In September 2023, the MidAtlantic Woodturners Symposium was held in Lancaster PA. It was a marvelous symposium with excellent international demonstrators (Eric Lofstrom, Neil Turner, Kristen Levier, Simon Begg, Roberto Ferrer and Jason Breach). One of the benefits to a Symposium of this size is the ability to meet, talk and interact with the demonstrators. At night, the demonstrators and some of the attendees went out to a local pub for a fun dinner and social activities. Thanks to Bil Sticker for supplying the pictures for this part of the event.
Tools from Mike Holcomb for sale
Bud Hohlfeld has provided a list of tools available from Mike Holcomb’s shop. This is just a list, with out prices. If you are interested in any of the items, we can put you in contact with someone to get a price. Please send a message to smhillerman65@gmail.com and I will forward the request for information and pricing. The list is:
Michael Holcomb Woodworking Tools
Dust collection system with ductwork
Shop Vac small
Mini Max MM16 16” Bandsaw
Jet Floor model Drill Press
Jet Belt & Disc Sander – JSG-96
2nd dust collector
Dewalt Battery Chain Saw
Triton Super Jaws Vice system
Jet Oscillating Spindle Sander – JBOS - 5
Motor w/ strop wheel
Dewalt Scroll Saw
PSI Air cleaner System
Saw Stop 10”, 1.75HP Table Saw
Jet Mini Lathe w/ stand (variable speed)
Powermatic 8” Jointer – 6’ bed
Miscellaneous hand tools.
Off feed Roller Support
Dovetail Router jigs
Duo Sharp Honing Plates
Glass Plate Sharpening System
Set of Carbide Tipped Lathe Scrapers
Henry Taylor Mini Lathe tool Set
Router Table w/ Makita Router M3612 BR
Assorted Hand Saws
Assorted Bar Clamps
Bosch – 1617EVS Router – Plunge Router
Wood River Vise w/ Angle Adjustment
PSI Self Centering Drill Vise Set
Stihl 20“ Chain Saw CS MS290
Arbor Tech
Angle Grinders (3)
PSI pen Press Assembly
Festool PS 300 Jig saw
Freud 10” 40 tooth CS blade
Box of Pen Making supplies
Dewalt Table top Surfacer Planer
Assorted Hamlet & Sorby Lathe Tools
“Z” – Vise
NOBEX 180 Miter Saw
Large Metal Bench Vise
Festool Disc Sander
Assorted Sandpaper 7 Sanding Discs
Various boards & turning stock
Assorted Japan style hand saws
Spoke Shaves – 3 sets in tool rolls
Carbide Router Bits – 2 sets in boxes – new
Thread I.D. Set
Carving Gouges – box set – Swiss Made
Spill Plane – new – (tiger maple)
Antique wood planes – assortment – large to small @10
Rabbet Plane
Shooting Plane
Shooting board
Dado Plane Set w/ box
Ramset
Assorted VERITAS hand planes NEW @10
Paolini Lumber Rule
Numerous Band Saw Blades
Japanese style planes – 4
VERITAS Flushing chisels – set of 4 – New
Bag of Dated Iron Nails – 1914 – 1951
Assorted Black Steel Diamond Head Nails – Kit
Dado Table saw insert – Zero Clearance for 8” Dado Set
Parallel Tip Screwdrivers – set of 5 – New
Assorted Chinese scissors
Doweling Jig – self centering
VERITAS Variable Burnisher
VERITAS Card scraper Burnisher
VERITAS Sanding Block
Socket Chisels – set of 7 in a tool roll
Master Carver Pro-Flex Shaft – Set
Festool Compact cleaning set
Festool Sys -1-Box
VERITAS 4-way speed frame clamp
Assorted Backsaws
Assorted Mallets – Many
Flexible File – 12”
Fein Multi-Master Tool – Kit
Arbortech – w/ chisel head
Shop Loss Bags
10” Table saw blades – 40 teeth – Freud – New
Dado Set – Carbide Teeth – New
Many More Miscellaneous Hand Tools
June 2023 Show and Tell Meeting
On Monday June 19, we held a member show and tell showcasing some recent work or addition to collections.
