Upcoming Meetings

Wednesday February 16, 7:00 pm
In person...vacination and masks required
Show & Tell
President's challenge:
           hollow form, after Trent Bosch's demo
Program: Turning to Safety

Wednesday March 16, 7:00 pm
Show & Tell
President's challenge:
Program: Design Fun(damentals)

Bridges Church map
As always - guests are welcome
To inquire - email guest@westbaywoodturners.com

Wednesday January 19 2022
Review of gifted turnings from the holiday party

Back on Zoom, we were each staring at our device screens anxiously awaitng the magic of imagery. We were treated to a review of the holiday gifts of December, but this time with a careful look and a discussion. This was followed by show and tell, another good showing.

See photos of the meeting

President's Letter - Claude Godcharles

I like turning, you like turning, we all like turning! And nothing beats meeting in person to share our stories and experience the look and feel of beautiful turned work. We had the last meeting on zoom, but February will be in person at our usual Bridges Church location. Masks and vaccination are required, and with our large gathering space and distancing, we are in the best situation.

The February program will be a panel discussion on safety for the woodturner, with many participants covering various safety topics. Safety works best when it becomes a habit, and that happens through repetition and practice. So even when you think you have heard your share of good safety information, you might be surprised to find other tricks and tips from our presenters. You might even find out that you forgot or have relaxed some critical aspect. All in all, it should be a lively discussion, maybe even some stories to inspire you to be safer.

The president's challenge is hollow forms, inspired by Trent Bosch's remote demo from Feb 2. You don't need all the fancy gear that Trent demonstrated, just try with the tools you have - a Forstner bit makes quick work of it ! Also bring some of your recent work for Show and Tell.

Until then,
take a safe turn!
Claude Godcharles

"As the Wood Turns" From Tree to Bowl - by Dave Vannier

I get two questions by non-turners almost every time I have someone new looking at my collection. I would bet we have all heard them. 1) How long does it take to make a bowl? 2) Why does it cost so much if the wood was free? The answers to the questions are interrelated. I know some people answer the first question with the length of time they’ve been turning. In my case that would be more than 20 years. The answer is intended to explain the value of the work, but just feels a little pretentious to me, so not my answer.

Let’s start with “free wood”. I tell people that buying wood is a cheaper option than the “free wood” route, but I get personal satisfaction of saving wood headed for the chipper or fire place, giving the tree a second life. My recent example is spending a day driving up to a wood dump, ~$15 in gas to get there and back. Running $10 worth of gas and oil in a $900 chainsaw, collecting enough wood for 4 or 5 bowls.

Day 2 is spent turning the wood into blanks ready for the lathe, cleaning up the saw, and re-sharpening the chainsaw blade. A few days of this chews up the $30 bandsaw blade. I usually wrap up by either bagging or sealing the blanks depending upon how quickly I will get to them.

Day 3 is the day to get to the lathe. I’m not as fast as some of our production turners, but I do this for fun, not a living, so I’ll probably spend a couple of days roughing and sealing up the blanks. On this last trip, the wood looked really good, but of the two rough outs, one split in two on the lathe. Got 3 more to do, hoping it goes better. Now, 5 days later, we have a few rough out sealed and ready to dry. In 6 10 12 months they will be ready to finish turning. All of us know what this means, a real collection of rough outs drying.

Finally, we get to finish turn and see the end result. Depending upon the wood, storage conditions, and our turning, the success of this process can be almost 100%, to as bad as 50%. This final turning usually takes me between 2 and 4 hrs. Good days, the sanding isn’t bad. Bad days, lots of sanding. Most of us know that sand paper is our most expensive consumable.

My preferred finish technique for functional pieces takes about 5 minutes every day for 3 to 12 days. A lot depends upon the wood and the look I’m trying to get.

So, my answer is, the wood isn’t free but it is satisfying. Wall clock time is usually a year. My time spent working on a piece range's from 1 to 5 days. Long explanation, but I think it conveys more of all the skills required to do the work I do.

Dave
www.daves-turned-art.com

It is time to pay dues

The club needs money to operate. For $30 ($31 if paid online) you receive more than your money's worth. Send Jon Bishop a check made out to the order of WBW.
Or bring check or cash to the next meeting.
Or you can pay online by clicking pay dues and pay with PayPal or credit dard.

2021 WBW board members and committee chairs

President: Claude Godcharles
Vice President: Tom Gaston
Treasurer: Jon Bishop
Secretary: Roman Chernikov
Member at Large: Fred Colman
Meeting Program Coordinator: TBD
Visiting artist Coordinator: TBD
Anchor seal: Dennis Lillis
CA Glue: Tom Kenyon
Craft Supply:TBD
Coffee & Cookies: Phil Feiner
Librarian: Kelly Smith
Audio Visual: Curtis Vose
Website & Newsletter: Tom Haines

click here for contact information on the above

Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated.