Wednesday December 15 2021
Holiday Party - Show & Tell and Gift Exchange

The holiday party was an in person event. There was light food and beverages. Members turnings were shown then presented in a 'show and  tell'. The highlight of the evening was the gift exchange. By random choice each giver gave to a recipient who in turn gave to another.
See photos of the gift exchange
See Show & Tell

Wednesday November 17 2021
Demonstration: Hinged box by Claude Godcharles

Claude demoed the hinged box. He turned the bottom and fitted the bottom part of the hinge. He finished with a pre-made top (to save time) which he had colored. We had a bonus demo on coloring (stain or paint then sand to show the grain).

See photos of the demo       

See Show & Tell

Wednesday October 20 2021
Post Covid Show & Tell and President's Challenge

It was time to show woodturnings created during the Covid lockdown.
And what a show it was. There was no program in October. Showing our year-long accomplishments was entertaining enough.

See the woodturners       See the woodturnings

Monday September 13 2021
Milk paint demonstration by Kalia Kliban
In person monthly meeting

Kalia Kliban is a woodturner/artist who uses milk paint extensively to embellish her turnings. Milk paint provides a hard durable surface but should be topped with a clear finish.
Kalia showed images of finished products indicating the pleasant look that milk paint provides.
She mixed a smal batch from powder, then applied to a surface. She showed how interesting effects can be produced with textured surfaces. She showed examples of some of the products she uses.

See images from the demonstration
Milk paint demo handout

Tuesday August 10 2021 - In person picnic at Cuesta Park

Photos of Show & Tell

Monday July 7 2021 - Show & Tell and president's challenge

Photos of Show & Tell

Wednesday June 2 2021
Program:Walking Bowls by Rebecca DeGroot

Rebecca showed how to make a bowl with spider legs.
It seemed that this would be an improbable project both artistically and structurally, but she pulled it off ending with a showy and sound product. Her ceativity was on display, making legs with strong glue joints that look good.
Photos of Rebecca's presentation

Monday June 14 2021 - Show & Tell and president's challenge

Photos of Show & Tell

Wednesday June 23 2021 - Sawdust Session

Photos of the sawdust session

Monday May 10 2021
Program: Bowl in a Bowl by Tod Raines

Tod showed us the making of a bowl-in-a-bowl turning using one piece of wood.
It was a three step process with clear instruction for each step.
The final product is a beautiful work of art to be raffled by club members.

Photos of Tod's May 10 presentation

Wednesday May 5 2021 - Show & Tell

Photos of Show & Tell

Wednesday, April 7 2021
Program: Viking Sunset Bowls by Nick Agar

Mark is a master of embellishment. Starting with a bowl blank, he created in just two hours a piece of art worth $525.
It auctioned for that. He showed us a combination of turning, texturing and painting to create a work of art.

Photos of Nick's April 7 presentation

Monday April 12 2021 - Show & Tell

Photos of the show & tell

Wednesday, March 8 2021
Program: GluBoost by Mark Dreyer

Mark showed us how to use GluBoost as a very good finish. Apply the blue and then the orange. Apply it, then use the accelerant. Quick and easy, he showed us. Not as good as a cement/glue, we learned.

Photos of Mark's presentation

Wednesday March 3 2021 - Show & Tell

Photos of the show & tell

Wednesday March 17 2021 - Sawdust Session

Photos of the sawdust session

Wednesday, February 3 2021
Program: Cindy Drozda - Twisted Box

Cindy reminded us why we like watching her demos. with transparency, she explained in detail, showed the process and left us with detailed instructions/notes.

Photos of Cindy's February 3 presentation
Cindy's notes...how to make a twisted box
Downloadable PDF of Cindy's notes
Cindy's website

Wednesday February 8 2021 - Show & Tell

Photos of the show.

Wednesday February 17 2021 - Sawdust Session

Photos of the sawdust session.

Wednesday January 6 2021 - Show & Tell

Photos of the show.

Wednesday, January 11 2021
Program: Don Pettit from Wine Country Woodturners
Quickly dry green wood with various materials

Don Pettit from Wine Country Woodturners presented results of his research on how to dry green wood. Drying agents include salt, silica gel and cat litter among others. Interesting and informative. Thank you, Don.
See Don's presentation

Wednesday January 20 2021 - Sawdust Session

Photos of the sawdust session.

Wednesday, December 2 2020
Program: Thin Stemmed Goblet by Don Bonnett

No one slept through this demo. We were on the edge of our seats waiting for Don to cut through the goblet stem. But that was what it was about: how to turn a goblet and stem without disaster. Thank you Don for showing us the way.
See Don's presentation

Wednesday December 9 2020
Segmenters meeting - “Pieces yhat inspire you”

Photos of the segmenters session

Show & Tell - Wednesday December 14

Photos of the show.

