West Bay Woodturners Newsletter is a monthly update on the club activities. This free resource is available to beginner and professional woodturners.
Next Meeting
Wednesday, May 21,
7 pm at Bridges Church,
625 Magdalena Ave,
Los Altos, CA 94024
Program
May: TBD
President’s challenge:
May: turning for a charitable cause such as a wig stand, beads of courage, pens for troops, or another organization.
Upcoming Meetings and Demos
- June:
President’s Message
It is gratifying to see newer wood turners joining the club, and feeling their excitement, and observing their progress. With these newer members, as well as the ‘old’ guard, our club seems to be thriving again. For me personally, and probably many of you, all the online meetings lacked a lot. Not being able to see and touch the turned objects, talk to the makers, and ask questions about the process just wasn’t the same. Plus, there is the social aspect of getting together face to face during the pre-meeting dinners, meetings, yearly picnic, and demonstrations that make the club vital and dynamic.
I am looking forward to future meetings, demonstrations, and picnics and hope you are too! This is our club and all of you should feel free to suggest topics for discussion, ask questions, and demonstrate a technique.
Tom Gaston
WBW Vice President
Last Meeting Review
Wednesday April 16, 2025
Woodturners newsletter notes by Laura Rhodes, pictures by Angela Gunn and Roman Chernikov
Announcements
- Guest – Ken Mallow
- Annual Picnic is in August
- The Scott Hampton demonstration on Saturday, April 12, at Maker Nexus was attended by about 27 people.
- Three people attended the group workshop the next day with Scott at Jerry Galli’s shop. Each was able to work at their own lathe thanks to Jerry’s two lathes and a third loaned by Dennis. All three made the Three-Cornered Box.
- Bob Bley relayed an email message that a PowerMatic lathe was available for free located in the Las Vegas area. He is not sure the offer is legitimate.
- Jim Koren confirmed that the group order with Wood Turner’s Wonders has shipped.
- Jim Koren discussed following up with Scott Hampton about obtaining walnut slabs from his sawyer.
- Kelly Smith will be having a booth at the Rio Vista River Front arts fest on May 31.
Program: Turning Wig Stands and Beads of Courage Boxes by Angela Gunn
The AAW WIT (Women-In-Turning) have an open project for clubs to turn wig stands to be donated to groups providing free wigs to women in need who experiencing hair loss due to cancer therapy or other medical conditions. Angela is working with the local organization Cancer CAREpoint to receive wig stands made by our club members and distribute them to patients.
Each wig stand consists of three parts: the top mushroom (turned from a round blank, 5 inches in diameter, 2 inches thick); the base (from a blank 6 inches in diameter, 1.5 inches thick; and the stem (from a 12 inch blank, 1.5 inches square). The top and base are connected to the stem using 1 inch tenons/mortices, ¾ inch long. Angela gave brief guidelines on how to turn each of these pieces. There is much freedom in how these stands are shaped, what woods are used, and how (and if) they are decorated. What is important is that three rules must be followed:
- The wig stands must be finished with polyurethane. This is important because newly washed wigs will be placed on the stands, so they must be waterproof. Oil finishes are not appropriate because they might impart their odor on the wig.
- Surfaces must be smooth. There should be nothing that might snag the wig.
- The dimensions should be restricted as follows:
- 13-15 inches tall
- 3.5 -5 inch diameter for the top
- 5 – 6 inch diameter for the base.
The three parts should be glued together or, alternatively, threaded. For an extra touch, a card can be attached. Angela showed a range of stands created by SVW members and encouraged all West Bay Woodturners members to create wig stands of their own for donation.
Next, Angela spoke about making a Beads of Courage box. This organization (www.beadsofcourage.org) is a 501(c)3 organization that helps children coping with serious illness. After each treatment, the child is provided with a special colored bead. To corral these beads, each child is provided with a donated special-purpose box. The beads provide mental health benefits for both the child and his/her family.
Beads of Courage boxes must meet specific criteria:
- Internal dimensions of 6 inches diameter by 5 inches high.
- Lids must be easy for small hands to manipulate.
- Knobs must be easy to grab.
- Finish must be non-toxic.
Given the large diameter, some turners use segmented or stave construction for the sides of the box. To simplify the process, the use of fabric-covered PVC pipe is recommended for the box sides. Then the bottom, top, lid, and knob can be turned conventionally, with the bottom and top joined to the PVC tube using silicon caulk. For anyone interested in making a box for donation, the club can provide the prepared PVC pipe, fabric, and a single Bead of Courage bead to be embedded in the top of the knob. Detailed instructions on how to create the PVC-based box can be found on the Silicon Valley Woodturners website.
Tina Chou – Upgraded set of Woodturning teaching aids
Tina is the woodturning instructor at the Palo Alto Adult School. She has taught more than 100 students how to turn. Since most of her students are brand new to turning, she spends some time explaining how turning blanks come from the tree. Rather than just showing diagrams on paper, Tina used actual wood as visual teaching aids. Tina showed a half log with a spindle blank cut out of it and another half log with a small bowl blank cut out. She had bowls whose base was toward the pith and others whose base was toward the bark.
Presidents Challenge: Any textured piece. Extra credit for unusual approaches!
