Bari Snyder has been a woodturner for nearly 10 years.

“I buy all the materials, I prepare all the pieces, I turn all the pieces and then I finish all the pieces, so it’s just a one man show over here. I’ve tried to teach my kids to be my apprentices, but they don’t want to have anything to do with it,” Snyder said.

Snyder’s pens and pencils had their big debut at the Commonwheel Art Festival in Manitou Springs in 2010, but it wasn’t until this past summer when things picked up for her business, The Perfect Write.

“It just had this momentum and I just couldn’t stop and so, it just felt right to keep going with it. You know, you’d think it would be pretty easy. A lot of people have done lathe work, like in middle school or something, I never did actually,” Snyder said.

So, I thought I’d give it a try myself, but it didn’t end up going as well as I hoped.

“So, what I’ve learned, what it takes to be a decent wood, or wood turner is patience and sharp tools,” Snyder said.

While Snyder works in her garage, she hopes for something a little different in the future.

“I have this beautiful vision of this gorgeous, warm workshop that is not attached to my house. I don’t want to be in a garage, I would love to have my own workshop. And perhaps, maybe that workshop could even have a storefront in it. That would be the goal. But I would like to start branching out more nationally and even internationally,” Snyder said.

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No grain of wood is the same.

That’s the beauty of all the handcrafted items made by the South Auckland Woodturners Guild, member and past president Bruce Wood says.

He has been a member of the club for 11 years and was among 27 woodturners with work on show at the annual Papakura exhibition.

Beautifully crafted bowls, chopping boards, toy cars, jewellery boxes, pens, clocks and a variety of household objects are on sale every year at the December pop up shop.

“Every single item is unique. They’re all an one off and nothing is the same,” he says.

The club was formed in 1988 with an initial membership of 43 people. It soon grew to be the largest woodturners guild in New Zealand with 150 members.

There are more than 40 other clubs throughout the country.

The guild meets every Wednesday at its Papatoetoe clubrooms for demonstrations and talks by skilled experts.

The tools of the trade such as lathes, chucks and chisels are available to members and lessons are also offered to beginners.

The club has a library of books, magazines and videos where members get ideas and information on the craft.  

Roger Wilson recently joined the club where he’s been taught “everything from scratch”.

“I’ve always had an interest in woodturning.”

It was a hobby he was keen to pursue after retiring as a lighting engineer.

It’s a difficult skill to master and beginners need to make hundreds of items before they start getting the hang of it, he says.

Long-time member Dick Veitch was just a schoolboy when he worked with a lathe for the first time around 1954.

Through his experience he helps tutor new members of the guild and enjoys entering woodturning competitions at the Royal Easter Show, National Woodskills Festival, and Franklin Arts.

Testing different woods on the lathe and testing different tools keeps the craft interesting, Veitch says.

“I also gain a lot of pleasure from participating in local, and more distant, woodturner gatherings.”

The woodturners also like using their special skills for a good cause.

The South Auckland and Franklin clubs support the charity Look Good Feel Better by donating wooden wig stands.

The guild also supports the Child Cancer Foundation and Kidz First and is busy every Christmas making toys which are donated to struggling families.

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BELLEVILLE NEW-DEMOCRAT: They’ll give you a chunk of wood. You’ll turn it into a piece of art. (12/18/2016)

The three people at the lathes on a Wednesday night at the School of Woodturning on Belleville’s Main Street are not rookies, but they aren’t experts yet, either.

Sondra Marston, of O’Fallon, was going for something “mostly round” as she and her fellow students worked in the basement making bowls out of a chunk of poplar.

“I’m going for kind of a round, kind of …” as she waves her hand in an undulating motion to mimic the outside of the bowl. “That’s what I’m shooting for. That may change.”

They’re inspired by the expert work on display upstairs at Turned Treasures Gallery, which sells elegant bowls, vases and vessels created by area veteran woodworkers and turners.

