NORTH COAST WOOD TURNERS N E W S L E T T E R

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1 N E W S L E T T E R May, NCWT s 24th Year as an AAW Chapter Inside this issue: Clay Foster Demo 1 President s Turn 2-3 Meeting Minutes 4 Beginner s Corner Show and Tell Safety First Meeting Schedule Clay Foster Demo By Mike Hawkins Clay Foster was our featured pro turner today. His first piece he turned was a split vessel. His demo was very informative and not only presented with humor, but with a lot of emphasis on proper tool control. He started out with a rounded blank between centers and turned a tenon on both ends. After shaping the outside he cut the blank in half. Next phase was to hollow out each perspective half and form a interlocking lip on each half like you would for a lidded box. He then glued it back together and finished shaping the outside. This included cutting a series of beads to hide the seam. The next step was something I had never considered. Clay showed us how to raise a bur on a cabinet scraper and use the cabinet scraper to smooth the outside of the vessel. It turned out very smooth and was about the equivalent of 240 grit sandpaper when he got done. The next step was to shape the top opening and part off the tenon. Clay used a small tipped scraper to cut the hole in the top of the vessel. It was a very small hole and the scraper allowed him to taper the hole and blend it into the lip surrounding the opening. After finishing the foot on the bottom, he parted it off and passed it around for us to see. In the afternoon segment, Clay turned another split vessel and demonstrated some multiple axis turning, resulting in a very unique shape. Clay also demonstrated various techniques for adding some highlights and texture to the pieces. This ranged from carefully gluing pieces of flattened eggshell on to using a small torch to burn an area to add to the character. This was another fun and interesting demo to watch and pick up a lot of pointers from.

2 Page 2 President s Turn Brecksville We have another opportunity to display our work. This time it is in a display case at Brecksville s City Hall. Please bring one piece you have made to the club meeting in June. I would like this to be a rotating display with individual pieces on display for about three months. Tom Nero will make signs that show your name, so please label your piece with your full name. Use tape on the back of the piece for you name if you don t want it marked permanently on the piece. If you were not at the May club meeting you missed out on seeing and eating one or more very unusual cupcakes. As a thank you for all the toys we donated for Brecksville s Civil War Reenactment, Betty Borisz, owner of Betty s Catering Company in Brecksville, presented us with delicious cupcakes. On tip of the yellow icing was a perfect reproduction of our club s logo. Betty and her committee came to our meeting not only to say thank you for the toys but also to explain a little more about the Civil War Reenactment that will be held Saturday and Sunday August 20 and 21. I won t try to repeat it all here. On the website home page you will find a flier about the reenactment and a calendar of events planned for Brecksville s bicentennial celebration. Bicentennial events began in January and will continue through the end of this year. Wooster Art Show The Wooster Art Show opens July 14 th. Items to be entered in the show should be brought to the June meeting. If you can t do that, make arrangements with George Raeder or Larry McCardell for when you will deliver your work to them. Video System - I would like to explain what we have been doing to improve our video system. Until last month, the person operating our video system was only able to see the view that the audience was looking at on our two large monitor screens. There was no way for the operator to know exactly what could be shown by switching to the view from one of the other two cameras. Sometimes the audience got a better look at what was being demonstrated when a different camera was selected, and sometimes they didn t. If the view wasn t better, the view was switched back to the previously selected camera or on to the third camera. That was the best we could do, but at times it was distracting for the audience. Last month, in an attempt to improve our system, we added a quad splitter. What the splitter does is to make it possible for the system operator to continuously see the images from all three of our cameras at the same time. We paid $ 150 for the splitter. Scott Brihn donated a 19 computer monitor that we had intended to use as the system operator s display device, but that didn t work out because Scott s monitor requires a vga signal format and our camera signals are in composite format. So to allow us to try the quad splitter at our May meeting, Tom Sasalar loaned us a small TV monitor. The images on the little monitor were quite small and a little dim, but for the first time Tom Knapp could see approximately what could be shown by switching cameras. In addition, he could adjust a camera to show what he wanted to show before switching that view onto the two monitors the audience sees. I got several comments after the meeting that the video system was much improved with the new equipment. Next month we expect to be able to use Scott s monitor. Because his monitor is large, all three camera views the operator sees should be much improved. For $ 50 we have ordered a line doubling up converter that will convert our composite camera signals to the vga format required by the computer monitor. If we aren t happy with the up converter we will send it back and look for a larger TV monitor with an

