Yesterday finished up attending the NC Woodturning Symposium, and I’ve got to say it was worth the time and money.
I was able to attend all 3 Sunday sessions. I chose to see another demo by Stuart Mortimer on twisted stem goblets, an introduction to platter turning by Jim Barbour, and a demo on making tower-style boxes by Ray Key. My only regret is that I was only able to see about 6-7 of the 17 demonstrators in attendance. I would like to give a big “Thank you!” to the clubs that sponsored this event. I had not previously attended any symposiums, and this was an enjoyable experience. Good folks, good information, and a good time was had by all. 🙂
C'mon, 1.5 hours?!?!
Stuart’s morning demo consisted of turning a goblet leaving a stem that is thick enough to ‘twist’. He does a good job explaining how to set up markings for cutting the twists into place, although I’m not qite sure I understood all of the particulars. Luckily, I bought one of the ‘Demonstrators’ Handouts’ books that was for sale, so I’ll be able to read up on the technique. (I’ve got a small project in mind where I may be able to try it out soon.) He mentioned that the goblet he had just turned would probably sell for around $300.
Jim barbour’s demo was a great overview of how to turn a platter. I haven’t turned many platters myself, but I’m rather limited by lathe size. At best, you could call any platters I turned plates; at worst, merely saucers. 😉 He also included a nice lesson in design principles as well as chatter tools.
It was good to see Ray Key again. He did a demo for CCW back in March. Since his boxes are designed to fit together, you can imagine the need for attention to detail. The top must fit the bottom precisely. This was a good refresher course that went over the things that he covered back in March, as well as adding new information since the tower box is actually a stack of boxes.
I haven’t posted as many pics as I would have liked, but I’m still learning the camera, still learning the software I’m using to correct mistakes made with the camera, and installing some gallery software to make looking through the pics easier. I’ll try to post more late in the week.
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