Meeting July 15th, 2025
Meeting called to order by president Jim Jolliffe at 6:30 pm.
Visiting Guests: Adam Dissmore
New Business:
The Cowan Memorial Turning Bee has been rescheduled to early 2026.
The Coffee County Fair will be August 29- September 6. TVW will supporting the fair September 4 – September 6.
The 40th anniversary banquet dinner is scheduled with social time from 5:30 – 6:00 and dinner 6:00-7:30 on September 19th at the Manchester Coffee County Conference Center. Tickets are $20/person. Banquet tickets will be available for purchase at the next meeting in August.
Larry Wendland is still collecting door prizes from club members for the 40th anniversary banquet.
40th anniversary T-shirts are $25/person. The club is ordering some extra shirts in addition to those that people signed up for.
The club picnic is scheduled for 11 AM-2 PM on Saturday, October 11th. The club will provide barbecue and drinks. Members bring sides or desserts.
There is one slot remaining for the Rich Wetherbee Carving Seminar. The seminar is scheduled 9:00 AM- 4:00 PM October 18 – October 19. The cost is $85 + roughouts for members, and $170 + roughouts for nonmembers. Please note, the remaining slot was filled after the meeting. New sign-ups will be placed on a waiting list.
Show and Tell:
Chuck Taylor showed a sliding tray box he made out of figured maple and quarter-sawn cherry. The box was finished with Deft satin lacquer. The box has red-liner bottoms.
Michael Zuccaro showed a box he made with Zachary Zuccaro and Stephen Zuccaro in 2011. The box has a sliding hinge that Stephen made out of a butter knife. The box is made from ambrosia maple, mahogany, and walnut. It has mahogany and walnut inlay. The side coves were made using a table saw.
Sam Clark showed hollow vessels he made from a class presented by Mark Garner at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg. One vessel is made of cherry with added finish while it was on the lathe. Some of the vessels he showed were finished with milk paint. One has small grooves on the side that Sam made using a brass brush.
One of the vessels is wrapped in orange cord from Hobby Lobby.
To make the vessels, Sam chucked both ends, roughed them out, and split them where he thought he could hide the seams. Then he hollowed out the ends and made a mortise on one end and a tenon on the other. He used CA glue to reconnect the two ends and then turned them again to finish.
Larry Wendland showed pepper mills he made. He showed one made from box elder and finished with polyurethane, and another that was made from plum with a polyurethane finish. He also showed a square pepper mill that he made from ambrosia maple and finished with a cherry stain. Larry made the square mill to demonstrate a wooden pepper mill that could be made without a lathe.
Vince Zaccardi showed a platter he turned from a block of wood that was given to him, and he was not sure of the species. The platter contains natural holes and cracks and was finished with one coat of oil.
Vince also showed a vase he turned out of Norfolk Island pine. The vase was finished with shellac.
Paul Jalbert showed a Celtic style horse that he carved out of a piece of cherry. He also showed a fish that he carved out of cottonwood bark with walnut fins and finished with Danish oil. This fish was practice for a fish that he plans to carve out of a piece of driftwood.
Paul also showed a T-Rex low-relief carving that he carved from a piece of basswood. He made this carving to use in a young carver demo, and he said that the main focus needed to be on the teeth.
Gary Runyon showed a needle box he made out of hickory and finished with Doctor’s Wood Shop and wood burned with with acrylic white pearlescent paint.
Jim Jolliffe showed two previously presented Uncle Sam cariacature carvings since July was our nation’s birthday month. One was based on a Roger Stegall roughout and the other was based on a Mitchell Cartledge leprechaun roughout. Both were finished with boiled linseed oil, acrylic paint wash and rattle can satin lacquer.
Program: Scroll Sawing – Brenda Zuccaro
Brenda began scroll sawing in 2011, and at the beginning of the program she showed several pieces of woodwork that she has made since then. She reviewed the typical uses of a scroll saw including fret work, marquetry, inlay, and art work.
Brenda reviewed the main parts of a scroll saw which include the arm, table supports, blade holder, variable speed control, and blade guard. She also reviewed the different types of blades typically used in a scroll saw including standard, skip tooth, reverse tooth and spiral blades. Standard tooth blades are general purpose blades, skip tooth blades are used for faster cutting, and reverse tooth blades reduce tear out. Spiral blades cut in all directions.
When inserting a new blade, proper blade tension is crucial. Having the blade either too loose or too tight can lead to the blade breaking.
She also discussed the different types of inlay: Trough Inlay and Recessed Inlay. When making trough inlay, you stack two pieces and cut the two pieces simultaneously so that the cut-out of one will fit into the outline of the other. In recessed inlay, you place a cut piece on top of the wood to be inlaid. Then you mark around the cut piece and use a chisel to cut a recess into the piece to be inlaid.
Always remember to put safety first when scroll sawing: Wear eye protection, do not wear loose fitting clothing or long hair that could get caught in the blade, and always be sure to keep your fingers away from the blade.
She then gave a few general tips about scroll sawing. You want the blade to be at 90 degrees, and wax the table to ease the wood’s movement while cutting. Always clean away dust and lubricate the saw. She also recommended using good lighting and using a zero-clearance board for small pieces.
Brenda then invited Judy Bennett to talk a little about intarsia. Judy showed several pieces that she made. Intarsia is a lot thicker than fretwork, and you have to pay attention to the grain. Otherwise, it is very similar to other scroll saw work.
Meeting adjourned at 7:45.
The next meeting is the Club Auction and is scheduled for August 19th at 6:30 PM.