Lots to catch up on!

Firstly, pardon me for missing July.

I wanted to start by welcoming our newest member, Rick Dorbney.  He joined us at the August meeting, and we quickly converted him to membership for 2011.  If you want to bring a friend along to the meeting like Ed Brannon did, please feel free to do so.  We are running a 2010 membership special- anyone between now and the end of the year that joins (new) can pay for 2011, and we will grandfather them for the rest of 2010!

A quick round of thanks for the following people and reasons:

Dan Moore and Tony Whalen for helping me set up the Sussex County Arts and Heritage Council Show.  If you haven't stopped by to see it, it is certainly worth a visit to Newton.  If you go, you may find parking on Spring Street (free), but if you have to park in a municipal lot, find the parking machine because they do ticket!

We had a good turnout from membership presenting their work.  From memory, the following people have items in the show:  Dan Moore, Mike Gurodis, Rick Wortman, Tony Whalen, Ed Brannon, Wil Goldschmidt, Jim Matthews, Joe Eid, Bruce Gordon, and Steven Antonucci.  (Sorry if I missed you, but it is from memory...)

Dick Plog handed me a front page article from the NJ Herald that ran a feature story on the SCAHC show.  It mentioned the Water Gap Woodturners throughout the article, so I am expecting that we will all have to start wearing sunglasses and big hats to walk out in public soon.

I would also like to thank Dick Plog for setting up our second club challenge:  the Cherry Challenge.  I would like to continue to do these challenges, perhaps twice per year, so if you have any ideas for one, please bring them to the meetings.  For 2011, I'd like to get some formal plans together around the calendar, rather than being so seat-of-the-pants all of the time.

Dick brought in a bunch of Cherry blanks with the theme 'Let's see what people do with this"... pretty wide open, huh?  We agreed that the October meeting would be the Cherry Challenge Show and Tell, so you've got about 8 weeks to figure something out.  Let's aim for 100% participation?

Ed Brannon mentioned a Swap Meet/Tool Sale meeting again, and we agreed that the December meeting would be the time for that.  With the holidays just around the corner, who couldn't use a little extra cash and room in the shop for some new tools?  The December meeting will be a Holiday Extravaganza-NOT TO BE MISSED!  In addition to the Swap Meet, we will also be running a Secret Santa program and a "party".  If you would like to Volunteer to be the December meeting coordinator, send me a note!

After the Show and Tell, our guest demonstrator (kudos to Mr. Brannon for arranging!) was Alan Gilburg from the Central New England Woodturners.  Alan brought a very interesting project that he suggested sold very well to the high end culinary types- A salt vault! 

The salt vault is a container for storing fancy salts that require "just a pinch".  Alan made glue ups  from a variety of hardwoods, but he doesn't recommend using walnut because of the end grain tearout ;-)

The process begins between centers and turning the blank to round.  A small offset point is chosen to get an offset tenon on the now rounded blank, and the tenon is turned to fit a chuck jaw.  The offest is necessary to offset the storage compartment in the vault so that there will be sufficient room to install the pin for the lid.

Alan turns a shallow recess/bowl in the top of the vault to hold the salt.  He recommended that it wasn't too large, or the salt will be harder to reach and tends to cake with the humidity.  The lid is kept in place by a small magnetic catch, and pivots freely around the pin which he turns from a contrasting hardwood.  Design options are limitless!

With the holidays coming, this project might be a nice stocking stuffer for friends and family.  Alan mentioned that they go together pretty quickly, don't require a lot of specialized tools or machining, and that everyone loves them. We really appreciate Alan coming out to Peters Valley to join us and want to thank him for demonstrating his very useful project!

Our next meeting will be in Early September.  We do not have a topic yet, so if you know of a guest turner in the area, feel free to reach out to me to get them on the schedule like Ed did. 

Until then, safe spinning...

One for the ages

June's meeting was held on June 3rd at the Peters Valley Wood Studio.  The meeting began outside, but not because we didn't have access to the studio.  (I now have a key!)  The meeting began with an announcement by our current President, Dan moore and a challenge to the club.  Dan will be relocating to the Richmond, VA area in the next few months, and Richard will be assuming his duties as the Vice President (in a bloodless coup).  As usual, the group would greatly appreciate someone stepping up to the nomination for President.