Matt Overton showing a Keith Holt face in a sphere
Frank Huttenlock - Maple Burl bowl
Steve Hillerman - White Oak bowl with rim embellishment
Dave Scheid
Jim Rucco
Bud Hohlfeld
Ed Ryan
Joe Seltzer - additions to his collection
Brian Maguire
Andy DiPietro
Phil Hauser
Fred Silfer
Diane Hurley
Bil Sticker
March 2023 Demonstration by Hans Weissflog
On March 27th, Bucks Woodturners were honored to host Hans Weissflog. Hans did a demonstration of one of his signature boxes.
Starting with the lid, Hans turned it on center to make a depth marking on the rim, using half the rim thickness as a depth gauge. For this exercise, the measurement was 1.5 mm with the full thickness of the finished lid at 3 mm. After remounting the lid to be off center, Hans starts the initial point and checks the depth with a dull drill bit. He then moves to a thin parting tool to begin making the rings. Each rings is then checked for proper depth. An important point, if your parting tool is sharp, the cut will be even on both sides of the cut. If the tool is not as sharp, the depth will be uneven through the cut.
Once the rings run off the lid across the rim, it is easier to check the depth of the cut by matching it to to the rim.
Hans commented that the precision of this work was due to the finger control he uses on the parting tool for each ring. Taking the time to slowly work the parting tool into the lid with gentle but firm pressure.
After the rings were completed, Hans uses a skew to round over the sharp edges for each ring. After a light sanding, the lid is turned over and placed in a jamchuck and Hans repeats the process, only starting in the center of the lid at this time. When both sides are completed and lightly sanded, Hans uses a toothbrush to brush out and stray fibers between the open spaces, and other implements to achieve a clean piece.
Hans then began to work on the body of the box, turning the inside dimension first and sanding to 1000 grit. When the inside was sanded, the edge was turned down to fit the lid, and the lid remounted onto the body of the box. The box was turned so the outside body of the box matched the diameter of the lid.
The box body was then remounted in a jam check to finish the bottom and complete the piece.
Just as a sidenote, Hans was joined at the meeting with his son Jakob Weissflog and they displayed some of their work. Both Hans and Jakob are amazing artists and I hope you enjoy the small boxes and other pieces they displayed. Thank you Hans, for giving us a wonderful demonstration!
February 2023 Show and Tell
Bucks Woodturners first Show and Tell of 2023 showcased a large number of entries. In all over 60 pieces were shown.
First up is Andy DiPietro, showing us his Ambrosia Maple Sunburst and also his Linenfold wall sculptures
Dennis Fuge showed us his work on making lampshades from Aspen and how thin the walls need to be for light to shine through them.
Bil Sticker has been busy making a series of boxes. The boxes were made from Maple/Rosewood, Australian lacewood, Cherry/Paduak and cedar with a lid from a beer can.
Phil Hauser showed us a “see-thru” box of maple, a sphere of beautiful koa wood and a live edge cherry bowl.
Ed Ryan presented his Chicken platter with stand
Randal Henderson presented His 3 legged bowl with the legs in 2 separate segments, a walnut and yellowheart segmented bowl and box elder cored bowls
Ryan Lazaar didn’t want to do anything small. His big gnome, hedgehog and surprise mouse “box” with all the baby mice inside.
Brian Maguire has been busy making a bowl demonstration piece to show the different wats a bowl can be made from a piece of wood. He also presented a spalted maple and cherry bowls with a textured rim, a dogwood bowl and endgrain walnut bowl.
Doug James displayed his spalted maple vessel with bloodwood finial, oak and epoxy bowl and big leaf maple bowl.
Andy Postlewaite showed us a beautiful bowl
Dave Nowicki presented a spalted apple bowl, a maple hollow form, natural edge vessel/bowl, flame maple bowl and mulberry bowl
Bob Collins showed us a maple bowl and mallet made from yew
Al McCarty displayed a pair of gnomes
Dave Schied showed us maple and walnut segmented bowls and a segmented pen
Gary Hoffman presented a walnut top and maple bowl bowl
Sebastian Montagano displayed several pieces. A mulberry bowl, a beautiful redwood burl bowl, a maple hollow form and Norfolk pine bowl.
