Penturners Club in Atlanta?

[itsme_timd]

Hi All,

Does anyone know if there is a penturners club in Atlanta?

If not, I'm considering trying to get one started. If I were to start one - is anyone interested in something like that? Maybe meet once a month and chat, learn a new technique, run our mouths, see each others pens, run our mou... oh, I think I said that!:biggrin:

Let me know if there is one or if you are interested in joining one!

Thanks,
​

 

[Steve Busey]

I'm just down the road from you, but life is just too hectic to add another rgular meeting. I make it to a turners guild meeting in Roswell once a month, and there are some pen turners there, so that will have to suffice until retirement. Good luck, though!

 

[Rojo22]

I would love to come! I could bring a friend or two as well. Let me know what you come up with, the last meeting we had was an Atlantan/Tennessee/Florida/South Carolina/Texas Bubbasville! I will stay tuned for details.

 

[DocStram]

Tim ..... there are quite a few penturners who live within 60 miles of Atlanta. We've held what's often called a "Bubbasville". The original Bubbasille takes place in Texas. Other penturners around the country, like the Atlanta area people, have adopted the title.
Our Atlanta Bubbasville takes place whenever someone decides they have enough room in their shop .... and they have enough energy and time ..... to put one together. As our good friend Robert said in the previous post ...... we've had IAP people come from a very broad area of the SouthEast.
Living down in Macon, there is no way I'd be able to drive up to Hotlanta for regularly scheduled Penturner Club meetings. But, holding a Bubbasville is an entirely different matter. We haven't had one in quite some time.
If you have the physical space in your shop ...... and the time ..... just let us know. We'll be glad to give you advice about getting an Atlanta Bubbasville organized for this Fall.

 

[Jim Smith]

I am also in the Atlanta area and would love to either be part of a club or attend a Bubbasville meeting. Count me in either way.

Jim Smith
Conyers, Georgia

 

[itsme_timd]

I did a bit of searching to see what I could find out but... I'm still going to have to ask - what exactly is a Bubbasville?

I get that it's a gathering of penturners, but are there any other particulars about it that I need to know? Man - I hate being uninformed...

I'm game for hosting but my shop maxes out at about 4 people... however we can migrate to other parts of the house or another venue all together if needed.

 

[DocStram]

un-uninforming

I did a bit of searching to see what I could find out but... I'm still going to have to ask - what exactly is a Bubbasville?

I get that it's a gathering of penturners, but are there any other particulars about it that I need to know? Man - I hate being uninformed...

I'm game for hosting but my shop maxes out at about 4 people... however we can migrate to other parts of the house or another venue all together if needed.

Oki doke Tim. I'm going to take on the Herculean task of un-uninforming you. Maybe it's "de-informing"? :biggrin::biggrin: There are "IAP Lifers" who have been around a ton longer than I have ... who can give you a more historically accurate description ... but here goes my version.

The original Bubbasville started in Hurst, Texas at Jeff Carrell's workshop. I'm not certain of the year that it first started but maybe Don Ward and others can join in on this. I'm guessing they started meeting sometime around the summer or fall of 2002. They continue to meet to this day. For a while you could watch the meetings and demos on their web cam.

So, what happened was ..... other penturners around the country were inspired by what was going on in Texas. Thus, other penturners began getting together and often times they "borrowed" the name "Bubbasville" to describe their get togethers. I think one of the first Bubbasville's to be held outside of Texas was our get together in Atlanta about two years ago. The Atlanta Bubbaville has only met twice but a bunch of people always showed up.

There have been other "Bubbasvilles" held around the country but I don't think any of them meet as regularly as Jeff Carrell's Bubbasville.

There isn't an official entry form to fill out ... nor do you have to ask for permission to call it a Bubbasville. We all revere and respect the original Bubbasville. The penturners in Texas are gracious enough to let us borrow the term "Bubbasville".

If you'd like to hold one all it take is finding the space and announcing it way ahead of time here in IAP. IAP members will let you know that they are coming and some may even offer to bring their lathes. Others will volunteer to do demos. People will chip in for lunch or snacks or whatever. You'll also see people bringing blanks to trade or even give away. Our last Atlanta Bubbasville had IAP members coming from Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama, and all over Georgia. They often bring their wives and sometimes friends who are just getting started in penturning.

I hope you found this information helpful. By the way, if you ever haul down I75 through Macon ... be certain to give me a heads up. I live about a mile off the interstate.