In Dan's departure, Dan and I discussed the disposal of some of his assets to be shared by the club.  It was proposed that Dan and I would bring the wood in question to the club to be equally dispersed with the following challenge:  you have to make something to bring to the July meeting.  Unofficially, we're going to call this Moore's Wood Challenge (I tried to come up with something catchy, but failed...)  You can make ANYTHING at all out of the wood you took, but you have to bring one item to the next Show and Tell.  Prizes will be awarded for first, second, and third (Dan and Steve will judge)

Once the mosquitoes had their fill of us and the last bits of wood were out of our trucks, we went inside where we discussed the club business.  Peters Valley had contacted us to let us know that they would allow us to exhibit at the Craft Fair in September with the jury process.  Several members voiced their concern over tax issues and their was moderate interest in doing this individually.  Upon further conversation, it was not viable to do this as a club.

From here, the conversation shifted to future demonstrations.  Joe Eid, who felt left out because he hadn't seen an e-mail from me in months (because of a typo in the list I was given...sorry Joe!) suggested that he would be interested in doing a hand rubbed finishing demo based upon a recent workshop he took at Peters Valley.  It was highly and enthusiastically approved by the group, and we'll make sure that we get Joe on the calendar in the next few months.



Show and Tell featured some recent work from the group.  It's hard to move the meetings alone AND be the photographer, so I am looking for some more volunteers to bring cameras and capture the action.  Here are a couple of pieces from the S&T:

Our main topic for the evening demo was the tool making.  As a starting point, Steve started out by walking through the steps for making handles.  As a reminder, using a chuck to grip the blank, drill a hole in the one end using a slow lathe speed.  The hole will be automatically centered when the tailstock point is inserted.  Next sneak up on sizing a tenon to fit the ferrule.  A copper tubing nipple is a great ferule, and copper is soft enough to be turned on the lathe with conventional tools.  Once the ferrule has been fitted, turn the handle to fit your hand.

We also covered the differences between tool steel and cold rolled.  Tool steel can be sharpened and hardened for a cutting edge.  Cold rolled is typically used to hold a piece of tool steel.  Round rod can be sourced to make numerous tools (very inexpensively) as compared to catalog prices and they work equally as well.  If you've never tried making your own tools, it is a great way to save a few hundred dollars.

Stay tuned for an announcement about the July meeting.  It will most likely be moved to accomodate one of the Peters Valley wood studio instructors availability.  Once I have confirmed the date, I will let you know

Safe spinning.

What's in your Wallet?

With sales from the Peters Valley gallery fresh in many folks minds, the answer to the title question is: extra cash!

We began the May meeting by realizing that the shop door was locked, and had to improvise or hold our meeting "al fresco".  Some quick thinking resolved our issues, and we will be getting proper access before the next meeting.

We began the meeting with member discussing the Open House and exhibition at the SDF Gallery.  As it turns out, many members have sold work through the exhibit.  There is certainly a rush when someone decides that they like your work enough to buy it, and we will hopefully have an opportunity to do this through Peters Valley again.

Our main topic of the evening was an extended "Show and Tell" with the added provision that we would also discuss influences on our current work.  If the late hour we closed down was any indication of the success, I'd guess that it was well received!  Members were instructed to bring their current projects and any influences, materials, or techniques that they have developed along the way to use in the new work.

Wil brought in a "story stick" of inlay materials that he uses to experiment with filling cracks and voids in some of his work.  He describe the various materials and techniques necessary to achieve the results, and where he might use the different processes to fill in bark voids or losses.

In our typical roundtable style, we continued around the table with Fred showing a very old faceplate with some walnut crotch mounted on it for a candlestand table.  Just a few more years, and that piece should be dry, Fred :-)

Not to be ignored, we also picked up a new member.  His name is Pete Thome, and he is pictured in the middle between Wil and Ed.  Someone will need to tell him that we all pose these pictures, and that he is not allowed to move when the camera is on him, but he has to look natural anyway :-)

In the foreground in front of Ed, you'll see his work.  Ed mentioned that he leaves the tenon in the middle of his bowls for extra support and to help with remounting.  A tip or two is always welcome during the meetings, guys!

As the meetings get more involved and conversational, I usually get too engrossed to keep taking pictures.  If anyone wanted to bring a camera, this blog would benefit from other people's pictures and viewpoints as well.  Please feel free to author content (I'll post it for now) or send me your images.

Ed Brannon and Don were deep in thought listening to something being said when I snapped this picture.  Ed had brought a bowl with some tool marks and we quickly discussed the use of a gooseneck cabinet scraper and some elbow grease as a remedy for them.  Ed spent a few minutes towards the end of the meeting scraping out those marks and I'm guessing is now the proud owner of his own set of cabinet scrapers.

