Many of the members go south for the winter but this year many of those were still here for December so the Club decided to have a meeting where members would bring Christmas ornaments for show and tell and bring on ornament to be given to another member in a drawing. There were a lot of items that brought joy to our hearts on the the tables this December. Here are a few pictures:
There were so many great items that getting them in one picture was difficult and did not really show off the skills and beauty of the items. So more pictures were taken.
Here is an Ash serving disk, minus the treats and three great looking boxes, i.e. bowls with lids.
Top center is an offset turning. The bowls are actually turned from the wood and were not added on. Imagine turning the bowls with that large piece of wood spinning around, Well done Sam. If that Crispy Cream Donut, in the center, looks good enough to eat don't. It is a hollow wood turning. Another one of Sam's great work.
Here is another view of all the items. The boxes with fish on top were done by Jim who is an expert carver. More great work from Jim.
I had to add this one to show off the great our members do. Top is an inside-out turning, Center is Sam's offset turning and bottom is Jim's carved fish on top of a bow. Fantastic work.
Sam decide that the meeting need a mascot so he made this boy holding a sign.
This is a tree Sam made putting branches on a post and then hanging some of his ornaments on it. More great work by Sam.
Left is a serving bowl by Archie, minus the treats and then three boxes, two with stones on the lids. More great work.
here is a wonderful bowl with tree ornaments inside
On another table were these turnings. Center are three finished bowls in front of three rough turned bowls of the same design waiting to be finished. Center are three candle sticks by Steve and right are three Candle sticks by Kate. .
Here is a close up of the off set turning by Sam. Just thinking about turning the bowls while the whole thing is spinning around on the lathe amazes me. Well done Sam. Beautiful wood and beautiful work.
Here is a close up of Jim's fish carvings on his bowls. Fantastic work, Jim.
Two more close-ups of Jim's fantastic work.
Here is a close up of some of the ornaments turned.
Many thanks to all the members who brought items for show and tell and for bringing ornaments for other members to take home. All, of which, build great memories. If you turn wood or want to learn about turning wood or carving wood contact us and come to our meetings. See you in the Spring of 2026.
Steve Promo recently was asked to make thirty (30) railing posts for a hotel on Mackinac Island. All 30 are now done. Steve says it took him 22 minutes per post when he started but with the proper setup to duplicate the posts and his skill he got it down to 10 minutes a post. Posts are made from local soft yellow cedar. Here are some pictures of his project.
This is Steve's setup for duplicating the posts. The old post is mounted behind the soon to be new post and marks are transferred from the old post to Steve's long tool rest and then to the blank to speed up duplication. New posts are turned between centers and sanded.
This is a finished post ready for painting.
Here are many of the finished posts with many more blanks to go stacked behind them.
All the posts are hand turned as opposed to being cut by a computer run machine. Steve's skills make it look easy and they all look the same. Thanks for sharing Steve. Well done.
The meeting was held at Steve Promo's shop where he demonstrated turning a candle stick with a thin center out of curly maple. At the meeting were some bring backs to be auctioned off and many show and tell items. Here are some pictures.
Wood in a resin. Thin wall allows the light to come thru the resin.
A box with a rock on top. The rock has not yet been attached.
Another wood and resin figurine with a light inside.
Box with a metal lid.
Bowl with a polished rock inside.
Bowl of ash and two other kinds of wood
A developmental piece to for 1/3 - 2/3 shape and length 1.6:1 of diameter.
This is the Show & Tell table.
A box with carved tree leaves.
A box with two carved feathers on the lid.
Another Jim Rutledge master piece with antler on lid.
Two of Jim Rutledge's carved feathers auctioned off.
A natural exterior bowl.
A bowl with natural inclusions.
After the discussions of the show and tell items and the bring back auction Steve Promo did a fantastic demonstration on turning long candle holders with a thin center section. Each candle stick meets the 1/3 - 2/4 proportion rule. Here is his presentation.
The club met at Sam Staffan's shop since the high school shop was still under renovations. There were many bring backs and show and tells. Here are some of the pictures.
Bring Backs for auction. Large slabs and split log are ash brought in by Steve Promo.
These two trays were made by Steve Promo, from slabs of ash, two half section from one tray were in the bring backs shown above.
Some of Sam Staffan's work. Bowl has gold leaf trim.
Sam Staffan's offset turning with decoration enhancement.
More of Sam Staffan's work.
This is a video of Steve Promo discussing his show and tell items with some turning insights.
Sunday, October 12, 2025
A Club associate has a wood lathe for sale on Facebook Market Place and the listing is for a Woodfast Lathe Model MC908: Size: 16" turning diameter with 39" between centers. Spindle size: 1 ¼x8TPI. Taper: #2MT in the Headstock and Tailstock. Tailstock: Hollow for drilling. Weight: Approx. 400 pounds. Includes steady rest and accessories.
Located in Carlevoix, Michigan The asking price is reduced to $800. $1,000. The link to the Facebook listing is: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1539624124117570/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post It is also listed on Craigslist.org. Search for woodfast lathe. Contact the owner thru the Facebook or the Craigslist.org listing for more information.
This is a Woodfast MC908 wood lathe. Tools and accessories are shown. Start and Stop controls are on the front. Note the steady rest on the lathe and the tools on the wall.
This is label shows the belt speed settings.
Close up view of accessories.
The tail stock picture is from the Craigslist.org listing.
The club held its August meeting at Sam Staffan's shop. There were many bring backs and many Show and Tell items. Here are some of the Show and Tell items.
Sam Staffan's Risen Vase
More interesting turnings.
Sam Staffan's turnings.
Sam Staffan's turned candle holder.
Sam Staffan discusses his turnings during Show and Tell.
A Jim Rutledge carved feather.
A Jim Rutledge carved fish.
The bring back & Show and Tell Table.
Archie Patterson's turned eggs and a funeral Urn.
Archie discusses his turnings.
Bottom of the bowl and Feathered grain.
We were fortunate to have Paul Neuburger from the Detroit Area Woodturners (DAW) demonstrate off center turning.
Paul brought many samples of his offset turnings and provided many tips about his process.
Here is Paul's introduction remarks to off center turning.
Paul Neuburger explains what he will demonstrate.
The demonstration was recorded in six parts, so please view each section in order. Paul brought several semi-finished turnings and after working on one he gave it away to a holder of a ticket he had given out. Each precipitant was then requested to finish the turning and send Paul a picture of the completed turning.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5 Part 6 and final clip in the series. Archie Patterson won one of the partially turned off center bowl and took it home and finished it. To sand the bottom, the bowl was placed on a rounded mount block and held in place by a cone shape on the tail stock.
Bowl mounted so the bottom can be sanded.
Finished product.
Bowl finished with Shellac and several coats of whipe on poly.
Bottom of the bowl with a bead added to the bottom.
Many thanks to Paul Neuburger for giving out samples of his work to be finished by our club members.
One final demonstration by Paul of turning an off center finial is shown below.
Our thanks to Sam Staffan for hosting the meeting and allowing Paul Neuburger to use his lathe.
Our appreciation to Paul Neuburger for coming up from the Detroit area and demonstrating his skills and methods for off center turning and for giving some of our members a few of his unfinished projects so they can finish them.
