Ann's a little off-center and we love it!

We had an intimate gathering of woodworkers for our April meeting - with some new faces joining us, which is always a treat! 

After our usual introductions and some business chit-chat, we settled into out show and tell, which featured Beth Wheeler's spoons, these were both turned on the lathe AND hand carved. She also brought one of the stools that we worked on from last month's meeting, finished and looking gorgeous. 

Mike Shore shared some of his turned pieces, explaining that he's been away from the lathe for a while with some health issues, but that it's great to be back working with wood. 

 Heather Worthen brought this terrific wood burned slab, and bragged a bit about her hubby Billy - whose Lego Tie is going to be featured in a Legoland commercial.

She also shared that their work - a 3-D butterfly puzzle received a nice mention in Scrollsaw Woodworking and Crafts Magazine.  Congrats to both of them for building a terrific presence in the world of wood! 

Even from Arizona, John Eugster managed to share some of his latest work - this intricate frame that he not only built, carved AND applied the gold leaf. All we had was a picture of it, but it sure was gorgeous. It's one of the last of six frames that are headed to a show in South Carolina, featuring his wife Diane's paintings. We wish them both a ton of luck!

  And finally - our guest presenter and one of our original members - Ann Casey.  Ann has dabbled in a lot of various art forms  - from marquetry and furniture making to marble carving, but it's safe to say she's found her sweet spot in turning wood. She's been at it for a few years - after taking her first serious lesson in late 2011.  Ann has dabbled with faceplate work -  bowls and platters, to spindle work.  

She constantly challenges herself with new and difficult methods and techniques, and for our meeting - she bravely attempted off center turning, which - when done on both sides of a lid, produces a lovely lace-like effect. 

Armed with her tools and a variety of experiments, she explained that the choice of wood - 

its dryness, weight and density all play a part in the success of this undertaking. 

Here is partially turned lid - you can see the on center cuts on the bottom, and the off center cut on the top. 

Accuracy in finding the center, and marking the off-center distance for re-chucking the lathe are important for success.

Because the wood is spinning off center, she explained that the weight is critical - too heavy a piece and the lathe can vibrate right across the floor.

 Her long handled Mike Jackofsky gouge gets braces tightly against her body, to steady the tool against all the vibration.

 She uses both a skew chisel and a parting tool to round over each groove that she's cut into the lid. Finding the optimum death for each groove is painstaking work, and going just a bit too deep can destroy the lid. Here's she's working on the top of the top, but later will re-mount the lid to work on the underside. 

 This isn't for the faint of heart - there are so many things that can go wrong when turning off center, and cutting wood away from both sides of the lid is an even more harrowing undertaking. She brought in these Sand-its, which help a great deal when getting into tight spots. 

And as she got closer to finishing the lid....

 BAM!

Oh well! We learned a great deal about her process and got a glimpse into her creative journey. A wise man once said - Each an every effort has value in the end. Even in disappointment, the worth and beauty are often found within the dance of doing. 

Our group's success is due to members like Ann, who give freely of their time and expertise, sharing their successes and the lessons they learn along the way. We certainly enjoyed Ann's efforts! 

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And last but not least - a special thanks to Lupe for everything photo related - taking our photos, making and editing videos, and uploading everything to Dropbox - her efforts are SO appreciated!

Enjoy this video!

If you weren't at this meeting, you missed a GREAT time!

Congratulations to all of us - we just celebrated our 7th year sharing great woodworking techniques and a love of all things wood related. We even started our yearly dues collection, and already have some new members! 

But - better yet, we enjoyed one of the best meetings in recent memory! Leave it to Beth Wheeler to host one of the most enjoyable, hands-on meetings of the year!

This month's SCWW meeting found us all pitching in to make not one, but TWO fabulous Windsor stools, thanks to Beth's preparation and array of tools she brought to share. 

We had a nice turnout - the weather has turned glorious, and there was a buzz in the air. 

Beth's stool, inspired by this Michale Dunbar article in Popular Woodworking Magazine, 

arrived in parts and pieces, and she explained her philosophy of stool making - everything from hand tool work using travishers, scorps and tenon rounders. 

Although Beth started some shaping on the seat during its glue-up phase, various members refined the shape with travisher work. She carefully drew the scoop outline, and we had a blast shaping it! 

She's a whiz with a drawknife!

But first - a bit of history about the stool - Windsor stools feature dramatic splays on the legs, and painted components, which force us to focus on the form of the chair. Because the chairs are usually hand worked, the seats are commonly made of softwoods, so they can be shaped easily. The legs are made from hardwoods for durability. 

Christine and John had some fun with the torch, charring the legs. 

After the legs  were finished, they were wire brushed to remove the soft charred tissue, revealing the harder rays of wood, which gives the legs texture and beauty. A final application of wax finished these off nicely, so they could be fitted into the leg holes. Rick  (with an assist from Aaron) tried his hand at the 7/8" rounder

which is a terrific tool for making perfect tenons. 

While some were working on the seat scooping and the leg charring, Beth headed to the drill press to drill the angled holes, and showed us a brilliant solution for accuracy. 

This simple angle vise (and her plywood jig) allowed her to set the leg angle, and then drill for the perfect splay of the legs.  

How perfect is that!? 

Using that same angled vise setup, Beth discussed stretcher holes in her larger stools, explaining that she often attaches the three stretchers into their H-shape, and then assembles them into the leg holes. (The smaller stools we were working on didn't have stretchers.) 

One constant frustration is leg leveling, and she showed us a favorite jig for handsawing the legs to their final height. 

Better yet - she gave us a mind blowing tip! Installing a hand plane in a vise, level with the tabletop allows you to carefully level an uneven stool leg with the other legs, by running the leg over the plane, thus carefully taking off small amount of wood. 

Randy's (and my!) mind was blown!

Finally, we were getting close to completion, and Beth shared some down and dirty tips for wedging her tenons. No more sawing, she just puts the leg tenon into the hole, which keeps the leg from splitting, and whacks it with a chisel to create the wedge slot. 

This wedge had to be touched up a bit, so it would fit into the angled hole.

Once the leg was slotted, she applied some hide glue, and installed each leg. 

And BAM!  A whack with the hammer to seat the wedges and we were in business!

Just like that, we had two stools! 

Of course, there was a bit of work left - the legs needed to be trimmed, and we made quick work of that with Beth's Lee Valley flush cut saw.

Almost everyone took a turn with the saw, remarking about its smooth cut with no perimeter scratching. 

What a terrific group project! Thanks to Beth for really upping her game on this presentation, and to all the members who contributed to make this one terrific group effort! 

We have some fabulous meetings planned for later this year, including a Malloof rocking chair and more hand tool demos - stay tuned!