North Carolina WOODTURNER Journal of the North Carolina Woodturners Association

A Chapter of the American Association of Woodturners

Volume 9, Number 6 June, 1999

Turned Hat By Otto Gotzsche, Greensboro, NC

2 June, 1999

The President’s Message By Edgar Ingram

NORTH CAROLINA WOODTURNER Journal of the North Carolina Woodturners Association

Published Monthly by the

NORTH CAROLINA WOODTURNERS ASSOCIATION, INC Route 7, Box 137, Hendersonville, NC 28791

Editor: Bonner Guilford

1371 Perth Road, Troutman, NC 28166 (704) 332-2149 bguil@bellsouth.net

Contributing Editor: Mark Sakatos

OFFICERS

President: Edgar Ingram, Statesville (704) 876-4576 Vice President: Dean Amos, Sandy Ridge (336) 871-2916 Treasurer: George Wunker, Winston Salem (336) 768-9855 Secretary: Mary Bachand, Hendersonville (828) 890-4451 Programs: Dick Nielsen, Gastonia (704) 864-1742

BOARD OF DIRECTORS John Winslett, Tryon (Term exp. 1999) (828) 859-9863 Lee Holt, Swannanoa (Term exp. 1999) (828) 298-3403 Roy Fisher, Graham (Term exp. 1999) (828) 222-1714 Bill Young, Asheville (Term exp. 2000) (828) 254-0283 Jesse Wilkinson, Conover (Term exp. 2000) (828) 464-8519 Gary Johnson, Statesville (Term exp. 2000) (704) 873-4280 Craig Summerville, Charlotte (Term exp. 2001) (704) 847-2383 J.T. Barker, Hudson (Term exp. 2001) (828) 728-9406 Clyde Hall, High Point (Term exp. 2001) (336) 883-4474

PAST PRESIDENT Jack Stewart, Charlotte (704) 553-1819

Is it June already? It seems that when you are having fun, time speeds up and just flies by. For woodturn-ers, having fun is putting the tool to a piece of wood on the lathe and creating a thing of beauty. The piece may be a simple candle holder or an elaborate vase, in either case displaying the wood grain, worthy of satisfaction and pride. Dick Nielsen has done himself and us proud with the programs that he has arranged this year. I believe there is much to be gained from these out-standing turners, not the least of which is the chal-lenge to try something we have never tried before and in the process expand our abilities as turners. Come to think of it, it is difficult to learn from some-one who does not know anymore than we do about a particular subject. We may not be ready to create pieces like Frank Sudol or Stoney Lamar, but there is much that we can learn from them to take us to a new level of turning. I will miss the June meeting as I plan to at-tend the AAW Symposium in Tacoma and visit the Pacific Northwest. Perhaps I can have a brief report on the Symposium next month. While we are on the subject of symposiums, do not forget our own mini symposium November 6-7 in Statesville. It is not too early to plan now to attend. It promises to be an op-portunity to learn from many very good turners. I do not want to sound like a broken record, but I did promise back in January to keep urging eve-ryone to bring something for the gallery. It would really make my day to have 100% participation in the gallery. We can add more tables if it becomes neces-sary. Any piece, no matter how basic is worthy of pride and sharing. Good turning and I’ll see you in July. Oh, don’t forget, bring something for the gallery.

e.i. Footed Vessel By Erskine Moore

Please welcome our new mem-bers: Ric Erkes, Davidson, NC; Jim Hindman, Spartanburg, SC; Fred Stockhausen, Miami, Fla; Lenard Sullivan, Hudson, NC;

Anatoly Tsiris, Charlotte, NC. Please make everyone wel-come and help them get adjusted and familiar with club benefits.

A special thank you to John Winslett for the beautiful new cabinet that he made for our many videos. I was so excited to be able to move into it

that Harold Lineberger gave me a helping hand so that the move could be made more quickly. Now it is much easier to see what we have in our library.

Then Dick Nielsen kindly gave copies of the 3 vid-eos from the AAW Symposium in Akron, OH last year . This isn't the first time that Dick has shared with the library.

The library will not be open at the June meet-ing. Ken and I will be enjoying an "invasion" of children and grandchildren. Unfortunately that is the only weekend

Member News By Mary Bachand

Library Notes By Mary Bachand

3 June, 1999

that they can all come to the mountains. Please keep your rentals until July--rent free. If you prefer, you can mail them to me. I am sorry for this inconvenience, but I think my attendance record has been pretty faithful through the years. See you in July.

Our program for June is presented by our good friends at The Woodworking Shop. The subject will be everything you ever wanted to know about sandpaper, from creation through all of the various types and their specific uses. This should be useful to anyone who works with wood or other materials. Come learn from the experts.

June 12, 1999 1:00pm All about Sandpaper Klingspor July 10, 1999 1:00pm Turned Craft Items Trent Bell August 14, 1999 1:00pm Making an Hourglass Dean Amos September 11, 1999 1:00pm Multiple Axis Turning Talmadge Murphy

The gallery never fails to amaze me. Month after month, there is always beautiful work that is inspiring, to say the least. The May gallery was no exception, with 25 pieces turned by 13 members who were as follows: Grant McRorie, Otto Gotzsche, Fred Stockhausen, Don Jafvert, Edgar Ingram, Don Olsen, Cliff Reynolds, Clyde Hall, Grady Butler, Bill Young,

Dean Amos, J.T. Barker and Pat Campbell. Really good job folks.

May Challenge. The challenge for May was to turn an object that is not symmetrical. The honors went to Grady Butler with a briar root creation. A gift certificate will be given to Grady at the June meeting. June Challenge. For the challenge this month, let’s try to create a turning with an uncon-

ventional shape. In other words, not the usual urn or bowl form, but something with a variation in axis, outline or otherwise. Materials are of your choice and obviously influence the outcome. July Challenge. So how is your skill at turning two or more objects that look alike? It doesn’t sound hard, but it is. An example is salt and pepper shakers, or maybe candlesticks, or two or more of anything you want to turn. Our international judges will be spitting hairs on this one. Best twins win.

Thanks to everyone for their continued support of the raffle. Thanks also to the following generous contributors to our club’s success: Terrell Kanipe, Edgar Ingram, The Woodworking Shop, Scott Ollis, Harold Lineberger, Alan Holler and Ken Phillips. Keep the feedback com-ing.

Delta 16” Top Turn lathe, 40” between centers, 1.5 h.p. with 3” and 6” faceplates, tool rests, centers and accessories. Five speeds, indexing system and hand wheel. $2400. Contact Jamie Timms, 201 McArthur Street, Easley, SC 29642 or (864)859-1792.

Michael Lee returns to North Carolina on June 26, 10:00a.m. to 4:00p.m., at the Brasstown Community Center (near John C. Campbell Folk School). Fee is $20 ($25 per couple) which includes lunch. Please contact Bob Fisher (828)255-0099 or Joan Watkins (828)644-

5280 or email jwatkins@dnet.net by June 13.

The NCWA Board of Directors will meet at 10:00am, before the demonstration.

Coming Events By Dick Nielsen

Gallery Notes By Dean Amos

Challenge Project By Dean Amos

Raffle Report By J.T. Barker

For Sale

Demonstration

Announcements

Remember, our meetings are always at 1:00 on the second Saturday of the month at the Woodworking Shop in Hickory unless otherwise noted in the journal.

4 June, 1999

Crotch Sculptures STONEY LAMAR

Somebody pinch me because I must be dreaming. Or perhaps I simply died and

have gone to “Woodturner’s Heaven.” I’m not certain which it is but I love every minute of it. All day demos by Frank Sudol in March and Keith Rowley in April. In May, a third all day meeting of the N.C. Woodturners includ-ing lunch, our member gallery, a raffle, and yet another exciting and informative presentation? What could we pos-sibly have left to look forward to? Well those members that attended this May meeting were treated to a special view into the mind and spirit of one of today’s most creative and inspirational woodturners, Stoney Lamar. Please permit me to share some of his insights and observations.

Stoney, another of North Carolina’s talented resident artisans, calls Saluda, NC his home. It is there that he produces – correction - creates upwards of 30-45 turned sculptures per year. His work is on display at the Wood-turning Center in Philadelphia, the Renwick Museum in Washington and at the Museum of Craft and Design in Charlotte. His piece “Torso” appears in the current (No. 73, June 1999, p.87) issue of American Woodworker, the gallery section featuring “Multi-axis Turnings”. Also, the American Craft Gallery of the National Museum of Art, which is currently producing a video representing contemporary woodturners, potters and painters, spent two weeks at Stoney’s studio collecting background information and video for the woodturning segment of that project. Stoney shared that segment with us. Viewing his slide presen-tation of some 40 sculptures, a common thread emerged. He creates figures of the human torso and several animals. Equally obvious is that whatever subject he chooses to depict, Stoney will not allow his expression to become constrained by the limita-tions of his medium or craft. “I use the material (wood) to develop a form. I think of myself as an arbitrator between the wood (and where it wants to lead me owing to its color, grain depth, irregularities, etc), our process (woodturning) and my personal aes-thetics. I want my aesthetics to win that arbitration of course, but not to overpower the beauty of the material and process.” His work is personal and it evinces a love of geo-metric form, while at the same time conveying movement or flight. He does not under-take commission work. “You can't rush work.” He desires his design process to be deliberate. “I begin with an idea of what I want to make. Then I go to the woodpile and select a log that suits that idea. I want my work to represent who I am and suggest that you do the same.”

Stoney prefers wood that’s been down awhile, but practices no formal drying schedule. Typically he works simultaneously on varying phases of 7-8 pieces. This process incidentally permits an adequate drying period. He works predominantly with “crotch” wood and “burls”, preferring the latter due to its stability. His larger multiple tiered pieces are made from burls. When working with a crotch blank, while he doesn’t dwell on the potential of cracks and the drying process, he controls the inherent tension with a design accent – round “eyelike” recesses, one on each side that join in the middle. Each piece goes through a three-step process: turning (including chain & band-sawing), texturing and finishing. The planning that takes place early in stages one and two are his favorite. The deci-sions he makes at these stages are crucial and occupy a large degree of his creative energies. His method of multi-axis turning (hereinafter “MAT”) involves a series of mounting, turning, then re-mounting and turning again and again, a “crotch” or “Y- shaped” log between centers. MAT is utilized by woodturners to create simultaneous im-pressions of symmetry and, if you’ll permit the liberty, geometric irregularity. A simpler way of describing the effect is “movement”. The work of Jean Francois Escoulen (“Boxe”) and Mark Sfirri (“Rejects from the Bat Factory” & “Spider Table”), also depicted in the June 1999 American Woodworker Gallery Section, are examples of this effect. These works create the appearance of mechanical movement “within” or between segments of a particular piece. Stoney’s use of MAT differs somewhat, in that, his works appear to be freely moving, dancing or even flying. They appear to be alive.

To those that might consider following in his footsteps, Stoney offered several words of caution. (Paraphrasing) “To turn this type of project you need be an extremely competent turner. This is not for the faint hearted or inexperienced. To safely undertake such work an advanced knowledge and experience in turning with special tools (hollow turning), heavy duty lathes and with large out-of-balanced logs is imperative.” Stoney has been turning for nearly 20 years and uses lathes weighing over a ton. His safety gear and the frequency with which he checks his tailstock and tool rest tension, clearly portray his respect for “the process”. In fact, one of his sculptures, “Self Portrait” was named, not for its resemblance to its creator, but rather from the fact that after having come free

May Program Review By Mark Sakatos

5 June, 1999

from the lathe it struck him in the face. “This was his sole accident in 20 years”. Now Stoney wears a logging helmet with built-in face shield and hearing protection. He further utilizes large halogen lights behind his tool to cast a shadow from his tool onto the revolving workpiece wings. As the distance between the piece and tool decreases, the similarly decreasing size of the shadow more clearly enables him judge his proximity to the wood. “When turning crotch logs I try to overcome to some inherent obstacles: uncover-ing the grain buried at the heart of the crotch, and relieving the wood’s inherent stress. Three solutions are available. The first is to limit the number of segments and to turn each of these segments thinner. The second is to cut the segments down the middle and reattach them with the heartwood directed outward. The third is to utilize two different crotches alto-gether.” To join the sections in these last two methods, Stoney will make a 2” hole in each section to permit the use of an expanding chuck. The outside recess can thus be turned at the intersection of the crotch. The chuck removed, the sections can then be glued with a 2” tenon connecting them. Another technique used to join these sections involves the inser-tion of a permanent threaded rod. Each surface of the piece goes through 3 stages of development: rough, refin-ing and final cuts. The turning process begins by flattening an area where the workpiece will be mounted between centers. This is accom-plished with a right-angle grinder. Two chalk lines are laid out on the end each of the 3 limbs. These lines will guide the “roughing out” of the exterior faces. He is looking for a 3-4” cross section. Using a 3/8” side ground gouge he executes pull cuts to face the work. After 2-4 passes he checks his progress toward the caulk lines, only removing the bulk of the surface from 1 leg at a time. The speed, set presently at 500 rpm’s, is not the general rule, but rather the result of his “feel” of what is a safe speed at this time with this workpiece. After nearing the line on 1 leg, he varies his axis and rough turns the surface of the opposing side of the same leg. The process continues leg by leg until he’s satisfied with the general form. By varying the axis in this manner, the sur-faces of the three legs on one side will be not be uniform. They will appear to be “geometric” – to “make sense”. One leg may narrow more quickly than another. They may be concave, convex or straight. He controls the result. Patience, constant re-evaluation and a delicate touch are his arsenal. Once satisfied with the outer profile he moves on to the center piercing cut utilizing a Stewart System Slicing Tool with a HSS (10% cobalt) metal lathe tool bit. With a wide stance and a heavily padded handle he initiates what is no more than a slicing cut, pushing the tool into the workpiece. He expands the walls of the crevice he’s formed by angling the tip into the desired wall, then by swinging the handle toward that wall as the tip proceeds deeper into the work. He repositions the axis several times until he obtains a groove that is centered in each wing. Such repositioning may cause the piece to become unbal-anced requiring a change in r.p.m.’s. He stops the center cut leaving a 4” center mass. The opposing face’s 2-3” decorative recesses will pass through this center. Still between centers he makes refining cuts on the faces and varies the axis several additional times. He then forms 2 protruding tapers for mounting in a chuck. With 1 end in the chuck he hollows inside of the other taper’s diameter with the left wing of the side ground gouge. Then the piece is reversed and chucked on the hollowed taper. The opposing “full” taper is then removed and the first recess formed.

