West Bay Woodturners

Promote woodturning education and woodturning as an art form

Logo of the American Association of Woodturners (AAW). West Bay Woodturners is an official chapter of AAW.
A wide shot of a woodturning show display featuring a variety of turned wooden objects arranged on tables covered with light blue tablecloths. The collection includes live-edge bowls, tall slender vases, a large open sculptural bowl, a lidded jar, and numerous small bowls in various woods and grain patterns. A tall, prominent vase with a split design in contrasting light and dark wood stands near the center. To the right, a separate table section holds stacked dark wooden platters and lighter wooden bowls.

Woodturners Newsletter, June 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

Wednesday, June 17, 2026, 7pm

Bridges Community Church
(second floor meeting room)
625 Magdalena Ave
Los Altos, CA 94024

Program

  • Introductions of guests and new members
  • Program: Hand thread chasing – Dennis Lillis will reprise (in demo form) the hands on workshop he recently held at his shop. He provided lots of information beyond the hands on participation, so I thought it would be good to share at a meeting.
  • Break
  • Reminders and updates
  • Review of “President’s Challenge” items
  • Show & Tell

President’s Challenge

June: One or more end grain, slip fit lidded boxes of a size that is suitable for thread chasing.

A table with many woodturning itmes: lidded box and containers
President’s Challenge – Lidded Box
Two lidded boxes with a round finial on each lid.
Lidded boxes by Jon Bishop

Upcoming Programs

These are tentative, and yet to be committed to a date.

  • Escoulen class and chuck review (Bud Trapp and Claude Godcharles)
  • Ask me anything round table

President’s Message

It is rewarding to be of service to the members of our club, but perhaps even more so when members of the public reach out to us. Back in March, I was contacted by a widow seeking assistance in finding a new home for a large lathe that had belonged to her late husband. I was more than happy to help, having recently been the beneficiary of a large lathe from the community myself.

It turned out to be a Grizzly G1945 floor-standing wood lathe. While not quite so massive as the Woodcraft M908 that I acquired, it was still a substantial machine. After considerable research, inventorying the accessories, and preparing a detailed listing, I finally found it a good home in late May. A very satisfying outcome.

A second machine in need of a new home came to my attention through a current member. This was a Shopsmith Mark V system that she had adopted when its previous owner could no longer use it. Her intended recipient, however, was unable to make use of it. I had heard of Shopsmith systems, but had never seen one in person, so I jumped at the opportunity. More research and inventory followed, though in this case a listing was unnecessary, as I was able to arrange a private placement.

These experiences brought to mind an observation I made in the April newsletter: we are merely stewards of these large machines. They pass through our hands for a time before moving on to the next caretaker.

In that same April newsletter, I also mentioned the tendency to accumulate a superfluity of turning timber. Recently, I was working on a piece of silver oak rife with voids and decay. After spending some time with it on the lathe, I realized that I was wasting effort on a piece that would never become a presentable turning. I recall that when I first started turning, I eagerly accepted any timber that was offered and considered any time at the lathe—even with poor material—to be valuable practice.

At some point, however, one’s skills progress enough that it becomes necessary to trust oneself with the good stuff. Just as we eventually pass our machines on to worthy new owners, we should not hesitate to put our best timber to use. Sometimes the wisest course is to stop saving it for “someday” and, with equal determination, to ruthlessly expunge the firewood from our turning stockpile.

– Edgar Whipple, President

June 13: Woodturning at Saratoga Blossom Festival

Unfortunately, the Saratoga Blossom Festival in June 2026 has been canceled. Thank you to all who volunteered to participate in the spinning-top turning giveaways. Hopefully, we will participate next year in a joint event between West Bay Woodtuners, Silicon Valley Woodturners, and Santa Clara Valley Carvers. It would be great if three clubs shared the same patio (see the photo below) and let festival visitors see what awesome projects can be made from a block of wood.

If you would like to learn about the event, read this short article about the 2025 Saratoga Blossom Festival, written by our member, Roman Chernikov.

Woodturning Book Library

A large woodturning and carving library is available to WBW members as part of our partnership with the Santa Clara Valley Carvers. Browse the online catalog, reserve a book or two, and pick them up at our next meeting. Some books feature galleries for inspiration, and some describe hands-on turning techniques.

Logo of Santa Clara Valley Wood Carving club: a woodpecker on a tree.

Last Meeting Review

Wednesday May 20, 2026

Woodturners newsletter notes by Laura Rhodes; pictures by Roman Chernikov and Angela Gunn.

