Last year I took my family to the exhibit and they had no idea where we were going or what we were doing there.  Once inside, I explained that I wanted to see some of the woodturning that some buddies of mine in the club had put on display.  It is always cool to be able to point at a piece of art and be able to say that you know the artist.  I recognized several of the names as members of the Classic City Woodturners.  Eventually, they saw the bottle stopper and pen that I had submitted for display.  Not having the name recognition of Stuart Batty, Mike Mahoney, and Jimmy Clewes, it was nice to see some of my own work on display.  The wife and kid enjoyed it as well.

    When it came time to submit a work for this year’s Full House, I decided that I didn’t have the time to turn something new for display.  At the time, I was too busy getting the workroom together and working on a Father’s Day present for my pop.  I had given up on entering something into this year’s Full House.   A couple of CCW buddies had asked me about it, and eventually wore down my defenses enough to look around the house.  I did have a couple of bottle stoppers that I could put on display this year.  (Thanks Don, Jim U., and Jim T. for pushing me!)  I submitted my Sacagawea dollar stopper and one with a Corian insert in the top.  You can see the Sacagawea article here, but sadly the pic I have of the insert stopper isn’t all that great.  It is the stopper on the right.  Now back to that letter I mentioned….  The Lyndon House has informed me that both bottle stoppers have SOLD and they need to write me a check!   I assume that they stay on display for the duration of the Full House, but they no longer belong to me.  Hopefully, this will be the motivating kick in the pants that I need to get the store portion of this website up and running in the not-too-distant future.

The first thing that he talked about was wood selection.  He suggests using a ‘soft hardwood’ for items that you want to stand the test of time.  Poplar and maple make good utility pieces.  Wood with figuring will make a beautiful piece.  Most of what Mahoney makes are to be ‘for use’ instead of ‘for show’.  For this reason he chooses woods that can stand up to everyday use.

Dimensions are more important on a utility piece than on an art piece.  You can’t expect a bowl to stand upright with too small of a base.  For a bowl, he suggests a base diameter of about 1/3 of the total diameter of the opening.  For platters, this increases to 50%-60%.  Having a base this size or bigger will help keep the piece from wobbling during use. 

He spoke a little bit about finishes.  Finishing a utility item is a lot different from one that will sit on a shelf unused.  Shellac, for example, breaks down fast and is not durable.  Washing a bowl finished with shellac will cause the finish to rub off unevenly.  This is the case for any film-style finish.  Use a penetrating finish on utilitarian items instead of a film finish.  Good penetrating finishes include mineral oil and walnut oil.  Mineral oil is one that the end customer is the most likely to be able to get their hands on in order to touch up the finish.  Alternatively, leaving it unfinished is an option, as well.  Whatever you do, make sure that the customer knows not to leave water standing in it for long periods of time, as it will raise the grain and give it a fuzzy look.

In turning a bowl or platter, Mike prefers not using a recess on the bottom to hold it to the chuck.  Using a recess makes the piece the thinnest in the area where it needs to be its thickest.  To do his finish cut on the platter, he lubricated the surface with walnut oil (the finish he intended to use on the platter).  This gives you a cleaner final cut.  He also used walnut oil on the ceramic sanding pads that he used to sand the platter.

Turning Southern Style XVI

The  Georgia Association of Woodturners (GAW), dedicated to providing   education, information and organization to those interested in   woodturning, will be presenting its annual symposium, “Turning  Southern  Style XVI”. This year’s event will again be held at the  Unicoi  State Park and Lodge near Helen, Georgia on September 17-19, 2010.

GAW sponsors this annual event which features some of the world’s  leading woodturners and turning artisans.

This year’s featured turners include:
J. Paul Fennell, Alan Lacer, and Stephen Hatcher.

Also featured are:
Nick Cook, Johannes Michelsen, Peg Schmid, and Dave Barriger.

Instant Gallery:
The instant gallery will return as a favorite and we invite each  participant to display up to  four pieces of his/her work for all to enjoy.

Vendor  Area:
As always, the vendor area will be well stocked with tools, wood, and  all other woodturning related supplies and equipment.

Saturday Night Dinner and Auction:
Prior  to our auction, there will be a banquet dinner on Saturday evening. As  always, all proceeds from the auction support continuing education in  woodturning through our scholarship program. We encourage all who  participate in the symposium to donate a piece to our Saturday Night  Auction to benefit the scholarship fund.

For Further Information:
For additional information and pricing, please visit www.gawoodturner.org .

You are encouraged to register prior to August 1, 2010. Refunds for  cancellations will be given up to September 1,  2010. Registration may be limited, so act quickly.