Wednesday December 23 - Sawdust Session

Photos of the sawdust session.

Show & Tell - Wednesday November 4

Photos of the show.

Monday, November 9
Program: Introduction to segmenting

Jim gave a complete review of segementing with photos followed by a complete 'how to' of segmenting. For beginners this created a foundation for doing it. For others it created a review and up to date advice on segmenting.

See Jim's presentation

Wednesday November 18 - Sawdust session

Photos of the sawdust session.

Program - Wednesday, October 7
Demo by Michael Alguire - “Wheel of Delicacy”

Michael demonstrated how to create his intricate signature piece “Wheel of Delicacy” with the step- by- step process of prepping and turning the blank, sanding, then aligning the pieces for glue-up.


See Michael's presentation

Show & Tell - Monday, October 12

Photos of the show.

Wednesday October 14
Jigs/fixtures for segmented work

Photos of segmentation jigs and fixtures.

Show & Tell - Wednesday September 2

Photos of the show.

Wednesday September 9
Segmenters meeting - “How did you do that?”
Coordinated by David Vannier

Dave Vannier and Tom Kenyon showed us each of their processes of creating unique segmented turnings.
Wow! How did you do that?

This virtual Zoom meeting was co-hosted by WBW & SVW moderated by Bob Bley
Photos of the segmentation process

Monday September 14
Photo Editing by Mike Lanahan

Mike grew up in a photography darkroom. So he has a built in interest and skill as a photographer. But instead of a darkroom his modern preference to photo manipulation is Adobe Lightroom. He showed us the features and ease of use of Lighroom. You can adjust Exposure, contrast, highlights, shadow, whites, blacks, etc. You can crop, rotate and other adjustments. If you use it, a good bargain at $10/month.

Photos of Mike's presentation

Wednesday September 23 - Sawdust session

Photos of the sawdust session.

Show & Tell - Monday August 10

This virtual Zoom meeting was co-hosted by WBW & SVW moderated by Greg Peck
Photos of the show.

Wednesday August 5
Art Liestman Demo on Therming

Art Liestman, woodturner, master of 'therming'.
After being used to all woodturnings being round, Art's demo was a refreshing awakening to the idea that other shapes may be created. All have arcs of an incomplete circle which make them particularly interesting and attractive. Art showed us how to do it. All of this from his shop in in Coquitlam, British Columbia, via Zoom.
His website

This virtual Zoom meeting was co-hosted by WBW & SVW moderated by Bob Bley
See some of Art's presentation

Sawdust session - Wednesday August 19

This virtual Zoom meeting was co-hosted by WBW & SVW moderated by Mike Lanahan.
Photos of the sawdust session.

Show & Tell - Wednesday July 1

This virtual Zoom meeting was co-hosted by WBW & SVW
Photos of the show.

Program - Monday July 27
Craig Timmerman - Turning a torus

Originally planned for July 13, Craig was rescheduled for July27.
Craig demonstrated the turning of a decorative and functional torus. A torus is a doughnut shape which in this case stood on edge and functioned as a bud vase. His process was well thought out and highly instructive. His audio/video setup was professional and seamless.
He has blessed us with a resource list available to WBW members.
His website

This virtual Zoom meeting was co-hosted by WBW & SVW
See some snap-shots from his presentation

Sawdust session - Wednesday July 15

This virtual Zoom meeting was co-hosted by WBW & SVW
Photos of the sawdust session.

Virtual Show & Tell - Wednesday June 3 2020

The May meeting was held Virtually via Zoom.
This virtual Zoom meeting was co-hosted by WBW & SVW and moderated by Greg Peck.

See photos of the turnings shown.

Program - Monday June 8 Jon Sauer - Ornamental turning & shop tour

This demonstrated the advantage of a virtual meeting. We could not have fit all of us into Jon's shop for a demo. But there we were, looking at his beautiful machines and watching him turn sample roses.
Jon started with a slide show with images of award winning pieces and photos of his machinery. Shortly we were acutually in his shop. He explained the way each machine operates to create the ornamental imagery. These machines are complicated and being there (virtually) with Jon pointing to the parts and showing us how they move made it almost understandable. Thank you, Jon. Many of us are grateful that you finally explained 'what is ornamental turning?' and 'how does a rose engine work?

See photos of the program

Sawdust session - Wednesday June 17 2020

This virtual Zoom meeting was co-hosted by WBW & SVW and moderated by Mike Lanahan.

Photos of the sawdust session.

May 2020 - Virtual Show & Tell of members turnings

The May meeting was held Virtually via Zoom.
This meeting was co-hosted by Silicon Valley Woodturners and West Bay Woodturners on the first Wednesday in May.

