West Tennessee Woodturners Newsletter

Transcription

1 West Tennessee Woodturners Newsletter September 2012 Volume 4 Issue 9 Officers and Board Members President: Vice President: Secretary: Treasurer: Librarian: Member: Member: Inside this issue: Wood Spin 2-3 August Meeting 4 Calendar & Bulletin Board 5 Instant Gallery 6 Presidents Challenge 7 AAW Message 9 TAW Symposium 10 Bob Hobbs Kirk Smith Chuck Jones Bill Smith Bill Wyche Norm Fowler Bill Kearns Visit West Tennessee Woodturners On Line at Plans are underway for the club to participate in the West Tennessee State Fair in Jackson September Bill Wyche is managing this activity and has already posted many of the details via . If you are not in this loop and have an interest please get in touch with him. Bill has negotiated a favorable price for a booth for all six days. Tables and chairs will also be included. Several people have already signed up to Going to the Fair As everyone knows we had an unfortunate accident during our July Meeting. Clifton and William Valentine had generously volunteered to drive from the Memphis area to demonstrate the turning of a cowboy hat. While Cliff was turning and William was sharpening a tool William received a nasty cut on the back of his left hand and required emergency room treatment at a local hospital. Luckily there was no permanent damage to his hand. But like all hospital visits, there are costs involved. help staff the booth, but a lot more help is going to be needed. So please get in touch with Bill and let him know when you can help. These events can really be a lot of fun even if you choose not to display your work. It s great public relations for the club and a good opportunity to meet a lot of nice folks. Club members will be able to display and sell their work on the days when they are available to work in the booth. The club is covering the cost of the booth. On a separate point, anyone who wishes to enter some of their work in the fair competition should visit the fair website at to get the details on how to enter and when to present your pieces. Special Fundraiser William does not currently have medical insurance to cover such an accident and is faced with a sizeable cash outlay. Let it be clear that he has made absolutely no request for assistance in this matter, and might be upset if he knew what is planned. But woodturners being what they are, we just feel like we should help out. At the next meeting, September 8, there will be a special raffle and all proceeds will go into a fund to help defray William s expenses. We have learned that the Mid-South Woodturners Guild (Memphis) and Tennessee Association of Woodturners (Nashville) also have plans to raise money to be included in this fund. So, please put forth your best effort to bring things to be raffled. This could be wood, finishing supplies, tools, sandpaper, or whatever you wish. Use your imagination. Oh yeah. Be sure to bring some money to buy tickets so you can take home some of the good stuff that will be in the raffle. Nick Matos Demonstrator at September Meeting At the September meeting the subject of Nick Matos demonstration will be Miniature Birdhouses. Nick has brought some really nice ones to the Instant Gallery in the past.

2 Page 2 WOOD SPIN Black Locust Reprinted with permission from Mid-South Woodturners Guild Turner Talk July 2012 Edition. Emmett Manley and the officers of Mid-South Woodturners Guild have granted our club permission to reprint back issues of Wood Spin, a fine series of articles written each month by Dr. Manley. We very much appreciate this opportunity and yet another boost from our older and larger AAW sister club. This is another in the irregular series concerning native trees which provide interesting turning woods. Over the past three years this series has featured Bradford/Callery pear, sweet gum, black gum, and osage orange, plus a general article on my favorite turning woods. Persimmon remains my favorite wood, but black locust ranks high on my list of favorites and this wood is very much unappreciated. People who turn a variety of local woods and like working with osage orange will love black locust, as the two woods share many characteristics. Both are very hard and dense, rot resistant, demonstrate beautiful patterns, and polish like glass. However, unlike osage orange, black locust does not darken when exposed to UV rays over a period of years and this wood does not crack quite as easily as osage orange. Also, black locust demonstrates more variety of appearance with rich swirls of variegated sapwood and heartwood. Surprisingly, both are attacked by borers and often have hollow centers and extensive beetle channels and damage, which just enhances their appearance in my opinion. Beetles do all of my carving and hollowing. Because of its resistance to rotting, farmers and cattlemen consider this tree to be the Fence Post Tree, and it is stated that a black locust post will wear out two post holes. The wood is also prized as top quality firewood as it burns slowly and very hot. Floor ing and outdoor furniture contractors are impressed with this wood -- if the public knew the durability and beauty of this wood, it would be in high demand and very expensive, rather than priced not much above pine. I did locate one company on the internet, Black Locust Lumber, which only deals in this amazing wood. Most fast growing woods are soft but black locust grows rapidly yet is hard and dense -- the wood is second only to osage orange as the hardest in North America. These trees are spread by underground rhizomes so large groves of locust trees can become Emmett Manley (Continued on page 3)

