The Woodturning Cruise is underway and Woodturning Design Magazine has been posting photos everyday on their Facebook page. If you want to see some of the incredible views and the woodturning activities onboard, check out their posts.
2012 AAW Chapter Challenge
Your SPSW Board of Directors thought it would be a good project to come up with a Chapter Challenge entry for the next AAW Symposium in June 2012. Bill Bender and Mike Hughes have already volunteered to start coming up with ideas for the project, but they also want contributions from all club members who have great and gifted ideas.
AAW Chapter Challenge Guidelines:
The entries may be functional or not, as long as they are turned by multiple memebers and limited only by the imagination of the participants. The best entry in each category will receive a winner’s plaque presented at the banquet. More explicit directions for the AAW Chapter Collaborative Challenge project are specified in the latest issue (August 2011, page 11) of the AAW American Woodturner. Categories are:
- Artistic
- Mechanical/Technical
- Fantasy
In addition to the winners in the three categories, there will be a Best in Show plaque for the best of the best.
For inspiration and ideas, see what entries have been presented at previous symposiums at this link at the AWW website.
For more information, please contact:
Wally Haugan, coordinator
Phone: 253-631-5949
Email Address: hauganwj @ msn.com
August Demonstrator – Dan Ackerman
I started woodturning in 1986 after witnessing a few turners demonstrating at the Bellevue Craft show. The first five years was just a compulsive effort trying to learn tools, sharpening, design, etc.; starting with bowls,, then hollow forms, then boxes, and a variety of other shapes and disciplines. Along the way, I was fortunate to assist David Ellsworth at Arrowmont School for the Crafts and we became friends. He was very helpful in giving me insight and direction. Then I ran for the board of the “National Association of Woodturners” and during the next five years influenced the start of their now active film library! As a board member I got to go to the national symposium for all five years and watched some of the world’s great turners and learn.
Meanwhile during this time, I experimented with all sorts of ideas, including starting a rosewood gift business with my wife Kathy and a few employees. We did that for 10 years until I burned out on doing production turning 7 days a week, with no vacations and, it seemed like, no rest. By then we were doing some of the best shows in the country: Baltimore, Philadelphia, San Francisco and New York. But, we weren’t seeing the return we expected and we were both burned out, Kathy on marketing and me on production.
In doing all this turning I had become quick and self assured and I had decided to do boxes as the most stimulating form of turning. My “nitch” design is the box within a box which you will see at the demo. It is unique and it stimulated an old hobby of mine, woodcarving, which I combine with my design boxes. I’ll have some examples of carved boxes also at the demo and look forward to seeing some of my friends at the Fife Club. Thank you for having me.
Sanding Deep Hollow Forms
The Northeast Florida Woodturners Association (Jaxturners) have posted videos of their latest meeting demonstration. In this demonstration Bob Hunt starts with a discussion of turning safety, sandpaper and techniques for sanding deep hollow forms.
Here is the first of the four videos. You can see them all on the Jaxturners YouTube Channel.
httpv://youtu.be/qFsKU6feJRA
Board Message from American Association of Woodturners
[note]This message was sent by AAW Board Member Stan Wellborn[/note]
Working Without a Rule Book
At a regional symposium a couple of years ago, I watched a wonderful demo by Mark Gardner, a talented young turner in North Carolina. At one point, he performed a chucking technique that was inventive – and unorthodox. Someone in the audience joked, “You know you really can’t do that.”
Mark just grinned at us and said, “Show me the rule book.”
Since then, I’ve often thought how nice it is to enjoy a pursuit like woodturning in which there are no firm do’s and don’ts. To be sure, we have to observe basic safety measures, learn how to ride the bevel, keep a sharp edge, and other basics. But beyond the fundamentals, the field is open to anything you want to try – so long as you get the result you want.
Today’s turners certainly aren’t afraid to venture into the new and unfamiliar. One guy produces stunning pieces by turning fragile twigs embedded in blocks of ice. At my local club last month, I saw a veteran turner produce a beautiful platter using nothing but a 1½-inch scraper. In my own shop, I’m doing a lot of hollowing with the lathe running in reverse. And every issue of American Woodturner contains some novel way of doing tried-and-true lathework.
What does any of this have to do with AAW operations? It’s true that the AAW Board has a detailed handbook of procedures and protocols that govern our actions – everything from budgeting to bylaws, and from ethics to elections. With that foundation in place, the AAW is free to try out new ideas and “think outside the bowl.”
At our national symposium earlier this summer in Saint Paul, AAW members suggested a variety of great new ideas to me and other Board members and staff. We continue to get both critical and constructive proposals by phone and e-mail. I’m eager to try to put some of these ideas into action, because introducing dynamic and positive change is what keeps any organization fresh and innovative.
The AAW Board and our Executive Director are determined to try new approaches to expand the organization’s membership to broader demographic and geographic areas – especially to international prospects, retiring baby-boomers, and younger audiences. We welcome all your ideas and will give them serious consideration.
And, you don’t need to worry about any rule books.
Happy Turning!
NWWWT Day With Douglas Fisher
[note]This message was sent by the Northwest Washington Woodturners.[/note]
Northwest Washington Woodturners is pleased to announce A DAY WITH DOUGLAS FISHER on October 22 in Anacortes, WA. We invite you to join us and share in this informative day. Douglas will be discussing and demonstrating the details of how he creates his unique turned sculptures. Registration is only $35 and includes snacks, beverages and lunch.
Please find attached a .pdf file which provides all the relevant information. If you have further questions please feel welcome 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.
Rick Anderson
Vice President
Northwest Washington Woodturners
VicePresident@NWWWT.org
360-319-7600
