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A Chapter of The American Association of Woodturners
Northwest Woodturners meetings are held on the 1st Thursday of each month at 7:00 PM. See www.northwestwoodturners.com for details and map. February … Demonstration Joe Cornett Turning Challenge for March Spring
BOARD OF D IRECTORS
President Joe Jedrychowski [email protected] phone 503 699 1990 V. President Richard Hall Secretary Bill Rufener Treasurer Mike Meredith Members-at- Large Jim Hall Fred Kline Dave Maguire Bob Mach Librarian Lynne Hemmert Raffle Tom Willing Supplies Tom Helzer Newsletter & Web Barbara Hall Official Greeters Fred Kline & Jerry Keller MyFamily Administrator Owen Lowe
QUICK UPDATES
FEBRUARY 2011 THE WOODTURNERS’ LOCAL RESOURCE
VOLUME 16, ISSUE 2 WWW.NORTHWESTWOODTURNERS.COM
Russ Fairfield passed away on January fourth 2011. You will remem-ber he generously provided us with an excellent article on Tung Oil finishing on wood in the March Newsletter 2010. We will miss his insight into teaching and writing in a way that was understandable to both novice and experienced turners. We celebrate his work by printing one of the articles he gave us permission to use.
IN MEMORIAM ... RUSS FAIRFIELD
TURNING AND FINISHING OUR PLASTIC PENS
Pens, Watches and Small Personal Items
Plastic Pen Barrels
There are many acetate and acrylic materials, such as crushed Velvet, available for turning pen barrels. These plastic materials require somewhat different turning and finishing tech-niques from wood because of their low melting temperatures. It is an absolute requirement that NO heat can be generated during the turning, sanding, or finishing of plastics. Judging from the poor quality of finish that I often see on these materials, many turners are not aware of this difference between wood and plastic.
Use a very sharp tool for turning, and watch the chips that are being formed. The chip should curl off the tool in a continuous flowing unbroken ribbon. If it is breaking up into little balls, the plastic is getting too hot in the cutting area and it is melting. Use a slower lathe speed or take a lighter cut with a tool that is honed to a keener edge. Sometimes both are needed. If the problem persists, wipe the surface with a little kerosene before turning each pass. The smoke that is generated will prove that the kerosene is doing its job.
Sanding Plastic
Wet-sand the barrel, using kerosene as the lubricant, at a medium lathe speed no faster than about 600 RPM. Finish with 600 grit. Then run the lathe a bit faster, but not over 1200 RPM, and wet-sand with Crocus Cloth, again lubricated with kerosene. Keep the surface very wet to prevent any heat from ruining the surface finish. Crocus Cloth has a 1200-grit jeweler's rouge abrasive on a cloth backing.
Wipe the surface clean. If it isn't highly polished, or it has circular sanding-type rings, the surface got too hot. Start over at a slower lathe speed, and use more kerosene.
Wax is an optional step to give some temporary protection to the surface. If you wish to use a stick-wax product, use only the white (or light colored) PPP by Hut Products. The dark wax has abrasives that aren't needed after using the crocus cloth. DO NOT use a hard carnauba wax stick such as Libron, regular Hut, etc. They are too hard and their melting temperature is so high that they can melt and "drag" the plastic surface before they start to flow. The PPP has a lower melting temperature that will not damage the plastic. Cocobolo and Ebony woods respond very well to the same sanding and finishing treatment as the plastic.
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WWW .NORTHWESTWOODTURNERS .COM
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HALLOWED HALLS … ONE OF MANY … BILL WOODS Bill Wood: Extraordinarily resourceful wood worker
Bill has installed a heating system that keeps the shop livable in the dead of winter and cuts down significantly on the heating bill ... warmth coming from under the cement floor. (the only caveat ... spiders hide in the spot between the cement edge and the wall ... they seem to know a good thing)! His has installed pedals to replace the hand buttons to start each of his motor pow-ered machines as a safeguard. Two huge ventilators capture the dust; even a canopy behind his table saw catches the sawdust. He balances a ladder to his attic water tank with a counter weight system that raises it out of the way when not needed. He has a great way to store bits: holes drilled in Plexiglas shelves on either side of a dust collector topped with the metal saw and drawers below. Even the outlets are pull downs from the high ceilings; out of the way and readily available, although he did put 20 on one wall, one on EACH stud ... making it easy to move machines and plug in anywhere. Bill stores all his air tools on a rack
Bill uses an old Navy Pattern makers lathe, circa 1930’s, with a belt driven headstock, complete with wooden bed and a tool rest that requires two banjos to support! WOW!