3 Page 3 President s Turn aux input. (TV monitors are compatible with composite signals, but an aux input jack is required.) So upgrading our video system is an ongoing process. We continue to experiment to find the best location for our tail stock camera. We had a problem last month with flickering images on one of the two large monitors that resulted from a defective cable. John Goga is donating a new and better cable and Tom Sasalar will add the appropriate RCA plugs. Mike Bauman has been working to get up to speed as Tom Knapp s backup to operate the video system, and last month Bill Miloscia volunteered to be trained as well. During Clay Foster s demo last month I sat next to Tom Knapp and watched how he operated the new system. He really had to pay attention to what was going on and anticipate what was coming next so that he could get a camera adjusted properly before he switched to that camera. The new equipment has added to his work load but he has welcomed the challenge because he now has a tool that should make for a better experience for our members. If you like what you see next month, let Tom know that you appreciate what he does for us. Darrell

4 Page 4 May Meeting Minutes By Mike Hawkins Guests- Kathy Mayer Denny Watson- Denny introduced Clay Foster, our featured pro turner for today. Darrell Dube- Nancy Borisz made a nice tray of cupcakes for the club as a thank you for making the toys for the Brecksville Bicentennial project. She also brought some flyers explaining the event along with times and dates. The event is scheduled for August 20 and 21 st. There will be various games for the kids, a Civil War reenactment, exhibits and much more. Times are 10:00am- 5:00pm each day. Tom Nero Tom talked to Mayor Ruby about using a showcase at Brecksville City Hall to showcase some of our woodturning items. Tom is also working on getting another article about the club in the local newspaper. About 25 smaller turned items are needed for the showcase.. Contact Tom or Frank Manley. Bring the items in next meeting. Please make sure pieces are signed with your name and also include a note with your name printed and a listing of your item(s). Items should be small to medium size to fit in the showcase. If you have an item that needs some sort of stand to display, please include the stand with your piece. Something unique would be nice so we end up with a good variety on display. Tom will have a small name card next to each piece. Pieces will be on display for several months. Mike Hawkins turned an ambrosia maple bowl with a textured rim. Tom Olichew Tom turned a beautiful vessel of illusion piece and then proceeded to make it into a seed pod, adding leaves, copper wire for stems, tiny turned buttons for texture. Name Tag drawing Rick Weinbrenner won the nametag drawing along with a $10 gift certificate from Craft Supply. Turn and Learn Winner- Today s Turn and Learn Winner was Mike Bauman with an epoxy inlaid clock in a Cleveland Indians theme. Go tribe. Nice job Mike! Bob Scharl - Bob had entry forms for the Wayne Arts show in Wooster. Rules and entry forms are posted on the club s website. Show and Tell Jim Boehmer turned some nice gavels while down in Florida.

5 Page 5 Beginners Corner My shop buddy s gone By Mike Hawkins The project I am working on right now won t be ready in time for this newsletter. I had to put my dog to sleep last week. Sadie was a yellow lab I brought home as a puppy. She was twelve and half years old. She spent a lot of time out in my shop, just lying there getting covered with sawdust, keeping me company. She was about as perfect a dog as can be, from bringing in my newspaper every morning, to understanding quite a bit of English. The week before, she stopped eating. After a trip to our local vet, it turned out something was amiss with her liver. Long term prognosis was not good, so we decided to remember her on a good note and not put her through any prolonged medical treatments. I selected a very special piece of wood to turn an urn to hold her ashes. I will hopefully have it ready for the next meeting. Here s a few pics of Sadie. See you next month.

