CALGARY WOODTURNERS

(LIKE MINDED PEOPLE EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE OF WOOD TURNING)

OCTOBER 2003 – NEWSLETTER

GUESTS

Glen Duxbury, Jim Leslie and Morris Tyler.

ANNOUNCEMENTS, NEW BUSINESS/OTHER

Terry Golbeck noted that the Show and Tell will be at the end of the meetings now. The items are displayed outside of the meeting room with a sign up sheet for those who wish to talk about their items at the end of the meeting. All others will be displayed for the duration of the meeting but will not be discussed.

Tony Lucas is working on the “Register of Turners”. This is a list of those club members who wish to have their name forwarded in the event that someone is looking for a turner to produce an item for them. Please pass your name along to Tony if you want to be on this list.

Exhibition Committee: The Exhibition Committee met last week and decided that there will be no 3% surcharge to the turner on credit card sales at the Spruce Meadows show. This cost will be absorbed by the club as a cost of doing business. John asks members who wish to have items in the show to take a registration form with them to fill out and return at the next club meeting. Members should also bring items to be sold in the show to the next meeting. If you are unable to bring the items to the next meeting, you can make arrangements with one of the following people to get the items to them by NOVEMBER 19: John Simard, Tony Lucas, Jaime Berry, Dave Beeman, Tom Hurst, Don Soul, or Carl Smith. Items submitted later than November 19 will not be accepted for the show. The Exhibition Committee has also made a decision to build some shelving for the show and to have track lighting. These will be stored at Andy Lockhart’s house between shows. The committee would like to thank Black Forest Wood Co. for cutting up all of the wood to be used in the show display. Volunteers are still needed for the Spruce Meadows show, call Jaime Berry if you can help. The display of member’s turned projects at Lee Valley Tools has been set up in a showcase. The Oak Shoppe has also agreed to put some items into cabinets in their showroom. Members have not shown a lot of interest in displaying pieces, so further display possibilities are on hold for now.

Jaime Berry has some tail stock pieces for sale of various descriptions, please call him if you are interested.

Harold Biswanger’s wood is to be distributed and cleaned up at 9 am on his farm, on October 18.

Dave Beeman brought up the idea of having a raffle at each meeting. Each month someone would donate an item (raw wood, tool, etc.) and tickets would be sold to attendees for $1.00 each. At the end of the night a draw would be held for the item. The proceeds of the draw could go to the club video fund. Dave has offered to start the draw off by bringing in some wood to the next meeting. He is also going to sell the tickets and collect the money for the first draw.

Jim Jones is looking for someone to look after the Instant Gallery at his Woodturning Symposium at Okotoks High School on November 15. The symposium is being partially sponsored by the AAW Education Fund. There will be 3 lathes going all day, with 4 shifts of turners. Jim hopes to continue this event each year by holding it alternately in Calgary and Okotoks schools.

Election of Officers: Bob Vergette, Jim Osenton and Terry Golbeck have been working on a list of candidates. The list will be up at next month’s meeting.

Terry Golbeck noted that pieces for the silent auction at Foothills Academy need to be in to him by October 15. Foothills Academy is a school for learning disabled kids. All of the proceeds from the silent auction will be going to providing tuition at the Academy for a child who would otherwise be unable to attend.

SHOW AND TELL

Don West demonstrated how he made a platter with 7 depressions, all but one of them turned off center. Don marked the center of each depression on his piece of wood. He then attached an industrial O ring onto the back of the platter using scotch tape. The ring that Don showed us looked to be about 9 or 10 inches in diameter. Don then used a vacuum chuck to hold the piece. He cut a piece of plywood into a large circle and glued rubber to the face of the wood. A hole was drilled in the center of the plywood disc and the disc was chucked onto the lathe using a scroll chuck. The vacuum was then attached to the lathe in the usual manner. The rubber that he used to face the disc is very heavy-duty and came from a place that sells weightlifting equipment. It is the rubber mat that weightlifters use in the gym. Using the vacuum chuck, Don attached the wood to the disc with the tailstock pointing into the center of the depression to be turned. Don said that he had no trouble with the piece unexpectedly leaving the lathe.

Ron Falconer showed a hollow form made of Manitoba Maple burl with an opening on one side. He also showed a lidded vessels with a bloodwood rim and base. The birch was rotten in the center and Ron used the bloodwood to replace it. Ron also showed an interesting combination of stone with wood. He made a footed maple bowl, with the feet turned separately from the bowl. He turned a recess in the bowl into which he placed a round slice of polished agate. When the two bowl parts were glued together, the agate formed the bottom of the bowl and can be seen from the top and the bottom of the bowl.

and in the Display Area...

Demonstration

THIN TURNING BY JIM OSENTON

Jim noted some reasons for wanting to turn thin:

Necessity – If you have a catch, you will need to turn thin to eliminate the evidence.
Challenge – An example would be turning a goblet with a 2 to 3 mm stem. Another example would be turning potato chip bowls from green wood. The bowls are so thin that they deform into a potato chip shape as they dry, sometimes even while still on the lathe. Thin turnings are usually display pieces rather than utilitarian items.
Conservation – Some wood is very expensive or rare. Jim showed a remarkable example of saving 3 bowl rims from a 15” piece of 4/4 wenge, with enough left to get 5 more rims of decreasing diameter. This is extremely good use of 4/4 wood.
Sales Appeal – Jim finds that people will pay more for a thin bowl.
Cause I Like to – Turning thin just for the satisfaction that comes from successfully turning think pieces.

What Can We Turn Thin?

Jim gave examples of thin turnings, such as bowls, goblets, platters and vases.

How Do We Turn Thin?

Using a cherry bowl with a wenge rim sandwiching a piece of maple veneer, Jim showed us various methods of turning thin. He also passed around a book entitled “Bowl Turning Masterclass” by Tony Boase that had an article on thin turning.

Step by Step Method - Turn the outside of the bowl to the desired shape. Rechuck to turn the inside. Finish turn the first inch of the inside of the bowl. By doing this, the mass of the rest of the unturned bowl will act to dampen vibration and to stiffen the rim. Then finish turn the next inch of the bowl and so on until the bowl is completely hollowed.
Use a Hand Steady – When hollowing the inside of the bowl, rest your hand on the outside of the bowl behind where the tool is cutting. This counteracts the pressure of your tool. Jim noted that Richard Raffan says that if your hand is getting hot, then your tool is pushing too hard. The drawback to this method is that if the wood breaks out, you may get wood embedded in your hand. Jim recommends pliers for removal.
Bowl Steady- This is a product made by OneWay. Two rollerblade wheels are adjusted to rub gently against the wood using a scissor action mechanism. The wheels should be centred over the axis of the lathe. This supports the wood behind the cut. The rubber wheels don’t seem to mark the wood.

Jim had quite a few examples of thin turnings that he showed us. An interesting overview of thin turning by Jim.

NEXT MEETING

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 4 AT 7:00 PM AT BLACK FOREST WOOD

AGENDA

TBA

Kathy