OUR FEBRUARY DEMONSTRATOR … JOE CORNETT FROM ROCKLER
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Joe will talk to us about finishes. He is also the Finish Expert at Rockler.
The beginning portion of his talk will center on discussing the following .
Joe says there are three questions to ask yourself when you are selecting a finish: 1. What protection do I need? 2. What do I want the finish to look like? 3. How do I want to apply the finish?
The second part of his talk will center on coloring: pigment vs dye. Most importantly he will demo both types of finishes. He suggests you come armed with your questions. Joe emphasizes safety. He will also discuss important safety issues:
“Always follow ALL manufacturer's safety procedures. These are some important safety tips.”
Properly dispose of oily rags. Lay them out on the edge of the workbench or shop floor to dry. Always maintain adequate ven-tilation in your work area. Wear nitrile gloves when using solvents, stains and finishes. Wear a respirator when spraying a fin-ish or stain.
FRED KLINE & JERRY KELLER… OUR NWWT OFFICIAL GREETERS
Fred and Jerry have graciously volunteered to be our official greeters. We want newcomers whether visitors or potential new members to feel at home when they visit our meetings and to understand what is going on.
Fred and Jerry will tell the visitor about our various activities, our past, present and future demonstrators, our classes and all the activities our members are part of such as helping to teach at the Sherwood High School.
Joe can explain the format of the meetings, Owen can talk about the My Family site. Richard can talk about the demonstra-tors and classes. We hope each of our members will help new members to feel that they too can be a part of this well knit com munity of wood turners and enjoy sharing in our activities.
OUR APRIL DEMONSTRATOR … PHIL LAPP
with quick disconnects so the tool hangs. Convenient, but also this configu-ration allows him to apply a drop of oil prior to putting the tool away - the oil naturally flows to the working internal parts. Brilliant! This is a roomy shop with everything in its place and a place for everything. What a total joy to work in.
Phil Lapp April demonstrator
You are in for an interesting and exciting evening. How many of you have given up on a good piece of wood because of serious
flaws you see in it? Learn how to resurrect that hunk of wood into something special.
Phil Lapp will be doing an interactive presentation. All members are invited to bring a piece of wood that you really want to turn; but have decided it is not possible because of some problem within the wood ... Does it have a saw cut down the middle? Are their cracks or splits ? Are there knots or knot holes? Is there spalting or punky sections? Phil will check each piece of wood and explain how to make the piece into an interesting turning. After this lively discussion, he will choose one of the pieces and turn it for all the members to see how to overcome these problems. Phil uses multi centers, and all sorts of interest-ing tricks to rescue a fine piece of wood and create an interesting turning from one that seems impossible.
Phil requests that you not bring fully prepared blanks; but rather an interesting and challenging piece that will fit on the lathe.
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NORTHWEST WOOD TURNERS TOOL EXCHANGE
The January swap meet is really a great NWWT tradition.
The Swap Meet has been very well received in the past and this January was no exception. Not lim-ited to tools; members brought a variety of interesting stuff to sell; trade and even give away. As you know, The club doesn't have any part of the transactions, it's strictly between members.
This year something new was added … mini demos. Joe Jedrychowski demonstrated coring, Dave Maguire demonstrated Bob Tuck’s roughing tool, and Mike Meredith demonstrated sharpening. Lots of answers and still more questions.
We were happy to see several members of the Willamette turning club join us for the evening ac-tivities.
We hope you enjoyed visiting with your friends. Did you discover that prefect item or items that were exactly what you needed? Did you bring your stuff for other members to find neat stuff that they need or always wanted? I looked for the Chinese Ball (sphere) turning tools; but they were not a part of the selections … should have gotten them last year.
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We recently heard Don Derry give a talk on design at the Cascade Turners. He directed his talk to thinking members. He opened with the question of "Why do we like stuff and why we do not like stuff”. In order to form an opinion of our likes and dislikes we must be AWARE of our surroundings. He started by showing a number of photos of different styles of bicycles. Our opinions did not include the efficiency of the vehicles or how they were put together or how well they worked ... just what they looked like. Some we liked, some we didn’t, illustrating that taste is very personal particularly when it is based on emotion.
