December Meetings

Four meetings are planned for December, all virtual via Zoom.
Co-hosted by West Bay Woodturners & Silicon Valley Woodturners.

Wednesday, December 2, 7 pm
Program: Don Bonnett - Thin Stemmed Goblet

Wednesday, December 9, 7 pm
Segmenter's session
"Pieces that inspire you"

Monday, December 14, 7pm
Show & Tell
President's challenge: Fancy Finial

Wednesday, December 16, 7 pm
Sawdust Session

Check your email for Zoom log-on instructions.

Upcoming Events

January 11 2020
Don Pettit from Wine Country Woodturners
Quickly dry green wood with various materials

Show & Tell - Wednesday November 4

Photos of the show.

Monday, November 9
Program: Introduction to segmenting

Jim gave a complete review of segementing with photos followed by a complete 'how to' of segmenting. For beginners this created a foundation for doing it. For others it created a review and up to date advice on segmenting.

See Jim's presentation

Wednesday November 18 - Sawdust session

Photos of the sawdust session.

President's Letter - Tom Gaston

Greetings. I hope you all had a safe and good Thanksgiving. I also hope you have had a chance to be in the shop, perhaps turning Holiday ornaments and/or presents. With the weather getting colder and the days getting shorter, the work shop is a wonderful place to be. And the work shop is a good place to wear a mask and practice social distancing, just as the health department recommends.

The current executive board has been reelected for the 2021 year, provided that the electoral college approves. Officers are Tom Gaston president, Bob Bley vice president, Jon Bishop treasurer, and Roman Chernikov secretary. Member-at-large will be appointed during the January executive board meeting. If you have any agenda item suggestions (especially budgetary, meeting format) for the next executive board meeting, please contact me ( gastontthomas@gmail.com ) or any of the other officers.

I anticipate that the zoom meetings will continue for at least the next 3-4 months, until the pandemic subsides and the vaccine is readily available. A good goal to look forward to is the Summer Picnic, as that will be outside and social distancing will be easier to maintain.

Happy turning and be safe.
Tom

"As the Wood Turns" A Carving Bench - by Dave Vannier

When you attend a demo, you never know what you will walk away with. Sometimes it is exactly what was advertised, like our demo by Michael. It inspired me to try my hand at a couple of his pierced turnings. I may not do any more of them,but was good to learn these things.

Then there are times you walk away with something totally unexpected, like I did at Andi’s demo. She showed us pictures of her shop. Her carving bench caught my eye. One of the things I hated about doing the beading was how I worked, and the neck and back ache that I got working on pieces. The idea of getting better posture seemed like a great idea.

So, I started off on a journey, that I will have to say isn’t completed, possibly never will. The idea of a curved top allowing me to rest my arms while working seemed like a great goal. I then decided to add a down draft capability to pull the smoke and the dust away from the work. Taking some cord that I got, running through slats as a working surface, and using 1/2” dowels as spacers for the down draft I made a flexible top for the bench.

Next was trying to find the right curve. After a few days of playing with the curve, I “thought” I had it right. I’ve since concluded that one curve isn’t right for everything. I’m trying to figure out how I can make it adjustable. No solution yet.

I sized the top around a system I picked up at an auction which had a filter and two fans. This created the down draft, something I’m very happy with. My burning for beading is controlled. The burning the NSK causes over whelmed the filter, and I’ve sure if I used the “vaporizer” it wouldn’t be enough.

Dave
www.daves-turned-art.com

2020 WBW board members and committee chairs

President: Tom Gaston
Vice President: Bob Bley
Treasurer:  Jon Bishop
Secretary:  Roman Chernikov
Member at Large: Claude Godcharles
Meeting Program Coordinator: TBD
Visiting artist Coordinator:  Bob Bley
Anchor seal:  Dennis Lillis
CA Glue:  Tom Kenyon
Craft Supply:  Richard Winslow
Coffee & Cookies:  Phil Feiner
Librarian: Kelly Smith
Audio Visual: Curtis Vose
Website & Newsletter:  Tom Haines

click here for contact information on the above

Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated.