SPLINTERS

Tennessee Valley Woodworkers
   Vol. 20/ Issue 5              May 2005                Editor: Tom Gillard Jr. 

Meeting Notice:
The next meeting of the TN Valley Woodworkers
Will be held, May 17th at 7:00 p.m. in the
 Duck River Electric Building, Decherd, TN
All interested woodworkers are invited!


Please remember, in your thoughts and prayers, all our Troops around the world and those on the way home.

The following people have agreed to serve as contacts for their particular skills.  If you have questions, suggestions for activities, or other comments relating to these skills, please call these folks.  Their interest is to help the club better serve their area of expertise.  Your participation with them will help them achieve that goal.
                                Design:        Tom Cowan    967-4835                            Finishing:       Phil Bishop          967-4626
                                Turning:        Tom Church   967-4460                            Carving:        Harry May           962-0215
                                Sharpening:    Bob Reese   728-7974                              Joinery:        Ross Roepke       455-9140
Maurice Ryan  962-1555   Health and Safety

List of Club Officers

                                                                                                President:          Loyd Ackerman
                                                                                                V. President:       Tom Cowan
                                                                                                Secretary:          Chuck Taylor
                                                                                                Treasurer:          Henry Davis
                                                                                                 Publicity:          Larry Bowers
                                                                                                 Newsletter Editor: Tom Gillard Jr.
                                                                                                Web-Master:  Richard Gulley
Calendar of Events:

May 14:  Turning Bee –– Tom Cowan's place

May 21: Picnic –– Belvedere Falls Mill

September 19: CC Fair –– 24 Manchester

October:  Fall Seminar –– To Be Determined

December 9th:: Holiday Party / 20th: Anniversary celebration at American Legion in Tullahoma.


This is a special message for those intending to attend the TVW Turning Bee at Tom Cowan's shop on May 14.  There will be an informal "Instant Gallery" at the event.  Attendees are encouraged to bring a sample of their wood turnings to exhibit in the gallery.  There will be no formal presentation involved.   Please pass the word along to those without email.   If you have any questions concerning the Turning Bee please email me or call me at 393-3191. Henry


IT'S PICNIC MONTH !

Greetings Fellow Club Members!  Your Picnic Committee wanted me to remind you to check your calendars and be sure the 21st is marked for the club picnic/auction.

 The Picnic is at Falls Mills on May 21st, arrive at 5:00 PM.
Bring a covered dish, the Club will furnish BBQ and solf drinks.
Bring a lawn chair.
Bring an item or two for the Auction.  This is the club's major fundraiser, so please be generous, items you have made always bring a premium price.

If you have questions or comments please email or call me, Henry, at 393-3191.

 Directions to Falls Mill:
From Winchester take US-64 West. Go approx. 11 miles.
Turn right on Old Salem Lexie Rd. go 1.2 miles
Turn left on Falls Mill Rd. go .2 miles
Mill on the right.

See you on the 21th,
 
 


The Club will be selling tickets for two drawings to be held at the Club picnic on May 21 at Falls Mill.  Drawing prizes are the Delta Dust Collector donated by the Delta development team that did the program in February and a Jet Mini Lathe donated by General Industrial Supply.   Tickets will continue on sale at the Club meetings in April and May and again at the picnic itself.  Consider this as a donation to the Club with a chance to win a great prize.
Tickets will be available for $3 each or 2 for $5 to Club members and guests.  There will be two boxes.  One for white tickets and another for red.  Purchasers are to write their names on the back of the ticket half to be put into the appropriate box.   You do not need to be present to win.
A third item, the router bit set donated by Wayne Sutter of Woodline at the March meeting, will be auctioned at the picnic and will go to the highest bidder.
Funds generated will be put into the Club treasury and earmarked for purchase of audio/video equipment and support of Club celebration events.
Larry Bowers will be selling the tickets.

SHOW AND TELL

Maurice Ryan brought two jewelry boxes  he made from poplar. The top insert was light colored poplar.

Bob Lowrance displayed two gold finch carvings with painted finishes.

Bob Reese brought and discussed an early 1900 tater-bug backed mandolin that he had restored. He also displayed a segmented bowl (132 pieces) made from walnut, maple and rosewood.

Ken Gould brought a cherry handled roughing gouge (two inch) he forged from a truck leaf spring.

Bill Knight showed two bowls (1) (2), including lids. He also had lots of toys he made. They included airplanes, cars, bulldozer, tank, helicopter, tractor/wagon and an old-time truck.

Ross Roepke displayed a natural board clock. He also discussed some tools he routinely uses. They included a strap wrench he uses for gluing up boxes (Harbor Freight $4.99), a glue dispenser, mortising jig and a 35-piece router bit set (Heartland $40).

Henry Davis showed a table he made with plans from the Woodsmith magazine. The table had red oak legs (ebonized with India ink). The top and inserts were maple. He discussed the unusual joinery used to make the table.

Doyle McConnell brought a segmented walnut pedestal. He discussed the special cutter used for joining the segments. He also brought a goblet and vase he had made for gifts. He gave away some book match veneer.

Tom Gillard displayed a reproduction of a mantle clock he made for a customer and a keepsake box made from magnolia with mahogany handles and corner feet.

Steve Savelle brought some home-made tools. The included a bevel gage (maple blade), chamfer plane (maple, walnut, blade made from file), carving mallet (Osage orange) and a marking knife (walnut handle).

Dick Wollam brought a carving with pine inlays and the drawing he used to produce the carving. The finish was clear enamel.

Loyd Ackerman discussed the segmented vessel that he had constructed using blood wood, lyptus, red heart and maple.

Bob Lowrance displayed his three bear family carvings.
 
 

TOOLS & TECHNIQUES — Human Proportions
While there are lots of subtle differences between individuals, human proportions fit within a fairly standard range. In figure carving, the basic unit of measurement is the ‘head’, which is the distance from the top of the head to the chin. This handy unit of measurement is reasonably standard, and has long been used to establish the proportions of the human figure. The following proportions should help in keeping your carvings pleasing to the eye:

Human Figure:


HL = Head Lengths • HW = Head Widths
 

Thanks to Richard Gulley
 


Sugar pine California's Gold Rush Tree
When James Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill on the American River in 1848, the California Gold Rush began. So did the mass harvest of the sugar pine, the largest North American pine.
John Sutter had set up his mill at Coloma to saw sugar pine. The tree's tremendous size--200' heights and diameters of 18' have been recorded--meant lots of quality boards from a tree. And the wood was lighter and easier to work than other pines.
Little did Sutter suspect how his lumber business would boom with the coming of the prospecting Forty-niners. They quickly created demand for boards to build mining shacks, sluice boxes, and flumes to extract the gold from river banks and stream beds. It became shoring for mines and bridges to cross the waterways. Sugar pine was used for homes, stores, and roof shingles.
After the Gold Rush, settlers began farming and ranching in the valleys. And just as before, the sugar pine yielded wood for their barns and fences, even though the remaining trees were 100 miles away.
As California's fruit-growing industry developed, growers turned to the sugar pine for boxes and crates because it imparted no taste to the fruit. It was also good-looking.
Even after 150 years of harvesting, sugar pine still grows in commercial amounts in California and Oregon. But to ensure future trees, forest managers have been known to hire sharpshooters to drop the large (10-20" long), otherwise uncollectible, unopened cones from the towering treetops!
Illustration: Jim Stevenson. Wood Online
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Web Sites of interest.

Wood Central

See you on the 17th.

click on the image to go to these sites
Special contributors to Club functions