• Learning Opportunities
• Meetings and Events
• Club Resources
• Club Information
• Members' Galleries
• Internet Resources

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 website Show and Tell page.

WVWA / Carnegie Hall Woodturning 101 Class

In this six week Introduction to Woodturning class, students will begin with a review of safety issues and equipment, including tool usage and sharpening, before moving on to wood selection and preparation. Design concepts will be discussed as students learn turning, sanding and finishing techniques. All students will experience hands-on the steps necessary to produce their own bowl, from start to finish. The long term goal of this series is for students to gain the knowledge and confidence to enjoy woodturning at the WVWA studio on their own.

All classes will be held in the WVWA workshop at Lee Street Studios in beautiful Lewisburg, West Virginia.

For more information about the class or to register, click here .

Tony Massey and Jeff Baumgardner are learning the art and craft of woodturning.

Carnegie Student Show and Tell

These are some of the bowls that the Woodturning 101 students have created.

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 Gary DeGraff at (314)640-3863.

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.