 

[cozee]

If there is nothing going on in your area, just make it happen. In the spring of 2007, my son-in-law and myself hosted the first Midwest Penturning Gathering. We had 5 or 6 demonstrations which covered the basics of pen turning for the newbies and demos for the more experienced. We were really only expecting about 18-24 people. Much to our surprise and amazement, it drew 52 attendees from 8 states. This past spring we had 74 attendees from 8 states. 2009, even in the planning stages, is beginning to prove to be a bigger and better event. Hopefully we can top both the attendance and the number of states represented. When announcing and advertising your event, don't restrict yourself to only one board or venue. There are other pen turning related forums, and also, turners of other forms do the occasional pen or two and just might be willing to drop in!!!

As for a venue, you can look into public facilities which rent for a minimal fee or many times are free only requiring a reservation. Be sure to check what you would and would not be able to do within the facility relateing to the demos or activities you have planned. The MPG has become fortunate in that the Local Carpenter's Hall (#44, Champaign, Illinois) has adopted this event and given us a home for as long as we want. In fact, I think if we attempted to hold it elsewhere, we would be strongly encouraged to stay at the hall!! Next year's event will use part of the parking lot for a turner's craft show which the local wood turning club is very enthused about!!!

 

[Rojo22]

There isn't an official entry form to fill out ...




Dont let Doc kid you...the vetting process to get into a Bubbasville meeting rivals that of being a Vice Presidential candidate. The process can take years, and thousands of pen blanks to even be considered.....

The form will be mailed to you, and all those pen blanks can be mailed to a post office box secretly located in MACON, GEORGIA.

Seriously though Doc, if we get enough interest in a "official" pen club here in Atlanta, we consider Macon to be a suburb, so we would have the meetings all over the place. It would be like the Pen Makers Roadshow.....We would be happy to move the location around to help people meet.

 

[DocStram]

Tim ... you're getting lots of good advice. Robert (Rojo22) is very involved with his woodworking/woodturning club ... he has lots of first hand experience.

There are other top notch penturners from the Atlanta area. I'd start by contacting people like Chris Higdon (chigdon) and Bruce Boone (btboone). There are a whole lot of others as well. I'm leaving out a bunch of names. The member map is around here somewhere ... that should be some help.

One other suggestion ..... you may want to start a thread edtitled "Atlanta Area Bubbasville". People may have held back from posting (like I did) because of the concern of committing to regular monthly meetings. Maybe by first holding a Bubbasville you would be able to have the Penturner's Club as an off shoot. Know what I mean?

 

[cozee]

In all simplicity, just have a get together. Have a picnic type affair or a cup of coffee meeting and let things evolve from there. The purpose is to share, whether knowledge or enjoyment, of this craft/art we all take part in. All one really needs to do is provide the opportunity for those who share the same interest to gather. Things will evolve from there. And one thing I have discovered, the success of these types of events, at least the MPG, is not because of those who host them or what other event they mimic, but truly more so because of those who attend. It is the passion for pen turning and the desire to glean knowledge that the attendees bring that supply the spirit which from the event draws it's being and purpose. Don't get caught up in little things like naming the event. The event will name itself.

I believe that hosting such events gives pen turning the affirmation and solidification it needs as a viable form of turning craftsmanship/artwork. Having been treated as a lessor (lack of a better word at the moment) secondary form of turning, it had been for the better part ignored at the larger scale turning events which favored vessel and other forms of turning. I believe it has been the formation of these types of events which has brought about some much needed recognition. We have seen this year at the AAW sympoisium in Utah, the inclusion of more pen turning education and demonstration than ever before. And I believe that as more local and regional events take place, the more recognition our beloved craft/art will receive at higher levels. It has become apparent that pen turning is something more than what a vessel turner does from time to time.

 

[itsme_timd]

Now that sounds like some serious fun! Thanks for the info everyone, I'll need to see what I can work out and I'd love to schedule a Bubbasville. I've got some possible venues around here and I'm sure we could make it a good time.

 

[tweetfaip]

Tim,

Having another Bubbasville would be great. Chris Higdon held the last one at his home and I believe Bruce Boone held the first one at his home. Ron McIntire was able to attend the last one and did a great demo on how to create segmented blanks like his "morning after" blank. Various people brought blanks to trade/sell. It was a great opportunity to see and learn and get to know other IAP penturners.

A monthly meeting would be a bit more difficult to commit to but would be fun.

Eric Jones -Just down Hwy 92