President's Message

Welcome to Ontario Spring where snow, sleet, rain mix to remind us that winter is not entirely over. However some of us have exposed grass that is getting quite green.

Here are the updated rules for our Salon that is slated for May 11th. I hope that most of you will decide to show something even if it is only in the new Member's Gallery.

On the same date we will also hold our General Meeting, likely during the time the judges are making their selections.

Please consider helping out even if it is a small investment. We cannot run without 'helpers'.

Peter at Woodchuckers reminded me that they have Wig Stand kits available for $5 each and it contains at least $10 worth of wood. The cancer patients we create these for are really appreciative that I have observed first hand.

Take care and I hope to see you April 13th our next general meeting.

April 13th will be the next General Meeting
with Carl Durance demonstrating Turning Celtic Knots

You can read about Carl's turning journey at Carl Durance

March 23rd Skills night - Spurtles was the project

There was a fine turn out and several spurtles were completed

What’s a spurtle, you ask? It’s a kitchen utensil of Scottish origin used for stirring porridge and thick sauces. See descriptions & photos below.

While spurtles are (or can be) basic in design, this project is not as simple as it might seem – turners will need to perform some fine detail cutting and overcome flexing vibration.

February 9th General Meeting featuring Jim Williams on turning Hats

Many of you will remember that Jim accompanied Lionel Bedard to our meeting in January and brought a number of his wonderful hats to our show-and-tell table. Jim’s bio will follow when it’s available.

For those of you who are unable to attend in person, we are hopeful that you will be able to join via Zoom.

Jim is a relatively new member to Kawartha Woodturner’s Guild but he has obtained a great deal of experience and knowledge in a very short time. He just started turning in 2019 and at that time attended a hands on retreat in Texas. Later in 2020 he did one on one classes with Chris Ramsey in Kentucky and in 2022 he also did classes with JoHannes Michelson in Vermont.

All of this has helped to hone his skills in making unique wooden hats. He has attended a number of AAW regional symposiums to further his woodturning education and his pieces were featured in the AAW Journal in Oct 2022. You can find out a bit more about Jim and his work from his website and facebook page.

February 23rd Skills Night- Featuring Pepper Mills

To round out our theme of the last couple of demonstrations, Brian and other skilled WGO members helped turn a pepper mill.

WGO will supply the wood blanks.

Bring any or all of the following tools (sharpened):

• Parting tool (1/8" would be best)
• Roughing gouge
• Spindle gouge (3/8" or 1/2" is best)
• Bowl gouge if you don't have a spindle gouge (1/2" fingernail type grind preferred)
• Skew chisel (3/4" or 1" is best)
• Awl
• Pencil

• Safety glasses (at minimum) must be worn for small spindle turning
• Full face shield must be worn for larger pieces or cross grain turning
• All jewellery must be removed
• Loose long sleeves must be tied off or rolled up
• Tool rests may not be moved or adjusted while lathe is running
• No sanding during skills night turning sessions
Bringing your own tools is advised; however, spares for above tools will be available if you are missing something.
A face shield is necessary and should be basic equipment in any woodturner’s shop.

Sample Pepper Mills

February 9th General Meeting - Featured Brian Campbell

Happy February. I hope you’ve all managed to keep warm during our recent blast of true winter. This Thursday, February 9th was a WGO General meeting and we’ll continued the pepper mill theme with a demonstration, by our own Brian Campbell, of the more traditional technique. For your reference, A handout of instructions for this project is available here OR click on the Techniques link at the top of the home page, scroll down to Skills Instruction Documents, and click on Pepper Mill Instructions). Also, to round out our theme, Brian has planned pepper mills for this month’s Skills Night (February 23rd) so Members can turn one for themselves under the guidance of experienced WGO mentors. Details will follow soon.

Sample Pepper Mills

Jan. 26th Skills night - Spurtles was to be the project

Unfortunately, this was cancelled due to weather and will be rescheduled later Tools needed:

• Spindle gouge
• Parting tool
• Skew

Bringing your own tools is advised; however, spares for above tools will be available if you are missing something.
A face shield is necessary and should be basic equipment in any woodturner’s shop.