The complete photo set

May 2020 Program - Stone Inlay by Bob Bley

The May meeting was held Virtually via Zoom. This meeting was co-hosted by Silicon Valley Woodturners and West Bay Woodturners on the second Monday in May.

Bob presented a comprehensive tutorial on creating a stone inlay in a wood truning. He started by describing stone, how to get it, how to prepare it, how to store it. He described how to carve a design into a turning, how to place the stone into the wood and how to cement the stone to the wood. Following that he showed grinding and sanding the stone flush with the surface. Finishing was discussed. The result was interesting and artistic.

The program consisted of a slide presentation and a hands on view of Bob creating a piece in his shop.

The slide presentation

Aditional action photos of the process.

April 2020 - Virtual Show & Tell of members turnings

Blackwood puzzle box
by Jon S

Tom G's Covid19 series
is growing

Claude's planting dibbers
 

Apricot mushroom by Kelly S
 

See the complete photo set

March 2020 - No meeting in March due to COVID-19
Instead see a virtual Show & Tell of members turnings

Olive hollow form
by Dennis L

Olive
by Kelly S

Redwood burl
by Bob B

Ornamental Turnings
by Jon S

See the complete photo set

February 2020 - Spherical hollow form with the bark on top
and turning with the foot smaller than the chuck

Bob showed us the procedure for turning the spherical with bark. Then he focused on turning the foot smaller than the chuck.

See meeting photos.

January 2020 - Dave Vannier on the Andi Wolfe process

It was about embellishment. Dave used a technique shown to us by Andi Wolfe during her march demonstration. The process employs turning, pyrography and coloring to create a work of art.

See meeting photos.

December 2019 - Holiday Party and Gift Exchange

Appetizers, dinner and gift exchange makes this our special holiday event each year.
It also gives everyone a chance to socialize. Special this year was wood; wood left from Barry and Laura's stash.

And to top it off, some of us got turnings started by Barry which we will finish to show in January.

See the gift exchange photos.

November 2019 - Christmas Ornament Bird Houses by Dennis Lillis

Bird houses have a sweet look that make them perfect for ornaments... and...Dennis showed us how to do it. Round a piece of wood, shape it, hollow it, create a roof ridge line and you're done...almost. There are options of color, snow, hangers and birds to name a few.

A series of photos seen here shows more of how he did it

See the meeting photos.

October 2019 - Crochet Hooks by Mike Lanahan

Mike Lanahan - master of crochet hooks
Mike spent the evening getting us hooked on crochet hooks.
Mike made the point that crochet hooks are symbiotic to pepper grinders.
If you will remember, Mike is also master of pepper grinders.
Another point, wooden crochet hooks are 'feel good' in the hooker's hands.
'Commercial metal hooks are cold, soulless, and not friendly for long use or arthritic hands.
Fiber artists appreciate the craftsmanship and warmth of handmade wood hooks.'
See Mike's presentation
See the meeting photos.

September 2019 - Small work by Harvey Klein

Harvey Klein, master of miniatures.
Harvey displayed a large number of small pieces which he created. He talked about and radiated the fun and satisfaction of doing small work. He showed tools he had made suitable for small turning. It seemed that repurposed Allen wrenches were his favorite.
He turned a small vase, hollowed and finished in short order. A small project, finished quickly and well done.

See the meeting photos.

August 2019 - Club Picnic/BBQ

The picnic/BBQ was held in conjunction with Silicon Valley Woodturners at Nonno's restaurant in the hills of Los Gatos. This year was different because we met on Wednesday, we shared the event with our SVW freinds and we met at a restaurant. But those skeptics among us were pleasantly surprised by the fun that was had by all. Pizza and salad was served, beer, wine and lemonade flowed and there was a contest among those that brought turnings. The weather was hot, but we met in a shady, pleasant area and we were comfortable. This event was especially nice because there was time to spend with other turners without the meeting pressure.
See the competition photos.

July 2019 - Ice cream social & hands on turning

Laura opened the meeting with club notes.
Several show and tell items were presented.
There was no president's challenge.
The rest of the meeting consisted of turn and learn...
Bob Bley demoed hollowing of a large redwood burl. Several club members gave it a try.
Barry Uden demoed sharpening on CBN and Tormek using tools supplied by various members.
Jon Bishop demoed buffing using the Beall system.
Barry Uden demoed bowl turning techniques, including scraping with negative rake, shear scraping, and the use of a bowl gouge.
The ice cream was enjoyed by all!
See meeting photos

