Author: watergapwoodturners

The Meeting was heled on Wednesday, September 8th at the Peters Valley Woodshop. Attending were Jim Cera, Rick Wortman, Michael Peacock, Ed Nikles, Mark Wallace, and Steve Ackman. Covid protocols were still in effect. Several attendees brought their work for show and tell.

The treasurer, Rick Wortman reported that the current club account balance is $473.85.  Rick noted that we have 12 members who have paid dues for 2021.

Next meeting will be Monday October 4th in the woodshop. Noted turner and Peters Valley instructor Fennis Fuge will demonstrate bowl and platter enhancements.

The focus of the meeting was the waning enthusiasm and shrinking membership and attendance of late. Our discussion centered on what we could do to get more of our current membership to reengage and to attract new members. Several suggestions were made that members will follow up on.

Using the lathes in the woodshop during meetings. Aside from a single lathe for demos, the club is only allowed to use the lathes for our annual “Toys For Tots” event. Jim will contact the Peters Valley director, Kristin Muller to see if that permission can be extended. (As of this writing Jim has met with Kristin and found that at some point “the club’s unlimited access to the tools during their meetings, became problematical, and issues developed which resulted in the withdrawal of permission to use the tools on an open ended basis”).

Improve visibility as an AAW chapter. Several members noted that the old, circa 2011 blog site link was still listed for our chapter on the AAW website. Steve Ackman volunteered to look into having the link replaced with our current. (As of this writing, Steve was successful in this effort).

Improve local awareness of the club and our association with Peters Valley. Several suggestions in this area included:

Improving the signage next to the club’s merchandise in the Peters Valley store to provide information about the club — including email and website links — to potentially attract new members.

Creating a sign, poster or flyer to hang in the PV woodshop that alerts workshop students to our existence, association to Peters Valley — and it’s instructors — and encourage new members. The sigh would include our email and website links.

Further strengthening our association with Peters Valley including our possibly advertising the club through participating in the annual PV sponsored craft fair. (Kristin Muller offered Jim the opportunity for us to have a table at the event where we could display some of the membership’s turnings, provide info about the club and sign up new members. There would also be a lathe available for a [skilled and quick] club member to do demonstrations. Mike has contacted the PV fair organizer to see what could be pulled together in the week+ before the fair and Jim has put out a call for volunteers to “man the table”. Kristin also offered to let us “piggy back” on PV’s social media sites to advertise the club and activities. Mike spoke with Emily Haag at PV who enthusiastically agreed to include our email and website links. Emily also offered to advertise upcoming meetings on the site. We’ll try to advertise the next few meetings at PV but will need to think about public announcements when we switch to member’s homes during the winter).

Better highlight our association with Peters Valley in our website. (Mike is working this).

The Meeting was held on Wednesday, August 4th at Peters Valley. Attending were Jim Cera, Rick Wortman, Fred Guendel, Michael Peacock, Ed Nikles, Mark Wallace, Ginnie Hinchman, Jim Matthews, Ken Aulicino and new member Steve Ackman. Covid protocols are still in effect and all attendees were masked.

Sadly, it was Fred’s farewell meeting as he is moving to Virginia. He’ll be missed.

The bulk of the meeting was a turning demonstration by notable turner Keith Tompkins.

The focus o Keith’s demo of design — going from idea to lathe. He discussed and demonstrated how and why to determine an “Emphasis Point” on a piece, and to create flowing curves and motion by having elements “almost touch”.

Keith demonstrated how he grips the tools, locks them to his body and using his body — not just his hands — to produce controlled and precise cuts.

Finally, Keith treated the group by demonstrating how to turn a cube on the lathe with basic tools and a little math.

After the demo, members shared some of their recent works in a show-and-tell.

Canceled due to power outage at Peters Valley.

The first in person meeting since February 2020 and the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, was held at Peters Valley on June 2nd. Attendance was low — just 4 members who had to adhere to covid safety protocols.

The treasurer, Rick Wortman reported that the treasury had $867. 

There was a brief discussion regarding the demo by Janine Wang and the concept of touch applied to turnings was addressed.

We had no challenge for the meeting but we did have a “show and tell” session.  Ed Nikles was particularly active in his turning mode and exhibited several pieces, some of which had displayed during our past Zoom sessions.

Our next meeting is scheduled at Peters Valley for July 5 at which tine we will have a presentation by Keith Tompkins.