Dan brought 2 items and discussed the possibility of carving a leaf motif on one.  Steve brought a prototype hollowform turned from a laminated material and another hollowform which was turned, carved and painted.  Patrick finished the night off by showing us a Windsor that was getting to the final stages of finishing (meaning he only had another 40 hours to go!)  When we ran out of things, it was 10PM- so it is a good thing that we ran out of things!

The topic for the next meeting was announced:  It will be a toolmaking session.  Steve will be showing some tools that can be made in a shop with minimal metalworking skills.  Many of these tools can be made for a fraction of the cost of commercial equivalents, so it will be an opportunity to save a few bucks.  Don't miss it.

Until next time, keep the curlies flyin'

Peters Valley Gallery Opening Night

The Water Gap Woodturners came out in full force to support the show at the Sally D. Francisco Gallery at Peters Valley. We would like to extend our thanks to Peters Valley for inviting us to exhibit our work showcasing our members talents, and the tireless effort of Brienne to put it all together!

The space was in utter chaos on april 7th when we met at the store before the April meeting. Brienne assured us that she would make us look good and that somehow it would all come together. She had called me a couple of times during the week to ask for help in getting some pieces displayed, since there were some unlevel floor issues and tiny bases on some of my vessels. I was completely blown away when I walked upstairs, as were the other members of the club. We never looked so good!

Pictured right are (L to R):

Bruce

Richard

Wil

Dan

Brienne

In addition to making us all look good, Brienne also managed to feed us! We were artists for a day, as we sipped wine and cheese. Ok, you caught me... at least half of us went across the street in our fancy clothes to look at the two walnut trees that the park service had just cut down, and Wil and I took a ride to look at some tiger maple covered in burls. Stay tuned for more on that topic.

In our exhibit, we got to see some immediate results from recent meetings. Richard took our ball turning demo to a whole new level. Pictured on the left is a kicked-up version of the Mexican ball and cup game. It is a ball and peg game, and the idea is to get the ball to land on the peg in that little hole. I can attest that it is about as hard as it looks, although I did witness Richard do it at least once.

Brian's hookwork and Bruce's throw tops also grace the case, which is behind glass to protect the other work in the gallery :-) It's not hard to imagine people playing with them, as they are a FUNctional piece of art... (I write the blog, so deal with the bad puns...)

Picture (L to R):

Bruce (again, that guy is everywhere!)

Tony

Wil (travels with Bruce, I guess?)

Steve

Dan (travels with Wil, of course...)

I would also like to thank Jane for being smarter than me and remembering to bring a camera, or this would be a pretty boring entry. I "negotiated" exclusive rights to these pictures for the blog, but I thought it made sense to give a photo credit, since we'd be looking at fuzzy cell phone shots if it were up to me to remember things. A big thanks to Jane from the WGW membership.

If you have a few minutes to spare next weekend, please stop by the gallery during the Peters Valley Open Studio weekend. I think its a valuable exercise to be in the crowd incognito to hear what real people think of our work as woodturners. We are often too close to the work, and surrounded by other woodturners to get the every man perspective. If you want to stop by the wood studio, there will be a few WGW folks manning the lathes to demonstrate turning to the visitors.

See you in May.

Elections, gallery talk- in the end, we had a ball...

In case you missed the meeting, here is a quick recap of events:

We had 11 members in attendance, and every one of them paid their 2010 dues and said they were AAW members! Got to love it when a plan comes into action.

We started the night with the business of electing the executive committee. Here are the results from the elections:

Dan was voted President (in absentia, not feeling well)
Richard suggested that we needed a VP, so I nominated him and he was given the job.
Steve will continue as Secretary and Director of Programs (since the blog is in my name...)
Jim was elected treasurer, and was last seen flying down Thunder Mountain Road with a Craft Supplies catalog in his hands and a big smile on his face (Just kidding!)

Thank you all for stepping up to the responsibilities.

Brienne Rosner from the Peters Valley Gallery Store also joined us to explain the show that we will ALL (right, Matt?) be putting work into as a club. We had a very open discussion about what kind, why and so forth. In the end, we decided that it was best for EVERYONE to contribute several pieces that they were proud of to be exhibited as Brienne saw fit. I personally want to thank her for spending the night with us to get to know the group better, and I am sure she will do her best to represent us as artists and artisans. In return, I know that we will also do our best to represent the spirit of the Peters Valley community in return.

