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April Membership Meeting
Have you ever enjoyed the slightly confused look from someone examining one of your completed pieces and the follow-up questions around how you accomplished one or more aspects of that piece? Well, our April Demonstrator has on more than one occasion. Don’t miss this one! Forever club member, Dave Best will be sharing some of his Best Techniques developed over the years in creating his unique pieces.
Dave’s tenure with the SPSW club reaches back to the very first meeting in 1992 or 1993. At that time, He was working fulltime and had a young family, so he could not afford the time to drive up to Seattle to attend the only woodturning club meeting in the area. Then he heard through a friend, Tom Richards, that a meeting was to be held at the Fife Community Center to form a new local woodturning club and he should attend. Dave not only attended that first meeting along with 40 to 45 other men, he joined the club that night. Over the subsequent thirty plus years Dave was not always able to attend the meetings, but he stayed connected with the club. When his life allowed, he stepped up to a larger role and supported the club in the role of VP and Director of Programing. Something near and dear to me. Dave served in that capacity for seven years. These days, one can often find Dave busy taking quality photographs of club member pieces that are
brought to our monthly meetings. Many of these images are then shared in this monthly newsletter! Thanks Dave!
March 2025 Membership Meeting
This month is the first of two mini-symposiums for the year. The line up includes:
Devin Garlick will be manning the club wood sales table;
Justin Parson will be demonstrating bowl turning;
VP Ed White will be conducting a member engagement survey;
Doug Reynolds with Doug’s World of Chucks – discuss features, +’s and –‘s with club members;
Mike Poirier demonstrating sharpening;
John Howard will assist club members turning tool handles;
Jimmie Allen will be selling his D-Way and BoxMaster tools.
- Club staff running the tool store table
Where is your wood from?
Note – This post is from our newsletter archives. It was the President’s message by Pat McCart from the March, 2009 issue of Chips & Shavings.
I am in the midst of turning a piece of Myrtle burl purchased from a fellow clearing out his fatherʼs sawdust-filled workshop. While I foraged for pieces of turnable wood, he related stories of his father and showed me several items crafted there. Roy talked about how his Dad would take him to his shop to show him the latest special board and go into detail about how he had come
about it. The bounty of wood soon filling my truck bed consisted of pieces from 3 different continents and dated to 3 separate decades of harvest.
During the trip home I pondered the potential outcome of each piece and how to best utilize the different sizes and species of wood. Iʼm not sure if they have an official name for it yet so I will just call it “wonderitist”. It afflicts you when you hold a piece of wood in your hand and let your mind wander and wonder with that wood. Ask yourself, “Where is this wood from and how did it get here? What kind of wood is it and how best to turn it?” I will often count the rings and look for any big changes and try to imagine what may have caused it. I will sometimes get lost in trying to visualize what is hiding inside the piece waiting to get out. Wood garnered from the dispersion of an estate brings its own history and I encourage you to find it out. It will add to the overall story of the item that you eventually craft.
February Membership Meeting
Our February demonstrator is none other than Jay Shepard. Jay will present and demonstrate the finishing processes and techniques he uses to create his beautiful works. In May of 2024, Jay was one of the selected few to demonstrate at the AAW 2024, International Woodturning Symposium held in Portland, OR.
Jay is a long-time member of Woodturners of Olympia (WoO). His woodturning journey began in 2013 when he desired something other than square legs for a table that he was making. To enable that desire, he purchased a 1939 Delta lathe and quickly sought out somewhere to learn the basics. He connected with Larry Miller from WoO and attended an open shop. Jay found that turning those first table legs FUN! He never turned back, and he never finished that table.
We also have a President’s Challenge this month. You can find the details in this month’s newsletter.
200 and Counting
Note – This post is from our newsletter archives. It was the President’s message by Pat McCart from the November, 2010 issue of Chips & Shavings.
I reached another personal milestone on my bowl turning journey the other day when I signed my 200th bowl. I quickly pondered what I have learned about turning since the numbers on the bottoms of my bowls entered triple digits. I narrowed it down to 5 items that I think will help most new turners avoid some pit falls and have more fun.
- Learn how to sharpen your tools and do it often. If you think your tool “might be” dull it is!
- One high quality tool is better than a set of “ok” tools. My Grandpa use to tell me “a top quality tool is always worth the price and a cheap one never was”.
- Cutting the wood is better than sanding it into submission. Learn how each tool cuts and proper tool positioning to minimize your sanding time.
- Green wood is a hoot to turn! Get some green wood and turn it into shavings on the floor. It helps you learn tool control and sharpening. It is sure to be an eye opening and grin inducing time at your lathe.
- Woodturners are really good people. I have made hundreds of friends from all walks of life and have found them to be some of the most generous people around. Most turners will go out of their way to help you improve your turning skills.
Be safe, have fun and make shavings.
January Demonstrator – Jimmie Allen: Turn Your Own Handles
Jimmie will show us three different ways to turn your own handle so that no matter what stage you are at in your woodturning journey or what tools you prefer to use you will gain knowledge for creating your own tool handles. The demonstration also includes the installation of the new tool insert Jimmie developed that facilitates the removal of tools for ease of sharpening or simply swapping out to a different tool with your new handle.
Jimmie’s nature has always been to do something to the best of his ability. If that means taking the extra time to sand a surface to 1200 or more, then buffing the final surface to a high sheen the result is worth the effort. Whomever enjoys the piece will know it was hand made by a supreme craftsman for their everlasting enjoyment.