On Thursday May 27^th, Artist and turner Janine Wang gave a talk to club members on the touch of turned objects.  Her presentation — entitled Gestures Of Holding — involved approaching turned objects with respect to the sensation and connection one has when grasping an object and shaping something with this objective in mind. The presentation — held in the Peters Valley woodshop — discussed form, function, design, the hand and holding.  Janine also showed some of her work. 

Although attendance was limited to 7 people due to PV Covid protocols but was well received.  Members brought samples of their work for discussion.

I have always loved f course this has more to do with tactile esthetics then technique but it could be fun and broadening to explore if she were available.

Meeting Notes

The May 2021 meeting of the Watergap Woodturners was held over Zoom on the 5th of the month.

Attendence. Attending were Jim Cerra, Rick Wortman, Mike Peacock, Joe Kopec, Ed Nickles, Scott Hendricks and Fred Guendel

Treasurer’s Report. The Treasurer reported a balance of $867.81 with, perhaps, the only outlay being a Zoom Subscription due in early March.

Club Secretary. Fred Guendel volunteered to serve as the Club Secretary.

Club Challenge. A range of projects were completed for this month’s Club Challenge of multi-axis turning, to include twig pots, ladles, spindles and boxes. The precision required to produce what was intended, and he ability to anticipate what to cut on each axis were learning points for club members.

Demonstrations. Janine Wang will conduct a demonstration on 27 May 21, and 7:00pm using her “Cupables” exhibition as a baseline. In preparation, each club member is asked to review their collection of turned projects and select on that seems to fit “the hand.”

The club membership agreed to engage Keith Thompkins as demonstrator in July, with “Design” as the topic. Fred Guendel will follow-up with Thompkins.

Members agreed to take photos documenting club meetings for posting on the website.

Notables. The AAW annual symposium for 2021 will be held virtually, 17 and 18 July 21. AAW also offers periodic virtual demonstrations for a modest few. See the AAW website for details on each.

The Peters Valley Woodshop is in the process of opening and should be available for the 27 May 21 demonstration and throughout the summer. The Club offered to assist Peters Valley open the shop; details to follow.

Meeting. The next club meeting will be held 2 Jun 21 at 7:00pm, at the Peters Valley Woodshop; details to follow.

Show & Tell

This month’s show and tell includes the results of the April Club Challenge and other works by members.

Club Challenge

This month’s challenge was multi-axis turning.

Jim Cerra — These are 3 similar multi-axis turnings. Each is a mini-vase of cherry, 5” high and 3” wide, finished with walnut oil and shined on the Beal buffing System. The first vase is fitted with a glass tube which will hold water.

Rick Wortman — Ladle: total length- 11″  cup-3″x 2 1/2″  Finish:  milk paint

Joe Kopec — This is my challenge story. My first choice was to turn a crankshaft for a 4-cylinder engine. Aftertwo attempts I decided it wasn’t working for me so I changed direction as you can see. The two forms on the right were turned a couple of years ago (not multi axis) and Steve Antonucci suggested multi axis would be a good turning exercise, so here’s result. Three axis points single plane. 

Fred Guendel — A three axis, walnut box with an inset maple top. It is ~4″ tall and 2 3/4″ in diameter. Finished with Watco Danish Oil, then buffed.

General

Joe Kopec — Some other turnings inspired from a demo by Harvey Meyer, note the grain match, no separation of the grain, and banksia pod Bud vase and box.

Jim Cerra — Spatula of cherry, 11 1/2” long and 3 3/4” wide finished with Tried & True. Toothpick dispenser — closed and open — of red oak, 5” high and 3 1/2” wide finished with walnut oil.

Rick Wortman — Cedar Bud Vase: 7 1/2″. 6″X3/4″ insert. Cedar Bud Vase: 5 1/2″: glass tube: 4×1/2″

Ed Nikles —A locust burl live edge bowl,vase,and candle holder. A walnut bottom and cherry wood top box with a turquoise inlay , and a cherry bottom and walnut top box.

Meeting Notes

The April 2021 meeting of the Watergap Woodturners was held over Zoom on the 7th of the month.

Attendence. Attending were Jim Cerra, Rick Wortman, Mike Peacock, Joe Kopec, Carol Pastor, Patty Jennings, Ed Nikles, Scott Hendricks and Mark Wallace.

Treasurer’s Report. The Treasurer reported a balance of $867.83 with the only outlays being the monthly Zoom fee of $14.98 and $516 for insurance. The Treasurer reported that there are currently 12 members who have paid dues. Additionally, the Treasurer reported that some members — who will remain anonymous — paid extra to serve as donations to the club. No income this month from Peters Valley Gift Shop sales.

