CREMER MEDIA’S ENGINEERING NEWS: Exciting Working with wood show surrounded by history (06/14/2016)

With a history in timber dating back as far as 1932, what better venue for this year’s Wood Turning Festival in association with the Working with Wood Show than Saasveld, George, Western Cape. The woodworking fraternity globally are extremely excited that the Wood Turners South African in partnership with the American Association of Wood Turners, the Working with Wood Show and the School of Natural Resource Management at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University will take an active role in this year’s Wood Turner Festival at the NMMU, Saasveld Campus from 26 till 28 August. This beautiful venue’s origins can be traced back to 1911 when a forestry college was established at Tokai near Cape Town. The government of the day moved the college to a new location, Saasveld, near George in the Southern Cape in 1932. From 1932 to 1985 almost 1 300 foresters were trained at this campus that is surrounded by both indigenous and commercial forests. Advertisement Following on from the extremely successful 2014 Working with Wood Show in Knysna, the event quickly established itself as a leading wood working and tool show in South Africa, and is acknowledged today as Africa’s most diverse Woodworking and Woodcraft event. The Working with Wood Shows are known for bringing top South African and international demonstrators to share their woodworking skills and crafts from woodturning, carving, chair-making, sharpening to furniture making with attendees. Everything timber related and eco related, from mobile milling of slabs, to fine furniture and sculptures, sustainable alternatives for the home and natural resource management displays can be found. These events showcase sustainable timber production. This year the Woodturning Festival and Working with Wood Show will feature top wood working experts. Among these are two international AWSA guests, Carmen De La Paz from the United States of America and Chris Pouncy from Sorby in the United Kingdom. The South African contingent includes John Wessels, John Speedy, Dave Stephson, Mervin Walsh, Richard Muller, Jan Conradie and Charlie Letsoalo. This year participants will be also be treated to Woodturning Demonstrations and Enhancements that will highlight the global trend in woodturning. Carmen De la Paz and John Wessel will offer live demonstrations on some of the latest techniques in wood enhancements. The organisers are thrilled to announce the launch of the out-reach programme, Turners without Borders to be held during this festival. De la Paz will also host the first Working with wood Show’s programme exclusively for women – Women in Turning. This hands-on programme aims to provide women with an opportunity to experience the wonderful world of woodturning. Besides the myriad of demonstrations on offer, a large exhibition of tools, equipment and the latest woodworking and woodturning equipment will also be on exhibit. These include leading brands such as Festool, Triton, Kreg, Howard Products, Pro Tech, Tork Craft, Bessey, Felo, Alpen, MPS, Spring Tools, Mag Switch, Aircraft, Drill Doctor, Armor and the latest revolutionary circular saw from Saw Stop. This Saw Stop blade carries a small electrical signal that the safety system continually monitors. When skin makes contact on the blade the signal changes because the human body is conductive. This change to the signal activates the safety system and an aluminium brake springs into the spinning blade, stopping it in less than 5 milliseconds! The blade’s angular momentum drives it beneath the table, removing the risk of subsequent contact and power to the motor is automatically shut off. Resetting the saw yourself is easy. Simply replace the blade and affordable brake cartridge and your saw is operational. The entire reset process takes less than five minutes. All equipment and supplies will be on offer at special low Show prices.

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THE STAR: Sheffield Woodturning Club raises money for children’s charity (06/11/2016)

The Sheffield Woodturning Club (which has raised many thousands of pounds for charity over the years, this year has chosen to support Hallam FM’s Cash for Kids.

The club will be raising money at various events in the Sheffield area, including Art in the Gardens on September 3 and 4. The members are currently making spinning tops to sell for Cash for Kids at the event which are always a big hit with children and adults alike.

On June 18 the club will present an all day woodturning demonstration by Dave Atkinson. Details of the day can be found on the website www.sheffieldwoodturning.org.uk and tickets are available from the club secretary (also via the website).

The cost is £15 for the day which includes all day refreshments and a good, homemade lunch. Raffle prizes have been generously donated by both Crown Hand Tools and Robert Sorby – two of Sheffield’s world renowned tool manufacturers.

