Fall 2022 Woodturning Class

September 11th Update - The fall 2022 turning class begins this Thursday, Sept. 15, at 6:00 PM and will run for eight consecutive Thursdays, ending on Nov. 3.

We are ready to hit the ground turning, thanks to the volunteers who spent several hours cleaning, organizing, and sharpening on a very hot afternoon.  Their contribution was invaluable.

September 19th Update - Thursday marked the beginning of another semester of woodturning class at the Cape May tech school.   We have eight students: five returning and three new.   

This is the first in a weekly mailing to our students and instructors, and to the membership of our sponsoring organization, the Cape Atlantic Wood Turners Club provide a synopsis of the evening, photos of the work completed during that time, and other pertinent information.

The first lesson was in spindle turning.   Bottle stoppers make an ideal place for new turners to begin and for those returning to get back into the groove.   The results shown here will vouch for that. 

This week's project will also focus on spindle turning, with pens being the project for the evening.     

The class will run for eight consecutive Thursdays.   The last class will be November 3.  I'm certain that some very interesting work will be forthcoming. 

September 28th Update - Last week's turning class focused on pen making, with most of the students turning and assembling their own pens.   I managed to get a photo of two of them.   

One of our returning class members tried her hand at a footed bowl.  The photos show three views of it and what a nice flow of shavings she was able to achieve on this job.   The bowl is alder; the foot is maple.   The turning required three separate operations, remounting between each.  This week's class will have everyone experiencing bowl turning.   Perhaps a few will move on to do footed and/or lidded bowls in the coming weeks.

October 2nd Update - Our third turning class focused on bowls.   Several nice bowls were turned, and our focus was so intent that the usual time to begin clean up went by unnoticed.   Nonetheless, clean up was accomplished in record time.  So quickly that I was not able to take pictures of any of the finished pieces.

The bowls in the accompanying pictures are pens, bowls, and other items from previous classes that can be reproduced or used as springboards for new ideas in the coming weeks.   Please feel free to talk to any of the instructors if you would like to work on one or more of these ideas.

October 10th Update - Last Thursday marked the half-way point of the semester, and a variety of projects are being created.

There are two couples in the class, and they were each working on two different skills.   One honed their spindle turning technique by making the two wenge pens, the other is shown hard at work creating a pair of bowls. 

There are a few other bowls in the photos this week.   One set of three in mahogany, ash, and korina was completed early in the class and ended up full of sawdust as the turner moved on to more work.  

The small finished bowl is a very nice example of alder. 

The last photo is of a bowl we all have turned.   I call it the "Napoleon" bowl.    You know: Napoleon Blown Apart.

October 17th Update - With poor weather conditions and forecasts of 40 MPH winds, our fifth class saw a drop in attendnce.   Nonetheless, those who managed to make it despite the storm created several very nice pieces.   

In the photos you will see an assortment of bowls, a Christmas tree (now is the time to start making gifts!), two very nice pens with burned in embellishments, and our first ever light pull!   Although the photo doesn't make it clear, the light pull is from engineered wood in shades of purple.   

The weather report for this week looks good and there are only three classes remaining.  The weeks ahead should be very interesting, and we are looking forward each of them.

October 23rd Update - With only two classes remaining, out turners are focused and on target to complete their current projects with time left for more.  

I only have three photos this week, but they are all from new turners and show just how far they've come. The pens are from a new turner and another who is only in her second class.   In addition to the turning skills, they have learned how to drill the blank, glue the brass tube in place, and assemble the final product.  In the photo of the two bowls, notice the rims.   The one on the left was our turner's first bowl, the one on the right is his second, turned only a few days ago, and shows great improvement in details as well as in overall proportions and appearance.   

It is things like these that make our nights so rewarding for our instructors as well as students. 

October 31st Update - One of our turners took the step away from our usual slimline pens to a roller pen.  Rather then a click mechanism, it has a protective cap that can be removed and screwed on to the top of the pen when it is in use.  This is shown in the photos.  

Another turner brought in a large hunk of walnut tree.   By then end of class, he had roughed out three blanks that will be turned into goblets.  They should be really beautiful. As you can see from the finished blanks, roughing this out was quite a job. This week is class number 8, the last of the semester.   

I was informed that the plans to move away from Thursday has been scrapped by the school district.   The next semester will be on Thursdays as usual.   I will let you know the dates when they are available.

November 7th Update - Last Thursday evening marked the eight and last class of the semester.  

The first photos show three pens that were made by one of our first-time turners.   Two of them are from Ipe boards that he cut and drilled in class, the other is a glue-up that he did at home.  They are definitely something he can be proud of.   

...and check out the bowl assortment. Alder, ash, and an incredibly vibrant curly maple.   Very nice work. 

Lastly, you may remember the attempt at a walnut goblet that blew out last week, with half being salvaged to make a small bowl.  That attempt was repeated this week using a piece of sassafras.   The design is very well executed. and the variety of color in the wood is quite unusual, and the burned in lines accent the piece nicely.  

Our next class will begin in February of 2023 and run for eight consecutive Thursdays, ending in March.  Our administrative assistant, Alicia Arnold, is retiring next month.  Alicia was instrumental in helping Tom start the class some twenty years ago, and has been one of our biggest allies.   She will be missed.  Interviews are currently being held for her successor.   I will share more information as I receive it.