Wooden Name Tag

Since I've moved here I've joined both the local woodturning club and more recently the marquetry club. The turning club requires a name tag - ideally turned, and if you're caught at a meeting without one you are supposed to make a $1 donation to the club. So this winter I finally had an idea for making one that involved both turning and marquetry, so that I could be covered for both. The backer disc is turned around the outside as well as a small indent in the front where I glued in the marquetry I cut with an exacto knife. I designed it with my name and a maple leaf on it as a conversation starter to meet new people. The whole thing is 3" across, and so the letters were very challenging and tiny, which is why I decided against removing the centers of the letters. I glued a pin to the back and now wear it and save a dollar every month at the meetings!

 

Woodturning Club Competition

This past weekend the wood turning club I belong to had their annual competition. They put a lot of work into the organization and how it all comes together, making sure that every single piece that gets submitted gets constructed feedback of what is good about the piece and what could be improved. This is all done by two guest judges who examine each piece and critique it and finally award various prizes. There were 98 entries and they got through them all in about 3 hours! I stuck around and listened to what they said about mine. But there was also someone frantically noting down all their comments so at the end we got nice little comment sheets. They even took really nice photos of all our work and printed those on the pages with teh feedback. Luckily, there are several categories as well as skill levels you can enter, so I didn't have to worry about going up against some of the geniuses in the club. They were very encouraging and I thought I'd give it a go and at least get some good pointers for what to improve. 

This was my first ever natural edge bowl. The photo looks about 200 times better than the actual bowl, but I didn't really know how to finish it or a good technique for the inside. The judges were very helpful in describing better ways to get a nice form, finish and some techniques, so I'm going to try another one soon while I still remember. 

This was a lidded box I made about a year ago, and to my surprise it won a second place ribbon in the beginner box category! They still had many suggestions for improvement, so I'll keep working on those things as well.

All in all it was pretty neat to see all the things everyone made, and there were some pretty awesome pieces. And it was really great to get some feedback from people who really know their stuff. 

Evolution - 25 years of Turning - WBAW entry to the AAW Symposium

This is what the amazing people in my turning club put together this month for the 25th AAW symposium. There are 25 miniatures (1.5"cube max dimensions) representing all different types of turning. The carousel was also turned! It's hard to see the details of all the miniatures, but I got to see them in person at the last meeting and they are ridiculous! All of the lids to the boxes are removable and they are hollowed, there's tiny carving and burning on some. There's even a segmented piece in there with over 100 pieces! 

I've got a lot to learn from these folks!