The CAW Newsletter. Membership in the CAW Chapter is open to anyone interested in the art and craft of woodturning

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1 February2005 The CAW Newsletter The CAW Newsletter is the official publication of the Capital Area Woodturners, Inc. a Chapter of the AAW, and is published for the information of its members. Announcement: Date: Saturday, Feb 12 th, 05 Time: 9:00 AM 12:30 PM Place: Bryant Adult Education Ctr 2709 Popkins Lane Alexandria, Virginia DIRECTIONS TO THE MEETING: From Virginia or Maryland, take I-495/I- 95 towards the Wilson Bridge over the Potomac River. Take Exit 177A (Rt 1 South) on the Virginia side. Approximately 1.9 miles south of the Beltway, you will pass the Beacon Mall complex with Lowes Home Improvement Warehouse on your right. Drive past the main entrance into Beacon Mall, go 4 more stop lights about ½ mile. The 4 th stop light will be Popkins Lane. Turn Left onto Popkins Lane and go 2 blocks. Bryant Learning Center entry will be on your right. Drive to the East side of the building. Plenty of parking on the side or in the rear of the building. The entrances to the woodworking shop and meeting rooms are off the back corner of the east side of the Bryant Center. Program For the Month 8:30 AM Help set up for the demonstration. Look over the For Sale items in the equipment room. Help get the coffee bar going or have a cup of coffee and a donut with your fellow turners. Discuss the items on the Show & Tell table. Rent a video. Talk tips and techniques with others. 9:00 AM A normal business meeting. A raffle will be offered. Photos of member items will be taken for the next CAW Newsletter. The tape library will be open. A silent auction table will be available for donated wood and items. Coffee and donuts will be available for a late breakfast. Supplies & tools for sale will be shown. Show & Tell of pieces brought in will be conducted 10:00 AM CAW Members C. A. Savoy Don Riggs Membership in the CAW Chapter is open to anyone interested in the art and craft of woodturning On Jan. 24 th, Don Riggs and C.A. Savoy delivered 19 plate chargers to Jim Rees, Executive Director of Geo. Washington's Mt. Vernon Estate. The plate chargers (i.e. platters) were made from the 170 year old pecan tree cut down last March near the mansion. The tree was approximately 100 feet tall and measured over 7 feet wide at the base. The tree had to be taken down due to damage it received from one of the hurricanes and the fear the it could cause damage to the Mansion. The chargers will be used in the formal dining room in the administrative office building at Mt. Vernon. They will be used for special occasions only. Some of the branch wood was cut into slabs 5 feet x 13 inches x 3 inches and placed in the kiln in the carpentry shop at Mt. Vernon. They remained there for 5 months to dry. They were then cut into discs by Don and CA and turned into very beautiful chargers below. Mr. Rees had provided Don with a plastic charger to copy. He took some measurements, made a drawing and provided one for CA. The final number of chargers was 20 as one previously made of the white ash had been presented to Mr. Rees before we started to turn the pecan to be sure this is what he wanted. All 20 chargers were nearly identical. Mr. Rees was overwhelmed and thanked Don, CA and the CAW for a job superbly done. At this month s meeting, Don and CA will demo the process they went thru to create these works of art The Call of the Lathe CAW President: Tom Boley So much wood...so little time. Storage is starting to be a problem. You would think that doing this full time would result in a dramatic reduction in the amount of wood in the driveway, in the garage, and in the basement. You would think so, and in fact, I thought so, but we are both wrong. Where does the time go? If I am having so much trouble finding time to turn wood as a FULLTIME WOODTURNER, what did I ever do when I actually worked for a living??? I think log collecting is an addiction, and I got it BAD! But it sure is fun and I have no intention of changing. I thought about enrolling in the STEP program ( Sure, Take Every Piece ) but decided the stress may be too much for me. So I just get to it when I can, which is actually nearly every day. But the pile doesn t seem to shrink! For you new folks in CAW, welcome aboard. We are delighted that you have found us and that you have an interest in woodturning. This is as fine a hobby as I think anyone could ever have. I love it! But like any kind of skill, as you learn, the learning curve starts out pretty steep but tends to flatten out from time to time and you need some sort of boost to ratchet your skills up a notch. There are a couple of great opportunities for new woodturners available locally. The Woodcraft Store has several woodturning classes from pens to bowls. You can find out more by going to the store and asking or by checking the classes list in their periodic mailing. The other source for new turners is the Fairfax County adult education program. Perhaps there are also similar programs available in Maryland but no one has mentioned them to me. Once you have gotten the basic training and have started to build your experience and skill, the CAW skill enhancement sessions may be most helpful, or you can try our mentoring program for personal assistance. Annie Simpson will be the new Mentor Coordinator, taking over for Paul Burke