Announcements

  • Jim Koren spoke about a joint SVW/WBW demo on June 13 Saturday at the Saratoga Blossom Festival at the Heritage Orchard (now canceled). He’s looking for volunteers to staff the booth as well as examples of turnings to display.
  • Jim is also still looking for a new club meeting place with a less expensive rent.
  • There’s a hole in the newsletter for the “As the Wood Turns” column because Dave Vannier is not available.
  • Edgar announced a new Member-at-Large has been determined.
  • WBW now has a Google workspace for not-for-profits. Board meetings to follow on Google Meet.
  • The annual WBW/SVW picnic this year will be on Wednesday, August 5. Silicon Valley Woodturners will be hosting. The picnic will be at Cuesta Park in Mountain View. It will feature croquet between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m. with dinner to follow. We’ll be trying to get a group photo after the food is cooked, but before eating.
  • Kelly Smith has Anchor Seal available for $15 per gallon, $10 per half gallon.
  • Jerry Galli has 50 pen kits for Pens for the Troops.
  • Roman Chernikov announced that the Santa Clara Valley Carvers will be at the Blossom Festival in Saratoga on June 13th(now canceled). Read about their last year’s participation: Woodcarving at Saratoga Blossom Festival 2025.

Demonstration – Dean Caudle on removing the foot and finishing the bottom

Dean Caudle stands behind a wood lathe, gesturing with his left hand as if explaining a technique during a demonstration. A light-colored wooden bowl is mounted on the lathe. Behind him, a large screen displays a presentation slide titled "Set up and review Options" with a numbered list of instructions such as "Set the rubber mat" and "Turn a tenon." Signatures of famous turners are written on the lathe. The picture was taken for the woodturners newsletter.
A group of attendees, primarily men with a few women, sit in rows of folding chairs facing right during a woodturning demonstration. In the background, tables display various wooden bowls and vessels.
Dean Caudle stands beside a wood lathe, gesturing toward a square block of wood mounted on a large wooden faceplate. He is wearing a black t-shirt and smiling. Behind him, a large flat-screen monitor displays a blue presentation slide with a numbered list of instructions; visible text includes "1. Set the rubber mat (why I do this), more surface tension/grip and protect surface" and "2. Turn a tenon." The setting is a woodturning workshop with Dean Caudle giving a woodturning demonstration.

Dean Caudle has set upon a method that avoids having to use specialized equipment such as donut chucks, Cole jaws and vacuum chucks. He noted that Richard Finley uses a similar system. Dean uses a flat piece of wood mounted on a face plate, sticks a rubber mat against the flat backing and then uses the tail stock to secure the piece. With this setup, he can turn a tenon, fix a tenon after the wood dries and warps, change his design, shift the center or finish a bottom.

Dean reminds us not to make the final “nib” too small, because the live center can act as a wedge and split the wood. He also cautions us to check the face plate mounting screws often, replace the backing board as needed, try to remember to leave a center mark on your work and turn pushing towards the headstock as much as possible.

President’s Challenge – Turn Pens

Four hand-turned wooden pens arranged horizontally on a light blue, textured fabric background.
Turned pens
Two turned wood pens lie horizontally on a light grey surface next to a matching lidded container. To the right stands a spherical dark-wood jar with a light-wood base and a lid topped with a slender, pointed finial.
Alison Lee smiles while holding a dark, turned pen horizontally in her right hand. In the background, framed photographs of Joshua trees hang on a white wall at the West Bay Woodturners meeting.

Alison Lee turned a pen out of some sort of brown wood.

Kevin Lee holds up a turned wooden pencil during a West Bay Woodturners meeting. In the background, wooden bowls sit on a table against a slatted wood wall.

Kevin Lee turned a pencil from Sycamore with a 3mm lead. He was reminded that pen turning requires lots of little annoying details.

Vic smiles and holds up three handcrafted wooden pens, displaying them horizontally and one vertically in front of his chest. The background features a wall with horizontal slats, consistent with a woodturning club meeting setting.

Vic Mitnick turned several pens including two of the slimline design. He showed how he made a center band out of acrylic, using a laser cutter to get the hole diameter to exactly match the kit’s tube.

Harvey Klein, a local woodturner, smiles as he holds open a black case displaying a collection of colorful, hand-turned wooden pens. In the background, a table displays other woodturning projects, including wooden bowls and vessels, at a West Bay Woodturners club meeting. The picture was taken for the West Bay Woodturners newsletter.

Harvey Klein had a whole case of pens to show. He likes to turn pens and he used to sell them (these days, he mostly gives them as gifts). He likes to turning them from acrylic and he even turned one from a corn cob. Harvey donated two of his pens to the Pens for the Troops project.

