Category: Meetings/News/Events

Our November meeting was a different format from our regular meetings.

One of the founders of our club, Harvey Fein, had a gallery exhibition of samples of his incredible body of work at the Peters Valley Sally D Fransisco Galley. Harvey also had a feature article about his work in the American Association of Woodturners in the October 2023 issue of American Woodturner. Our club met at the gallery at 5:00 PM

Meeting attendees were: Steve Ackmann, Rick Wortman, Jack Delaney, Carol Paster, Jim Cerra, Joe Kopec, Dave Robinson, Scott Hendricks, Mark Wallace and Patty Jennings. Special guest was Harvey Fein who talks about some of his works and his process.

After our session with Harvey we adjourned to the Peters Valley Wood Studio at around 6:00PM for our regular meeting.

Rick Reported our checking account balance remains the same as previously reported, however, that is a large improvement for us at this point in the year.

Show and Tell: this will be updated

For our demonstration this month, our member, Scott Hendricks, did a presentation on turning with Cork. Scott had taken a weekend course on cork turning and put together a PowerPoint presentation that talked about the cork product and how it’s made, and showed pictures of some of the pieces he and other class attendees made during the course.

Scott also brought several pieces he made with the material at the class and at home with additional cork material he acquired from the instructor.

Many thanks to Scott for a great presentation and for showing us a new medium that has interesting possiblities.

Our October meeting was held on October 4, 2023 at the Peters Valley Woodworking Studio. Attendees were Steve Ackmann, Rick Wortman, Ed Nikles, Jim Cerra, Scott Hendricks, Joe Kopec, and guest and potential new member Mike Baklarz.

Steve reported on the activity at the Peters Valley Craft Fair and Rick Wortman reported that the treasury was the same as last month.

Show and Tell

Rick Wortman show the finished product on his Cherry salad bowl nested set. He also brought along some fine examples of offset turning he has completed. He also brought the finished platter that he had started at the June meeting.

Ed Nikles brought four nut bowls made of black birch. it was noted how heavy and dense the wood feels, and the beautiful figuring in the wood.

Scott Hendricks brought a larger walnut vase.

Joe Kopec brought a small laminated bowl of cherry and walnut that he has started at the craft fair and finished at his home machine. He also brought a small offset turned sculpture .

Jack Delaney brought several yoyo’s he made following Dave Robinson’s demo at the last meeting

Steve Ackmann brought a small bud vase made out of highly figured Norway Maple that had recent fallen in his yard.

For this month’s demonstration we tried our hand at offset turning as shown in our August meeting with Beth Ireland. We brought some square blanks and with the help of all of the members we figured out how to mark the rounded blanks to make a nice offset. Then new members Jack and Mike took the marked blanks and worked to make an offset turning. Results below:

The meeting adjourned a little after 9:00 pm. Next meeting is November 1, 2023 at the Woodworking Studio.

September 23-24 2023 at the Sussex Fairgrounds.

Scott Henricks, Joe Kopec, Rick Wortman, Dave Robinson, Steve Ackmann and Jack Delaney showed up on a mostly rainy weekend to staff the table at the Fair. We were undercover in the demonstration pavilion and all of the vendors were repositioned to in-building locations, so the Fair went on as planned. We demonstrated all day, and in-spite of the weather, we had steady crowds most of each day. Additionally we collect names of people interested on learning woodturning and we will contact them with information about our club.

Our September meeting was held at the Peters Valley Woodworking studio on Wednesday, September 6, 2o23. in attendance was Steve Ackmann, Rick Wortman, Ed Nikles, Dave Robinson, Jack Delaney, and Joe Kopec.

Steve reminded the group that the Peters Valley Annual Craft Fair at the Sussex County Fairgrounds is coming up on the weekend of September 23rd and 24th, 2023. We will again have a table at the demonstration pavilion and would like to have turning demonstrations going on throughout the weekend. Steve will be in contact with members about staffing the table and bring a blank or two, as well at their tools and some of their work to make things interesting for the craft fair attendees.

Rick Wortman reported that the treasury has a balance of $336.35 and we’re in the best shape cash-wise as we have been at this time of the year over many years.

Show and Tell.

Rick Wortman showed a set of nested bowls made from Cherry that he will sell in the Peters Valley gallery. He has had success selling these and they are out a the moment

Jack Delany showed a set of snowmen and Christmas trees that he made and painted.

