May 2006 | |
| Email Newsletter of The St. Tammany Woodworkers Guild | |
|
NEXT MEETING7p Tues May 23
Harland Johnson's
Shop Demonstration: Tony Saragusa, who showed us a number of beautiful pens at the March meeting, will demonstrate how he makes them. |
WELCOME BACK!
 Jim Sanguinetti, former Guild treasurer and frequent host and demonstrator, was a surprise attendee at the April meeting. Jim suffered a stroke last fall and has made remarkable recovery, to the point where he even participated in a recent turkey hunt in Texas. The hunt was unsuccessful, so the club presented him with a couple of miniature Wild Turkeys as consolation. |
Highlights of April Meeting
BUSINESS
Walter Babst presided over the meeting held at Dick Gahn's workshop April 25, 2006. Seventeen members and one former member, Windle Sholar, were present.
Babst began by welcoming back Jim Sanguinetti. Harland Johnson presented Jim with a ''welcome back" card that included two miniature bottles of Wild Turkey to make up for his lack of success in a Texas hunting trip.
Following a discussion of possible candidates for Vice President, Brian Rowan agreed to stand for election. With no further discussion, a motion from the floor to elect the proposed nominees by acclamation was passed. (Editors note -- the new officers met on May 8 to begin planning of the year's events and discuss initatives to publicize the Guild and encourage new membership. Expect a report at the next regular Guild meeting.)
There were no projects for show and tell.
Even for an experienced woodturner, the irregular shaped starting piece, and possibilities of flaws and eccentricities within the burl posed a significant challenge.
Gahn first drilled a one-inch hole about two inches deep in the center of what would eventually be ithe interior of the bowl, and mounted it on the lathe with a special pin chuck that has one flat spot where a slightly oversized metal pin is inserted so that when the workpiece is twisted, the metal pin jams the workpiece in place.
Gahn then roughed out the sides and bottom of the bowl with a deep fluted bowl gouge. He used the tailstock to keep the workpiece steady while the piece was still severely out of round.
Once the bowl had been turned to round, he removed the tailstock and smoothed the bottom of the bowl, leaving a lip that would be used later to hold the bowl in a multi-jaw chuck.
Next, he used a power drill with an 80 grit sanding wheel to smooth out the bowl bottom.
Finally, he disassembled the workpiece from the pin chuck, reversed it and mounted it in an adjustable four-jaw chuck and proceeded to gouge out the interior of the bowl and finish the piece.
The challenge of the burl had been faced and overcome. Thanks, Dick and Henry!
The Guild really appreciates the hard work that Dick and Julia put into this event, which has become an annual tradition.
| |
The Nominating Committee (Wayne Thompson, Chic Dausch, and Lloyd Guillot) proposed the following slate of officers to serve for the balance of 2006:
Joe Perret for President, Bob Christman for Treasurer, and Harland Johnson for Secretary.
Members were reminded of the upcoming Cochon de Lait, and a signup sheet was circulated to get a head count. Dick Gahn demonstrated a "race track" for belt sanders, and invited members to bring their sanders to the pig roast for a competition.
Henry Simon showed two Sitka spruce burls he brought as a challenge for
Dick Gahn's woodturning skill. One of the burls had been sandblasted smooth, while the other one still had bark on it. Gahn chose the one with bark and rough cut it to shape.
2006 Calendar of Events |
||
| DATE | HOST LOCATION | EVENT |
|---|---|---|
| January 31 | Dick Gahn | Regular meeting -- no demo -- discussion of future events |
| February 28 | No meeting | Mardi Gras |
| March 28 | Dick Gahn | Regular meeting - demo by Gahn of wood turning "from the inside out" |
| April 25 | Dick Gahn | Regular meeting - demo of workng with Sitka spruce burl |
| May 6 | Dick Gahn | Annual Cochon de Lait -- family event |
| May 23 | Harland Johnson | Regular meeting - demo by Tony Saragusa of pen turning |
| June 27 | Carroll Miller | Regular meeting - demo TBA |
| July 25 | Dick Gahn | Regular meeting - demo by Dick Gahn TBA |
| August 22 | Harland Johnson | Regular meeting - demo by Joe Perret TBA |
| September 26 | Gerald Gibson | Regular meeting - demo by Gerald Gibson TBA |
| October 21 and 22 | Madisonville | Wooden Boat Festival (setup 9a-11a Fri October 20) |
| October 24 | Dick Gahn | Regular meeting - demo TBA |
| November 28 | Harland Johnson | Regular meeting -- demo TBA; election of officers for 2007 |
| December 2 (tentative) | Tchefuncte Country Club | Christmas Banquet |
Buy/Sell/TradeWOOD AVAILABLEA large cherry tree is to be cut down behind Windle Sholar's house. Anyone interested in salvaging material from it is invited to call him at 985-705-9504. |
Guild ContactsPresident - Joe Perret - jmp2915@yahoo.comtVice President - Brian Rowan -briangrowan@yahoo.com Secretary - Harland Johnson - harlandj@gmail.com Treasurer - Bob Christman - bobxman@bellsouth.net |