December, 2016 Newsletter

GENESEE VALLEY WOODCARVERS

Meetings are held from 7 to 9 PM on the 2nd Monday of the month (except July and August) at:

The 40 & 8 Club (across the street from Gleason Works)

933 University Avenue, Rochester, New York Web site: http://gvwoodcarvers.com/

Important Disclosure: Wood carving and whittling may be habit forming and could prevent you from engaging in household chores and other unpleasant tasks. Carving is enjoyable

and you may be prone to share it with others: thus, causing them to experience the same distractions from less pleasant tasks as you may have experience yourself

GVW OFFICER: Co-Presidents: Alison Currie & Harry Patrick; Treasurer: Mel Connell ; Web: Alison Currie; Show Chair: Chris

Nilsen; Membership: Anthony Filetti; At Large: Anthony Filletti; Newsletter: Floyd Lombardi

GVW 2015/2016 MEETING & ACTIVITY SCHEDULE

President’s Corner: (December, 2016) After a long wait, our November meeting was held at the newly renovated 40 & 8 Club on University Ave. Our meeting space is a lot smaller, let’s

agree to call it cozy; however, we do have heat, A/C, and a dedicated vacuum cleaner. We no longer have storage area but are working on using the

40 & 8 Library to house our club library. We’ll keep you posted.

At the December meeting, we’ll begin with our annual pizza social. Be sure and arrive hungry! After that, we’ll roll out the Winter Class projects.

Five members will present their class projects. Just a warning, both Alison & I are going to teach a class. Be kind and gentle! Sign-up sheets will be

on-hand. Please fill them out and return them either at the meeting or to Alison via mail by December 23rd. Cost is $10 for sign-up plus a materials

fee payable to the instructor at the first class.

Remember, you must be a current dues paying member to take a class.

A great big thank you to Bob Martin and Tony Filetti for their respective brief talks on applying a Tung oil finish and the technique of hand carving.

It is good to get new ideas. If you have an idea or technique to share at an upcoming meeting, please let us know. We’d love to hear what you have to

say.

Club dues remain at $20 per individual and $25 for a family. What a bargain!!! If you’ve already paid your dues for the 2016/2017 year, THANK

YOU! If not, please pay Mel at the December meeting or by mail. Along with your check, make sure you give Mel a completed Membership &

Liability Release form. This form will be available from Mel at the meeting or can be downloaded via the membership tab on the club website at:

http://gvwoodcarvers.com/Membership.pdf. We’ll finalize and share the membership list after this go-round.

Club T-shirts and ball caps are still available for $10 each. Wear them proudly to profile the club. Some larger hats are also available. Holiday

presents anyone??? Club business cards and ¼ page show reminders will be on hand. Please share them with folks you know who may be interested

in carving.

Another shameless plug for the April 8, 2017 show: As of December 1st it’s merely 4 months and one week away or 128 days!

Remember: “All-in in 17”! The goal is to have each and every club member enter a carving in the show. Attention all you snowbirds, either Alison

or I are be happy to hold your carvings until April and enter them in the show for you. Just let us know. The excuse of being out of town is no longer

valid!

Finally, we wish everyone a safe & joyous holiday season. Remember, safety first and keep those wood chips flying and the dust collected!

Regards,

Alison and Harry

“Important Note”: Parking is available in the Greek Orthodox Church lot just east of the 40 & 8 Club. There will be a fenced sidewalk at the rear of

the building leading to the Club entrance. On-street parking is also available. Once again, we’ll hang a lantern on the corner to help you find the

entrance.

Misc driving directions for those fokes who were not at the November meeting:

If you are coming from the West down University Ave from Main St., the parking lot to use is just past our old parking area and the Club Bldg.

If you are coming from the East down University Avenue from Culver Rd., the parking lot to use is just before the Club and the old parking area.

Be Prepared: If you have a little flashlight I would recommend it to direct you through the parking lot & to double check your footing!

Remember: Safety first and keep those wood chips flying and the dust collected! Regards, Harry and Alison

GVW Meeting Format & Schedule: ^ ^ ^ ^

6:30-7:00 PM: Open time for socializing, informal coaching or critiquing, browse the library, & the informal “Show & Ask Me” table.

7:00-7:15 PM: Welcome new members and guests, announcements.

7:00-9:00 PM: Open carving time and/or demos.

9:00-9:30 PM: Room cleanup

Meeting schedule:

Monday, December 12, 2016: Instructors present club class projects, class registration, and pizza social.

January, February, & March, 2017: Second and fourth Mondays: Club classes (to be announced).

Friday/Saturday, April 7 and 8, 2017: Friday set-up and registration; Saturday show.

Monday, April 10, 2017: Meeting for any newly recruited members, mini-demos, plus show feedback.

Monday, May 8, 2017: Club member guest host.

Monday, June 12, 2017: DiBella’s social, election of officers, carving, etc.

Summer social and carving at the park - to be scheduled if there’s enough interest from membership.