2 February 2005 Page 2 The Call of the Lathe(Cont d) Paul Burke who has done a terrific job in that position. See the article about the mentoring program elsewhere in the newsletter. But what is the next step? At this point in your turning life, there are a couple of great opportunities. One is to attend a three day symposium dedicated to woodturning such as that offered each summer by the American Association of Woodturners at their annual Symposium. This year, the AAW Symposium will be Jul 2005 in Overland Park, Kansas, near Kansas City. There should be a list of the four closest hotels elsewhere in this newsletter. Judi and I will be in the Hilton Garden, right across the street from the convention center. Rooms there are $79/night for the Symposium in spite of their web site saying $169/night with discounts! This is a great time, with woodturning classes offered for three days and vendors with all kinds of equipment and WOOD available for sale. Another way to get through a plateau period is to take a woodturning class for a week. I had often heard of the John C. Campbell Folk School in way-western North Carolina, but had never attended. I called last fall and asked for a catalog, which soon came in the mail. We then went to Japan for Christmas without me ever having taken any action on the catalog. On the airplane on the way home, I looked over the catalog a bit and found a class which interested me which was to start only two weeks after our return from Japan When we got home, I called and got the last slot in the class. Well, it was a great time and the Campbell Folk School is a great place. I brought some catalogs back for those who are interested and plan to talk about it at our Feb meeting. There are classes for all levels and the facility is awesome! It s like summer camp for adults. Classes range from beginning through intermediate to advanced. Their web site is The paper catalog is very user friendly and easy to peruse and I will have some at the Feb meeting. So, when you find yourself starting to hit one of those plateaus, don t give up, thinking you ll never get any better. Get help. Take classes. Get a mentor. Talk to your fellow members about their own learning experiences and you will get a lot of advice on how to proceed and about resources which are available. Special challenge: In light of our desire to encourage woodturning among our newer members, I would like to start having a special Show and Tell table for those of you who have started turning since January of last year. Bring em in! We all started from scratch and have learned as we have come along. We want to encourage all of you who have really started turning in the last year or so to bring in something to show what you have done. Let s start doing this in March so you know what to expect ahead of time. Be brave! You will get nothing but encouragement from everyone as we see how you respond to The Call of the Lathe. Tom Boley Mentoring Program One of our finest programs, the Mentoring Program puts new or learning woodturners together with more skilled and experienced turners to teach the craft. You may be merely thinking about turning and would like to try your hand at it first before you spend any money on it. You may be a beginner who needs some good basic skills. Or you may be an experienced woodturner who wishes to learn a new type of turning. The Mentoring Program is designed to put you with someone who can help you learn those skills. Paul Burke has done a terrific job of managing the program for several years but has asked to be relieved. Annie Simpson has asked to take it over and has plans for making it easier for her to put the right people together. If you would like to have a mentor, let Annie know at or at asimpson@bestmail.us. If you would like to be a mentor, or have ideas to improve the program, please contact Annie with that information. Membership Renewals Are Now Due!! Renew your CAW membership for the year 2005!!!. $20 for individual membership $15/person for multiple persons in a family Bring your dues to the next meeting or mail them to: Patrick O Brien, CAW Treasurer 200 N. Pickett St. #1108 Alexandria, VA Make checks payable to Capital Area Woodturners If you are unsure if you owe dues for the year 2005, look at the mailing label on the newsletter in the upper right corner. If it says DEC-04, you owe. If it says DEC-05, you are paid up. If you get the newsletter via , check our website at the following link: or call or Patrick O Brien CAW Treasurer, at NOVA WOODWORKING SHOW The nationally popular Woodworking Show will be at the Dulles Expo. The Capital Area Woodturners has once again been invited to participate in the show. We will be allocated enough space to conduct woodturning demonstrations and to display some of our finished work. Still have a few slots open for Demo. and staff Booth at show on Feb. 18, 19 and See CA at meeting to sign up or him at cadjsavoy@cox to sign up. Lathe For Sale Shopsmith - Model 510 Table Model Asking: $400 Retractable Casters Saw Blade Arbors Table Insert Disk Sander Drum Snader Rip Fence Upgrade Call Willie at

