October 22, 2022:
Prescott Area Woodturners met at 6708 Corsair in the Prescott Airpark on Saturday, October 22, 2022. President Ken Allen called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. He announced that today’s demonstration would be given by two scholarship winners: Bruce Butler and Ric Davis. Other scholarship winners will demonstrate next year: Walt Spencer in February, Kathy Allen in April, and John Armstrong in May.
Membership Director Jay Loden introduced new member John Paschal, which brings our membership up to 87. He reminded us that 2023 DUES ARE NOW DUE! Jay also announced that a new Vendor has been added to the vendor list: woodturningz.com. Find it on our website in the Members Only section.
Another visitor was Rebecca Crawford, President of Peaks Woodturners in Flagstaff.
Ken Allen said that items donated for sale at the Prescott Farmers’ Market brought close to $700 to our treasury.
Our November meeting will be on the THIRD Saturday of the month (November 19) to avoid conflict with the Thanksgiving holiday. It will feature an IRD by Glenn Lucas. November will also include our annual election of officers: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Membership Director and Program Director. The Selection Committee consists of Mark Oglesby, Jerry Shugars and Ken Allen. If you wish to run for any of these offices, please contact any of the Selection Committee members.
Ken also reminded us to mark our calendars for the annual Holiday Dinner. That will be on Monday December 5, 2022. Look for an email with details.
Events Chairman Dean Humphrey talked about the November 12 sale at the Grace Sparkes Center. There are currently11 members who are signed up to sell, and there is room for more. Humphrey said that items donated for the Farmers’ Market, but not sold that day, would be saved for the Stocking Stuffer sale on December 17.
In response to a question, Dean said that items donated for sale at a particular event should be held by the member until the request is made. This request will not be on-going, because storage can be a problem. Dean feels it is important that sales also demonstrate turning.
Treasurer Dennis Egan and his wife Carolyn joined us via Zoom from Oregon, where they are recovering from a serious auto accident. Dennis relayed the happy news that Carolyn’s ankle is not broken, so they hope to be released within a week. Mark Oglesby has been handling Treasurer duties.
Program Director Ric Davis said that the Tuesday Demo to follow today’s presentation will be at Walt Spencer’s shop on September 25. Walt will demonstrate various types of embellishment. Next month the Tuesday Demo will be given by Bob Zimmerman on the Ring Master.
Ric said that the January demo will be an IRD by Scott Groves on inlays.
Regarding the Chips & Grits Zoom meetings; the November 9 meeting will be Part II of the Shop Tours. Ken Allen was alerted to the possibility of a security issue as we show our shops. Accordingly, all Chips & Grits notes will be deleted from the website. Kathy Allen’s comprehensive notes from each meeting will still be sent via email, but they will not be available to the general public on the Internet. There is enough material for a third Shop Tours meeting.
Safety Chairman Dan Hall remarked that the weather is getting colder, and folks will be wearing clothing with long sleeves. Dan reminded us that sleeves, even long hair, can get caught in a spinning lathe and cause great harm.
Gary Frank had another safety item. He has been turning rough acrylic that made puncture wounds in his hands. He is now using fingerless gloves, which gives him protection and still affords control.
Walt Spencer gave an update on the Beads of Courage Program. For the past year and a half, Spence has tried without success to contact the local Beads of Courage people. He got no response to his calls. He has since found out that Beads of Courage is offering our donated bowls for a “donation” of $15! And they are asking parents to give the same “donation” if they want one for their child/patient. That feels like an insult. Gary Frank called it deflating. PAW will search for another charity to support. Spence brought back all of the bowls he has been holding, and the donator will be contacted. We will want to remove the Beads of Courage identifier, but the bowls can now be sold by their creator. John Armstrong said that the Bead store in Prescott Valley has beads that could be used in place of the identifier bead.
Armstrong also said that registration is open for the next semester of woodturning classes at Yavapai College.
Ken Allen displayed the magazine American Woodturner published by AAW. The article about our display at the Prescott Valley Public Library can be found on page 11. Ken said everyone should consider joining AAW. The magazine itself is a source of inspiration and the website has much in the way of ideas, videos and other learning tools.
Marge Hunt gave a short review of the last Woodettes luncheon, and invited other women associated with PAW to join us.
Mark Oglesby was asked about logo shirts. A local shop embroiders our logo on a shirt supplied by you. The shop wants to do this with a minimum of 12 shirts; he currently has 4, so if you want a logo shirt, bring a new shirt and $10 cash to Mark Oglesby. Mark will send an email to the membership regarding this opportunity.
Today’s demonstration was provided by two PAW Scholarship Recipients, Bruce Butler and Ric Davis. Their subject was creating threads in wood so that a vessel and top could be screwed together. They distributed a handout listing various on-line sources of videos for further information. They used previously created pictures displayed on the screen, as well as live turning on the lathe.
Bruce noted that, when choosing wood, denser is better. TREX is easy to work with, as is PVC pipe, and epoxy threads like a dream. He also emphasized the use of face grain, NOT end grain. They passed several examples of treaded containers.
The easiest way to practice is on PVC pipe, and there was PVC pipe available for hands-on practice after the meeting.
After a short break, members gathered for Show & Tell. There is so much talent in this club!
The meeting officially adjourned at 3:45 p.m. At that time Bruce and Ric were at the lathes for hands-on attempts at threading.
Respectfully submitted,
Marge Hunt, Secretary