In Person Meetings. Due to Peters Valley COVID prep and protocols, we will not be able to meet at the PV woodshop in May, First likely in person meeting will be in June. Peters Valley to provide specific COVID rules for the woodshop shortly.

Peters Valley has requested a copy of the club’s insurance policy which Rick will provide. Rick reported that Fred had sent an email to the membership suggesting that the club might assist in clean up of the PV woodshop. No decision has been made in that regard. Jim to email Kristin at Peters Valley to ask if our help with the woodshop would improve our ability to have in person meetings.

Demonstrations. Discussions concerning engaging one or more of this summer’s Peters Valley Workshop instructors to conduct a demonstration at our meeting continued. One possibility, Janine Wang, will be in PV in May but [it won’t work] since the Club can’t meet then. Rick will contact her to see if she can demonstrate for us in June and at what cost. We also wait to hear if Fred has been able to contact Kieth Thompkins and Lucy Derickson.

Tips and Tricks. Mike reported that the new Tips & Tricks page was up on the website. The access to this page is found on the Home Page under Meetings/News/Events. The page presents all tips and tricks collected to date — including detailed writeups provided by Patty Jennings, Scott Hendricks and Carl Beaulieu. All members are encourage to submit entries for the page. Please be detailed and provide references if possible.

May Challenge Project. Multi-axis turning. Reference: Barbara Dill videos.

Show & Tell

This month’s show and tell includes the results of the April Club Challenge and other works by members.

Club Challenge

This month’s challenge was a natural edge bowl.

Mark Wallace — White Birch. Finish: Howard Feed n Wax. (Beeswax, Carnauba, Orange Oil)

Scott Hendricks — A cherry crotch bowl 7″ wide and 8″ wide. A little thicker than normal but the three knots caused me to keep it a little thicker.

Rick Wortman — Cherry: 12×5″

Ed Nikles — Live edge cherry bowl 11” long,8/14”wide,4/12”high,1/4”thick edge, finished  with Tried & True oil & beeswax.

Joe Kopec — First live edge turning.

Carl Beaulieu — My first attempt to turn a Natural Edge Bowl was completed using an Ash green wood limb and turning using the Ellsworth Signature Gouge. The bowl is 8”x6”x5”.  Gouge was kept sharp using a Tormek wet grind jig settings (A-75mm-6).  The sharp tool allowed cutting of bark edge without damage.  The bowl is now covered with saw dust and will be finished when moisture level allows.  The rough turned bowl was turned over several weeks to slowly reduce moisture content and minimize wood stress and distortion.  

Top view of bowl interior.  Ellsworth Gouge reliably removed material without struggles.  It appears wit practice the tool can be controlled to achieve a smooth surface with little need for sanding.

Fred Guendel — A maple bowl that is 9″ in diameter and 4 1/2″ tall; finished with lacquer.

General

Scott Hendricks — Pierced butternut vessel

Patty Jennings — Carved fish bowl made from maple, carved with a dremel, painted with trans tint dyes and sprayed with a polycrylic finish.

Ed Nikles — 

7” diameter by 2 1/2” walnut bowl.  

6” diameter by 3” high walnut bowl.  

4 1/4” by 3” diameter cherry candle holder. 

7” diameter by 2 1/2”high Turquoise inlay cherry bowl.  

3 1/2” diameter by 4” high Cherry box with textured rings colored green. 

7” hi. Zebrawood upside down pepper mill.  

7 1/2” by 3” dia. Cherry bud vase with a 1” glass insert.

Mike Peacock –

Toy cars with peg people for my grandson and grandniece.  Cars are cherry, people are 1-1/2″ x 2″ oak colored with acrylic paints. Both sealed with water-based polycrylic.  After test-drive by grandson ejected the people, added magnet to car and a washer to the people to keep them in.

House Number/Planter for my daughter’s first home. Made from cedar boards and finished with 4 coats of Helmsman exterior spar urethane.  24” x 14”, planter is 5”x5”x14”.

Joe Kopec — Turnings inspired from a demo by Harvey Meyer, note the grain match, no separation of the grain, and banksia pod Bud vase and box.

Fred Guendel — Stool. It has a cherry seat with oak legs and stretchers; finished with Tired and True Oil/Varnish.

Meeting Notes

The March 2021 meeting of the Watergap Woodturners was held over Zoom on the 2nd of the month.

Attendence. Attending were Jim Cerra, Rick Wortman, Mike Peacock, Joe Kopec, Carol Pastor, Patty Jennings, Ed Nikles, Scott Hendricks and Fred Guendel

Treasurer’s Report. The Treasurer reported a balance of $900 with the only outlays being the premium to renew our liability insurance policy. The Club earned $42 from Peters Valley Gift Shop sales.

