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President's Message
From the President,
Good day, everyone. Just want to remind everyone that this month is the Craig Timmerman live demo. The cost is only $10.00 through the PayPal link on the website, or you should have gotten an email with the link. This will be a remarkably interesting demo for all levels of turning.
Another topic which has been discussed among those of us who are doing the Open Shops, is reducing the number to one a month. It is becoming really difficult to put on 3 demo’s a month (2 open shops, 1 monthly meeting). So, starting in May, unless we get other feedback, the 2nd Saturday will be the only open shop until the month of September. If we get several requests and members to do demos during open shop during the summer months, we can restart. I do thank the members who have been coming in recently during the open shops and hope this trend continues for the single open shop for each of the months May, June, July, and August.
I hope to see everyone on April 20th for the demo meeting. If you have paid, an email will be sent with the information to log into Zoom. If you do not get any information by the 19th, please get a hold of one of the officers ASAP. Everyone have a safe and wonderful April.
Ron Bruno, President IWT
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Offcuts from the Board
April 2021
As woodturners, we do not have much scrap, just smaller pieces that can be used together to make something larger in combination with other bits and pieces. That's what this little section attempts to produce. By adding the small parts of our activities and plans we have a combined bigger picture of opportunities to take part in within the club.
- Please note that all public meetings of the club are on hold because of the COVID-19 self-quarantine restrictions. We are having our meeting virtually on line. Please refer to the information in other sections of the newsletter on how to prepare and participate in those meetings.
- Be sure to check on our website for the current status and information on club activities. The address is; independencewoodturners.org (Ref. the following article about the website.).
- Members, please join us on Facebook where you can see what others are doing and you can post your own projects and artwork.
- As a reminder, the membership dues became $20 a year beginning January 2020, and only emailed newsletters will be sent. Dues payments being collected now will go for the 2021 year's dues. They may be paid by either; sending a check to Mel Bryan, Treasurer with the check made out to "Independence Woodturners" at; 204 NW Redwing Dr., Lee's Summit, Mo. 64063. Or you may pay by PayPal by either one of two options. You may pay by going to the web address, PayPal.me/indepwoodturners or via our website. To pay, using the website, as a member, sign in to our website, Independencewoodturners.org, using the userid you were given when you joined. Once you sign in, go to the "Members Only" tab and click on "Financial". If you've misplaced your id or have trouble, please contact either Ron Bruno or Mel Bryan for assistance.
- Want to help out? Check out the "Want Ad" below.
- The officers would very much like to hear from you, the members, any thoughts and ideas you might have as to what you would like to see from the club within the abilities, guidelines and purposes of the club. Therefore, feel free to contact any officer with your input. You can use any of the officers' email addresses listed above or the club email address; indepwoodturners@gmail.com
- There are many ways you can contribute to the life of our club. A really good way is to partake in the Open Shop by bringing a project or turning and get a lathe going. Another way is to submit your woodturning tips also for the newsletter. (Refer to the article later.) Of course there are many other ways to put your enthusiasm into action. You can ask any officer for direction. There are many practical ways to be involved. A simple way to help is to come early to the meeting and help set up the room for the meeting and/or stay afterwards and help clean up. Either or both are appreciated.
Keep turning safely and we’ll see you at the meeting.
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Live Interactive Remote Demonstration
This month's meeting will be our first Interactive Remote Demonstration and will replace our normal meeting because we have joined forces with the other clubs in the KC Metro area, the Kansas City Woodturners and Northland Woodturners.
We have engaged Professional Woodturner Craig Timmerman to demonstrate turning his imaginative "Torus Vase" on Tuesday, April 20th, 7:00pm-9:00pm.. This is a Zoom demo with Craig live turning and narrating in his studio. You will be able to ask Craig questions after his demo. Craig will send out the Zoom link a week or two before the demo. We will make sure you get the link.
Craig Timmerman's demo is not free for the clubs so we request a $10 donation to help pay for this event. To use Paypal to pay Craig's fee: Click Here
If you don't do Paypal, you can pay with a credit card by emailing Kevin Neelley (KCWT Treasurer) to arrange for a phone call: Email Kevin
If you wish to mail cash or check, that's okay but email Kevin Neelley to let him know. Mail to KCWT Treasurer, 14738 W 80th St, Lenexa, KS 66215
Notice: So that you know, this demonstration will not be recorded and will, therefore, will not be available later because Mr. Timmerman will not allow it to be recorded.
Independence Woodturners are hosting this event. The Northland Woodturners and the Kansas City Woodturners will each host another demonstration event this year. Don't worry if you are a member of more than one club because all proceeds go into a common pool to pay for this year's demos.
Craig Timmerman
Torus vase
Craig will be demonstrating how to turn this torus vase during the live demo.
Craig Timmerman's Bio:
Craig Timmerman is a full-time artist and production woodturner living in Austin, TX. He is a nationally-known woodturner and gives demonstrations and woodturning instruction.
He picked up woodturning in 1998 when he took a weekend class at a local store. After that weekend the wood working equipment in his shop ceased to be used for anything except woodturning. He has now expanded into using bent lamination (the process of gluing of thin strips of wood and bending them under pressure over a form) to augment his turnings and to produce new and exciting pieces.
Craig's specialties include hollow forms, spheres, and non-round (e.g. square) turnings. Many of his pieces combine multiple turnings and bent laminations. He works primarily with reclaimed timber--trees that have come down in storms, trees being taken down for construction, and the occasional piece of firewood. Reclaimed timber is often filled with flaws of different kinds, such as cracks, bug holes, or voids. Rather than try to remove the flaws, he accentuates them by making them the focal point of the piece, filling them with crushed stone, or carving them into other shapes.
Craig is a member of the American Association of Woodturners and the Central Texas Woodturners and is a firm believer in their mission to provide education and information to those interested in woodturning. Craig frequently demonstrates and teaches his craft. He has been a featured demonstrator three times at the American Association of Woodturners National Symposium as well as multiple regional woodturning symposiums, and local woodturning clubs.
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Our Last Meeting
As we continue to follow the self quarantine restrictions, instead of physically meeting, we have been holding our meetings virtually online. Our meeting last month was also held online (at the regular meeting time) and we had a good turnout and included several show & tell items by the members in attendance.
Ben Simmons pre-recorded a video at his own shop specifically for our club meeting on sharpening our turning tools. Ben started out explaining a bit about the different profiles on gouges, both bowl and spindle gouges, and also explained some of the options on grinders, sharpening systems and grinding wheels.