To register:
Visit www.gawoodturner.org.  Print and complete the registration form and mail it, along with your  check, to:

Georgia Association of Woodturners
c/o Harvey Meyer
5174 Waterford Drive
Dunwoody GA 30338

If you would like a brochure, visit www.gawoodturner.org or  contact:
Harvey Meyer,
Symposium Chairman
The Georgia Association of Woodturners
symposium@gawoodturner.org

  Following are a couple of key points that I was able to pick up on (and I’m sure that I missed plenty of great info just due to such infrequent use of the bandsaw on my part).  The successful use of a bandsaw depends on a couple of things.  First off, the table must be square to the blade.  Without that, anything that you cut won’t be square to anything else you cut!  Once the table is square, the side guides should be as close to the blade as possible.  They should not touch, however.  They should be located 1/16-1/8″ behind the blade’s gullet for a small blade, and the deepest part of the gullet should be at the center of the wheel for a large blade.  When using a large blade, the rear guide should be almost touching the back of the blade.  For a thin blade, however, you should touch the blade such that there is about 1/8″ of tension in the blade.  (Mind you that he was using his bandsaw guides, and not a ‘stock’ one.  I’m not sure if the same rule applies to all guides or not.  I suspect on other guides you have to make sure that the blade does not touch the rear guide.  He also mentioned that you want to keep your table waxed so that the wood will turn more smoothly for curvy cuts.

  The pics with this article are Alex Snodgrass (the demonstrator), a reindeer that he made in about 2 minutes as part of the demo, and Jim Talley showing off his new shirt.

    Sears had 2 items — the Spray Station alone for $299 (and not on sale), or the Spray Station with an extra needle for — get this — $299 minus their 10% off sale.  So I could get the Spray Station for $299 OR the Spray Station plus extra needle for $269.  It doesn’t take a genius to figure that one out!  There’s the bait, now comes the switch…  The Spray Station + needle ‘combo’ was “out of stock”, and they would not let you buy it on backorder.  I used their “chat online with customer service” button and explained that the combo was nothing more than an extra needle taped to the side.  “I’m sorry, sir, we’re out of stock.”  Grrrr….  They had the Spray Station IN stock, they had the needles IN stock, yet they claim that the Spray Station + Needle combo was OUT of stock.  (Maybe it does take a genius to figure this out after all.)  I wasn’t quite ready to give up, and I felt that talking to a live person I could get my point across, so I printed out the ad and took it to the store the next day.  The local store said that it wasn’t even in their inventory database.  They gave me the # of a larger store about 30 minutes away.  I chatted with them on the phone to see if they could make me the bundle (which I assume consists of having the expert ability to use packing tape).  This item, however, ended up being an online-only item.  Apparently, that means that all that the stores can do is order it online just like I would.  No help there.   Still wanting the item, I decided to call the online folks that night to see if this could be resolved.  (“Part A + Part B DOES equal Part C in this case, people!”)  Asking for a manager straight-away, I explain the situation and how ludicrous it is that they won’t sell me what they are advertising.  I explain that they have all the items in stock (individually), and that they advertised the bundle yet would not let me purchase it.  This manager seemed to understand the issue, yet was unwilling or unable to sell me the item that they advertised at the price they were advertising it.  She did, however, eventually compromise and offer to sell me the Spray Station at the sale price without the extra needle.  I took her up on that offer given that the sale price made it considerably cheaper than I could have gotten it anywhere else.  The order went through on Feb 1st (as did the charge to my CC), but all UPS knows at this point (Feb 8 ) is that they’ve received billing info.  Maybe there will be a “we dropped by” sticker on my door this afternoon, maybe it will take weeks, who knows?  (Maybe I should’ve paid the extra cash and just ordered it from Woodcraft…)

Just an FYI in case anyone in the Atlanta area is interested…

http://cms.thewoodworkingshows.com/cms/Home/AtlantaGA129131/tabid/60/Default.aspx

I’m going to try to drop by on Sunday to ask the Earlex folks a question or three.

    Kaitlin and I did get a chance to go to the Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation (OCAF) Holiday Market this past weekend.  There we saw my buddy Jim Talley and his wife Phyllis.  There was also one other turner there, although I can’t recall his name.  Kaitlin and I had a good time looking at all the art.  I think she enjoyed the colored glass of Annette Paskiewicz more than any other booth.  Several of the artists have agreed to extend the festival for this Saturday, December 12th from 10am to 5pm.  It is only $3 for 16 and older, and parking is free.  If you get a chance to drop by, make sure to visit Jim and Phyllis’ booth and tell them hello for me!

