Minutes for the March 15, 2016 Tennessee Valley Woodworkers Club 


Transcribed by Eric Strotheide, secretary 

The meeting was opened by club President Paul Fulks  at 6:30 pm.

A card for Gary Runyon was passed through all of the attending members to sign.

Paul Fulks gave a historical talk about Thomas Blanchard, who's work was essential to the world as he was one of the first people to adopt interchangeable parts to be used in American manufacturing and assembling.  He also invented several machines and lathes, one of which was a lathe to turn oval sections of wood, and was also used in the metal lathes.

The Atlanta Woodworking Show will be held next month on April 1-3, in Atlanta Ga.  They will have judging and award prizes in different categories, and also will have different seminars, with the costs of each being between $25 - $50 per seminar.

This months guests were Tammy O'Conner, David Sharpe, and Justin Blackwell.  

The Carvers Corner is held at Jim Jolliffe's shop every 1st. and 3rd. Saturday of the month.

It was announced for April's meeting, anyone wanting to order any sandpaper or similar products carried by Klingspor, will be able to do so through the club at a 10% discount.

A shop tour of of Jim Jolliffe's show was to be held on Saturday, March 19, with members wanting to attend to meet at the Hardee's on Lincoln St. At 7:30 am, and then follow everyone to the shop.

A Calendar oh the clubs events for the rest of the year were announced again, and are as follows:
The club picnic will be held again at Falls Mill on May 14, with a meet & greet at 4:30, with the main program to start at 5:00 pm.
Members are encouraged to bring an item that will be auctioned off to raise funds for the club.
The Annual Club Turning Bee will be held at Larry Wendlands shop on June 25.
The booth at the Coffee County Fair in September.
A seminar to be announced, to be held  on October 23.
The annual club Christmas Party to be held on December 8 at Boskeys Bar and Grill.

Show and Tell
Doyle McConnell had pictures of a white entertainment center he made with the help of a relative.

Dexter Brady had pictures of the work he has done on his home.  He added a screened in porch, with a brick foundation and a gabled roof, and also the bathroom renovation he had done.  He then amazed us all with the images of the canoe he has been hand crafting for the last 7 years.  It is made from several different woods, such as both red and white cedar, white ash, yellow poplar, white oak, and cherry.  The entire canoe weighs less than 100 lbs. and is waterproofed by adding a layer of fiberglass and covering that with an epoxy resin.

Doug  Dunlap brought in several intarsia Christmas ornaments made from poplar, oak, and cherry woods, and finished with laquar.

Allen Odell showed us several carvings he had done from the wood and bark from a tree that has been growing on the family property for a long time. They were a lighthouse, several cottages, and one of a turtle.

Tom Cowan brought in a miniaturized version of a sunflower chest, made in 3/8 scale.  It was made mostly from white oak and pine, with the darker elements ebonized by placing them in a container with vinegar and steel wool.

Judy Bennett brought in several pieces of intarsia, one a lighthouse made from oak and cedar, and a vase with flowers, done with purple heart and walnut, and finished with a sprayed laquar.

Gary Bennett showed us several turned bowls that were started when the wood was green, then finished later while in Florida.  They were from several different woods, 1 in cherry , 1 in walnut finished with several coats of tung oil, some finished with carnauba wax, applied with fine steel wool.  He also turned a natural edge bowl, turned from pecan.  It was finished with wipe on poly, and the edge was stabilized with CA glue.

Ross Roepke brought in a almost completed table he is currently finishing for the Tullahoma Fine Arts exhibition.  He has managed to somehow construct it from left over oak and walnut woods, from other projects he has done. 

Tammy O'Conner showed some of her stained glass pieces, and told us she is offering classes, teaching the fine art of working with glass, and how to incorporate glass into a wood project.

It was then suggested due to UTSI giving us permission to use the meeting room and equipment for such a long time, we help them by building a swing and arbor for their use, and possibly building a display cabinet to be used to display a large collection of space related  memorabilia.  

Main Program

Dave Sharp, a Master Carver from Smithville TN, gave us a demonstration on  how he carves his figures and scenes.  He showed us several techniques he uses to create the depth and realistic features on the animals and human busts he carves.  He told us how he prefers to use traditional hand tools with woods like northern bass wood and butternut, and power carving tools on harder woods like cedar and southern bass wood.  He preferred to use hand tools when ever possible, but admitted due to time constraints, sometimes he has to use the power tools to remove larger quantities of wood in some spaces.  He told us how he will undercut behind some of the places in the piece to give it a more 3 dimensional effect in a piece that may only be 1 inch thick.  It the piece is to be painted, he uses a spray on Krylon sealer, then uses acrylic paint.

Alfred Sharp then gave a description of how he carves some of the wood on his furniture pieces that he's does.  As a master furniture maker, he does not specialize in the carving itself, but incorporates carving into some is the pieces as an accent feature.  He showed pictures where on a drawer facing for example, the relief carving may only be 1/4 of an inch deep, but it can still use light and shadow to give an sense of a greater depth.  He also has done pieces where the piece is all carving, such as the example of the glass topped table, with the carving of an elk.  In this piece, Mr. Sharp used an entire tree root system, and turned it upside down, and was able to incorporate the actual roots as the antlers.
He then gave a brief talk on the types of carving tools he uses, and how they are numbered, and how to sharpen and hone the chisels to keep them sharp.

The meeting ended at approximately 8:45pm.