Woodturning for the Blind

[Andi]

Hello everyone.

I am Andi, the blind woodturner. I am very excited to be part of this group. I have founded two woodturning programs for the blind, in Tampa and in Phoenix, and will be starting a third one in Pittsburgh this summer after the June AAW symposium there. Next year I plan to start one in Atlanta. Penturning is our principal activity as it is easiest to teach and the blind people get a huge buzz out of being able to make something useful for themselves and others.

I would like to say a very special thankyou to Sharon Wertz for all the hard work she has put in with the Phoenix school at the Arizona Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ACBVI). ( see http://www.penturners.org/forum/f18/lighthouse-blind-turning-project-130012/ and http://www.penturners.org/forum/f18/blind-turners-arizona-center-blind-130720/ ) What she has done in such a short time is extraordinary. I would also like to thank all of you who have supported her with your donations of equipment, supplies and funds. The clients at the ACBVI have very limited means, so these contributions have made possible activities for them which otherwise would not have happened, and helps put them on the way to becoming self-sustaining.

Attached are two photos of Sharon helping an ACBVI client to make a pen (I have had help in posting these as I cannot see them). Her initiative in making pens for the men and women in the armed services is wonderful, and I can sense her clients' excitement in doing this. After having been on the 'receiving' end most of the time due to their disabilities I know myself how rewarding this must be for them to for once be on the 'giving' end.

The Tampa Lighthouse for the Blind woodturning group which we started in 2013 is smaller than Phoenix and does struggle for supplies. If any IAP members in the Tampa area would be interested in helping us with this or with the instruction please contact me and I would love to work with you.

Thank you again to all of you for your support.

Andi

 

[jeff]

What a heartwarming post and a worthy cause!

If someone from Tampa can help coordinate, I am sure we could get a nice quantity of kits, blanks, and supplies to them. It might help for us to know what specifically they could use and which pen kits they are comfortable using.

 

[bobleibo]

I never cease to be amazed and what determined people can accomplish. Very inspiring.
I would welcome any opportunity to contribute some supplies, kits, etc.. Someone say what and where and it's on the way.

 

[wob50]

I sent some blanks and slimline kits to Sharon she like the blanks cause most of them was already turn roud , she said that saves her a lot of time , I know she will chime in soon .
Robert

 

[jimm1]

Let us know if there may be a plan for Nashville.

 

[Andi]

Wow, thank you thank you!

Any pen kits and bushings would be appreciated (we currently use Gatsby's). We make key rings with 7mm bushings. We do seam rippers/letter openers and bottle stoppers ,so hardware and/or wood for these would be great. Any pen blanks. SIMPLE pepper grinder kits (which we have yet to try). We also make pendants, so any pretty 3" x 3" x 3/8" thick wood. We are open to anything simple.

Please send to

Chelsea Bridges,
Activities Director,
Tampa Lighthouse for the Blind,
1106 Platt St,
Tampa FL 33606

We are very grateful for the help. It is going to a very good cause.

Andi

 

[Jim15]

I love this type of post. Thanks for sharing with us.

 

[wyone]

<<<<--- gets a special heartwarming out of this. it is simply amazing what can happen when people are determined.. and when caring hearts answer the call for assistance.. I have to say I am also pretty amazed at the talent of the turners and the instructors. This is one of those things that makes you think.. Thank you for sharing

 

[jeff]

Are wood or acrylic blanks preferred?

 

[sbwertz]

Hi Andi

Glad to see you posting! There are some wonderful people on this forum, so don't hesitate to ask questions. There is always someone who knows exactly how to fix your problems!

The peppermills she is talking about are these:

Antique Style Copper Finish Peppermill Mechanism at Penn State Industries

because they are basically just like turning a large pen blank....just a shaped cylinder with a one inch hole drilled through it on which the mill is mounted. My turners here find them easy to make.

In the picture, Dale is doing an inlay with CA and embossing powder to make three rings on the top of his pen. I dripped in the CA and he put in the powder and then turned it down. He is one of our most accomplished turners. He can mount his blanks on the mandrel with the bushings, mount them on the lathe, set up the tool rest, and turn the blanks almost without help. The only thing I did was to cut the grooves for the inlay with the parting tool because he could not judge the depth, and drip in the glue. He finished it with a CA/BLO finish (I counted the drops for him.) He has turned four service pens already. Dale is able to see a little bit, but does most of his turning by touch.

