Dedicated to promoting wood turning in Southern Utah through educational demos, classes & fellowship between members. "Learning Through Turning"
Our in person Club Meetings are the 2nd Saturday of each month at 9 am. at Cedar City High School (703 W 600 S Cedar City, UT 84720) in the wood shop classroom (North Side of Building, use the back door by the large dust collector). Visit our website at https://www.southernutahwoodturners.com. Email us at suwtclub@gmail.com
Officers & Contacts
PRESIDENT, JERRY KELLER--(702) 497-5355-- j.keller534@gmail.com
VICE-PRESIDENT, BILL VINCENT--(206 979-3218--billvincent1947@gmail.com
INTERIM- SECRETARY, NEWSLETTER EDITOR, AUDIO/VISUAL --JIM POPE --(435) 559-8277 --suwt2020@gmail.com
TREASURER--STEVE ASHWORTH-(435) 704-4192
WEBSITE ADMINISTRATOR--GEORGE MASON- (435) 590-8169 - georm@aol.com
SAINT GEORGE AREA: CHIEF ENGINEER / R&D GRANT JOHNSON- (435)773-5998
DEMO COORDINATOR - ERIC WALKER- (435) 477-2655 - mamapapabear186@gmail.com
Special Notices
We are making the application for membership to Southern Utah Woodturners available on our website. Please mail form, with dues check ($30 annual, prorated as needed) for 2022, to Glenn Pearson at the address on the application so he may update our records for the club.
Presidents message
Hello fellow turners, I hope you all learned as much about sharpening our lathe tools as I did. I've been turning for over 15 years and yesterday's sharpening demonstration by Kirk DeHeer changed the way I'll sharpen from now on! And added appreciation to Kirk for his "after demo" discussions with members.I also want to thank all who brought work to the show and tell, it was the best in a while.We had a great raffle (thank you Jeff Blonder) and kudos and thanks to Glenn Pearson who has been our photographer for the past 7 years.I hope to see you all at the next meeting on October 8th! As always, turn safe
Meeting Notes
The date (December 3) for the 2022 Christmas luncheon and gift exchange has been set. It will be held at the same venue as last year which is the Courtyard by Marriott banquet rooms located at 1294 S. Interstate Drive, Cedar City. Cost will be the same as last year which is $5.00 per member and $5.00 per members guest and $25.00 per extra non member guest. More information will follow as the time gets closer.
Jay Brown from northern Utah, has agreed to present a demo for our club. October or November has been discussed, more to come as we work out the details.
Will Arcularius will be setting up a birdhouse ornament workshop. These items are sold at the Cedar City visitors center and 100 percent of the proceeds will be donated to the Canyon Creek services , which is a women's shelter for battered and abused women , located in Cedar City , Utah.
Demonstrations
Kirk DeHeer was the featured presenter this month, explaining the proper setup, angle settings and tips & tricks for sharpening woodturning tools
Members of the club are encouraged to submit photos and a description of the species and design of their work. Please submit these to Jim Pope, suwt2020@gmail.com , no later than the 20th of each month.
Show and Tell
Gallery
Tips and Tricks: SURFACE REPAIRS
By Leon Olson
When I was teaching woodshop, a student was making a Koa wood coffee table. When he ran the top through the planer, a chunk of wood was ripped out of the center. I told him to not allow anything to touch that area. Next, I told him to go to the local lumber yard and buy a kit of “50 coat clear finish” which was a casting resin. He put the clear coat in the damaged area and then finished the table the way we normally did. People looking at the table could not see the flaw. In essence we do the same thing when we use cyanoacrylate, CA glue, in a small flaw. The question is, is it a permanent repair. According to David Ellsworth, who is one of the most respected professional woodturners in the world, it will eventually fail because wood expands and contracts with the change of seasons and acrylate does not. I know that museums no longer accept wood turnings that have been assembled with cyanoacrylate.Eventually they fall apart.
The first question with surface repairs, is it structural or cosmetic? If it is structural, it will require some work. Even professional woodturners have been killed or maimed by wood that was not structurally sound. If you have a structural flaw you need to repair it in a manner that makes it structurally sound. One of the more innovative solutions requires expensive equipment. You can fill a crack with epoxy under vacuum. I have seen spline or butterfly inlays put in across a large split, crack or open void with yellow wood glue. I have seen carefully sculpted wedges glued in. Woodturners have bonded in metal or other materials to create structural strength. Casting resins can fill voids. There are resins used to saturate weak wood like soft spalted wood. I have seen copper wire threaded through holes stitching finished pieces back together that have broken apart or developed a severe crack. Using CA, cyanoacrylate, would be a mistake. It is not structurally sound. My favorite characteristic of CA as a prototype model-maker/machinist was how easy it was to break the CA bond.
If the repair is cosmetic there are a range of solutions. First, I use CA for cosmetic repairs as do many if not most woodturners knowing that they might fail. Clear epoxy is another. Various rock granules,powder or other materials can be applied with CA, epoxy or other glue. One repair was a piece of hammered copper held on with copper nails. Paint and pyrography can be used. You can carve or distress the surface in a way that will hide flaws. Recently I found another, clear gesso. Gesso is used by artists to prepare surfaces such as canvas or wood for painting. When you use clear gesso mixed with sanding dust from the wood you are using, it makes a putty that is the same color as your wood. First I mixed the putty, then painted gesso over the area to repair, next I spread the putty with a spatula and finally I used a paint brush with gesso to cover the putty. The brush pulled the putty out into a fair surface. It was quick and easy to do. It dries hard and can be sanded to a smooth surface. I was using aspen and all the wood was coated with clear gesso. I could not tell the difference between the gesso putty and other areas of wood. There was no color or grain pattern in the aspen. I painted the finished turning, so putty to build up a surface was not an issue had there be any color in the wood.
My personal solution is to at least start with wood that has no apparent flaws. There are those that like to turn flawed wood because it is usually more interesting. My biggest concern is safety. To my knowledge “shake” is the most dangerous flaw for woodturners. Can you identify shake? If there is a crack in the wood that follows the annual rings, it is called shake. For me, any wood with shake is only good for firewood with no repairs needed. If you have questions on this month's Tips & Tricks, email Leon Olson at leonolson@aol.com.
Items for Sale by Members
Please submit items for sale to Jim Pope (suwt2020@gmail.com) before the 20th of the month to be included in the newsletter. If you have sold an item listed in the newsletter, please notify Jim Pope so he can remove it.
