Exciting Opportunity!

In his column in this month’s Chips & Shavings, President Dan Stromstad identified an exciting opportunity for an SPSW member who has a passion for turning, sharing their skills and knowledge, and providing youth with the opportunity to learn this great craft of ours:

We now officially need a member to step forward to lead a group of members in the effort to begin a youth woodturning training program. We have several members who are willing to help, but not a leader. It will be easy to get the funds donated to accomplish this awesome task. The AAW has a program developed and it is easy to basically follow the design that is preexisting. Let’s get started turning our young folks on to the joys of creating wonderful wood art with a lathe. The schools are unable to do this in most cases as they did when I was a young man. I was thrilled in junior high school and that is when I was inspired to turn. We are able to teach these young folks so much more than we learned in school and then woodturning will be even more exciting for us and the young folks.

If you want to get an idea of the impact this can have on the youth, check out this recent article in the Arden-Carmichael News out of Sacramento.

If you would like to give back to the community in this way please contact Dan Stromstad and let him know.

AAW / chapter profile / Membership

January Demonstrator

John HamptonOur demonstrator for the January meeting is John Hampton

My name is John M. Hampton and I love turning wood. john hampton vesselI have spent my life living and working on the West Coast of Washington State. I have been involved in woodworking for many years. In the year 2000 I saw a wooden cowboy hat on a trip through Wyoming and now I am hooked on turning. I enjoy making cowboy hats, bowls, boxes, candle sticks, segmented bowls and hollow vessels, and anything else I can dream up. I use only salvaged wood; there is no need to cut down a tree to make a bowl. john hampton hat

demonstrator / Membership Meeting

New Poll

poll imageWe have a new poll on the site – “How many turning tools are you planning to buy in 2013?” You can find it on the right hand side of the main page.

poll

What’s Happening at Other Chapters

The Northwest Woodturners in Beaverton, Oregon will be meeting on January 3rd for their annual swap meet. This is a great chance for members to socialize, trade junk (er – valuable tools and equipment), and occasionally get a great bargain on something they really needed or wanted.

The Seattle Woodturners next meeting is on January 10th. The program for the evening has not yet been announced.

The Woodturners of Olympia are also meeting on January 24th. Earl McNeil will share what he learned at the AAW Symposium and reveal some of the mystery in these seemingly more difficult projects.

The Fraser Valley Woodturners Guild in Abbotsford, B.C. will be meeting on January 10th and will have a presentation on ornamental turning by Jon Magill.

The Willamette Valley Woodturners in Salem, Oregon will be meeting January 10th. The program will be pen turning from A to Z presented by Ronald Fox.

The Southwest Idaho Woodturners will be meeting on January 8th. The program has not yet been announced.
The Northwest Washington Woodturners are meeting on January 17th. The program for the evening has not yet been announced.

The Cascade Woodturners are meeting on January 17th and will host Keith Strauss who will be giving a demonstration on bracelets. There will also be a tool exchange.

The Greater Vancouver Woodturners Guild in Vancouver, B.C. is meeting on January 23rd. The program for the evening has not yet been announced.

The Island Woodturners Guild on Vancouver Island will be meeting on January 26th. Cheryl Samuel will be demonstrating working with pewter.

AAW / chapter profile / demonstrator / Membership Meeting

Big Thank You to our Vendors

We held our annual Christmas potluck meeting tonight and we had many great door prizes that were donated by some of our generous donors. SPSW members please thank and patronize these businesses:

Woodcraft
Packard Woodworks
Craft Supplies
Tools by Crabtree
D Way Tools

We had good fellowship, great show and tell, lots of food and great gifts.

Thanks to all who attended.

Membership Meeting / woodturning events

Upcoming Woodturning Events

Desert Woodturning RoundupThe Desert Woodturning Roundup is being held at the Mesa Convention Center from February 22nd to the 24th, 2013. This is the 5th biennial symposium hosted by the Arizona Woodturners Association. Featured Demonstrators are Malcolm Tibbetts, Richard Raffan, Molly Winton, John Lucas, Rex Burningham, Michael Hosaluk, David Marks and J. Paul Fennell. There will be live and silent auctions, instant gallery, vendor area, pen turner gathering and door prizes. More information available at desertwoodturningroundup.com.

On January 26, 2013 the South Saskatchewan Woodturners are holding an all-day demo with Andrew Glazebrook. The event will be held at the Campbell Collegiate and the fee includes lunch and refreshments. More information available here or the South Saskatchewan Wood Turners Guild website.

AAW / chapter profile / woodturning events