Bob Bezanson of the Woodturners of SW MO demonstrates turning custom tool handles while adding a brass plumbing fixture turned down as the ferrule. He also offers several tips and tricks along with the demo. Downloadable PDF’s are available on their club website with sources and further instructions. www.woodturnersofswmo.org
March Demonstrator – Donald Derry
Donald Derry was born in 1956 in Othello, Washington and educated at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. His works are in many collections throughout the USA. He has exhibited extensively and has won numerous awards. Don is a member of the AAW and demonstrated at the AAW National Symposiums in 2004 in Orlando, Florida and in 2005 in Overland Park, Kansas.
Donald has been a woodworker for 35 years. Initially he produced fine furniture, cabinets and guitars. In 1993 he began to teach himself the craft of woodturning. In 1994 he attended the AAW Symposium and after viewing the Instant Gallery he noted that two artistic areas were not represented. These were vibrant colors and optical quality finishing which he explored and quite successfully mastered. More often than not his pieces are thought to be Fine Art Glass and not finely crafted wood.
Presently Don is working with Chinese Elm because the open grain structure and neutral wood tones lend well to the coloring process he is developing. The colors used are aniline dyes and metallic pigments. Don states that “coloring, finishing and polishing easily take more time than the woodturning.”
What’s Happening at Other Chapters
The Northwest Woodturners in Beaverton, Oregon are meeting on March 6th. Jim Hall will be demonstrating carving.
The Inland Northwest Woodturners in Spokane Valley are meeting on March 6th. Bob Schmidt will be demonstrating the design, layout, construction and use of the Longworth chuck for finishing the bottom of bowls and platters.
The Southwest Idaho Woodturners are meeting on March 11th. Susan McCoy will be demonstrating threading.
The Seattle Woodturners will be meeting next on March 13th. This month’s meeting will feature a tool swap and panel discussion.
The Fraser Valley Woodturners Guild in Abbotsford, B.C. are meeting on March 13th. Molly Winton will be demonstrating surface enhancements.
The Willamette Valley Woodturners in Salem, Oregon will be meeting on March 13th. Sara Robinson will be sharing information on spalting techniques.
The Northwest Washington Woodturners are meeting on March 20th. Cindy Drozda will be discussing maximizing burl figure.
The Cascade Woodturners are meeting on March 20th. Dale Larson will be demonstrating bowl turning.
The Island Woodturners Guild on Vancouver Island will be meeting next on March 22nd. Duncan Morrison and Barrie Baptie will be talking about trees and wood, and Wayne Anaka will be demonstrating his “Thin Turning” techniques.
The Greater Vancouver Woodturners Guild in Vancouver, B.C. are meeting next on March 26th. John Beaver will be presenting a demo and class.
The Woodturners of Olympia are meeting on March 27th. Reed Gray will be presenting “Your Finish Cut”.
The Olympic Peninsula Woodturners will be meeting on March 27th. Reed Gray will be presenting “The Final Cut”. On March 9th SPSW member Eric Lofstrom will be conducting a class on multi-axis turning.
2014 Woodturning Cruise
The Woodturning Cruise happens every three years and this is one of those years. This is a unique opportunity to combine travel with a world class symposium. The twelve-day cruise departs from Stavanger, Norway and visits 11 ports of call along the western and northern coasts.
This is a great opportunity to see demonstrations by world class turners, do some turning, and see the beautiful country of Norway. This year’s cruise features Richard Raffan, Jimmy Clewes, Michael Hosaluk, Nick Agar and more. There will also be vendors and activities for spouses.
You can get all the information on the Woodturning Cruise website.
Jaxturners Pouring and Turning Acrylics Video
The North East Florida Woodturners Association has uploaded a video from their May 2013 meeting. Many turners like to experiment with different materials and one that has grown in popularity is acrylic. Woodturning suppliers have many different types and colors of acrylics, but the more adventurous turner may want to try pouring their own. In this video, Chad Bridges demonstrates how to pour and turn acrylics.
February Demonstrator – Carol Zandell
Our scheduled demonstrator has taken ill and once again the inimitable Carol Zandell has come to the rescue.
Note from Carol:
I like to turn small, fun, tricky or just plain weird things on the lathe. As most of you know, my philosophy for turning and most everything in life is, “If it isn’t fun, I don’t want to do it !”.
This month, it will be my pleasure to turn for you some small, simple things with a large impact. I like annoying things and love a good trick, and have both of those in mind. If time allows I will add a third one.
My goal is to show you that simple turning is really fun. My hope is that it will spark an interest for the beginner as well as add a quick, easy, fun project for all you accomplished turners.
See you on Thursday.
Come early and you can play with some toys before the meeting starts.