Serving Southeastern West Virginia

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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.

Carnegie Hall Exhibit

The Club has been invited to exhibit our woodturnings in the Museum Gallery at Carnegie Hall. The Museum Gallery is open Monday - Friday from 9:00 AM until 4:30 PM. The exhibit will open on March 4 and be open to the public during the months of March and April.

There will be an opening reception on Friday, March 4 from 5:00 - 8:00 PM in conjunction with Lewisburg's First Friday event.

Next Meeting: April 2

The March meeting will be held a week later than usual on April 2, the Saturday after Easter, at The Fort. We meet on the ground floor, below the Hill and Holler restaurant. The meeting begins at 9:30, but come early and have a cup of coffee and a donut with the other members. Bob Nickell will be demonstrating the use of the Club's Jamieson deep hollowing system. All Club members are asked to bring their favorite general purpose or specialized tool as part of the Show and Tell portion of the meeting.

February 27 Highlights

Twenty five members and three guests attended the meeting on February 27 and Steve Butler was welcomed as a new member. After enjoying coffee and donuts and the door prize and raffle drawings, eight Club members displayed somne of their recent turnings during the Show and Tell period. Cliff Baker presented a demonstration on turning a natural edge bowl from green wood. Club members are challenged to turn a natural edge bowl and display it at the April 23 meeting.

Show and Tell

A number of Club members displayed their best turnings they created during 2015.

Demonstration: Turn a Natural Edge Bowl from Green Wood

Cliff Baker demonstrated how he turns natural edge bowls from green wood. Tips and recommendations are listed below:

• Wood is considered "green" when the moisture content is above 20%. A log with bark will usually be "green" for at least 6 months after it has been cut.
• Green wood tends to develop checks on the end grain very quickly. When a log is cut, checks will often develop within an hour unless end grain sealer is applied.
• If a green turning can not be completed in one session, cover the partial turning with a plastic bag to minimize checking.
• If you see a check develop while turning, stabilize it with thin CA glue.
• Oak and walnut sap are very corrosive so as soon as you are done turning or take a break, remove the wet shavings from the lathe bed and wipe it with WD 40 or other rust inhibitor.
• The blank can be mounted on the lathe using a two-prong drive center. This is convenient because the center point can be easily changed so that the wings and midpoints of the bowl are symmetrical.
• Blanks over 12" should always be mounted on a faceplate when turning the outer profile. Faceplates provide the safest and most secure attachement to the lathe.
• Always use a rotating center in the tailstock to stabilize the workpiece, especially if it is heavy and out of balance.
• Natural edge green bowls should be turned to final thickness while the wall thickness of a flat rimmed bowl should be approximately 10% of the diameter.
• Natural edge bowls do not usually crack as long as the moisture content in the walls is uniform during the drying process.
• Record the weight and wrap the green turning in newspaper, place it in a cardboard box, and store it away from direct heat. Change the paper every few days and check the weight.
• When the newspaper no longer feels damp after a few days, remove the turning from the box, wrap it in 1 or 2 layers of paper, and leave it in the open air.
• When the weight changes by only a couple of grams a day, the turning is ready to sand and finish.
• When the newspaper no longer feels damp, the turning can be put in a microwave oven for a minute every half hour to speed up the drying process. This will also help minimize splitting because the wood fibers become pliable and relieves the stresses caused when the wood cells shrink as they dry. If there is bark on the turning, this will kill and insects that are in the bark.

General Club Information

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.