Practice observation to really see things. David Williams talked about the outline of mountains against the sky. I thought of the chimney pots in Paris that I found fascinating, each unique in style and form, some leaning, some straight up tall, some squat and all boasting their own coloring outlined against the morning sky. We both liked the patterns they presented. I remember that years ago in art class, we students were required to differentiate between 15-16 shades of gray and more than sixty tones of color. These exercises sharpened our viewing powers because we really had to focus or after a while they became fuzzy and began to look alike. Observation helps us to define forms we really like and forms we don't particularly like because we begin focusing and paying attention.
This what I am asking you to do. Continue observing. As you go about your daily life, focus on objects in your environment and really see: the leaves on a tree, the dogs ears, your car, your neighbor's truck. Start distinguishing shapes. Start forming an opin-ion of what forms you like and others you don't care about. Now comes the big question, why are you drawn to some shapes and not to others. Look at your household items, cups, bowls, etc. Which ones are pleasing and which ones are just so-so. This type of observation can then be applied as you look at your own turnings and those of others.
Take the time to think about WHY your attention was drawn to that object, action or whatever. Learn what makes you like something or dislike something. Design implies setting parameters and meeting them. Use your new knowledge of what designs in nature and from others you like and dislike to build parameters for your own work.
I still think of an exercise in another class. We were told to bring a familiar object. From the description we were given, I thought of a used band-aid or maybe a cigarette butt. I settled on a piece of torn corrugated cardboard I found in the waste can. Around 25 of us sat on the tables arranged in a semi-circle in a large ceramics room. An empty chair was placed in the center facing us. We all took our turn in the chair showing each other our object. The students, all very serious, asked questions. One fellow showed his chipped coffee cup. I, my cardboard. One person asked why I liked it. I said it had a sort of memory, I could bend it into different shapes and it returned to almost its original configuration. I also liked the texture. Another asked if I would change the color (dirty tan). I said yes, I think I would color it. Another asked what else I would do with it. I said I would poke holes in it. We were all very serious as our objects were passed from one person to the next. Each one bent my little piece of cardboard and a couple of girls poked holes in it. When it arrived to the instructor, he spent some time bending and examining it and announced, “It's a very nice piece of cardboard”.
What did I learn about my tastes in objects with this exercise. I like movement in objects, I like color, I like designs that have holes and are not flat. All objects have merit. Quite a lot from one little piece of corrugated card board. The parameters I used were movement-action, color, texture, and curvilinear and this is what I try to do with my sculpture. From the others in the class, I learned that each of us has our own likes and dislikes and that they are very personal to us.
You do not have to bend cardboard to check on your attitudes about shapes and forms; but you do have to continue observing. This may be on the level of an emotional response whether it be to color, shape and texture. Your parameters can also be on a mechanical level ... how the parts fit together and how the piece works.
People react to design from within the confines of their own biases, knowledge, understanding, experience etc. They do not nec-essarily respond logically, but almost always will respond emotionally, and therefore responses may be illogical, not based on reason. The emotional response will be influenced by their own experiences which you as a designer may know nothing about - therefore each individual response to a design is an unknown. Base your design on your OWN experiences and understandings and parameters, others will respond in like to their own experiences.
Phil Lapp will talk at the March meeting. He will demonstrate how to make great pieces from wood that many of us would toss in the fireplace. Look at the pieces you bring for him to convert into a desirable piece before and after.
Look at the pieces our members bring to Show and Tell, and see which ones you are drawn to and which ones you pass over. Enjoy this excellent opportunity to learn about yourself and the types of forms that turn you on or off. Barb Hall
PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN … ENHANCE YOUR CREATIVITY
TIME TO RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP
VOLUME 16, ISSUE 2 PAGE 7
BUSINESS ADS
OUR NEWEST BUSINESS PARTNER: ROCKLER WOODWORKING & HARDWARE
We welcome Rockler Woodworking and Hardware as our newest business member. In 1954 Nordy Rockler started a mail order woodworking supply company in Minneapolis. In 1997 the Beaverton Rockler store opened its doors. Through the past years the store has evolved into one of the top performing stores in the Company. Our members have enjoyed Rockler in-store demos and classes. Our February speaker is Joe Cornett, the Rockler Store Manager who is a finish expert as well as being very knowledgeable in general woodworking. You all know Chris Nilluka, the stores Assistant Manager and have seen his excellent turned pieces in our Show and Tell. Wood turners are given a 10% discount on purchases. Rockler also gener-ously donates gift coupons, (the $ amount based on NWWT member purchases at the store) that we award to the winners of the Challenge; but you must remind the salesperson that you are a member of the NWWT, not the Guild.
