Woodturners Newsletter, February 2026

West Bay Woodturners Newsletter is a monthly update on the club activities. This free resource is available to beginner and professional woodturners.

Next Meeting

Program

February demonstration: Hand-turning spheres by Vic Mitnick

• Brief safety note
• Turning a Sphere by Vic Mitnick
• President’s Challenge
• Show & Tell

President’s Challenge: Hawaiian Calabash

I have long admired the Hawaiian calabash, as it epitomizes the focus of my early collecting focus, which was on simple yet elegant form executed in beautiful wood without decoration or complications. When I began woodturning, I set goals for myself to be able to recreate some of the various forms (including those beyond the calabash) that I had collected. Until quite recently, I had been unable to execute the calabash shape, but finally succeeded in creating something that is a recognizable calabash (to me at least).

So I thought, if I can do this, let’s make it the February 2026 President’s Challenge. Those who attended the January meeting got to see a subset of my collection to use as visual and tactile examples. Those who did not attend will have to rely on other sources of information.

There is copious information available on the web though alas you cannot experience the tactile component. This article, ‘Umeke La’au – A Rich Hawaiian Tradition, is often cited, and a good place to start. The book, The Hawaiian Calabash by Irving Jenkins, is an excellent and comprehensive reference, though it may be hard to find. The Cecil H. Green Library at Stanford has a copy if you’re fortunate enough to have access.

Edgar Whipple, President West Bay Woodturners

President’s Message

Woodturning Book Library

Last Meeting Review

Wednesday January 21, 2026

Woodturners newsletter notes by Laura Rhodes; pictures by Roman Chernikov.

Announcements

• Edgar Whipple wants the club to reinforce safe shop practices – especially with regards to ancillary equipment, not just at the lathe, but with the bandsaw, chainsaws, etc. In future meetings, Kelly Smith is going to give a talk on chainsaw safety, Tina will speak to poisonous woods, and Jim Koren is going to talk about CA glue.
• There were no guests present.

• There was a discussion about having some club members store smaller amounts of AnchorSeal locally so that folks don’t need to travel all the way to Dennis Lillis’s shop in the hills.
• Dennis Lillis gave an update on the Jim Gott shop closeout sale. There are a few items left, if interested talk to Dennis:
  • 17 inch Grizzly bandsaw worth about $2500 selling for $1500; Delta mortiser; DeWalt 13 inch planer; Flip unit with 12 inch disc sander, one inch belt sander and a scroll saw for $400.00
  • 1 HP General 6 inch jointer with helical head
• Jerry Galli promoted “Pens for the Troops”. He has about 50 pen kits available for tonight. At some point in the future, Tina will give a pen demo.
• Chip Krauskopf is trying to organize a group order from Niles Bottle Stoppers. Let Chip know if you’re interested.
• The Derek Weidman demo is on March the 15^th. There’s an online signup available.
• Club members are encouraged to use Slack – a great way to hear about wood opportunities, sharing photos of your work, or asking questions.
• Roman Chernikov will demonstrate chip-carving and whittling on February 14th at Woodcraft in San Carlos at 1:00 PM. You may find Roman’s chip carving projects on his website READ N TRY.
• Roman also indicated that an online book library is now available to both WBW and SVW members. The library was organized by the local woodcarving club, Santa Clara Valley Carvers. Reserve a book online and pick it up at the following meeting.
• Edgar is looking for a coordinator for our two key events for the year – the summer picnic and the holiday potluck. Please let Edgar know if you’re interested. For the picnic this summer, Kevin Lee is organizing a croquet challenge. Details to be provided soon.

President’s Challenge – Turn Kitchen or Dining Utensils

For prizes for the president’s challenge, Edgar brought in nine pieces of wood from his personal stash.

The president’s challenge for the February 2026 meeting will be to make a calabash-shaped bowl. Edgar Whipple brought in several pieces from his own personal collection of this traditional Hawaiian vessel (often turned end grain). Edgar will be sending out a link to an article that explains more about the shape and its key features.

Gift Exchange

• Bob Bley’s gift to Edgar Whipple was an olive natural edge platter. Bob showed a brief slideshow on how natural edge platters are made. It starts off with half of a log. He uses a forstner bit to create a flat spot in the bark side of the half log for his three-inch faceplate. He shims the faceplate to level the two wings. Bob often will remove extra material from the bottom of the bowl on the bandsaw before mounting on the lathe. While the item is on the faceplate, he turns the platter’s bottom and finishes it completely with a recess on the bottom. He often does this outboard on his lathe due to the size of the piece. He holds the piece by the recess and turns away the top in small increments from the outer extents.
• Kelly Smith gave Allison Lee a madrone vase. The shape on the top of the vase was inspired by a magazine photo that his wife liked. Kelly epoxied the inside to make it more waterproof.
• Vic Mitnick gave Bob Bley a cedar saucer shaped bowl. The cedar was fairly thin and had deep cracks on the back so he kept them but he really liked the shape resulted. Vic couldn’t remember how he finished it – it was either with walnut oil, Tried and True or, perhaps, Osmo.
• Luana Staiger made a pear of an unknown wood and gave it to Kelly Smith. It had a hand carved stem. She can’t remember exactly how she turned it, but it was likely turned between centers.
• Luana received a tiny hollow form from Tom Mandle, but Tom was not there to give us details.
• Dave Vannier gave Vic Mitnick a pierced bowl but Dave was not present to give a detailed explanation of how it was created.
• Alison Lee gave Kelly Smith a redwood bowl. The piece started out a bit larger – she showed the detached rim of the bowl. While turning, Alison came a little too close to the edge and the bowl ended up a wee bit smaller than originally intended.
• Roman Chernikov brought in a turned ornament made by Kelly Smith. It was made from Hollywood juniper in one of Kelly’s classic icicle shapes.

Show & Tell

“As the Wood Turns” by David Vannier

It is time to think about the AAW symposium, or any other symposium you might be interested in attending. Symposiums offer a great opportunity to network with turners from all over the world sharing our passion, as well as attending a number of demos. My first symposium was in Pasadena in 2003. Several of the demos inspired me to try different thing, even though I had only been turning for a few years. The instant gallery was amazing. Full of pieces that ranged from the purest form to pieces that the lathe really looked like it was irrelevant. From that time on, I’ve tried to attend 1 symposium every year. Unfortunately I didn’t make it last year, and i doubt i will this year. But i would encourage you to think hard about attending one.

We supported the AAW symposium in San Jose in 2012. I demonstrated and represented WBW as we managed the symposium. Dean Atkins of BAWA carried the bulk of the load for the local side. I will admit that i didn’t attend very many demos. Running the symposium is a bit like herding cats, everything is going in random directions. It was a lot of work, but eliminating the travel and hotel expenses made it one of the cheapest symposiums I have attended. But, due to California costs, we aren’t likely to see a symposium out here again. I have stories, which if you are looking for a good laugh, or just shake your head ask me.

Now, don’t forget about the upcoming. While Derek’s work is not something i will probably ever try, you never know what you will learn. For instance, in Andi Wolfe’s demo, she briefly talked about her carving station. I used it as an inspiration for mine, giving me a station for carving, burning, piercing, and painting. One of my best adds to my work flow!

Edgar’s challenge, and pointers to info on Calabash’s has been great! I’ve enjoyed learning more about the history. See you in a few weeks.

Dave

www.daves-turned-art.com – updated 1/22/24

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.

Board Members and Committee Chairs