Ben then demonstrated how to grind the tool edge on several different tools. He covered; bowl gouges, spindle gouges, spindle roughing gouges, negative rake scrapers, and skew chisels.

If you missed the presentation or would like to watch again you can view it on YouTube. The demo is on YouTube at this link; Sharpening Turning Tools
Thank you, Ben, for your time and effort for this cutting edge and informative demo.
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Help Wanted
A Plea for Demonstrators
Because of the quarantine situation, we find ourselves in the awkward position of not being able to schedule a variety of demonstrators. Many are not able to present from their own shops or make videos that we can share. Therefore, we are asking our members to consider and step up to give a demonstration. What we are willing to do is video your demo at our club site at Metro Hardwoods then present it in our online meetings. If you have been on the borderline of giving a demo, this is an excellent opporturnity (misspelling intentional). You can share your skill and techniques without the fear of people throwing stones and we can edit the oopses. If you are willing to give it a try, please contact one of the officers. (Names, emails, phone numbers above).
And a big thank you to all of the members that have come forward thus far and made videos already for the rest of the club. This is what the club is about; sharing and helping each other.
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If you haven't used YouTube to view the videos of our club demonstrations you could be missing out on a helpful reminder of how to do something that we've been shown. You can watch the demos that you've missed in person and review that little bit of information or technique that slipped by. We want to encourage you to subscribe to our channel (Independence Woodturners) so that you will be notified of when a new video is posted. The subscription is free. The easy way to subscribe is to click on the 'Subscribe' button below the video. And also click on the 'bell' to be notified of new videos. Another way to subscribe is to search for "Independence Woodturners" and when our logo comes up, click on the 'Subscription' button on the right. And don't forget the 'bell'.
By subscribing, you will help us get more attention on YouTube and possibly help us receive a small bit of income at some point.
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Thoughts and suggestions for Show & Tell
To help us all to be able to get the most out of our show and tell time, please consider these guidelines and suggestions.
Please take pictures of your show and tell items and either email or text them to Mel Bryan; email: mrwudb@gmail.com or cell: 816-830-0107 We will put them into a slideshow and at the Zoom meeting when your picture comes up, you can talk about it and explain, brag, or ask questions, etc.
If you don't have a way of getting a picture, when you show your piece, hold it before the camera and look at your video to see how it is showing. You may need to back further away from the camera to get it into view well.
If you need assistance or have questions, please feel free to contact us (Mel Bryan, Ron Bruno, or any officer).
The most important part is to be sure to take part in the show & tell portion of our meetings.
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Turned and carved art piece by Ben Simmons
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Hybrid wood and acrylic cup by Rick Tucker

Bowl by Rick Tucker
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Textured vessel by Ben Simmons
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Offset turned and carved art piece by Ben Simmons
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Router embellished vessel by Rick Tucker
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