Dave Robinson showed yo-yo’s he’s made from kits acquired from Craft Supplies and Penn State Industries

Steve Ackmann showed a couple of small bud vases made from cherry. One had some “Kintsugi” repairs to fill and highlight cracks in the grain. He also showed a small apple wood bowl

The demonstration this month was Dave Robinson showing how the yo-yo’s are made. The kits he bought from Craft Supply provide the axles and strings and the skill and creativity of the piece come from the turning of the halves of the yo-yo. The Craft Supply axles are more simple, and the Penn State axles are built with ball bearings, enabling more tricks. Wood selection, shape and decoration provide for much creative variety in the end product. Dave purchased numerous kits to we plan to produce several of these at our annual toys for tots turning day in December.

Our August Meeting was held on August 22nd, 2023 and was timed to coincide with the end of Beth Ireland’s classes at Peter’s Valley.

Attendees: Steve Ackmann, Rick Wortman, Scott Hendricks, Mark Wallace, Ed Nikles, Carol Pastor, Joe Kopec, Jack Delaney.

Due to the demonstration by Beth Ireland, we only held a brief meeting. Rick Wortman reported that the checking account balance was still the same and in better shape than we’ve been at this time in recent years. 

Due to the Ireland Demonstration we had only a brief show and tell

Ed Nikles showed 2 laminated bowls and a laminated platter made with multiple wood species. He also showed vase made from heavily spalted maple.

Beth Ireland then demonstrated offset turning to our group. She showed how to make the rounded blank to turn a triangular shape and a two-sided turning. She also demonstrated how to hold the tool in conjunction with the tool rest to achieve the desired final shape. Additionally, moving the tool rest in at one end and again following the rest with the tool allowed for tapering the piece. The triangular turning is particularly good as chair, stool, or table legs.

The meeting adjourned around 9:30. Next meeting is at our regular monthly meeting time on 9/6/2023 at 7:00PM at the Woodshop.

Our July Meeting was held on July 18th, 2023 and was timed to coincide with the end of Matt Monaco’s classes at Peter’s Valley.

Attendees: Steve Ackmann, Rick Wortman, Scott Hendricks, Mark Wallace, Ed Nikles, Joe Kopec, Jack Delaney.

Due to the demonstration by Matt Monaco, we only held a brief meeting. Rick Wortman reported that the checking account balance was still the same and in better shape than we’ve been at this time in recent years.

Ed Nikles showed the finished version of the coloring technique he domstrated at the June Meeting:

We then had a demonstration from Matt Monaco on the his approach to turning a platter. Matt was featured in The AAW Woodturners magazine in the June 2023 issue, he is a highly skilled turners and teaches all over the nation.

Matt turned a platter out of cherry and donated it to our club at the meetings end.

Next month’s meeting will be another Peters Valley teacher, Beth Ireland, who will do a hands-on demonstration on offset turning. That meeting will be on August 22, 2023 at 7:00PM at the Peters Valley Woodshop.

Our June meeting was held Wednesday, June 14th, 2023 at 7:00 PM at the Peters Valley Wood Studio on Thunder Mountain Road. This meeting had been posponed from the previous week due to the closing of Peters Valley caused by the extremely poor air quality arising from the forest fires in Quebec.

Attendees: Steve Ackmann, Rick Wortman, Carl Beaulieu, Joe Kopec, Dave Robinson, Jim Cerra, Scott Hendricks and Ed Nikles

Presidents Report: We decided on an outline for topics for the Beth Ireland demonstration from a list suggested by Beth herself. Topic will lean toward offset turning with Rick discussing the specifics with Beth. Additionally, Rick will talk with Matt Monaco to decide on a topic for his demo.

We also spoke about the Art in the Park event at Peters Valley on Sunday from 11Am to 4 PM on May 28th, 2023 . We will have a table and a lathe to do turning demonstrations. We will coordinate our participants and demonstrators prior to the event, the goal is to have several members to show our items and to do demonstrations at the lathe.

Treasurer’s Report: Rick Wortman reported that our bank balance is the same as last month’s.

Show and Tell:

Ed Nikles showed a Walnut Bowl, a live edge Walnut Bowl, a cherry bowl with a decorated rim, and round boxes

Joe Kopec showed a Butternut Platter, a Butternut Bowl, and a pagoda box.

Dave Robinson showed Pens, a razor and a bottle opener

Scott Hendricks showed a deep cherry bowl

Carl Beaulieu showed an Ash live edge bowl

Rick Wortman showed a (maple) walking stick he discovered on a walk through the woods and a Butternut bowl.

Steve Ackmann showed a Pepper Mill, a Hickory live edge bowl, a Black Locust bud vase, and a cherry bowl.