Demonstrations. The membership discussed engaging one or more of this summer’s Peters Valley Workshop instructors to conduct a demonstration during the program portion of a meeting. Fred will contact Kieth Thompkins and Lucy Derickson; Rick, Janine Wang. Other topics were mentioned for further consideration—Dennis Fuge for pewter work; Seth for finials; a master sharpener for sharpening techniques.

Tips and Tricks. Our “Tips and Tricks” segment explored three topics: 1) A demonstration by Carl Bealieu of using the shadow method to turn a sphere; 2) A discussion by Patty Jennings regarding how she carved and colored an oak leaf relief pattern on a box; and 3) a space efficient way to store sandpaper using discarded food service containers from Ed Nikles.

Challenge/Show-and-Tell. A number of ball catchers and Kendama-type games were turned. The group was surprised by the number of different ways there are to turn a sphere/ball. Similarly, members offered a number of projects that were marked by skill and proportion. Patty Jennings oak leaf carved box top gained unanimous praise.

March Meeting. The next club meeting will be held 7 Apr 21 at 7:00pm, via Zoom. The “Challenge” for this meeting is a live edge bowl.

Show & Tell

This month’s show and tell includes the results of the March Club Challenge and other works by members.

Club Challenge

Mark Wallace — Walnut and maple ball catcher. Spray spar urethane finish.

Jim Cerra — Ball catchers- turned from poplar 6 inches high 1 1/2 inch ball

Fred Guendel — Ball catcher: ash ball with cherry handle.

Carl Beaulieu — Poplar ball catcher. Turned 2-1/4 inch ball using shadow method.  Hollowed catcher with spindle gouge and scraper.  

Ed Nikles — Walnut ball catcher.

Rick Wortman — The fist wo shots are of a Bilboquet, which is a French ball and cup game that is reported to have been imported to Japan where it evolved into a Kendama which is now a very popular there and is in the third and forth shots. Each of the three cups is a slightly different size. Both are quite challenging; especially stabbing the hole in the ball with the peg. The Bilboquet is hickory and oak and the Kendama is oak and cherry.

General

Mark Wallace — 1900 Boston teacher desk that I restored. Was in bad shape. A friend of mine trashed picked the desk. Solid maple and cast iron. Turned two pencil holders for ink well holes.

Fred Guendel — Two small maple hollow forms.

Patty Jennings — Maple vessel with carved lid that is colored with trans tint dyes.

Ed Nikles — Cherry vase with a textured colored ring top and bottom. Oak burl live edge bowl. Oak burl vase. Cherry pepper mill.

Jim Cerra — A hollow form turned from cherry. It is five inches high. It is an example of hollowing from the bottom up.

Meeting Notes

The February 2021 meeting of the Watergap Woodturners was held over Zoom on the 2nd of the month.

Attendence. Attending were Jim Cerra, Rick Wortman, Mike Peacock, Joe Kopec, Carol Pastor, Patty Jennings, Mark Wallace, Ed Nikles, Scott Hendricks and Fred Guendel

Treasurer’s Report. The Treasurer reported a balance of $1,373 with the only outlays being a Zoom Subscription and the need to renew our liability insurance policy; due in early March. A discussion regarding timing of the renewal occurred. The issue being, since we are currently not physically meeting, we might delay renewal. The consensus developed that because we plan to hold in person meetings at the first opportunity we should renew, failing to find a lower cost insurer. Follow-on research showed that our current policy cost less than would one offered by a competitor, so Rick Wortman will renew our plan.

Club Secretary. Fred Guendel volunteered to serve as the Club Secretary.

March Meeting. The next club meeting will be held 3 Mar 21 at 7:00pm, via Zoom. The “Challenge” for this meeting is either a “ball-and-cup” or “ball and post” game. Fred will circulate the list of woodturners, along with their websites, that will be teaching a workshop at Peters Valley before the next meeting to see if there is interest in engaging any of them for a club demonstration.

Show & Tell

This month’s show and tell includes the results of the February Club Challenge and other works by members.

Club Challenge

This month’s challenge was a goblet.

Joe Kopec – Goblets.

Rick Wortman — 3 goblets with multiaxial stems. Black walnut, sweet birch, and maple.  Stems done with technique described by Barbara Dill.

Carol Paster – Goblet.

Patty Jennings – Oak goblet with 2 captive rings in stem.