Raffle proceeds will be donated to Cash for Kids.

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BENZINGA: Penturner’s Rendezvous Winner of Woodcraft Grand Prize Lathe Has Donated It to a Veteran (05/31/2016)

San Diego woodturner Brian Saunders has worked for several years with programs that teach veterans the art of woodturning, so when Brian won a mini lathe donated by Woodcraft at the Penturner’s Rendezvous it seemed logical to give it to a veteran.

“My wife Pat and I each have a midi lathe that we use extensively and a larger lathe that we share,” Brian said. “Because we already have three lathes, I have donated the Rikon lathe to a veteran who has participated in the Turn Around Vets Program and who plans to continue in woodturning. Many have told us woodturning has made a huge difference in their lives—their injuries seem diminished and while turning the ugly memories don’t intrude.”

The Penturner’s Rendezvous, organized by The Pen Maker’s Guild, is held the evening before the Utah Woodturning Symposium opens in Provo, Utah – May 11 this year. “The Rendezvous was started 14 plus years ago as a ‘meetup’ of the penturners who attend the symposium,” Guild member Kurt Hertzog said. “It was a way to meet those you visited with over the Internet yet rarely met. Anyone is welcome to attend the event for free and display their works if they want to. However, only those who display are eligible for the Woodcraft Grand Prize drawing held at the end of the evening.”

Brian said he and his wife Pat began turning in 2009 and joined the San Diego Woodturners (SDWT) Club the same year. In addition to the monthly demos by talented members and internationally known guest turners, mentoring programs, and skill-building classes, Brian said The San Diego Woodturners (SDWT) also sponsor three programs that help veterans recover from injuries.

“Turn Around for Vets helps injured military service members and those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,” Brian said. “SDWT volunteers started teaching pen turning to service members at Balboa Naval Medical Center in San Diego as they recuperated from their injuries. The woodturning program was later expanded to Camp Pendleton’s Wounded Warrior Battalion to work with Marines and Naval Corpsmen who are recovering from their injuries. The Veterans Administration also asked the SDWT to expand the club’s program to include the Aspire Rehabilitation Center for veterans suffering from PTSD and/or Traumatic Brain Injuries when it opened. At all three locations, we provide the equipment, materials, teaching and supervision to make sure all learn to turn and, most importantly, to be safe while doing it. Many have now expanded from pen turning to other turnings—bowls, boxes, vases, etc., and our members teach and monitor these activities.”

Brian said about 50 members of SDWT are actively involved in the Turn Around for Vets project, and he and Pat and have volunteered at the Wounded Warrior Battalion at Camp Pendleton and at the Aspire Center for several years.

Since 2010, Brian and Pat have been attending the Utah Woodturning Symposium and the Penturner’s Rendezvous.

“Some of us display our pen work and let the other Rendezvous attendees handle our pens and ask questions,” Brian explained. “We compare techniques and exchange advice and suggestions. The newer pen turners learn a lot by just seeing the pens and asking the experienced turners questions such as, ‘How did you do that?’ and ‘What did you use?’ It’s a lot less intimidating than asking the questions in front of a hundred people. The ability to see and touch the pens and question the turners in such an informal setting seems to lead to more open discussions and exchange of knowledge.”

The one-on-one educational aspect of the Penturner’s Rendezvous is what prompted Woodcraft to sponsor the Penturner’s Rendezvous Grand Prize for the past few years.

“Providing educational opportunities for woodworkers, such as the informal exchange of information at the Penturner’s Rendezvous, is part of the Woodcraft mission,” Liz Matheny, Woodcraft director of marketing, said. “The more a woodworker can learn, whether it is from peers, the formal woodworking classes that Woodcraft stores offer, or from events like the Rendezvous, the more that woodworker will advance his or her craft and find joy in the process.”

For more information about the Penturner’s Rendezvous, visit https://utahwoodturning.com/penturners-rendezvous/. To learn more about the San Diego Woodturners, visit http://www.sdwt.org.