(Boys from Cub Scout Wolf Den) – This is my contribution to advancing carving as a hobby to our young. I had the privilege of teaching Cub

Pack Den out of Hilton, the basics of woodcarving. I spent two sessions teaching them basic knife skills and using those skills to carve an image

in soap for their Whittling Chip Badge. I had a wonderful time - they are a great bunch of boys and who knows maybe one of them will take up

wood carving as a lifelong hobby in the future. Their Leader Tracy Korzenieski was very kind to bake me a batch of cookies & boy were they

good. All boys also wrote very nice thank you notes which I have posted to my carving room wall. Hopefully they will attend our carving show

this spring.

About Sharpening (Floyd): I am submitting the following articles, Basic Tips on Sharpening Your Tools and Gouge Sharpening Exercisew, mostly

directed toward those new carvers who have joined the club and could use some information on sharpening. Some of us never seem to master those

techniques for the razor sharp edges so these tips are meant to help us also. I am not including the entire article, so if anyone would like the article in

its entirety, let me know & will email the full article to you. Also, if anyone would like previous articles on the techniques of sharpening, I will be

happy to forward that article to you also!

Tips for Keeping Your Carving Tools Razor Sharp: WCI, Fall 2005, Issue 32 (John Mignone & Roger Schroeder)

Ask ten carvers how to sharpen a tool and you are bound to get ten different answers. But what is the right way to sharpen a tool? Unfortunately,

there is no “right” method – only a correct outcome. You want a tool that can shave a thin slice off end grain as easily as cutting with the grain.

Sharpening by hand can be done almost as quickly as by machine and with results just as good. But before you go out and buy the sharpening

accessories, take a closer look at these three terms: bevel, burr and polishing.

Getting the right bevel:

The tool’s bevel determines whether or not it will carve. Carvers all have their own favorite bevel angle, but you generally want to increase the

angle as you increase the hardness of the wood. One rule of thumb is to use a shallow angle (15* to 20*) for easily carved woods such as pine and

basswood and steeper angles (25* to 35*) for harder woods such as oak and walnut.

Why do you need different bevels for different woods? The shallower the bevel, the easier the tool slides through the wood. But shallower the

bevels also give you a weaker edge.

You can use a shallow bevel for hardwoods, but the sharp edge won’t last as long – so you’ll need to sharpen more often. You can also use a

steeper bevel for softwoods, but it will be harder to push the tool through the wood. When using harder woods, carvers usually use mallets and

chisels, so a steeper bevel works fine.

Although there are exceptions, generally a flat bevel is desirable. A rounded bevel makes the tool roll out of the cut prematurely. A hallow

ground bevel makes the cutting edge brittle and subject to quick dulling.

Another sharpening problem is the double or blunt bevel – an extra bevel, or what might appear as a blunt edge, exists on the end of the tool.

Sometimes the manufacturer may be the culprit, but in may be the result of your own sharpening. Double bevels result from sharpening at

inconsistent angles and can make it difficult for the tool to enter and leave the wood smoothly – the tool will feel sharp but won’t cut efficiently.

There are two main ways to sharp a bevel – sandpaper and coarse sharpening stones. Sandpaper often offers the fastest way to shape a bevel

because it is available in very coarse grits. For sharpening, the best choice is silicon carbide sandpaper, commonly referred to as wet-and-dry

sandpaper. The hardest grit, silicon carbide will cut faster and shorten the time spent on the cutting edge. It is also preferred because the paper can

be kept wet to aid the sharpening process.

For silico carbide paper to work efficiently, it needs to be backed with an absolutely flat surface. Your best bet is a ¼” thick piece of glass that

measures approximately 6” wide by 12” long. If the glass slips when you are sharpening, add a piece of non-skid carpet padding to the back of the

glass. To hold the paper in place, soak it in water until it is thoroughly wet and smooth it out on the glass, making sure to squeeze out air bubbles..

Once the sandpaper is in place, you are ready to sharpen. Make sure it stays wet throughout the sharpening process.

Start with coarse sandpaper and use progressively finer grits to remove the scratches left by the previous paper. A sharpening stone works the

same way.

Include pic of language of sharpening & bevels

Holding a Constant Bevel: There are jigs and holders available for most sharpening needs, but it’s sometimes just as easy to learn to sharpen by

hand. When shaping a bevel, the most important things is to keep your angle constant – otherwise you will get a double bevel.

The Burr: The goal of sharpening is to achieve a burr or wire edge. As you sharpen, the metal on the end of the cutting edge becomes very thin

and usually rolls over. This the best indicator that you are very close to having a sharp edge. Continue sharpening until this extra metal is resent

cross the entire cutting edge. Make sure you are maintaining a consistent angle when sharpening for best results.

Removing the Whole Wire-Edge: It is important to remember that there are two sides to every cutting edge. And when sharpening, the wire-

edge tends to bend over. With straight and skew chisels and carving knives, it’s easy to alternate sides to strop off the burr, but gouges and V-tools

call for different techniques.

