Tennessee Valley Woodworkers

Greetings

On September 19th several of our members met to tour the Sam Werner Military Museum in Monteagle. Five of us met in Cowan at Paw Paw’s Country Restaurant for breakfast. I thought we were going to have a small crowd for the tour. However, when we got to the museum, a larger group of woodworkers were waiting for us. We ended up with 10-13 maybe. Evidently, none of us are picture takers, for we didn’t get any pictures of the group. Most of us took pictures of the display items but not of each other.

The tour guide, Parker Lowndes, was very knowledgeable on all the equipment and displays. And there was a lot of it. There may be a couple projects our club can help the museum with in the future. More on that as it develops.

I would encourage everyone to take your families to tour the museum. There’s a heavy focus on local history such as Camp Harris and many local veterans have donated items. It’s something all our children should see.

Now let’s get started with SPLINTERS.

August Meeting

I think I owe most our woodworkers an apology. I consider most woodworkers to be extremely frugal (cheap.) That includes me. But for the August auction you busted the piggy bank, raided the cookie jar, and dipped into the egg money. I’ve always heard “money can’t buy happiness.” But it can buy tools and that’s REAL close to the same thing. There were a lot of smiling faces leaving the meeting. I’m sure Jim will give us a total sales report at the next meeting.

September Meeting

Anthony Watts will be our presenter for the September meeting. He will demonstrate how he constructs Shaker boxes. This is no “one size fits all” program. There’s bound to be a box just the right size for you.

 Upcoming Events

-September 23rd Club picnic at Falls Mill 11am-2pm. Meat and drinks provided. Please bring a side dish or dessert to share.

-October 7-8 Tim’s Ford Heritage Days. Details coming.

-October 17 – We will conclude the auction at the regular meeting. There’s still a plethora of items to be sold.

-October 21-22 Rich Wetherbee’s Carving seminar. Cost is $170 plus roughouts $30-$40. Lunch will be provided both days. Contact Jim if you plan to attend.

-The Tool and Craft Fair will be held Saturday, Oct 28th at St Barnabas Episcopal Church. It slipped one week due to Rich Wetherbee’s carving seminar on 21-22 Oct.

-The Club is looking for a black locust tree to support a repair at Falls Mill.

August 2023 Show & Tell

Here are the items that were shown in August.

Micky Knowles brought in 2 highly figured/spalted walnut nesting bowls finished with Sanding Sealer Lacquer, and a Hummingbird “Condo” House made of Ironwood with the same finish for the auction.

Ken Burgess carved a Bark House “in-the-round” from Cotton Wood Bark, finished with MinWax, which was also auction item. (Pic1, Pic2)

Richard Gavagni was inspired by a recent program and made Native flutes finished with poly.

Richard Gulley showed us a Laser Engraved slate coaster with “Try that in a Small Town.”

Ken Gould brought in a Walnut and Steel end table finished with resin and three resin castings.

Gary Runyon made a Walnut Sliding Top Box and 2 threaded boxes for the auction, made from Hickory and Chittum, respectively.

Internet Links of Interest

A link for finishing with shellac-

Applying a Shellac Finish | Wood (woodmagazine.com)

Carver’s Corner

The Splinter Carvers continue to meet first and third Saturdays of the month from 8:30 am to 10:30 am (whether Jim’s there or not).  The shop is located at 201 Jolliffe Acres Ln, Tullahoma. Tools and wood are available at the meetings, just bring yourself and try your hand at carving!

Note: Woodcarver Rich Wetherbee will lead a Caricature Carving seminar at Jim Jolliffe’s shop October 21st and 22nd from 8:30 – 4:30 each day.  Cost is $170 plus roughouts ($30-$40 each).  Lunch will be provided both days. Please let Jim know if you want to sign up.

Sweeping Up

Some more funnies that may give you a chuckle.