Looking for a warm, exotic location to go to for a woodturning symposium? The Honolulu Woodturners are holding their 3rd annual symposium on October 22nd and 23rd with featured demonstrators Kelly Dunn and Sharon Doughtie.
Kelly Dunn is a full time professional woodturner who lives on the Big Island of Hawaii and specializes in woods grown on the Big Island to create bowls, hollow vessels and art forms. You can see his work at his website http://www.kellydunnwoodturner.com/.
Sharon Doughtie is a full time professional woodturner whose current work incorporates designs based on freeform Celtic knots and explores how the curving, undulating patterns can cross cultures, look like something from nature or illustrate an emotion. Sharon has works in several public and private collections, has demonstrated in the U.S., New Zealand and Australia and has appeared in American Woodturner and Woodturning magazines. You can see more on her website http://www.sharondoughtie.com.
You can get more information on the 3rd Annual Honolulu Woodturners Symposium on their website or the symposium flyer.
The Inland Northwest Woodturners will be meeting on October 6th. The demonstrator will be Keith Gotschall, a professional turner and sculptor who operates a woodturning school in Colorado. He will also be conducting a hands-on turning class on October 7th.
The Seattle Woodturners meeting on October 13th will feature Martha Collins demonstrating techniques used to create wooden bracelets. Martha is currently on the faculty of the Port Townsend School of Woodworking.
The Cascade Woodturners in Portland, Oregon, meet on October 20th. This will be the annual club auction.
The Northwest Washington Woodturners are meeting on October 20th. No subject for the meeting was available yet.
The Island Woodturners Guild on Vancouver Island will be hosting Bonnie Klein at their next meeting on October 22nd. Bonnie will be demonstrating lidded boxes. Bonnie will also be holding two “hands on” workshops the 23rd and 24th.
The Greater Vancouver Woodturners Guild meeting on October 26th will feature John Nelson talking about wood. The club also holds an all-day Turning 101 session. October’s will be on the 29th and will cover turning a tool handle.
The Olympic Peninsula Woodturners are also meeting on October 26th. The demonstrator has not yet been announced.
10-3-2011 UPDATE: The Woodturners of Olympia have announced that their next meeting on October 27th will feature John Magill with a presentation on Rose Engine Lathes. You can find a previous post on how to build your own Rose Engine Lathe with plans created by John Magill.
I recently bought at nice big chunk of Maple burl and need to cut it down into blanks. Many woodturners get large chunks of wood and need to cut them down to manageable size which means the need for a chainsaw. Which made me wonder if there were any reliable chainsaw reviews. A quick check of Google shows many spammy sites, but there were a few from sources I would trust. Here are some that I found:
Popular Mechanics 7 New Chain Saws Reviewed: Comparison Test
The saws tested were all 35 to 38 cc engines and 16 to 18 inch bars. Their top rated were the Husqvarna 240e (5 stars), Stihl MS 210 C-BE (5 stars) and Echo CS-370 (4 ½ stars). Read the reviews here.
Popular Mechanics Chain Saw Comparison Field Test
These saws are larger, 55 to 60 cc and 18 to 20 inch bars. The top rated were the Echo CS-600P (4 ½ stars) and Jonsered CS2159 C (4 ½ stars). Read the reviews here.
First Chainsaw
About.com has a generic list of saws that would make a good first chainsaw purchase. There are no reviews of specific saws, just brands that they review based on company reliability, professional arborist popularity and one chainsaw shop expert’s opinion. Read the reviews here.
Amazon
Another place I like to look for reviews is on Amazon.com. If you search for chainsaw you will get a list of all chainsaws available on Amazon which shows the average rating with a link to the individual comments. You can look here.
Pac Man by James LynnThe Segmented Woodturners virtual chapter of the AAW has released the September Club Summary. Here are some of the goings on:
“Key portions” of the Segmented Turners website were close to non-members a few weeks ago. It was felt that they could no longer give away for free what paying members supported. If you are a member and have not renewed, or would like to become a member, go to the Segmented Woodturners website.
