Wisconsin Valley Woodturners

Meeting Notes

Keep up with the club's projects and meetings here.

 

 

 

May 2011

Bob Stavran demonstrated the art of flute and whistle making.  Here is a small .pdf document with clickable links to resources for flute making.

The Boys and Girls Club sent a huge pizza cutter shaped thank you card for our volunteers in the turning/mentoring project.  Summer sessions are planned for June 15th through July 8th at DC Everest Middle School, and Friday afternoons in July and August in Wausau.  Contact Pat if you would like to volunteer, the kids appreciate all help.

Think Inside the Box will have an article published in the AAW journal.  Don't forget your entries must be done by the end of August to be juried.

Pat Peckham received an EOG from the AAW to help with the Good News Project. He will be teaching turning in St. Lucia, at a small school for teen girls who have been neglected or abandoned.

Upcoming events that were discussed were;

Mark Duginske is having an auction at his house just south of Merrill on May 15th at 10:30am.  Woodworking and metal working equipment will be auctioned.  Mark also offered to add your unwanted tools and equipment in the auction, contact him.  www.markduginske.com

AAW Symposium in St. Paul is June 24th - 26th

Tony Kopchinski announced that an auction sponsored by Covenant Community Presbyterian Church to benefit the food pantry is accepting any and all donations of turnings and other crafts.  This is for next years auction in March.  Plenty of time to make something to help out this worthy cause. Bring donations to Bob Warner.

April 2011

Roger Zimmerman explained the lengthy process involved in coming up with an idea and plan for a club collaborative project. We discussed the challenges encountered and lessons learned for future projects of this nature.

With only 2 more sessions scheduled, the Boys and Girls Club kid's turning lessons have standardized on turning pizza cutter handles.  The mentors are enjoying it as much as the kids are.  We are learning as we go on this project and thoughts are turning to what will we do for the summer?

Upcoming events that were discussed were;

CVA Fundraiser, May 6th.  We need 6 volunteers for turning spheres and spindles like the collaborative helix  project.

Think Inside the Box: Wall space is more plentiful than display cases.  Nancy says they use a "French cleat" to hang items.

AAW Symposium is in June in Minnesota.  Our Collaborative piece will be on display. 

Logjam in Mosinee in August.  Club booth for selling items?

March 2011

Tom M. gave us a demonstration of the amazing Shopsmith machine. 

Pat gave a report that our club's donations helped raise over $300 for the Wausau Boys and Girls Club during the Wine, Cheese & All That Jazz event.  Pat also informed us that the turning mentoring at the Boys and Girls Club is proceeding well.

The club's double helix collaborative piece was put on display, with an overwhelming amount of participation, we have enough pieces for an extra one to be built and auctioned off at the CVA fundraiser in May.

Upcoming events that were discussed were;

"Think Inside the Box" items are due to be turned in in August and displayed at the Woodson Museum in November, right after "Birds in Art".  How are YOU doing on your project?

February 2011

Nancy demonstrated spiral turning. Due to illness, scheduled demo guy Garry Sack was unable to show us how to apply spiral cuts to our wood turnings. Nancy Borger, who made a spiral turning for a spindle on the collaborative project, stepped in, though. She explained how she marked hers off, started out with a saw kerf to establish an easy-to-follow line and went from there.

The new member tonight was Al Gresch.

We got a first look Feb. 3 at the DNA helix that will be our club’s collaborative project at the American Association of Woodturners big meeting in St. Paul in June. Lots of members are getting into it, making 3” balls and spindles.  Roger and Lonnie did a test assembly to serve as a preview of the final product. Much time was spent talking about the project.

No information was available on the proceeds from the sale of our club’s donated items at the Boys & Girls Club event, Wine, Cheese and All That Jazz.

Pat Peckham brought a $195 (on sale) mini-lathe from Harbor Freight for members to check out.

Following the regular meeting, those involved in teaching woodturning at the Boys & Girls Club discussed how to approach the first three, at least, sessions. Our December instruction, Dec. 9 and 16, was set up to allow completion of a simple project. The group decided that, instead, they would try for something more complicated, a honey dipper. It will take two to three sessions to complete.

January 2011

In January 2011 we unveiled the prototype for the collaborative entry we are planning to make for the AAW convention in Minnesota in June. At least six people are needed to participate. We passed out instructions for those interested in helping. Roger demonstrated how to turn a 3 inch ball, since this is the basis for the piece we will be constructing. We hope to entice everyone to contribute to the entry.

A big THANK YOU to all the club members who donated during our passing of the hat that helped us get our club finances back on track (due to our worthwhile expenditures for the club Christmas party).  Your generosity in this special occasion, and during each month's raffle keeps our club dues free.

Upcoming events that were discussed were;

The Boy's & Girl's Club event "Wine, Cheese and All That Jazz" being held at the Patriot Center in Cedar Creek Mall on January 22nd.  Members of our club donated several sets of bottle stoppers and corkscrews, and a variety of other turnings and artwork.  Contact Pat to volunteer for a turning demo, or even just general volunteering for the event.

Our ongoing project of turning and tutoring with the kids at the Boy's & Girl's Club is scheduled to resume in February.  Contact Pat to get involved in this rewarding experience!

Tim from the Northwood Turners let us know that they will be hosting professional turner, Jamie Donaldson, Saturday March 5, 2011.  There will be a demonstration on Saturday with a $35 charge for non-members, and all day workshops Sunday, and into the following week depending on demand.  The cost of the workshop is $75.  Contact George from the Northwood Turners for reservations.