Better grab a cup of coffee, I think this is going to be a little long...
I wanted to say "Welcome!" to all the members who have signed up to the new
Felder Owner's Group over the last day or so. We are up to 28 members as of
now with currently 17 invitations still unanswered. So, maybe in a few days
we'll be up over 40 members. From there, I think this forum will take off
beyond our expectations as word gets out to the many new, existing, and
possibly prospective Felder/Hammer machine owners worldwide. Please feel
free to invite other folks who might be interested in this forum. Anyone who
wants to subscribe just needs to send a blank e-mail to:
felder-woodworking-subscribe@... ... that's it. We can also send out
special invitation e-mails from the member directory on the web site that
make it even easier.
First off, if you have any questions or problems with your forum membership,
please visit our forum's web site at:
... in fact,
bookmark that link (yes, that one, right there!) as it makes a great
"portal" page for getting to our group's web site. If you need further
assistance, send me an e-mail at mailto:Geoff@... ... In addition,
as keeper of the original e-mail list prior to this forum, and Unofficial
East-Coast Model Felder Super-Shiny-Floor-Woodshop/Five-Star Bed &
Breakfast & Shop (how's that for a title, John), Mr. John Renzetti also has
manager access to this forum and can help out as needed. However, this whole
system is designed to let each member pretty much self-administer their own
memberships, so check out that web site. It's fairly self-explanatory and
tends to lead you by the nose through most tasks.
Speaking of memberships, there has been a little bit of confusion between
subscribing to this e-mail forum and having an official eGroups account. The
latter is not required for the former, and for better or worse, simply
subscribing to this e-mail forum doesn't automatically create an account for
you on eGroups. A password-protected account on eGroups is required if you
want to use many of our group's web site functions. Fortunately, the eGroups
membership is free and very easy to set up. You can go to
and create your account there, or from our group web
site, there is a "Log In" button near the top right of the page. Also, it
will give you the log in screen if you try to access one of the
"members-only" features, so one way or another you'll be able to create an
account. Once you have created your eGroups account (and if you have cookies
enabled on your browser - most do by default), you won't have to log in
again to use the web site unless you use the log out option or want to
access the site from a different computer. The eGroup accounts are necessary
to ensure that only our group's members have access to certain features,
such as the member directory. Hope that makes some sense! It's easier done
than described, I think!
Along the thoughts of minor confusions, we found another interesting one
yesterday. If you view the member directory at the web site, you might
notice your e-mail address looks funny. Well, this is intentional. The
eGroups system intentionally mangles the first part of your e-mail address
to foil "spam-bots," programs that automatically surf the web harvesting
e-mail addresses for junk mail purposes. Rest assured, if you are receiving
this message, the system does indeed have your correct e-mail address stored
internally. I didn't quite figure this one out at first, because as the
"list owner," the e-mail addresses are shown in the clear to me.
Wow - the Vault has turned out to be very popular already! This is where we
can share pictures of our shops, machines, projects, drawings, etc... Any of
us can upload to it, but please make sure to create your very own sub-folder
to put your pictures in. That way, we don't end up with a big shoebox full
of photos. Unfortunately, it is time consuming to move uploads to different
folders after uploading, so it's best to upload to the right folder to begin
with. We have 20MB of space available to us, so try to compress/scan your
images to a reasonable size such as 50K or so. Since they take up less space
(and download faster), JPEG images are preferred over GIF or BMP.. Also,
after uploading take a moment to let the group know about your pictures and
the descriptions. If you need help with uploading, contact John or myself...
once you've done it once, it's surprisingly easy. If you don't have a
digital camera (yet!), most photo developers now offer a "pictures on disc"
option for a nominal fee. I used to use Seattle Filmworks
(www.seattlefilmworks.com) before I had a digital camera. There are many
places that will scan photos for you as well, and scanners are pretty cheap
to buy these days. I'm sure there are folks on this group that are willing
to scan a photo or two for other members. Lots of options there.
What else.... it seems like the group was pretty quiet on the old e-mail
list. I hope with the "community" feel this new forum provides that
conversations will pick up a bit... so, don't hesitate to post a message to
the group. That's what helps make this fun and worthwhile. Gotta question, a
thought, a quandary, an improvement, a jig, need advice, or just want to
gloat about a new machine or completed project? Post!
I may post this message again next week or whenever we get a bunch of new
members signed up. I apologize in advance for the repeats.
And on that note....
Have a great weekend!
--
Geoff Shepherd (list manager)
mailto:Geoff@...
Everett, WA
BF6-31, AF-22