You met Les Dougherty and his wife Susan Curington of North Woods at the January meeting. Susan told you a little about their business that specializes in Figured Big Leaf Maple, Mad-rone and White Oak. They want to remind you about the open house March 12th. 9-5 Susan and Les
The dues are $30.00 per year, and can be paid at the meeting, on the web site or by mailing payment to the treasurer, Mike Meredith. Family memberships are $45. Business memberships are $60 per year and include a copy of your busi-
ness card in the Newsletter. Payments can be paid through PAYPAL. $31.25 [email protected]. Some email addresses have been changed, please update so we can contact you. Many thanks
PAGE 8 VOLUME 16, ISSUE 2
SHOW AND TELL … NEW FORMAT
David Williams has graciously furnished us with the names of the Cascade demonstrators for the next three months of the New Year. We have agreed to publish the names of all area demonstrators to offer members the greatest opportunity to take advan-tage of special turning hints and training that will help all of us to better our products.
February: Eric Lofstrom Jewelry piece
March: John Jordon Sculpture Demo Classes
April: Denise De Rose Purses
Terry Gerros furnished us with the names of the next three months Willamette demonstrators.
February: Nick Stagg Turning inside bowls
March: Reed Gray Turn a bowl from a cube on the bias next day: Bowl Coring Saturday Sawdust: @ Terry Gerros shop (503) 580 5013
April: Dave Schweitzer Hollow forms & flutes Friday all day demo Sat. Sun. works
We have changed the format of the Show and Tell. Why should you participate? We want it to be a fun learning experience for you who create the pieces and those of you who look at them. Creators will bring their turnings to the display area before the meeting. At the first break midway during the demonstrator’s talk, we ask all creators with pieces on display to come to the display area and stand by your piece. All inter-ested members who want to know more are requested to come and discuss the pieces with each of you.
Communication can be very meaningful. You, the creator will learn how others feel about your work, what they like, perhaps don’t like, give suggestions, and perhaps different ways to use a certain technique . It is a great way to teach other members how to try some of the effects you have produced. This way we all can learn. This two way conversation can be very benefi-cial to creator and want-to-be creator. As the creator of the piece you have gained insight into how others react to your piece. This can be invaluable training over time for adding the effects people like on your own pieces. It can also give you some in-sight on what to add to more readily sell your pieces. This should be fun and is definitely not a pressure situation.
Directions: Enter your name, the name of your creation, and the material it’s made of on the white paper accompanying your piece. Check the challenge box ONLY if you want to enter your piece in the Challenge to have it judged, and put your piece on the Challenge table. This critical review is reserved only for those pieces that are entered in the Challenge.
W ILLAMETTE VALLEY ’S DEMONSTRATORS
CASCADE WOODTURNERS DEMONSTRATORS
The Greater Vancouver Woodturners Guild GVWG is offering an associate membership to members of other woodturning guilds located outside the Metro Vancouver area (aka the Greater Vancouver Regional District). In the past, we would occa-sionally notify other non-members of the GVWG about visiting demonstrators and related classes, only after our members had received several weeks advance notice. Then if non-members wanted to register for a class, they could only enroll within 2 weeks before the class date (if spaces were available) and were required to pay an extra fee of $30 in addition to the course fee.
Now, for an annual fee of $12, the GVWG will forward our monthly newsletter to all associate members at the same time as the GVWG members. The newsletter or other advance notices will be sent to all for the (usually) Saturday demonstrations by visiting demonstrators. They will also be allowed to participating in the day long workshops following; usually held on Sundays. Cost for the demos is $30 in a classroom setting and the workshops are $160 with a maximum of 6 attendees.