3 February 2005 Page 3 CAW SKILL ENHANCEMENT WORKSHOP BRYANT SCHOOL WED :00AM - 3:00PM TUES :00AM - 3:00PM Any special requests contact: CA Savoy cadjsavoy@cox.net Or: Don Riggs driggs11@cox.net Or: Don Johnson drjpapaw@aol.com Or: Aaron Grebeldinger erph@erols.com PLEASE NOTE::: There is a shop charge of $5.00. If you use any tool, i.e., band saw, lathe, drill press etc. the charge will apply. If you come to visit and just watch, then - no charge. YOU MUST ALSO BE A MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF WOODTURNERS IF YOU WANT TO USE ANY OF THE TOOLS. CAW- ONEWAY ORDER CA will be placing a ONEWAY order on Monday, Feb 14th. Orders must be to him NLT Sunday Check your catalog or call up ONEWAY website at to see what 's available and your order to C.A. at cadjsavoy@cox.net CA places orders throughout the month, so if you need a ONEWAY product, him by the Sat. preceding the monthly meeting and he will have your order for you at the meeting. Items can be picked up at Bryant School on the Wed. or Tues. monthly workshops or at the monthly meetings or by special arrangements. You pay when you receive your merchandise. CA Savoy:::: HAPPY AND SAFE TURNING!!!!!!!!!!! Woodburning Class Chesapeake Woodturners, in Annapolis, has invited CAW members to help fill a class on pyrography to be taught by our own John Nofsinger for four consecutive Friday evenings, 6pm to 9pm, starting 25 March. This is not woodturning per se, but how to do woodburning as a decorative art on your turned, and other, work. The cost is $150 for the four sessions and you must supply your own burner and the three tips required for the class. For more information, please call Jeff Bridges of Chesapeake Woodturners at between 10am and 2pm, and at pm to midnight. Special Gallery Opportunity Remember that the Artisans Center of Virginia has invited Artisans United, of which CAW is a member guild, to provide craft pieces for a month-long display at the Center next fall. Please start working on your projects for that display. This should be our best work. In the spring, I will appoint a committee to jury our own work down to the five pieces which we will submit to Artisans United for further jurying down to the 40 pieces which will be taken to Waynesboro representing the eighteen member guilds of AU. The Center is the official craft gallery for the Commonwealth of Virginia so it is a high honor to be selected to show there. The pieces which are submitted to AU but not selected for the Center show will become a part of a special display at the AU gallery in Annandale Park on Hummer Road, the same place where several of us displayed our work this past summer. How to draw an egg. Any turner would be proud to make a perfect egg. It is very simple. Draw it out and make a template. 1. Draw a right angled cross. 2. Draw a circle with the centre at the intersection. An average diameter is about 45 mm. 3. Draw the chords BX and CX and extend them out to B* and C* 4. With Centre B, radius BC draw arc CB*. 5. Centre C draw arc BC*. 6. Centre X, radius XC* draw arc B*C* Courtesy of the Peninsula Woodturners Guild of Victoria Australia. Visit their website at: CAW 2005 Officer Roster Name Position Tom Boley President Manny Fernandez Vice-President Patrick O Brien Treasurer Bob Reynolds Secretary Frank Stepanski Program Director C. A. Savoy Director of Operations Jim Marstall Newsletter Editor Club Support Volunteers Contact Information 8316 Botsford Ct. Springfield, VA tboley@erols.com 7913 Hollington Place Fairfax Station, VA, mannyandsusan@cox.net 200 N. Pickett St. #1108 Alexandria, VA Tel. days n. & wknds ohbewood@comcast.net 7627 Mineral spring Court Springfield, VA reynoldsrf@aol.com 1203 Washington Dr. Stafford, VA woodturner@purespeed.c om 1309 Gatewood Drive Alexandria, VA cadjsavoy@cox.net 6213 Capella Ave. Burke, VA jim.b.marstall@boeing.com Bill Bearden Video Library Aaron Grebeldinger Education Outreach Mark Robinson Group Buy Jonathan Hess Raffles/Auctions Bob Pezold CAW Clothes Paul Burke - Mentor Program All committee volunteers - Set-up, clean-up, coffee bar, etc. Each member If your personal information changes: address, phone, or ; notify Patrick O Brien.