The gallery and school are owned by Jon and Laura Spelbring, of Belleville. Laura runs the shop while Jon, who has a decade of experience, teaches classes. They are both members of woodturning groups, including the American Association of Woodturning.

They got into woodturning after buying and working on an old home about 12 years ago, Laura says. The couple started doing a lot of the renovation themselves, and “tools and machines just cropped up.”

The students that night were part of an intermediate class.

Sondra said it was her dad’s woodworking hobby that led her to take it up.

With her father no longer able to do the work, “we’re kind of channeling him,” she said.

Stephen Laughlin, of Pontoon Beach, was there because, while he prefers primarily making furniture, he occasionally will create something like a finial for a bookcase that needs some lathe work.

“I don’t like turning,” he admits. “But I want to learn.”

Not familiar with a lathe? It’s a machine that rotate a piece of wood at a high speed, so a hand-held tool can shave off wood into a design. The school has five lathes. Class size is limited to four students to ensure quality and safety. Jon gets the fifth lathe for demonstrating.

Paul Carlson, of Belleville, has had two wood-turning classes with Jon before, making a pen and a round lidded box. Before the class started, he was examining the tools they would be using.

“You did sharpen this up,” Paul told him.

Jon started the class by reviewing safety, including a kidding/serious reminder that wood turners don’t wear neckties. He also talked about the types of tools they’d be using, including one with a great name: bowl gouge.

Handling a piece of poplar with the bark removed, he showed them the grain. The piece was shaped roughly like a disc, about 4 inches thick.

Jon clamped the disc on the lathe, but the not-quite round piece of wood spun and thumped. Jon quickly got it into a round shape by shaving wood off with a tool. The thump died, replaced by a low whining as he worked.

“Once we start turning it, it will become round. Guaranteed,” he said.

A pile of wood shavings steadily grew at his feet.

The students started shaping the outside of their bowls first. Paul’s was soon in a familiar cereal bowl shape. Sondra’s and Stephen’s bowls both had deep lips. Stephen’s also had deep grooves on the outside, reminding him, he said, of a stone crock he had at home.

Upstairs, it was quiet as Laura manned the shop. She and Jon opened the business about two years ago in what had been Ben’s Antiques. She’d worked in radiology. Jon has a full-time job with Securboration in O’Fallon, and works as a computer architect at Scott Air Force Base.

Now, she explains to customers how the items in their shop are hand-crafted works of art. From decorative vases to elegant salad bowls, they were created by more than 30 area wood turners.

“There is not anything in here that I don’t like,” she said.

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WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL: Shop turns 200-year-old wood, recycled items into art. (12/16/2016)

This story appeared previously in JournalWest.

Millie Barnhart is a master at turning nothing into something.

Her brow furrowed in concentration as she expertly dabbed glue onto thick slivers of wood, dating back to the days of her great-great-great grandmother.

The 1800s wood, formerly pews and floorboards from nearby Olivet Moravian Church, was on its way to the dump after being discovered in an attic, but Barnhart converted it into a bustling Nativity scene.

“Some people just see a chunk of wood, but we see a potential art project,” Barnhart said.

“I’m a big history freak, so I find it fascinating to give old wood a new life.”

Her new art shop, Hoots and Hollers, is filled with artwork featuring reclaimed wood, often more than 200 years old, and other unsuspecting recycled items, like wheels, shutters and wine bottles.

Barnhart spent many years helping clean out old buildings and barns, she said, collecting supplies — mostly things that would’ve been trashed — along the way.

Her family built her a two-story storage barn, which has become a rabbit hole of any art supply imaginable, including salvaged 200-year-old wood beams from Lewisville and Yadkin County barns.

She has also collected wood from various time periods and from cities in nearly every state on the East Coast.

“Neither of us is immune to jumping into a dumpster,” Barnhart joked, referencing co-owner Lee Anne Edwards. “We like to reuse things and I think that’s what makes us different.”

While Barnhart and Edwards sell their art projects, they also offer art classes at the store, which is temporarily sandwiched between the Goin’ Postal and Harris Teeter in Robinhood Village.

