March 2021 Show and Tell
To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Smith Mountain Lake Woodturners Club, club members were asked to send in their very first turnings, or the earliest turning projects they still have, or some of their favorites from the past 20 years.
See the member comments below the slideshow for more details on about various projects.
Mike Moore: First picture is my first attempt at turning with two new ornaments. The mini baseball bat was turned in a Woodcraft class and didn't have time to finish it. The two ornaments were turned last week.
Second picture is from a Dogwood limb. Before woodturning there was stained glass. A 9 inch Dogwood sun catcher from 1999.
Clinton Scudder: The first is a 3x4” maple nodule with a 2” bowl. The second is a spalted maple bowl, 3.75”x5”. The third is a Sapele bowl with a poplar strip, 10”x3”.
Chuck Koyanagi: I don’t have any of my early work...got rid of them. This is my favorite piece because of the form and beauty of the wood.
Don Riggs: First bowls. Cherry bowl and poplar platter turned in the late 80's. Complete with sanding scratches, flat bottoms no finish and flatten with belt sander!
Marvin Elgin: First bowl four years ago. Cherry and it's ugly. Last one I made is from Canary wood.
Robert Swank: Here is an unusual turning project I recently completed. I have made a quilting frame for my wife's sewing machine, which needs a way to advance the material and hold it in place. We haven't tried to use it yet, but these gravity operated gear dogs promise to be the perfect solution. Turned the gears and used the indexing feature to evenly measure the teeth to cut out on the bandsaw.
Jim Bennett: We save lots of jars of various sizes. When I have small pieces of wood I turn a top for them (with the actual original cap inside). When we (used to) visit friends, Marion would put home grown spices in the small ones or candy in the larger ones, as little gifts.
Four of the wine glasses are made of black walnut, one of English yew, and one from an apple tree from our yard. They are all slightly different, so you don’t forget which one you’re drinking from. The stem on one of them is intentionally fatter than the rest since one of our friends has rheumatoid arthritis and has difficulty holding most stemware since it’s usually too small.
Richard Cruise: Favorite piece, mesquite hollow vessel. The cherry salad bowl set was the "bread and butter" of our wholesale business.