Gulf Coast Woodturners Association

March 2010 Meeting Gallery

Pictures of Janice Levi's demonstration on Turning Backyard pine
and Faces in the Crowd are at the bottom of this page.
 

Advanced Category (Items made from one piece of wood by advanced turners)

1st Place Larry Zarra Mesquite Bowl 13"W x 4"H

2nd Place Larry Zarra Mesquite Hollow Form 4-1/2"W x 4"H

3rd Place Janice Levi Pine/Ebony Stemmed  Vessel 3-3/4"W x 4"H

Segmented Category (Items made from more than one piece of wood by turners of all levels)

1st Place Dereck Hansen Maple/Purple Heart  Peppermill 2-3/8"W x 6"H

2nd Place Tom Irven Maple/Walnut Box 1-1/2"W x 2-1/4"H

Enhanced Category (Items that incorporate embellishment of the item by turners of all levels)

1st Place Tom Irven Three Boxes of Various  Woods (largest box)

2nd Place David Welch Oak Bowl/Hackberry Eggs 10-1/2"W x 3"H (bowl)

3rd Place Paula Haymond Turned and Carved  Olive Vessel 5"W x 8"H

Intermediate Category (Items made by intermediate turners)

1st Place Ed Spicer Sycamore Bowl 5-1/2"W x 3-1/2"H

2nd Place Charles Reed Catalpa Bowl 12"W x 3"H

3rd Place Ed Spicer Walnut Lidded Vessel 4-1/2"W x 6-1/2"H

Beginner Category (Items made by beginning turners)

1st Place Walter Matthews Mesquite Bowl 3-1/2"W x 4"H

2nd Place James Mersiovsky Mesquite Top 3"W x 5"H

3rd Place Delbert Pond Ash Bowl 5-1/2"W x 1-1/2"H

Other Worth Entries

gallery photography by Paul Millo

Judges

Ed Peine and John Van Domelen judged March's Show & Tell.

Janice Levi's Demonstration on "Turning Back Yard Pine"

Janice Levi loves to turn a wood that most of us hate--pine.  Janice shared her secrets for achieving award-winning results with backyard pine for March's demonstration. Since pine spalts rather quickly, amazing colors can be achieved without waiting very long.  Of course, the wood also turns punky quickly, so Janice says the trick is to not to wait too long to use it. There was a good turnout for March's meeting at Memorial Lutheran Church on Westheimer Drive. Janice keeps the shape of the vessels she turns simple and lets her technique show through. Janice prepared extensive "how to" notes for her presentation.  You can download your own copy below. Turning Backyard Pine by Janice Levi (a Word doc.)

GCWA goes to great length to help its members learn as much as possible from monthly demos, including using a complete A/V set up to display and record the demos.  Members can check out the recording the following month. Janice, a former club president, observed important safety rules during her demo. After Janice established where with rim of the piece would be, she quickly brushed on a layer of oil to minimize cracking. The layer of oil was quickly followed by CA glue to stabilize the wood. Janice recommends spraying the pine often with a solution of water and dish washing detergent.  She also mixes her own oil to soak the wood.  The oil is used also as a lubricant during the sanding process and become the finish when dry.

Saturating the pine with the oil mix is integral to achieve results.  Janice says that multiple soakings are required and the most important step is to allow the oil to dry between applications.. Sanding using 100 or 120 grit all the way through steel wool for the final pass is important to getting a high gloss finish. Here is a piece that was in the early stages of oil application. A finished piece of Janice's backyard pine.. And another. Download Janice's presentation notes HERE

Faces in the Crowd

There was an especially wide range of styles and sizes of turned items for judges to consider at March's meeting.

Ed Peine explains how he achieve the wall thickness in the hollow form he turned as a "thank you" to the Memorial Lutheran Church for hosting March's meeting.

Chris Roth inspects one of the items on the Show and Tell table..

Ed Peine discussing his hollow form with Bill Metzger.

Jerry Bennett, Doug Davis, Larry Zarra and John Van Domelen talking about--you guessed it--woodturning!

Don Fluker and Bill Berry

Joh Gaynor and Ed Spicer

Tom Enloe is the club's librarian (and past president) and ensures a good selection of videos each month.

Show & Tell is coordinated by Dave Barziza, Ed Spicer and Frank Campbell (not pictured).

Paul Millo handles all the club's Show & Tell photography (and does a great job at it).

Club president, Steve LeGrue, opened the meeting with announcements, including information about April's picnic.

George Kabacinski talked up the Spring Retreat scheduled for May.

We couldn't overhear the conversation but we'd be willing to bet it was about woodturning!

Kendall Westbrook, Bill Metzger and Jim Keller.

Bill Berry (on the right) with prospective member James Mersiovsky.

Walter Mathews (with Larry Zarra) discussed Walter's first place Beginner Category Award piece.

Ed Spicer talked about his first place Intermediate Category piece.

Larry Zarra (our Show & Tell Master of Ceremonies and all-around great turner) spoke about his first place Advanced Category piece.

Segmented Category winner, Dereck Hansen, told how he used joinery to create his piece.

Tom Irven took the honors in the Enhanced Category with three well-turned boxes.

 candid photography by  Dale Barrack