The Latest Updates on Woodworking in America 2024

Buy Tickets Here: Woodworking in America 2024.

We have a very exciting announcement to make: Woodworking in America is returning this fall! We’ve put together a top-notch group of presenters and an amazing venue right in our home base of Des Moines, IA. The October 11 & 12, 2024 event will be hosted jointly by Woodsmith, Fine Woodworking, and Popular Woodworking magazines.

This is the first time we’ve held a Woodworking in America event since 2016. Since then we’ve gone through two different Editor-in-Chiefs, a corporate bankruptcy and subsequent buyout, and an expansion of our woodworking magazine brands, just to name a few things. It’s thanks to our partnerships with Woodsmith and Fine Woodworking that we’re able to make this event what it is — a fresh start that gives you, the reader, the opportunity to talk with staff members from all three magazines together in one place.

WIA 2024 will be held at The Franklin Center, a re-purposed former junior high school. Walking the halls will invoke (hopefully pleasant) memories of your school days. This is an ideal venue for a woodworking event like Woodworking in America; an educational setting for learning more about our craft.

Lodging Info

Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Des Moines Northwest
4800 Merle Hay Road
Des Moines, IA 50322 

$104++ per night

Group Block Name: Woodworking America 

Group Block Code: WWA 

Hotel Code: DSMDU 

Reservations Deadline: September, 19, 2024 

Our Sponsors

Presenters

The lineup of presenters is growing, so check back in often. Here’s what we know so far:

Patrick Edwards — A Lifetime of Working With Traditional Protein Glues

W. Patrick Edwards, a furniture conservator in private practice and the 2014 SAPFM Cartouche Award recipient, will discuss the various advantages of working with animal protein glues in woodworking. With over 50 years of professional experience, he will demonstrate using hide glues for rub joints, hammer veneering, lamination, marquetry, and veneering, as well as how to reverse the glue bond when correcting mistakes in assembly. Patrick is the developer of Old Brown Glue and will explain how the glue was modified and how it has real advantages over the traditional hot hide glue using a double boiler. Don’t be confused about adhesion and gram strength; find out from an expert with a lifetime of experience. wpatrickedwards.com

Alexis Dolese — Building Custom Furniture & A Business

Alexis Dolese is a second-generation furniture maker and educator in Bozeman, Montana. She will share practical techniques for building custom furniture and insights on running a business. Her discussion will also focus on the practical aspects of designing solid wood pieces with clients in mind and strategies for creating high-quality works efficiently. She will also touch on setting up a shop for furniture making and teaching woodworking. Dolesewoodworks.com

Wilbur Pan — Japanese Tools for the Western Workshop

Japanese tools are a great addition to any woodworking shop. In this session, you’ll learn about Japanese chisels and saws, why they are so great, and how to incorporate them into your shop to make your woodworking better. We may even get into Japanese planes. Spoiler alert: there’s no hype, and you don’t have to work on the floor.

Wilbur Pan is the author of the Giant Cypress blog. He has given demonstrations and talks on Japanese tools and Asian woodworking at Woodworking in America, the Society of American Period Furniture Makers, and Kezurou-kai USA. He has written articles for Popular Woodworking and Mortise and Tenon magazines. He lives in beautiful Central New Jersey.

Matt Monaco — Two Turning Demos Demonstration 1: Beginning — Advanced usage & application with traditional woodturning tools.

Demonstration 2: Turn a classical wood pottery vessel with traditional woodturning tools.

Matt Monaco operates a full-time woodturning studio in the Ozark region of Missouri, and is one of very few young modern traditional woodturners in America having apprenticed & trained as a trade professional, and has worked closely within a high-end professional furniture production landscape — Shackleton Thomas Furniture & Pottery as a full-time maker/item producer. At the center of Matt’s work is his understanding & mastery of tool control, sharpening and cutting execution as an expression of traditionally crafted design as fine art — in producing forms & items that are made to be as tactile as they are sublime, and created with intent & purpose. Matt is also a Fine Woodworking Contributor & Ambassador who values both the integrity of traditional woodturning and mastery of the craft as an art, as well as diversity within the handmade craft and woodworking idiom.

Rollie Johnson — Coloring Wood with Dyes & Stains

Chromophobia is defined as a persistent, irrational aversion to colors and is usually a conditioned response. Sounds like a woodworking problem! Too many woodworkers are terrified of adding color to their woodworking, falling back on the hackneyed phrase “I would never ruin the natural beauty of wood by changing its color.” What they’re really saying is “I’m afraid of color and that I might ruin the piece.” Unfortunately in many cases, that’s exactly what happens. Rollie will demonstrate how to correctly use color to bring out the best in a piece—no more bland! Many factors will determine the outcome of using color, and we will make a grand tour of them. Stain, pigment dye, and reactive dye will be compared, and there will be an overview of best application practices. We will also delve into surface preparation and correct adhesive usage to avoid the dreaded “glue spots.” Fear no more, color is here!

