Minutes for January 21, 2014 meeting
of the Tennessee Valley Woodworkers

President Karen Browning called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.

· Tonight’s program: “Carving in Miniature” by Jason Lawrence

· Members in attendance: (~50)

· Guests: (4) name not understood, Rickey Wood - Manchester, James Perryman - Murfreesboro, Cynthia Iris - Manchester

· New Members: (0)

Reminders:

· President Browning reminded all guest to see Bob Addington, sign the guest sheet, and pick up a copy of the Splinters newsletter.

· The Splinter Carvers meet on the first Saturday of each month at Phil Bishop’s shop.

· All were encouraged to visit the club website and use the TVW Forum. The more participation, the better the database becomes. Contact Loyd Ackerman if you have trouble with log-on.

· Membership was encouraged to visit Henry Davis and the Club DVD Library as well as the video collection on the club website.

Announcements:

· Long-time member Tom Church passed away following a bout with leukemia. Tom was a co-founder of the club and was known for his giant turned bowls. Keep Susan in your thoughts and prayers.

· Juel McConnell recently lost her sister, Christine Floyd. Keep their family in your thoughts and prayers.

· Remember Phil Bishop as he deals with health issues.

· Bob Reese announced an anniversary. Twenty-five years ago he and his wife attended their first Tennessee Valley Woodworkers meeting, and the rest is history.

Events for 2014

·  “In the Spirit of Fine Woodworking”, the TVW 2014 Exhibition is only 2 1/2 months away. So far there are eighteen registered exhibitors and a total of sixty exhibit items. Anyone who has not registered their items should get the information to Bob Addington as soon as possible. Item display placement is already underway and placards need to be prepared for each item.

· Exhibition Chair Loyd Ackerman showed his PowerPoint presentation with all of the current information about the 2014 South Jackson event. He re-emphasized the need to register your items, get involved in the preparation, and sign up to work during the event and setup/teardown. He also reminded the membership that all the information can be found on the Club webpage.

Old Business

· Dues for the 2014 year are due and payable. Hand your $10 to Bob Addington. What a deal!

· Tools for Sale on the club web page, or contact Loyd Ackerman.

· See Chuck Taylor if your picture has not been taken for the website directory.

New Business

· No new business

Show and Tell:

· Jim Everett– Friends had new log siding installed on their home. Jim created a personalized mailbox for them that is a scaled down replica of the full-size house, from the mini log siding to the electric meter on the back. He verified he accuracy of his copy by showing several photos of both the house and the finished mailbox. Jim brought two framed pieces with intarsia cars that he made for friends. He also brought one of his popular intarsia pieces (he has sold 4 like it) entitled “Working Under Pressure” that he calls a self-portrait.

· Vince Zaccardi – brought three bowls that he turned from Chuck Taylor’s apple wood. He experimented with filling voids with mixtures of coffee grounds and either epoxy for the larger ones or CA glue for the smaller.

· Jim Acord – brought a new and improved flat-faced turned-handle mallet that he made for his wife. He also brought the original one that he made several years ago. He has made several others as gifts. They are called “Whackers” by his family members, who use them for cracking anything from ice to peppercorns. Jim offered several free hackberry log chunks that he would like to be rid of by the first of February.

· Larry Wendland – brought five pens that he turned from tulip, olive, cinnamon burl, stabilized and dyed buckeye burl, and “wood” (he forgot what it is). He also brought a lidded box that he made from red cedar with a forked deer antler handle on the lid.

· Tom Cowan – brought an English tea caddy inspired by the plan referenced by Ronnie Young at the Fall Seminar. The primary wood is butternut lined, with added decorative elements, inlays, and banding made from walnut burl, holly, and quarter-sawn sycamore.

· Paul Fults – brought a play stable that he built to house a toy play horse. The structure is designed to fit the horse and replicate barn construction with all wood elements, including lap siding, roofing, working gates, dowel gate hinges and a CNC nameplate “Chestnut” for the horse that was designed and fashioned by friend and TVW Club member, Bob Addington. Paul finished the piece with multiple coats of Danish oil.

· Paul Jalbert – brought the large raptor themed panel that he designed and built for a group-effort woohcarving session during the October Heritage Day event at Tims Ford Park. The panel features four full-sized birds that frequent the lake area, including a bald eagle, a redtailed hawk, a barn owl, and a seagull. The panel was assembled with spruce 2x6s from Lowes, glued together with Titebond III to last outdoors. After the initial glue-up, Paul tweaked the positions of the birds to exploit or avoid knots in the wood. When Heritage Day was over, a total of 126 people had tried their hand at carving and signed the log book. After some finishing touches and several coats of clear outdoor polyurethane, Paul’s work-of-art is ready for permanent display at the park.

· Bob Leonard – brought a display featuring three knives with matching sheaths, all hand hade and all from wood. Bob, the president, proprietor, and sole employee of the Bolo Knife Works, fashions his masterpieces from multiple wood species, selected to add just the right touch. His display is already registered for the upcoming TVW Exhibition.

· Ken Gould – was so impressed by the three-dolphin sculpture that Dick Wollam carved several months ago that he was inspired to create his own “school of fish”, hopefully in time for our South Jackson event. The school that he brought in is still a work-in-progress consisting of eight hand carved fish suggesting various species found in Tennessee waters. Ken plans to have the fish “swim” above a piece of driftwood as Dick’s dolphins do, but unlike Dick’s piece, Ken’s fish will not be painted, but rather clear-coated to reveal the wood grain patterns on the sassafras, white pine, and yellow pine carvings.

· Loyd Ackerman – brought four hollowforms that he turned from box elder firewood. He wanted to keep the white wood areas white, rather than yellow, and experimented with combinations of clear lacquer, crystal clear Minwax water-base, and crystal clear Rust-Oleum enamel. Unfortunately, he got confused during the multi-cote process and can’t tell you which finish is which. There’s not that much difference, and they all look nice.

· Bob Addington – brought three plaques with integral frames that he made using his CNC router. One was oval with lions in cherry and the other two were square in maple. One was an elk scene and the other was a Christ portrait, which he considers his best work to date.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 PM.