Throughout December, the shop will host a variety of holiday workshops, including classes on floral arrangements, building wooden snowmen and a class for children to make gifts for their families.

“Some people tell me they’re not creative, so it’s very gratifying when we can show them they are,” shop co-owner Barnhart said.

“The beauty of art is each piece shouldn’t be the same, it should be what comes from within,” Barnhart said.

Pfafftown resident Lisa Stevenson doesn’t have an artistic bone in her body, she said, but after attending two different holiday-themed classes, she’s changing her tune.

Her face broke into a determined smile as she transformed a mishmash of reclaimed wooden blocks into a Christmas keepsake slathered with red and green paint.

“I’m really excited to have this shop because it’s just so different and unique and wonderful,” she said.

“I’d sign up for every class if I could.”

Stevenson brought her 4-year-old daughter, Annabelle, to the shop’s first Mommy & Me class where they made wreaths out of painted footprints.

As a mom and co-owner of Hoots and Hollers, Lee Anne Edwards said while there will be plenty of adult classes offered, she loves incorporating kids and fueling their love for art.

“When my kids were little, they loved doing art, but it was such an ordeal to get the paint out and have to clean up,” said Edwards, a mother of two. “That’s why this is so great.”

Edwards, also the co-owner of nearby Pintxos Pour House, approached Barnhart earlier this year with the idea for the shop, which officially opened Nov. 20.

Barnhart, who also owns floral business WildFlowers on Hilltop, has a background in architecture and interior design and jumped at the challenge.

The two held an art show kickoff at Pintxos in October, featuring Barnhart’s signature woodsy Nutcrackers — made with 200-year-old wood planks, vintage lace and chair parts — and were stunned at the support by the community.

“We’re trying to break away from the traditional painting canvases and find new creative projects and I think that really appeals to people,” said Barnhart, who is also a mother of two.

“We do things no one else does.”

In the New Year, the shop will move into its permanent location, behind Pintxos, remaining in the up-and-coming Robinhood Village complex.

Their vision is to split the space between a shop and an art studio, adding a bar so they can serve drinks during adult classes.

They will also integrate summer camps for kids and drop-in hours for those who want to explore their artistic side outside of classes, said Edwards, who dabbles in painting and photography.

In the coming year, they’re planning classes to create art projects to give to local charities, like Brenner Children’s Hospital or soldiers and veterans, she said. They want to give back to the community that has supported them throughout their journey.

“We’re so grateful for all the positive support and excited for what comes next,” Barnhart said. “It can only go up from here.”

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DAILY LIBERAL: The perfect hand-made Christmas gift (12/18/2016)

The Dubbo Woodturning and Woodcraft Club once again have their annual shop open just in time for those looking for the perfect Christmas gift.
Gifts galore: Dubbo Woodturning and Woodcraft Club member Duncan Fabian with a huge range of hand-made items that are ready to be sold at the Club’s store, just in time for Christmas. Photo: Taylor Jurd

Gifts galore: Dubbo Woodturning and Woodcraft Club member Duncan Fabian with a huge range of hand-made items that are ready to be sold at the Club’s store, just in time for Christmas. Photo: Taylor Jurd

The shop will be open until Friday, December 24, and has a wide range of articles for sale.

Opening times are from 10am to 4pm and you can find them behind the Arts and Crafts Cottage, 137 Cobra Street.

The Club was formed in 1984 and has over 50 members, with meetings held every third Saturday of the month to discuss activities, hold workshops, demonstrations and instruction lessons.

The Club promotes activities in all forms of woodwork, including woodturning. carving, small furniture making, marquetry and fretwork.

The workshop is also opened to members each Wednesday.

The club engages in community projects including toy making for various charities and when possible supports the Dubbo Oncology Unity through the sale of the Clubs projects.

The Club is open to all residents of Dubbo with ladies and juniors welcome.

