HURON VALLEY WOODTURNERS
January 17, 2021 Membership Zoom Meeting Summary
Officer Pre-Meeting
A few items discussed just prior to the general meeting included:
The final draft of the About Us information on the website,
Updating the member list sent to vendors for discounts
Decided to start paying for our Zoom account on an annual basis to save some money
Discussed possibility of internet at the Community Center site
Bill mentioned opportunity for Art Fair this summer is cheapest it has ever been ($650). Jeff will forward the
artist information he received from Bill to the rest of the club to see if anyone is interested in sharing with
Bill or doing it on their own.
General Meeting Attendance
It has been decided that attendance should be recorded at each meeting. Jeff has developed a spreadsheet to
record meeting attendance through the year. There were 14 members in attendance at this meeting. This list
was used to raffle off a craft supply gift certificate at the end of this meeting (won by Karl Schmidt).
Club Communication Possibilities
Steve Beckman initiated a discussion about messaging software that would allow members to post
questions about various topics for answers and discussion from other members. Examples of this
“Collaboration” software include “Tapatalk” used by the Southeast Michigan Woodworkers and “Discord”
which Steve has had some experience with. This sounded very interesting and Steve agreed to put
together a proposal for officers to look at and decide if we should try something like that.
Financial
Steve provided an update on our bank account totals.
There are 10 members that have paid their 2021 dues so far (min $30 for 2021 up to the standard $60 if a
member so desires to further support the club).
The updated list of paid members will be sent out to the vendors after the March meeting. So, everyone
needs to get their dues payments mailed to Steve by then.
Safety
Jeff reported that random orbit sanders with very coarse pads attached can easily cut or otherwise injure
fingers if you allow them to contact the fingers while still spinning (Don’t ask him how he knows that).
Bill reinforced what everyone should be very aware of – leaving the tool rest in place while sanding a piece
on the lathe can be very dangerous and painful if you get a finger pinched between the wood and the rest.
Most of us at one time or another has experienced this when we get lazy or in too much of a hurry to
remove that very hard piece of metal that always seems to be in the way of sanding.
He also reminded us that sanding in a pushing direction rather than with the wood pulling on the sandpaper
can result in twisted fingers or worse if the paper catches on the wood rotating towards you.
Mark found a tiny piece of metal in a piece he was turning. This has the potential of generating a spark
when it contacts the hard tool steel while turning. With all the wood dust and shavings around a lathe this
could be problematic. Someone mentioned that a strong magnet passed over the wood before turning it
can sometimes detect these. There are also commercially available metal detectors for wood if you
regularly use recycled wood.
Show & Tell (Items with * see photos at end of meeting summary)
*Jeff showed an English walnut natural edge bow* with nice crotch feathering in the bottom. About 8” in
diameter and 2.5” tall with an oil and lacquer finish.
*John had a couple of bottle stoppers from madrone and silver maple burl. He also showed a partially
completed goblet and how well a tiny led magnetic light worked ($30 on Cindy Drozda website). The goblet
interior was finished with bleached shellac wax which is harder than beeswax (he got his from Kremer
Pigments “kremerpigments.com” several years ago). Shellac was is also available from Don’s Barn
(“donsbarn.com/finishing-supplies”).
*Jack S. had a beautiful segmented bowl with a pinwheel design made from walnut, maple, padauk, and
holly. He also showed a couple of the segmented cutting boards his wife made from hardwood scraps.
Bill showed a large shallow bowl made from locust wood with an interesting grain pattern.
Steve showed off a new custom tool storage cabinet and system he had recently completed. He offered to
make one for anyone else interested (ha – just kidding. That thing must have taken months to get just
right.)
Mark displayed a large natural-edge cherry vase he made from a complete log section oriented in a
sideways direction so the pith ran sideways through the vase. Lots of interesting radiating cracks on the
sides. He also showed a smaller hollow form in this sideways orientation, a bowl where the tenon was the
foot as well, and another bowl with a totally rounded bottom and no foot.
Karl S. asked about what tools to get for making finials. Minimum was a small spindle or detail gouge with a
pointed grind. A small skew can also be very helpful if you learn how to use it.
Video Presentation and Discussion
The Richard Raffan video presented was titled “How to Turn a Basic Bowl – Part 1” and “Part 2”. Link to part 1
is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIvROyV2n6w . The video was stopped periodically to point out safety
issues or discuss various points with members. Some of the items pointed out included:
Putting the blank on the screw chuck with lathe running can be dangerous if you aren’t really familiar
with doing it. So, don’t try this at home! Turn the lathe off and screw it on by hand.
Make sure you don’t have any loose sleeves hanging around if you wear long sleeves. On a similar
note, be sure to tie long hair back (or hoodie strings or anything similar hanging from your clothing) as
this can be very dangerous if it gets caught in a spinning lathe (one women turner was killed this way).
Technique of placing a finger on the tool rest tight against the side of the bowl gouge when starting an
inside cut to prevent it from skating backwards across the bowl rim. This can be used with spindle
gouges as well to prevent catches that pull the gouge backwards across the piece.
There was lots of good discussion so be sure to attend the next video review at a club meeting.
Raffles
The special raffle that was started before the pandemic began had sold all but 5 of the tickets
necessary to cover the cost of the magnetic led lathe light. Enough additional tickets were sold at this
meeting to allow the drawing to occur at the February meeting. Those that committed to buying tickets
should be sure to send their money to Steve before the next meeting along with their dues if not paid
yet.
The Craft Supply $10 gift certificate drawing for those attending this meeting was won by Karl S.
Be sure to attend the February meeting for a chance at the next one.
Closing
Members are reminded to watch for a woodturning video they think would make for an interesting discussion at
a future meeting. Send any recommendations to one of the officers so they can review and select one from the
multitudes that will be submitted.
Also note the next general membership Zoom meeting will be on February 21, 2021 at 1:00pm. There will
likely also be an officer’s prep meeting before then that anyone is welcome to attend. Just let us know if you
are interested and we’ll make sure you get the meeting notice and link.
Sincerely,
Jeff Braunscheidel
HVWT Secretary
Jan 31 2021