May 2019 Meeting: Jim Rodgers - Embellishments - Overview of Techniques

We are fortunate to have Jim with us for two sessions on embellishment of woodturnings. Jim directs the Diablo Woodturning Center for the Mt. Diablo Unified School District's Adult Education Division. He is a member of the Bay Area Woodturners Association.
In May he did a comprehensive Power Point presentation of examples of creating objects of art from woodturnings through various techniques. This presentation showed the best of turned wood art available today.
See the complete presentation Here.
At the June meeting he will show us how to do it.
See meeting photos here

April 2019 Meeting: Turning a pen by Gordon Patnude

Gordon made a very comprehensive presentation of how to create a pen with a turned barrel. He started by listing the toools needed: saw, lathe, mandrels and bushings. He described the turning tools needed. Next came the pen blanks...wood or other material. Then the machining, tubes, more machining and turning. Sanding and finishing is the next step. Finally, the pen parts and blanks are assembled.
See his presentation here - downloadable PDF
See meeting photos here

March 2019 - Making a Beads of Courage Box by Bob Gerenser & Mike Lanahan

Bob and Mike described the contribution we can make to the Beads of Courage program and they provided instructions on how to make Beads of courage boxes.

What is the Beads of Courage program and how does one make the boxes? here
See show & tell and president's challenge photos here

Febuary 2019 meeting: Dave Vannier - Beading/Basket Illusion

Dave described and showed us the process of creating basket illusion. His process is:
Turn the form
Apply the beads
Darken the channels
Pick your pattern
Add index lines
Burn the lines
Scrub the pencil lines
Add color
See show & tell and pres chal photos here
See basket illusion program photos here

January 2019 meeting: Review of holiday party gift turnings

A selection of gifts from the December holiday party were shown by their creators. Bob, Bud, Don, Gordon, Jon, Larry and Tom described the pieces they made and how they made them. Each description was equivalent to a short demonstration. We got our money's worth.

See Meeting photos here

See featured holiday gifts here

December 2018 meeting: Holiday party and gift exchange

A collection of gifts, a tree with ornaments, a table with food, a lifetime honorary member award to Peter Pipe and a group of hungry woodturners with spouses and friends is all it took to make a great holiday party. Appetizers were served at 6:30, dinner at 7 followed by the ornament raffle and gift exchange.
The ornaments and gifts were of very high quality, evidence of much effort and skill on the part of the contributors.
See Meeting photos here

November 2018 meeting: Barry Uden - Natural edge with bark

October 2018 meeting: Harvey Klein - Christmas ornaments

Harvey made two ornaments, a snow-man and a bell. He showed us the tools he uses, how to chuck, how to decorate, how to finish and connection details.
His finish was a combination of shellac, alcohol and linseed oil.
His paint was purchased at Michael's (see photo).
Thanks Harvey. You gave us great incentive.
See demo photos here
See Meeting photos here

September 2018 meeting: Mark Koenig on sharpening

Mark gave us a tutorial on sharpening.
What kind of grinding wheels are used?
At what angle should the gouge be ground?
How does one measure that angle?
If you use a jig, how should it be set?
There were many questions answered if one listened carefully.

See Meeting photos here

August 2018 meeting: Annual West Bay Woodturners Barbeque

The annual Club BBQ was again successful and fun.
This was our chance to meet socially and talk among ourselves about our turning experiences. The food was excellent thanks to Cutis Vose and others. Cuesta Park was a very pleasant venue.

See other photos here

July 2018 meeting: Shapes and forms by Jim Rogers

Jim reminded us of the importance of shapes and forms to the look and acceptance of our work. He provided a review of work from earlier times. It is amazing how well the principles of form were understood from an earlier time. We have different perceptions of the sames art pieces, but basic principles are constant. The 'Golden Mean' is basic, but do we make measurements?

Click here to see Jim's summary of design elements. It is worth a review.

See the president's challenge and show and tell here

June 2018 meeting: First Aid for Woodturners by Tom Gaston

This is one of those subjects you hope you don't need the information, but when you do, it will be vitally important. That being said, pay attention to the prevention list. We wear our safety glasses but do we wear hearing protection. Can we hear advice about hearing protection?
First aid for the eye. Lacerations and abrasions. Punctures and splinters. Amputation! Yikes! Do I really want to turn wood?

President's challenge, show & tell here

Click here for Tom's first aid presentation.

May 2018 meeting: Coloring Projects by Harvey Klein

Harvey's demonstration was an exercise/instruction in using alcohol based dyes. His idea is to use dyes to decorate turnings, but do it in a spirit of enjoyment. Experiment, try different ideas, use them in an environment of imaginative thinking. There is little harm in mistakes because the dying is reversible with alcohol. He showed us the dying process using several samples. Use gloves to avoid dyed fingers. Use small jars for mixing small amounts and for adding alcohol. Mix colors (remember the color wheel). Different woods take the dyes differently. Try it, you'll like it.