Mark Wallace – Goblet.

Ed Nikles – Cherry goblets. 5-3/8” x 3-3/8.  Finished with 3 coats of High Gloss Formby’s Tung Oil Finish.

Scott Hendricks – Fir goblet, 5” x 3”.

Fred Guendel – Chestnut oak goblet. 6-1/2’ tall with 2-3/4” base.  Finished with oil/wax and buffed.

Jim Cerra – Ash goblet. 7” tall, 3.5” top diameter.

General Show & Tell

Ed Nikles – Cherry bowl, 9” diameter x 2” high.  Finished with Tried & True Linseed Oil and Beeswax. Oak burl vase, 7” high x 3” diameter.  Finished with Tried & True Linseed Oil and Beeswax. Walnut vase.

Rick Wortman – Natural edge bowl. 12” x 3”.

Joe Kopec – Bowls.

Mark Wallace – Bowls.

Fred Guendel – Sewing table chair.

Patty Jennings  – Car. Small soldier ornament.

Jim Cerra — Bagel cutting “contraption”

Tips & Tricks Q&A

Questions and answers from members on tuning technique, finishing, etc.

Question 1:

What finish would be suitable for a goblet to hold wine?

Answers:

The discussion included use of CA glue, polyurethane and leaving a goblet—especially and oak goblet—unfinished.

Question 2:

What is your favorite and most effective method of hollowing end grain?

Answers:

Techniques included boring a hole—either as a starter or at the desired diameter—with an forstner bit; using a spindle gouge; using a “ring tool,” “Oneway Termite,” or “hook tool”; using a scraper; or employing a dedicated hollowing system, such as the Trent Bosch Stabilizer

During follow-on discussion, Ed Nikles noted that he has had very good success sharpening scrapers “up-side-down,” that is to say, with what will be the top edge of the tool when used, facing down on  the bench grinder tool rest when sharpening.

Going forward, the Club decided that inputs responding to technique questions/“Tips and Tricks” would be better if they included an available source for future reference.

Meeting Notes

Treasurers Report – Rick reported that the club account stands at $938.82 with the only current expenditure being the $14.98 monthly cost for the Zoom account.  It was decided to not renew the club’s liability insurance until we resume face-to-face meetings in Peters Valley or member’s shops.  It was also decided that we’d continue the $30 yearly dues – which should be sent to Rick.

Peters Valley – Announcedthat classes will be reinstated in May with some of the same medical precautions still in place, ie. masks, social distancing, etc.

February meeting and challenge— Our next meeting will take place via Zoom on Wednesday, February 3, 202, and our turning challenge will be a goblet of your own personal design choice.

Show & Tell

This month’s show and tell includes the results of the January Club Challenge and other works by members.

Club Challenge

This month’s Club Challenge was a lidded box.

Mark Wallace – Bass wood box.

Jim Cerra – Hickory box, 4” high, 3-1/2” wide.

Rick Wortman – Lidded mushroom box made from cedar 4” x 2”.

Scott Hendricks – Lidded bowl is turned from a butternut tree that was planted by my friend’s grandfather in 1929 in Warren, NJ on their farm. The farm is long gone but for the 6 acres where the farm house is located. The finial is locally harvested walnut. Finish is 3 coats of lacquer.

Fred Guendel – The first is “Three end-grain lidded boxes–oak, spalted “something,” and walnut.”

Carol Paster – Lidded box.

Ed Nikles — Lidded box simple design made of cherry wood.

Joe Kopec – Gray birch box, 4” diameter x 2” high.

Mike Peacock – Spalted maple box with paduk finial.  Box is 4” diameter x 6” high (9-1/2“ high with finial).

General Show & Tell

Rick Wortman – Box elder bowl, 4.5” x 2”

Mike Peacock – Sea urchin ornaments with cherry finials and caps.  Used Cindy Drozda YouTube Video as a guide.

Fred Guendel – A bird house Christmas ornament.

Carol Paster — This camera and ‘lenses’ are not yet completed but the (lidded box) challenge helped push me to get this far already. A friend had asked me to make what’s known as a havdalah set which consists of a candle holder, a container to hold spices, a wine glass and a place for matches.  I remembered that this person is an avid photographer so I made all the functional pieces into 2 lenses and a film canister.

Ed Nikles – Oak burl bowl and oak burl candle stand that leaves half the burl bark and the other half turned smooth. Bird mouth vase.

Joe Kopec – Lidded boxes made over several years.

Jim Cerra – Fir scoop 6” long.  Cherry bowl 8” wide, 2” high.