Kelly Smith showed a broadleaf maple bowl. He textured it using the chain-link mallet he brought last month. The bowl was covered with two coats of black milk paint and then 3 coats of red milk paint. He sanded back the red paint to expose traces of the black.
Tom Gaston made a twice-turned pecan bowl. The center of the interior was textured using the techniques demonstrated by Brad Bond last month.
Jim Koren brought a texturing test block. For each of several different kinds of Dremel tool bits, he had a matrix of the results of tapping, dragging, scooping, and plunging the tool.
Show & Tell:
Jim Koren brought a truckload of madrone which he offered to club members. From madrone, he had made a collection of small bowls of different styles. In addition, he brought the Erosion bowl created by Scott Hampton which Jim had won at the raffle at the demonstration. He also brought a partially completed Three-Cornered box from the Sunday workshop with Scott Hampton.
Angela Gunn created an adorable puppy with turned body, ears, nose, and paws from a Chinese elm branch. This is the prototype for the one she plans to turn for her daughter who is off to college this summer and will be missing her real dog at home.
Dean Caudle showed a black walnut bowl made from wood harvested in Livermore. It was finished with General Finishes Bowl Finish. He also showed a madrone bowl. He asked for suggestions about boiling it to stabilize the madrone – others suggested he turn it thinner before boiling.
Laura Rhodes brought the Three-cornered Box she made at the Sunday workshop with Scott Hampton’s help. It has an ash base, a black acacia lid, and a blackwood finial. The creation of this box was not without its tribulations – the base flew off the lathe at least twice during its making.
Kelly Smith showed an Italian cypress bowl and a big leaf maple bowl decorated with yellow over white milk paint. He also brought a carob bowl, a mushroom, a black acacia box. He also had a big redwood pumpkin box with a carved apple stem. To create the ribs of the pumpkin, he begins with a small rasp, then switches to a large rasp, and finishes with a file. Kelly also made a miniature pot from a tagua nut.
Tom Gaston made a large box from Norfolk Island pine. The wood was old and not very stable and wanted to crumble rather than cut. Tom also brought a madrone bowl which he had boiled to stabilize.
Mark Rand was one of the original turners for this club when it was the Shopsmith Sawdust Club. He showed some beautiful photographs of Pysanky Ukranian Easter Eggs made by his sister. He then showed some egg-shaped pieces of his own, made some time in the past, including a segmented egg, a honey dipper egg, and an egg box with finial and stand.
Ed Howes brought in a whole bag of Pens for the Troops that he customized with a laser-engraved “USA”.
Bob Bley turned a black walnut live edged vase to give to the owner of the downed walnut tree. He also made a vase from Marblewood. He presented Chip Krauskopf with the bubinga platter, which Chip had helped Bob patch using a CNC.
Participation Prizes
“As the Wood Turns” by David Vannier
Thanks to Edgar, i picked up some Birch which will let me continue to explore what i came up with in my sleep. Some might call it a nightmare. I call it fun! I’ve been told that when you are exploring new directions, even if it is just new for you, that it takes 5 tries before you get what you want. I’ve done 4, not being happy with the first 3, but reasonably happy with this one. Still things i want to do differently, but getting close. This time it was execution issues. While life gets in the way, I put the Birch in the freezer to hold it. Haven’t thought about doing that? Well that is a trick Frank Sudol taught is when he demo’ed for us so many years ago. The freezer will significantly slow the drying process and stops the spalting, which in Birch is usually rotting. The refrigerator won’t stop the spalting. Many years ago i put a piece of olive in the freezer, had one of my surgeries, and forgot about it. A year later i pulled it out, and yes it was dry, so you can freeze dry things. No cracks! For olive, that was impressive. But i don’t intent or suggest this to anyone. This will hold the birch for the next couple of weeks while life keeps me out of the shop, or am i suppose to say studio?
So you are wondering what this piece is? Yes, more piercing. I’ve not finished it yet, as the hand sanding wears my fingers out. I will get it done. This picture is before the cut out. We are down to approximately 1 oz for a 8” x 5”, yes the Fibonacci series.
One of my friends was looking at it the other day, and noted that I hadn’t demonstrated patience, but she couldn’t believe that I was able to spend that much time on a piece. My wife pointed out that at times I seemed to be very patient. From how she said it I concluded that I have my moments. 😎
The take away i want you to get is “Don’t be afraid to experiment!” Find what makes you happy. Learn all you can. Chasing the perfect form can be just as satisfying as texturing/coloring/etc. Don’t feel pressure to follow anyone’s path, make your own. It is only wood, and yes it does grow on trees.
Woodturners Newsletter Editing Notes
WBW members, please let the newsletter editors know if you have a personal website and would like it included in the President’s Challenge and Show & Tell sections of our Woodturning Newsletter. Email us at info@westbaywoodturners.com.
WBW board members and committee chairs
President: Jon Bishop
Vice President: Tom Gaston
Treasurer: Jim Koren
Secretary: Laura Rhodes
Member at Large: Dean Caudle
Meeting Program Coordinator: Claude G acting
Visiting artist Coordinator: Dean Caudle acting
Anchor seal: Dennis Lillis
Craft Supply: Tina Chou
Librarian: Kelly Smith
Audio Visual: Curtis Vose, Edgar Whipple
Website: Roman Chernikov
Woodturners Newsletter: Angela, Jon, David, Laura, and Roman
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