Matt Cremona — Getting the Most Out of Live Edge Boards

As woodworkers, we see all sorts of possibilities in a piece of wood. But, getting the most out of your material can be a task. In this demonstration, I’ll walk you through my process of taking a rough-sawn, live edge piece of lumber, and breaking it down into parts. This includes color matching parts, selecting the best grain, working with (or around) inclusions, and more. Taking this approach will help you save money on projects, and end up with a better looking project as well.

Matt is a woodworker from Minneapolis Minnesota. His website can be found at: https://mattcremona.com/

Marc Spagnuolo — A Hybrid Approach to Woodworking

In the last few years, there’s been a push to return to the roots of woodworking when every step was done with hand tools–from resawing lumber and planing it flat, to cutting joins and creating profiles. Working this way can produce beautiful results, but is it the best method for woodworking in the 21st century? Maybe, but maybe not. In this presentation, I’ll be talking about the hybrid to woodworking, and mainly concentrating on the hand tools that can supplement and enhance woodworking in your power tool shop.

Marc Spagnuolo founded The Wood Whisperer Guild with his wife Nicole. They produce woodworking content on their Youtube Channel, and partner with instructors from all over the US to teach woodworking through video courses.

Amanda Russell (Fine Woodworking) — Router Joinery Machines

Amanda has used both the Pantorouter and Shaper Origin to create anything from a basic mortise and tenon to more complex joinery like dovetails and castle joints. She will walk through the basic operations of each machine, how to set up for success, and the advantages of using each depending on your shop needs. After demonstrating the versatility of each tool, she will go over how she uses them to create jigs and shop fixtures that maximize the potential of other machines in the shop.

Phil Huber (Woodsmith Shop) — The Band Saw-Centered Workshop

Several years ago, Phil sold the table saw in his shop. While that seems like a crazy idea for a furniture maker, it makes sense in his small shop. During this presentation, you’ll see how his shop space works with a bandsaw and learn how the other tools he uses play well with this vital machine. He’ll demonstrate a few techniques and share his favorite jigs and accessories for making accurate and safe cuts for a wide range of woodworking tasks, from tables and cabinets to spoons and bowls.

Logan Wittmer (Popular Woodworking) — Sawing and Drying Your Own Lumber

As woodworkers, we see the potential of every tree growing around us. The conversion of a tree to usable lumber is an exciting thing to behold. Does this log hold your next heirloom project, or is better off in the fireplace, heating during the next winter? In this presentation, I’ll walk you through all aspects of milling a log. From inspecting the log, to determining how to lay it on the sawmill, to milling it with a hydraulic bandsaw mill. We’ll then talk about stacking, stickering, and drying lumber, and things to watch for during this process. This demonstration will take place outside, in a sheltered tent.

Ben Strano (Fine Woodworking) — 3D Printing for Woodworkers You don’t need to be a 3D-printing enthusiast to enjoy the benefits of this incredible technology in your woodshop. From tool holders to dust-collection fittings there is an ever-growing array of 3D models you can download and use in your shop. For Ben, 3D printing hits the next level when paired with free CAD software to make that exact doo-dad you need. Ben will demonstrate how he makes custom mortising templates, bends forms for multiple stringing, routs complex patterns, and makes custom marking and measuring tools.

Chris Fitch (Woodsmith & ShopNotes) — Curved Panels

The world of woodworking doesn’t have to be flat. You can break up those predictable surfaces and straight lines with curved panels. In this presentation Chris will look at the pros and cons of three different methods of creating curved panels: kerf bending standard plywood, using flexible plywood with an applied veneer, and coopered solid wood. Examples and demonstrations of preparing the materials, glue ups, and sizing and will show that these methods are easily accomplished in the home shop.

Ken Page — The ongoing legacy of Wendell Castle

Bob– Titebond — 5 steps of gluing wood

Bonus presentation: Rollie Johnson — Putting Shaper Origin to Work

Shop Talk Live … Live

We’ll also host a live recording of the Shop Talk Live Fine Woodworking podcast with an audience Q&A.

On the evening prior to the event, you’ll have the chance to attend an open house tour of the shop and studios for Woodsmith, ShopNotes, and the Woodsmith Shop TV show.

Register for WIA 2024 here.