President's challenge and show & tell: here

April 2018 meeting: Finish bottom hollow form by Claude Godcharles

Does this presenter look familiar? Claude was here in February to show us how to hollow the bottom of this vase and prepare a bottom plug. The plug was glued to the bottom. Claude centered the piece in the lathe, bottom exposed. Then he cleaned the glue joint and trued the bottom tenon. Then he turned the piece around exposing the neck of the vase. He drilled a hole into the neck to connect to the hollow of the vase. This hole may be tapered, the neck turned down and the bottom tenon removed in subsequent steps.

President's challenge and show & tell: here

March 2018 meeting: Turning Green Wood Thin Wall Bowls by Dennis Lillis

Dennis can turn them thin. Really thin! It takes green wood, a sharp tool and a steady hand. Not to mention experience in having done it before.
Start at the rim, go down an inch or so. Make multiple cuts until that part is thin. Then continue toward the bottom in steps until finished. But don't go back because the part toward the rim will distort. Go back and there's trouble.
The result is a beautiful, thin, light weight bowl. It may even be translucent and transmit light.

President's challenge and show & tell: here

When the top of the vase has an opening too small for hollowing, the turner must then hollow from the bottom of the piece. The trick is then to plug the bottom hole. That is best done with a piece from the same wood so as to hide the entry hole. Claude showed us how to do that.
Clever as he is, the piece shown had almost no clue that he had hollowed from the bottom.

Nice going Claude. Now, maybe we can do it, too.

President's challenge and show & tell: here

January featured the showing of gifts from our December gift exchange. Those who made the gifts then described for us how they made them. This gave us all a chance to better view the gifts and gave us an insight into how to make them.
See the show and tell here

December 2017 meeting: Holiday party and gift exchange

November 2017 meeting: Richard Winslow - Ornaments

It is a wooden ball, 3" in diameter, made of contrasting wooden segments, turned on a lathe.
It is complicated, yet simple and Richard showed us how to do it.
Using 3/4 by 1.5 inch contrasting wood strips, glued with veneer accent, the resulting pieces are cut into segments and then reassembled. They are turned in two halves and assembled into a beautiful ornament ball.

November meeting photos

October 2017 meeting: Guy Michaels - Alabaster forms

Alabaster is the stone of choice.
An excellent dust collection system is required.
A wood ring bonded to the stone works well and looks good. The wood is segmented and pieced so that no end grain is exposed, otherwise absorbed moisture will cause the wood to detach fron the stone.
The form of the piece is of great importance.

October meeting photos

September 2017 meeting: Jay Perrine - Spaltologist - Spalted wood and dyes for spalted wood

"Spalting is defined as any color occurrung inside wood that is caused by a fungus or fungi. Spalted wood is wood colonized by very specific types of fungi. These fungi make black lines, beautiful colors and lightened bleached area on deciduous wood."
"Calling wood spalted instead of rotten indicates that the decay has been halted before significant mass loss has occurred. Spalting implies that a certain usefulness remains in the wood."
In addition to describing the physics of spalting, Jay told us of a technique to prepare dyes from the fungi which is used to color the spalting in the wood.

September meeting photos

Asked to bring "your favorite tool" we saw a variety. From the more traditional, but very servicable, hand held cutting tools, to the more unusual powered high speed carving and routing tools. It was a good to see what others are doing.

July meeting photos

How does one hold a piece for turning? A simple question with many answers especially when trying to finish the bottom of a piece mostly completed using a standard scroll chuck or faceplate.
One big question: 'Should I use a vacuum chuck or a jam chuck?' This will be answered by the preference and the pocketbook of the turner.
We also saw Cole jaws, Longworth style chuck, donut chuck among others.
Thank you to those who particpated and demonstrated.

May 2017 meeting:
Filling cracks with crushed stone by Bud Trapp

Quite often, cracks become a big problem for the woodturner. But what may be a disaster can become a feature by filling with crushed stone. The process becomes one of selecting the stone, sizing it, preparing the crack, adding the stone to the crack, cementing the stone and grinding it to a suitable surface. Thank you, Bud for a comprehensive review of the process.

April 2017 meeting:
Ice Cream Social

Ice cream, tops and show were the focus of the April meeting. We don't often have enough time for informal discussion amongst us. So this meeting was an opportunity. The show focused on jigs and fixtures but also included some fine turnings. The top spin-off was great fun. Richard winslow won the "donated top" spin-off.

March 2017 meeting:
Footed vessel by Claude Godcharles

There is a way to add interest to the bottom of a turned piece by creating feet. The outline of the feet is done by turning an outside profile. Create a bead between the body of the piece and the lower footed area. Then turn the inside of the footed area, similar to the inside of a bowl. Finally the feet are freed by cutting away unwanted material.

