Woodturners Newsletter, November 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

Agenda

President’s Challenge

Upcoming Programs

Holiday Party — December 16, 5–9 pm

• Jim Koren will again prepare the turkey.
• Members are invited to bring a turned object for the gift exchange.
• An ornament raffle will be held.
• A volunteer is needed to coordinate the event.

Our holiday party will be on December 16 (the third Wednesday as with our normal meetings) with the time shifted to 5 pm – 9 pm. Due to popular demand, Jim Koren has agreed to cook the turkey again this year. There will be a gift exchange (something you have turned) and also an ornament raffle.

Last Meeting Review

Wednesday, October 21, 2026

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

Announcements

• New members: Emma Husby (who is excited to learn about woodturning) and Jonathan Sukar
• Jim Koren announced WBW will have a booth at the Belmont Holiday Craft Faire in November. Expect an email soon.
• Jim Koren will be coordinating a group order of Timberwolf bandsaw blades. Expect an email soon.
• Gerry Galli has pen kits for Pens for the Troops.
• The holiday party still needs a coordinator.
• Bud Trapp brought in his vintage collection of woodturning magazines for anyone who wants them.
• Edgar Whipple has some Klingspor P400 sheets that are a little stiff for woodturning but would work well on flat work.

Demonstration – Turning Finials by Don Bonnett

Don demonstrated how he makes finials for use on small hollow forms, boxes, and Christmas ornaments. He likes to use hard dense woods such as blackwood, cocobolo, boxwood or ebony. Don uses pin jaws in his chuck to hold the work. He prefers using Doug Thompson 3/8-inch spindle gouges.

Don likes to use a finial tool rest made by Steve Sinner at Advanced Lathe Tools. With this asymmetrical rest, he can wrap his hand around the rest, and stabilize the wood from behind with his fingers without the tool rest’s center post interfering. For this demonstration he was unable to use this rest because its height didn’t match the club’s demo lathe.

Don passed around a box with a variety of different finials he had made, including some off-center ones. He also showed us an old hand sketch of designs that he frequently uses.

Don starts off turning with the finial tip, farthest from the headstock. Potential tip shapes include: balls; teardrops, and flames. He then works down the finial, finishing each section before going on to the next lower one. He typically sands to 800 grit. Then he uses a fine buffing compound (finer than white diamond).

President’s Challenge – Offset Turning

Jon Sauer showed an oval vase that used three different centers.

Alison Lee used her new Ruth Niles Joyner jig to create an off-center bottle stopper with only two shifts.

Claude Godcharles used the Escoulen off-center chuck to turn some green avocado. He created the shape only by shifting the angle with the ball adapter. Claude also showed a piece by Michael Hosaluk from 2011.

Kelly Smith made several offset trees, a crooked mushroom and an off center bowl.

Vic Mitnick made a white oak multi-axis “thing” turned between centers.

Kirsten Mouradian also made a “thing” – sort of a double helix. She also turned a spoon turned on two axes using a home-made chuck.

Show & Tell

Jerry Galli made a live-edged bowl out of shamel ash, finished with spray lacquer. He also made a box out of black walnut with 100-year-old ash inset into the lid and an acrylic knob. He finished the box with beeswax.

Jon Sauer made an assortment of pendants, most with a Halloween theme. Some included skulls carved from antler. He used blackwood, betelnut, lignum vitae, holly, hematite, boxwood. Many of the pendants were embellished with rose engine carvings.

Dave Vannier made a pierced bowl, finished with spray lacquer. With some birch he acquired from Dean Caudle, Dave turned a trio of goblets, each taller than the next.

Luana Staiger brought the Liquidambar calabash bowl that she won in the Kirk DeHeer demo raffle. Luana also grows gourds and showed some that she has decorated using pyrography.

It’s been three years since Bob Hedges has been on the lathe. He made a very small bowl and pegs that he uses as lid restraints on boxes.

Kelly Smith made a bowl with some sycamore from Harvey Klein. He made one-piece mushrooms from red alder, a Hollywood juniper crotch vase, a red alder bowl, a redwood bowl, a boxwood bowl, an olive mushroom and a big redwood platter, finished with two coats of Osmo finish.

Laura Rhodes made a cherry platter and two small walnut bowls.

Joe Martinka made a slew of bottle stoppers, all different.

Daniel Saal made a pair of winged bowls from a walnut crotch.

Vic Mitnick took a class with Jimmy Clewes in Las Vegas where he made an ash platter and a lidded bowl. The main body of the bowl was ash with a burned finish. The lid was maple burl and the knob, olive.

Harvey Klein made a bell with a wooden clapper with a stand made of manzanita and metal.

Edgar Whipple turned a black cottonwood bowl featuring a branch whorl.

Woodturning Book Library

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