3 Page 3 (Continued from page 2) established over a short period of time; in fact, these trees are now considered an invasive species in some areas. Black locust is easy to identify with its deeply furrowed bark, the compound leaves (with multiple small leaflets) and numerous small thorns near branches. The trees bloom in mid- Spring with profuse white blossoms which help to locate the trees in the forest or along roadsides. The scientific name, Robinia pseudoacadia, alerts us to the compound leaves which appear similar to those of the acacia trees of Australia. This is an absolutely beautiful wood when turned and it is fairly easy to turn for such a dense wood. If you need a wood to hold edges, this is an excellent choice. The aroma when turning this wood is distinctive but not unpleasant or irritating. Another interesting characteristic of importance to the woodturner is the fact that even small diameter saplings, 1-4 often are nearly total heartwood, revealing all the beauty of this species. This wood is ideal for making small objects -- bottle stoppers, honey dippers, stick pens, lidded containers, ring stands, etc. Anticipating a question, black locust is much different from honey locust, although the much less common honey locust is also a prized turning wood. We may address honey locust at some point in the future, but recall that honey locust has smooth plate-like scaly bark, really long thorns (3 or 4 inches) and those one foot long black seed pods with the sweet aroma. A totally different tree. Bob Hobbs will have some Anchorseal for resale at the September meeting. The ebony has been ordered and may be in by the September meeting. Some Reminders There was not enough interest in the Starbond glue for an order. Remember the special raffle/fundraiser. September Presidents Challenge Stemmed object.

4 Page 4 Bill Kearns for putting together a fantastic first aid kit. A Big Round of Applause Please For... Bill Wyche for taking the lead in coordinating the clubs activity at the Tennessee State Fair. Bill Smith for a very professionally built safety shield for demonstrations at the lathe. Wait a minute, does anybody besides Bill do anything around here? Oh yeah there s more Mid-South Woodturners Guild for the grant for the safety shield. Kirk Smith and (here we go again with the Bills) Bill Kearns for volunteering to be first aid coordinators, hopefully to never be needed. And last, but certainly not least, Bob Hobbs for the many hours he puts into helping the club in so many ways, especially the ongoing task of finding and coordinating demonstrators. Bill Smith & New Safety Shield 1. Thanks to Bill Smith we have a new laminate shield for demonstrations. The grant for this was from the Mid South Woodturners Guild. 2. The club has a new first aid kit and the First Aid Team consists of Bill Kearns and Kirk Smith. 3. If you plan on being a demonstrator you must be a member of the AAW for the liability insurance. 4. The proceeds from the raffle during the September meeting will be sent to William Valentine to help with his medical bills from the July meeting. All members of WTW at the August meeting approved. Please bring something to raffle off. Tools, wood or whatever. 5. Septembers President's Challenge will be a hollow form of some type. 6. Ebony dowels and Starbond CA glue will be ordered as a large order with the Mid South Woodturners Guild. 7. All donations to our library will be greatly appreciated. Books, tapes, DVD's 8. Dues are due. Notes from August Meeting 9. Contact Bill Wyche if you are interested in demonstrating at the State Fair. You must be a member of the AAW to demonstrate. 10. We will be having a WTW display at the Jackson State Community College next September, Let's work together to make a good showing. Bill Kearns Our guest demonstrator at the August meeting was Hershel Miller from the Mid South Woodturners Guild. He demonstrated the art of making a Christmas ornament. He mentioned that before he attempts a project he warms up by making a few small items like a top or a small bowl. Hershel also spoke about using a chatter tool and that the variations of designs vary with the speed of the lathe and the approach of the tool to the wood. Tips and tricks were discussed and shown by Hershel.

5 Page 5 September 8 Regular Meeting Demonstrator: Nick Matos Miniature Bird House Challenge: Stemmed (vase, hollow form, goblet, whatever) September West Tennessee State Fair September Turning Southern Style XVIII Georgia Association of Woodturners (gawoodturners.org) September Virginia Symposium Fisherville, VA September 22, 2012 Huntingdon Heritage Festival October 6 Autumn Outdoor Meeting Demonstrator: Keith Burns Hollowing Challenge: Halloween (Any turning with a Halloween theme) October Pink Palace Crafts Fair Audubon Park, Memphis October 20 Fall Folklore Jamboree-Milan, TN November 10 Regular Meeting Demonstrator: Vince Welch Vince s Wood N Wonders Sanding Challenge: Hollow Form December 8 Christmas Luncheon Challenge: Christmas Ornament Upcoming Events January Tennessee Association of Woodturners Annual Symposium Franklin, TN Additional details at Planer Knives For Sale: Bulletin Board I have for sale a set of three new planer knives, 1/8 x 1 x 12 inch M2HSS. I special ordered from United Saw and they are the wrong size for my planer. Randy Pitts or pittsrm@yahoo.com Lathe For Sale: I'd like to sell my Delta 12" lathe. It works well. It has a split pulley variable speed system. I'd like to use that space for our meetings, and a little elbow room for me. I'll take $400 for it and will help load it. Thanks. Cecil Cravens Shaper For Sale. Delta Floor Model. 2 HP 2 Speed. 1/4 and 1/2 Shafts. $450. Contact: Bob Hobbs

