Ken Newman Feature
Tony Varro has a piece in the September/October issue of Wildlife Art Magazine (pp 44-47) on Idaho's master carver, Ken Newman. That's "Certain Destiny" at left, a piece Ken created four years ago. Here's what he has to say about it:
"As simply as the salmon is presented in this sculpture, the statement's complexity is often overlooked. By only half exposing the salmon's body in its struggle to overcome nature's elements, the question may be - is the salmon moving up the river, or falling back? More importantly, is the salmon struggling to overcome man's involvement in the environment, and who is winning?" Ken will be featured in Fine Woodworking and Sculptural Pursuits in 2006. He can be contacted by phone at 208 337-8408, or by e-mail.

To see two more pieces of Ken's work, visit him online at the Nature Artists Web site.

Resin Rounds
Look closely at the lid of this small vessel. That's a hand-made and lathe-turned Polyester Resin (PR) cabochon and Ed Davidson has a whole Web site full of them just waiting for turners to come up with ways to use them. They're all unique - no two are exactly alike. And yes, he does special orders - send him an e-mail if you have a question or request. Resin cabochons are large, round and colorful - ideal for woodturning applications.

For more info, send Ed an e-mail or visit him online at www.yoyospin.com

The Brant Wildlife Festival marks the arrival of the Pacific Black Brant in British Columbia on its annual migration north. And in 2006 the 16th Annual Brant Festival will play host to both an annual Wildlife Woodcarving Competition and the Canadian Fish Carving Championship. The Festival is scheduled for April 1st and 2nd, 2006, at the Parksville Community Centre in Qualicum Beach, BC (10AM to 5PM both days). More than $6,500 in prizes will be awarded, including $1,000 in Purchase Awards. Pre-show seminars are planned, too. See the complete schedule online.

For more info, contact Jack Vincent by e-mail or by phone, 250-954-3262

Our May meeting had the pleasure of watching a master woodturner at work - Bill Berry from Deer Park, Texas. Bill showed us how to turn a small Christmas tree ornament from an old Christmas tree. He picks up trees that have groups of branches coming from the trunk in a small vertical area of 2-3" so that knots will show in the finished ornament. He saves 5 or 6" sections and discards the rest of the tree. The sections are saved for two to three years minimum to reduce problems caused by sap that has not dried. I believe the blank he used for our demonstration was from 2001.
Bill started with the blank between centers and turned a tenon on one end so it could be gripped in the chuck jaws. He turned the blank into a cylinder a couple of inches long and ping-pong ball size in diameter, then marked the areas of the knots with a pencil as the lathe was running, to make a ring around the blank. This allowed him to use the most highly figured area for the ornament.
Bill then turned a ball using the branch knots as the center, leaving a little on the chuck side to be turned away after shaping and hollowing. He then applied a thinned lacquer to stiffen the wood fibers so they could be turned without having a problem with torn wood. He drilled a hole through the center of the ball into the waste area held by the chuck, making sure to go all the way through the ball shape, and began hollowing by opening the hole to make hollowing easier. This he did using home-made scraping tools from allen wrenches, and wall thickness gauges made from clothes hanger wire and brazing rods. He likes to turn to a 1/16" wall thickness for a very light-weight ornament. He then flattens the open end to make a good seat for the finial to be mounted later.
Bill reduces the size of the tenon and hollows the chuck end of the ball until he is satisfied with the shape and wall thickness, and then sands through the grits to 600 before applying a finish coat of lacquer. He then parts the hollow ball off the blank stock, being careful to make a flat surface on the end to later glue the second finial. For our demonstration, he used African Blackwood for the finials. He said he likes to use exotic woods for finials because the wood is dense and strong enough to turn to very small sizes without breaking. He also explained the general shaping of finials inside an imaginary cone shape, so the proportions will look well balanced. Bill turned each finial, one at a time, shaping, sanding, and finishing with laquer, and drilling a 1/16 inch diameter hole in the top finial, before parting them off the lathe. He took particular care in shaping and sizing the tenons and areas that would seat against the hollow ball ends. Since lacquer dries almost instantly, Bill was able to immediately glue the finials on each end of the hollow ball. He then glued a tiny eye that he cut from a #2 gold fish hook in the top finial using CA glue. The result was a beautiful finished Christmas tree ornament turned from a Christmas tree... and ready to hang on a Christmas tree! What could be better than that?