A woodturning inspirational treat is offered this month. If your memory goes back far enough, you will remember the "double your pleasure" gum ads that always involved twins. Well, twins, we will not have. However, we do have two long-term friends that are sure to double your pleasure and probably more than double your inspiration from this extended demonstration. This is an event that should not be missed! List your questions and prepare to move on to better turnings.

     Alan Leland will present the proper techniques to turn an ornament, including a few tricks for saving or turning globes from wood that normally might be sent to the firewood pile after a nasty creative opportunity has occurred. For more photos of Alan's work go to his web site at //alanleland.com. A picture of his studio was too much to let it quietly slip by unnoticed. Without doubt, all of us would be better turners if we could ····
     Alan serves as vice president of the Woodturners Guild of NC. He has been a demonstrator at numerous state and national meetings, including The AAW Annual Symposium. He has also published an article in American Woodturner Magazine. A true woodturning aficionado, Alan has studied with internationally known turners such as Allan Batty, Bill Jones, Stuart Batty, George Hatfield, Soren Berger, Trent Bosch, Myron Curtis, Roger Jacobs, Stoney Lamar, Mike Mahoney, and Gary Sanders. He, in turn, has shared his knowledge and skills by teaching at John C. Campbell Folk School, the NC State University Craft Center, Klingspor's Woodworking Shop, Woodcraft and at Chimney Stack Craft School in Chapel Hill, NC.
     Owner of Leland Studios, Alan likes working with clients to develop custom designs especially suited to their needs. He also enjoys collecting and working with many different woods. He says that he could spend a life time doing woodturning and still not explore all the ideas that fill his creative vision. Alan is best known for his teaching of turning skills and his endless patience and encouragement. He is also known for his well proportioned turnings that emphasize the delicate side of spindle turning. His ornaments and stools, with examples shown in the photos, attract a great deal of attention and complements. His emphasis on letting the wood stand out can be seen in the way he blends the grain of the boards he uses in his faceplate turnings.
     Alan's work can be seen in his studio or at the NC History Museum Gallery, the NC Craft Gallery and in East Wake Hardwoods Gallery. Alan has shown his work in the NC State University Craft Centers Instructors Show, the 40th Anniversary Silent Auction and the Guild show at the NC State University Craft Center Gallery. His work has also been shown at the NC Natural Science Museum Gallery Woodturning show in Raleigh, NC. He has also displayed an assortment of his work at the John C. Campbell Folk School Gallery and in their Annual fund raising auction.
     He was born in Bradenton, FL, but grew up in New Canaan, CT. After high school he attended East Carolina University where in 1974 he received a BS in Corrections and a minor in Community Corrections. With the recession of 1974-1975 in full effect, he took what was intended to be a temporary carpenter position with This End Up Furniture Company in Raleigh, NC. This temporary position lasted 19 years making crate-style furniture and helping to create the history and mystique of This End Up.
     Along the way he became interested in joinery and finely crafted furniture mainly out of embarrassment. When he would tell people that he worked for This End Up Furniture Company, they thought it was absolutely wonderful that he knew how to build furniture! To take advantage of the wealth of experience in the area he joined the local woodworking clubs. During his stint as vice president of The Triangle Woodturners of North Carolina, he developed a passionate and at times distracting interest in woodturning. Shortly thereafter he joined the AAW and the Furniture Society. He has attended many of the national symposiums of both organizations and attended the "Working in Wood in The Eighteenth Century" seminar in Williamsburg, VA. He recently attended the Utah Woodturning Symposium and a week-long workshop with Allan Batty and Bill Jones.
     In 1995 This End Up Furniture moved its base of operations out of the area and laid off most of their local workers. Rather than look for another job, Alan started my own business. Sliding Dovetail Woodworks was born in January, 1996 to focus on building custom furniture and woodturning. At that time, he turned anything that had a practical use. He wanted to differentiate himself from the area turners who created bowls, hollow forms, and various other artistic forms of woodturning. He has since branched out into architectural turning as there are few turners interested in turning balusters and other spindle work used in the construction trades. Sliding Dovetail Woodworks is now Leland Studios, and his focus has shifted towards teaching classes and sharing the knowledge gained over the years.

     Frank Penta will be demonstrating how to turn and detail a multi-axis platter base, a photo of one is shown to the right. Additionally, Frank has provided a 7-page description, "Turning and Detailing Platter Bases," of this procedure which will be available at the meeting and on the appleridgewoodturners.org web site. Other related materal can be found on Frank's web site frankpenta.com. Two photos were copied from Frank's web site and shown below. The painted platter and the lazy Susan exhibit the detail typical of his work. The rear of the lazy Susan is shown since this side has the greater detail.
     Frank says that he uses very simple, homemade, and inexpensive tools to do all the surface treatments on his platters. He will demonstrate the tools he uses and will be glad to show how they are made. All his students make the detailing tools he uses. The tool steel cost $3.50 for the 1/4" round tools, $8.50 for the 1/4" square tools and $11.00 for the 3/8" square tools. A 16 penny nail is used for texturing. The Sorby texturing wheel is the only purchased tool used for detailing. His small hollowing tools for making Christmas ornaments cost about $1.00 each. Old guitar strings are good to burn in lines and nickel chromium wire makes pyrography tools.
     Frank is currently President of the Woodturners Guild of North Carolina and has been involved in woodworking throughout his life. He began to focus specifically on woodturning in 1997. His work integrates function and aesthetics with fine detailing and finishing to enhance the natural beauty of the wood. Frank's one-of-a-kind designs are exhibited in private collections and sold through museums and galleries.
     He has been a demonstrator at numerous woodturning clubs and symposia and has conducted workshops in a variety of settings including John C. Campbell Folk School. He has also authored an article and had his work featured in American Woodturner magazine and co-authored Woodturning Tools, Techniques, and Projects with Alan Leland.
     Frank's professional experience in education is reflected in his teaching ability and the high quality of his woodturning classes, demonstrations, and instructional handouts.

     Directions: From GA-515 in Ellijay, go east on GA-52 for 4.6 miles; turn left onto Big Creek Road between Sellers Apple House on the left and Woodring Apple House on the right; and go north for 8.2 miles to the Big Creek Fire Station.
     The distance from Dahlonega to Big Creek Road on GA-52 is about 30 miles. About 5 miles from Dahlonega, watch for a right turn on GA-52 at the intersection with GA-9. Continue past Amicalola Falls and then past the intersection with GA-183.

     Materials Needed: Question list, note pad, pen, camera and good memory.