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:

carol zandellI 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.

carol zandell turningMy 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.

What’s Happening at Other Chapters

The Northwest Woodturners in Beaverton, Oregon are meeting on February 6th. Jim Hall will be demonstrating carving.

The Inland Northwest Woodturners in Spokane Valley are meeting on February 6th. The program for the evening has not yet been announced.

The Southwest Idaho Woodturners are meeting on February 11th. The meeting will feature Aaron Cornell demonstrating hollow forms.

The Seattle Woodturners will be meeting next on February 13th. This month’s meeting will feature Olympia Woodturners President Larry Miller demonstrating threading.

The Fraser Valley Woodturners Guild in Abbotsford, B.C. are meeting on February 13th. Dave Ruttan of Tancot Equipment will be presenting Bandsaw 101.

The Willamette Valley Woodturners in Salem, Oregon will be meeting on February 13th. Bryan Thoet will be presenting finishing and finishing products. The chapter is also working on getting ready for the Oregon Woodturning Symposium on March 6 – 8, 2015. Great list of demonstrators including SPSW’s Eric Lofstrom.

The Northwest Washington Woodturners are meeting on February 20th. The program for the evening has not been announced.

The Cascade Woodturners are meeting on February 20th. Alan Carter will be demonstrating long stems and suspended vessels.

The Island Woodturners Guild on Vancouver Island will be meeting next on February 22nd. Andre Robin will be demonstrating eccentric turning and Trudy Friesen will be demonstrating glass slumping.

The Greater Vancouver Woodturners Guild in Vancouver, B.C. are meeting next on February 26th. The program for the evening has not yet been announced. John Beaver will be coming in March for a demo and class.

The Woodturners of Olympia are meeting on February 27th. This meeting will be their “Turn and Learn”, like our mini-symposium. The topics include sharpening, hollow forms, whistles and tops, miniature bird houses and turning for beginners.

The Olympic Peninsula Woodturners will be meeting on February 27th. Olympia President Larry Miller will be demonstrating threading systems.

Turners Without Borders to China

Turners Without Borders (TWB), an initiative of the AAW, is partnering the International Wood Culture Society (IWCS) to present a group of international woodturners to the Chinese public.

Until now only individual international turners have demonstrated in China, so this will be the first time for such an event to be held there. It is part of World Wood Day organized by IWCS to celebrate wood culture in many forms.

The demonstrations will be held at the Fujian Xianyou China Classical Art Expo City, from March 19-25.

The turners who will be demonstrating are Bonnie Klein (USA), Jacques Vesery (USA), Andrew Chen (USA), Theo Haralampou (Australia), Terry Martin (Australia) and Adam Doran (Ireland).

For more information about this event visit the IWCS website.

To find out more about the activities of TWB, visit their page on the AAW website.

January Demonstrator – Andy Firpo

Andy FirpoAndy Firpo will be giving the second half of his Safety Presentation. Those of you who attended the first session at our August meeting will remember that it was probably the best interactive program we have had in a long time. Andy does a fantastic job and I promise that you will thoroughly enjoy the program. (No pressure on you, Andy.)

Texturing 101

_DSC1961-LIf you were at our October mini-symposium one of the demonstrations you would have seen was basic texturing given by our membership director Stan Gardner. Stan showed us several different tools and techniques used to add interest to turnings.

If you are an AAW member you received the December, 2013 issue of American Woodturner. In it is a nice article by Mike Peace titled Texturing and Spiraling. In this article Mike explains the difference between texturing and spiraling wheels and shows how to use each on spindles, bowls and platters.

This is a good instructional article, one of many you can find in American Woodturners, with many pictures so you get a good visual of the correct way to use these tools. Check it out!

If you are not a member of AAW, why not? The subscription to American Woodturner is worth more than cost of the membership. Otherwise, you can pick up a copy at your favorite woodworking store.