February 2017 meeting: Bob Bley - 'Fractal burning'

What is a fractal? By definition it is "a curve or geometric figure, each part of which has the same statistical character as the whole. ...in which similar patterns recur at progressively smaller scales, and in describing partly random or chaotic phenomina..." Isn't that what we saw that Tuesday night when the burning arc worked its way across that piece of wood. It was so natural (like a growing tree) but then again so statistical and mathematical.

Bob treated us to the fractal magic, but also had some very firm practical advise. "Don't touch anything unless the power is off." The voltage is fatally high. One can purchase the equipment from Conestoga Works, or assemble your own. A conductive solution is needed and bleaching after the burning. Use a fan to blow the smoke from the area.

January 2017 meeting:
Barry Uden - 'Platters'

Barry is an old hand at woodturning and platters are a staple for him. Turning a platter is straight forward for most, but watching Barry makes one appreciate the sublties of holding the piece, elegantly removing wood and finessing the rim. Just looking at his finished pieces and the rim catches the eye. His means of mounting for turning the bottom using stretch wrap, if you haven't done it before, made the whole show worth while.

December 2016 meeting: Holiday Party & Gift Exchange

Click here for a photo collage of the ornments. Very artistic!
Click here for photos of the gifts exchanged, the exchangers and the exchangees.

November 2016 meeting:
Claude Godcharles - 'Bow Ties'

Claude explained and demonstrated the technique of inserting a 'Bow Tie' or 'Butterfly' to a woodturning.
The Bow Tie is handy for repairing a crack to enhance cosmetics or fixing a structural fault in a bowl or vase. The tools consist of a router, inlay router bit kit and pattern. The router bit kit has the bit and bushing guide set. You can make your own Bow Tie or purchase one with pattern to match. A resource list will be available under 'Tutorials'.

October 2016 meeting:
Dennis Lillis - Hollow Form

Dennis presented a comprehensive tutorial on hollow form turning.
His extensive collection of tools was inspiring. He displayed a large collection of his previous work. He turned a piece while describing the processs. He had seriously important tips on the "do's and don't's" of hollow form turning. This session had value for both novice and advanced turners. His style is strictly 'hands on', no jigs or fixtures to aid the process.

September 2016 meeting - Jon Sauer - Chattering on the lathe

This was the follow-on to the July meeting during which Jon Sauer described the technique of chattering. Because the elevator was broken in July and the lathe was not available, Jon chatted instead of chattering. This time we saw the real thing. Jon gave us a very comprehensive description and demonstration.

August 2016 meeting
Annual Club BBQ

The annual WBW BBQ was held on August 9. As is our custom, we were hosted by Jim Laflin. His back yard is the perfect setting for our annual event. He has an area for cooking and eating. His shop is always a touring treat. There is space for a tool auction and wood raffle.
We were again fortunate to have parking avalable next door.
George Lutz is our new chef. He cooked a tasty BBQ assisted by retiring chef Larry Maggi.
Thank you Jim, George, Larry and everyone who helped!

July 2016 meeting
Jon Sauer - Chatter

Chatter is the process of creating a symetrical pattern on a wood turned piece.
The pattern is typically created on the end grain (but not always).
A tool, created for the purpose, is held in a certain way, with the lathe turning at a certain speed.
Jon treated us to many examples of pieces treated by chatter. Among those were perfume bottles and other pieces beautifully turned on his ornamental lathe and further decorated by chatter technique.
Demonstration on a lathe will be done at a later time.

June 2016 meeting
Bob bley - Natural Edge

After showing many of the pieces he has produced, Bob took us through the process of turning a natural edge bowl.
Starting with a raw blank, he first shaped the outside then the inside.
Of course, the non-uniform edge presents the biggest challenge.
With finesse and proper presentation of the bowl gouge to the natural edge,
Bob pulled off a great presentation and ended with a nice looking piece.
He discussed the option of using a strobe which was the subject of a previous demo.

May 2016 meeting
Gordon Peterson - Turning Stone

Gordon de-mystified the the turning of stone by telling us how stone turning differs from wood.
Use carbide tools. An inexpesive set may be purchased from Harbor Freight.
Do scraping only.
Collect the dust. But he said the dust is not as bad as usually claimed. A simple collector is sufficient.
Alabaster is the stone of choice but there are other options.
Stone is available from several sources. His list here.

April 2016 meeting
Ice Cream Social - Top Spin Off - Wood Raffle

During most meetings there is not enough time for socializing. This time ice cream became the social catalist.

Spinning tops is a favorite activity amongst many of us. Turning the top is fun enough, then spinning to see which top stays up the longest. But to top it off (pun intended) is the pleasure of donating the tops to the Children's Hospital.