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MAINE BIZ: Wood turning company sold, new owners to expand markets (12/08/2016)

The new owners of Buckfield-based Wells Wood Turning and Finishing Inc., whose wooden Easter eggs have amused those attending White House holiday events, plan to expand markets and products at the 30-employee company.

Turning Acquisitions LLC bought the company from former owners Tom Wallace and Alan Chesney at the end of November under non-disclosed terms, according to Woodworking Network. Turning principals Christian Chandler and Simon Varney said they would run the company as Wells Wood Turning & Finishing in its existing location and with the employees intact.

Varney, the new vice president, said the former owners, “have done a fantastic job over the past dozen years, building a solid manufacturing operation with high-quality products and a very positive reputation in the marketplace.”

“We have found acquirers dedicated to quality customer service, new business development and extending the reach of our products,” said Wallace, the former president of Wells.

Founded in 1985, Wells is known for its rolling pins as well as the multi-colored, collectible Easter eggs from the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. The company also makes custom wooden table legs, tool handles, craft parts and mini-baseball bats.

Wells Wood Turning also has Forest Stewardship Council certification for the promotion of responsible forestry management.

The business of wood turning is a traditional Maine industry that in the late 1990s through 2009 was almost lost to lower-cost Chinese products, and only recently has made a comeback locally, Douglas Fletcher, president of Maine Wood Concepts in New Vineyard and a Mainebiz Next 2013 winner, told Mainebiz in a 2013 interview.

According to Fletcher, almost every town had a wood-turning factory in the 1970s, and now only three sizeable mills remain in Maine. They are his, Kingfield Wood Products, known for its music drum sticks, and Wells Wood Turning & Finishing.

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MYSA: Missouri woodturners’ love for their craft is contagious (12/02/2016)

A decade ago when Larry Randolph joined the Woodturners of Southwest Missouri, it consisted of 12 guys who’d meet, swap tools and talk shop.

But a lot has changed, and membership has since exploded, the Springfield News-Leader

“When I joined five years ago, I was number 45 or 46,” said Helen Beeman, a member. “Now we have run out of space. We have the large conference room and run all over each other. It’s so much fun. We have people come from Osceola, Willow Springs, Harrison, Arkansas. We have people come from two hours away for a meeting.”
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Don Banning lives in West Plains and drives 100 miles to get to a meeting, but it’s well worth it, he says.

Today, the Woodturners of Southwest Missouri has about 135 members, and growth can be attributed to a variety of factors. First, Randolph and a few other members made an effort to attract new talent; they established a full board and officers for the club. They set up a booth at the Ozark Empire Fair and Artsfest each year and demonstrate the craft.

They also started a mentoring program so new members can learn from seasoned woodturners.

When Jim Heck, a stone carver, started attending meetings four years ago, he was impressed. Heck does not consider himself a “joiner,” but he ended up joining this group.

“What I saw was the better woodturners shared with the newer woodturners. There were no secrets. People are eager to share what has helped advance them in their craft. It was an opportunity to have fellowship with people who were elevated in their craft,” Heck said.

Another big change has been a shift in attitudes toward woodturning.

“What our mission is is to educate the public about woodturning in general,” said Randolph, who is vice president of the organization. “To elevate it from hillbilly junction toothpick holders to something that is more artistic. We have people from one spectrum to the other. We have people who want to turn bowls, candlestick holders, hollowed vessels. Some of our members are well-known artists and have work in galleries around the country.”

When it comes to their professions, membership runs the gamut from retired doctors, lawyers, dentists, teachers to retired firemen. More women and younger people have joined the club — also one of Randolph’s missions.

Spencer Paul, 23, is one of the newer members. He teaches middle school in Joplin and started turning wood pens two years ago. Paul attended his first meeting in July and said he’s already learned there are so many possibilities when it comes to woodturning. What started as a hobby has grown into a passion.

One of the reasons he enjoys the meetings is the club brings in a demonstrating woodturner every month. Randolph said they often seek artists from outside the area.

