Turn, Turn, Turn....

We had a nice, intimate gathering in January - marking the start of our eighth year as Sin City Woodworkers. 

Yes, that's right - eight years of sharing great woodworking tips and techniques, as well as having some fun field trips to our woodshops around the city. 

Along with some general announcements, Eric took the floor with an offer to try out his Bad Axe Tools handsaw.  

He explained that they will take a 3D scan of your hand upload it in to a CAD program, to make a custom sized handle, if desired.

 His one bit of advice - when facing the choice or several different sizes - choose the smaller one! The balance and cutting action of this saw was amazing - it cuts remarkable straight and true.

Jamie mentioned that one of our member's daughter owns a lumber company in northern California, and has some of their live edge slabs on sale at the shop. Most are Claro Walnut, but several English Walnut are also available. These are terrific boards, and most sold in the first week or two. These boards are a great value and if anyone is interested, you can call the school and get more information. 

The woodcarvers were well represented, and Len brought some of his terrific chip carved boxes to share - like this sweet little shark carving, 

and this intricate box with what he calls "Gothic" inspired designs. 

It was beyond amazing, and the quality of these cuts were top notch.

 Len will be giving a demo at the Woodcarver's meeting next month - check out their Facebook page for more info about their group.  The Carvers’ Meeting is the fourth Saturday of the month from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.at Woodworkers Emporium, BTW.

The box featured some interesting embellishments and a clock movement,  

Leon brought in a lovely bowl he'd turned, with reclaimed wood from the side of the road. It's adorned with iridescent acrylic inks. He calls this his "cosmic" bowl, and the photo below barely shows its incredible depth of color.

Finally - on to the main event - Richard's demo on turning a keyring.  

He brought a nice array of examples, 

and explained that when Zac Higgins gave a demo on casting Alumilite a few years ago, Richard got the bug to start casting it, as well. 

Using these three Easy Wood lathe tools 

and an Easy Chuck, Richard guided us through the process, 

mounting and drilling out the blank,

and then gluing in the liner. 

He sanded them flush, 

and then mounted both on a mandrel, to begin turning them. 

It's delicate work, and it seems like Richard find his moment of Zen in it. 

Once he was satisfied with the shape, 

he sanded it up to 12,000 grit polishing paper - and viola! 

It was time to press on the ends...

 and stand back to admire these beauties. Thanks to Richard for a fun evening, his humor and easygoing nature made this a very enjoyable meeting!