Any LAW (Lousiville Area Woodturners) Members out here?

[Brad Kimbrell]

I am considering joining the Louisville Area Woodturners club (about 1 hr from Lexington) to meet some turners and hopefully learn a few things as well. I've got a LOT to learn!

Are any of you LAW members also Creekers?

I just bought that SuperNova2 chuck last week. I was turning a bowl on my Jet Mini and just starting to hollow it out when it broke the dovetailed recess and flew off and ran across the shop floor! Darn it!

It wasn't a catch, but maybe I was cutting a little too agressively. Or maybe the recess was not deep enough? I made it about 1/4" deep in the base of the bowl form.

[Joash Boyton]

depending on the size of the bowl, but usually, regardless of size, I turn a recess of at least 5mm. Better to be safe than sorry.

[Mark Pruitt]

Brad, tenons are far better than recesses. I like to turn a flat bottom with a square scraper and use CA glue to attach a sacrificial tenon (which I true up with a bowl gouge after the CA has set). Once I have hollowed out the inside, I reverse-chuck the bowl to turn off the tenon, using a compression chuck (or "donut"). For details and easy instructions on this chuck, go to Bill Grumbine's website, click For Turners and go down to Bowl Turning Jig.

[Pete Kekel]

Hi Brad -

I'm a member of the Ohio Valley Woodturners Guild which is primarily based in and around Cincinnati. Several of our members also belong to the Louisville Area Woodturners club. They seem to be a fairly active club and also bring in some great demonstrators. Later in 2007 they will be hosting Jimmy Clewes and David Lancaster, just to drop a couple of names. They also have quite a few good turners in the club and, like almost all of the other clubs I've been to, are willing and anxious to share any of their knowledge, woodturning or otherwise! It's certainly worth the trip from Lexington and probably the fastest way to get the best hands-on advice to help shorten your woodturning learning curve.

Good luck,

Pete

[Jim Becker]

IMHO, recess mounting is best used for platters and similar flat and wide constructions where there is a lot of wood to support the pressure (tension) supplied by the chuck jaws. Using a tenon on bowls and vessels is generally stronger and safer. A tenon (with or without a waste block) provides more working room for adjusting the form at the base, too. And in my experience, compression on a tenon that has a proper shoulder is more secure than tension in a small recess.

[Brad Kimbrell]

Well, I will go out to the shop tonight and remount that screw chuck to the other end and turn off the broken part and then glue on a tenon with shoulders to grab onto.

In the future I will try the integrated tenon, but probably would have to take off too much wood to remove the broken part (3/8") plus enough for a tenon too.

Thanks for the good advice...

I was so anxious to turn a dovetailed recess to fit those new jaws that I seem to have gotten carried away.

It's still a really neat chuck and I'm sure that I will find many new ways to utilize it.

[Mark Hulette]

Hey Brad-

I'm not a member of LAW but had considered it as they do have an active club. If I didn't have 3 kids I'd join in a minute.

It's really surprising to me that Lexington doesn't have a Turning club of some sort ( ); especially for a city of it's size.

[Brad Kimbrell]

Lexington had a turner's club when I moved here 13 years ago, but I never could seem to find out when the meetings were held. I believe that they were at Cox Hardwoods. I went to one.

Maybe that's why they disbanded? I have mentioned to Manny at Manny's Woodworkers store here that his new store would be a nice place for a club to meet. His manager seemed interested, but I believe that many others will need to show interest before any movement would be made.

And yes, I agree, it would be really nice to have either a woodworkers club like KYANA or a woodturners club....OR BOTH!

I used to go over to the KYANA meetings once a month but the drive is long / boring and it gets really late before I make it back home. I enjoyed their meetings, I just find it easier not to make that long, dark drive. They start at 7pm, go until about 9pm and that puts me back home at 11pm.

They do get a great attendance - over 200 members and over 100 show up for the meetings at The Walden School.

I hope to make it over to the LAW club in January. I will be out of town for the December meeting and it's their Xmas dinner party anyway. Their web site shows 2 professional turners as speakers in the coming months.

If you are interested in going over in January, I have to come through Frankfort anyway and would be happy to have the company!

[Mark Hulette]

I've been turning about 4-5 years so I had no knowledge of previous clubs in the area... that's a shame it disbanded.

You are right--Manny's would be a great place for a HQ... I know there are several turners in the Versailles area that used to post here and also WoodCentral. Maybe some renewed interest...

I would love to go with you sometime but I've got about 9 days worth of week and only 7 days to fit it in .

What night is the LAW meeting happen in January?