Gulf Coast Woodturners Association

January 2012 Meeting Gallery

Pictures of Tom Irven's demonstration on off-center turning
 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 Andy Chen Ash Hollow Form 9-1/4"W x 5"H

2nd Place Scott Njaa Redwood Burl/Ebony   Hollow Form 5-1/2"W x 4"H

3rd Place Dennis Ford &  Derek Powers Red Oak Burl Hollow  Form 5-1/2"W x 9"H

Enhanced/Segmented Category
(Items that incorporate embellishment or made from more than one piece of material by advanced turners)

1st Place Delbert Pond Sycamore/Spanish  Cedar Open Form 5-1/2"W x 7" H

2nd Place Gene Volentine Mahogany/Dyed Maple  Dish with Lid  7"W x 6" H

3rd Place Gary Rock Dyed Butternut Bowl 6-3/4"W x 2-1/2"H

Intermediate Category (Items made by intermediate turners)

1st Place Pete Copeland Spalted Elm/Ebony  Hollow Form w/ finial 4"W x 10"H

2nd Place Georgene Huckeba Silver Leaf Maple Bowl 11"W x 2"H

3rd Place Georgene Huckeba Silver Leaf Maple Bowl  11"W x 3"H

Beginner Category (Items made by beginning turners)

(No entries)

"Kit" Category (Items made from kits by turners of all levels)

1st Place Derek Hansen Tasmanian Blackwood  Peppermill 2-1/2"W x 11"H

2nd Place Don Fluker "Aggieland" (maroon   & white) Acrylic  Click Pencil

3rd Place Don Fluker Inlaid Acrylic Click Pen

Other Worthy Entries

gallery photography by Paul Millo

Judges

Ben Gray and Robert Frost were January's Show & Tell judges.

Faces in the Crowd -- Part 1 (more "Faces" below)

At long last, a home of our own...at least for a year.  After many years of using various venues around the Houston area, GCWA finally has it's own Turning Center where we'll be meeting throughout 2012.

The Gulf Coast Turning Center in Westchase is located at 11391 Meadowglen Lane, Suite F, Houston, TX 77082.  Come by and check us out.

Here (and next) are two views of the main meeting space, each view looking in a different direction.

In addition to the main space, there are two smaller ones (not shown), used for reception and photography.

...and by the way, the Spring Retreat is just around the corner and Doug Grissom is looking for a couple more volunteers.  Give him a call, huh?!

Demonstration: Off-center Turning by Tom Irven

Tom Irven, who is a jack of all things turned (and master of all of them), demonstrated off-center turning for GCWA members at January's meeting. Tom brought along a sample of some of items he's turned using the two chucking methods he demonstrated. He began using an Escoulan eccentric chuck. Tom reviewed how the chuck works and then hammered a blank into position. Tom is a good instructor who explained the tools he used and why he uses them.

Tom stopped frequently to inspect and discuss the steps he had just taken. After reposition the piece in the Escoulan chuck, he made another pass with his specially ground detail gouge. The action was captured by Lane Bradford and shown of GCWA's new double-screen LCD display system. After another chuck repositioning, another pass with the tool. Looking good...

Tom explained that occasionally a piece "blows up" and was careful with his final cuts. Done. A good turnout for GCWA's new Turning Center. The end result--an elegant  finial.

Tom then switched gears and demonstrated off-center turning by using a "ball chuck" and repositioning the work piece. He explained that it's important to carefully mark the work piece so it's easy to select different centers The "ball chuck" (shown by itself at the right) fits into a pre-drilled hole in the work piece.  This allows the work piece to move when the opposite end is repositioned. The "ball chuck" (actually an insert for a four jaw chuck). In this example, Tom was making a off-center candlestick, so he shaped the top part first.

Then he repositioned the bottom of the work piece... ...and turned some more. ...more repositioning... ...and more turning. The finished product.

Here are several items Tom brought for the demonstration. And another.

Faces in the Crowd -- Part 2

Georgene Huckeba was the proud recipient of two Intermediate Category awards.  Here, with Show & Tell MC, Bill Berry, she explains one of them.

Pete Copeland, an up-and-coming turner, talks about his elegant first place Intermediate level hollow form.

Dennis Ford conspired, eh, make that collaborated, with Derek Powers on this interesting hollow form, which they claim is Red Oak burl.

Scott Njaa is no stranger to  the Show & Tell Winner;s Circle.  Here he discusses his second place award winner.

And then there is Andy Chen.  Andy steps into the winner's circle frequently and for good reason.  He's a seasoned turner and a national demonstrator and always produces great stuff!

Jim Keller is another frequently visitor to the Show & Tell Winners Circle.  Jim is currently on a national show circuit that will take him to Maryland, Florida and California before he returns home to Texas.

Delbert Pond was awarded first place in the Enhanced/Segmented division for this well constructed and executed hollow form.

Don Fluker talks about one of the two pens for which he won awards in the "Kit Category" division.

And Derek Hansen took first place in the Kit Category with this well-turned peppermill.

 

 candid photography by Peter Miao and Dale Barrack