Design Oppurtunity

I know it has happened to me on more than one occasion.  You are turning along shavings coming off in beautifully curled shavings and after stopping the the spinning piece of finely figured wood you realize you should have stopped cutting a few cuts sooner.  Oh well an opportunity to create a "different" design than the intended one.

In the case of a bowl though, if you take one cut too many in the bottom a bowl can become a funnel.
This morning my wife Gloria and I were in an Orange Beach AL coffee shop/gift shop, and on the wall for sale were bowls that the turner appeared to make into funnels intentionally.   (If I made them that would have been my story..." I meant to do that" ).  This turner filled the hole on the bottom of the bowls with a round mirror.

Pictures below.

The next Meeting

The club meets the second Saturday of each month in the high school woodshop in St Ignace.  We have donated a lathe to the school so students will be able to turn projects.  Their old lathe was faulty and did not provide them with a good working environment.  The new lathe is smaller and well suited to student turning.  Club members have come in and offered their time and experience to teach students about wood turning methods and techniques. 

Our Past Meeting

Our last meeting, [the second Saturday in September]. because we have sold our home and we will be leaving the area[ and the club, the club] the organization  presented me with a parting gift.  It is a carved Eagle Feather.  It is a wood carving masterpiece created by our club president Jm Rutledge. Our club name is the Hiawatha Woodturning Club and we have many other strong  Native American connections through out our organization.  The presentation of an Eagle's Feather is one of the highest honors that can be bestowed on someone by a Native American.  So in this part of the world, even those of us with no connection to tribal roots recognize the significance of this gesture.  To say the least, I am extremely honored to have receive this from the group.

The significance of the gesture and the quality of the art work is very powerful for me and  I am deeply moved by this.

Thank you so much to the Hiawatha Woodturning Club.  I will remember each of you always.

Tom Cadwalader

Large Spindle Turning

Steve Promo is sharing a bit of his recent work with us.  See below.

One would think a laminated clear local cedar post would be easy to turn, but this one never made it above 150 rpms.  The steady rest made all the difference, allowing heavier cuts and 350 rpms.  Post is a replacement for a private residence on Mackinac Island.  The wood was purchased at Haske's in Cedarville, laminated with epoxy.

Show and Tell 7/2019

At last months meeting Steve Promo did a demonstration on "Double Dying".  For this months show and tell Glenn Garchow brought back several pieces showing off his new found skills from last months demo.
Nice work Glenn !

Cast Resin Blanks

At our May 2019 meeting Mike Lilliquist did a demo for us showing us how he adds a 2 part resin to wood to make a mixed media turning blank.

Click here for video

Show and Tell Table

Below are some snapshots of the show and tell table at our club's meeting this morning.  Plus a shot of some of the attendees.

Double Dyed Ash Vessel

A double dyed Ash vessel by Steve Promo.

A Recent Turning Project

Posted by Tom Cadwalader

Recently I was requested to come up with a coaster caddy for all of the bar coasters we pick up in our travels and brew pup stops.  Below is one design I did utilizing the lathe and my router table.
It is about 4 1/2 " in diameter by 2 1/4 " tall.  The wood is maple with a Watco Danish oil finish, that was buffed with Tripoli and then waxed after the danish oil dried.

A natural Edge Bowl

At our club's Aril meeting Jim Rutledge demo-ed turning a natural edge bowl.  Below is a link to a video of that demonstration.

Click Here for the Video

G S Sanding

At a previous meeting Gary Smith was showing some of his recent work and he was asked what equipment he used to sand his projects.  At he April meeting Gary brought in another intricate project and brought along his preferred tools for power sanding.  This is a recording of Gary show his  power sanding tools.

Click here for the video