The feature of this month’s meeting of the Nova Woodturners Guild was a presentation by Zalman Amit. Zalman is a local woodturner, a member of the Nova Scotia Designer Crafts Council and was one of the judges for our woodturning competition last month.

Zalman took us on a tour through three different finishing approaches that he uses on his beautiful wood turnings. These included piercing, branding and inlaying.

Beginning with an extensive overview of his piercing technique he went through the steps for achieving the best results. He explained the need for thin walled vessels, the best woods to use and vessel preparation. He also compared the pros and cons of different piercing tools, which he brought in. These included a Dremel, a Foredom and a high speed air driven handpiece. The speeds differed with these tools from about 30,000 rpms to over 300,000 rpms! The higher speed offers more control, are faster and there’s little or no burning. Here are a couple of photos of piercing that he did using the air driven tool:

Continue reading 'Piercing, Branding & Inlay At The NWG'

Here’s the latest collection of woodworking tips and tricks:

1. To stop raised panel doors from rattling place a couple of dabs of silicon caulk in the grooves of the rail and stiles and allow it to dry prior to door assembly. The caulk will cushion the panel.

2. If you are concerned about the red or blue stains left by a chalk line try using baby powder or talcum powder instead. It leaves a bright white line and easily washes off.

3. Try using a rotary cutter, like the ones sold in fabric stores, to cut veneer. They cut straight and clean with or across the grain.

4. If you still have some of those older tool batteries that you shouldn’t overcharge get a home security timer like the ones that turn your lights on and off when you are away. Set the timer for the amount of time to charge your battery, plug it in and go. No more overcharge.

5. If you are having trouble inserting dowels in a hole it’s likely because air or glue is preventing it from sliding in easily. You can cut a slit in the side of the dowel to allow the air or glue to escape.

These are just a few tips that I picked up lately. They come from a variety of sources including books, magazines, newsletters, online and personal experience.

There are more Woodworking Tips and Tidbits located here.

Got a woodworking tip that you want to share? Let me know and I’ll add it in a future issue of Tips and Tidbits!

Back to the shop…

Now here is an interesting item. It’s a small vase made of Ash that has a flute made of Pauduk. It is about 5 inches tall, 3 1/2 inches in diameter at its widest and an 1 1/2 inches at its base. The Pauduk flute is 1 1/2″ tall.

The interesting thing about this project is that it may look a bit familiar. I originally made the flute for another project but when the size ended up being incorrect I thought I’d save it for another project. As I was trying it on other pieces I have around my home, just to get some ideas for future projects, I tried it on a small Ash form that I made last fall and it fit perfect! I couldn’t have planned it any better, if I tried. Really.

Here’s a few more photos:

Continue reading 'Ash Hollow Form With Pauduk Flute'

This month’s meeting of the Atlantic Woodworkers Association was our Annual General Meeting. In addition, we also had a report on our nesting box project, a Show and Tell, a Q & A session and a draw for a set of Sorby woodturning tools!

The meeting got off to a quick start with reviews of the year-end and financial reports. This was followed by the executive nominations and approvals. Finally, the proposed changes to our By-laws were voted on and accepted.

The AGM portion of the meeting only took about a half hour (gotta like it! ) which allowed lots of time for other things including Show and Tell which there were several pieces brought in for.

Here’s a turned bowl that was made out a 3/4″ thick piece of wood. Circles were scroll sawed on an angled, refitted, glued and then turned:

Continue reading 'The AWA Annual General Meeting'