Newsletter
June 2010
Newsletter
June 2010
June Meeting
Is Tuesday!
June 8th
7:30 PM Start
Meetings are held
at the small pre-school building on the corner of County Line Road & Ridge
Avenue
Social hour starts @ 7:00
June meeting Highlights
Show & Tell/Tool Sale
Next Tuesday’s meeting will feature our long-awaited Show & Tell. We haven’t had one in a while, so haul them out, dust them off, and bring them to the meeting.
Remember, not only do we want to see what has been turned, but we also want to know about anything new in turning: tools, methods of doing work, innovative techniques, new finishing secrets, anything related to turning.
We (Tom) will have the photo booth up & running for pictures to be put on our website gallery
We will also be having an encore of our successful tool and equipment sale which we had a while ago. So bring anything you wish to sell. The rules follow:
The sale format will be like a silent auction; a paper will be placed next to each item with a “suggested minimum” bid written on it. Anyone who wants can write a (higher) bid on the sheet, so at the end of the sale, highest bid buys. As a reminder, 10% of the sale price goes to the club.
All items for sale should be wood working-related…no stray puppies please. If an item for sale is too large to bring, picture(s) and a description will do.
At the end of the night, all items, sold & not, must be removed from the building
Also for June, Bev’s challenge, will be a turned bottle stopper.
Upcoming Meetings
As you all know, we will not have meetings scheduled for July or August, as the school is closed for the summer.
This reminds me: Do we need to start thinking of a new place for our meetings? Two things come to mind: (1) we have increased our active membership to the point that the school basement sometimes seems overcrowded so we need more space, and (2) it would be nice to be able to have meetings in the summer. Other advantages may be that we would be able to have space to leave lathes out or have permanent displays of our work.
As of now, we have no hard and fast plans for our next season’s schedule. Now is the time for your input! What do you want to do, who would you like from the outside to demonstrate for us? Which of you would be willing to demonstrate (and what topic)? Let us know.
The President’s Message
Here we are, folks, at the end of the Spring
season. It seems to have flown by, but
at the same time, a lot was accomplished.
We got a new president (me), a new VP (Ismael),
and a new treasurer (Stan). Then, a few
months later, we got another new VP and a new librarian (Tom Swain) when
Ismael stepped down because of health reasons.
We've seen changes in the format of our meetings, with the business sessions being reduced to 30 minutes. We've had some great demonstrations: Sal Straniero demonstrated Pepper Grinders, Barry Gross demonstrated Pen turning techniques, and Kurt Hertzog will be giving an all-day demo later this month. We had two show & tells, one hands-on turning session, and participated in the Woodworking Show in February.
We also had a bunch of firsts: we co-hosted the "learn-to-turn a pen" event with the NJ Woodturners, at the Woodworking show - this was the first time our two clubs have collaborated on an event. We FINALLY got the H.O.W (Hands-On Workshop) program off the ground, with the Spindle Turning session offered last month. We FINALLY have a mentor program in place. And we're having a second this month - our second annual tool sale.
We also are increasing our club's assets: John and I went to
Penn State Industries and purchased some new turning tools. We have plans to
purchase a new lathe, and thanks to a grant from the AAW, will soon be
purchasing some audio and video equipment for our demonstrations. And finally,
we even have some new books and videos for the library!
Our newsletter has been a great success this year. John has made a concerted
effort to get it out by the weekend before the meeting every month - and has
been successful. We have a couple of new
contributors (Ron Hughes and Ismael), as well as some
old contributors, like me.
Our membership has grown by leaps and bounds. The last couple of meetings we've
approached standing room only.
So, I consider this first half to be a success. I hope you all agree. And we
have lots more planned for the fall session, as well. We plan to continue our pattern of alternating
show & tell, open turning, and demos. We're planning to have at least one all-day
demo, and hopefully, another HOW session.
We're still growing, and improving, but recognize there's still room for more
improvement. Over all, I've been pretty
happy with how far we've come.
So, that's my opinion. What's yours?
Remember, the club can only run well if you let us know what you want. We're open to
suggestions. If there are other things
you want that we're not doing, please speak up and let us know.
Meanwhile, have a great summer, and get out there and do some turning!
See you at the meeting,
Tom
Club Mentoring Program
Our mentoring
program has started with Tom Jones mentoring Lisa Carey on mastering the basics
of turning. Also, as it turned out, Tom
kind of acted as a mentor to me when we were setting up for the HOW. Let me tell you something from first-hand
experience: Taking a lesson from a
turner who knows how to turn and is willing to share is worth its weight in
rare and exotic wood!
We now have three
members who have agreed to be mentors:
Bruce Perlmutter, Sal Straniero,
and Tom Jones…take advantage!
So, for those of you who indicated an interest, contact the mentors.
Our HOW Program
There has been some
updates to our club’s HOW (Hands On Workshop)
program. Where before we were restricted
to having only AAW members participate, we can now have any club member,
whether or not he/she is an AAW member take part in the program as of now. This is based on further clarification of
AAW’s insurance issues. There are still
insurance questions, but Charlie Kirlew is taking the
lead on getting more info…thanks Charlie.
Because of space and
equipment issues, namely my shop space and the amount of lathes and equipment
available to us, a maximum of six people can attend. If
anyone else wants to volunteer their shop, we welcome you.