“I started booking demonstrations several years ago and we have pulled in turners from other chapters of American Association of Woodturners like from Kansas City, St. Louis, Rogers, Arkansas. The chapters tend to be their own gene pool. When I started, everyone turned bowls and that was it. That can probably be said about a lot of clubs in the region. It has broadened our horizons to see what others are doing,” Randolph said.

While many members just turn as a hobby, there is a growing market for homemade items for those who want to sell.

Take for example Etsy, the online handmade goods marketplace which continues to see growth. Etsy reported an 11.5 percent year-over-year increase in active sellers in the second quarter of 2016, for a total of 1.7 million worldwide, along with a 20 percent increase in active buyers.

The company reports a 39 percent increase in revenue in that same timeframe, and results were so strong it revised its financial outlook for 2016. Etsy reports it has 26.1 million active buyers.

The “buy local” movement has helped some, too. While some club members prefer to work with exotic woods from Africa and Asia, most of them use repurposed or rescued local wood, which really appeals to some buyers who want local wood, said Randolph.

“It’s not like going to Walmart and buying a mass-produced bowl that came from China. These are all one piece; every one of them is different and it’s unique. That goes back to local wood. If you find a tree that is downed with a story, whether it be Fassnight or from someone’s homestead, there is a story, a connection,” said Randolph.

That connection resonates with buyers.

Missouri has an ample supply of beautiful hardwoods to work with, said Carol Huser, one of the original members who is also an established woodturning artist. His work can be seen at Fresh Gallery in downtown Springfield.

Many of them share a love and respect for the medium, and “it’s contagious,” said Huser.

“I love wood,” echoed Beeman. “I love the grains, the different types of wood. I just like the fact you never know what you are going to get until you are finished. You can pick up a piece of wood that looks horrible and then it can turn into a beautiful bowl. I do it for the joy of it.”

It’s a wonderful creative outlet, said Banning.

When he joined the club, he was just learning to turn and expected it to be a hobby. But then he discovered it was useful: he could create kitchen tools, fix broken handles, make a salad bowl for his wife.

“I rather enjoy it. Of course, the sky is the limit as far as design. I am limited by my own mind,” he said.

Banning said he appreciates the group members for their character and talent. Members are not satisfied with “mediocre work,” which inspires him to strive for better work, too.

The Woodturners of Southwest Missouri are also increasingly involved in the community. At the Ozark Empire Fair, they sell tops and donate the money to the Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks in honor of one of their members who lost his wife to breast cancer a few years ago.

The last two years they made bowls for Ozarks Food Harvest’s Empty Bowls soup fundraiser. This year, they turned 114 bowls for the fundraiser, which was “extremely successful” said Christine Temple, communications coordinator for Ozarks Food Harvest.

The group supplied about half the bowls sold at the event, which raised close to $7,500.

“They are such a great group and it’s wonderful what they do collectively for the community and as individual artists,” Temple said.

Many of the artists donate their work to charity auctions in town.

And there’s another reason their membership ranks have swelled: camaraderie and a sense of community.

“It has given me contact with artists that I wasn’t getting any other way,” said Heck.

Many have formed friendships along the way.

“They are like family,” said Beeman. “I have my real family and I have my woodturning family. I love them both.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AAW EXPLORE! Makes Searching the World’s Most Extensive Online Woodturning Library Quick and Easy

EXPLORE! helps AAW members locate projects, articles, tips, and more

 

(Saint Paul, Minn. – December 1) — The  American Association of Woodturners (AAW), a nonprofit organization dedicated to education and advancing the art and craft of woodturning worldwide, has just made exploring the most extensive online woodturning library in the world, quick and easy. Whether it’s to solve a problem, research a new technique, or start a new woodturning project, AAW members are only seconds away from getting precisely the information they seek using EXPLORE! More than 2,500 items currently make up the expanding EXPLORE! collection, including articles from thirty years of the American Woodturner journal and AAW’s cumulative library of complementary publications. Nearly everything members want to know about woodturning is at their fingertips.
 
