July Demonstrator – Art Liestman

art liestmanArt Liestman is a world class turner from Coquitlam, BC who has taught and demonstrated across North America. He is a professor of Computing Science at Simon Fraser University. You can find his work in several galleries. He has recently been profiled in Woodturning magazine and has written several articles on woodturning techniques for magazines such as American Woodturner.

We are lucky to have Art not only as our demonstrator this month, but also as the demonstrator for an all day session on Friday, July 17th at Nancy Sweazey’s shop. Art has provided the following synopsis of what he will be demonstrating on both days.pbnoj275

Art’s Synopsis:

Lost Wood Process

The lost wood process involves turning blanks that are made up of three laminated layers. After turning, the middle layer is removed and the two outer layers are rejoined to give a turned object that isn’t round. More details about the process can be found in my American Woodturner article “Beyond Round: The Lost Wood Process” (August 2012). In the demo, I’ll turn a “standard” woodturner’s box that is almond shaped in cross-section both inside and out. See the picture below.

lost wood

Title: Introduction to Therming

Therming is a variation of multi-axis turning in which the wood being turned stays completely outside of the lathe’s axis of rotation. I discuss the construction of jigs and show how to use them to turn curved surfaces on wood blanks. More details about the process can be found in my American Woodturner article “Beyond Round: Therming” (April 2010). In the demo, I’ll turn three shapes that will eventually become bodies for teapots.

Design and Making of Teapots

Teapots (decorative, not functional) are interesting objects that provide unusual challenges and opportunities for creatifity. Unlike many turned wood objects, most teapots will require multiple joined parts. In the demo, I will discuss various options for designing a wooden teapot and for joining the parts. I’ll turn parts for one or two teapots and lots of images of wooden teapots.