4 February 2005 Page 4 About Our Members by Phil Brown Look for the results of Richard Allen s colaborations with three artists working in other media at the Feburary meeting. In January Tom Boley completed a week of advanced woodturning with Keith Gotschall at the John C,. Campbell Folk School. (Keith will do one of the demos at the AAW Symposium this summer in Overland Park, KS). Gerry Headley will be attending a home-studio workshop with David Ellsworth from April The weekend course has a maximum of six participants and includes home cooked meals with the Ellsworths. This course was delayed from January because David has been recovering from heart surgery. Reservations are required approximately one year out. In March Patrick O'Brien plans to visit well known and traveled woodturner and demonstrator, Liam O'Neill, while in Ireland. Don Riggs has these Fairfax Adult Education courses coming up. To register, call For questions about a courses, call Don at Intermediate Woodturning-- Starts March 2 and goes for 5 Wednesday nights. (Can take one more student. Will be offered again commencing June 15.) Advanced Woodturning-- Starts March 14 and goes for 5 Monday nights. (Can register 2 more students. Will be offered again commencing June 27.) At WOODCRAFT in Springfield, VA, Richard Allen will again teach Introduction To The Lathe on Sundays of February 6 th and March 6 th. He will also teach a Refresher Introduction To The Lathe course on Wednesday night February 23 rd and again on Tuesday, April 19, 6pm - 9:30pm. And Aaron Grebeldinger will teach Bowl Turning on Thursday, February 10, 6pm - 9:30pm, and Thursday, March 10, 6pm - 9:30pm. Introduction To Hollow Turning with John Noffsinger occurs on Mondays, March 7, 14 & 21, 6:30pm - 9:30pm. Advanced Woodturning with Don Riggs occurs Tuesdays, March 8, 15, 22 & 29, 6pm - 9:30pm. Call the WOODCRAFT store at for details on any of these classes and to register, or see Don t be shy! Tell others about your woodturning activities in the CAW Newsletter. Send your information by the third week of the month to Phil Brown, 7807 Hamilton Spring Road, Bethesda, MD Phone and fax: philfbrown@comcast.net Exhibit or Sales Opportunities Artists applications are now being accepted for 1 ST SATURDAYS ART MARKET AT BALLSTON. This is an outdoor market of original work by the exhibiting artist, and operates from 10 am until 4 pm, on the first Saturday of May through October. Fee is $40 per space per market. For an application contact Novie Trump at of ntrump@arlingtonva.us. CAW member, Jonathan Hess, sold small turned items at this market for three months in The Artisans Center of Virginia has announced a national competition ( Open to all artists residing in the United States ) for an exhibit of "Sacred Icons: A Collective Vision of Symbolic & Ritual Objects" produced in any fine craft media, which includes wood turning. Entries are due by March 19, For a description and the application form see: The Creative Crafts Council has applications are due March 15, Request an application from Anthony Glander, Myer Terrace, Rockville, MD 20853, or by Tony@fitzpatrickglass.com. See more about this opportunity in the December 2004 Newsletter. Other Items The 19th Annual National AAW Symposium is July 22-24, 2005, at the Overland Park Convention Center in Overland Park, Kansas (suburban Kansas City). Registration forms will be available in the Spring issue of the AW Journal, and online forms on the website will be made available at the same time, in March. There are (4) hotels that are within 1 block from the convention center. Sheraton Overland Park - Connected to the center Hilton Garden - Right across the street Courtyard Marriott - Right across the street Chase Suites - 1 block away (very close) AAW has a new Professional Outreach Program for members wishing to demonstrate skills and techniques. Go to for their Professional Database Registration form.

5 Comfortable Turning Make Your Lathe Comfortable. You don t have to take it to bed or share the sauna, but your lathe does like to be loved, cleaned, and secure. Lubrication of the moving parts such as tailstock quill and banjo internals seems pretty obvious, but is often ignored. As is cleaning and waxing the bed and the underside of the bits that slide along the bed. Clean with steel wool or a power-driven wire brush. Then apply wax (same wax as you put on wood) and rub it back with a rag. Lathe security is often under-estimated. The smoother the passage of the wood past your chisel, the better your work will be. Oscillating wood may result from an out-ofbalance motor, an aging belt, flexing stand, or a host of other causes. So check your lathe carefully. Secure the feet to the floor. This may be some bolts or heavy ballast. Take care not to twist the lathe bed while you do this. If your workshop floor is wooden then the entire floor may be flexing check it out. Is you lathe stand flexing? This may not be very obvious but if it flexes with slightly out of balance wood then it will