Clive once again finished his North American tour at his favourite stop – with the Nova Woodturners’ Guild at Busy Bee Tools! The ‘Sorby meeting’ has become sort of a fall tradition for us and those that have attended one in the past know that it is one of the most popular meetings of the season. It’s always a great time and tonight was no different.

Clive began with showing us the Patriot chuck and then moved through to the variety of Stebcenters available. He showed how they differed from the traditional centers that come equipped with our lathes, and its safety features. From here he showed us the Hollowmaster, how it worked as a combination spindle gouge and skew and the method for sharpening them. He turned and passed around an example of the smooth cut it can make on end grain, requiring little or no sanding when completed!
 
Continue reading 'The NWG And Sorby Tools Demo'

Alan spoke about the general concepts of shape and design and what we are looking to achieve as woodturners. Using both drawings and actual examples he showed us what works and what doesn’t, and why we find some pieces appealing and why we find some pieces that aren’t so appealing.

He spoke on ways to envision the desired shapes for turning by using a catenary curve, which is best described as the curve that a hanging chain assumes when it is held by its ends. He also gave an explanation of the Golden Mean, which is a “mathematical concept that expresses the relationship of two parts of a whole with each other and with the whole”.

Unfortunately there was not enough time for a thorough lecture and study on the immense subject of design, or even the Golden Mean, but Alan did cover a lot of the basics and gave us plenty of food for thought. The considerations and concepts that he raised are an integral part of creating visually appealing turnings and meant to be explored more.

Following Alan’s presentation Dianne introduced us to a new and exciting Guild project that is called “The Shape Challenge”. It is an opportunity for all of the Guild members to participate in turning an item that will challenge us on a specific design, in this case, a concave.

Continue reading 'Shape And Design At The NWG'

The meeting began with the reading of past meeting minutes and then went directly to business issues that included an update on our meeting location for next season. We will continue to meet here at the local Home Depot as the new Nova Scotia Community College is still under construction. A big round of thanks and appreciation was voiced for Home Depot for allowing us the opportunity to hold our meetings here.

The Financial Report was given and it was unanimously accepted to move it to the auditors for review. The member auditors reviewed it and approved it.

Candidates for the new Executive were presented by a member of the Nomination Committee and each Officer was unanimously voted in. Congrats to all!

The meeting also included a Show and Tell session. Here are some photos:

Continue reading 'The NWG Annual General Meeting'

Using an extensive Powerpoint presentation that included quite a number of slides on both information and examples, Glenn took us on an enjoyable journey through the process of getting the most of our photo taking efforts. He began with some basic rules then focused on lighting, camera settings, studio setup and backgrounds.

Glenn told us about three basic rules for better pictures which are to ask yourself ‘what is the subject?’ , then draw attention to your subject and then make sure that you keep it simple.

Too often the subject of your photo gets lost within other things in the photo so the object is to draw attention to your subject by moving in closer and simplify by removing any distractions. One technique for drawing attention to your object is by controlling the ‘depth of field’. The depth of field is the area of your photo that is in focus and with a shallow depth of field anything in the background is out of focus and less obtrusive. Here’s an example:

This photo is without the depth of field:

Continue reading 'Great Photography Tips At The NWG'

What is always amazing is that there is always such a wide variety of finished pieces – there are never two pieces alike! Sure, you’re saying that everyone is different but the thing is that we all start with the same type and sized piece of wood. Pretty incredible, I’d say!

The rules for this yearly event are quite simple – to have fun and turn anything of your choice using the block of wood (you can even use additional wood to accentuate your piece) . Did I mention to have fun? Yes, it’s all about the fun.

And fun it is. From the time we get the block of wood and place it in our shop it sits there, beckoning us (threatening us? ), demanding from our every waking moment the question – “What will I turn this block into?”. Then we wait for it to speak to us… we wait… and wait… and wait… Then, if the lathe gods are smiling and the wind is blowing just right, at the very last minute it does speak to us and it’s a mad scramble to get our pieces finished on time (sometimes the finish is even still wet when it’s brought in! ). Ah, finally, it’s done, woodturning bliss. Oh, there are some that the wood speaks to immediately but do they really get to enjoy the anguish and turmoil that this block of wooden fun brings? LOL!

Seriously, the Fun Turn is a great opportunity to try something different, perhaps even turn something that you wouldn’t normally turn. This, of course, can take your skills to another level.The biggest enjoyment I get is just by participating in the camaraderie of this event. Yep, it really is a lot of fun. It really is.

I believe that we all outdid ourselves again this year. Here, see for yourself:

Continue reading 'Nova Woodturners Annual Fun Turn'

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:

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There were almost fifty pieces entered by twenty different entrants with styles that ranged from furniture to sculpture and from small to large. It was an excellent representation of the club’s diversity and skill levels.

The most sought after prize, The People’s Choice Award, was won again this year by Don Moore for his Cherry Burl vase with the burned edges.

On winning, Don related the story of how this piece of wood was painstakingly turned. Apparently it had been in a fire and it was quite charred when he got it. This, as you can imagine, created quite the mess while turning. However, like a Phoenix it rose from the ashes to become this beautiful piece here:

Continue reading 'NWG Woodturning Competition 2010'

David Wilkins presented an excellent tutorial on the extensive variety of chucking options available to today’s woodturner.

He spoke at length on the four prong spur drive, the two prong center, the Stebcenter, faceplates, faceplate rings, a variety of chuck jaws, worm screws, the Beall spindle tap, live center systems, vacuum systems and chuck keys. Examples of all these items were on hand with some being passed around for closer inspection.

During his talk on the subject of chuck jaws the use of the available whiteboard allowed him to better explain the importance of cutting a dovetailed tenon:

Continue reading 'The NWG Checks Out Chucking Options'

We were fortunate to have John Macnab speaking on the competition preparation, form and artist’s intent.

John recently won this year’s Lieutenant Governor’s Master Arts Award for his piece entitled CSDC 3-8 (Compound Spiral Double Cone No. 3, 8 Sided). This sculpture is a 25-foot long spiral sculpture turned from red spruce. It is best described as, “Suspended horizontally, it presents a floating form of lyrical grace and simplicity that belies the complexity of its production and its remarkable cross-disciplinary origins.”

John is a self-taught woodturner and machinist and his beautiful turned sculptures have been shown in galleries across North America. Combining his woodturning background and his engineering skills he invented a 20-foot vertical lathe that enables him to turn large spiral sculptures. Here’s a photo of John at work at the lathe in his studio:

Continue reading 'NWG – On Competition Preparation'

The meeting opened with an acknowledgement and a big round of applause for Rona, ‘The Canadian How-To People’ for opening their doors to us and allowing us to hold our future meetings here. This was followed by a short business session that included a club financial report and club website update.

From there, Don Moore took the floor and gave us a great review of the marketing options available to us. He interspersed his presentation with hints, tips and information gained through his own experience as a professional seller of art and craft.

Don spoke about many of the different avenues to sell our wares including craft shows, galleries, auctions, agents, collectors and cooperatives. Another very viable option that he mentioned was networking through associations. With each of these options he included an overview of the things to look for. For example, when checking out a craft show look at the floor layout, the displays, your competition, talk to the vendors and even the customers. Then ask yourself, “Is the floor layout conducive to maximum sales?”, “Are the displays of the quality and/or type that you are seeking?”, “Is there a lot of competition?”, Is there no competition?”, “Are the vendors happy with the results?”, “Are the customers enjoying the shopping experience?” “Do you want your products displayed here?”

Continue reading 'NWG – Marketing And Pricing Our Wares'