Les McLaughlin showed us his Maple/Walnut segmented bowl and also a tangential platter
Peter Jacobson displayed with natural edge maple bowl/vase
Ron Durr brought us a holly/walnut/osage orange/mahogany segmented vessel, a walnut urn, yew vase and an oak hummingbird nesting house.
George Blalock brought along some ornaments
Bud Hohlfeld displayed his “feather collection”. First, a sphere with blue feathers carved onto it, a feather textured bowl and a design opportunity…feathers cut out of a very thin bowl.
Fred Silfer showed up an ash bowl he was working on and a series of jewelry boxes.
And finally, Steve Hillerman displayed a black limba woodpecker on a limb and 2 maple and walnut tangential vases.
January 2023 meeting - Janine Wang Demo
For our January 2023 meeting, we hosted Janine Wang to do a demonstration. Janine is a faculty member in the Fine Woodworking Department at Bucks County Community College and heads the woodturning program. A link to Janine’s website is given here. Janine demonstrated combination of woodturning and basket weaving
Janine showed us her custom design for holding the different rattan and reed bundles needed for her design. Each rattan and reed bundle can come in different thickness and shape, each bringing a distinctive pattern for weaving. She then demonstrated on a test piece how she works with the weaving material to determine the distances needed to fit the reed without breaking as you make the pattern (In the picture above).
For her demonstration piece, Janine started with a simple platter and laid out an area for where she would incorporate the reed into the rim of the platter. Janine showed us the process of measuring the spaces needed for the pattern she had chosen, drilling the holes and inserting the reeds. The reeds were softened in water before inserting into the drilled holes, making them expand and creating a very tight fit!
After all the reeds were inserted, Janine demonstrated the weaving pattern she had chosen for this platter. She did the initial weaving, then had the audience get a hands on experience of doing some weaving to finish the platter.
Janine brought in a number of examples of pieces that showed some of the possibilities of merging basket weaving and woodturning.
Janine also demonstrated starting a weave on a top of a bowl, bringing up the sides of the bowl and the aesthetics of the curve of the weaved basket portion to match the curve of the wood bowl beneath it. The merging of the basket weaving and woodturning techniques show that the possibilities are endless when combining these two art forms.
December 2022 Pollyanna
This past December, Bucks Woodturners had our annual Pollyanna. The theme of this years Pollyanna was Platters with a little flair. Members could make a platter of any size and embellish it in any way. Due to the recent loss of one of our officers, the pictures of makers and those that “won” their platter are not available. However, we do have pictures of many of the platters to show what an amazing display of artistic talent we have in our club.
May 2022 Show and Tell
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Joe's Nestlerode's Vacuum Chucking Setup
Joe Nestlerode presented his take on a vacuum chucking system at our January meeting. Here’s his presentation and some ideas from Jim Ruocco.
Read more2022's First Show and Tell
Once again our members surprised us with their creativity and craft! Check out what we’ve been up to!
2021 Pollyanna Exchange
One of the highlights of our Holiday Meetings is the Pollyanna Exchange. Members make a piece and exchange their work with another member chosen at random. But to get one, you have to make one! Here are the pieces from our December 13th meeting.
September 2021 Show and Tell
Nick Agar's Sharpening Secrets
This was a fantastic demonstration! If you registered for the Zoom meeting, use the Zoom passcode for that meeting to see this video.
Read moreThe Secrets German Ring Turning Revealed by Simon Begg
Simon Begg provided a fantastic Zoom demonstration that showed us how he executes German Ring Turning.
Read morePollyanna Exchange Entries December 2020
Beads of Courage Artists and Their Work
November Zoom Show and Tell Presentation
October's Auction Preview
Get your bids lined up for Monday’s Auction. These items are going to go fast! That frame icon, to the left of the gear, in the bottom tool bar will enable you to view the slides in full screen mode. Go ahead and click on it!
June 2020 Show and Tell
This was our second remote Show and Tell and our members didn’t disappoint us! Take a look at these great pieces that were presented. They include a President’s Challenge, which were inspired by Trent Bosch’s demonstration, and other work.
Read moreBeads of Courage
Steve Hillerman has begun organizing an effort for Bucks Woodturners to support the Beads of Courage program. Beads of Courage, Inc. is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to improving the quality of life for children and teens coping with serious illness, their families, and the clinicians who care for them through their Arts-in-Medicine Programs.
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