Phil McDonald, executive director for AAW, explains, “EXPLORE! is part of our VISION 2020 strategy to continue being the go-to source for all things woodturning. This innovative member benefit offers easy access to woodturning information in a user-customizable way, and creates a platform for other upcoming VISION 2020 initiatives.” He says EXPLORE! is a useful resource for turners of all skill levels, and helps support and accelerate the learning process. It also complements AAW VideoSource (tiny.cc/AAWVideoSource), an online tool introduced in June 2016 that offers open access to useful woodturning videos pre-screened by the AAW for quality and safety, McDonald notes.
 
EXPLORE! is easy to use. AAW members can access it, after logging into the AAW website at woodturner.org, under the “Publications” tab (or at tiny.cc/AAWExplore). This innovative resource enables members to locate articles and other media on a specific topic with as few as three mouse clicks-one to select a Category, a second to refine the category by Keyword, and a third to click the Search button and produce a list of article hyperlinks that meet their search criteria. The Quick Search may be used to search by any word included in the author’s name, article title, or publication section, and sort results by title, author, publication date, or type of media. Additionally, an option to find only articles suitable for beginners may be selected.
 
EXPLORE! was designed by woodturners for woodturners, and it would not have been developed so soon without the dedication, generosity, and expertise of AAW members Dave Mueller and John Kelsey. Dave’s software development skills, combined with John’s ability to deconstruct and tag thirty years of member publications, have made EXPLORE! an exciting reality.

About Woodturning
Woodturning is a contemporary craft with roots dating back over 2,500 years. The process involves a lathe, a machine that securely holds and spins wood at high speeds, wherein artists and craftspeople shape objects using specialized gouges and chisels. Traditionally, woodturning has been used to create functional items, such as chair legs, candlesticks, and bowls. Today, lathe-turned work is also understood as an art form and vehicle for individual enrichment, creativity, and expression, and embraces diversity in both genre and makers. The objects produced are just as varied as the people who turn them. From functional objects, like bowls, to abstract sculptural forms, woodturning may include surface carving, embellishment, and finishing techniques, and specialized methods such as segmented, multiaxis, and ornamental turning. The art and craft of woodturning has a modest learning curve and engages people from age 8 to 108.
 
About AAW
The American Association of Woodturners (AAW) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, headquartered in Saint Paul, Minnesota, dedicated to advancing the art and craft of woodturning worldwide by offering opportunities for education, information, inspiration, and community to those interested in turning wood. Established in 1986, AAW currently has more than 15,000 members and a network of over 350 local chapters globally representing professionals, amateurs, artists, hobbyists, gallery owners, collectors, and others. The AAW possesses the single largest collection of woodturning information anywhere and its award-winning journal, American Woodturner, is the foremost publication on the art and craft of woodturning in the world. To learn more, visit http://www.woodturner.org.

 
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Contact:
Kim Rymer
Communications Director
American Association of Woodturners
651-484-9094
kim@woodturner.org
 

FIFTY PLUS ADVOCATE: Woodworkers of all skill levels encouraged to join club (11/28/2016)

The Association of Revolutionary Turners’ 85 members have at least one thing in common – they use a lathe. ART President John Flynn explained that wood turning is, “Using chisels with a variety of points to shape wood that is spinning on a lathe, secured at two points.”

ART members run the gamut from beginners to experienced wood turners, creating simple bowls to complex decorative pieces.

Founded in 2002 in Lexington, the club is a chapter of the American Association of Wood Turners. In spite of its name, there is no connection with the American Revolution.

Flynn said that about one-third of the members are retirees; the average age is 45 to 50. Members, male and female, come from diverse backgrounds: engineers, trades people, teachers, and others.

The club holds a monthly meeting, distributes a monthly newsletter, maintains a library, and offers woodworking demonstrations, discounts from certain woodworking stores, and direct sale of some woodworking supplies that they buy in bulk.

