Welcome to the Home Page of the INW Woodturners Club!
Announcements: This page will usually begin with the most recent at the top. Problems or ideas can be submitted on the "Contact Us" page.
HELP WANTED: We are in need of two volunteers immediately:
- AV person to handle cameras and mics at meetings. Would be best to have some experience, but can be trained from scratch if needed. Needs to be available at main monthly club meetings at Ferris High School.
- Webmaster: For now updates are being handled, with new announcements, etc. We do need someone that has website experience to manage the broader issues of design and maintenance of our website. We are on WordPress, and experience would be useful, either with WordPress or general website design.
- Inquiries can be submitted via "Contact Us" page or by talking with one of the Board.
Ferris High School Information: Meeting and Workshops In-Person Location
Ferris is a District 81 high school on the South Hill of Spokane. It is at the intersection of Regal and 37th Ave. An aerial view is shown below. The parking lot is huge and the walkways are wide and have good handrails. If you have large or heavy materials to bring to the meetings or workshops, please contact us and we will work that out with you. At this time MASKS ARE REQUIRED inside Ferris buildings. The address for you to GPS is: 3020 E 37TH AVE , SPOKANE , WA. (Please note that some of the roads inside the Ferris campus are one way and there are strange little turns in places.)
Upcoming 2021 Meetings: All on FIRST Thursdays at 6:30 PM PST
Remainder 2021 into 2022: We are planning to be in-person as well as ZOOM (hybrid meeting), with all in-person at Ferris High School. MASKS REQUIRED. No exceptions. If you don't want to wear a mask, feel free to join us on Zoom. The Board has also decided that we will not provide or allow bring in food or beverage for the in person sessions, as it promotes the removal of masks. Again, we have an elderly and at risk population, and feel we need to be proactive in our approach to CoVid19.
Oct 7: Ron Gooley, our own master of sharpening, will be doing a demonstration on sharpening. Ron will emphasize needed sharpening techniques, especially for HSS scrapers, negative rake scrapers, parting tools and lastly, for some gouges. There will be discussion of grinder and wheel choices, as well as grinds and angles. This is meant as an introduction to sharpening and will likely be followed by a hands on "clinic" on a third Saturday at Ferris.
November 4: Cindy Drozda!!. This will be a $10 fee for all members. Well worth it to see this master turner and artist ! See more on her website. This is one not to miss. We will select a useful topic from among Cindy's myriad skills and update this listing further. Cindy is one of the current generation of masters of turning and art. Again, this is not one to miss! Register/Pay ($10) at: Cindy Drozda Demo!
December 2: Holiday party! We are hoping for an in person party with a program and show 'n' tell.
Volunteer to Help High School Students Learn to Turn!
We need volunteers to help one morning a week at Ferris, from 8 AM to 12 PM. We assist the students turning on various size lathes and projects, while imparting safety techniques. The students are all eager to learn and make something they can take home.
Please consider helping this great program. We cannot continue this vital role in our community without extra support. If you cannot do every week, we hope to integrate your commitment with that of others and get the program well covered.
This is a sanctioned activity of the Inland Northwest Woodturners, and liability coverage is provided as a volunteer in a District 81 program, as well as for INW.
Please contact:
Ron Valley 509-270-3064, or rvalley@comcast.net
Get a Grip on It !
Some pictures of the wrong and right way to use a chuck with jaws for mounting with a tenon (compression mode) or a recess (expansion mode). The base of jaws are not manufactured to be flat and in true to each other. Only the top of the jaws are machined flat and true.
With Damon's approval, these pictures are from our June Third Saturday with Damon demonstration and discussion session. Turn out was very good and the session was valuable to all! Lots of core turning and equipment advice learned from experience. Avoid making the mistakes that most of us do, and pick up the pearls of the trade in short order! Members will receive a link before the next Third Saturday sessions.
Woodcutting
Some of our members have been working hard gathering lots of logs for cutting and distribution. Stay tuned for the next distribution day!
We are likely to have a wood distribution day in the early Fall, pending enough wood and species to cut and distribute. This summers heat
has made this a real problem for us. (Large elm trunks on trailer below).
The Lend-a-Lathe Program is Active!
Our "Lend-a-Lathe" Program is designed primarily for new turners getting started on their woodturning experience. Currently a Rikon Midi and a Jet Midi are in the program, with an initial 3-month loan period for members. For questions, applications and supporting materials contact Damon, the program director. You can use the "Contact INW" message page and the request will be forwarded to Damon.
Here we have two of turner Damon’s pine hollow forms, textured, painted, and hollowed with his signature “invisible technique.”
Here are two of turner Damon’s fish series, shaped entirely by turning on the lathe (i.e., no bandsaw work). The wood is poplar, and they are also painted and hand carved.
