Upcoming Woodturning Symposiums


AAW Symposium


The 33rd annual AAW International Symposium is being held in Raleigh, North Carolina July 11-14 at the Raleigh Convention Center. Featuring world-class turners, huge trade show, an instant gallery, two exhibitions (Continuum, Themed Member Exhibition and Traces, the POP Exhibition), live benefit auction, live POP benefit auction, AAW silent benefit auction and a youth program this is the premiere woodturning event.



Southwest Association of Woodturners


SWAT Symposium 2019 is schedule for August 23 – 25 in Waco Convention Center in Waco, Texas. Demonstrators include Andy Chen, Carl Jacobson, Donna Zils Banfield, Eli Avasera, Kurt Hertzog, Malcolm Tibbetts and Sam Angelo. There are also seventeen regional demonstrators also on tap.



Rocky Mountain Woodturning Symposium


The 21st annual Rocky Mountain Woodturners Symposium is being held at The Ranch / Larimer County Fair Grounds in Loveland, Colorado on September 13th – 15th. Demonstrators include John Beaver, Stuart Batty, Anthony Harris, Derek Weidman, Michael Alguire, Tod Raines, Michael Andersen, Vince Wilson, and Bob Franklin. There will be a vendor exhibit, instant gallery, banquet and live auction.


soodturners of olympia logo


Woodturners of Olympia


The 2019 Woodturners of Olympia will be held September 21st at the Thurston County Fairgrounds. Featured demonstrators are Graeme Priddle, Melissa Engler and Dan Tilden.




Turning Southern Style


The 2019 edition of Turning Southern Style, presented by the Georgia Association of Woodturners, will be held September 20 – 22 in Dalton, Georgia. Demonstrators include Nick Agar, Graeme Priddle & Melissa Engler, Mark Palma, Peggy Schmid, Frank Bowers and Mike Peace. There will also be a trade show, auction, banquet and special interest night.


Mid Atlantic Woodturners Symposium


This is the 4th annual Mid Atlantic Woodturners Association Symposium to be held October 4th – 6th at The Lancaster Marriott / Convention Center at Penn Square in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. This year’s demonstrators include Mike Hosaluk, Trent Bosch, Dixie Biggs, Nick Cook, Graeme Pridle, Melissa Engler and Mark Sfirri.


Ohio Valley Woodturners Guild Symposium


Turning 2019 is being held October 18th – 20th at the Higher Ground Conference Center in West Harrison, Indiana. Demonstrators include Stuart Batty, Trent Bosch, Mark Sfirri, Al Stirt, Kimberly Winkle and Chris Ramsey. There are also 16 guest demonstrators on the schedule. There will also be a vendor show, instant gallery, banquet and auction.

AAW / demonstrator / symposiums / woodturning events

What’s Happening at Other Chapters

This information is compiled from Northwest AAW chapter’s websites and newsletters. You should check with the specific chapter if you plan to attend one of their meetings.



The Woodturners of Olympia will be meeting on July 9th. Jack Wayne will demonstrate turning difficult wood.



The Inland Northwest Woodturners are meeting July 11th at the Riverview Wood Shop. Don Scott will continue the presentation on sanding and finishing.



The Northwest Woodturners in Beaverton, Oregon are taking July off. The next meeting will be the annual club picnic and auction on August 3rd.



The Willamette Valley Woodturners in Salem, Oregon will be meeting on July 11th. Richard Worthey will be the demonstrator for the evening.




The Frasier Valley Woodturners Guild are on vacation until September.



The Seattle Woodturners are meeting July 11th. This meeting will feature a tool swap and there will be lathes set up for a top turning competition.


The Mid-Columbia Woodturners are meeting on July 13th. The topic for the afternoon has not been announced.


The Northwest Washington Woodturners in Mt. Vernon are meeting on July 18th. Dr. Seri Robinson, a professor specializing in spalted wood, will be the demonstrator.

The Cascade Woodturners in Portland, OR are meeting on July 18th. This meeting will feature “Three Turners Turning”. Adam Luna, chapter president, will turn a small platter, Dale Larson, recently recognized by the AAW with a lifetime membership, will turn a sphere and Howard Borer will turn a baby rattle.