After show and tell, Rick Wortman demonstrated turning a Platter from a 12″ cherry blank

In light of Rick’s demonstration, next month’s turning challenge will be to turn a platter

After the platter turning demonstration, the meeting adjourned at around 9:30PM

Our May meeting was held Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023 at 7:00 PM at the Peters Valley Wood Studio on Thunder Mountain Road. This was our first meeting of the year at the studio.

Attendees: Steve Ackmann, Rick Wortman, Carl Beaulieu, Joe Kopec, Dave Robinson, Jim Cerra, Scott Hendricks and Ed Nikles

Presidents Report: We decided on an outline for topics for the Beth Ireland demonstration from a list suggested by Beth herself. Topic will lean toward offset turning with Rick discussing the specifics with Beth. Additionally, Rick will talk with Matt Monaco to decide on a topic for his demo.

We also spoke about the Art in the Park event at Peters Valley on Sunday from 11Am to 4 PM on May 28th, 2023 . We will have a table and a lathe to do turning demonstrations. We will coordinate our participants and demonstrators prior to the event, the goal is to have several members to show our items and to do demonstrations at the lathe.

Treasurer’s Report: Rick Wortman reported that our bank balance is the same as last month’s.

Show and Tell:

Ed Nikles showed a Walnut Bowl, a live edge Walnut Bowl, a cherry bowl with a decorated rim, and round boxes

Joe Kopec showed a Butternut Platter, a Butternut Bowl, and a pagoda box.

Dave Robinson showed Pens, a razor and a bottle opener

Scott Hendricks showed a deep cherry bowl

Carl Beaulieu showed an Ash live edge bowl

Rick Wortman showed a (maple) walking stick he discovered on a walk through the woods and a Butternut bowl.

Steve Ackmann showed a Pepper Mill, a Hickory live edge bowl, a Black Locust bud vase, and a cherry bowl.

After show and tell, Rick Wortman demonstrated turning a Platter from a 12″ cherry blank

In light of Rick’s demonstration, next month’s turning challenge will be to turn a platter

After the platter turning demonstration, the meeting adjourned at around 9:30PM

Our April meeting was held on 12:00 PM on Saturday, April 8th, 2023 at the home of Scott Hendricks in Blairstown, NJ. Many thanks to Scott and his wife for their hospitality and a great lunch.

Attendees: Steve Ackmann, Scott Hendricks, Rick Wortman, Patty Jennings, Carol Pastor, Mark Wallace, Joe Kopec, Ed Nikles, Dave Robinson, Carl Beaulieu and his daughter Lauri Delecato, and Dave and Jennifer Carmichael. This was one of our largest meetings since the start of the pandemic.

President’s Report: Steve reported that he attended an insurance presentation from the American Association of Woodturners. The AAW has a plan that costs around $200/year and provides excellent liability protection. The big issue with the AAW plan is that it does not cover events held in private residences which we do when the Peters Valley Wood Shop is closed. In those events, there is a plan offered by The Hartford, that provides the same kind of liability coverage, but includes events held in private residences. This is the plan we have and it looks like the right policy for us.

We also discussed the the meeting that Beth Ireland has agreed to do for us. Steve met her at the Totally Turning Event and in addition to the suggestions she originally gave Rick, she mentioned that she would be happy to do a class for all of us to actively participate. Steve will send an email too the members to decide what topic or activity we’d like to have with Beth.

Steve also mentioned that he and Mark Wallace attended the Totally Turning event in Saratoga Springs at the end of March. Both Steve and Mark thought the event was excellent and Saratoga Springs is a great venue.

Treasurer’s report: Rick Wortman reported that we received a refund from the insurance company. Currently our bank balance stands at $616.35, our best balance after our insurance payment in quite a while. Rick also mentioned that our items for sale in the Peters Valley gallery are dwindling and if someone has a nice item, consider having it placed in the gallery. The sale proceeds of the item go to our club.

Show and Tell: We had a challenge for this month and that was to make a bud vase. Many members participated.

There were a couple of additional items:

Patty Jennings brought a decorated plate, a small walnut dish with celtic decorations, and a maple bowl turned, carved and burned to look like a flower.

Carol Pastor brought a live edge cherry bowl

Meeting Demonstration: Scott Hendricks did a general demonstration on a number of items:

• Tenon turning
• Vacuum Chucking
• Tool sharpening templates
• Hollowing with various tools

After an excellent demonstation on the above topics as well as other tips, Scott and his wife gave us a tour of their Alpaca operation.

Alpacas