Classic City Woodturners

Fellow Woodturners, our next meeting is Tuesday, June 4, 2019 at the Lyndon House Arts Center, 293 Hoyt St, Athens from 6 PM until 8:30 PM.  For our June meeting we have planned a hands-on demonstration involving sharpening and turning on the lathe.  Marvin Payne will be heading this up with assistance from Jim Tally, Jim Underwood and Charlie Armentrout.  Both Jim Tally and Jim Underwood have agreed to assist in this program and Jim Underwood and Charlie will bring their grinders with Wolverine jigs plus we will have the Club’s grinder and jig set up.  Marvin will discuss wood mounting techniques, turning with various tools, reversing a bowl to remove the foot and other aspects.

We plan on having at least three sharpening stations manned by Jim, Jim and Charlie and Marvin manning the lathe and doing most of the discussion.  Discussion will center not only on sharpening but turning techniques. We hope to get lots of questions and discussion from attendees.

This program is not going to be one where attendees get to sit in the chairs and watch.  We want participation from the attendees and expect interested persons who want to learn to actually bring a couple of tools so we can assist them in sharpening them and then assist them in actually using their tools. Experienced turners in attendance can also help and assist others.  We are trying to have a truly hands-on experience from attendees.

Attendees should be expecting to sharpen and turn and not just sit back and look pretty in the audience.  Remember to bring your tools that you want to sharpen and use, bring some wood for the raffle and bring a guest. This should be a great opportunity for your quest to get to actually try turning; and not just watch.

The next meeting of the Classic City Woodturners is Tuesday, May 7, 2019 at the Lyndon House Arts Center, 293 Hoyt St, Athens.  The meeting begins at 6 PM and concludes by 8:30 PM.  

Bob Keller is our demonstrator for the month.  Bob will be turning candle sticks.  Bob has not demonstrated for our club and so we need to have a good crowd to welcome him!

A little back ground: Bob is self-taught and  has been turning wood for approximately 18 years.  He started turning bowls and quickly moved to segmented turning due to the nature of and the difficulty of segmented turning.  About 15 years ago he started turning smaller and more intricate ornamental turnings and emulating the long thin spindles from the art of C. Drozda and  the segmented work of M. Tibbetts.   There are plenty of You-Tube videos on their work.

Bob has been making sawdust out of perfectly good wood one way or another from the time of his first pocket knife to later using power tools in his first garage shop. Bob epitomizes the saying that “turning is addictive” and from the first use of a turning gouge  he was hooked. Two weeks and 18 years later here we are.

He has taught about a dozen people to turn, was a member of Chattahoochee Wood turners for a number of years and did a demo on an inside-out captured hollow ball Christmas tree ornament. He is a member of AAW for about 8 years; participated in the Dunwoody School of Art Christmas market for about 5 years.  Lets make Bob welcome for his first demonstration with our club.

Remember to bring a guest and bring something for the raffle.  It’s still not to late to become a member of the CCW.  Dues are $30 for an individual or $35 for a family membership.

Fellow Woodturners, the next meeting of the Classic City Woodturners is Tuesday, April 2, 2019 at the Lyndon House Arts Center, 293 Hoyt St, Athens.  The meeting begins at 6 PM.   Gene Wengert is our demonstrator for April.  Gene is an expert on woods and is known as the “Wood Doctor”. Gene has been a woodworker for over 65 years.  He began his career with the US Forest Products Lab in Madison, WI, with work on solar heated lumber dryers.  After 15 years there, he transferred to Virginia Tech for 16 years and then to the University of Wisconsin as a wood products extension specialist.  He is known for translating complex aspects about wood and wood processing into practical procedures.  He has written 9 books about wood processing and over 500 magazine articles.   

Since he is known as the Wood Doctor, we can bring questions to our meeting to see if we can get answers or can  “stump the Wood Doctor.”   Topics will include moisture measurement and effects, gluing tips, sandpaper, and wood species. This program will be a discussion and will include identifying species both domestic and exotic.  He will present a discussion on moisture content in wood and demonstrate the use of various types of moisture meters.  His demonstration will include control of moisture content in turning projects as well as other woodworking projects.

Gene’s resume and a brief outline of his presentation are attached.  Gene will discuss building a solar kiln as part of his discussion on moisture content.  Link for plans for one are as follows:

               http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/420/420-030/420-030_pdf.pdf

Gene will bring a small solar heated kiln in his pickup truck.  Our program will be informative and should be a hands on type of meeting with participation from the group.  Remember to bring some wood for the raffle and bring a guest.  If you haven’t paid your dues it is time to do so.

Fellow Woodturners, our next meeting is March 5, 2019.  We meet at 6:00 PM at the Lyndon House Arts Center located at 293 Hoyt Street, Athens.  Our demonstrator for the month is Ken Rizza.  Ken is the owner of Woodturners Wonders which sells various woodturning supplies and tools..  He will demonstrate sharpening carbide bits used in carbide turning tools.  This time the demonstration will be hands on so any person who wants to sharpen whatever tool they bring can do so.  Sharpening skews should be of particularly interest.  The demonstration will also include honing.  Members should bring a couple of tools but don’t monopolize the entire time with tool sharpening.

The demonstration will show sharpening using CBN wheels and grinder and then participants sharpen their tools, especially skews as they are difficult to sharpen.  There will be a chuck with a bowl blank partially turned to demonstrate sanding tools.  Additionally Ken will show his latest respiratory protection gear, especially the new Sundstrom half face respirator with either particulate or vapor filters.  Also super glue products, lathe lamps, which are LED and have a high light output and sanding tools .  There will be an opportunity to take orders or buy various items Ken will have available. 

Remember to bring something for the raffle and a friend.  If you haven’t paid dues for 2019 bring your check book.  Individual memberships are $30 and family memberships $35.

Fellow Woodturners, our next CCW meeting is Tuesday, February 5, 2019 at the Lyndon House Arts Center, 293 Hoyt St, Athens. The meeting begins at 6 PM and concludes around 8:30 PM. The demonstrator for February is Marvin Payne, a member of the CCW.

Marvin will be doing a demonstration on turning a natural edge winged bowl. Not only will he turn this from a piece of log but he will also demonstrate safety tips and techniques that need to be followed. By following these safety tips and techniques the process of turning a winged bowl can be done by most turners.

Marvin has made this presentation to various clubs in this area and has worked with this technique at John C Campbell Folk School on five different occasions including as an instructor and also at Arrowmont under the guidance of David Ellsworth. 

As we begin a new year, it’s time to pay 2019 dues. Individual dues is $30 and a real bargain of $35 for a family membership.

Remember to invite a guest and bring something for the raffle. This should be a good demonstration so he is hoping for a big crowd.