December Mark Palma with his sculpture for the President s Challenge. Other Scupltures are seen in the background.

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Eugene Banks
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IN THIS ISSUE PREZ SEZ Page 2 President s Challenge Page 12 Coming Events Page 2 December

1 December 2015 Mark Palma with his sculpture for the President s Challenge. Other Scupltures are seen in the background. IN THIS ISSUE PREZ SEZ Page 2 President s Challenge Page 12 Coming Events Page 2 December BOD Page 14 Article on Pen Wood Page 3 Gallery Page 15 December Demo Page 5 General Meeting Minutes Page 18 Show and Tell Page 7 Lath for Sale Page 18

2 PREZ SEZ We had great attendance at the last meeting. I counted 52 people there. It was a great presentation by Bob Eberhardt and was a very timely demonstration of ornament making, just in time for Christmas. We got 4 new members which brings the 2015 total to 92 people. The last coffee and chips was well attended also, so it is good to so many people are enjoying the club s programs. Did you see all of the items submitted for the President s challenge? I was stunned. And the quality of the entries was great. People put so much imagination, work and design into their work. Dennis Ciesielski won for his two entries incorporating metal into his designs. I am sorry to report that Glen Geissler has passed away on December 5th. He dies of complications of cancer. Glen was very generous with his time when it was necessary to rehabilitate the clubhouse. He worked with the dust ductwork, the ceiling tiles and was always ready to help out. We will miss his generosity. Rich Thelen Coming Events Update The March demo will be by professional turner Wendell Ziegler of the La- Crosse chapter of AAW. He will demonstrate tops and miscellaneous other items. Jeff Fagan will move to August. Three possible events for 2016: Industrial Arts and Functional Design Show at Heyde Center. It runs Feb 15th to March 25th. They want items that are functional, like peppermills, pens, candle sticks, lamps, bowls etc. Load-in is Feb 11th and 12th. Load out is March 29th. We will have 1-2 tables. More as the event is developed. Fine Arts Fair in Chippewa Falls June 9th to 12th. We will demonstrate pen turning. This replaces Spring Fest in our schedule. More as the event is developed. Carvers and Woodturners Exhibit in Heyde Center. June 15th to July 13th. Load-in June 13th and load-out July 14th. More as the event is developed.

3 The One Wood Pen Blank No One Turns (And with good reason) Do you ever get an idea to do something that you knew was not a good idea but had to do it anyway. You know, just to see how it will fail rather than succeed. This strange urge (although I am told it is a male failing) hit me as I was inspecting my wood pile of left over pieces from projects. I was looking for any wood that I had not turned before. Pine wood (the quality one from Menards or even the remains of a low end pine stud) was a possibility. Spruce (edge glues panels from Menards) was another possibility. One of interest was Aspen. A soft white wood that is not considered turning material probably because it is so plain. Others such as Maple, Cherry and Hickory had been done. Then I spied it. And immediately rejected it, but then why not. How bad could it be? It was Balsa Wood. Unlike Aspen it at least had a bit of grain to it though it is a softer and lighter wood. Now, why I had Balsa Wood in my wood pile is a sad tale of miscalculation because I don't do carving or crafty stuff that would require it. But it seemed to me that if done carefully, turning Balsa Wood just might work. And if not then I would at least make a good story. Well, here's how it went. Cutting to size and drilling the holes went fine even though the wood was frayed on the ends after trimming. Now before I added glue to the tube, I tested the fit and I noticed that one tube had trouble going through the blank hole. The hole was not exactly smooth but the tube would go through if pushed hard enough (I know all sorts of bells should have gone off at this point). So I applied the glue (medium Ca) and did the twisting into the hole. Now, I was aware that the glue would probably be absorbed quickly due to the nature of the wood. Well, it certainly did. After starting to glue the opposite end, the tube suddenly stopped. No amount of pushing by hand would get that tube into the hole. Then I spied the rubber hammer. After a couple of hard whacks, the tube went in. Inspecting the probable damage to the tube or blank I found it to be surprisingly intact but with a small amount of wood on the tube end. Being alerted to this I did the second one differently and with no problems. Now on to the turning. I carefully turned down the blank to roundness and looked at the result. The blanks were what I call punky not unlike old wood. So I thought there was a chance this could be done. After completing the forming of the wood and doing as best I could getting it smooth it appeared to be not too bad a job. Now came the sanding. Now you may be asking yourself what could possibly go wrong at this point. You know Murphy's Law and that Murphy never sleeps. Murphy was wide awake that day. Tragedy struck in the sanding process. Did you know that Balsa Wood sands down very quickly? Deep down.