You can check out our web site at http://www.gvwg.ca
Peter McLaren
THE GREATER VANCOUVER WOODTURNERS GUILD
PAGE 9 VOLUME 16, ISSUE 2
EDITOR’S NOTE
Date Class/Demo Location Time
2/05 Carving Marionettes demo Woodcrafters 10:00AM-3.00PM
2/06 Pen Turning Woodcraft *1:00-4:00PM
2/12 Turn Bottle Tops Woodcraft *10:00 AM-2:00PM
2/12 Power Carving: eagle head demo Woodcrafters 10:00AM-3.00PM
2/19 Off Center Lathe Turning demo Woodcrafters 10:00AM-3:00PM
2/26 Beginning Lathe Turning Woodcraft *10:00AM-4:00PM
2/26 Salt and Pepper Demo Rockler 9:30AM-11:30AM
2/27 Beginning Bowl Turning Woodcraft *10:00AM-40:00PM
Many other fine classes and demos are available from your local stores: Woodcraft Store at (503) 684-1428 Email [email protected] Woodcrafters Store at (503) 231-0226 Web page http://woodcrafters.us/ craft supplies Rockler Store at (503) 672-7266 Email [email protected] *Fee: students should bring chucks, sharpened turning tools, safety gear. Turning materi-als provided
Submissions to the newsletter are due by the 20th of the month. Articles, tips, web links, classified ads, or other items pertaining to woodturning are welcome.
Barbara Hall Newsletter Editor Phone: (503) 649-5581 E-mail: [email protected] All other business should be directed to:
Northwest Woodturners 13500 SW Pacific Hwy #185 Tigard, OR 97223
LOCAL EVENTS, CLASSES, AND DEMO ’S
MEETING SCHEDULE FOR 2011
Key: H1 Hands-on class Friday H2 Hands-on classes Friday and Sunday H3 Three day Hands-on class D Saturday Demo
Jan 2011Annual Swap Meet + mini demos July 2011
Feb 2011Joe Cornett (Finishing) Aug 2011 Picnic/Wood Auction
Mar 2011 To be announced (Bob Rosand cancelled family illness) Sep 2011Christian Burchard (Sculpture) H2 D
Apr 2011 Phil Lapp (Wood) Oct 2011
May 2011 Jim Hall (Carving) D Nov 2011 Selling your work/Member Auction
Jun 2011 Mitch Patton (Pens) Dec 2011 Christmas Party
As we all know, wood turning is messy. It leaves vast amounts of wood shaving all over everywhere. Well, one way to corral the shavings is to get some screening around your lathe so that the shaving cannot escape into the far reaches of your shop. What I have done is to get some "sun screen" from a local nursery supply store and had it cut into the widths and lengths that I wanted and had them put grommets where I wanted in the screen. The screen, cut, and with grommets is really quite inexpen-sive. The screen is a black, relatively fine, nylon netting.
On each end of the screen I "Zip Tie" a PVC pipe. I then hang small pulleys on the ceiling where I want the screen to hang and then put a set of pulleys into the wall. From the PVC pipe I tie a cord, run it through each of the pulleys and tie it off. When I want the screen down, I just let it down and when it is to be up out of the way I just pull it up via the pulleys. I also hang some weights to the bottom of the screen where I have attached another PVC pipe so that the screen will hang straight. Then on turning, the shavings coming off the wood hit the screen and fall to the floor. I then have them corralled where I can easily sweep them up. Makes for a less messy shop. Not clean, just less messy.
TURNER TIPS BY JIM HALL
13500 SW Pacific Hwy, #185
Tigard, OR 97223
CLASSIFIED ADS
Show your NWWT Membership Card to receive a discount of your purchase at Gilmer’s, Rockler, Woodcraft, Woodcrafters, NorthWoods sand Crosscut Hardwoods. Membership has benefits.
Guidelines for Classified Ads: Ads will run for three consecutive months. Please submit your ad by the 20th of the month. The Editor takes no responsibility for spelling or grammatical errors. All woodworking items, for sale or wanted, are welcome.
Maple Harvest January 29,2011
Thanks to Joe for photos from the maple harvest this morning. Gary Sundquist, Glenn Burki, Jim Hall, and Joe Jedrychowski met in Oregon City to capture some very wet maple from Jim's neighbor. Loren Olsen joined us later and as you can see there were logs as large as any two people could handle. Weather conditions could not have been better. Four crotch pieces will be part of the raffle at the Thursday Feb. 3rd meeting.
