Special Interest Groups

Ongoing Charities

Women in Turning (WIT) is the newest special interest group (SIG) of the ASWT, bringing together the opportunity of our women members who share a passion for woodturning. WIT is dedicated to encouraging and assisting women in their pursuit of turning, to sharing ideas and processes to further members’ skills and creativity, and to increasing participation of women in the field of woodturning.

WIT itself is a committee of the American Association of Woodturners. The AAW WIT committee consists of a chairwoman appointed by the AAW President and the committee which she selects. The ASWT chapter of WIT includes an ASWT Sub Chapter Coordinator, who will be focusing on items that may benefit all turners, but be of special interest to women turners. We are in the early phases of this special interest group and would welcome new turners into our group.

Some current and past projects associated with the WIT SIG include a number of forums on embellishment of turnings, including a special segment on pyrography (controlled burning), as well as bowl shapes and designs.

Beads of Courage

Beads of Courage is a worldwide charity which provides comfort to young children fighting cancer in hospitals. The comfort they provide is to reward the patients with colored beads for different treatments which they undergo while they are hospitalized. For example, if they have to give blood for analysis they may be given a red colored bead. Maybe the next day they are scheduled to undergo chemo treatment. For this treatment they may be given a yellow-colored bead. Other colored beads are given for other types of treatments. Some patients have accumulated thousands of beads which gives you an idea what some have to go thru in fighting this cruel disease. They collect the beads and string them together. It gives them something to do while they are in the hospital. Apparently, it is very therapeutic to not only the patients but also to their families. You can imagine the parents sitting endless hours in the hospital with their child and this gives them something to do together.

So how can we help these kids? The kids need turned bowls to store their beads in.

Each year our club member’s donated approx. 10 bowls to Robert Wood Johnson Children’s Hospital in New Brunswick which is affiliated with the Beads of Courage charity.

Embellishment Group

The embellishment Group meets quarterly to discuss new techniques and projects completed since the last meeting. This group focuses on the many and varied ways you can enhance the look and feel of a turning, no matter what the material, shape, or purpose of the initial turning. Carving, pyrography, air brushing and texturing are a few of the many techniques attempted and used in this group

Wig Stands for Survivors

Cancer survivors have need for special items that can help them cope with the many demands of fighting and surviving the ravages of the disease, as well as the cure. A wig for replacement of lost hair is often one of these items. In order for a wig to be useable, maintain its shape, and provide long term service, it requires a stand for storage when it is not in use. These specialized stands are one of the projects that ASWT members work on throughout the year. Our club, as documented in Volume 36 Number 4 of the American Woodturner Magazine, donates dozens of these special stands per year to the Princeton Breast Cancer Resource Center Info here each year.

The wig stands are created from various woods to specific sizes for children, teens and adults, to accommodate the various sized wigs in use for each survivor. Each stand is unique, with creative flairs added by our members to help encourage the survivor along in their battle. It is the goal of our club to support the BCRC each year with enough wig stands to allow them to continue to provide wig stands for anyone who needs it free of charge.