November, 2005

Meeting Information: Saturday, November 19th, from 9 am to Noon

Sam Turner: Hollow Form Vessels the Easy Way

At Levi Mize Woodcraftsman’s Shop

162 Aviador Street #17+18, Camarillo, CA 93010

Aviador Street is N. of the Camarillo Airport and is reached from the Central Ave. exit off of US 101: go S. and turn left on Ventura Blvd. then right on Aviador St.  About three-quarters of the way to the dead end, on the left is a long building.  Levi’s  shop is the last two doors on the left on the S. side of the building.  Please park directly in front of or behind his shop or against the curb on the N. side of the building and not in front of other shops.

BRING YOUR OWN CHAIR OR SIT ON THE FLOOR

The two meetings in October were outstanding.  The hands-on-workshop at Russ Babbitt’s had all four lathes in continuous use with lots of teaching and practicing by everyone.  As usual Doug Eaton and Russ cooked lunch and gave us a break before the afternoon session.

And the second meeting on Sunday, Oct. 30 featured English turner Chris Stott.  His presentation had points for the beginner and the accomplished turner.  He produced more actual completed works than any of our previous demonstrators all the while describing why and how he was using the tools.  His discussion of design concepts was also excellent.  We will have a Demo page with description and photos “soon”.  The turnout of members and guests was outstanding with about 30 people present.  His demo pieces were taken home by several people to finish for the Holiday Social raffle next month.

Member Sam Turner will be the demonstrator for the November meeting (one week earlier than usual due to Thanksgiving).  He will be showing how he does hollow form vessels using methods and jigs, homemade or available to everyone without a large budget.

We will also hold the election of officers for next year: the email to members last month contained the slate of nominations from the nominating “committee”, Jim Rinde.  Additional candidates can be presented at the meeting.

The Show-N-Tell challenge this time is collection of 3-5 pieces or hollow forms.  Bring anything else you have made to show also.

The Club has a mentor program for beginning turners.  One of our newer members wrote the following:

Hi, I’m Joe Levy. I joined the club in June 2005 and I would like to say something about the mentoring program. It started with a phone call from Al Geller. He invited me over to his house to discuss what I needed to get started in woodturning (I had nothing). After I got my tools, Al came over to my house to teach me how to sharpen the tools. He also got me started on a bowl.
Jim Rinde came to my house on a different day and gave me another lesson on sharpening. Jim also looked at some of the bowls I was working on. He gave me lots of encouragement and good pointers. Then came Russ Babbitt; he spent two days with me this week. He showed me good sharpening techniques. Russ taught me how to make a lidded box (my wife thinks I’m great). Russ is an excellent teacher and I plan to spend more time with him. I want to learn and he is very good at explaining the hows and whys of all aspects of the project he is teaching.
I recommend that everybody that is new take advantage of the Club’s mentor program. I plan on getting together with some of the other mentors in the future.
Regards, Joe Levy

For a list of mentors look on the officers page.  Also many other members are willing to get you started.  Ask around or look at the membership list to find someone who lives close to you.

The following was submitted by member Dan Halpert: The different stages of a woodturner:
New turner – I have no idea what this will be when I finish.

Slightly experienced turner – I kinda think I want a closed form with a natural edge.

Experienced turner – This will be an 8″ tall vase on a 2″ base. I will turn it on my Oneway 2436, using Sorby and Glaser gouges sharpened on a high-speed grinder using a Wolverine jig. I will sand the piece progressively from 180 grit through 500 grit, then polish it with polishing compound on my slow-speed polishing wheel. I will then return the piece to the lathe, rub in several coats of poly and finish with paste wax. I will call the piece “Ode to a Tree” and sell it in a gallery for $300.

Very experienced, older turner – I have no idea what this will be when I finish.