also flex when your chisel strikes a hard bit and thus start chatter in your work. Is your motor balanced, secure, and pulling evenly? If your lathe belt is old and hard in patches the result is uneven drag on the pulley. If your motor is not pulling the belt taught then it will jump about when your chisel strikes a hard bit and thus start chatter in your work. Smooth the edge of your toolrest. Be Comfortable at Your Lathe. Comfort for the human body is a well known enhancer of happiness and work productivity. Your feet need to be comfortably shod and placed firm and flat on the floor. Heaps of shavings may be great ambience but if they upset your stance that will affect your woodturning. If the floor is causing weary feet fix it. This may be just a commercial rubber mat, or a more extensive fix. It is more important for your feet to be comfortable when you finish your work that it is at the start. Your clothing needs to keep irritating shavings away from irritable locations. And the clothing should be short-sleeved and not too loose around the body. Protect your eyes and lungs. Some protective gear may not add to your short-term comfort, but your longer-term prospects will improve. Change the height of your lathe to meet your comfortable turning height. This is usually when the shaft height is at your elbow height. If the lathe is too high you work with shoulders raised, if it is too low your back is bent. Space around the lathe is important. You should have room to swing a chisel away from the work, and to step back and view your work. Racks of tools close to the lathe may be handy but I think a couple of steps away to swap tools or sharpen, is a good move to keep the body flexing and awake. Shavings may be great ambience, but feet are better flat on the floor. Both these turners would benefit from changing the height of this lathe. February Page 6

6 February 2005 Sept Jan Page 6 Show Show & Tell Tell Items Items Left: Grant Clowery three bowls : a 9 W Paduak bowl, a 8 Cherry bowl and a 6 1/2 spalted Maple bowl.. Center: Umkmown turners: two Christmas tree ornaments made of maple and Walnut Right: Patrick O Brien a 14 W X 8 H Pecan hollow form in work. Patrick is trying out different contrasting wood rims to see what looks best. Left: Ed Alexander This 6 W X 3 H hollowform of Ambrosia maple is Ed s 1 st attempt at hollowing. Center: Mike Parker A Mahogany snowman with an Ebony top hat and a Paduak nose. Right: Mike Kinney a 7 W Osage Orange natural edge and a 8 W Cherry candy dish. Left: David Jacobowitz _ a segmented bowl made of Poplar, Cherry, and a variety of non-wood inlays Center: gene Crosby _ a classic Crosby segmented bowl of 12 W X 6 H using Walnut, Paduak, Poplar, and Mahogany. Right: Bob Marshall two tea lights with inserted candles in reusable Cherry holders. Left: Nelson Brown a hollow form of a Maple burl base and a Walnut top. Center & Right: Jorge Salinas - a fireplace log match holder (closed in center). Photos by Jim Marstall

7 February 2005 Sept Jan Page 7 Show Show & Tell Tell Items Items Left: Elliott Feldman a 12 H X 4 W Cherry vase and a 3 W X 3 H Cherry natural edge.. Center: Bill Hardy a Dogwood natural edge wing bowl. Right: Don Riggs three bowls, the largest is 14 W in the back made from Walnut, Curley Maple and Ambrosia Maple Left: Ed Karch A 6 W X 6 H Maple hollow form. Center: Bob Grudberg - a 12 H X 4 W Cedar hollow form and a 10 W X 6 H Walnut bowl with a bandsawed rim, Right: Doug Pearson a Cherry hollow form that has been painted with Gesso and carved ala Al Stirt. Left: Jorge Salinas an Apple Root burl of 10 H X 4 H. Center: two of Don Hart s bigger pieces at 2 H X ¾ W Photos by Jim Marstall

8 Jim Marstall, Newsletter Editor Capital Area Woodturners (CAW) 6213 Capella Ave. Burke, VA CAW Newsletter February 2005 New CAW Members Welcome! We are glad you have chosen to contribute your talents to our club. We look forward to the contributions you will make and the pieces you will bring in to Show-&-Tell. Your participation will add to our mutual love of woodturning and to our collective knowledge and skill. First Last City ST Name Name Cathy Bodenhorn Dunkirk M D Gavin Bodenhorn Dunkirk M D Jim Canning Manassas VA John DiBella Alexandria VA Walter Fink Alexandria VA Diane Purdy Centreville VA Joel Sugarman Silver Spring M D Kirsten Sugarman Manassas VA Tom Waters Nokesville VA Dan Ryan Fairfax VA CAW s Mentorship Program HONOR ROLL Feb, 2005 Bob Grudberg **** Don Chamlee* Don Johnson ** Bill Hardy* Bob Pezold **** Alan Becker** Richard Allen **** Tom Boley (7*) Andrew Blackwell ** Pat Berry* John Overman* Bob Kinsel * CA Savoy xx Don Riggs xx Jim Marstall *** Bob Marshall ** Seth Hurlbert* Clif Poodry Phil F Brown * F Stepanski A Grebeldinger *** denotes number of people being mentored xxx denotes skill enhancement meetings Many thanks to those who are giving back, by helping others. Any who we are missing or anyone who is willing to help others, contact Annie Simpson, at , Woodturner@Pburke.net Let s Grow Woodturners!