NEXT MEETING: We have had a good year so it is parrrrty time! Good friends... good conversation... good food... exchange gifts... and, for certain, plans to be made for an even better next-year. Woodturner with spouse and family should bring a little extra food beyond their needs. Among your local contacts, try to bring a variety so that there will not be an abundance of any one type of food. Tables, chairs, paper plates and drinks will be provided. Everyone who brings a gift will be given a ticket. By random draw, each of these people will then select their return gift from those assembled on a table. The gift that you bring can be any item that you have turned. Hopefully, everyone can participate. There will not be a demonstration or wood raffle. Definitely an event not to be missed!

LAST MEETING: Terry Daniel described the requirements for "Turning Bowls without a Catch." For rough turning with a bowl gouge, two cutting positions were defined by the position of the tool handle: level and down. When the tool is cutting at the horizontal center line, or equator, of the bowl blank, a force is generated against the tool that can be felt by the operator. Normally, the operator feels only a small force that is easily controlled. If the tool rest is up and close to the bowl and if the handle is level, this force is in a direction close to the tangent to the bowl at the cutting point and is directed below the tool rest. When the tool encounters some added resistance, this force is increased and the tool tip is forced to either rotate down or dig deeper into the wood. The operator's grip on the handle will attempt to restrict any movement of the handle and the tip can only dig deeper into the wood. A catch is created! However, note that with a bevel of 45 degrees, or so, the bevel can be positioned to rub against the freshly cut surface by properly rotating the tool both about its axis and in the horizontal plane. This technique is described in detail, with pictures, in M. O'Donnell, "Turning Green Wood."
      In the second case, the tool rest is lowered and the handle is rotated down to maintain its tip at or above the equator of the bowl. The tool is now essentially at the "bevel rubbing" position. Again it is emphasized that even though for rough turning it may not be possible at the start to maintain the bevel against the bowl blank, this position has merit. The force against the tool is still tangential to the wood but now it is directed above the tool rest. When the cutting tip encounters resistance in this position, the added force against the tool will tend to drive the tool in a direction away from the wood. Catches are thus minimized. However, it may be difficult to attain these conditions and still cut at the equator. There is no rigid rule that requires that the cutting tip be placed at the equator. As long as the cutting tip maintains its contact with the wood at the tangent to the bowl as seen from the top of the tool rest, the proper cutting condition is maintained. Now, with the cutting position above the equator and the tool rest moved down, the reactive force on the tool can easily be directed above the tool rest. The shavings should flow down the flute of the gouge. As often stated, with the tool resting on the bowl well above the equator and with the handle too low to cut, raise the handle until cutting begins; the bevel should now be rubbing.
      The selection of the bowl gouge, its grind and its sharpness are important. For these roughing cuts, the gouge should have a deep fluted design with a front bevel of about 45 degrees. The objective is to keep the cutting edge of the gouge below the center plane of the gouge, so that there will be a minimal force to rotate the gouge. Otherwise the operator may not be able to hold the angle of the tool when additional forces are encountered.
      With the bowl blank mounted on a face-plate, Terry turned the outside of the bowl including his preferred recessed, or negative, spigot with dovetail edges.The wood is best cut by moving the tool from right-to-left which is the direction of the counter-clockwise motion of the bowl on the lathe. These cuts are with the grain or downhill. Cuts from left-to-right will be against the bowl motion and tear-out may occur. He defines two surfaces around the recessed spigot that gives a good appearance while providing sufficient thickness to prevent tearout. The bottom of the bowl was shaped by cutting from the inside toward the outer edge;
      With the bowl blank mounted in a chuck using the negative spigot, the inside cuts now are made from left-to-right. These cuts are with the grain and downhill.
      Terry defines three modes of cutting with a bowl gouge: scraping, shearing and slicing. Slicing is distinguished from shearing by the angle of the cutting edge to bowl and character of the shavings that are produced. If the cutting edge is at an angle as the tool is moved across the surface, the shavings will come off in the form of a cork-screw as opposed to a clock-spring shape that is obtained with his definition of a shearing cut.
      Keith Rueckert discussed "Methods for Holding Work in the Lathe," with emphasis on hollowed vessels mounted end grain. It is interesting to note that he uses no gouges; he turns exclusively with tools similar to those promoted by Lissi Olson. He first mounted the wood between centers and turned a positive spigot on the end at the tail stock. He emphasized that there should be a well defined flat surface at the base of the spigot that the jaws of the chuck mount against. Without a strong spigot and its flat base, the wood may move within the chuck. The work piece is then rotated and mounted in a four-jaw chuck using the tail stock as long as possible. For long end-grain objects, the outside shape is approximately set with support from the tail stock. To make the internal cuts, the tail stock is removed and the internal cuts are made with the same tools used to make the external cuts. After the vessel is roughly shaped, it is removed and allowed to dry by one of several methods. Weeks to perhaps months later, the vessel must be remounted on the lathe. However, the wood has now distorted as it has dried. It is probable that now even the spigot is not usable. The spigot is reshaped by mounting the vessel between centers using an appropriate jam-chuck mounted in the four-jaw chuck. He has created a variety of jam chucks that can support the various shapes that his vessels require. The center point in the spigot is retained to assist in remounting the distorted vessel. Except for the bottom, the vessel is sanded, finished and polished with the spigot attached; this allows the vessel to be returned repeatedly to the lathe. As the last step with the vessel mounted between centers using jam-chucks, the spigot is parted off.
      Phil Johnson described how he was able to smooth the inside of his 22x10 box elder vessel, shown at the right, by turning the vessel slowly with #5 gravel bouncing inside. For other problems he has used Rockford Water Putty for filling voids. Although not as strong as epoxy, this material can be dyed, stained, sanded and otherwise treated as if it were wood. Terry and Keith discussed several of their techniques for handling cracks and voids. Terry has used wet raw hide from Jack White. Care must be taken due to the forces that develop as the raw hide dries. Kite string, coated with paraffin or beeswax, and copper wire were similarly used. Keith also described his use of Wood Bleach from Hone Depot. He found that it works faster in the sun and that three coats will turn most wood paper white.