ART meets at a store, Woodcraft, (185 New Boston St., Woburn) on the third Wednesday of the month. Woodcraft donates it space, and allows ART members to use their lathes. An hour before their monthly meeting, ART holds a “Learn and Turn” event. Those looking to develop and expand their skills can take advantage of the ART Mentor Program. According to the group’s brochure, “Whether you’re a beginner or a more experienced turner … club mentors are here to help you.”

Commenting on the work, Flynn said, “We use a variety of types of wood. I like spalted apple, which is filled with critter holes.” He added that if someone’s reports that their hardwood tree has fallen down, members might show up with chainsaws.

Finish work is an important part of creating a piece.

“We might use an oil-based or polyurethane, beeswax or mineral oil on the wood,” Flynn said. “Sometimes we do a little bit, put it aside, and then do more.”

Derrick TePaske, one of ART’s most experienced wood-turners, has a piece in the highly respected Montalto Bohlen Wood Art Collection, which has been exhibited at the Peabody Essex Museum. TePaske, a professor at Framingham State University, said, “Part of the pleasure (of turning) is that it makes me feel connected with ancient artisans – across cultures and throughout the world – who routinely made useful things which were more carefully crafted and beautiful than they really needed to be.”

Membership in ART is $30 per year. The club is one of three in Massachusetts that belong to the American Association of Wood Turners. There is also the Central New England Turners in Worcester, and the Massachusetts South Shore Woodturners in Abington.

For more information about ART, contact Flynn at President@revolutionary-turners.com.

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INNISFAIL PROVINCE: Turning wood into art – Woodturners want to turn on Innisfailians (11/29/2016)

Barry Ellis is committed to saving something old, something absolutely special.

He is a retired online learning technologist who has lived in Innisfail since 1983 and wants to pass on the ancient art form of woodturning to local citizens, particularly the young.

“We don’t want the art to die. We want young people,” he said.

Woodturning differs from most other forms of woodworking, as the wood is moving while a stationary tool is used to cut and shape it, creating intricate shapes and designs.

Woodturning originated around 1300 BC when the Egyptians first developed a two-person lathe, with one turning the wood with a rope while the other cut shapes with a sharp tool.

Today’s woodturning world now utilizes highly advanced lathes, and committed turners have formed guilds across North America. In Alberta, there are four guilds, including the Central Alberta Wood Turning Guild (CAWTG) that was formed in 2015. The guild now has 44 members who meet once a week in Red Deer. There are five members from Innisfail and three from just outside of town.

And now Ellis not only wants to spread the word in Innisfail about the immense satisfaction of woodturning, he wants to create a local group.

“We want more people to know the guild is there and to support them in their hobby. I know there is a lot of other people who don’t know we exist and the idea is, ‘we are here. We are doing things. Come and join us,’” said Ellis, adding a future meeting is being planned for an Innisfail group.

“We want to find other people that have the same types of interest. “We are trying to encourage young people, because the school has lathes and they are teaching kids how to turn, but they have no place to turn.

“The idea is that they can join the club and participate in our activities and we would encourage them and help them,” he added.

One of the most important areas guild members can teach the young is that woodturning need not be feared from a safety point of view, said Ellis.

“It isn’t dangerous like a table saw, or like a shaper. It is not dangerous like those tools, but it is dangerous in the sense you could get your clothing caught on a lathe,” said Ellis. “Every week at our meeting we have a safety session and we always talk about various safety tips. Rarely, ever, does anybody get hurt.”

Ellis said current members dedicate themselves to creating almost anything from wood that is turned, including toys, pens and kitchenware.

As for himself, Ellis turns components for cabinets, including chair legs, shafts for the centre of tables, and front pieces for kitchen islands.

However, he also turns wood to satisfy his “real” number 1 passion. He is a luthier, a person who builds and rebuilds musical instruments.

“My specialty is banjos. And the round resonator on the back of banjos? I turn the resonators. And the hoop in the banjo? I turn the hoop on my lathe,” said Ellis, who has been woodturning all his adult life. “You can’t retire to an armchair. I love woodturning because it is so exciting. You get inside this wood and you open it up, and wow. It is just gorgeous.”

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