Segmented Turners January Summary

The Segmented Woodturners virtual chapter of the AAW has released the January Club Summary. Here are some of the goings on:

Chapter Challenge

Chapter President Malcolm Tibbetts has announced the Winter 2012 Chapter Challenge which will focus on feature rings. Here are the rules:

Post a photo of just a “feature ring” – any feature ring. Most of us have learned that it’s usually easier to first construct “the feature ring” before doing a final design and construction of the “body”. There are so many techniques and styles to explore; push yourself and “wow” your fellow segmenters. Anything goes – the ring can be embellished in any way (carving, piercing, coloring, etc). There is no restriction on size. The only restriction is, the entry needs to be “only the feature ring”; do not post a completed turning. An additional “close up” photo is encouraged and may be posted.

Submissions will be kept anonymous until after members have cast their votes for their favorite. A nice prize for first place will be awarded.

Deadline for submission is April 15th (Americans should have no problem remembering that date.)

New Segmented Woodturning Book

segmented turning by Dennis keelingSWT member and current officer, Dennis Keeling has written a new book on Segmented Woodturning. It will be available from Amazon here in the US on February 7th and can be pre-­ordered now. For more info or to purchase, click this link: Segmented Turning – Design*Techniques*Projects (UK buyers can get it from GMC in March.)

The pre-order price from Amazon is $16.47 (plus shipping unless sale > $25) which is a savings of $8.48 off the cover price.

Dennis will be at our October Symposium and would be happy to sign your copy.

Forum Discussions

The education you get from the forum is more than worth the annual dues. Here are some recent topics:

  • Segments on End Grain – This forum thread asked about techniques in adding collars to segmented vessels made from staves. There was a good discussion on the best ways to build this type of vessel.
  • Table Saw Recommendations – This was an interesting thread with lots of inputs. Most people like their table saws and there are wide range in use including the new Stop Saw machines. Cast iron tables seem to help accuracy as well as good blades. I recommend reading this thread if you want to learn more about table saw choices by our members.
  • Walnut Source Recommendation – Where do you get your walnut? Several excellent ideas were shared here.
  • First Feature Ring – If you’ve had problems with the sandpaper on your Performax 16-­‐32, then you should check out this thread.
  • Tap and Die set for 1 1/4 x 8 – spindle In this thread, you can find some good recommendations for purchasing spindle sized tap and die sets for your lathe spindle.

Recent Photos

There are really masterful pieces being created by the members of this chapter. Here are a few:

Interweaving-Bands
Interleaving Bands By Ad Gouwerok
Ad did an amazing job executing this segmentation. Here’s his description of the process:

Bowl made from alowood ebony, alowood walnut and I believe aspen. 80 segments per ring, less at the base. Total number of segments 2391. The bowl is 10.75″ wide, 4.75″ high. Segments were made with Byrnes table saw and a protractor accurate to .05 degrees. Method of construction per Bill Smith for open segmenting. The high accuracy of the segments allowed me to construct it this way.

Assembly: William Smiths jig for open segmented turnings. Used byrnes table saw and digital protractor. Went further. Made test pieces and made the angle exactly 2.25 degrees. After that, nobody so much as sneezes around that machine. Installed the first segment and waited 5 minutes. Then I pushed one segment against that one, forcing it against the steel platform of the jig. I used aspen, which has a low mod of elasticity. That helped. The last 10 pieces I put in at the same time pushing them in hard, causing high ring pressure because of the arching that way closing any gap that may still have been there.

Finish: 2 coats of Bullseye seal coat, 6 thin layers of wipe on poly. Alowood is manufactured wood, excellent to work with, however, economy forced them to stop production.

mahogany-plywood
12” Mahogany Bowl By Rick Lawrence
This bowl was made from mahogany and mahogany ply drops from a kitchen cabinet job. The weave is created by cutting the plywood on edge instead of flat.

pen Segment Bowl By Malcolm F Douglas
Open Segment Bowl By Malcolm F Douglas
Malcolm’s description:

This bowl is 8 inches diameter at the top and five inches high. It is made from 1176 segments of maple, mahogany. padauk, wenge, amarello and purple heart. The base is floating and is veneered (both sides) MDF. I chose this type of base because a a separation of solid segments on a similar vessel I had made previously.

Upcoming woodturning classes:

May 20 – 26, 2012 Easy Segmented Platters and Expressive Wall Art
Instructor: Linda Sutter
John C. Campbell Folk School

June 3 – 9, 2012 Turning in the Polychromatic Style: Staved Construction
Instructor: Don Russell
John C. Campbell Folk School

June 25 – 29, 2012 Segmented Turning: pushing your skills to the next level
Instructor: Curt Theobald
Anderson Ranch

July 8 – 14, 2012 Segmented Turning
Instructor: Malcolm Tibbetts
Arrowmont

September 4 – 8, 2012 Segmented Turning: Where Precision Partners with Turned Elegance
Instructor: Malcolm Tibbetts
The Mark Adams School of Woodworking

Chapter web stats:

The chapter website received 5,281 unique visitors in October and 274,488 page views.

AAW / chapter profile / newsletter / segmented

AAW Chapter Message

Note – The following message was sent by the AAW on behalf of the NWWWT

Northwest Washington Woodturners is pleased to announce A DAY WITH AL STIRT on March 10 in Anacortes, WA. We invite you to join us and share in this informative day. Al will be discussing and demonstrating the details of how he creates his unique turned bowls and platters as well as presenting a slide show of his work and inspirations. Registration is only $40 and includes snacks, beverages and lunch.