Show & Tell

An eye-level, wide shot, taken for the West Bay Woodturners newsletter, captures a display of woodturning projects arranged on tables covered with light blue tablecloths. The collection features a diverse array of turned wooden vessels, including tall slender vases, natural-edge bowls, lidded jars, and serving platters. The pieces exhibit a wide range of wood grains and colors, from pale sapwood to dark heartwood, with some items featuring dramatic live edges or split designs. Prominent pieces include a tall, large vase with a unique open center and a set of small nesting bowls. On the windowsill in the background, a cross-grain slab of Juniper with a natural edge is resting against a wooden slat blind.
Bob, wearing a name tag, smiles as he holds up a large, bulbous hollowform turned from Juniper with a distinctive opening and contrasting light and dark wood grain. He stands behind a table displaying a variety of other wooden turning projects, including bowls and vases, at a West Bay Woodturners meeting.

Bob Bley has declared 2026 as the “Year of the Juniper”. He obtained several large sections of a juniper downed in January from Angela. Bob showed several examples of the kinds of things he turns from this wood using a juniper “cookie” as a reference. The first piece he showed was end-grained calabash, similar in form to the Koa bowl that Edgar brought in a couple months ago.

Deep furrows in the juniper result in “windows” in the turned form. To keep the piece intact, Bob leaves small solid wood rings at both the top and bottom. He sanded the piece after it had dried but did not try to “twice-turn” it. Because of the windows into the interior, he had to sand both inside and out. To contain the dust, he constructed a box around the whole piece. He shaped “feet” in the bottom ring after turning. The second piece Bob showed was a side grain vase with a live edge. Because it had a big mouth he had to sand the inside of it, too. Finally, Bob showed an end-grain wide mouthed bowl.

A turned juniper wood vessel by artist Bob Bley, featuring a dramatic natural live edge with rough bark along the rim. The piece showcases a striking contrast in wood grain, transitioning from creamy, pale-yellow sapwood at the edges to deep reddish-brown heartwood in the center. It is displayed on a light blue cloth at the West Bay Woodturners meeting, sitting among other wooden turning projects. The picture was taken for the West Bay Woodturners newsletter.
Three turned wooden vessels, and four pens made from Juniper wood are displayed on a blue tablecloth. The largest object is a tall, sculptural vase on the right, featuring a large open cutout that reveals dark wood grain against the lighter exterior, turned by Bob Bley. Next to it is a smaller, rounder pot with a wide, irregular natural rim. Partial views of another vessel and small bowls are visible on the left, while four matching turned pens lie vertically on the right.
Kelly holds up a polished, golden-brown wooden vase (hollowform) in his right hand. He is wearing a green t-shirt and a large necklace of wooden beads with a pendant engraved with the name "Kelly Smith." He is presenting his woodturning project at a West Bay Woodturners club meeting.

Kelly Smith, prolific as always, had an apple turned from apple wood (of course), some carob mushrooms, a Redwood bowl ( from a tree that they had cut down), an ash live edge bowl, a plum letter opener, a Ginkgo live edge bowl, two green olive bottles, an olive vase, a mini lighthouse and a camphor tree.

A display of various woodturned items arranged on a table covered with a light blue cloth. The collection features three tall vases of varying heights and wood grains, two large bowls with rustic live edges, a large smooth dark-wood bowl, two mushroom-shaped objects with natural bark tops, a small wooden apple, and a small pointed spindle. The items are showcased at a West Bay Woodturners club meeting. The picture was taken for the West Bay Woodturners newsletter.
This is a split image displaying a collection of woodturning projects. The left side shows a variety of turned wood items arranged on a light blue table, including two tall, pale vases, a darker, bulbous vase, a large bowl with reddish grain, two live-edge bowls, and several small turned objects such as a spiral tree, mushroom shapes, and a small sphere. The right side features a close-up of a tall, stylized, polished wooden castle with a conical base and a sharp, pointed top, resembling a chess piece or finial.
Dean Caudle holds a light-colored turned cherry bowl at the West Bay Woodturners meeting. He wears a black t-shirt with a wood ring design. Other turned wood projects, including vases and a dark bowl, are displayed on a table in the foreground.

Dean Caudle turned a cherry bowl.

Daniel Saal made two platters from walnut slabs. From an oak tree taken out in their backyard, he made two bowls as well as a calabash form that cracked.

Daniel holds up two large, dark wood turned platters, one in each hand, at a West Bay Woodturners meeting. He stands in front of a table covered with a light blue cloth that displays other woodturning projects, including a large two-toned vase and smaller wooden bowls. A framed picture of a Joshua tree hangs on the wall behind him.
Large, nested, wooden bowls turned from light-colored oak, featuring a prominent swirling grain pattern and a dark knot near the center. It is displayed on a table covered with a light blue cloth at a woodturning club meeting.
Alison Lee smiles warmly while holding up a hand-turned wooden bowl at the West Bay Woodturners meeting in May 2026. She turned the bowl from redwood. The bowl features distinctive light-colored sapwood on the left and deep reddish-brown heartwood on the right.

