Some Great Woodworking Links

Happy Woodworking  This is a cool site!  You won't be disappointed.

Dry Kiln Operator's Manual  From (you guessed it) the US Forest Service

www.woodcentral.com Contains forums on all sorts of woodwork, including a special forum just for woodturning.  Has some very good turning articles by Russ Fairfield.

www.woodnet.net/forums WoodNet woodworking forums.  Specific forums for turning, handtools, power tools. Etc. One of the larger woodworking forums.

www.sawmillcreek.org/index.php? Specific forums similar to WoodNet.  Not as large, but much less garbage.  Some of Saw Mill Creek’s founders founded the Freedom Pen Project.

www.freedompens.org Official website of the Freedom Pens Project that is sending handmade pens to soldiers in Iraq – a very worthwhile effort.

www.carolinamountainwoodturners.org Meets in Asheville at Folk Art Center third Saturday of each month.  Many members of GWG are also members of CMW.  Each meeting brings a world renowned woodturner for a day long demonstration.  Site has a very comprehensive gallery of turned objects by numerous members.  Check it out to find many pieces from Greenville’s own.

www.southernstates.org Site about the annual Southern Sates Woodturning Symposium in Gainesville, Ga.

www.woodturningonline.com Good all around turning site.  Projects to do with detailed instructions, lots of good links and other info.  This is the site where much of the class handout info comes from.  Lots of articles to help with all aspects of turning, finishing, drying, buying and more.

www.folkschool.com John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC offers lots of turning classes as well as all sorts of other folk art classes.

www.arrowmont.org Arrowmont School for folk arts in Gatlinburg, TN Similar to John C. Campbell but bigger.

groups.msn.com/WorldofWoodturners
/otherturnerssites.msnw MSN group with links to a bunch of woodturners and their sites.

www.penturners.org
International Association of Penturners.  An internet group of over 1000 members dedicated to turning pens and to sharing penturning information, tips, tricks, etc.  Much of  the information on finishing, drying and the like is applicable to any type of woodturning.

www.arizonasilhouette.com Bill Baumbeck’s site for penturning supplies.  Bill sells PSI and Craft Supplies pen kits at very good prices, along with a nice variety of pen blanks and all necessary bushings, finishes, and accessories.  He is dedicated pretty much to just pens and bottle stoppers.

www.woodturnerscatalog.com This is the big one.  Craft Supplies USA in Utah.  If it woodturning, They sell it.  They carry several of the big lathes and all the tools you could ask for.  They are owned by Dale Nish, a world famous turner who sponsors an annual symposium at the store in Utah.  They are one of three pen kit manufacturers in the U.S.

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com Highland Hardware in Atlanta.  Quality tools for all aspects of woodwork with a good selection of turning tools and supplies.

www.hutproducts.com Hut Products is manufacturer of Hut polishes and finishing products.  Also sells pen kits, game call kits, and miscellaneous turning equipment and supplies.

www.leevalley.com/home/main.aspx Lee Valley is the parent company of Veritas tools.  Generally speaking, if Lee Valley has it, their price is as good or better than anywhere else.  Good selection of turning tools and accessories, though they do not carry lathes.  They also carry a good selection of tools and shop related stuff that you don’t find anywhere else.  Plus they have the full line of  Veritas.

www.packardwoodworks.com Packard Woodworks in Tryon, NC.  They have a store with a small display area.  Although the intent is primarily mail order, you can visit personally and ask to see an item before you buy.  Things like pen kits are Penn State’s at a slightly higher price than PSI.  The real beauty of Packard is that if you order by 2:00P.M., you will usually have it on your doorstep the next day in the Greenville area.

www.pennstateind.com Penn State Industries is one of three manufacturers of pen kits.  Many other suppliers sell their kits at higher prices.  They also carry a wide selection of  small lathes, tools, accessories, and finishing products.  They also manufacture their own dust collection systems.

www.joewoodworker.com Site dedicated primarily to veneering has very good info on building vacuum systems for veneer presses that work beautifully for vacuum chucking of turnings.  They also sell the required parts.

www.woodcraft.com Home page for all the Woodcraft stores.  If you need to order, go by or call the local store and let them order for you.  Same price, but the local store gets a percentage.  Paul Patterson and company will appreciate it.

www.oneway.on.ca Oneway Manufacturing  Company of Canada – manufacturers of the oneway lathes, chucks, tailstock centers, coring system, and the Wolverine grinding jig.  They have free  downloadble videos on using the Oneway jig and the coring system.

www.nickcookwoodturner.com Nick Cook is a world reknowned turner living in the Atlanta area who specializes in production turning of wine stoppers.

www.righteouswoods.net All Righteous Hardwoods has a good selection of hardwoods in both domestic and exotic, both bowl blanks, burls, and dimensioned lumber.

www.bereahardwoods.com Berea is one of three manufacturers of pen kits.  Many of Woodcraft’s pens come from Berea.  Be aware that Berea uses two different sizes of mandrel and therefore, everything may not interchange easily with other manufacturers.  They do make some very nice pen kits, different from the other guys.

www.cormarkint.com Cormark’s website is not that great.  But, it’s worth the effort to visit their “store” in Weaverville, NC.  It’s literally a hole in the wall but packed full of some of the nicest exotic wood around.  Fabs Corte, the owner is a very friendly Italian from South Africa who will bend over backwards to sell you some wood.  They supply a very large portion of Woodcraft’s exotic hardwoods.  They are a supporting member of GWG, ut discounts are minimal.

www.gilmerwood.com If you never buy a thing from these guys, go to their site regularly just to browse the thirty or so pages of unique and one of a kind boards.  Take some towels to the computer with you because you will be drooling all over the place.

www.hardwoodgroup.com
/greenville/dechdwe3.htm Greenville-Spartanburg Hardwoods.  They do have some pretty reasonable prices on drawer and door hardware.  They are a sponsor for GWG and do offer members a discount.

www.walllumber.com/default.asp Steve Wall Lumber Company located in Mayodan, NC carries a very good selection of domestic hardwood and some exotics at reasonable prices.  You can get it rough or finished in any way you want it.  They offer UPS packs of 20 or so board feet of a particular species if you just want to play around a little with a particular wood.  I have been very well pleased with what I’ve ordered from them.

www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics A very helpful site for wood identification with lots of pictures and a reference list of common and latin names of over 10, 000 woods.

www.woodcollectors.org Website of the International Wood Collector’s Society.  They publish a very good magazine for members and publish one of the best wood identification books I’ve seen.