When to begin?  Apparently the answer is “early”.

The mentoring session we had for half an hour before the ‘official’ start of our February meeting was quite the success! There were many questions answered, much advice given, and even a few tools sharpened! The feedback was so overwhelmingly positive that we've decided to continue with this format for the foreseeable future. So while our General Meetings (business, demo, show & tell) and the Zoom call will still start at 7:00 p.m., we'll have a mentoring session before each meeting starting at 6:30 p.m. Please come early with questions, a project (or tool) you’ve been having trouble with, or with your expertise to share with other turners.

When to end?  Apparently “when the lathe rocks uncontrollably” answers that question.

Brad Bond gave us a great demo on off center bowl turning. He showed a creative method for getting both a mortise and a tenon, on different centers, onto the bottom of a single blank. He then used those mounting points to shape a basic bowl, and put a variety of artistically angled off center facets on the bowl. Unfortunately, the final step of hollowing the off-center bowl at full turning speed was too much for the lathe as it was set up on the event room carpet. Without skipping a beat Brad graciously (and wisely) ended his demo there and moved on to Q&A. Thanks, Brad, for handling that so well, and thanks, Dennis and Tom, for looking into how we can better stabilize the lathe in the future. See elsewhere in this newsletter for more details of Brad’s demo, and a link to his YouTube video on the topic.

When to continue?  Always when participation is concerned!  :-)

I've been pleased with all the entries in the monthly President’s Challenges and Show & Tell. Keep them coming! The club works best when we have the chance to see and learn from each other. I've also mentioned before how volunteer help from members in all areas is what keeps this club running so smoothly. Thanks to everyone for helping out. 

And, sometimes a special thanks is in order so in that spirit, I'm proud to announce we plan to periodically acknowledge exceptional contributors.  See below to learn why the board has chosen Angela Gunn as the initial recipient for our “Chipping In” special recognition award. Thanks again Angela!

Keep on turning,

Kevin