 

[sbwertz]

A point I would like to make about the Tampa project. They have NO sighted people on the project. Andi is completely blind. Her husband and father help her prepare blanks to take to Tampa (cutting and drilling them for her.) They are REALLY in need of some volunteer help there. Their director there is visually impaired, and is just now becoming able to help teach other turners, but because Andi lives in the Virgin Islands, she only gets to Tampa once a month to help with the project. So if any of you Tampa turners could give them even one day a month it would DOUBLE their turning capability.

 

[Andi]

Jeff: wood or acrylic pen blanks – either would be great.

Sharon: yes, help with the instruction in Tampa would be very welcome. (My sighted husband and dad do help me with the instruction but only for the one week a month I am in Tampa).

Some background: In 2011 the American Association of Woodturners (AAW) held a session at their annual symposium in Minnesota where blind and visually impaired people were able to explore some woodturnings with their hands. Attached are a couple of photos taken by Andi Wolfe (another Andi). The positive response to this led to a similar session at the 2013 AAW symposium in Tampa with a group of blind and visually impaired people from the Tampa Lighthouse from the blind who I brought in. Immediately afterwards they each turned a pen on a Jet lathe, never having encountered a lathe before. A short video of this penturning session we held at the symposium can be seen at http://vimeo.com/groups/205403/videos/81100469.

These events were described in an article in the American Woodturner in the attached pdf.

Subsequently we have set up a permanent program at the Tampa Lighthouse for the Blind, and it has been very popular with the Lighthouse clients. The Phoenix program followed in 2014 and it too is doing very well, in good part thanks to Sharon and support from IAP members.

My goal is to establish a woodturning program for the blind and visually impaired in each city that the AAW visits. This will leave a lasting imprint and legacy on the community long after each symposium.

 

[Andi]

This thread was begun for Andi with my assistance with the writing. Andi has now graduated to making her own postings in full. See below at http://www.penturners.org/forum/f18/lighthouse-tampa-now-has-our-own-classr-132975/

Bravo Andi.

Malcolm Zander

 

[sbwertz]

Hello everyone.

I am Andi, the blind woodturner. I am very excited to be part of this group. I have founded two woodturning programs for the blind, in Tampa and in Phoenix, and will be starting a third one in Pittsburgh this summer after the June AAW symposium there. Next year I plan to start one in Atlanta. Penturning is our principal activity as it is easiest to teach and the blind people get a huge buzz out of being able to make something useful for themselves and others.

I would like to say a very special thankyou to Sharon Wertz for all the hard work she has put in with the Phoenix school at the Arizona Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ACBVI). ( see http://www.penturners.org/forum/f18/lighthouse-blind-turning-project-130012/ and http://www.penturners.org/forum/f18/blind-turners-arizona-center-blind-130720/ ) What she has done in such a short time is extraordinary. I would also like to thank all of you who have supported her with your donations of equipment, supplies and funds. The clients at the ACBVI have very limited means, so these contributions have made possible activities for them which otherwise would not have happened, and helps put them on the way to becoming self-sustaining.

Attached are two photos of Sharon helping an ACBVI client to make a pen (I have had help in posting these as I cannot see them). Her initiative in making pens for the men and women in the armed services is wonderful, and I can sense her clients' excitement in doing this. After having been on the 'receiving' end most of the time due to their disabilities I know myself how rewarding this must be for them to for once be on the 'giving' end.

The Tampa Lighthouse for the Blind woodturning group which we started in 2013 is smaller than Phoenix and does struggle for supplies. If any IAP members in the Tampa area would be interested in helping us with this or with the instruction please contact me and I would love to work with you.

Thank you again to all of you for your support.

Andi

This picture is Dale, the turner who made the banksia pod pen. He has turned more than 25 service pens!

 

[Malcolm Z]

Andi teaching in Tampa

Here are a few photos of Andi teaching a blind student at the Tampa Lighthouse for the Blind to make a key ring holder.

Photos taken by Carl Brown.

 

[Malcolm Z]

And one more

Again photo by Carl Brown. Andi and her father on right.