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MOODY COUNTY ENTERPRISE: Siouxland Woodturners reach their goal (05/31/2016)

As members of the Siouxland Woodturners made plans to complete their first major group project, they thought they’d break the world record for largest turned-wood bowl. Turns out, the world-record bowl is an imposing 13.5 feet in diameter. That was a little larger than they’d had in mind.

“We decided, for our first attempt, that was…. we did a five-foot bowl,” said Alistair Hird, a rural Colman resident and the club’s current president.

It was still a hefty undertaking: Working together, about a dozen wood turners assembled almost 200 pieces of wood using glue (and screws, temporarily). The body of the bowl is pine, donated by a truss company. Walnut, donated by a club member, provides a darker accent ring near the rim. The assembly alone took 10 hours, Hird said, as they carefully followed a computer-generated plan for arranging each piece.

“And then just hours and hours of turning,” he added. “We had no machines, so one of the club members built a lathe just to do it on. Club members took turns at turning it and it took over 6 months, on and off.”

They began with 2×6 pieces of wood weighing more than 300 lbs. altogether. After all that turning, the bowl is a trim 140 lbs. and just an inch thick. Club members learned a lot along the way and made adjustments to keep the bowl balanced and perfectly round.

For several months now they’ve been able to sit back and show off their work to the public.

“It’s quite an impressive sight,” Hird said.

Asked what the bowl is intended hold, Hird said “Nothing, it’s just for publicity!”

It’s made a few appearances already, in Sioux Falls this past Black Friday and currently in the office of J&K Building Center in Flandreau. Next it will go to The Granite Threshing Bee in Larchwood, Iowa, July 16 and 17. (Or see this bowl on the club’s web page: Go to SiouxlandWoodturners.org, photo gallery, “The Big Bowl.”)

The Big Bowl may have been a new challenge to many club members, but they’re not all new to woodturning. In fact, Siouxland Woodturners includes 70 members, men and women, ages “9 to nearly 90,” Hird said, all at different levels of experience and skill. They come from South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa, many of them driving several hours to attend meetings in Sioux Falls. They share a love for the craft and an eagerness to teach it to others.

“The club is all about helping educate people on how to (turn wood),” Hird explained. “I don’t think we’ve a member that wouldn’t show you how to do it.”

As a member of the American Association of Woodturners, the Siouxland group hosts a series of classes for the public, twice a year, and it gives live demonstrations when invited. But anyone interested in trying their hand at woodturning is invited to visit one of the club’s month meetings, where lathes are available and members are ready to explain the process.

They meet the first Saturday of every month, September through May, in the ag room of Harrisburg High School at 1 p.m. Throughout the summer they meet at other places but the public is still welcome: These dates and times will be posted on the calendar at SiouxlandWoodturners.org.

“Anybody of any age, ability or anything is welcome,” Hird said.

Hird himself became interested in woodturning while in high school, back in England. But lathes were expensive so he didn’t buy one; that is, until he got married 27 years ago.

“Suddenly, you’re an adult. You have to start buying presents for everybody,” he said. “The cheapest option was to buy a lathe and make presents. So for the last 27 years, people in my family get something turned: Wedding presents, birthday presents, Christmas presents.”

Lately he’s making wood bangles for girls in the family, a rattle for a new nephew, and plenty of bowls, along with helping friends with their projects. Occasionally, if he wants to make back some of his money, he’ll sell a piece. But usually they go out as gifts and sometimes donations to a charitable cause.

Individually and as a group, members of Siouxland Woodturners are generous with their work. The group participated in Sioux Falls’ Festival of Trees while it was still going; each year they donated a tree with about 200 handmade wooden ornaments on it, plus extra pieces thrown in as gifts to whoever bought the tree at the charity auction.

They also make Freedom Pens from the extraordinary combination of a hollowed-out bullet shell and a piece of turned wood. These are given to U.S. military units after they have been deployed, including the Flandreau unit that deployed recently.

“So far, the club’s made 500 pens for the military that has been deployed from South Dakota, and it’s all been freewill donations,” Hird said.