The Learning Curve: Like any technique, practice may not make perfect, but you’ll invariably get better. Work to maintain a consistent bevel

angle and avoid shortcuts as you go through the steps to remove the unwanted burr. You may get frustrated that it takes a while to bring a dull edge

back to life, but the payback of making polished cuts in your latest project is hard to beat.

Tips: 1) When sharpening, keeping the elbow of the handle-gripping hand close to the body reduces the tendency for the cutting edge to move

up and down

2) To achieve a polished and de-burred edge, strop on a piece of leather coated with an stropping abrasive. Always pull the tool away

from the cutting edge so you do not cut the leather.

Gouge Sharpening Exercise: Woodcarving Illustrated, Fall 2005, Issue 32 (by: Andre Breau)

“Use wood molding to practice sharpening techniques, before you work on your tools”. For beginners, sharpening a carving tool

usually means one of two things: taking the tool to a professional to sharpen, or risking the expensive tool practicing their

sharpening technique. The National Woodcarving School (NWS) developed a method to practice sharpening using wood

molding.

Learning to sharpen gouges can be achieved by following some simple steps. Instead of spending hours trying to get the right

angles and a cutting edge on a metal chisel using sharpening stones, practice sharpening using a piece of wood molding and

sandpaper. That way, a beginner will see immediate results and can adjust his or her technique. Once a beginner achieves steady

results with the wooden models, he or she can move on to the sharpening stones with their own gouges.

Sharpening brings the cutting edge to the finest point – when the metal is polished like a mirror. In metallurgy, a mirror

finish means the metal grains are in their finest and smallest shape and size. Sharpening from a coarse stone, to an extra fine

stone to a buffing wheel will give the gouges their sharpest cutting edge.

Chip Carving Tips: Woodcarving Illustrated, Fall 2005, Issue 32 (by: Wayne Barton)

Begin layout by quartering your piece to be carved. This locates the center and provides divisions to simplify drawing.

In general take out the largest chips first.

Make the first cut of the new chip away from the last one made.

Look ahead of the blade – where you’re going – as you carve; this makes it easier to follow a line.

In case of a splinter or tear-out, apply a dab of wood glue to the piece with a toothpick and press it back into place.

Erase any remaining pencil marks with an ink eraser when you’ve completed the carving.

Sand a completed carving lightly with 220-grit sandpaper – but don’t round over or flatten the clean edges that give the

carving its crisp look.

MEMBER’S CORNER & CONTRIBUTIONS): (Bob Martin) At the November General Meeting, Bob Martin enlightening us on the use of Tung Oil for a natural wood finish. Sorry

I missed it!

(Earl Frech) – Thanks Earl for this beautiful picture of two magnificent birds of prey — my personal favorite bird!

(Also from Earl Frech) - Here is a photo of a 5 ft. Milk Snake walking stick my son and I did for my 10 year old grandson. My

son spent over 12 hours burning the individual scales on the body and I shaped the stick and carved the head and stained the body

colors. Unfortunately it is with my grandson in Ohio so I won't be entering it in the Show this year. Thanks Earl, nice job!

(Tony Filetti) – Tony Filetti teaching the method of carving a hand. Our thanks to Tony. I’m sorry I missed it, I could have really

used this demonstration. Although I have been carving hands and fingers for some time now, I could have really used this

demonstration. Just think of all the money I could have saved on bandages!!!

(Tony Filetti, Rob Lucci, Jim Butlin ) – Winning carvings from the National Caricature Carving Competition and Exhibit – Tony,

Rob & Jim attended.

Editor’s Corner: “Don’t forget those carving images for the Monthly Newsletter!

There is an ongoing request to have all carvers, regardless of your skill level, to send pics or images of what you have created or are working on - any of your carvings, for the Newsletter. I also welcome any input to the newsletter. My goal is to post and periodically switch off with images of all club members creations which shows off the creativity and talent of club members. Or, if you are somewhat of a camera bug, send me some of your favorite natural images you might have captured & I will do my best to use them in the newsletter. So, let’s show some pride in your creations!

As far as the articles I post, I can only put material into the newsletter that I “think” you might be interested in, so “please

help me get it right”. It’s still your newsletter, about YOU, for YOU and what YOU want to know - so just drop me an email

& I will do my best to get answers to those questions, your interests in woodcarving into the newsletter and let’s not forget those Pics, Tips & or Tidbits! “Just remember I’m interested in helping you and I’m always listening”

SEE YOU ALL @ the DECEMBER 12TH MEETING !

“A carver should take an avid interest in conservation. Old growth timber is rapidly disappearing in this country

and the rest of the world. We carvers, as consumers of wood should do our parts in ensuring that the carvers of the

future do not suffer for our near-sightedness. Consider planting a tree today!”

Floyd Lombardi, Editor ( Lombardi_floyd@yahoo.com )

(frog in my pond) (he thinks I can’t see him)