Chapter President Malcom Tibbetts issued a chapter challenge, that is a challenge for members. The first challenge is:
Create any segmented turning (a vessel, bowl, platter, sculpture, it doesn’t matter, but it must have at least two pieces of wood).
You may only use one species of wood.
No embellishment (paint, dyes, carving, burning, etc) of any kind is allowed.
Size is not important, nor a consideration; it is suggested that the largest dimension not exceed 8” in any direction.
There was a lot of discussion in the forum as this one kicked off since most segmenters generally use multiple species in their turnings. But as the photos of complete works are posted it is apparent that using a single species of wood can produce stunning work. Here a couple of examples:
Some of the current forum discussions include:
disc sanders and whether one is really needed
a lively discussion of why some segmenters list the number of segments in a piece and why others don’t
can you use a planer instead of a drum sander
two threads on buying or building open segment jigs
There is also a classified ads section in the forum.
Segmented Chapter members have recently released videos:
1) Club member, Jim Romick, who plays the lead part in the Phantom of the Opera on Broadway has produced a fun video which shows an abbreviated segmented turning process to making a coffee cup holder for those stainless steel inserts. He also does a great job of showing how to apply a CA finish.
The SPSW recently purchased a new lathe, a Powermatic 3520B. If you have been to recent meetings you will have seen it in action. This lathe is sold in Europe as the Jet 3520B.
As it turns out, Woodturning magazine has a recent review of this lathe on their website. If you are not up-to-date on the different lathes available, this article gives a great look into the capabilities and craftsmanship of this lathe. You can read the review on their Jet 3520B Heavy Duty Woodturning Lathe page.
The following message is from AAW board member Kurt Hertzog
School is back in Session
Kurt HertzogAs summer closes and the schools return to session, most of the chapters will begin their new season. Three of my chapters meet in public school facilities so we have a forced hiatus during the summer. I assume that most chapters either slow down or have summers “off.” As we begin anew, I’d like to suggest we remember two key components to our woodturning mission. First and foremost is safety. With the unfortunate passing of fellow member Joan Kelly, we should be reminded how important safety is to our pastime or profession. There is no such thing as being too safe. Personal protective equipment, good practices, and continued vigilance are paramount. Believe in them and practice them, continually, not on occasion. The other key item I’d like to remind everyone about is our mission of education. Teaching newcomers, young and not-so-young, is the cornerstone of our foundation. It is our reason for being. Whether you meet in a school, a church, a barn, or a member’s shop, help teach someone else with the skills you have. Help them enjoy the craft. The thrill of the first pen, bowl, bottle stopper, or any other turning is something they’ll remember forever. When your club demos at the bazaar, county fair, 4H, or other event, lend a hand. There is always a need for another turner, helper, greeter, or coffee assistant. Don’t let someone else do it. Raise your hand and volunteer. Remember that someone helped you get started. Share that with others. That also goes for club demos. Don’t wait to be asked. Find the programs officer and volunteer. You don’t need to be a master turner. You need to be willing to share the expertise that you have. Woodturning is all about safety and sharing. Make sure that you are active in both.
Don’t forget that the Board of Directors elections are under way. If you haven’t voted yet, please get to it as the deadline for ballots is October 21. You can find links here to the candidates information and balloting.
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Looking for a warm, exotic location to go to for a woodturning symposium? The Honolulu Woodturners are holding their 3rd annual symposium on October 22nd and 23rd with featured demonstrators Kelly Dunn and Sharon Doughtie.
Kelly Dunn is a full time professional woodturner who lives on the Big Island of Hawaii and specializes in woods grown on the Big Island to create bowls, hollow vessels and art forms. You can see his work at his website http://www.kellydunnwoodturner.com/.
Sharon Doughtie is a full time professional woodturner whose current work incorporates designs based on freeform Celtic knots and explores how the curving, undulating patterns can cross cultures, look like something from nature or illustrate an emotion. Sharon has works in several public and private collections, has demonstrated in the U.S., New Zealand and Australia and has appeared in American Woodturner and Woodturning magazines. You can see more on her website http://www.sharondoughtie.com.
