Minutes of the May Meeting of the Westbay Woodturners on May 13th, 2008

The meeting, at the Hillsdale High School Woodshop, was opened at 7:16 by president Clarence Kellogg.  The two guests introduced were Pat Howes and Lee Tannenbaum.  They were duly welcomed.

            Under officers' reports, librarian Budd Trapp reported a new book on wood finishing.  Bob Tang has plenty of club shirts and hats for sale. Jim Laflin brought anchor seal at $15 a gallon, and Richard Winslow said that the Craft Supply order stands at present around $600. 

            The president's challenge this month was something gnarly.  Only two submissions were made, owing to the lateness of the announcement of the challenge perhaps.

 These included a covered box by Richard Winslow and a small tray from an oak knot by Budd Trapp. 

            Show and Tell items included a large tray of ash by Dave Vannier, which he brought to advocate people's not using walnut oil as a finish because it keeps dulling.  Dave also brought another of his segmented pieces, this one an openwork vase in ebony and mahogany.

            Bob Bley brought three large pieces he made out of paralam, a manmade construction material used in structural pieces and available for nothing as scrap from construction sites.

            Bill Johnson brought three small walnut hollow form bowls.  Bill also brought a new tool of his used for sanding the interiors of closed form turnings.

            When prizes were offered, Richard won the gift certificate and Budd some veneer sheets.  Under show and tell, Dave won the gift certificate, Bob Bley a cube of walnut and Bill Johnson a pen blank.

            Terry Gannon took some time to explain and discuss our new web site, which he designed and maintains, taking us through its structure, including galleries, links, instructional content, upcoming events, etc.  See his report in at the following link.  He has made for us a splendid site, rich in information and well illustrated by photographs.

            At the coffee break, Leroy supplied us with another tray of his scrumptious frosted brownies with walnuts in them.  Thanks to Leroy.

            After the break, Jon Sauer presented a really fascinating lecture on his work in ornamental turning. He began turning as a child.  In 1986 he acquired a Holtstaepfel lathe from England for a small fortune.  It was a 19th century machine (the company folded around 1900), and had a number of parts missing.  These he had to supply by his own efforts.  Before getting that lathe, he was turning spiral forms, doing the spirals by hand.  In 1988 he won the Haythornewaite Memorial Cup for an ornamental turning.

            In 1991 he acquired a rose engine.  This turning machine was invented in the 1700s and used to turn jewelry and other decorative items.  The lathe he bought was made in 1868.  He has made many decorative pieces, including twelve castles, mostly in ebony, which took him six months to complete.  Lately, he has been specializing in tops, including very fancy wall mounted tops, all with several different kinds of wood, and tops on their own stands.  All are, of course, ornamented.  He has won the Jowett Medal from the Society of Ornamental Turners.  He is now retired from forty-four years with the U. S. Postal Service, but seems to do less lathe work now than when he was working.

            The meeting adjourned at 9:20.  Next month's meeting needs a new meeting place since the school will be closed.  This will be posted on the web site.  Next month's president's challenge will be a turning involving some kind of ornamentation.

Respectfully submitted,

Paul O. Williams, Reporter