Serving Southeastern West Virginia

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.

Are You Safe?

All turners are concerned about safety in the shop, but how safe are you? Take this assessment and it will probably include several topics you may not have considered. Additional articles about woodturner safety are included in the new Safety page.

Future Meetings Canceled

The WVWA Board has decided that the regular monthly meetings will be cancelled until the pandemic health and safety challenges have been resolved.

Members are encouraged to stay active by participating in the Turning Tuesday sessions at the Lee Street studio, continue turning in their own shops, and sharing photos of their turnings so they can be included in the monthly website Show and Tell page.

Bill Sproul, Emeritus Member

By unanimous vote of the WVWA Board of Directors, you have been designated as an Honorary Member of the WVWA. This action is in recognition of your long service to the Association, your participation in the creation of the Assn, and you advocacy of the Assn. You have been a mentor to many members, a tireless advocate of turning in particular and woodworking in general. We are gathered here today to pay homage to you and your activities on behalf of the West Virginia Woodturners Association. We all thank you..

September Show and Tell

Club members continue to spend time in their shops and the Lee Street Studio to create new turnings. They are sharing images of those turnings by email and Show and Tell will be updated throughout the month as new images are shared.

Jerald Carter: 9"x1 1/2" pear bowl with a bark inclusion that gives nice color. Powdered obsidian and CA glue filled the void.

Jerald Carter: This 4" shallow dish was turned from a piece of unknown green wood, finished with spray polyurethane.

Steven Butler: 8"x6" bowl turned from a hawthorn burl.

Steven Butler: This 17 1/2" platter was turned from a highly figured maple blank.

Gary DeGraff: Very wet walnut was turned to make this 11" bowl finished with Danish oil and Renaissance wax.

Gary DeGraff: 9 1/2" ash bowl finished with shine juice and finished with wipe-on polyurethane.

Gary DeGraff: 7"x3 1/2 "birch bowl finished with shine juice and wax.

Gary DeGraff: 8"x3" birch bowl finished with Danish oil and 2 coats of wipe-on polyurethane. Tear out was a problem.

Ron Manning made a series of inside-out Christmas ornament turnings with photos for his kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids.

Ron Manning: This shows the details of the inside-out Christmas ornament turnings.

Jerald Carter: This 9" pear bowl was finished with a coat of quick-dry polyurethane, sanded w/600 grit, then 2 more coats and buffed .

Mike Cope: 6 3/4" cherry bowl finished with Mahoney walnut oil finish.

Mike Cope: 9" curly ash damaged limb, water stained, turned very wet, sanded after drying 30 minutes with fan, Mahoney oil finish.

Gary DeGraff: 11 1/2" cherry bowl finished with paste wax.

Gary DeGraff: 9" red elm bowl, Danish oil finish. Attractive wood but very hard, had to sharpen often, and difficult to sand.

Jerald Carter: 9" pear bowl, rough turned green, coated with Anchorseal finish turned 5 months later, polyurethane finish.

Jerald Carter: 4 1/2" Tamboti bowl. Blank was wax coated, dried several years w/ warping and cracking, poly finish.

Ron Manning: 7 1/2" square pierced maple bowl, quick dry polyurethane finish.

Gary DeGraff: 7" curly ash broken limb thin bowl, finished with Danish oil and wipe on polyurethane.

Gary DeGraff: 6" x 3" spalted maple, finished with walnut oil and Shine Juice.

Gary DeGraff: 9" red elm bowl finished with tung oil thinned with mineral spirits. Tough wood, had to sharpen every 5 minutes.

Ron Manning: 6 1/2"square pierced walnut bowl finished with wipe on polyurethane.

Ron Manning: 7" pierced cherry bowl finished with wipe on polyurethane.

Gary DeGraff: 9 1/2" red cedar bowl, finished with Mike Sorge's shea nut oil. The base is very thin, but it stayed together.

Gary DeGraff: 9 1/2" cherry bowl finished with Danish oil and Shine Juice.

Ron Manning: 5" 3-footed lidded beech box finished with wipe on polyurethane.

Ron Manning: 7 1/2" ambrosia maple bowl finished with wipe on polyurethane.

Gary DeGraff: 10" red cedar bowl finished with Danish oil. The biggest challenge is cutting the blank to avoid voids and cracks.

Ron Manning: 7" pierced maple leaf bowl finished with wipe on polyurethane. At 1/16", it's his thinnest turning yet.

Gary DeGraff: 9" flared red cedar bowl finished with shea nut oil. 4 other blanks had rot and cracks are in the firewood pile.

George Boxwell: 13" ribbon sapele bowl. After sanding he used Yorkshire Grit abrasive paste followed by Hampshire Sheen Finishing Wax.

George Boxwell: 12 1/2" limba platter finished with Acks sanding paste followed by Acks Polish and Restoring paste.

Jerald Carter: Christmas ornament salvaged from a cherry bowl with a cocobolo finial that extends through the cap.

Gary DeGraff: 7" shallow cherry bowl with void, finished with Shine Juice.

Gary DeGraff: 8"x3" red elm salad bowl finished with walnut oil. This is the first of a set of 4 bowls.

Ron Manning: 10" triple-footed end grain birch bowl with two 6" tall vases. These were left thick so the bark would remain.

Ron Manning: 7"x2 1/2" birch bowl finished with wipe on polyurethane.

Jerald Carter: Christmas ornament with a pierced mesquite cap and a cocobolo finial, finished with 2 coats brush on poly.

Jerald Carter: Creating these ornaments involved working with a variety of woods and developing skills of turning small thin bowls and piercing.

Gary DeGraff: 7 1/2" walnut salad bowl finished with a certified Kosher oil finish, Circa 1850 Terra Nova Natur Oil.

Gary DeGraff: This 8" walnut salad bowl is the second of a pair made for a friend.

Gary DeGraff: Here is the final set of 4 red elm salad bowls. Although they were all from the same log, each has its own color and grain pattern.

Rick Lay: This 7" 1/2" bowl shows off the grain pattern and color of pear wood and is finished with Danish oil.

Turning Tips

This new section is intended to give the Club members an opportunity to share some of their tips that help them create high quality turnings. Tips can refer to turning techniques, methods of finishing, specialized tools and jigs, or anything else that might help another person become a better turner.

Gary DeGraff has offered this description of how he produces a flawless finish. "My finishing procedure includes cleaning the bowl with denatured alcohol between sanding grits. This removes any dust and grit remaining from the sanding. Once I have completed sanding with 400 grit, I apply a coat of sanding sealer. When dry I sand with 400g again and apply another coat of sanding sealer. I continue this procedure with 600 grit and stop when the surface looks and feels the way I want it. I then apply Shine Juice, which is a friction polish. I apply 2 or 3 coats with a soft paper towel until I get the finish I like."

Gary makes his "Shine Juice" by mixing equal parts of clear shellac, boiled linseed oil, and denatured alcohol.

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.