The Southwest Washington Woodturners will be meeting on July 24th at the Friends of the Carpenter. John Beechwood will demonstrate a spiral edge bowl.


The Beaver State Woodturners in Coburg, Oregon are meeting on July 25th. Richard Worthey will be demonstrating Hollow Forms.


The Greater Vancouver Woodturners Guild in Vancouver, B.C. are on summer vacation until September.




The Island Woodturners Guild on Vancouver Island are also on summer vacation until September.




The Strait Turners in Sequim are meeting on July 30th. The demonstrator for the evening has not been announced.



The Olympic Peninsula Woodturners holding will be meeting on July 31st at the Kitsap Adventist School Gymnasium. Art Liestman will demonstrate the Therming Technique.

AAW / chapter profile / demonstrator / Membership Meeting / woodturning events

June Demonstrator

This month, our demonstrator at our June 20th meeting will be Rick Crawford. Rick is an artist from Astoria, Oregon, and will show how to use some of those exotic wood scraps that we all have and make jewelry out of them. Hopefully everyone will find this presentation interesting, and also one that broadens our repertoire of woodworking skills. You can check out some of his work on the Collectors of Wood Art website.

demonstrator / Membership Meeting / techniques / woodturner profile / woodturning events

What’s Happening at Other Chapters

The Inland Northwest Woodturners are meeting June 6th at the Riverview Wood Shop. Don Scott will talk about the physics of turning and finishing.




The Northwest Woodturners in Beaverton, Oregon are meeting on June 6th. Reed Gray (Robo Hippie) will be demonstrating the “big ugly”.Jay Shepard will demonstrate making a blank into a high-gloss hollow form in 90 minutes.



The Frasier Valley Woodturners Guild are meeting on June 6th at the Robert Bateman Secondary. This will be a hands-on night. In addition, there will ba a silent auction which will include turnings done by Trent Bosch at a previous chapter event.


The Mid-Columbia Woodturners are meeting on June 8th at Ron Smith’s shop. This will be the annual club picnic.



The Willamette Valley Woodturners in Salem, Oregon will be meeting on June 13th. The program for the evening has not been announced.


The Seattle Woodturners are meeting June 13th. Tom Henscheid will present “Off the Wall”. Also, Ashley Harwood will present two one-day workshops on the 15th and 16th.


The Northwest Washington Woodturners in Mt. Vernon are meeting on June 13th. The demonstrator for the evening will be Ashley Harwood.

The Cascade Woodturners in Portland, OR are meeting on June 20th. Laurent Niclot will be the evening’s demonstrator as well as providing an all-day demo on Friday and a hands-on class on Saturday.


The Island Woodturners Guild on Vancouver Island are meeting on June 23rd (change to normal meeting date) at the Central Saanich Seniors Citizen Centre in Brentwood Bay, B.C. Dr. Seri Robinson will be presenting on Fungi and Spalting.


The Strait Turners in Sequim are meeting on June 25th. The demonstrator for the evening has not been announced.



The Southwest Washington Woodturners will be meeting on June 27th at the Friends of the Carpenter. Dan Tilden will be demonstrating a Natural Edge Hollow Form.


The Greater Vancouver Woodturners Guild in Vancouver, B.C. are meeting on June 27th. Gary Burns will demonstrate “hardening otherwise soft/punkly wood”.




The Olympic Peninsula Woodturners holding will be meeting on June 29th at the Kitsap Adventist School Gymnasium. Stephen Hatcher will demonstrate “how do you do that?”.

AAW / chapter profile / demonstrator / Membership Meeting / techniques / woodturning events

Ray Key Collaboration

We posted in late December about the AWGB sponsoring a collaboration of turners to celebrate the contributions of Ray Key to the art of woodturning. A total of 124 world-class turners agreed to take part in the project and so far 118 pieces have been returned. The AWGB have posted pictures of these and the results are absolutely stunning. If you are a fan of turned items you need to take a look the the Ray Key Collaboration page on the AWGB website.

AAW / woodturner profile / woodturners