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September 2015 Pen Turn-a-thon
All Day Workshop Supporting Freedom Pens
Joe Kelly (top), Richard Corley (above)
A good Baker's dozen of our turners kept another 2-3 assemblers busy as we spent the day Saturday 9/26 turning custom crafted handwriting pens at North Oaks Diagnostic Center in Ponchatoula. The latest statistics are on page 12 of our October 2015 newsletter, but since joining the Freedom Pens Project (web site) in 2008 the participating members of Bayou Woodturners have turned and contributed thousands of pens year after year.
The final tally for this day was an impressive 413 pens completed, which means we have a notable number of club members who independently produce Freedom Pens throughout the year, all year long.
We're on track to reach 7000+ pens contributed this year, bringing our overall total to well over 40,000 of the nearly 190,000 Freedom Pens that the project has donated to deployed military service personnel since the project's inception.
The final tally for this day was an impressive 413 pens completed, which means we have a notable number of club members who independently produce Freedom Pens throughout the year, all year long.
We're on track to reach 7000+ pens contributed this year, bringing our overall total to well over 40,000 of the nearly 190,000 Freedom Pens that the project has donated to deployed military service personnel since the project's inception.
September 2015 Meeting
John Byl: Handheld Mirrors
Not too soon to prepare cool stuff for Christmas gift giving, John Byl, a master of turning wood and other materials, gave a great demo on this awesome looking, highly prized item. More images are in the October newsletter. Meanwhile, check out the fantastic things our members are creating and sharing during Instant Gallery, and try not to drool when you see the wood for turning blanks brought in this month.
Dragon by Johnny Green. Photos by Keith Welsh taken at the SWAT 2015 Symposium. Dragon was among many other works brought to Instant Gallery for our September 2015 meeting.
June 2015 Meeting
Joel Blazek: Multi-Center Turning, Lattice Top Box
Anyone who has pics and/or a description of the demo is welcome to submit them to the webmaster. I was unable to attend but Joel has produced (and circulated to members via email) a detailed handout with instructions and plenty of images. This section will be updated once more info is available.
Gorst at Bayou Woodturners' March 2015 Meeting
IN MEMORIUM
Gorst duPlessis
1938 - 2015
Gorst duPlessis
1938 - 2015
May 2015 Special Event Weekend
Guest Demonstrator Rudy Lopez
Master of Natural Edged Winged Bowls and More
Saturday May 2nd kicked off the first of a special 3-day weekend of learning and turning for members eager to advance their abilities and broaden their scope of things to create on a lathe. Featured Guest Rudy Lopez kicked Saturday morning into high gear right away, beginning with a demo of his signature style Natural Edged Winged Bowl from a Crotch. With focus on proper safety, shaping, and technique, Rudy handled questions and kept everyone paying close attention as he worked through the process. The afternoon demos covered his Square-to-Round method of making a Vase and how to turn a Natural Edged Long Thin Stemmed Goblet. Check inside [link coming soon] for a gallery of photos and more info from this fantastic 3-day event.
April 2015 Free Special Event
Alternate Venue: PMC Tools & Machinery
Johnny Green: Massive Lobed Sculptures from a Crotch
Special Guest Ron Gerton: 50+ Slide Presentation on his works
Pictures and details coming soon.
March 2015 Meeting
Skipper Munson: Creating Decorative Blanks
Pictures and details coming soon.
February 2015 Meeting
Paul Burk: Lidded Boxes
For those who missed Paul's demo at the last S.K.E.W., he once again did an excellent job covering the process, this time with an emphasis on boxes with lids that pop when removed. With an appropriately looser lid and size to meet the need, members learned enough to begin making boxes for the Beads of Courage outreach program our club supports.
There also happened to be a great selection available at this month's wood raffle, a big fund raiser for the club's outreach endeavors and a great source of turning blanks. Safe to say, nobody went away empty handed.
There also happened to be a great selection available at this month's wood raffle, a big fund raiser for the club's outreach endeavors and a great source of turning blanks. Safe to say, nobody went away empty handed.