Here is the schedule that we'd like to adhere to:

March 19th - submit images for online/print advertsing material (Steve)
April 7th - Drop off work at the STORE before coming up to the meeting. (ALL WGW members)
April 17th - Show opens, members are encouraged to come to the opening from 4-7PM
May 2 - Peters Valley Open House- it would be nice to have someone in the studio and the gallery to meet and greet... (more to come)
May 23rd - pick up any unsold work at the Gallery

In our discussion, it seems that we can potentially all contribute up to four items, with Brienne picking at least one from each member to represent the entireity of WGW. If you missed the meeting, you are still welcome to bring work to the gallery for the show. Open topic.

After a very nice show and tell (70% participation!), we had a short turning demo on how to make a sphere on the lathe. While it was far from the best sphere I have ever turned, it should give everyone the required steps they need to try it themselves.

Our next meeting will be on April 7th. Everyone will bring their work to the gallery prior to the ride up Thunder Mountain Road for Brienne's convenience. I'd like to make this meetings topic a mentoring session for the new turners, so I'm going to suggest that we break into small groups after the S&T, and work 1 on 1 with some of the more experience members of the group.

Now get out to the shop and get that piece finished before April 7.

Safe spinning.

P.S. I need someone to volunteer to be the photographer for the club. E-mail me and consider yourself elected.

Reminder: Tonight's meeting moved to next Wednesday

Just a quick note to remind folks that we've moved out the meeting date by a week to let some of the snow melt and give Peters Valley a chance to get Thunder Mountain Road cleared up to the shop. Unless you own a snow cat, you can't get to the shop.

See you 3/10 @7PM.

Let's Get Down to Business!

10 Members of the Water Gap Woodturners braved the cold, icy darkness that is Peters Valley in February. If you remember the 2009 meeting, frozen ground is much easier to drive on than thawed ground, and no one needed their car washed on Thursday.

Our meeting had a very different tone this time, as we realign for 2010. Elections were discussed, and it was communicated to the chapter that every elected official needs to be an AAW member to have the insurance protection at meetings and other WGW Events. Half of the members present at the meeting are AAW members, and the other half committed to signing up before March. We encourage all members to join the AAW, as it is an excellent resource for turners to learn from and grow.

As it stands right now, elections for the executive committee are open for nominations. At this writing, we have

Dan volunteering to act as President
Jim as Treasurer
Steve as Secretary and Program Coordinator.
Vice President (if someone would like to step up to be nominated)

Whether you have a title or not, all members are expected to contribute in some way to the vitality of the chapter. As a small group, it will not require an exhorbitant amount of your time in any role, but likely an hour or two per month.

As an example, and a very good segue into the next topic, the Water Gap Woodturners has been invited to exhibit in the Peters Valley store gallery. The is a tremendous opportunity to put your work out in a public setting, and learn more about "the professional side" of woodturning. Whether you have desires to be the next David Ellsworth or not, it is very good for your development as a woodturner to get feedback from someone who is not a woodturner! We all know too much about the process, the wood, the tools, and such to provide objectivity in evaluating others work. As one turner I know quips, "Besides, woodturner will never buy anything from you."

Everyone at every level is encouraged to bring work to the next meeting for the Show and Tell. I have invited Brienne from the gallery store to come by and start forming the direction for the show. Whether you bring one piece or twenty pieces, I would love to see EVERY MEMBER represented in the exhibit. We will discuss this in some detail in March, but the short version is to be prepared to leave your work for the gallery at the April meeting to minimize the number of people consuming Brienne's time.

Following the lengthy businees meeting (we promise to have it down to 10 minutes next month), we walked through Show and Tell. The good news is that we are starting to see almost everyone bring something to S&T, and discussions around techniques are lively. We had planned to spend some time turning after the business meeting, but we ran out of time because of the participation of the group. Way to go guys!

Here is your call to action for March:

1.) If you are not an AAW member, please join. It will make everything much easier on us. www.woodturner.org

2.) Dues ($20) will be due next month for 2010. Please bring a check or cash to the March meeting.

3.) Bring something for the Show and Tell. (a standing order!) Brienne probably doesn't know about the variety of woodturned object that are even possible, and it will help us organize the Exhibition if we know what you like to make.

4.) Be prepared to cast your ballot for the elections. I would love to see all members ratify our executive committee, not half. Half of winning is just showing up.

5.) Start thinking about any questions you might have for the Exhibition and other business topic. It will be an open forum, but we will try to limit discussions to the first 30 minutes. Show and Tell will follow, and then I promise that we will have a demonstration of one of two topics:

A) Build your own supported hollowing system ( a full dissection of the expensive systems out there and how you can build one for under $20)
B) Turn a sphere

(I will bring stuff for either and we will take a show of hands)

Safe spinning.

Steven