West Bay Woodturners

Announcements:

Meeting on March 10, Tuesday, 7pm - Tuesday

Agenda: Bob Nolan will show basket illusions

President's challenge: Goblets

At the Bridges Church,  Directions: Location

Upcoming:

April meeting: Claude Godcharles & Dennis Lillis will explain Sharpening followed by a hands-on workshop. Bring your difficult tools and learn to sharpen them correctly. We will need additional grinders, please let us know if you can help.

May meeting: TBD

May demonstration: Jason Breech Demo Sunday, May 24, Santa Clara

May show: Showing with the Carvers - weekend of May 30

Jun meeting: Bob Bley will cover stone inlay.

Jul meeting: Corwin jones will demonstrate his method for sphere.

Aug BBQ: TBD

Sep meeting: Dottie Bang will demonstrate her spiral technique.

Oct meeting: Tom Kenyan will demonstrate open segement jigs and such

Nov meeting: TBD

Dec meeting: Pot luck/gift exchange/ornament raffle

It is time to pay dues

If you are getting this newsletter and have not paid your dues, be warned! See Bud Trapp.

February Meeting Recap:

That looks cool, I'd like to try that. A few words from Bob Bley

How many times have you seen someone's work and said "hey that's pretty cool, I think I'd like to try that". Maybe it was a hollow form, or some burned in design or a pepper grinder, or a segmented piece, etc. This is how we all expand our skills and repertoire and this also leads to having to buy more tools and supplies than we typically anticipate. Every time I would attend a sawdust session, I would leave with a shopping list that I had no idea I would be leaving with.

Recently, I decided I wanted to create a stone inlay pattern of birch trees on a walnut platter. This is where the adventure begins and rarely do we have a clue what we're getting ourselves into.

So, first this began with, "where do I find some white magnasite stone?" Then when I find a source, I question, "would anyone in the club like to split some with me?" Then, I get this small boulder and wonder how in the world does it become powder? Sledgehammer on concrete only gives me sparks! Off to a friend's house for help. I find out, putting an anvil under the stone helps. Now, how do I break the small stones into various sizes of crushed stone and powder? Time to start shopping for various crushing options. After hitting five plumbing stores looking for a 1 1/2" cap for my 1 1/2" pipe (half of my mortar and pestle system), how do I start to filter the stones into various sized powders and fine crushed stones this? So, time to start checking eBay, Amazon and other places looking for sieves and colanders. Of course I want to do this in the most economical fashion, so I spend an hour or two searching various options to save perhaps two dollars! But now I have my crushed and filtered stones.

Time to figure out what I'm going to draw, and transfer the pattern onto my piece. How does one clearly draw on walnut? Back to asking club members for suggestions. And no, not all white pencils are created equal.

Finally, time to start carving into my piece. But certainly not with my big carving tool set. I will need to start searching for various grinding and dremel bits. Back for another session with Amazon, eBay, Craft Supplies, and other internet options. Now I have what I need to start cutting. But wait! The dust from power carving is getting all over me. It's also hard to see clearly what I'm doing, so I need some magnification, dust management, and lung protection.

Now that the first part of my pattern is transferred and carved into the piece, it's time to start placing the stone, holding it in with thin CA glue, spraying on some accelerator and looking at the most incredible mess I believe I've ever created!

And don't forget to make sure you've got great lighting and ventilation. This means repositioning half of my shop so I have a good work spot for this.

They say things have to get ugly before they get pretty. There is a serious psychological hurdle getting through this stage. Now it's time to start grinding and sanding down the stone...only to find out that not all sandpaper is created equal. So I start the search for diamond and ceramic grinding and sanding discs. Do I want to wait for a club order to save a few bucks? That could take months! Now of course, while I'm waiting for my mail order shipments to show up, I'm not just sitting around, I've got other projects going. They each have their own list of new items and skill sets that need to be acquired.

So, you can see where this is going. I can't even guess how much time I spend shopping for all my new toys and supplies. It seems like every time we take on a new skill set, it comes with the acquisition and associated costs of adding to our shop and tools. Project after project we slowly start to accumulate more and more tools and supplies. Hopefully, eventually, we will be able to take on a project where we don't actually have to go shopping. But then again, something really cool looking comes along and we say, "I'd like to try that," and the fun begins again.

Bob

(Editor's note: At the June meeting you will get the benefit of Bob's experience.)

About the Website

The February meeting sharpened our interest in peppermills. Don't miss reading Mike's notes on the website. Also there are two resources from other turners. One is a series of Youtube videos, the other an archived article in the "American Woodturner". All are available by clicking here

2015 WBW board members and committee chairs.

President: David Vanier

Vice President: George Lutz

Treasurer:  Bud Trapp

Secretary:  Ken McCloud

Member at Large: Bob Bley

Meeting Program Coordinator: Larry Dubia

Visiting artist Coordinator:  Bob Bley

Anchor seal:  Jim Laflin

CA Glue:  Ken McCloud

Craft Supply:  Richard Winslow

Coffee & Cookies:  Phil Feiner

Librarian: Bill Daniels

Audio Visual: Curtis Vose

Website:  Tom Haines