January 2015 Meeting
John Byl: Turning Corian
As a long time Bayou Woodturners member we're proud to call him ours even though he belongs to and helps lead other clubs near his south Alabama home. An accomplished turner of nearly every type of turning from bowls and platters to pepper mills, stools, lidded boxes and myriad other items, John covered the tips and tricks he's learned over the years for making lidded sugar bowls, wine bottle stoppers, pen blanks and more from a material more commonly known for its application as a countertop. Typically available as 2x2-inch and 4x4-inch samples ~1cm thick, any project thicker than a pen blank must first be cemented together in layers, with epoxy superior to CA if the turning should ever be exposed to heat--as might occur if cleaned in a dishwasher. (Care to guess how he learned that?)
December 2014 Meeting
Jerry Markowitz: Photographing Your Work
Jerry is our long time newsletter editor and spends a large portion of every meeting getting everyone's Gallery items photographed, as well as taking shots of the demonstrations and other meeting activities. He covered how and why to get your camera out of automatic mode, taking control of basic functions like shutter speed, aperture, focus, white balance, image size and compression, and eliminating vibration. From there, he covered basic setups and illumination techniques that put your turnings in the ideal conditions to show their best features. While many of his visual aids for the presentation cannot be reproduced for distribution, Jerry has an excellent writeup in the January 2015 newsletter.
Following December's annual election and a subsequent V.P. change in February, congratulations to the following 7 members who now comprise our 2015 Board of Directors:
Following December's annual election and a subsequent V.P. change in February, congratulations to the following 7 members who now comprise our 2015 Board of Directors:
- Jim Creel (President)
- Skipper Munson (Vice Pres.)
- Ron D'Aunoy (Treasurer)
- Dennis Wall (Secretary)
- Joel Blazek (Director at Large)
- John Byl (Director at Large)
- Johnny Green (Director at Large)
A Few Highlights from Recent Instant Gallery Submissions
Be sure to check out our newsletter, The Bayou Skew for some great closeups of these and more turned items that our members bring to share with fellow members and guests in each meeting's Instant Gallery.
A Few More Quick Notes
Attention: For logistical reasons and by gracious invitation from our new host, as of our October 2012 meeting, we have changed our regular meeting venue to Acadian Cypress & Hardwoods in Ponchatoula, LA. Depending on your route, allow about a 45 - 60 minute drive up I-55 from our former Harahan location. See the Next Meeting page for a map link with directions you can customize to your own starting point.
We 're always open to your suggestions and thrilled when a member offers to share their ideas, even more so when they offer to conduct a demo for the rest of the members. Let us hear from you, and remember to save the new email address that forwards your message to all members on the Board of Directors.
As I've written before, our organization depends on members who take above average interest in keeping the club functioning well. Those individuals who are able and willing to step up to serve the rest of the membership are essential to the organization. The Officers, Directors, and Managers who already do this are listed in every newsletter, with more positions yet to be filled.
Please take some time to let your elected leaders know what you think of the job they do for the club and/or toss your hat into the ring and offer to fill an open position. See page 2 of any newsletter for an individual's email address, use the special BWTBoardMembers email address, or catch us at the next meeting.
We 're always open to your suggestions and thrilled when a member offers to share their ideas, even more so when they offer to conduct a demo for the rest of the members. Let us hear from you, and remember to save the new email address that forwards your message to all members on the Board of Directors.
As I've written before, our organization depends on members who take above average interest in keeping the club functioning well. Those individuals who are able and willing to step up to serve the rest of the membership are essential to the organization. The Officers, Directors, and Managers who already do this are listed in every newsletter, with more positions yet to be filled.
Please take some time to let your elected leaders know what you think of the job they do for the club and/or toss your hat into the ring and offer to fill an open position. See page 2 of any newsletter for an individual's email address, use the special BWTBoardMembers email address, or catch us at the next meeting.
Bayou Woodturners is a chapter of American Association of Woodturners. We have an active membership that typically numbers near 100 or more woodturners, and hold monthly meetings where we exchange ideas, share our wood turning knowledge, and demonstrate turning techniques and projects. We host regional, national and international demonstrators, conduct workshops and hands-on classes, and offer outreach programs for charitable causes and to introduce woodturning to the general public.
Founded in 1999, we meet on the second Saturday of the month. Meetings start at 9:00 AM and are normally over by 12:30. Check out our Next Meeting page to get the most current information on our next scheduled monthly gathering.
Bayou Woodturners is incorporated in Louisiana.
Founded in 1999, we meet on the second Saturday of the month. Meetings start at 9:00 AM and are normally over by 12:30. Check out our Next Meeting page to get the most current information on our next scheduled monthly gathering.
Bayou Woodturners is incorporated in Louisiana.
