David Conley
Well-known member
SAPFM Ohio River Valley Chapter
2026 Fall Meeting
Columbus Ohio
(As reported by Dale Ausherman)
2026 Fall Meeting
Columbus Ohio
(As reported by Dale Ausherman)
The Ohio River Valley (ORV) Chapter of SAPFM held its Fall 2026 meeting August 22–23 at the Columbus Woodcraft store. The event was organized by Chapter Lead David Conley and attended by approximately 18 members and guests. Special thanks go to store owner Bob Smith for generously hosting us in his spacious, well-equipped store. Members traveling through Columbus are encouraged to stop in and visit this outstanding store.
The 1½-day meeting opened with a Show-and-Tell session, followed by presentations on making inlay bandings by David Feola, finishing waxes by Dave Upperman, a discussion by attendees of their favorite period-furniture-making books, and carving of a Ball-and-Claw foot by Dan Reahard.
David Conley started the Show-and-Tell by sharing a variety of actual period wood screws and nails, along with handmade reproductions, retrieved from his late father Jim’s workshop. New member Bob Webber next showed a reproduction period candle box with an inlaid sliding lid. He selected this project as a means of learning inlay techniques. Dale Ausherman followed with a sizable basswood cabriole leg blank with an integral round seat-rail tenon cut from 16/4 stock, made for practice shaping with a trifid foot and knee shell. This is part of Dale’s path toward making copies of Steve Lash’s Queen Anne armchair reproductions from the Diplomatic Reception Rooms.
Another new member, Nick Herrick, a full-time professional cabinetmaker, shared a photo portfolio showing the wide variety of cabinet and molding work he has accomplished over many years of endeavor. Dave Upperman then showed a walnut cabriole leg blank for use in the day’s Ball-and-Claw carving instruction. This leg will be part of a three-legged tilt-top tea table.
Our current President, David Feola, started the main meeting with a presentation and demonstration on making Federal inlay bandings. He gave some historical background on banding, including the fact that it was first used during the William and Mary period in the form of a herringbone pattern to outline drawers. Line-and-berry inlays were also used during that period.
The inlay program was planned to be a “hands-on” exercise, so the 15 participating people were divided into five groups of three. David had prepared five sets of materials, including pre-cut wood, banding presses and clamps, glue and brushes, tape, and wax paper. He planned for us to make 10 different bandings, so each group made two different bandings. David showed us several samples of commercially available bandings, including some sand-shaded bandings.
He pointed out that most inlay bandings are made from contrasting colors of wood, with the light-colored wood being holly or some other light wood, such as maple, and the dark wood often being ebony, walnut, or mahogany. Ebony is expensive, so today’s makers will often use dyed pear wood to keep the cost down. David used walnut and poplar as the dark and light colors.
The key out-of-the-ordinary tool for making bandings is a press, which is an elongated, three-sided, stout box with a fourth loose side serving as a caul. Long layers of built-up banding strips can be stacked, aligned against one edge, glued, and tightly pressed using F-clamps. Each press had small movable wood blocks as feet, which elevated the press to make it easier to apply the clamps and served as markers indicating the length of the banding being clamped, thereby aiding in positioning the clamps. David had made a banding press for each team.
David explained the basic steps for making an initial block of glued, stacked, thin wood strips of contrasting colors, whose thickness and order contribute to the final banding pattern. After gluing, clamping, and drying, the block is “squared up.” The initial block is sliced on a bandsaw or table saw into thin wafers. These wafers were stacked and rearranged, flipping or staggering them to make the desired pattern, then glued and clamped to make the final block.
The final block is usually topped and bottomed by one or two layers of veneer-like contrasting wood to unify the design and provide some strength to the assembly for handling, something akin to plywood. The final pattern is determined by the order, number, and orientation of all the strips as they are assembled. This final log, after one edge is joined flat, is thin-ripped lengthwise, typically into 1/16-inch slices, to make the final bandings. On the opposite face, a piece of scrap wood is CA-glued to serve as a sacrificial piece of wood to maximize the number of banding slices and to keep your fingers a safe distance from the bandsaw blade when cutting the banding slices.
David showed the sub-pieces of wood, and their number and orientation, that make up the first block for each of the 10 bandings being made. He explained in detail the cutting and assembly of the angled pieces making up the herringbone bandings.
To enable the entire process to be completed during the allotted meeting time, David made up and squared the pieces for the first blocks of each of the 10 patterns before the meeting and provided them to each team.
After David’s five teams had glued up the final banding blocks and were waiting for the glue to dry, Dave Upperman gave his presentation on Wax Finishes. As a young cabinetmaker, Dave used only Johnson’s Paste Wax, a good, hard, tried-and-true wax that does not change the color of the underlying finish. He normally used it over sprayed lacquer, his favorite finish.
Dave and others mentioned that Johnson’s Wax has been discontinued. The author found that SC Johnson stopped making the wax at the end of December 2021, likely due to shifts in popular flooring materials, the advent of modern synthetic floor finishes, and squirt-bottle liquid cleaners. The remaining niche market for woodworkers and antique restorers was not large enough to keep mass production profitable.
Many years ago, in a Kentucky antiques store, Dave found a product called Williamsville Wax Natural Furniture Care, an American blend of beeswax, lemon oil, and other natural oils made by H. F. Staples & Co., Inc. of New Hampshire. It is listed as non-toxic and non-hazardous.
(https://hfstaples.com/collections/williamsville-products)
Dave uses the Williamsville Wax product and the Williamsville Polish with Touch-Up & Scratch Cover. The latter he has used for years to get a quick refinish on older furniture. He puts it on somewhat heavily and lets it soak for about a week before wiping it off. He then lets it dry for another week before a final polish with a soft cloth.
Dave also suggested Briwax, which results in a very durable finish, especially over lacquer. Because it contains carnauba wax, it does take considerable effort to rub it out. It comes in many colors, including clear. And lastly, he offers Antiquax Original Wax Polish, a high-quality wax also containing beeswax and carnauba wax. This wax was developed in London and is sold by Amazon and Rockler.
For carvings, Dan Reahard suggested applying wax with a soft toothbrush and using colored wax such as Briwax. This avoids leaving white deposits in the small crevices after drying. Dick Reese indicates that the museum-quality Renaissance Wax is good for waxing woodworking machine beds because it lasts a long time. The wax topic continued with various suggestions for home-brew mixes, such as mineral oil with beeswax in various proportions.
The Saturday session concluded with a group discussion of favored furniture-building books, with some attendees bringing copies of their favored titles. Books discussed included:
• Instructions and plans by Carlyle Lynch
• Lester Margon books, e.g., American Furniture Treasures
• The three Tony Kabulak books (Cartouche Awardee)
• Norman Vandal, Queen Anne Furniture
• Lonnie Bird, Complete Illustrated Guide to Period Furniture Details
• Jeffrey Green, American Furniture of the 18th Century
• Glen Huey books
• Judith Miller, Furniture: World Styles from Classical to Contemporary
• William H. Varnum, Arts and Craft Design
• Panero and Zelnik, Human Dimension & Interior Space: A Source Book of Design Reference Standards
• Fairbanks, Jonathan L. (Guest Curator), Americana from the Diplomatic Reception Rooms, U.S. Department of State
Sunday’s half-day program was presented by Dan Reahard as another episode of our serial meetings addressing the making of a Philadelphia cabriole leg with a Ball-and-Claw (B&C) foot. In prior meetings, Dan covered the history of the leg and regional designs of the foot, the layout and sawing of the leg blank, and the initial shaping of the overall leg. At this meeting, Dan’s mission was to teach the carving of the B&C foot, with attendees bringing their in-progress leg blanks from the prior meetings. The next meeting will cover the carving of an acanthus-leaf motif on the knee of the leg.
Dan’s leg blank, measured drawings, and templates were those he acquired in the late Gene Landon’s Philadelphia chair class in April 1996. Attendees brought tools, including carving gouges, from a list provided by Dan. He proceeded to show members how to mark up their feet for carving and then took us through the systematic, sequential steps. Attendees are encouraged to complete their B&C carving as a homework assignment.
Thus concluded the ORV Fall 2026 meeting. The chapter extends its appreciation to David Conley for his leadership, Woodcraft for hosting, and David Feola, Dave Upperman, and Dan Reahard for their excellent presentations. Thanks also to all members who contributed projects, ideas, and lively discussion.
