**Dispatch from Valley Forge**
Ellis Walentine
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Hi folks,
This morning, I'm reporting in from the Valley Forge Convention Center in King of Prussia, PA, adjacent to the Valley Forge National Historical Park, where I'm happy to be attending the second annual "Woodworking in America" Hand Tools Conference, sponsored by Popular Woodworking magazine. The conference wraps up today, after two and a half days of lectures, demos and exhibitions by an amazing array of woodworking experts and toolmakers.
The cavernous entrance to the exhibit hall belies the feast of woodworking tools and activities that lie beyond. Exhibitors included Veritas, Lie-Nielsen, Clark & Williams, Tools for Working Wood, Sauer & Steiner, Adjust-A-Bench, Micro-Fence, Benchcrafted, Bridge City Tools, Ron Brese Planes, Czech Edge Tools, Hock Tools, SAPFM (Society of American Period Furniture Makers), The Best Things, Blue Spruce Tools, Andrew Lunn Saws, DL Barrett & Sons Toolworks, Lake Erie Toolworks, Robert Larson, and the Philadelphia Furniture Workshop, among others.
John Economaki demonstrates his award-winning "Jointmaker Pro" sawing system to Roy Underhill as WoodCentral regular Joanne Adler looks on.
Geoff Noden, inventor and manufacturer of the Adjust-A-Bench, demonstrates his latest invention, a system for making custom inlay bandings with tiny steel-rule dies made with double-edged razor blades. Geoff cuts out serpentine forms with a scrollsaw and epoxies a razor blade between them, bending the blade to the contour of the scrolled form. Then he clamps the die into a miniature press and uses it to cut tiny inlay parts with uncanny accuracy. It's patient work, but the results are stunning.
Adam Cherubini (right) and Larry Williams were two of the presenters who held forth in the two large "Hands-On" demonstration areas at the entrance to the exhibit hall. Others included Toshio Odate, Ron Herman, Charles Bender, Chris Schwarz, Don McConnell, Peter Follansbee, Mario Rodriguez and Mike Wenzloff, to name a few. You can read more about the presenters at the official WIA web site. 
Larry Williams and Don McConnell of Clark & Williams talk with customers about their superb handmade planes. Visitors had the opportunity to try all of the C&W tools.
Jameel Abraham's booth offered a smorgasbord of woodworking treats, including his clever magnetic wooden toolholders (with rare-earth magnets buried inside)and some very slick vise screws that used handwheels instead of traditional handles to open and close the vise. Priced in the mid-$300 range, these vises weren't cheap, but they were amazingly strong and easy to use. 
Jameel also showed off his superbly crafted oud, a traditional Middle Eastern
stringed instrument, with a beautiful coopered back, pierced rosettes and ivory and bone inlay everywhere. It sounded as good as it looked.
Warren Mickley, a local woodworking notable, tried out one of Blum Tools' revolutionary hand planes. Skeptical at first, Warren warmed up to the light feel and respectable performance of these planes. Bill McCarthy, an old friend of mine and a gifted toolmaker himself, looks on. Bill ended up purchasing one of Blum's block plane models, a tribute to the innovation of the design. Unlike any other plane I've seen, the Blum design incorporates a small removable frog with a detachable A2 iron insert. Micro adjustments to the blade extension are made quickly by means of two knurled knobs on top of the blade holder. But, the real advantage of the system is that the blade itself is thin, and therefore quick and easy to sharpen using Blum's simple yet clever UHMW plastic sharpening platform. The planes performed very nicely.
I didn't attend many of the formal lectures, but I did drop in to catch some of Roy Underhill's entertaining dovetail presentation. Roy used his customary close-up video camera to display close-up views of everything he was doing and talking about, including a demo of through-dovetail making.
Attendees had a chance to put their newly acquired dovetail savvy to use in the hands-on area, where half a dozen workbenches ringed the presentation area.
Mike Wenzloff, sawmaker and WoodCentral regular, shared his vast experience with show-goers who were just learning about saw sharpening.
Blue Spruce's booth was full of eye candy, including all these new tool offerings. Dave's impregnated wooden handles have gotten rave reviews from customers and other toolmakers alike. Look for more of this material in the marketplace in coming months.
The climax of the conference was the much-anticipated Saturday evening banquet, headlined by the Popular Woodworking staff and keynote speaker, Roy Underhill. After opening remarks by Popular Woodworking publisher, Steve Shanesy, Chris Schwarz presided over a hotly-contested runoff brace-and-bit competition between managing editor, Megan Fitzpatrick, blogger Kari Hultman, and third woman from the PopWood staff (sorry I didn't catch her name) to bore a hole through an inch and a half of pine. Megan won the race impressively with a finishing time of 15 seconds.
The culmination of the evening's program was another inimitable performance from TV personality, Roy Underhill of PBS's "The Woodwright's Shop." In keeping with the Valley Forge venue theme, Roy had written a radio-style play, a wild and rollicking tale of how American woodworkers during the Revolutionary War had saved the nation by building a clever collapsible ladder so that General Washington and his men, having been captured by Hessians, could escape from their confinement and go on to win the war. Roy just happened to have a working model of the ladder with him and delivered part of his introduction from atop it. We were all a bit concerned that he would come crashing down on the podium, but disaster was somehow averted. The Popular Woodworking crew, including Chris Schwarz, Adam Cherubini, Steve Shanesy, and Megan Fitzpatrick as Tiny Tim, read all the backup parts in the play from scripts Roy had prepared. The audience was delighted.
Looking back over the past two days, I realize how inspiring these conferences are, and how I enjoy seeing all my pals from across the woodworking spectrum. It's always like a fond reunion when we get together at these events. Popular Woodworking deserves a lot of credit for leading the way in the hand-tools arena. Their energy and creativity never cease to amaze me. I'm looking forward to next year's program, wherever and whenever it happens to be, and I hope I'll get to see more of my WoodCentral pals there, too. It's worth the trip.
PS I should mention how good it was to spend some time with my friend Toshio Odate and his companion Laure again. Toshio looks and acts much younger than his 79 years, and he hasn't lost his bright outlook or his sharp edge. Here's a portrait I took of him at Fred West's dinner party on Friday night.
