It's FAIR TIME again!

[john elder]

the San Diego County Fair is in full swing, with the usual delicacies on the midway and more great woodworks in the Design in Wood show! Enjoy!

[Brian F.]

Beautiful stuff there, John. And the woodworking is not too shabby either Did you do one of those? Bird carvings are amazing but I'm sure I'm under appreciating all the intricate work involved in everything. More fried things, please.

[Jim Wiegner]

John:

As Brian notes so eloquently, lots of beautiful stuff there. You have some gifted craftsmen (and women) down there.

Many years ago, after faithfully going along with me to sports car races, fishing and outdoor shows, and various other guy related events, my bride informed me that we were going to a weaving show. Not wishing to offend her, I went along, and much to my surprise, it was enjoyable, and a real eye-opener.

There were some incredible items displayed, but the one that truly got my attention was this beautiful hand crafted wood loom. The workmanship was outstanding. When I asked the young lady nearest to this display who made this fine piece, her expression let me know that I screwed up big time!

Needless to say, red face and all, I was effusive in my praise for her woodworking skills, and learned yet again not to assume anything.

Again, beautiful stuff John.

Jim

[Ron Mc]

thanks for the photos.

What can we deep fry next?...

[john elder]

Well, i spent another three hours walking the exhibit floor last night and with every lap, i found something else to shoot! I have 30 more pics to add tonight, so stay tuned. I did a lap of the midway also, looking for new eats, but best i could find were bacon-wrapped pickles, other than the normal oreos and Klondike bars...i must admit, my daughter got some deep fried oreos a few days ago and i tried a bite...i'm sorry to report that it was GOOD!

[john elder]

More pics to come, but I wanted to highlight this Best of Show piece for a closer look. The first time I walked by it, I thought it actually had a sheet thrown over it! But it turns out that this is all one “carving”, made from basswood that was glued up to the general shape, then carved out…it’s an apparent table, with a book and clock on it and a sheet draped over the whole thing. In the last pic, you can see the bottom, showing that the “table” is part of the basswood carving…it only has two legs..the edges of the “sheet” serve as the other two legs…includes a carved “rope” to hold the sheet onto the clock…Lots of time and heavy drugs to make this one!

[john elder]

“curly Mango” sideboard:



Two relief carvings



Lots of Entarsia..I liked this one:

A couple great surfboards…probably destine for the walls of some upscale restaurant:


The shipbuilders were in full force…..this one is appr. 5 inches long…catch that detail!:


…and these are a bit bigger, but still details, details, details!:




…and the woodcarvers were on station:

the usual great models:


And more furniture pics….the ladderback chair is made from hickory…the rocker, Cherry….I’m inspired to give one of these a go:


One other bird carving…you just can’t appreciate the detail that Dale Steffens puts into his work until your nose is about 6 inches away and you still think the feathers are real! He also carved the lemon tree branch, lemons and leaves that this bird is on!


…and it goes on...the veneer on this table is book-matched in two directions:

more….







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[robert ellis]

Very cool woodwork, thanks for the share! makes me want to go out and build something, Oh wait! I forgot its a 110 degrees out there!

[Midway Tommy D]

I've done woodworking my entire life. Started @ 12 framing, trim and cabinets @ 25, then home builder and carpentry until retiring (2000).

I'm pretty speechless right now. About all I can do is shake my head and say WOW The patience those people must have is unbelievable.

Thanks John for posting the pics ,

Tom

[Brian F.]

That NUTS! (as in a really, really good way!) I caught myself glancing past that "sheet" too

[john elder]

Oh, almost forgot...they have an 18th century woodwright's shop in the show where members of the San Diego Woodworkers Association man the booth and make kid's chairs using traditional methods and hide glue and then donate the chairs to schools. They also host specialty groups during the show, one of which is a violin-making guild. Here's a short video..this lady just walked up and was test-driving one of their products (click on the pic and it will take you to the video):