6 Page 6 Instant Gallery Cecil Cravens Cecil Cravens Cecil Cravens Norm Fowler Norm Fowler Norm Fowler Jerry Dawson Jerry Dawson Jerry Dawson Jerry Dawson Jerry Hosier Bill Wyche Bill Wyche Giley Wright Nick Matos Nick Matos Photography by Jerry Dawson

7 Page 7 Instant Gallery continued Nick Matos Nick Matos Paul Reed C. H. Williams Presidents Challenge Jack Couch The Presidents Challenge for August was A Sphere and the winner is Jack Couch. Congratulations Jack! Bob Announcing Winner Kirk Smith Danny Johnson Danny Johnson Jack Couch Nick Matos Jack Couch Photography by Jerry Dawson

8 Page 8 Demo Photography by Jerry Dawson

9 The AAW; It's a Family Dear Fellow Woodturner, I've often heard it said that the AAW is like a big family. I began turning wood at the age of about 13 in my father's basement workshop. And I turned wood off and on over the next 40 years, but my skills did not improve much. Then someone told me about the AAW chapter in Denver. I joined, and it didn't take long before members of the chapter were showing me all kinds of things I had never imagined. They welcomed me into their family, and they treated me like a long-lost cousin. I was in heaven. I soon joined the AAW and discovered that there was an even bigger family, a huge family with many thousands of members around the world, and like the members of the Denver chapter, everyone treated me like family. Again I found myself in heaven and I found that Saint Peter had welcomed thousands like me to enter the pearly gates of woodturning. Since joining the AAW, I've served as a chapter president, as a member of the AAW Board of Directors, and two years as president of the AAW. I've found that the more I contribute to the woodturning family, the closer my relationship becomes. And now I count my AAW family among my closest friends. One of the things I've enjoyed most is the opportunity to visit members of the family in many places in the USA and around the world. I've visited chapters from Connecticut to California. I've demonstrated at symposiums from Utah to Australia. I've stayed in the homes of friends from such far-flung places as Ireland and South Africa. And I've been treated like a member of the family everywhere I've been. The AAW is truly a wonderful family. It surprises me how many woodturners are not AAW members. They lose so much by not joining the family. I encourage all of you to invite anyone you know who enjoys turning wood but is not an AAW member to join. Explain to them what they are missing by not joining the family. And when they join, I promise they will be glad they did. Message From Tom Wirsing With warm regards, --Tom Wirsing Tom Wirsing Board Member, AAW Important Renewal Notice In the past, all memberships were due for renewal at the end of December. As of March 2011, all membership cycles were converted from a calendar basis to anniversary basis. Your current membership became effective as of your join date and will remain active for one year. Your renewal date is located on your journal's mailing label. If you have questions about your membership renewal please call the AAW office at or toll free

10 2013 Symposium 25th ANNIVERSARY SYMPOSIUM Friday, January 25 & Saturday, January 26, 2013 The Tennessee Association of Woodturners (TAW) will be presenting their 25th Anniversary Symposium on Friday, January 25th and Saturday, January 26th, The Symposium will be held at the Franklin Marriott Cool Springs, 700 Cool Springs Boulevard in Franklin, TN. The Franklin Marriott is our new location for the 2013 Symposium. The 2013 Symposium features some of the world s leading woodturners including: Dixie Biggs, Jimmy Clewes, John Jordan, John Lucas and Mike Mahoney. This could be yours!!! As well as the commemorative mementos below the TAW will be giving away a brand new Powermatic 3520B as one of its door prizes during the banquet on Saturday evening. All attendees who register for either the One Day, Two Day, or Spouse Symposium will be eligible to win the lathe must be present at the banquet to win. The lathe will be in Nashville and it will be the winner s responsibility for the packing and shipping expenses. To Celebrate Our 25th Anniversary TAW is offering two commemorative mementos to celebrate its 25th Anniversary Symposium. Hatch Show Print The designers at Hatch Show Print in downtown Nashville will design and layout a TAW 25th Anniversary poster (14 x 22 ) using their antique wood and metal typefaces and imagery from the Hatch archive. One of these posters will be given free to the first 100 attendees who register for the Full Two-Day Symposium using either Pay-Pal or the Registration Form. The souvenir poster will be a limited edition as only 100 will be printed. so register quickly. Posters will be distributed during the Symposium. To learn more about the Hatch Show Print click on this link: Commemorative Thompson Handles By special arrangement with Doug Thompson Tools, Doug Thompson will engrave his tool handles with TAW 25th ANNIVERSARY SYMPOSIUM CUSTOM MADE FOR (your name). This is an opportunity to purchase a memento of the TAW 25th Anniversary Symposium. A form will be provided at the Symposium to complete your order and Doug will engrave the handle(s) when you are at the demonstrations. To see the variety and specifications of the handles available click on this link: