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GULF COAST WOODTURNER February 2019 Newsletter

President’s Corner By Greg Gonsalves

Hello fellow turners! We had one of our largest gatherings for a regular meet-

ing in January. What a great showing! We even had a visiting turner from Canada with us. He extended an invitation for us to attend one of his club’s meetings after

the snow and ice melts. That’ll take a while since they’ve been having sub-zero

temperatures lately. [Fun Fact: -40° Fahrenheit is equal to -40° Celsius, ed.]

When you show off your turnings, have you been asked, “What kind of wood is that?” All the time, probably. Do you always know the answer? Half the time,

probably. Well, if you join us in February, our demo will help solve that problem. Dan Schmoker will advise us on how to identify different trees available to us to turn. Dan is a retired Illinois

State Forester and knows a thing or two about wood. He might have some good literature to hand out for those of us with short memories. I know I can benefit from this demo. If it doesn’t have the label from Home Depot on

the end of it, I’m usually guessing the type of wood I have on the lathe.

The President’s Challenge for February is to turn a miniature “something.” Larry Zarra put on a great demo last month on doing small turnings. Let’s see what we can come up with. It can be anything — a bowl, a hollow-

form, a candle stick holder. Be creative and have fun!

Hey folks, our retreat is right around the corner. The registrations at our January meeting were the largest first day sign ups ever, and the classes are filling fast. Be sure to grab the remaining spots at the February meet-

ing. If you haven’t paid your 2019 club dues, be prepared to do so. You must be a current member to attend (for insurance purposes). I keep getting asked where the retreat will take place this year. NOT in Conroe as in years

past, but in Deer Park: The Jimmy Burke Activity Center, 500 West 13th Street, Deer Park, Texas 77536.

I hope you’re taking advantage of the weather and getting something ready for Show and Tell.

Please turn safely,

Greg

Registration materials for the Retreat were emailed to members by Scott Haddix

on January 18th. They included the 1-page registration form and a 1-page calen-dar of activities, both of which may be available at this Saturday’s GCWA meeting.

But Scott’s email also included a 30-page full description of each of the workshop

sessions, including any tools or materials to bring and any extra costs. Please be sure to read the sections on your sessions before coming to the Retreat.

JJANUARYANUARY DDEMONSTRATIONEMONSTRATION: “M: “MINIATURESINIATURES,”,” with Larry Zarra

GULF COAST WOODTURNER, February 2019, page 2

In January GCWA’s own Larry Zarra shared with us his fasci-

nation with turning tiny pieces, not only tops and balls, but

hollowforms and lidded boxes as well. He also talked about

enhancements and decora-

tions and described the tools

and materials he uses most frequently.

Lidded boxes are among the trickiest miniatures to produce.

Note the quarter in the picture for comparison.

Author Malcolm Gladwell has argued that many pro-

fessionals at the top of their field spent roughly 10,000 hours honing their skills. Larry’s version of

this is the jars he fills with practice pieces.

Over the years, Larry has made

some of his own tools for miniature work, and modified

others that he’s purchased. Lighting is critical when working with such tiny pieces.


2019 GCWA RETREAT2019 GCWA RETREAT BY DON FLUKER, RETREAT LEADER

This year’s Retreat is just around the corner — the weekend of March 9th and 10th.

All you new members are asking, “What is this

Retreat?” Well, many years ago (about 28 or 30), when Gulf Coast Woodturners was just get-

ting started, several members of the club who

lived in Conroe arranged for the club to have

use of a building on the Montgomery County

Fairgrounds, at no cost. The Club’s own mem-

bers planned hands-on classes for other mem-bers, and called it our Retreat.

GWCA has been doing this once a year ever since then. This year the venue is moving to

Deer Park because Montgomery County wanted

to charge us more for the use of the building than we can afford and still keep the registra-

tion fee at $50.

There are classes for everyone, from beginner/

novice wood turners to intermediate and

advanced.

It’s a great deal for $50 —

three classes and two

catered lunches. You won’t find that anywhere

else. You do have to be a

member of GCWA to at-tend ($25 annual mem-

bership fee), so join if

you haven’t done so al-ready. We will have so-

das and water available

for you, and in years past many of you have

brought desserts and

snacks. Let’s keep that

tradition going. I’m especially fond of choco-

late! Those of you bringing a lathe must also

bring a live center, drive center, knock-out bar,

and a chuck, with its key or tommy bars. PLEASE make sure to mark everything as yours.

Let a Board member know if your stuff is lost or

damaged: the club will make things right. Once again there will be a Gallery, so bring

something you have done and let us see it. This

will be my last year as Retreat Leader. I sin-

cerely believe some new leadership is needed.

Thanks to all who have helped over the years!

Again: Mark your tools.

Again: I like chocolate!

Set-up: Friday, March 8

Saturday: 8:00 am to 4:30 pm (lunch 12:00 to 1:30)

Sunday: 9:00 am to noon, then lunch, then

clean-up, then Raffle at 2:00 pm

Jimmy Burke Activity Center 500 W 13th St,

Deer Park, TX 77536


FFEBRUARYEBRUARY PPROGRAMROGRAM: “F: “FINDINGINDING THETHE WWOODOOD ININ AA TTREEREE,” ,”

with Dan Schmokerwith Dan Schmoker

Dan Schmoker retired as an Illinois forester in 2017 and moved to Houston, so

he’s a relatively new member of GCWA. He hasn’t let the

moss grow under his feet, though (as they say) since he’s pictured on page 6 of this

newsletter receiving the 1st

place ribbon in the Intermedi-ate category for his butternut

bowl.

Dan will talk about identifying trees in Texas, using a “dichotomous key,” which is a form of decision tree

that we may be familiar with from other settings. With trees, for example, the first step is usually listed

as “Does the tree have needles or leaves?” He will have handouts at the meeting, but he also says that any members who own either of these two pocket-

sized guides should bring them to the meeting:

Additionally, bring along a 10x eye loupe or hand lens/magnifying glass if you have one handy.

In Illinois, Dan was a member of the Lincoln Land Woodturners, and a presentation he did for them in

2016 is available on YouTube: “Re-turning a Dried Green Bowl Blank” at https://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=b79riyp98Z8&t=272s

The Schmokers’ introduction to Houston left a lot to

be desired. Their belongings were still mostly in

boxes when Hurricane Harvey hit, their house

flooded (no flood insurance), and they lost a great

deal. A GoFund me effort helped them recover part of their losses.

If you want to practice ahead of time using a di-

chotomous key, go out to your backyard and bring

in a leaf. Then go to this website of the national Arbor Day organization, and proceed using their online program. (Yes, yes, you probably already

know what kind of trees you have in your back-yard, but this is PRACTICE.)

https://www.arborday.org/trees/whattree/whatTree.cfm?ItemID=E6A

Some of you may be thinking, “Gee, I’ve always wondered what kind of wood that ugly piece in

my garage is. I’ll just bring it along and ask Dan.” “Please don’t,” Dan says. That’s not going to be

the focus of his presentation.


SSHOWHOW ANDAND TTELLELL, J, JANUARYANUARY 2018 2018

BEST OF SHOW: Scott Haddix, Winged Bowl

George Graves Captured All Three Awards in the Beginners Category

1st Place Enhanced Oak/Mahogany Bowl

2nd Place Mahogany/

Walnut Bowl

3rd Place Black Palm Bowl


SSHOWHOW ANDAND TTELLELL, J, JANUARYANUARY 2018, 2018, CONTINUEDCONTINUED

2nd Place Intermediate,

Dean Grimes, Spalted Bowl

1st Place Intermediate

Dan Schmoker, Butternut Bowl

3rd Place Intermediate:

Dean Grimes, Mimosa Bowl

January Show and Tell Judges

Stephen Seal and Paul Millo



1st Place Advanced

Gary Rock, Cedar Hollowform

3rd Place

Advanced Scott Haddix

Texas Ebony Goblet

2nd Place Advanced

Paul Mugridge, Bradford Pear Hollowform



1st Place Enhanced:

Gary Rock, River Birch Spiral Bowl

2nd Place Enhanced:

Gary Rock, White Oak Hollowform

3rd Place Enhanced Walter Mooney, Maple and Cedar Stepstool



1st Place Kits:

Andy Henderson, Acryllic Pen

2nd Place Kits:

Dean Grimes, Screwdriver

3rd Place Kits Thomas Matthews, Walnut Bottle Stopper


About Our Club

Gulf Coast Woodturners Association has, for more than twenty years, been affiliated with the American Association of Woodturners. GCWA meets at 9:00 am, usually on the third Saturday, and usually at the

Mendenhall Community Center, 1414 Wirt Road, Houston (see map at left). Annual dues are $25. The

club’s website is www.gulfcoastwoodturners.org,

and its email address is:

[email protected]

There are many resources for turners on the AAW website:

https://www.woodturner.org

Executive Committee

Greg Gonsalves, President — 281-998-8662, [email protected] Ed Peine, Vice President — 832-289-0659, [email protected]

Lane Bradford, Secretary — 936-447-9310, [email protected]

Rene Gonzalez, Treasurer — 281-481-6415, [email protected] Walter Mooney, Board Member (membership) — 713-248-6431, [email protected]

Dave Greenawalt, Board Member — 936-524-6610, [email protected]

Scott Haddix, Board Member and Website Creative Director — 281-213-8900, [email protected]

Scott Njaa, Board member

Chuck Graham, Board member, 713-899-4562, [email protected]

George Kabacinski, Education/Programs, 832-349-3006, [email protected]

Don Fluker, Demo events and Retreat Coordinator, 713-382-8986, [email protected]

John McCune, Newsletter Editor — 281-744-9978, [email protected]

GCWA Meeting Schedule

February, 2019: Dan Schmoker, Finding the Wood in a Tree

March 8-10, 2019: GCWA Retreat

March, 2019: Gary Barnes, Three-sided Box with a Twist

August 17, 2019 — Demo Day with Jimmy Clewes

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