The cost for each
will still be $35.00, with a portion going for supplies, some to the club’s
treasury, lunch, and the rest, other expenses.
Now for our First
HOW Program:
The first HOW was held at John Puckhaber's
shop on May 22nd.
The topic was Basic Spindle Turning, with the final result being a turned bottle
stopper, but in reality, it was spindle turning from mounting on the lathe to
all of the various cuts which can be made on spindles.
Because of the AAW restriction and some last minute schedule
conflicts, there were two members taking part:
Anthony Borsilli and Bud Brien. Comments after the session ended were very
positive about knowledge gained and value received, but feel free to ask them
about their impressions of HOW.
It is planned to continue the program in the fall (but if enough are interested,
we can do something over the summer).
Let us know what you want you want.
Just as a reminder, each HOW should last about six hours, will usually be held
on a weekend day, will have ample time for Q&A, and will include
lunch. Wood and equipment will be
supplied, but you are encouraged to bring your own tools (the first HOW
included a sharpening session).
Let us know if you are interested and what topic you want covered.
Member News
The AAW has
announced this year’s grant awards. In
addition to our club getting money to purchase audio and video equipment, we
also had a club member receive an individual grant:
Tom Barnes
was awarded his grant for expanding awareness of turning. His focus will be reaching out to such places
as churches, schools and scouts. He may
also promote interaction among other clubs and the community. Congratulations and good luck.
Tom Jones is
again gainfully employed, but there’s no joy in Mudville
for our club. His new job will require
his relocation to Maryland in 2011, so we need to start looking for his
“replacement.” Remember, he is the
President, does the website, and is our photographer. Maybe we can talk him into maintaining the website
from afar!
Mark Anderson
has a new e-mail address: markdebanderson@verizon.net
Upcoming Events
2010 AAW National Symposium will be the weekend of June 18th to 20th at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford. Details such as the demonstrator list and topics, and the schedule for special interest night can be found the AAW website at: http://woodturner.org/
Hope to see some of you there.
“Magic Realism/Material Culture” showcasing eighteen artists’ perceived notions of material at the Wood Turning Center, 501 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA until July 17th. For more information visit their website www.woodturningcenter.org
“A Revolution in Wood: The Bresler Collection” held at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. September 24 to January 30, 2011. This exhibit celebrates the extraordinary recent gift of turned wood objects from collectors Fleur and Charles Bresler. For more information, visit www.americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2010/bresler/
The Next All Day Demo
Saturday June 12
John’s Garage
Kurt Hertzog
The demo:
Sharpening made Easy
Mastering the Skew
Work Holding
Unique
Pen Designs (if time permits)
The demo is
scheduled to last about six hours, with lunch provided. As in the past, please bring chairs (someday,
I’ll buy a few myself). The cost will be
about what it has been in the past: $35. I’ll have a sign-up sheet available at the
meeting.
Kurt is a professional woodturner who enjoys the entire continuum of woodturning from making his own turning tools to photographing his finished turnings. He has intentionally kept his turnings diverse in an effort to keep exploring the craft and the medium. As frequent demonstrator and instructor on many facets of woodturning, he particularly enjoys teaching tool sharpening, work holding, and advanced pen making. For further information, visit his website at:
Club Logo Apparel
The order has been placed for the new shirts and hats, and they should be ready by meeting night.
For those of you who have not ordered anything, we will be placing another order next year.
Things to think about
In previous newsletters, we asked you to think about several things, all designed for the improvement of our club. Here’s a continuing update.
To refresh, the topics were:
AAW membership: No longer mandatory for HOW activities, but encouraged for all members to join, as our club is, in reality, a chapter of the AAW
HOW (hands on workshops): Now started successfully and awaiting input from you all for what you want to learn or improve upon
Mentoring program: Underway with the
first couple completed and two more mentors volunteering
Charity/Outreach effort: Tom Barnes will use his AAW grant to reach out as described earlier. Still not enough…we need all to help grow turning.
Library Items: We need input from you as to what you want. Tom Swain is our new librarian, so see him with your wish list (Tom, I wish for Cindy Drozda’s “Finial Star” DVD)
The Website
For those of you who haven’t recently visited, take a new look! The calendar is right up to date with all sorts of interesting things, and the members’ gallery is chock full of great photos of OUR work. The site is continually getting better…thanks Tom. To submit news, calendar items, or photos, contact Tom at:
www.atlanticshorewoodturners.com
Members can get the user name and password for the members-only section at a meeting. Reminder, the members’ only section contains the complete club roster. Check it out and let me know if there are any changes needed.
Meeting
Specifics
Meetings are the second
Tuesday of each month except for July and August. They are held at the little pre-school
building, which is located at the corner of
2010 Officers and Contacts
|
President |
Tom Jones |
732.571.9636 |
|
Vice President |
Tom Swain |
609.971.3527 |
|
Treasurer |
Stan Leibowitz |
732.886.1530 |
|
Librarian |
Tom Swain |
609.971.3527 |
|
Secretary |
John Puckhaber |
732.349.4275 |
|
Newsletter |
John Puckhaber |
732.349.4275 |
Meeting
Directions
Directions: From Route 9, go east on
complex.