Please click here to find all the relevant information. If you are unable to open the attachment or have further questions please feel free to contact me.

The Anacortes area is a wonderful place to spend a weekend. If you will be staying in our area overnight, a list of accommodations including hotel/motel, B&B and RV is available upon request.

We look forward to seeing you on March 10th!

Rick Anderson President
Northwest Washington Woodturners
360-319-7600

AAW / Message

Woodturning with Ray Allen

woodturning with ray allenThere are two books widely recognized as essential in the library of a segmented woodturner. The first is Woodturning with Ray Allen by Dale Nish. The second is The Art of Segmented Woodturning by Malcolm Tibbetts.

Segmented woodturning has been around for a long time, but Ray Allen took the art to the next level. After retiring from a 30 year career in the construction industry Ray found his passion in turning. Allen was inspired by Southwestern art and incorporated that into the design of his vessels. His pieces are in major collections throughout the world.

Woodturning with Ray Allen was written by Dale Nish to share Allen’s creativity; not only in the design of the vessels he turned, but also the solutions he developed to create his turnings. This book details many of Allen’s techniques for choice of material, preparation of segments, glue up and turning. There are color photos of many of Allen’s pieces and also a section that details exactly how many of the feature ring designs are created.

There are many great tips in this book and you won’t go wrong by picking up a copy. And good news for SPSW members, we have a copy in our chapter library. Just send a note to our Librarian, Keith Palmer, to check out this book.

AAW / Membership / reviews / segmented

Sell Your Work

northwest woodturners logoThe Northwest Woodturners in Beaverton, Oregon, had a panel discussion at their November membership meeting on selling your work. In their December newsletter they posted excerpts from the discussions which include:

  • Bob Tuck talking about “Ins and Outs,Trials and Tribulations of the Craft Shows”
  • Gary Sundquist on “How to talk with gallery owners. Learn if their gallery gives a good selling strategy for you.”
  • David Williams: “Fame & Fortune in Woodturning”. Dreams and expectations in a world that can be as
    fickle and elusive as playing the slot machines on the Vegas Strip. From conversations with the famous.
  • Barb Hall on “Trade show booths”.

If you have any interest in selling you work but don’t know where to start, I highly recommend reading this summary in the Northwest Woodturners December Newsletter.

AAW / chapter profile / newsletter

Got ‘Er Done

Since attending a seminar on how to become a 501(c)(3) Charitable Organization at the AAW symposium in Minneapolis last June, SPSW President Dan Stromstad has made attaining that status for the SPSW his goal. Following many months of research and hard work, including the approval of revised by-laws by the membership at the December meeting, the paperwork has been filed with the IRS. According to the IRS rules, we are now a 501(c)(3) organization until they say we aren’t.

Dan thanked those involved with getting to this point in this email to the SPSW Board:

“It is true that we all worked hard to get this accomplished. Andy (Firpo) for his timely work on the Bylaws, Les (Johnson) for all his work on the books, Bill (wood) for supporting our efforts with his emails and newsletter. My many calls to Larry Miller, Jack Wayne and Pat McCart seeking information to fill out the complicated form. Les’s wife Carole also got involved with wise counsel since her club just went through this same process. There must be others to thank as well, but suffice it to say that it was a job well done and it is done for now.

Thanks to everyone for their efforts and support.

Dan”

Message

What’s Happening at Other Chapters

The Inland Northwest Woodturners in Spokane Valley will be holding their next meeting on January 5th. The January meeting agenda is open turning. There will be a finial station, making pens from bullet shells and a couple other activities.

The Northwest Woodturners in Tigard, Oregon are meeting on January 5th and will be holding a tool swap. As they say in their newsletter “the swap meet is a great chance for members to socialize, trade junk (er – valuable tools and equipment), and occasionally get a great bargain on something you really needed or wanted.”

The Seattle Woodturners will be meeting on January 12th in their new location, the VFW facility in Redmond. The demonstrator for the evening will be Jon Magill who will be presenting on ornamental turning. Jon developed plans for building your own rose-engine lathe.

Fraser Valley Woodturners GuildThe Fraser Valley Woodturners Guild in Abbotsford, B.C. are holding their next meeting on January 12th. The meeting will feature “hand-on” turning with three lathe stations: spinning tops for all members; honey dippers for all members; and small lidded boxes for the more advanced.

The Cascade Woodturners in Portland, Oregon, will be meeting on January 19th. They plan on using local demonstrators for the first couple of months and their newsletter lists many great demonstrations in the works.

The Northwest Washington Woodturners in Mount Vernon, WA will meet next on January 19th. The program will be announced by the new officers in their next newsletter.

The Greater Vancouver Woodturners Guild in Vancouver, B.C. is meeting on January 25th and will have a demonstration by Bruce Campbell on gouges: types, uses, flute design, sharpening and steel.

The Olympic Peninsula Woodturners in Bremerton will be meeting on January 25th with a demonstration by Dennis “Tones” Briggs.

The Island Woodturners Guild on Vancouver Island will be meeting on January 28th. The program for the afternoon had not yet been announced.

AAW / chapter profile