Member of
Orange County Woodworkers Association
(OCWA)
Local chapter of the American
Association of Woodturners.
Visit our open meetings, meet interesting people, see examples of members work, and have fun!
Anderson International Trading
(800) 454-6270
Deft, Inc.
Laguna Tools
Rockler Woodworking & Hardwoods
(714) 282-1157
Austin Hardwood & Hardware
Forrest Blades
Reel Lumber Service
(714) 632-1988
Skill-Bosch Power Tools
Craft Supplies
USA Industrial Blade & Products Co.
Renaissance Door & Window
Woodcraft Supply
(714) 899-1422
President's Message
February 2008 Newsletter Excerpt
The Skew Workshop was held on January 19th. Eighteen members joined in for a really fun and rewarding day. Craig Chambers;
with support from David Wade, Bill Rogers and Tom Polhamus gave us a full days tutorial on the use of the skew. This was a hands-on workshop and was very beneficial to those of us who would like to better understand the use of this great turning tool. Thanks to Bill Rogers and the Lutheran High School for letting us use their shop.
The Club Demonstrator at the January 17th meeting was James Santhon. His “Surprise” pieces were turned from scraps from the shop floor and included a drawer pull, a clock finial and two bowl finials. James did a great job, sprinkled with
comments from his vast experience with the tools and various wood. He even added a joke now and then! So, next month's Challenge will be to turn a “Surprise” piece for us and for his critique and judging. The Club Demonstrator for February 21st will be Ross Gilroy doing some “Off Center Turning”. Ross is one of our newer demonstrators and an excellent
turner. His last demonstration was fantastic as I am sure this one will be.
The Challenge for this month was to turn a “finial”, any finial, presented on a turned piece for judging.
Bruce Lewellyn very ably judged and critiqued the two pieces entered. Ross Gilroy was declared
the winner with a banksia pod piece with a great finial. This is a good start for the 2008
Ironman Challenge Award.
Show and Tell had about fourteen pieces entered and now includes Challenge pieces. The turnings
ranged from very big (approximately 36 inch tall segmented piece) to small (approximately
two inch tall off set piece), all beautifully done. Lots of questions on how the turnings were accomplished
and finished were answered. I want to encourage some of you “old timers”; you
know who you are, Craig, Art, Harry (whoops, Harry brought in the big piece), Al, etc., to
bring in your turnings for the membership to view and gain inspiration.
The winner of the Challenge and the lucky ticket holder for Show and Tell received the familiar
white envelopes I pass out at the meetings. These envelopes contain ten-dollar gift certificates given to the Turners Club by Craft Supplies. Thanks to that organization for there continued support of turning
organizations around the country.
The Jimmy Clewes professional demonstration is just around the corner on February 16th. Contact
Art Fitzpatrick for a ticket. Craig Chambers has arranged for Kieth Gotschall to perform
on June 21st. Kieth was inspiring at the AAW Symposium in Portland last year. All of us attending
were impressed with his demonstration; more information will be forthcoming.
Ralph Crowthers, the Club Treasurer, gave us a year end report and a tutorial on the means of
the Turners Club income and expenses. We ended the 2007 year with about $15 more than we started with. Thanks for the
discussion Ralph.
The Orange County Fair is coming in July. It will be much expanded and lots more support from the membership will be
needed. Please volunteer to make the clubs new building a success. Now is the time to get your pieces turned and ready.
Please review the “Coming Attractions” section in the newsletter to keep your calendar current (that means no date conflicts
with your spouse). Have fun at the lathe!
New for 2007
The intent of the monthly challenge is to get you to try different things! By trying each month's challenge, you'll take your woodturning to new levels. Remember, you DO NOT have to be a master turner . . . you just need to participate!
NEW Toy Program Coordinator!
May 2006
Jim Balestreri has stepped up and volunteered to be our new toy program coordinator! This important program is part of our stated mission and impacts our community a great deal. Please talk to Jim to be part of this very special good will program.
March Begins Meeting Time Change!
March 2006
Starting with the March Meeting, we are changing the start time to 6:30 p.m. to give our demonstrators a little longer to develop their projects.
Of Continued Interest!
Ongoing . . .
Ruthe has pen supplies available for those who wish to participate in the making of pens for the Freedom Pen Project. As of our February 2008 newsletter, Ruthe reports the project total nationwide is currently 79,090, with 8,292 of these from the OC Turners! For 2008, Nationwide count is 664, with OCWA at 171. Ruthe continues to receive emails from service men and women grateful for the gifts and thankful that we care and support them. Congratulations to all involved!
Ongoing . . .
We produced 4451 hand-crafted, wooden toys in 2005 which were
distributed to 45 agencies (listed in your December 2005 newsletter). In 2006 over 4500 toys were produced for the toy program. Our toymakers were also featured in the August 2006 newsletter.
See current newsletter on the OCWA site (members only section) for info on the next workshop.
Good to
Know!
Meeting Time - 6:30
Mar Challenge - off center turning
Ironman Challenge
Toys!
Freedom Pens