Alison Lee has lots of redwood. She’s been experimenting with different bowl designs and finishes, such as walnut oil, Danish oil and Osmo.

Harvey Klein holds a dark, polished wooden turned box while standing at a West Bay Woodturners meeting. He is positioned behind a table covered with a blue cloth, displaying several light-colored wooden bowls and a dark plate. In the background, a framed picture of Joshua trees on a wall with dark wood trim.

Harvey Klein admires the work of Martin Saban Smith. Harvey made a balloon-shaped hollow form with a foot and finial top from Sycamore. The body was dyed black, then sanded, dyed blue, then sanded, and finally dyed plum. The finial and foot were left their natural color. The very top of the finial is cocobolo. Harvey finished the piece with lacquer.

A close-up view of a wooden sculpture depicting a dragon head with a geometric, faceted design. The main body of the head is turned and burned wood with angular segments, while the upward-curving horns, ear, and eye area are made from lighter, natural wood. The sculpture sits on a light blue tablecloth, surrounded by other woodturning projects in the background, including a large wooden bowl and a wooden apple, at a display for the West Bay Woodturners club.

Tina showed the Dragon’s head that she created in a class that she took from Derek Weidman. The main part of the head was turned with several off-center axes and then burned with a torch. The eyes, horns and ears were made from a turned disc that was then cut and the pieces glued on afterwards.

Participation Prizes

A tabletop display featuring various woodworking projects and raw materials. On the left are several round and hexagonal wooden blocks and a flat board with the word "Carob" written on it. In the center, a purple cardboard box is filled with round wood slices (cookies). Behind this box are raw lumber scraps and a large segment of a log. To the right, a large open cardboard box is packed with numerous small, wooden pen blanks.
An overhead shot of a white table displaying an assortment of woodturning materials and tools. The collection includes various rectangular blocks of timber in shades of dark brown and light tan, turned wooden spindles and handles, and rough logs. To the right, a large log with bark sits next to a metal hand plane, a metal compass, a small wooden cup, and a red plastic bucket. The arrangement shows supplies for a woodworking project.

“As the Wood Turns”

I have a question for all of you. As you explore a new turning/direction, how long do you chase it, or should I ask when are you finally happy with what you have made? I had this idea in my sleep a few years ago, and I keep coming back to it. I’ve now completed 4 pieces, and have 2 I’m working on. None have finish, as I’ve not yet decided if I will keep them or trash them.

The first, kind of looks like what I remember from my dream (or was it a nightmare?). The piece broke in process, is far too flimsy. I wanted a small foot, but that leaves a very springy effect, which I don’t like. I played with dark edges, to create a frame, but it felt distracting.

In attempt 2, I addressed the small foot, but this left me with very little shape. Not as springy,, still with the open top, but blah.

Discussing this piece with Dennis L generated changes in the construction process, and left me uncertain about completing it. His suggestion was a way to create more strength while piercing and cutting out the negative space. I believed i was going to relieve the top, as it felt too closed, but I’m not sure, so it sits.

Try number 4. There were 2 things i didn’t like about #3. The top was too thick, and the base feels heavy. I tried to address both. The top is much thinner, relatively happy with that. The base has a foot, and moved up some off the floor. It feels a little low, so #5, in the works, will move it up, just a touch. No pics of the last two, still on the carving table.

All of this reminded me of a discussion I had with Bob Bley several years ago. If my memory is correct, his wife asked him why he kept making the same shape. He replied that it wasn’t quite right yet. At the time, it seemed like it wasn’t quite right probably just practice, but I’m starting to wonder if I will ever get the piece I want. After this long rant, you are probably smiling and glad I’ve not been at the meetings boring you with my wandering in the woods. But, I’ll still ask, how long do you chase your tail?

Dave Vannier

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

President: Edgar Whipple
Vice President: Jon Bishop
Treasurer: Jim Koren
Secretary: Alison Lee
Member at Large: Bob Bley
Meeting Program Coordinator: Unfilled
Visiting Artist Coordinator: Dean Caudle (acting)
Anchor Seal: Dennis Lillis
Craft Supply: Tina
Librarian: Kelly Smith and Roman Chernikov
Audio Visual: Curtis Vose
Website: Roman Chernikov
Woodturners Newsletter: Angela, Edgar, David, Laura, and Roman

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