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The West Virginia Woodturners Association provides woodturners in southeastern West Virginia and western Virginia with an opportunity to meet other turners, enhance their skills, and share their skills and interests in woodturning. Send an email to info@wvwoodturners.com to request additional information about the club and its activities.

Turning Tuesdays

Club members gather at at Lee Street Studios at 4:00 PM every Tuesday to work on projects, exchange tips and techniques, learn from each other, and socialize. Around 6:30, everyone heads to Hill and Holler for dinner together

All members can work in the Turning Center any time, any day of the week and use any of the Club lathes, tools, or specialized equipment such as the deep hollowing system and the coring system. Members will pay $5.00 per hour or $30 per month to use the Center.

Holiday Dinner Show and Tell

A dozen turnings were displayed at the holiday dinner at Anne Turner's house on December 14 and are shown on the Holiday '19 page.

Next Meeting: February 22

The Club will meet next on February 22 at Montwell Commons. Gary DeGraff will offer suggestions about the best safety practices for woodturners. He will also demonstrate bowl turning basics as he turns a flat-rimmed bowl.

January 25 Meeting Highlights

Several reports were presented at the meeting:

• Rocky Parsons distributed an updated list of the books, DVDs, and CDs that can be borrowed from the Club library. The list can also be viewed on the Library page
• Anne Turner presented information about the Club having a sales tent each week at the Farmers Market. Help will be needed to run the booth each week and members will be charged a small commission on their sales.
• Bruce discussed the upcoming show at the Allegheny Highlands Craft Center in Clifton Forge. All members are invited to display items and the Center will charge a 30% commission on all sales.
• The Harmony Arts turning center is fully operational with donated equipment. Students have registered for classes and the Center is open every Tuesday and Friday from 5:00 until 7:30 PM. The Center is located at 348 Neville St. in Beckley.

Show and Tell

The Show and Tell judges selected three turnings for recognition:.

Additional Show and Tell Entries

Rick Lay: Stabilizing Wood

Woodturners often find interesting pieces of wood that might not be safe to turn and Rick presented ways to stabilize the wood.

Soft, Punky, or Spalted Wood

• Sanding sealers such as Mylands Cellulose sanding sealer are lacquer based and only provide minimal penetration.
• Wood hardeners such as Minwax Wood Hardener contains resins and solvents which provide better penetration. It cures by drying and is good for small objects.
• Stabilizers such as Cactus Juice from TurnTex is better for larger pieces. It requires a vacuum chamber to achieve deep penetration but the pressure must be lowered slowly since a lot of bubbles form when the air is pulled from the wood. Curing takes 2-24 hours at 210F and an inexpensive toaster oven works well.

Cracks, Voids, and Loose Pieces

• Thin CA (cyanoacrylate) glue is excellent for filling small cracks and reattaching loose pieces such as bark fragments. It cures quickly, especially if an accelerator is used. It is also available in medium and thick consistencies for use in larger cracks.
• Epoxies are excellent for filling large cracks and voids and take 5 minutes to 24 to cure depending on the hardener that is used. Epoxy seeps into large cracks slowly so more epoxy may need to be added while it is curing. Since the epoxy flows until it cures, the crack needs to be horizontal. Blue tape can be used when the void goes entirely through the object. It can also serve as a form when the crack is on a curved surface and mask the area around the void or crack. Epoxies can be dyed or mixed with wood chips, sawdust, or other materials to emphasize the defect or help it blend in with the surrounding wood. Devcon makes a 5 minute epoxy that is clear when it cures, but many 5 minute epoxies cure to an amber color.

Getting Creative

Many interesting turnings can be created by using casting resin to make a blank. Examples include pens, bottle stoppers, lamps, and 'windows' in turnongs.

• Alumilite is an excellent casting resin available from TurnTex . It can be used with dyes, glitter, pigments, etc. and is available with 7 minute and 12 minute working times. A mold is prepared, sprayed with a demolding agent or Pam, and the objects to be embedded are placed in the mold. Alumilite cures best in a pressure vessel at 50 psi and can be demolded in 20 minutes and turned in 24 hours. Casting resins are also available from Hobby Lobby and other craft stores.
• Two part epoxy putties such as Milliput (sold by Hobby Lobby, Amazon, and other ) have the consistency of modeling clay and are available in a variety of colors. They can be used to accentuate flaws and filling larger cracks and voids but they are fillers so they don't add strength. They cure in 24 hours and turn easily. Quickwood epoxy putty is available from Woodcraft .

Equipment

For further information about any WVWA activity, call Bill Sproul at (304) 497-2319.

Supporting Companies

We would like to thank these companies for the support they have provided to the Club during the past year. Check out their websites when you are ready to purchase products that they stock.

Craft Supplies USA is a one-stop shopping site for everything a wood turner might need or want - lathes, tools, accessories, project supplies, materials, and more.

Woodcraft offers a 10% discount at the Roanoke store to WVWA members when they show a current membership card.

TurnTex supplies acrylic casting resin, solutions for stabilizing and hardening punky and spalted wood, and associated equipment.