Calendar of Events                                                     List of Club Officer
                  Event                             Date                                                      President:  Tom Cowan
        Coffee County Fair              9/20-22                                                       V. President: Bob Leonard
        Fall Seminar 'Turning'              10-20                                                       Secretary: Shirley Bishop
        Christmas Party                       12/7                                                         Treasurer: Henry Davis
                                                                                                                       Publicity: Maurice Ryan
                                                                                                                       Newsletter Editor: Tom Gillard Jr.

Northwood's basket makers know black ash (Fraxinus nigra) well. In Maine, for instance, this tree of the swamps was cut, pounded, and peeled into thin, strong, bendable strips to form the state's field-worthy potato  baskets. Portaging canoeists, hunters, and trappers traditionally hunkered under the load  of reliable pack baskets made of "basket" ash.

 Although never a cherished target of lumbermen because of its comparatively small size, the black ash rates as unique because its dark-brown heartwood occupies nearly the entire girth of its trunk, leaving  little room for lighter-colored sapwood. And in its springtime rush to grow,  the tree puts on a layer of large-pored early wood. It's this band that cleanly cleaves from the latewood, providing the thin, tough, and durable  strips that craftsmen turn into baskets, woven chair seats, and once upon a time, the hoops that held together the staves of wooden barrels.

Native to the northern wetlands, the black ash shares its soggy habitat with other water-loving trees, such as tamarack and black spruce. Few trees, though, can match its aggressiveness in sending out a massive root system. A fierce competitor, the tree sucks up water and nutrients at a rate that, over the long run, other trees can't match. So the black ash has few close neighbors. In fact, the tree's great demand for water eventually leaves it high and dry. Swamps occupied for decades by black ash become shallower, creating fertile conditions for successor trees like basswood, elm, and red maple that can't stand getting their "feet" wet.

Just a reminder to resister at the meeting for the router drawing.
Remember that the only way you can register is to be at the meeting.

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Note from Jim Del Toro, Fall Seminar chair…

The fall seminar is set for Saturday, Oct 20th. This year's speaker will be Bobby Clemons, a nationally recognized wood turner. He is President of the Tennessee Association of Woodturners, a member of the Brasstown Woodturners Guild in Brasstown, N. C., and was the founding President of the Cumberland Woodturners of Crossville, Tennessee. Bobby has taught classes at the Appalachian Craft Center, the John C. Campbell Folk school and the Arrowmont School of Crafts. He was featured on HGTV’s Modern Masters Christmas show in 1999 and 2000 demonstrating his technique on turning his style of Christmas ornament. He and his turnings were also featured in the December 2000 issue of the “TENNESSEE MAGAZINE”. He has also been featured on the “TENNESSEE CROSSROADS” television show on PBS stations in Tennessee. Bobby will provide turning demonstrations on his Christmas ornaments as well as turning salad bowl, and rough edge bowls. More details will follow in future issues of SPLINTERS".

Mark your calendars!

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Thoughts and Prayers are needed for the following Club members:

Don Helton

No matter what blade you're using, or what material you're cutting, you'll almost always have splintering along the edges of a freehand saber saw cut.

To prevent this, make a plate of 1/8" Masonite that attaches to the base of the sabre  saw with double sided carpet tape, see above.

A slot in the Masonite fits tightly against the sides of the blade preventing splintering.  A notch at the front of the plate helps you follow the pencil line.
 
 
 
 
 

Contact adhesive will never replace regular yellow wood glue in my shop. But it does have its advantages. For gluing up two large surfaces it's quick and easy to use without having to worry about clamps or messy glue squeeze-out.

Once the surfaces are dry, the pieces can be joined together.
But since the adhesive grips on contact, you'll want to use spacers between
the pieces so that the workpiece can be adjusted as needed.
I lay dowels between  the pieces to start with, see middle photo.

Doyle, Hugh, Henry, John, Tom
Loyd, Steve
@ TN Association of Woodturners in Gatlinburg, TN
 
 

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WEB SITES of INTEREST

Arrowmont School of Arts and Craft

WOOD ONLINE newsletter

Falls Mill

Appalachain Center for the Arts

Forest Products Lab. 1999 Wood Handbook

Jim DelToro

Highland Hardware

Woodworker's Journal

Steve Graham's Page

WOOD Online TVWW page

Kevin's Woodturnings

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Tom Gillard Jr.