4 Continued from page 3 I should have suspected. Well, one of the blanks started breaking up on the tube during the sanding. The other turned blank did survive and I did put a finish on it just to see the result. It wasn't too bad but the ends of the turned blank were very frayed. Moral of the story: I suppose it is the usual dictum: nothing ventured nothing gained. However, if you try this, rough turn it and leave the completed finish design to sanding. Tom Leonard We had 4 new members. General Meeting Discussions Glen Geissler, one of our founding members is in the hospital. Please wish him well, and keep him and his family in your thoughts. (See Prez Sez comments for an update on Glen). The lathes and other machines at Coffee and Chips are for all members to use, but people have not been cleaning up after using them. If you use the club house, please clean up after yourselves. Upcoming demos January: Mark Palma will demonstrate sanding and scraping February: Barry Grill will demonstrate making a small bowl March: Jeff Fagan will do something musical, and probably something with the lathe too April: Mark Palma plywood bowl May: John Layde, bowl from a board June: Rick Bauer July: Bob Eberhardt Two new members at the meeting We've been invited to the 2016 Chainsaw Championships again Officers will be the same as last year See Coming Events Update on page 2

5 Demonstration of Ornament Turning Bob Eberhardt Bob Eberhardt demonstrated how make three different Christmas ornaments. A safety issue noted here was that Bob turns down the speed of the lathe before shutting it down. This prevents any problems from accidentally starting off a problem at a higher speed than you intended. Turning a Christmas Tree Bob sets up his piece between centers. You could use a small chuck, but by turning between centers you are guaranteed that it will run true if it's mounted and remounted. This usually won't happen when mounting and remounting in a chuck. The Christmas tree is started by forming a simple cone. This can be done with whatever tool you are comfortable with. Bob used a skew which leaves a surface with an excellent finish (which is good, since Bob hates sanding). Once the cone is shaped he cuts groves to start the rings of branches to make a traditional tree shape. Bob undercuts the branches with a smaller skew. Turning a Snow Man A snow man is basically three balls on top of each other, and a hat. Bob starts off by delineating the sections with a parting tool. He then uses a gouge to form the balls. He makes a hat on top with a couple of cylinders. Inside Out Turning For inside out turning you start with 4 squared pieces of wood, temporarily glued together. Bob uses CA glue, he's tried wood glue but even a drop of if results in a joint stronger than the wood. When you try to separate it you end up breaking next to the joint, rather than at the joint. CA glue breaks easily with a sharp blow. The first turning step is to shape turn the outside, keeping in mind that this will actually be an outline or aperture in the wood. Bob demonstrated bell shapes, cathedral window shapes and crucifixes. Once this is complete the piece is separated into 4, reoriented so that what was the outside shape is now a void in the middle, and glued. Where the 4 blocks of wood meet in the center is an excellent reference point. Bob drills a 1/4" hole in both ends and uses a light pull center to drive. If the piece slips, a little water will expand the wood around the hole and increase the friction..

When turning the outside watch the upper edge of the piece, rather than the tip of the tool. The revolving wood will leave a 'ghost' image.

ornament. A pair of finials finishes off the ornament. Turning Finials Bob uses a standard machinists collet, size ER for holding the dowel.

Collet chucks don't close much, so the dowel has to be carefully turned so that it fits tightly enough that the 1/32" or so of difference between open and closed

The tenon on the finial has to match the 1/4" hole that he drilled in the ornament, so he uses callipers.

6 When turning the outside watch the upper edge of the piece, rather than the tip of the tool. The revolving wood will leave a 'ghost' image. A dark or light piece of paper, depending on the wood, can help your eye see the ghost better When the ghost disappears you should have a crisp aperture in the ornament. A pair of finials finishes off the ornament. Turning Finials Bob uses a standard machinists collet, size ER for holding the dowel. He uses the tail stock to mark the center of the finial drilling a hole for the eyelet. Later he will use a #64 drill bit to drill a hole for the eyelet. Collet chucks don't close much, so the dowel has to be carefully turned so that it fits tightly enough that the 1/32" or so of difference between open and closed grips the dowel. Bob does finials about an inch at a time so that whipping and chattering is avoided. The tenon on the finial has to match the 1/4" hole that he drilled in the ornament, so he uses callipers. Every time you set down the callipers they lose their setting, so Bob wraps the setting mechanism in electrical tape. To make his beads stand out he cuts in above and below the beads. Since the finial will be mating to a rounded surface he also makes the mating surface slightly concave so that it sits true. Bob gets his eyelets at jewlerysupply.com.