Click on "Techniques" on the menu bar for all skills night projects

Jan 12th Meeting was with Lionel Bedard demonstrating
the Mike Mahoney method for pepper mills

Lionel Bedard

I am a local artist, born and raised in Ottawa. Always having been interested in wood, I purchased my first lathe nineteen years ago when I started woodturning. Eventually I progressed to a 24-inch swing lathe which gives me the opportunity to produce larger pieces.

I am always searching for great varieties of wood, domestic and exotic to turn functional as well as artistic pieces. I look for different shapes and forms to incorporate in my vases, bowls, platters and non-functional pieces.
Natural edges as well as flaws in the wood are often used as features.

My pieces have won various prizes including First, Best in Show and People’s Choice at the Ottawa Wood Show competitions. For the many years I have participated in local studio tours and art shows. My work has been sold through the local art galleries including Da Artisti Gallery, Sea Hag Soap and Art Mercantile in Pennsylvania, and presented to dignitaries by Foreign Affairs Canada. In 2016 I was commissioned by the NCC to turn a time capsule using wood from the grounds of Rideau Hall. This piece is on display in the cafeteria at Rideau Hall. In 2018, several of my pieces found a home and are displayed in the six Official Residences of Canada.

For many years I have been a member of the American Association of Woodturners, attending the various symposiums and taking courses from renowned turners. I have served as President of the Bytown Woodturners and enjoy participating in our weekend workshops teaching and encouraging novice turners. I have also enjoyed doing various demonstrations for different woodturning clubs in Ontario as well as Montreal.

Christmas Meeting was December 8th

Kade Bolger demonstrated turning a Lotus Bowl

And included a short talk about preparation. Discussing what size lumber you need (or Kade uses) and accurately dimensioning the piece into the blank needed.

You can read Kade's BIO here

Of course there was our annual Top Spinning Contest
Richard presided over the contest and won, however, turn out was disappointing as he was the only participant

Treats
We had a fine array of our traditional snacks and goodies potluck Thanks to all who brought in their samples of family treats.

November Skills night ws on the 24th
Brian and several members showed and taught how to make ornamental bird houses

The stock will be drilled out and be ready to be shaped.
Tools needed:

• Parting tool
• Spindle gouge
• Roughing gouge

Click on "Techniques" on the menu bar for all skills night projects

Our October 27th Skills Night featured Brian teaching
"Turning Acorns

Click on "Techniques" for all skills night projects

Keith Mombourquette was our in person demonstrator on Thursday October 13th

Keith demonstrated "Making a Lighthouse Lamp"

Keith has provided us with a "Bill of Materials" and a drawing. These are available upon request to Jack ( click on Jack)

Biography of Keith Mombourquette

I have been woodworking pretty much my whole life, and have built everything from furniture and cabinets to the timber-frame home that we live in. My first exposure to turning was in high school. However, I never acquired a lathe until 3 years ago when I needed to turn a set of legs for a table. I felt like I had re-met an old forgotten friend! Since then I have purchased a Union Graduate lathe which I upgraded with a new motor and VFD, and increased the capacity from 12 inches to 20 inches Turning has given me many new pursuits to learn, both in the turning, and in embellishments. Recently I have taken up pyrography and piercing as means to embellish my turnings. I turn mostly bowls and hollow forms, but have also turned pens and small boxes. Being a professional engineer (retired), I really enjoy building my own jigs, fixtures and so-on to use with my turning. Recent additions have been an articulated hollowing system, a bowl kiln, and a fluting jig.

Thursday, September 29th was our first skills night - as always.

Richard did a demo on sharpening each different type of turning tool, then showed how it's used.

turningtool.co.uk now hosted by WGO.ca

The Woodturner's Workshop Brian Clifford's woodturning resources

This site was built by Brian Clifford over many years and features many articles, plans and videos that are of interest to novice and advanced woodturners alike. Brian has decided to retire and was going to allow the site to lapse; however, the WGO has agreed to host it on his behalf to ensure this great resource continues to be available. Please have browse and enjoy it here