Fun and Learning

[nava1uni]

A big thank you to Greg and Kim for once again opening their open for our meeting. 14 of us gathered to swap wood, stories, and spend time learning together. With a total of 8 lathes we all learned how to make Inside Out ornaments. I learned a lot, had the opportunity to ask questions and have fun all at the same time. It's a great group of people and nice to get together from all over Northern and Central California. To those who couldn't make it I hope that you can make the next one as we missed you.

 

[darcisowers]

It's always fun to get together with our other locals. I learned a lot and can't wait to try my inside out ornament. Everyone should post a picture of theirs. :wink: (Although, I have to do my PITH pen before I can start my ornament!!:biggrin

food was great, visitation was great, and heartfelt thanks to Greg and Kim for hosting our meeting again (and a special shout to Devin for "baby-wrangling" my girls!!)

I picked up a LOT of great ideas for gifts for the holidays. Now to just get busy to make them!!

 

[kenlicciardello]

Another great day at Greg and Kim's. Thanks for opening your home and arranging all the activities. The demo on inside out ornaments was one of the best I have ever seen. Ryan and I learned alot and had a great time.

Thanks to all. Larry, the "raffle" boxes were great. Ryan was on cloud 9 all the way home. Thanks again.

Ken and Ryan

 

[angboy]

I agree, everyone was quite generous and helpful this time. Greg and Kim are so gracious to open up their home to all of us. And everyone sems to share just great knowledge and skills, It's like going to a professional presentation where we'd have to pay a ton of fees, but we don't have to do that in this situation filled with camraderie. I've hung my winning ornament over by computer, as a motivator to get work on attempting one!

 

[gketell]

Thank you all for coming.

A HUGE thanks out to Don for coming and doing the training. You make it look so easy. I think I speak for all of us when I say "I wish I could do that!!".

And thanks to those who could stay late and help clean. "Many hands make light work" really paid off this time around. 9 lathes (How'd you forget the biggun', Cindy?) make quite a mess!!

Thanks to everyone who brought stuff to swap; especially Larry with he generous gifts of redwood!!

It was really fun seeing everyone again and getting to shoot the breeze. I hope we can do it again before the Holidays hit!

I only took a few pictures between helping everyone but here they all are:

We started with food:

Then we watched Don's magic

And after a long while some ornaments were made

The above are the ones that were to the finishing stage by the end of the day. I know that Larry and Dave and Andy will post up pictures when theirs are done.

And LDubia took a BUNCH more pictures. Hopefully he will get a chance to post up soon.

Thanks again for coming everyone.

 

[ldubia]

Hi All!!! Thanks again Greg and Kim (and family) for letting us invade your home for another fabulous meeting. It was not just fun and entertaining, but educating as well. I learned how to do something I had difficulty doing before. This time around it has taken less time, and came out a lot better. I went home and turned two more right away!
Thanks to Don for the great presentation and demo. We couldn't have done it without you. And thanks also for the use for your tools to help me turn. Thanks to Greg for helping me fix my lathe and showing me the error of my turning ways. I am now (a bit) more comfortable using the bowl gouge to turn with.

The pictures are in process and should be posted tonight or tomorrow. There Are quite a few so I hope to get them up soon.
Greg thanks also for the food and rink. It made the day a fun get together with all the talk and sharing, and swapping and bragging going on. I enjoyed all the pens and bowls and things everyone brought to show off. One again it was a fabulous meeting and I look forward to the next one.

I already have plans for the next raffle of "stuff."

Larry

 

[gketell]

Larry, I want to see those other ornaments!

Remember, 45-45-45 and the bowl gouge works well. ;-)

 

[ldubia]

Larry, I want to see those other ornaments!

Remember, 45-45-45 and the bowl gouge works well. ;-)

Thanks Greg. I am using the tool quite often now and am getting better with it. I have done several turnings with it and although I still need more practice to master it, I am making progress.

The pictures (55 of them. I removed all the bad ones...out of focus, ceiling shots, shoe shots, etc). I will be uploading them later. The site where they are located is down for maintenance.

One of the sites is http://www.flickr.com/photos/ldubia/sets/72157624861332348/. Hopefully you can see them.

Larry

 

[gketell]

Larry, thanks for all the pictures!! Those are great!

 

[ldubia]

Thanks Greg.
I'm glad you were able to see them. I was having a heck of a time getting them to display. I will be taking pics of the ornaments as soon as I get them completed. I would sure like to know how Don made the hollow ornament. That was cool.

Errrr...I think I just figured it out. Both brain cells fired up. DOH!

Larry

 

[gketell]

Hey, if we want to have an impromptu get together I could demo the hollow ornaments.

And I could do individuals if only one person wants to too. It's the only socialization I get. :biggrin:

 

[ldubia]

Impromtu socialization get together

Hey, if we want to have an impromptu get together I could demo the hollow ornaments.

And I could do individuals if only one person wants to too. It's the only socialization I get. :biggrin:

Now why do I find that hard to believe.

Maybe we can get you out here for dinner and you and I could go play in the shop. arty: I think that would qualify for socialization. If all goes well (pray, pray, pray) I may even have a "biggun" to play with in a lovely mustard yellow. :biggrin:

I would be up for an impromptu get together. I want to learn as much as i can. :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

Do I hollow the ornament after drilling the 1/4" holes in both ends and clamp it into the chuck? Then cut it off and do the finials?

Larry

 

[gketell]

Do I hollow the ornament after drilling the 1/4" holes in both ends and clamp it into the chuck? Then cut it off and do the finials?

2 ways, one is with a long block that you chuck up. The other way is you glue a "waste block" onto your ornament blank which is a cube or shallower then chuck up the waste block.

Once mounted use your drill chuck and 1/4" bit to drill all the way through the your ornament. If you have small tools you can now start turning. If your tools are a little bigger then use a bigger drill bit and drill 1/2 - 3/4 of the way through the ornament. Now turn the outside of the ornament to shape being careful not to cut down the top to less than 1/2" or so (bigger if you use soft woods).

Hollow. How do you know how thin the turning is? The cheap way is to cut a hanger into two exactly matching L shaped pieces that have the short-end shorter than 1/2 the diameter of the ornament. If you flip one of the two end-for-end then you have a rectangle with all sides parallel and the corners matching up. Now put one end of one into the ornament and then hold the other so everything is parallel and trying to match the corners. The amount they won't match is the thickness of your ornament.

Once you have the ball hollowed to your satisfaction, carefully turn the very top until it parts off. (Or use your hand saw and then sand it to shape). Turn your finials leaving a tenon sized to snugly fit into the holes in your ornament. Glue finials. Hang and finish.

GK

 

[ldubia]

Sounds good. Although I am not sure I understand the coathanger bit. That confused me. But the turning portion made perfect sense. It was pretty much what I thought.

 

[gketell]

The coat hangers as thickness gauge explained:
http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?p=1085436#post1085436

GK