Today I went to the third in a series of seminars co-produced by Lee Valley and the Nova Woodturner’s Association called Turning Green Wood with Stephen Zwerling.

This seminar offered information on turning green wood, harvesting the wood, moisture content, turning techniques and how to deal with shrinkage.

Continue reading 'Turning Green Wood With Zwerling'

This evening I went to a special presentation featuring the work of John Macnab.

John’s work consists of huge spiral pieces that remind one of unicorn horns or cornucopias. During this lecture, he discussed his work and showed a slide show demonstrating his technique and unique vision.

John has had to create his own tools to overcome the challenges of these pieces, some as large as 25 feet long!

Continue reading 'John Macnab Sculpture Artist'

Kicking off three days of woodturning seminars at Lee Valley, in conjunction with the Nova Woodturner’s Guild, was a seminar on Shear Cutting with Don Moore.

Originally from Montreal, Don Moore is a 25-year resident of Nova Scotia and has been turning wood since 1994. He has developed an innovative approach which has taken his one-of-a-kind sculptures into the art world. His work has won several provincial and national awards and his sculptures can be found in Germany, Japan, England, New Zealand, the United States, and across Canada. Don has served for six years on the standards committee of the Nova Scotia Designer Crafts Council where he is a juried member. He is also founding member and past vice-president of the Nova Scotia Woodturner’s Guild. He has designed, developed and produces various woodturning accessories and tools.

Don lives in a 100-year-old farmhouse on a 450-acre woodlot in the small country village of Upper Kennetcook, where he gives instruction in woodturning at his shop and works on his 450 acre woodlot.

Don discussed and demonstrated shear-scraping techniques while working on end grain. Tearout being the problem when turning endgrain. He also discussed finishes and how to get a quality finish on your piece.

Here are some tips gained:
Continue reading 'Shearing Seminar With Don Moore'

You should always saw with the widest blade possible for a particular cut. However, when cutting circles be aware that the width of the blade will determine the smallest radius that you will be able to cut. The smaller the blade width the smaller/tighter the radius.

Here is a list of different bandsaw blade widths and the minimum cut radius for each:

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