Finally there was a wood raffle. It was fine stuff, too. We can hardly wait to see the results when the wood returns as finished pieces.

March 2016 meeting
Tom Kenyon, open segment

Tom led us through the process of creating and turning open framed segmented bowls. The process involves careful planning, creating a profile drawing, cut list, cutting the segments, layering with a jig plate, gluing, turning and removing filler segments. Whew, each step is not to be taken lightly, but successfully completed, the result is astounding! Jigs and fixtures are an important part of the process. Wedgie sled, alignment plate and segment place ment jigs are important equipment. Removing filler segments appeared most difficult.

February 2016 meeting

Jim Rogers, toolmaking for woodturning

Jim is the wood turning instructor for the Mt. Diablo Unified School District's wood turning program. He is an advocate of self made tools, which serves well for the school's low budget. Self made tools offer the advantage of getting what you want at a good price. He showed us many tools and processes including heat treating for combination of strength and hardness.
He displayed several of the tools made in the school shop.

January 2016 meeting
Mark Knize, creator of unusual shapes.

It was an interesting program because it focused on unusual items and shapes. He talked about the different shapes, such as the section of log with the center cut out and a floating gold ball to the large round walnut wall hanging. He displayed several of his tools to do specific types of cuts. He turned the green ball, one half at a time and assembled it after completing both halves. The wall of the ball is approx one inch thick.

December 2015 meeting

Our Holiday party.

Apetizers were served. Dinner was served and it was good!
The beautiful tree ornaments (turnings from member's lathes) were raffled.
Gifts were exchanged, twenty-two in all. All were high quality turnings from member's lathes.

November 2015 meeting

Harvey Klein turns an ornament

Harvey turned an inside out ornament. Four pieces, tightly secured were turned for an inside shape. Each piece was rotated so the inside was out, then secured and turned for an outside shape complimenting the inside Then the piece was completed. Nice work, Harvey!.

October 2015 meeting

Bob Bley: stone inlay

Bob gave a comprehensive description of applying stone inlay to a turned wood piece. Suitable stone ranges in size from small rocks to granular. Cementing to the wood is a challenge.
Stone, being harder than wood, is a challenge to cut(or grind). But the results are very special.

August BBQ a great success!

The August barbeque was a great success. Jim Laflin was again our host. Larry Maggi cooked and was it good.
There were three lathes set up to turn tops and turn tops we did.
There was a wood raffle and a tool silent auction with plenty of each. Some walked away with great turning wood and nice tools.

May 2015 meeting

Chucking Options

Rich Johnson gave a history and tutorial on holding work in a wood lathe.
Chucking options included screw, pin, collette, off center, vacuum and scroll chucks to name a few.
His assortment of devices and gadgets seemed endless.
Many of us were surprised to learn that the modern four jaw screw chuck was not available until the mid 1980's.

February 2015 meeting -

Mike Lanahan made a peppermill using a crush grind ceramic mechanism.
As shown in Mike's notes, this is the sequence of his demonstration:
(1) Bore out Body from bottom, finish bottom (2) Part off Body from Head
(3) Bore & finish top of Body (4) Turn tenon or insert plug in Head
(5) Fit Head to Body & turn to shape and sand (6) Prep Head to re-mount
(7) Mount Head and finish top (8) Fit mechanism & assemble
See Mike's notes here      Mike: Thank you!

January 2014 meeting

Dottie Bang treated us to a demonstration on how to turn a natural edge goblet. Starting with a green log (actually more like a branch), she rounded, hollowed, cupped, stemmed and refined the piece until there it was, a goblet with natural edges at rim and base. Dottie, you make it look so easy. Thank you for showing us the "how to do it".

December 2014 meeting

Curtis, left, spreading holiday cheer at our annual holiday party. Great food, a fun gift exchange, ornament raffle and interesting talk made this a very nice party. This was Curtis's last event as outgoing President. Thank you Curtis for serving so well. Photos of the gift exchange are here.

November 2014 meeting

Jim Benson, of the Silicon Valley Woodturners, did a demonstration of techniques and uses of air brushing for woodturners. Jim showed us a selection of airbrushes, described the paints used, created an artist rendering and showed us how to clean the airbrush. A starter setup is readily available at a reasonable price from Harbor Freight. Don't forget the air compressor. Practice makes perfect in this business.

October 2014 Meeting
Harvey Klein demonstrated the turning of Christmas ornaments.
First turn the body of the ornament.
Then turn the two finials.
Harvey, you make it look easy and you create a feeling of "I want to do that."
Now the work begins!
2015 Board officers were elected as follows:
President - David Vanier
Vice President - George Lutz
Treasurer - Bud Trapp
Secretary - Ken Mccloud
At Large - Bob Bley (proposed, TBA in 2015)

September 2014 - Competition Critique
Claude Godcharles prepared an excellent projection of each piece judging critique sheet
See it all here
This was a real learning experience
The judges were picky but but that's how we learn.
Many thanks to the judges and to those who
submitted pieces and those who worked so
hard to organize the competition.

