Link to RCWA Website

The RCWA website went live last week along with the delivery of the RCWA newsletter. The website can be reached directly at http://sdguild.rcwa.googlepages.com/ or through the South Dakota Woodworkers Guild website at http://www.sdwoodworker.org/. The website will be updated frequently. One of the main purposes for the website is to provide a place to find out the date for the next meeting and what will be presented.


Click here to return to the RCWA Website.

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History of the RCWA  -- From the June 2008 Issue of Sawdust and Shavings – OCWA Newsletter

Tustin, California

 Interesting News:

One of our old members has moved to South Dakota and is now starting a new woodworking guild in his new area.  Bravo to Bob Buchanan!  Here is an internet article announcing the new guild . . . 

The South Dakota Woodworkers Guild is forming a new chapter in Rapid City this month.  The guild is a nonprofit group of woodworking hobbyists and professionals who meet once a month; its primary agenda is to give back to the community, according to a news release.  For example, the Northern Hills chapter based in Spearfish recently created 13 handmade flag cases for the Spearfish Honor Guard. 

Bob Buchanan is organizing the Rapid City chapter, and the group will meet at Splinters, a woodworking business that allows people to rent shop time to build their projects.  For more, visit www.sdwoodworker.org/rapidcity.html or contact Buchanan at rdub_buchanan@yahoo.com or 348-2865.  Monthly meetings will be held at 7 p.m. the second Monday of the month, with the first meeting on June 9, 2008.. 

RCWA - July 2008 General Meeting

Meeting Photos

The second meeting of the RCWA was again held at Splinters Woodshop in Rapid City ( http://www.splinterswoodshop.com/). It included a short business meeting prior to the toymaking demonstration. One of the goals of the RCWA is to start a Toy Program as a year-around program for building toys for under- privileged children, so the demo served as a kickoff to the planning part of this effort.

Toymaking Demonstration

The toymaking demonstration included a discussion and demonstration on General Toymaking Guidelines by Bob Buchanan. He shared tips and techniques that can be applied not only to toy making but to general woodworking as well. The demonstration included the steps required to produce two cars from the Les Rogers car series (http://www.ocwoodworkers.com/), as well as the Old Timer series of patterns by the Joys and Toys Company. His visual aids consisted of jigs needed for a small production line effort. He also showed samples of completed toys produced by the Orange County Woodworkers Association for distribution to needy children at Christmas and through out the year.

Dan Henricks took a turn on the bandsaw, cutting out the VW BUG from the Old Timers patterns. Ed Tait knocked off the rough edges on one of the cars from Les Rogers patterns using the oscillating sander.

Members took turns at the various steps in the toymaking process. This was the most popular "sanding by hand" step.

At the conclusion of the demonstration, several members felt they were ready to go out on their own and make a few cars and other toys.
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Fixtures/jigs used during the demo:

Rotary wheel/lazy susan for spraying with lacquer

Drill press top and bottom plate for inserting axles/wheels; wheel shims /Jig for inserting second set of wheels

Fixture to hold vehicle axles for painting/dye