13 May 2023 Club Meeting in Saint Iglance, Michigan

 This was the first meeting of 2023 and there were lots of Show and Tell items as well as bring backs.   Club members were busy over the winter as you will see.

You can see the table was loaded with things the club members made during the winter. 

Here are some close up pictures of the Show and Tell items.

These are three of Archie Patterson's walnut bowls.  These were explained in prior posts.

Steve Promo visited his old wood turning mentor and was able to purchase some finished and unfinished items from James R Johnson.  All these bowls have thin walls and are light even for their size. 

This is a closer look at James Johnson's work.  All have thin walls and light weight.  Even the two that were hollowed out thru a small hole in the top.  The western hat was turned with thin walls and then put in a container with rubber bands around the hat to force the shape.   The one on the upper left has 1/8" walls where James Johnston used a router to make the shapes 1/16" deep.  He then used cactus skeletons cut to fit the opening and laid over a darker color.  At the end of the meeting Steve Promo showed a YouTube video of James Johnson's work.  See:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V-LhvMzsmo  

This is Skip Schmidt's work.  The birds are mounted on pieces of wood with other related items added.

 

This is K. Servio's work.  The upper left bowl has a copper turtle lid.  The upper right has a dip in the top that Steve Promo talked about later.  The bottom center bowl is bass wood and is super light.  

Jim Rutledge brought in some of his work.  Two have his basket look and the platter has a different surface work with an image in the center.   On the left are some of his carved feathers.  Amazing work Jim. 

Here are some other items of interest brought in for the members to view.

Steve Promo always has some interesting news and observations.  One is there is a  club that wants to bring members from all the other Michigan clubs together.   More details will be posed on our website when they become available. 

Steve drew this diagram on the board to explain some of the difficulties encountered in turning a hollow form with a dip in the top such as  K Servo's bowl shown higher up.  With the diagram he explained how you had to not only have a bend in you boring bar but you have to constantly adjust the angle of the cutting tool to make sure it had the proper alignment for the interior surface.    This requires numerous careful removal, adjustments and reinsertion of the boring bar thru the hole. 

At the end of the meeting there was a raffle of bring-back items donated by attendees.  Each ticked cost $1 and you can buy as many tickets as you like.  In the box was an insert for a stainless steel vase or soup mug.   The two hammers are cast soft metal that allow the user to hit a metal object without damaging the item.   The lower left was a section of Hawaiian Coca-bola wood.   Two of the items were finished by members.  

It was a very enjoyable meeting with lots of discussions and sharing of ideas.  Visitors welcome.  Club members remember dues of $25 are due at next months meeting.   Se you there.

4" Walnut Box

 After making two large bowls from the walnut slab I had a small section left over and made this 4" walnut box with a maple lid.  The box has some natural inclusions and they made me think of eyes so I added a nose to add character to the box.   The nose is also made from maple.

The wood had some natural inclusions like bark that looked like eyes to me so I added a nose to give the box some character.  I took a section of wood and turned a disk, cut a 1/4" wide section and parted off a ring.  From the ring I cut a section and made the nose.   Used a shape tool to get the shape of the bowl and then made sure the curve on the nose fit the outside of the bowl using a small drum sander.  

This is the back side of the box.  Finish is one coat of shellac and three coats of wipe on poly. 

This is the box with the lid off and turned upside down showing the inside of the lid and you can see into the bowl.   Bottom of the bowl has a two rings with a knurled surface between them.  To turn the bottom of the bowl I expanded chuck jaws inside but put a large rubber band around the jaws to prevent damage to the wood.