WELCOME to the first DAWG News By Jared Bruckner I am going to try to get a monthly newsletter started. My hope is that it will be emailed to members shortly after each month’s meeting. With the start of this newsletter I will be making some changes in the DAWG website. First, the pictures of the President’s Challenge and the Show & Tell will be published here and will not be shown in a monthly gallery on the website. Links to the newsletter will be found on the website. I am planning to start something new on the website – a place where each member will have their own picture gallery of items they have brought to the meetings. I am not sure how this can be done, but I plan to try. I can’t do this newsletter all myself, so I welcome your help. So far, Lloyd Speer has agreed to do a column on different types of wood. I will be doing a book review each month. Please consider starting a column. Here are a few ideas – Tips, Jigs, New Tools, Jokes, Videos, etc. You would not have to do the column every month – maybe only three or four times a year would be a great help.●

January 2018 Vol. 1 #1

Wayne Loveless Turns a Two-piece Mallet By Ramon Chow Dalton Area Woodturners Guild (DAWG) prides itself in making every effort to ensure that at each monthly club meeting, attendees have the opportunity to hear and learn from an experienced woodturner. The first presenter for the New Year was right on target, Wayne Loveless, a talented and skilled woodturner since 2000, delighted the group with the turning of a Two Part Hardwood Mallet. Wayne used a variety of tools (bowl gouge, spindle gouge, roughing gouge, bedan, parting tool and forstner drill bits) but the star tool was the skew chisel. Wayne, once more, kept the audience engaged and in awe with how versatile and useful the skew chisel can be in woodturning. The demo took approximately 45 minutes which included many pauses to answer questions and to explain the step by step process.

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DAWG News - January 2018

Wood Talk: Holly By Lloyd Speer

The Holly Family has about 600 species worldwide, but only 14 species in North America of which most are shrubs and not trees at all. There are only a handful of Holly trees in the United States, but it is a favorite for Holiday decorations.

Hollies have male and female flowers. If you see trees with the red berries, you will know it is a female tree. You must have male and female trees close by for pollination. The berries are an important food source for birds, but are mildly toxic for humans.

The wood is pale and dense. It is good for woodworking and can be polished very smooth. Holly is probably the whitest wood in the United States. Some people say that it needs to be cut and worked during the winter months or else the white color is not obtained, but rather a grayish or greenish color. Holly is almost absent of figure in the wood.

The American Holly (llex opaca is the classical Latin name) can grow to heights of 50-60 feet and diameters of 2-3 feet. The average gravity is 0.56 compared to the yellow poplar of 0.42.

The wood is used for musical instruments and accents in small pieces, with little used for lumber board.

Here are a couple of web sites that you may want to check out: http://www.wood-database.com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holly

Wayne Loveless …

There are many types and styles of mallets. They date back to early history when tree branches or roots were used as a kind of club. Historian tells us that both the Romans and Egyptians used wooden mallets. Most wooden mallets are turned from one piece of hardwood and are still used for a variety of purpose today. Turning a two piece mallet can be a bit more challenging but does allow for enhancing the beauty of the end product since the different types wood and color of the grain in the wood can certainly make the piece more attractive. Wayne chose a lighter piece of Maple hardwood which contrasted nicely with the darker piece of Walnut he used for the handle. Turning a mallet is a good refresher for the experienced turner and a less intimidating piece to tackle for any new turner. New woodturners and those considering becoming one, will find that turning a wooden mallet can be a very rewarding experience.●

2018 Demonstration Schedule

January – Wayne Loveless: Two-piece Mallet

February – Doug Spohn: Thin walled bowl

March – Tommy Hartline: Two-piece hollow form

April – John Lucas: Christmas Ornaments

May – Dieter Kuberg: Video Hollowing

June – Rick Urban: TBD

July – Drue Hogland: A Square Bowl

August - TBD

September- TBD

October - TBD

November - TBD

December – Christmas Party

DAWG News

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Show & Tell Article from the AAW

