built a mobile base for the vac and barrel combination that is cumbersome at times, but with the collection I get, I always hook it to my machines and value the clear air.  Now, to go further, I have acquired a downdraft motor and squirrel cage fan from an old furnace from an HVAC technician friend that I intend to use to construct a shop air cleaner.  I have gleaned design ideas from You Tube that are great.  I hope to be breathing better in my shop and keep learning the craft.” – Tony Newman

“I lost most of my hearing to woodworking noise (that and a 7mm magnum rifle) without adequate protection. I determined many years ago to not let that happen to my lungs. That is much more the focus of my dust collection than keeping a clean shop, although a clean shop is a nice bonus. Without wood dust everywhere I also have less fear of fire from a grinder spark or other ignition source; I’ve seen shops that were so thick with dust in the air and layered on everything I’m amazed they haven’t had a fire or even an explosion from a spark. I’ve never smoked, so that was also a good start.

“It starts with an Oneida cyclone dust collector with an HEPA grade filter on its output. I can collect about 90 percent of what’s generated with that without putting the fine stuff (which is what will kill you) back out into the shop. Too often, woodworkers don’t think about the filter size on the output of dust collectors and put the deadly stuff right back out into the air. It continues with two Powermatic air cleaners hung two feet from the ceiling, five feet from the sides, and 12 feet from the ends of my 20×46 shop. They create a racetrack pattern of air movement that carries the suspended particles (again, the stuff that will kill you) to their filters. Since they use a standard 12×24 furnace filter, I use MERV 15 filters (did I mention it’s the small stuff that will kill you?) and never have to worry about cleaning the bag filter in the back. I change them out about once a month, depending on how much time I have in the shop, because that’s how short a time it takes for them to go from white to dark brown even with 90 percent collection at the source. Not cheap, but much less expensive than COPD or lung cancer. I also leave them running for a minimum of two hours after I leave the shop.

“Finally, when sanding on the lathe, hand sanding (the worst, of course, for fine particle creation; did I mention that’s the stuff that will kill you?), or sanding anything where I’m not going to have good dust collection, I wear my 3M hard hat/faceshield/PAPR with .3 micron filters. Since I have a beard, a typical dust mask is useless (can’t count how many videos I’ve seen with guys with beards wearing dust masks; do they think they’re doing any good?). So that’s how I take care of the dust in my shop (which also lets me spend less time ‘dusting’ and more time working). Not anxious to upgrade what I’m doing, but always good to see what may be coming to improve on that.” – Del Morisette

“Backstory:  As I neared retirement age, I began to acquire various pieces of gently used and new woodworking equipment.  In 2013, my wife was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and just completed treatment 82 or 83. In 2014, I went in for hernia surgery and they took out the majority of my left lung. Lung cancer due to Agent Orange! Being a non-smoking, healthy, farm guy, that is the last thing I expected.  I thought I had overcome the demons from serving in Vietnam. The decision was made to take out the lung and leave the hernia. At that time, air quality became a serious issue to me.  I am very aware of humid, dust-filled air. What had been a minor irritant before surgery now stops me in my tracks. If someone lights  a match or a cigarette – my lungs know it! My shop is roughly 12-feet wide x 30-feet long with a 10-foot ceiling and an 8-foot x 10-foot overhead insulated door.  My woodworking equipment is sitting in the shop and surrounding area.

“I have a Harbor Freight dust collector that is still in the box!  I plan to set this unit outside the shop area and hook it up to a 5-in. metal exhaust pipe with 4-in. gates that I plan to attach to the major chip/dust producers inside.  I am debating what type of secondary filtration to build for use in the shop.  I plan to filter all incoming air (when the doors are closed). Having bored you to tears, I hope I have explained my interest in shop filtration systems.” – Rich Hodupp

Some are satisfied with their current setup – but that doesn’t mean everyone is opposed to upgrades. – Editor

“I’m pretty satisfied with my current dust collection. All of my machines are connected to a two-bag dust collector. I’ve replaced the bag filter with a pleated filter and placed the collector outside of my shop space. I have three air filters that I run when sanding or finishing. I would love a cyclone to add to my dust collector but haven’t seen anything that looked like it would match well with my system.” – Tom Hinman

“My shop has a 5hp Oneida central system, two of the JET filters that hang from my ceiling and three homemade squirrel cage filters. I use a Trend Air Shield Pro and several 3M type filters. Still, dust accumulates in the shop…but hopefully not in my lungs. Anything that can update and improve air filtration has my attention.” – Greg Little

“My woodworking shop is about half the size of a two-car garage. I use dust masks, shop vacuum, old box fan, dust collector and a small hanging air filtration unit. I do most of my cutting tasks outside the garage in the backyard. Most of the time when I use my circular saw I don’t use a dust mask when I should. I try my best to keep the dust down in the garage. I used to have a cheap Craftsman table saw that I used for only over nine years before the motor died. When I had that table saw, I modified it so I could collect the sawdust from the bottom and over the top of the saw blade with my dust collector. But, no matter how I tried to improve my dust collection, there was still very fine sawdust that would get everywhere in the garage.” – Christopher  Chandler

“When I first started woodworking, as it is now, most of my activity occurred in my driveway.  I began attaching my shop vac to the few power tools that I had.  (For many years, just a radial arm saw.  Then I added a router table.) Picking up a woodworking show ‘bargain,’ I brought home a single-stage dust collector with a five micron bag. I’ve since added more power tools to which I attach the dust collector (mostly in aid of not having to chase sawdust everywhere outside). Since I’m still working in my driveway (weather permitting), my concern over what I’m breathing is reduced, though I’m considering purchasing a separator to place ahead of the collector and maybe replacing the bag with a cartridge filter.  That way I’d be more comfortable (dust-wise) working indoors.  I’ve been looking at videos online where there seems to be little difference between a cone-type separator and one of the types that just fit on top of a garbage can.  I haven’t investigated, but my guess is the real money is in the cartridge. Anyway, that’s where I am right now.  I kind of position the dust collector centrally and run a hose to whichever tool is in use.  The router table and table saw take 2 and one-half inch connections; the jointer, planer and spindle sander take four-inch connections, while the RAS is a little hybrid.” – Ralph Lombardo

“I live in [southern California] and can use an open shop most of the year. When it rains, the roof shuttles the water over the equipment and into a gutter system. Because the shop is open, much of the particulate matter that would accumulate in a closed shop gets blown out one end or the other. The power tools that create large chunks exhaust on the floor, and I sweep them into a dustpan and pitch the waste into the trash can. The finish sanders, belt sanders, and disk sanders are a real problem.  I don’t like the noise of vacuum cleaners, so I devised a different system. A small, plastic storage box with a lid is fitted with a fan from scrapped PC’s. A labyrinth is inside the plastic box, which is partially filled with water.  A flexible hose is fitted between the tool and the plastic box. The fan turns on the same time the tool does and gently sucks the contaminated air into the primary surface filter.  For dust size particles, it works really well.  To clean the system, I use a garden hose and nozzle to wash the ‘muck’ out of the filter. It disappears into the rear lawn without a trace. That’s how I do it. Beats my friend’s really expensive filter system.” – Bruce Adams

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