6 June, 1999

Finally, the remaining taper is removed and recess formed with various air and electric powered grinders and/or sanders.

To create additional symmetrical accents, he often mounts the piece on a faceplate secured by varying length plastic coated cables “drawn in” with bolts. He might also run the cable through sections of garden hose to further protect the workpiece when appropriate. Weights can be added to balance the workpiece. Other accent possi-bilities involve sandblasting, carving, bleaching and occasionally coloring (ebonizing). The proper orientation of the sculpture for display is accomplished with a bandsaw and right angle grinder. He shapes and rounds over the edges of one leg to use as a stand. This piece, nearly completed, was donated to NCWA. Stoney suggested we raffle it off and challenged the winner to complete the stand and to promise to turn and donate a piece for a later raffle as well.

Our thanks to Stoney for sharing his time and thoughts with us. We hope that he has inspired you, not nec-essarily to undertake his personal avenue of expression, but rather to search for some hidden diamond within your-self and to find some method in which to polish and reveal it to the world.

Insurance With Permission From Fred Holder

Some time back, a fellow posted on the rec.crafts.woodturning newsgroup that he had lost his shop because it burned down and the insurance company refused to pay because he was selling some of the output from his shop. I started to checking into this and found that this is something that can happen. I have carried liability insurance for my publications and for me selling and demonstrating at craft fairs, that is a separate business policy from my homeowner insurance, for many years. However, I had considered my woodturn-ing a hobby. But I guess when you start selling some of your hobby produced stuff, you've become a business and your homeowner insurance can declare the shop a business and refuse to cover it. I checked with my accountant and he said that because I carry my shop as a depreciation item on my income tax, that definitely makes it a business and not coverable by the home owners insurance. Well, the coverage for my shop and its contents, plus liability, plus the capability to teach woodturning in my shop, makes the shop insurance more than my homeowner policy. This new policy is going to cost slightly more than $600. That means that I'm going to have to generate a few more sales out of that shop to cover the new insurance. I brought this point up to my club, Northwest Washington Woodturners, to make them aware of the potential prob-lem. One of the fellows, M. Stratton said that a few years ago, he was making a few items for the local winery and his homeowner insurance company got wind of it and cancelled his policy. He had to be completely without insur-ance for a few days while he arranged for new insurance. So, if you are turning wood in your basement, your garage, or anywhere that is covered by your homeowner policy, I suggest you either not sell any of your wares or you make sure that the policy you have will cover you. I can imagine a fellow turning wood in his basement and selling the output at craft fairs. The insurance company could declare that your whole house was not covered. You might be paying for insurance that would never pay in case of a fire or other problem. Bowl By Edgar Ingram

7 June, 1999

NCW GALLERY

GALLERY Clockwise from top left

J.T. Barker Grant McRorie Don Oetjen Fred Stockhausen Grady Butler

Photos by George Wunker

8 June, 1999

NCW GALLERY

Gallery Clockwise from top left

Pat Campbell Bill Young Don Jafvert Don Olsen Mike Collingwood

Photos by George Wunker