SPLINTERS
Issue 4, 15 April 1986
Phil
Bishop, our program chairman, has another great video for the April 22 meeting.
This one demonstrates bowl
turning-techniques.-
Many of you have done some turning bowls, rails; bedposts, candleholders, and
other useful
articles.
How about bringing a sample of-the work you’ve turned out on your trusty wood
lathe to the April meeting— a
sort
of “how the wood turns “ soap opera??
SPOTLIGHT
This
month the spotlight is on Tom Cowan, our Treasurer and a pioneer in the
Tennessee valley Woodworkers. Tom is one of those who brought this woodworking
club from an idea to a growing, dynamic, organization. We are fortunate to have
the benefit of Toms prior experience-as President, Vice President, and
Treasurer of the Franklin County High School Band Boosters. His “lessons
learned” from those positions are a source of many of the policies and by—laws of
our club and the experience of many years of woodworking adds a lot to our
meetings.
A
seventh generation Franklin Countian, Tom lives on the 3rd generation homestead
in Cowan with his wife Mary and their four children. Presently employed by the
Duck River Electric Cooperative, its through Toms efforts that we meet in the
DREMEC community room.
Tom
relates that he’s always been interested in woodworking and that as a youngster
he asked Santa for tools as well as toys. His entry into mechanized woodworking
tools began when he saved $24 from various small jobs and purchased a scroll saw
(he must be good at both woodworking and maintenance, the 30 year old saw and
some of his early tools still work well)! His lifelong interest in woodworking
led him toward a career as a shop teacher, a path Tom pursued through both high
school and college. - However Tom is quick to point out that his real knowledge
of woodworking came as he spent more and more time with wood. Truly experience
is the best teacher. Tom believes he’s learned most in the last two years as
his appreciation for the older techniques increased and he became more
interestu4 in furniture, particularly chairs and desks. He’s now looking at
different staining and finishing methods and products to augment his favorite
finish technique of stain and lacquer.
Like
many of our members, Tom splits his free time with other interests. Tom is also
a Civil War history buff but he has found a way to blend both hobbies: he makes wooden reproductions of Civil War
items. Some of his latest projects are replicas of Civil War canteens and a
desk made to specifications of that era -- what a challenge!
When asked about the future of our club Tom quickly points out that he
sees that the club provides each of us an opportunity to learn, from our
programs as well as from each others triumphs and problems. Growth will come
from our ability to educate, share ideas and take advantage of the tremendous
increase in woodworking activity that is occurring across the entire country.
EXECUTIVE
COMMITTEE MEETING
There
will be an Executive Committee meeting immediately following the regular April
22 meeting. The topic of
discussion
for the meeting will be “How Are We Doing”? The Executive Committee is made up
of all club officers and two members at large. Its purpose is to set club
policy, assist in long range planning, and assure the intent of the by—laws are
being adhered to. Our Committee members are:
Henry
Davis — Chairman
Joe
Pawlick — Secretary
Phil
Bishop
- Tom Cowan
Susan
Church -
Randy
Lee-
Terry
Penn
Any
member may sit in on the meeting and inputs from you, the members, will be
appreciated.
I
was worried for two weeks getting ready. I practiced setting up tarps and
tables and making sample displays. Finally the day came. After a totally
sleepless night I was up at 5:00 am! My wife packed ham sandwiches, fried
chicken, ice and cokes in the cooler, and filled the thermos, with hot coffee.
Glad she did such a good job, I had plenty of time to eat! I got to Cowan about
7:30 am and Mr. Hatcher showed me my spot. Oh Boy! Here I am ready for my first
show. I tried for 30 minutes to set up my self-standing canopy -- no . luck.. I
was so nervous that I couldn’t get the frame together. I told the ladies next
to me that this was my first show. They
said they could tell: it was their first show too. ‘Like the welcomed cavalry
in-a western movie, my wife arrived. With her helpful calm and knowhow we had
the canopy up in ten minutes and the display up and looking good very soon
thereafter. Everyone who passed by really liked my clocks and commented on how
beautiful they were. If compliments were dollars, I would have been able to
retire on the spot. However there were very few buyers. A fellow from
Chattanooga set up across the street from me and was frying funnel cakes. His
customers were lining up all day long. I told my wife “lets start making funnel
cakes instead of clocks”.
The
two ladies on my left, from Tracy City, said nothing.. They ,said when they
went to Winchester or Tullahoma in the future, they would never even go thru
Cowan again. sold four clocks in two days and that was just enough to keep me
going.
I
learned a lot at that show, had a lot of fun, and didn’t give up. I have
entered a few shows since then and have won second and third place ribbons in
four judged shows. I have enjoyed each show I’ve entered since the first one,
and am looking forward to another season of good craft shows. You meet a lot of
good craft people, and its one place where yoLr can learn a lot by observing.
It’s a great hobby for a retiree.
(submitted
by Jack Townsend)
SCRAPS
AND SWEEPINGS
Just
a couple of quick hints I picked up from some magazines:
The
saw of some hole saws tends to wobble or spread out when they begin their cut.
If you have that problem, try a stiff rubber band around the outside of the saw
blade. The added rigidity may allow your saw to plunge accurately into the work.
Credit
cards (out of date ones—of course) or similar plastic cards can be cut with
pinking sheers and made into dandy glue applicators.