Walt is a true veteran woodturner - in fact, he's been turning wood for 68 years! In 1938, when Walt was only 8 years old, he watched a woodturning demo at a county fair, in Orange Country, NY. He watched in fascination as the demonstrator turned square blocks of wood into spindles. It inspired him so  much, that he went home and built his first lathe - out of a Singer sewing machine!

Walt didn't get a chance to use a real lathe until he went to High School. It didn't change his enthusiasm for turning. In fact, a year after he graduated, he managed to scrape together enough money to buy a Shopsmith, which he used for the next 20 years. Since then, he has acquired many other lathes, and still owns 5 of them today.

Throughout those 68 years, Walt has turned for at least an hour every day, up until last year. His health makes it hard to turn nowadays; it's difficult to stand for long periods of time, and arthritis of the wrist makes it difficult to hold the tools. But that doesn't stop him - Walt is now experimenting with different techniques and tools, trying to come up with ways to help handicapped turners overcome their disabilities.

This isn't surprising; Walt has spent a good portion of his time giving demos, teaching classes, and writing articles on woodturning. Up until 2000, he was a demonstrator for the AAW (American Association of Woodturners). He also was a demonstrator at Allaire State Park for nearly 10 years, where he wore an 1830's costume, and demonstrated Blacksmithing, Carpentry, Tinsmithing, as well as woodturning on treadle and spring-pole lathes. He's also taught and lectured at the NJ State Museum, the Ocean County Museum, the Adult School at Toms River North High School, Raritan Valley Community College, numerous retirement homes, community groups, and assisted at AAW functions and demonstrations at several of their chapters, and has had 5 television shows on woodturning.

As if that isn't enough, Walt has also written articles for such magazines as Wood Turning, Wood, Woodwork, Mechanics Illustrated, and more. He's also mentioned in one of the woodturning bibles: Mike Darlow's "The Fundamentals of Woodturning."

Walt explains that when he first started, there were no books or videos on woodturning. Almost everyone was self-taught and used homemade tools. Walt was a Charter Member of the AAW, and got to know a lot of the early turners. Many of these guys have since gone on to become famous.

He also belongs (or belonged) to several other groups, including the Hudson Valley Woodturners, New Jersey Woodturners, Cape Atlantic Woodturners, and of course, our club: The Atlantic Shore Woodturners.

Proof that he's of the "old school of woodturning" comes in his preferred choice of chisels. Walt uses a skew almost exclusively. He's able to do just about everything with that single tool, and the finished turning requires little to no   sanding. He still freehand sharpens, using a white aluminum oxide wheel on a bench grinder. And typical of most "old turners", he never knew about dust protection for most of his woodturning career.

Walt's current shop is crammed full of woodworking tools and paraphernalia. At only 5' x 8', it's not a large shop, but it suits his purposes. As Walt says, "everything's within reach." He now prefers turning small projects the most, "there's no mess to clean up." He avoids oversized projects, that leave you standing ankledeep in sawdust.

His favorite woods to turn are Cherry and Walnut, and he dislikes Oak the most. His inspirations for his turnings come from objects made from materials other than wood, paintings, and gallery pieces. He has many favorite turners, including Mike Darlow, George Hatfield of Australia, Bob Sheppard of NJ, and Joe Kirk of NY, to name a few.

Given his impressive resume, you'd think Walt must have spent his entire life devoted to woodturning, and nothing else. But that's about as far from the truth as you can get. A retired Mortgage Banker, Walt now lives in a retirement community with lots and lots of friends. There, he has belonged to over 100 clubs! His interests include travel, history, reading, games, puzzles, stamp collecting, letter writing, and most his latest obsession - computers.

I think most readers will agree the world in general, and the woodturning world specifically, need more people like Walt Rissmeyer!

twj - 10/06

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Last updated: 03/01/2010