Of course, woodturners appreciate receiving donations themselves at times, as they did for the Big Bowl. Keep this group in mind when you’re ready to cut down a tree, Hird asked; members are always in search of quality wood.

“If anybody wants to donate trees, the bigger the better,” he said, laughing. “We have access to a sawmill.”

Hird would like to extend a special thank you to the folks at J&K for allowing him to keep the bowl in there for awhile.

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NEW WESTMINSTER RECORD: Woodturning exhibition shows wood in its most artistic form (05/26/2016)

The Greater Vancouver Woodturning Guild, based out of the Sapperton Pensioners Hall, is exhibiting their work in New Westminster for the first time at The Gallery at Queen’s Park throughout June.

Guild member Ed Pretty hopes the showing will give audiences an understanding of the artistry and skill that goes into woodturning, a form of sculpture.

“It’s not just spindles and salad bowls,” Pretty said. “There’s a breadth and a depth to this craft, and a lot of the pieces, their principle use is to please the eye.”

Pretty believes manual woodworking lost its place in the trades due to mechanization, but has remained in the arts scene thanks to a dedicated and collaborative following.

“It’s no longer a trade, so there’s no place to go to learn woodturning … (but) the woodturning community is the most sharing community I’ve ever seen,” he said.

The guild has about 100 members and has been based in New West for about 12 years. The guild’s demographic is mostly older men, but there has been some diversity in recent years, according to Pretty.

“Happily, there’s been more and more women taking this on, and I say happily because some of them are just so skilled at this,” he said.

This exhibit, he added, will be all about giving newer members an opportunity to feel confident about showcasing their work. He also hopes it will raise woodturning’s profile in the visual arts community in the process.

“There’s very little three-dimensional work around, and as soon as you mention wood, people get that thousand-yard stare. It’s more than just utility. People see this stuff and say, ‘man, this is art.’”

 

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WAIKATO TIMES (NEW ZEALAND): Putaruru woodturner keeps art alive (05/16/2016)

A Putaruru artist’s work has gained a popular following with tourists who visit Tirau.

Woodturner Neil Joynt said he was humbled to know many of his creations were now displayed in homes around the world.

“It’s a real buzz when people appreciate your work. I get off on that.

“They just adore it and quite often they say the price is wrong.”

Joynt said he was inspired by the cultural heritage of the area and most of his pieces have been created from re-using wood from around the district.

“That’s what so exciting. It’s not just me who’s discovering the beauty of the wood, it’s everybody and they see things differently.

“I am quite spiritual in my art. It’s very, very satisfying. I’m preserving this in time. I’ve captured it and I’ve locked it into time.”

Art On Mainin Tirau is the only location in the Waikato to display his work. but offers have come in to have his creations displayed at the Auckland Airport and Te Papa Museum.

His work has also won several awards at shows around the country.

Keeping true to his philosophy each piece is made to the highest quality.
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Joynt adds aesthetic value by using pyrography, crushed stones and a range of other materials.

He credits his teacher Mike Ward, at Tokoroa High School, who encouraged him to explore his creativity.

In the 90s he explored the art of wood turning.

It wasn’t until 2011 that Joynt took the craft back up when he had more time on his hands.

“I was wanting to explore it further and my children had left home.

“It’s just ramped up to a level where I am entering competitions and travelling around the country doing demonstrations.”

Joynt is now part of an art cooperative made up of artists in the Central North Island that display their art in Tirau.

He said his work is discovery art.

“That’s what excites me. You don’t know what’s under the bark. You cut through to that and you start seeing stuff. That’s exciting.”

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LIMERICK LEADER (IRELAND): Woodturning remains in good hands (05/15/2016)

ATER a lifetime working in wood, woodturning still holds its fascination for John Ryan from Ballyneety. “It’s not just about working with your hands. The brain is working away too,” he says.

And there is satisfaction in being involved with a craft whose origins go back thousands of years. “Turned items were found the tomb of Tutankhamun which dates from 1350 BC,” he points out. And nearer home, a cauldron found in a bog in Co Monaghan is thought to be over 2,350 years old.