    Turning the tagua nuts was easy enough.  They turn very easily, but will burn quickly if you aren’t careful.  Do not part them off of the bases until you have turned both of them.  If your second one is smaller than the first, your only option is to turn the first a little more.  I even left them on their bases to apply spray lacquer.  While turning, stop frequently and look for more voids in the nuts.  I had to apply CA glue a few times to each nut while turning.  A few drops then hit it with accelerator is all it takes, but if you don’t apply CA, you run the risk of the whole thing blowing up and flying off of the lathe.  Before parting it off, I used a drill chuck to make the hole for the wires.  I didn’t have a drill bit small enough, so I carefully drilled through the top with a needle in the chuck.  CA glue holds the wire loops into the top of the earrings.  Most importantly, mom likes them.   The idea to turn this came from a magazine where someone turned a Christmas tree ornament the same way.

    I chose to insert a Sacagawea dollar that my daughter found in my change jar into the stopper.  Whereas the design itself is rather plain this time, I believe that the figure of the red malle burl combined with the insert gives it some character.

    Monday night was our monthly meeting of the Classic City Woodturners.  Bill G. started the meeting off with some business including executive committee nominations.  Also included was the appointment of Shep as the treasurer through the rest of this year.

This month, instead of a hands-on demo, Abraham Tesser showed us a powerpoint demonstration of how he built a custom pool cue stand.  Please click on his link for pictures as well as his word document further describing this piece of fine furniture.  It was interesting seeing how he was able to incorporate turnings into the work.  His stand has been in two pool-related magazines, and will also be featured in a woodturning magazine in the near future.

Afterwards, Don Fournier followed up with a demonstration of how he recent built some shaker style chairs, as well as the steady-rest that he made in order to deal with wobble of the long back pieces.  Nice chair!

    I was able to attend all 3 Sunday sessions.  I chose to see another demo by Stuart Mortimer on twisted stem goblets, an introduction to platter turning by Jim Barbour, and a demo on making tower-style boxes by Ray Key.  My only regret is that I was only able to see about 6-7 of the 17 demonstrators in attendance.   I would like to give a big “Thank you!” to the clubs that sponsored this event.  I had not previously attended any symposiums, and this was an enjoyable experience.  Good folks, good information, and a good time was had by all.

C'mon, 1.5 hours?!?!

    Stuart’s morning demo consisted of turning a goblet leaving a stem that is thick enough to ‘twist’.  He does a good job explaining how to set up markings for cutting the twists into place, although I’m not qite sure I understood all of the particulars.  Luckily, I bought one of the ‘Demonstrators’ Handouts’ books that was for sale, so I’ll be able to read up on the technique.  (I’ve got a small project in mind where I may be able to try it out soon.)  He mentioned that the goblet he had just turned would probably sell for around $300.

    Jim barbour’s demo was a great overview of how to turn a platter.  I haven’t turned many platters myself, but I’m rather limited by lathe size.  At best, you could call any platters I turned plates; at worst, merely saucers.   He also included a nice lesson in design principles as well as chatter tools.

    It was good to see Ray Key again.  He did a demo for CCW back in March.  Since his boxes are designed to fit together, you can imagine the need for attention to detail.  The top must fit the bottom precisely.  This was a good refresher course that went over the things that he covered back in March, as well as adding new information since the tower box is actually a stack of boxes.

    I haven’t posted as many pics as I would have liked, but I’m still learning the camera, still learning the software I’m using to correct mistakes made with the camera, and installing some gallery software to make looking through the pics easier.  I’ll try to post more late in the week.

    I saw 3 demos by Jimmy Clewes today, and he has great turning skills as well as demonstration skills.  His demos were Coloring, a Natural Edge End-Grain Vase, and an Oriental Box.  His last demo ended early (a first for him!) so I was able to peek in at Allan Batty working the skew chisel for a few minutes.  Hopefully I will get to see more of Allan tomorrow.  The other demo I saw was Nick Cook on pepper mills — partly because someone asked me recently if I had done any, and I haven’t yet.  Probably soon though.   Nick gave an excellent demonstration as well.

    The auction was impressive.  The main goal of the auction is to raise money for charity, so folks are willing to open their wallets a bit.  (Don’t worry, Lanie, I got a deal on the tool I bought at auction…  I swear I got it for under retail.)  They auctioned off tools, wood, demo pieces, and finished pieces.  The most expensive piece was one by Stuart Mortimer (see yesterday’s post for link) that went for around $1600!  Several items went for over $100.  After the auction, they gave away several weeks at Arrowmont and John C. Campbell.  I think that they may have mispronounced my name when they gave them away though, it sounded like they spell ‘Bill’ with a ‘T’, ‘o’, ‘d’, and ‘d’.  Go figure….