7 John Layde with a Cedar hollow form Duane Walker with a natural edge hollow form John DeRyckere with a Russian Olive burl bowl Dennis Ciesielski with one of the President s Challenge entry winners

8 Paul Meske with a Russian Olive Burl bowl and a spalted Red Maple bowl Mark Palma with small bowl on rock base, small bowl on a pallet wood base, bent laminations with one lidded and a black wood block base Jeff Fagan with a Trent Bosch hollowing system with laser light

9 Roger Leonard with a Banksia pod weed pot, beer tap handle and bottle stopper Fred Steffens with a hollow form and President s Challenge of a wooden clap with a nut and bolt Barry Grill with the finished hollowed vase from the October demo and a 20 diameter bowl with a hole

10 Rick Bauer with President s Challenge entry of a Sumac bowl with a face, eyes and glasses. Also a Maple spalted and Birch spalted bowls Jow Nycz with Poplar bark edge bowls, 3 Cherry burl bowls and 4 more Cherry burl bowls

with President s Challenge entries of a a

11 Jeff Engedal with a deep vase/pot and a 27year old segmented bowl Keith Boesell with President s Challenge entries of a a Silver Maple hollow form and an ice cream cone Not Shown is a Sea Urchin ornament by Bruce Lindholm (he s our photographer) but it can be seen in the Gallery last picture with the Christmas wrapping background.

13 The above right sculpture was one of winners of the President s Scupture Challenge made by Dennis Ciesielski. The other sculpture win by Dennis was not photographed but an additional entry by Dennis is the sculpture in the above left which was another metal and wood piece. He used a process of pounding several types of metal together. Though Dennis gave the name of the process, it s spelling was not correctly written down.

14 Present: President Rich Thelen Vice President Barry Grill Treasurer Keith Jones Program Director Mark Palma Secretary John De Ryckere Newsletter Editor Tom Leonard, Tools Director Tom Schye Webmaster Jerry Engedal December Board Meeting Notes December 2, 2015 Keith Jones * Treasurer's Report (posted in the club) * We have 87 members, including one new member * Only 16 have paid for 2016 Rich Thelen * No nominations from the members at large, all present officers have agreed to one more term. * We've been invited to do a learn to turn at the 2016 Chainsaw Carving competition. * Barry Grill will demonstrate bowls in February * Keith Boesel would like to revisit membership badges. Membership cards would give a 10% discount at Minneapolis/St Paul Woodcraft and Rockler locations. Tom Schye Tom would like to see a board with peoples photographs, and their membership card so we could better connect names to faces. Mark Palma * We need to figure out how to recruit members for officer positions. * Do we need to better inform officers what roles involve, and how much time is required? * We need to recruite more (and younger) members. * Barry Grill suggests more information in the * Have an Open House

General Meeting Minutes We had 4 new members. Glen Geissler, one of our founding members is in the hospital. Please wish him well, and keep him and his family in your thoughts.

18 General Meeting Minutes We had 4 new members. Glen Geissler, one of our founding members is in the hospital. Please wish him well, and keep him and his family in your thoughts. The lathes and other machines at Coffee and Chips are for all members to use, but people have not been cleaning up after using them. If you use the club house, please clean up after yourselves. Upcoming demos January: Mark Palma will demonstrate sanding and scraping February: Barry Grill will demonstrate making a small bowl March: Jeff Fagan will do something musical, and probably something with the lathe too April: Mark Palma plywood bowl May: John Layde, bowl from a board June: Rick Bauer July: Bob Eberhardt Two new members at the meeting We've been invited to the 2016 Chainsaw Championships again Officers will be the same as last year. The big burl was sold at auction for $15 to Paul Meske. Bruce Trimble bought the Powermatic lathe in Rhinelander. FOR SALE A custom built lathe has an overall length of 6 feet and has a 2 hp variable speed motor. Asking price is $ Contact John Lonsdorf by at lonsdorf61@gmail.com

AUGUST Learn To Turn event at the U. S. Open Chainsaw Sculpture Championship kept 3 lathes very busy for many hours over 3 days IN THIS ISSUE

AUGUST Learn To Turn event at the U. S. Open Chainsaw Sculpture Championship kept 3 lathes very busy for many hours over 3 days IN THIS ISSUE AUGUST 2016 Learn To Turn event at the U. S. Open Chainsaw Sculpture Championship kept 3 lathes very busy for many hours over 3 days IN THIS ISSUE LEARN TO TURN PAGE 2 GALLERY PAGE 7 PREZ SEZ PAGE 4 SHOW