WE HAD 38 members turn out Jan.16 for the first meeting of the New Year—off to a good start. President Ken D’Ambrosio couldn’t make it (he will be docked in pay) so Vice President Jeff Mee took the helm. Among the announcements was that the members should start thinking ahead to summer when the Meeting Street School Auction will need donated turnings.

Secretary Rudi Hempe reminded the group that the club has committed to bring the steam engine to a men’s club in Worcester for a show and tell on May 28. Three members are needed for the trip.

Ernie Grimes also mentioned that on May 10 the 4^th New England Woodturning Symposium will be held in Derry, N.H. The registration fee is only $40 and the number of participants is limited. Rudi said he went to one in Worcester a few years ago and the experience was well worth it. Many big-name turners are coming. Information will be supplied at the next meeting. Many Ocean Woodturners may have already received a notice in the mail.

A surprise announcement was made by Bob Iuliano who pointed out he was wearing his latest woodturning—a wooden wedding band. He then introduced his new bride, Jenny . Congratulations Bob & Jenny!

Greg Drew, always creative, announced he was taking down a catalpa tree and is saving a crotch for a special turning challenge. He said he will bring in some wood next meeting and suggested that everyone who takes a piece home, make something and then return it for a competition. The pieces will be numbered and then the club members will critique the works.

George Nazareth donated some blocks of maple which he suggested be raffled off at the end of the meeting.

PROGRAM: Mike Murray was our featured demonstrator and he showed his method of making a segmented bowl. Because of an injury to his hand, Greg Drew did the actual turning. More and more members, it seems, are following in George Nazareth’s footsteps by getting into segmented bowls.

SHOW & TELL: Among the show & tell items were a platter made up of glued sections of maple and finished with peanut oil (Murray); a cherry bowl and a lazy susan of cherry and maple (Dunklee); a platter made of Norway maple (Drew) and a milk can made of cedar (Mee).

TWINNING PROJECT: As members have heard in previous newsletters, the Hampshire Woodturners Association in England wishes to enter into a twinning project with us. The British are anxious to get going and so an e-mail appeal was put out to the membership asking for someone to volunteer to coordinate the thing on this side of the Pond. George Nazareth and Howard Smith both answered the call. The next step is to gather brief resumes of members who wish to be involved and the British will do likewise. We then will match people with a woodturner in England. You can exchange e-mails, photos, etc., and of course some woodturning suggestions. At the end of this newsletter you will see a fill-in-the-blank form. Please fill it out and bring it to the Feb. 20 meeting or mail it to George at 22 High Ridge Drive, Cumberland, RI 02864. Such a project can create new friends and perhaps even foster exchange visits. So go ahead-fill out the form. Make a friend in England (we don’t have too many elsewhere, it seems).

Larry Dunklee has found out that Klingspor’s Woodworking Shop, which sells a lot of woodworking materials especially sanding gear, has a guild program whereby it gives discounts to member clubs. If Ocean Woodturners joins, Klingspor will: give members a 10 percent discount on all non-powered merchandise in its catalog, provide catalogs, give donations for raffles, provide articles for the newsletter and provide advice on sanding applications and problems. There are 8 clubs in the program to date, none in New England. All we have to do is provide the firm with our membership list including addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses. They say they do not distribute this information. This matter should be discussed at the Feb. 20 meeting.

We received word from Dave Reel, a member of the Capital Area Woodturners chapter in Virginia that low-cost rechargeable battery packs for the popular 3MPower Visor are available through him for $25 instead of $60 usually charged. He claims his packs will go for 10 hours on a charge instead of 4 for the 3M packs. If you are interested link up with www.members.cox.net/dreel.

As some of the members know, Betsey Thompson, a URI Master Gardener who lives not far from Woodcraft, has been donating wood to club members from her property as she clears some trees. Recently some cherry trees were felled and Jeff will probably bring some of that to the next meeting. In return Bill Smith has made some turnings as gifts to Betsey and she is so thrilled she wrote the following letter:

I want to thank each of you who created the goodies Jeff brought by this weekend. To me these are real treasures. Each piece reveals the beauty of a tree, the bark, insect invasions, growth spurts, injuries, among other things. It’s fascinating to see the finished results with different species of wood.

There are more trees here that can be used for woodworking projects and you are welcome to them. Andy and I would rather see them turned into future pieces of art than firewood. Trees will always continue to grow where they shouldn’t but perhaps that’s an asset.

Thank you again and keep ‘turning’ for pleasure.

Sincerely,
Betsey and Andy Thompson

 This page was last updated on 08/30/04.
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