“In the old days, turning formed part of a wider picture,” John explains. “You could have a turner in some of the (iron) foundries and in some of the big industries.”

But with automation, he adds, a lot of the traditional skills came under pressure and turners had to be multi-taskers and adept at other aspects of working with wood, such as carpentry, cabinet making or joinery.

That, says John, is still very much the case today and now, only a very few are full-time professionals. In the Limerick chapter of the Irish Woodturners Guild, which celebrates 25 years this year, there are only a handful of full-timers, among them Donal Ryan, Barry Lewis and Liam Flynn.

It can be daunting being full time, John observes, and even more so given that many turners are what he calls “earthy” people, not really cut out for commercialism. But, he goes on, most of the Limerick chapter’s 30 or so members are long-time devotees, with very high levels of skill.

It takes a lot of practice and time to develop as a woodturner, John points out. But he believes the work of Irish Woodturners Guild and its Limerick chapter has contributed hugely to honing the skills of its exponents and has been pivotal in saving what was very much a dying craft.

Happily, according to John who is a founding member of the Limerick chapter and its current vice-chairman, the past number of decades has seen a re-igniting of interest. “What we are doing now is more at the art end of things,” John explains. “A lot of our work is one-off and some of the stuff is contemporary art.”

“There is a lot of satisfaction in it,” John continues. “I suppose it is the creative urge. You can see something you have made. You can fashion it to whatever idea is in your head. When you start on a piece, there is a significant amount of concentration involved. One slip could destroy your piece.”

Moreover, he adds: “You don’t really know what is going to happen until the very end.”

It takes time and practice to build up the skills involved, how to work the chisel and the lathe; how to sharpen your tools, how to saw the timber.

A short film showing Liam Flynn at work exemplifies this. Liam, who is from Abbeyfeale and continues to work there, is one of the foremost artists in wood of his generation.

He works mostly in green, ie not kiln-dried, wood and has built up a reputation for his skill in reading wood. When he examines a piece of a tree, he explains, he is looking to see the grain structure. “I am designing the piece as I am looking and I am drawing out roughly what size log of wood I am going to cut,” he explains.

He then hefts his “log” on to a lathe and begins moving it round. “I am reading it. In a way, I am reading the material,” he explains.

His designs rely for their shape on the wood drying or “distorting” in a particular way. But it is only because he understands exactly how this will happen that he achieves his distinctive pieces. “It is an interplay between the material and its natural drying and my own stamp,” Liam says, describing his work. For him, the nature of the wood is not primary. What continues to enthrall him are shape and texture. That, and the fact that there is always something new and fresh to discover. “I am still finding new things. I keep adapting and learning new things,” Liam says.

“My approach,” he goes on, “is changing a little now. I don’t worry about the technical side so much.”

Liam’s work has been bought for some of the world’s most prestigious collections and museums, among them the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. It can also be found in the National Museum of Ireland and in Limerick City Art Gallery and the Royal Dublin Society.

And this Saturday, for the first time in many years, Liam will give a demonstration as part of a day-long workshop to mark the Limerick Woodturners’ 25th anniversary.

Recalling the founding of the Limerick chapter a quarter of a century ago, current chairman Brendan Collins said there were eight or ten of them who got together at the time.

He was an apprentice carpenter but became interested in woodturning and has remained involved since. Their aims, he says, were to raise the profile of woodturning but also to improve members’ skills and techniques.

Over the years, Brendan explains, they have organised day long workshops for woodturners of all abilities. And at every monthly meeting of the chapter, there is a demonstration following which the members go away and replicate the technique for the following meeting.

For Brendan now, woodturning is more hobby than livelihood but the appeal remains and he talks about different woods as if they were friends.

This Saturday’s workshop marking their 25 years will also be a chance for members to showcase their work, Brendan explains. There will be a gallery of work, he says, and a prize for best in show.