TREADLE LATHE: As a follow-on to the Harry Hunt demo on his treadle lathe, there is a book by Steve Schmeck, "Make your Own Treadle Lathe," 2005, 20p, available from "manytracks.com/lathe" in free download as lathe.exe or lathe.pdf and in CD or print for $6.00.

FUTURE EVENTS: Schedule of demonstrators. Jan 12, 2006, Lissi Oland; Feb 09, 2006, Ron Suter; Apr 13, 2006, Doug Barnes

YOUR NEWSLETTER: It is hoped that this newsletter can evolve into a sufficiently good representation of our group that we can use it to promote our club, to provide another source of information for improving our skills, to communicate with other woodturners, and, perhaps most important of all, to assist in the marketing of our product. Your suggestions for reaching these goals are desired. As one means to work toward these goals, this newsletter is distributed by email beyond our membership. With their request, any interested woodturner will be put on the mailing list. Additionally, their input to this newsletter is solicited. To be added or removed from the email list, contact Al Daniel.

TURNING INSTRUCTION:      Terry Daniel,      Howard Elrod,      Gary Gardner

FENDLEY'S FIAT: "Decisions terminate panic."

HERE'S HOW from Ron Suter: Knowing that retirement from my remodeling business was approaching, I was looking for something to do to keep my mind and hands busy. Two years ago, bowl turning grabbed me and has become a very rewarding pastime. It is a real joy to just let my imagination loose and watch what develops on the lathe. I do not believe that this would have happened in such a short time without the encouragement and sharing of the Apple Ridge Woodturners. I have never known a group of craftsman who are so willing to share knowledge and techniques with beginners. You have saved us beginners years of trial and error in our learning curve. What a tribute to your character. For those of you just getting started, WELCOME! You are at the right place, at the right time, and with a wonderful group of friends.