6 Page 6 May Show and Tell

7 Page 7 Safety First Tales from the school shop... A couple of safety articles from the school shop from Joe Herman. I know we've all heard of "spontaneous combustion" but I wonder how many of us really take the phenomenon seriously? I've seen it happen twice when I was teaching; I know that it's real and that it can happen in a short period of time. The first time happened right after lunch. The students and I returned to the classroom and I immediately smelled something "hot" but couldn't find the source of the odor. After looking carefully around the entire facility, I discovered a small, handkerchief-sized rag in the bottom of a trash barrel that had started to smoke. The rag could have only been in the barrel no longer than two hours but it had already reached a critical temperature. I bet it wouldn't have been too much longer and we would have had combustion! The second incident happened after school and could have been tragic had circumstances been different. I usually stayed after the final bell for at least an hour or two catching up on paperwork and preparing any demos and the like for the next day. The other teacher usually left as soon as the bell rang. However, that particular day he opted to stay a bit later to work with a student who had been absent and I had a Doctor's appointment so I left as soon as permissible. He related that he looked through the windows from the drafting room into the shop and saw a plume of yellow smoke rising from one of the student lockers. He rushed into the shop, grabbed the fire extinguisher and opened the locker door and was immediately greeted by fire. He put the fire out and emptied the locker. The student project was ruined and the remains of a rag were found. The next day I questioned the student and he admitted that he had briefly wiped a small amount of linseed oil from his project and, thinking that the rag was "hardly used" put it back into his locker to use again. He swore that he couldn't even see any oil on the rag but not much was needed to start a full blown fire. I hate to think what would have happened had the other teacher not stayed after that night! Take spontaneous combustion seriously and dispose of all oily rags safely. I usually put them into a small plastic shopping bag, force all the air out, tie the bag closed and put it outside for several days until "trash day" when I dispose of them. I've heard other folks who put the rags into a water filled container or hang them out to dry before disposing of them. (Editor s note:) I always take my used rags and set them outside my shop away from the building in the gravel drive. I let them get rained on a couple of times then throw them out on trash day. Have you ever seen what could happen when long hair gets tangled in a rotating tool? I have and it's not pretty! One of the maintenance men at school had rather long hair and usually kept it under his hat. Unfortunately one day, he had to use the drill press and the hat got in his way and prevented him from seeing clearly what he was working on, so he removed his hat. He leaned over a bit too far and a hank of his hair caught in the chuck. Before he could get the drill press shut off, it ripped a large patch of hair and skin out that was about two inches in diameter from the side of his head. It never grew back! Loose clothing and long hair need to be secured at all times. (Editor s note:) Most of us don t have to worry too much about long hair, but loose clothing is an equally dangerous concern. If you have long sleeves on, make sure they are snug fitting or change shirts. Don t just roll them up. They will always choose to unroll themselves at the most inopportune time. There has always been a lot of contention about turning with gloves. As a general rule, you are safer not to wear them. But I have heard some pro turners use fingerless gloves to turn. I would recommend against wearing them while the lathe is turning. If you are carving on a stationary piece, I don t see a problem with them then.

8 Page 8 Meeting Information First Saturday of the Month unless otherwise noted Doors open 9:00 AM Meeting begins 9:30 AM Blossom Hill 4450 Oakes Road Brecksville, OH President Darrell Dube ddube@neo.rr.com Vice-President Denny Watson (419) wwoodcraft@sbcglobal.net Secretary Mike Hawkins firehawkmph@windstream.net Treasurer Ron Sieloff Ron.Sieloff@averydennison.com Member-At-Large King Heiple kingheiple@ameritech.net Member-At-Large Tom Wisnieski tw121549@aol.com Newsletter Editor Mike Hawkins firehawkmph@windstream.net Date January 8 February 5 March 5 & 6 April 2 May 7 & 8 June 4 July 2 August 6 September 3 October 1 November 5 & 6 December 3 Topic Tom Olechiw carved box demo, Show and Tell, Turn and learn Christmas ornament, wood raffle, name tag drawing. Mike Bauman split-turned vase demo, Show and Tell, Turn and learn-carved box, wood raffle, name tag drawing. LET Class afternoon. LET class is free today and open to all club members. It will cover how to saw a log up into the most usable blanks. Trent Bosch Pro demo, Show and Tell, name tag drawing, no raffle. Turn and learn is a split-turned vase. Classes with Trent on the 6th. Brian Becker epoxy inlace demo. Show and Tell, name tag drawing, wood raffle. LET class is Different ways to mount a blank, open to everyone, no fee. Turn and learn is a piece using any of Trent Bosch s techniques. Clay Foster Pro demo, Show and Tell, name tag drawing, no raffle. Turn and learn is a piece with epoxy inlay. Classes with Clay on the 8th. Multi-member finishing demo. Show and Tell, name tag drawing, wood raffle. Turn and learn is a hollow vessel either split turned or multi axis turned. Tips & Tricks, Show and Tell, name tag drawing, wood raffle, Top spin off. Jim Duxbury demo, Show and Tell, name tag drawing, wood raffle, Turn and learn will be announced at the July meeting. Mark Gardner Pro demo. Show and Tell, name tag drawing, no raffle. Turn and learn TBA. Demo TBA. Show and Tell, name tag drawing, wood raffle, Turn and learn TBA. Bob Rosand Pro demo, Show and Tell, name tag drawing, no raffle. Turn and learn is. Classes with Bob on the 6th. Annual NCWT Auction. Bring your extra tools, jigs, fixtures, wood, and about anything that would be of interest to wood turners and woodworkers. Help support the club. Auction only.