August 2014 - Annual WBW Competition
-The competition was held at the Bridges church in the upstairs room.
-The turnings were top-notch
-The lunch was delicious
-The judging was fair
-The socializing was special
-As usual, we all learned a lot
-All in all, a great show
-See complete competition results and information here

July 2014 - (Left to right) Larry Dubia, Mike Lanahan and Claude Godcharles.
These three provided us with invaluable insight and tips on finishing our pieces. For example:
-Use Zinsser Bulls Eye Seal Coat wax free
-Before Beal buffing wait 3 - 4 weeks
-Use Turners Choice wood stabilizer
-For Lacquer use a Preval sprayer
-Recomended finish - Waterlox Sealer/Finish
-Air brush - Badger from Harbor Freight

June 2014- Dave Vannier described the preferred ways to cut a green log. Turn quickly or seal the ends. Cut along the pith to reduce stress and checking. Should the bowl face out or in? Which part of the tree makes the best bowl? To boil or not to boil. A crotch presents the most opportunity...and challenge.

May 2014 - Tom Kenyon showed how to create a multi-layered lamination bowl in five steps:
1) Design
2) Block preparation
3) Resaw
4) Layout/cutting circles
5) Stack assembly
6) Turning

April 2014 - Survivor Shop made tools and jigs: AKA how I saved my bowl from being an outcast. Many thanks to the following individuals that took the time and effort to bring their creations to share with us; Pat Crowley, Larry Dubia, Bobby Feiner, Tom Haines, Barbara Jones, Mike Lanahan, Louis Latronica, and George Lutz, David Vannier, Peter Pipe.

March 2014 - Georgte Lutz showed how to stabilize wood and turning techniques for stabilized wood. The stabilization consists of:
1) imersing the wood in the stabilizing resin,
2) evacuating the emersed wood in order to replace air in the wood with the stabilzing resin,
3) heating the saturated wood to activate and cure the resin.
The system he uses is called the cactus juice stabilizing system. For further information go to:
http://www.turntex.com

February 2014 - Mike Lanahan discussed photographing our beautiful turned works of art. "This is not rocket science!" he says. His major advice was to be especially concerned about the setup. Lighting, vibration avoidance and position were among the important setup concerns. See his tutorial here.

January 2014 - Dennis Lillis demonstrated hand cut thread chasing and machine cut threads using either hand held threading tolls or a Baxter Thread Master jig. He imparted the challenges and best practices of using hand chasing tools as well as the sophisticated Baxter Thread Master jig. This was a very interesting and unusual demonstration. Dennis had on hand several examples of finished pieces, such as lidded boxes, urns and specialty containers as well as a variety of tools that he uses to create threaded lidded containers. One source of the hand tools is Craft Supply. Baxter may be found here

December 2013 - It's about gift giving this time of year. Ooh, that's nice! What kind of wood is it? smile for the camera! The food was good and plenty of it. About business - the new projector was approved.

November 2013 - Brian Havens: Finial turning, tool making and making sea urchin ornaments.

October 2013 - Bob Bley: Techniques of Turning with a Strobe, and a New Dust Collection tool.

September 2013 - Winslow on the making of Bird House Ornaments.

August 2013 - BBQ was a fun event.

July 2013 - A discussion and demonstration of tool sharpening, and finish cuts - Barry Uden

June 2013 - Shop Safety by George Chisholm, from Woodcraft.

May 2013 - Bill Johnston - his latest methods for turning and finishing salad bowls.

April 2013 - Brian Havens presented a demo on multi center turning.

March 2013 - Lonnie Hurst presented a demo on Making Bangles.

February 2013 -   101 Ways to Chuck, presented by Barry Uden

January 2013 - Lois Vannier demonstrating wood carving and pyrography techniques emphasis for woodturning.  See her PDF file and videos.

December 2012 Christmas party - good fun and food for all.

November 2012 -  Feedback gained at competition.

October 2012 - Glenn Krueg demonstrated the turning of Tauga nuts.   

September 2012 - Dottie demoed spiral turning of hallow forms.

August 2012 - BBQ, Larry Maggi, Laflin, et al come though again.  Great Job.  Peter Pipe demonstrated how to turn tops.

July 2012 -   Glenn on Inside-Out Turning

June 2012 -  Richard Winslow on Inlaid pens.  See videos at this Link.

May 2012 - High-end Kitchen utensils -  Bonnie Glover. Her website. New Web page with pics from this meeting.