Yellowstone Woodturners Symposium 6

yellowstone woodturners logoThe members of the Yellowstone Woodturners, an AAW chapter in Billings, Montana have have announced their 6th Annual Symposium scheduled for October 1st and 2nd at the Billings Career Center. Their demonstrator for the 2-day event will be Stuart Batty demonstrating bowl turning basics.

Stuart Batty is a third generation woodturner from Newcastle, England. He was taught by his father, Allan Batty, who is an internationally recognized woodturner. At 19 he started working for Craft Supplies, Ltd. in England, which was the largest woodturning supplier in the world. During his six years at Craft Supplies he was the in-house woodturning teacher, set up the Craft Supplies first sawmill and developed and tested woodturning tools for Robert Sorby.

Since then, he has taught over 3,000 amateur and professional woodturners. He has demonstrated and taught in twelve countries, including over 180 different AAW chapters across the U.S.

Stuart says his style is greatly influenced by his background as a spindle turner with precise cuts and sharp detail. He uses very simple tools and grinds to create his pieces. His work is “pure” lathe work, with no carving or surface texturing. Stuart’s artwork has been sold through prestigious galleries across Europe and the U.S.

Registration for the two-day event is $95, with a $15 discount if paid by September 14th. More information can be found on the registration form.

woodturning events

SPSW Member Profile – Dan Stromstad

dan stromstadLike many of you I began turning wood in Junior High School. Growing up in Richland, Washington in the fifties enabled me to have a friend for a wood shop instructor. Working with my father we built all of the kitchen cabinets in the process of totally remodeling our home. As a result my fondness for working with wood led me to build a wide assortment of useful things from a grape crusher for wine making to a hydroplane for fun on the river. While visiting an uncle in Southern California he noticed my excitement about wood turning and he gave me a lathe that he never used. With paper route earnings I purchased tools from Sears and my dad and I began turning on our midsized lathe. This ended when I left home for college except for visits home. When my father was gone my lathe came back to me.

After seeing pens in a woodworking store in Port Townsend I said to my wife like so many of you, “I could make that!” Years later I wandered into a store and discovered pen kits and asked how to make them. The owner gave me a three minute lesson and after purchasing the needed extras for the lathe I began my current wood turning adventures.

Delving into the many turnings that could be made on a small lathe with excitement growing a customer came to me for eyewear and I found that he rebuilds lathes as a hobby. We worked out a deal for a larger lathe. It was poor at best and eventually it was sold and a brand new General lathe came home. Borrowing a chuck from my friend Tom Bageant started me on the path to bowl turning. Many folks had told us about this club and Tom and I thought it would probably be a dozen old guys sitting around talking about their past exploits. Finally we decided to give it a try. Wow, were we off base. We were stunned at the quality of turning and vibrancy of the members. We joined that night. After a few sawdust sessions and being befriended by Eric Lofstrom I began turning bowls that were a little better.

The real turning point was Eric giving me a rough turned Madrone burl bowl. That was so exciting to turn. Dave Schweitzer noticed my excitement and asked me to come and see him. He had no idea what he was in for. After a long day at Dave’s he finally got rid of me after six in the evening. This began a marathon of turning wet wood and learning and practicing the techniques that had been shown. Two hundred rough turned bowls later there were signs of hope in my finished bowls. A need for a larger lathe became very important and so the General lathe was sold and a Powermatic came home.

Back to Dave’s and now hollow forms started popping up at home. A day with Roy Lane helped that experience as well. So much to learn and so little time, with lots of practice happiness ensued. Urns, baby rattles and vases appeared, some with dyed and some natural finishes.

The many demonstrators at our club and others continued to teach techniques that were new to me. With practice these new methods became easier to use and enabled me to produce better results. Basically, this club and its members totally changed my life. It continues to get better and better. What else is there to say, this is why I am so excited when the third Thursday of the month comes around.

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AAW Board Message

The following is a message from AAW Board Member Dale Larson.

dale larsonWe know from AAW surveys that around 50 percent of our members have been to at least one national symposium. My hope is that we can persuade many of the other half to attend – beginning with our 25th anniversary gathering in Saint Paul, Minnesota, June 24-26.

This will be a very special symposium. We have invited all living Honorary Lifetime Members, as well as all of the demonstrators who have participated in past symposiums. These include some of the biggest names in woodturning over the last quarter-century. Nick Cook, Dale Nish, Alan Lacer, Al Stirt, Ray Key, Dick Gerard, David Ellsworth, Albert LeCoff, Giles Gilson, and Jane and Arthur Mason, among many other notables, will be in attendance. A complete list of the outstanding demonstrators and panelists can be found on our web page.

Attendees will see the largest collection of turned art in the world this year. The Instant Gallery will be amazing, and each attendee is invited to bring a turning for display or sale.

