The Mentor Area was busy throughout the two day retreat (...lots of lathes and lots of mentors)

Practice, practice, practice . . . then practice some more.  One of the reasons our Retreat is so successful is because of the generous time and talent offered by our mentors.

Here's a quiz: What's the most popular activity at the retreat?

The raffle, of course!

Again this year, Bill Berry assembled a fine collection of desirable items for the raffle including TWO mini-lathes! Bill's favorite line: "But you have to buy tickets to win!"

Quiz, part two: What's the second most popular activity at the retreat?

Eating, of course!

Bill Pottorf did a great job arranging catering services. The food was tasty and plentiful. Everyone stuffed themselves.  The only complaint we heard was that there were no cots for naps after lunch!

Session: Reverse Chucking  

Bill Berry not only coordinated a fine raffle, he also demonstrated several different techniques to turn the bottoms of differently shaped pieces.

 

Session: Making Power Sanding Disks

Mack DeBose presented a very thorough session on making power sanding disks and making sand paper disks to fit them.  He's generously shared his session notes for all to access.

Links to Mack's Session Notes:    - Bowl Sanding Tool    - Making Sanding Disks

Session: Natural Edge Bowls

Tom Orton, not pictured (sorry Tom), hosted two sessions on turning natural edge bowls...and even supplied the blanks!  Here's a link to Tom's Session Notes:  - Natural Edge Bowls

Session: Turning a Peppermill

Bill "Pepper" Pottorf took a group of interested turners through his process to create a 10" peppermill.

If you'd like to try this yourself, here's a link to Bill's very thorough Session Notes, which include information and ideas also formulated by others, including Nick Cook, whose contributions are acknowledged:    - Turning a 10" Peppermill

Session: Bowl Turning

Don Fluker (far right, with Jennifer DeBose) offered a couple of well attended sessions on basic bowl turning.  (Our apologies to the many others who took this class but Todd Clare's intensity captured our lens.)  Don recommends Brian Laing's "Guide to Bowl Making" as a reference resource.

Session: Turning Finials (anyone ever wonder why they aren't called "finals?")

Brian Laing offered two sessions on turning finials. Bill Tilson, Fog Tanner and Mack DeBose all seemed to catch on pretty quickly.

Session: Carving

Janice Levi shared many of the carving techniques she uses to produce her elaborate pieces with a group of highly interested turners.  Janice supplied Tupelo wood for class participants to create a "leaf" an example of which is shown to the right.

Session: Offset Spindle Turning

Stacy Hager, led a group of advanced turners (at least most of them thought they were advanced turners before taking the class!) through the complicated process of creating a three-sided, twisted box.  We noticed several who took the course muttering to themselves after it was over.  We're not going to guess what they were muttering about, however.

If you're brave enough to try this, here are Stacy's Session Notes:    - Three-sided, Twisted Box

Session: Texturing

Bill Lewis reviewed a number of techniques to texture a piece, including use of an item he said was a "needle scaler."  Sure, Bill.  We all know that the thing was Medieval torture device used to extract confessions from unwilling prisoners.  On a more benign note, he also showed participants how to use the Sorby Texturing Tool and the chatter tool.  Good session, Bill!

A Special Note At this session on texturing, Bill Lewis substituted for Jeff Schrader, whose job required that he and his wife, Colette, suddenly move to Alaska.  Jeff is a highly talented turner and  GCWA's loss is Alaska's gain--we'll miss you both!

Show and Tell  

Lots of Show, some Tell--mostly bragging--but no Awards, as there was no formal judging.

Errata (a Retreat picture collection)