The event will take place in the Kilmurry Lodge Hotel starting at 9.30am and a small number of places are available on each of the workshops. Along with Liam Flynn, professional woodturner Donal Ryan from Borrisoleigh will also conduct a demonstration as will Christien Van Bussel, a potter from Holland who took up woodturning when she moved to Wicklow.

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(Vale) Neil Scobie (05/03/2016)

On Tuesday 3rd of May, Australia and the world lost one of the most talented wood artists, Neil Scobie. There is no one in Australia that has such a huge repertoire of skills, woodturner, designer, furniture maker, carver, writer, and teacher. Neil was generous. He would impart his skills freely during demonstrations nationally and internationally, writing articles in many publications and home workshops. He has touched and influenced many lives both locally, nationally, and internationally. His positive and infectious nature made him a favorite with all who met him. I will miss our chats. He was a good friend and mentor. When asked a question, his response was always measured and honest. Our condolences to Liz and family. RIP. ~ Neil Turner

 

Read the article, “Neil Scobie: A Turner for Us All,” by Terry Martin, which was featured in the April 2016 issue of American Woodturner journal.

DERRY JOURNAL: ‘Great future ahead’ for talented duo (04/29/2016)

Burnfoot teenager Sean Og Harrigan developed a love of woodturning when he was just a young child, taking inspiration from the skilled craftsmanship of his father and grandfather before him.

As he grew older, the now 14-year-old decided the extra wood being thrown out was a waste and decided to create original pieces from them.

Joining up at school with Oisin McLaughlin from Muff, ‘Inish Woodworking’ was born and last week, the second year Scoil Mhuire students won the intermediate category in the All Ireland Student Enterprise Awards.

Speaking to the ‘Journal,’ the duo told how they were ‘over the moon’ at the win, something they ‘really didn’t expect.’

Inish Woodworking creates natural bowls, candlesticks, tea light holders, bread boards, wine racks and more. Sean Og is the craftsman behind the business, while Oisin is responsible for “sales, research, marketing and promotion.”

The combination of both their skills was seen as a winning one, not only at their school but by the local Donegal Enterprise Office, who named them their regional winners in the county heats of the competition.

Both are very enthusiastic about the business, with Sean Og telling how he especially likes creating the natural bowls, as well as working with “exotic timbers such as African and Indian timbers.”

They described the national finals as “scary but exciting” and said the standard of work and ideas in their category led them to believe they wouldn’t win.

“When they called out the runners up, we thought: ‘Well, that’s it.’ said Oisin, the son of Mura and Gina McLaughlin.

Sean Og, the son of Sean and Deborah Harrigan, said they were “very surprised but happy” when they did.

The duo were keen to credit teachers Martina McBride, Seamus Baldrick and Claire McGovern for their help in preparing for the competition, as well as Bizzprint, which printed materials for them, Donegal Signs, Supervalu, Buncrana,Richard Tedstone, Sean Og’s granda Frank Harrigan who provided the timber, uncle Barry Harrigan and all their families.

They are hoping to expand the business into the future and any businesses who’d like to stock the pieces are encouraged to get in touch.

Scoil Mhuire principal Rosaleen Grant said all in the school were “so very proud” of their two students.

She added how Sean Og and Oisin “worked together as a great team and complement each other’s skills.”

“They have a great future ahead of them and this is just the beginning,” said Ms Grant.

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WICKED LOCAL: Local woodturners to hold live demostration in Abington (04/26/2016)

The Massachusetts South Shore Woodturners will host a live woodturning demonstration on Sunday.

The event will be held at 2:30 p.m. at the Dyer Memorial Library, 28 Centre Ave. It is open to the public and refreshments will be served.

Woodturning is a form of woodworking that is used to create wooden objects on a lathe, or machine. In woodturning, the wood is moving while a stationary tool is used to cut and shape it.

“Woodturning is a blend of technique and artistry,” the group’s website states. “The technique begins with good instruction and improves with practice. Artistry comes from within. It is each person’s interpretation of the world around them.”

Inspiration for woodturning can come from nature, other cultures, history, and household items, the website states.

The group, which formed in 1996, now has more than 60 members.

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