The November meeting was a busy one for our club!

Show and Tell continues to work well holding it before the general meeting.   I think we'll keep that format for the foreseeable future.

Club president Joe Payne gave an overview of the upcoming Beth Ireland and Mark Sillay events.    Two of the midi lathes have now been upgraded to variable speed.  We'll let these units run for a few more months and then decide if the remaining Jet lathes will be upgraded.

A brief discussion was held on moving the club meeting night to the second week of the month to avoid conflicting with other nearby clubs.  No major objections were raised.  More discussion will take place before a decision is made.

The older Powermatic lathe has been repaired and no longer trips the breaker during spin down. Many thanks to John Gerald for taking care of that.

Club treasurer Dan Alvo presented a new plan to implement an ongoing Pens for Vets program within the club.  Costs will covered by local businesses willing to sponsor each 100-pen batch.  Dan has already secured our first sponsor and will soon line up another 100-pen batch.  Any club members interested in contributing pens should contact Dan Alvo to arrange pickup of pen kits and blanks.

Peter Cooper from Peke Safety Products gave an excellent 30-minute presentation on respirator safety.  Peter also demonstrated various respirator units available from his company.  A club discount is available, just ask any club officer.

November Open Shop Day

November 16th, 2019

The open shop day this month was cancelled due to a last-minute opportunity to host a pro turner demonstration by Mark Sillay.  Mark's specialty focuses more on technique rather than specific projects. 

The event was a big success.  Mark spent the entire day showing how to create projects that require little to no sanding.   We saw spindles, offset turning and even bowl turning that needed zero sanding.  It was truly amazing to see his techniques in action.  

Mark did a fantastic job presenting his topics, answering questions from members and offering a flexible presentation. 

Peter Cooper
Peke Safety Products

Peter gave an excellent 30-minute respirator safety and product demonstration.  Members got the chance to see and personally test various respirator safety products offered by Peter's company.

John Gerald
Plank Bowls

Club director John Gerald gave an excellent presentation on how to cut, assemble and turn plank bowls.  Plank bowls are made from regular wood lumber.  

John did a great job explaining how simple plank bowls really are to make.  John also brought in a few spectacular pieces from his own collection of plank bowl projects.

Instructions for John's plank bowls can be found in the Members Only section of our website or just click this link.  You must be logged into the club website to view the members-only content.

Renowned pro turner and wood artist Beth Ireland spent an entire day giving an outstanding demonstration for our special event this month.

Beth takes the usual woodturning pieces to a whole new level to create her original art found in galleries across the country.  As a career architectural woodturner, Beth has developed some amazing techniques combining both the bandsaw and lathe to produce beautiful works of art.

Members in attendance learned several important tips for proper bandsaw cutting, bandsaw boxes turned on the lathe, platter design and how to add a creative look to stand out in any gallery.

Slicing The Fibers

Here is an excellent video of Mark Sillay going over the basics of his wood-slicing techniques.  Mark covers several safety-related matters when it comes to woodturning.  It's a great video to learn proper technique that avoids dangerous catches.