The trade show will be our biggest yet. Every major lathe manufacturer will have the latest models on hand for you to admire, try out, and salivate over. You will need to bring your checkbook and credit card to fix the problem with those missing items in your shop.

The demo agenda is ambitious and varied. There will be 16 rooms set up for demonstrations and panel discussions and the classes will go on for three full days. You probably won’t be able to take in all the classes you want, but key demonstrations will be captured on video.

The Professional Outreach Program has pulled together a great exhibition entitled ‘Roots – An Artists Vision’, there will be a retrospective exhibit of work by 2011 POP Merit Award Recipient David Ellsworth. POP has also set up the Emerging Artist program highlighting outstanding new turners during the lunch hours, and slated a full list of panel discussions covering all areas of woodturning. Three other exhibitions will be on site; ‘Turning 25 – A Celebration’, ‘Doing a Good Turn – A $25 Souvenir for the 25th’ and the Return to Community ‘Empty Bowls’ sale of donated turnings.

Bonnie Klein and Larry Miller have set up a terrific schedule for the Youth Room. Bring your kids and grandkids and sign them up for a class, or volunteer to help with the hands-on training on mini-lathes. Every kid who turns during the symposium will get his or her name put in a hat for the drawing that will give away the 25 Jet mini-lathes and related equipment. We’re sure to hook some of them as future AAW woodturners.

And to convince your spouse that this is a vacation for two, we have a full schedule of demonstrations and talks in the Spouse Craft Room. We also have tours set up for our members who want to see the Saint Paul area. Again, the schedule for all these classes and tours can be viewed on the website.

John Hill will convince you to part with your money at the Educational Opportunity Grant Auction after the banquet on Saturday night. The proceeds from the auction are turned around and given out to our members and chapters the following January as financial grants. The EOG program is one of the great benefits of AAW membership.

And, if you are an ornamental turner, segmented turner, or pen turner, you will have lots of options on Friday’s Special Interest Night to meet like-minded colleagues. We also will have topics on First Aid for Woodturners, Antique Lathes, 501(c)(3) status for your chapter, Gizmos and Gadgets, and Bowls. We will have tables set up for book signings, including the AAW’s 25th anniversary retrospective, Kevin Wallace’s book on the Lipton collection, and David and Ruth Waterbury’s new volume on their one-of-a-kind woodturning collection.

This will be the kickoff of a wonderful year for AAW. We hope you will arrange to be in Saint Paul for our best symposium yet – one that you don’t want to miss!

Dale Larson

American Association of Woodturners

AAW / Message

Denise DeRose Tutorials Added to Learning Center

handheld clamshell handbagDenise DeRose conducted a day long demonstration on April 8th for members and guests of the SPSW. Denise provided us with three tutorials and a list of sources and supplies which have been added to the Learning Center. The tutorials include turning a handheld clamshell handbag, turning a canteen flip top bag with center feature and turning a treasure chest style bag.

You can find them under Tutorials/Denise DeRose Demo.

techniques / woodturning library

Cruising and Woodturning

woodturning cruise logoI let you know last month about an event being held by the Northwest Washington Woodturners called the Camping and Turning Rendezvous. This is an opportunity to combine your love of camping and your love of woodturning.

If you prefer something a little higher end, then your event is coming up in August.

The “world famous” Woodturning CruiseTM is scheduled for August 15 through 27. You can sail on the M/S Gann from Stavanger, Norway and visit 12 cities along the way including Bergen and Trondheim. You will experience the Land of the Midnight Sun as you approach the Northern most point in Europe that you can visit.

Along with the cruise experience, you will also be able to attend demonstrations by world class Woodturners. Those who attended the last SPSW membership meeting were able to see Bonnie Klein, one of the eight turners demonstrating on the cruise. Other turners include:

  • Richard Raffan – one of the most sought after demonstrators in the world
  • Jimmy Clewes – amazing teacher and demonstrator known throughout the U.S. and U.K.
  • Mark Baker – turner and editor of Woodturning Magazine
  • Åsmund Vignes – expert on ring tools
  • Glenn Lucas – production turner specializing in salad bowls
  • Nick Agar – well known for decorating turnings of all sizes
  • Rune Hjelen – woodturner and carver who creates traditional styles in modern forms

There will also be several other demonstrators and courses on the cruise covering chip carving, wood carving, pyrography and knife making.

On top of this, passengers will get free tuition and lathe use on the cruise. Three expert Woodturners, Stuart Mortimer, Knut Andreas Lien and David Muckle, will provide woodturning instruction at all levels.

There is no way to detail all of the events and activities that are planned for this cruise. You can get all the information by visiting http://www.woodturningcruise.com.

woodturning events