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Show & Tell

Charles Jennings – Plate - Maple

Charles Jennings

Charles Jennings

Charles Jennings

Charles Jennings

Charles Jennings

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Show & Tell

Charles Jennings

Charles Jennings

Charles Jennings

Charles Jennings

Charles Jennings

Charles Jennings

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Show & Tell

Charles Jennings

Ken Gano – Pencil Holder – Holly Seam Rippers – Maple/Walnut

Donny Lawson – Couchfoot Bowl – Maple

John Bramlett – Vase - Walnut

Doug Spohn - Top - Acrylic Casting

Donny Lawson- Couchfoot Bowl – Maple/Cherry

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Show & Tell

Doug Spohn – Acrylic Castings

Ruel Manning – Turkey Call - Cherry

Charles Jennings – 12 Pieces - Various

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Turning Pages A book review – Jared Bruckner

I was at an Apple Ridge Woodturners meeting and Larry McLish was the demonstrator. He held up a book on wood finishing and said something to the effect that it was the best book on finishing he had ever seen. When he passed the book around I borrowed a pen and wrote the ISBN on the back of a receipt I found in my wallet, thinking that if Larry recommended it, it must be good. When I got home that night, I found the receipt in my pocket where I had stuffed it. Since the computer was on, I brought up Amazon and typed 9781565235489 in the search box followed by Enter. Up came the book “Understanding Wood Finishing – How to Select and Apply the Right Finish” by Bob Flexner. Price $25.20 and Prime eligible. Not bad since the back of the book said $34.95. Click. Oh no, tax of $2.46. Still not too bad. Click. Click. Two days later as I scanned through the book I saw lots of pictures, but mostly of flat work. But, on page 71 was a picture of two wood turned bowls. Maybe all was not lost. I continued scanning and on page 85 something caught my eye. There was a picture of a can of WATCO Danish Oil along with six other cans of various finishing products. I had a can of WATCO just like the one in the picture, which had been sitting on a shelf in my workshop for … let’s just say a long time. I had intended to try it on something, but never got around to it. Right next to the WATCO can in the picture was a can of Minwax Tung Oil Finish. I thought “Why are they both in the same picture” as there were other pictures of various finishing products grouped together on the same page. But what does WATCO Danish Oil have to do with Minwax Tung Oil Finish? To answer this question, I decided to read from the beginning and after reading the Introduction I had my answer. Flexner states that “manufactures of finishing products have lots of room to mislead and exaggerate in their product naming and promotion … there is no effective check on a manufacture’s natural inclination to make its product appear better and sometimes even different than they actually are.” All the products pictured with the WATCO Danish Oil were Oil/Varnish blends that have mostly the same properties, even if the names were different. They all have medium protection against water and water-vapor exchange, dry to a satin finish, are applied easily and in the same way, have some darkening effect, and penetrate deeply. Where they differ is in the ratio of varnish to oil, which effects the cure time. Who would have known? The list of chapters is: Why Finish Wood Anyway?, Preparing the Wood Surface, Tools for Applying Finishes, Staining Wood, Oil Finishes, Wax Finishes, Filling the Pores, Introduction to Film Finishes, Shellac, Lacquer, Varnish, Two-Part Finishes, Water-Based Finishes, Choosing a Finish, Advanced Coloring Techniques, Finishing Different Woods, Caring for the Finish, Repairing Finishes, Exterior Finishes, and Removing Finishes. This book is not meant to be read from front to back. So begin with the section which interest you and go from there. I agree with Larry McLish, this a great book on finishing! Lastly, the hardcover edition is no longer available directly from Amazon. It is available from other suppliers at a cost of $39.50 to $4,225 plus shipping! I recommend the Paperback edition directly from Amazon for $24.88 with Prime.●

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News from the AAW

$20 INTRODUCTORY MEMBERSHIP The AAW has an exciting new membership promotion for first-time AAW members, which began in December 2017. Below is a summary of the details. FOR JUST $20, individuals may sign up for a three-month introductory AAW membership that includes a mailed issue of American Woodturner journal. When the introductory three-month membership period ends, individuals may renew by upgrading to a full general AAW membership for just $40. Only individuals who have NEVER been AAW members are eligible for the introductory three-month membership offer. The introductory three-month membership offer is available to individuals ONE TIME ONLY. Each introductory three-month AAW membership includes the benefits of AAW membership for three full months, including one printed copy of the American Woodturner journal, and access for three months to Woodturning FUNdamentals, AAW EXPLORE! Discover Woodturning, AAW Connects, AAW Forum, the world's largest woodturning tips library, safety resources, learning and mentoring materials, grant opportunities, specialty programming, services, and more. Sign up for the special offer online at http://www.woodturner.org/?page=ITM2040. Read about eligibility and how it works.

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