Fellow Turners: The July meeting was very well attended and for those of you who were unable to attend, the mystery man, Hal Simmons, presented an enjoyable demonstration. He reminded us that things don’t always go as planned, but then, that is why I enjoy turning so much. If every piece turned out as I envisioned, where would the challenge be?
I want to thank again those members who contributed to our show and tell portion. Everyone who brought a piece to show can be rightfully proud of their respective accomplishments.
For August there will be no president’s challenge. We will continue our show and tell program and I am hopeful that many more members will share their work with us. Please don’t worry, I am not getting soft with the club. At our next meeting and in my August message I will be outlining the next President’s challenge. I can only say that I expect every member to participate and I promise that when the challenge is revealed, you will want to.
I hope that our library will open for the next meeting and if you have a book, tape or DVD that you would like to contribute we would greatly appreciate your contribution.
To continue in my turning education series, a little history is in order. This information comes from The Art of Woodturning: A Brief History. The earliest hints of the Art of Woodturning probably lie in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, to be found in the tombs of the pharaohs. There, pictographs depicting a primitive bow-driven hand drill can be seen. Though this is not actually a lathe, it is the first indication of the use of the bow as a
means of spinning a tool. The bow became, as far as we can tell, the earliest form of lathe engine. Still today, in come Arabic countries, this form of bow-driven lathe can be found in use. Though somewhat elaborate work can be done on these bow lathes, in Europe, at least, a development took place which increased the lathes usefulness. We probably get our English Language word lathe from this lath type turning engine. Lath, in this case, was probably a flexible tree limb to which was tied one end of the driving cord.
A member of my club in California received a grant to construct and demonstrate on this type of lathe. I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to try and turn a piece on it. I give our forefathers’ a lot a credit because it was much more difficult than it looked. In the
control of one with some experience it actually worked fairly well. Just between us, I prefer to push a button.
Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, August 20th. 7 PM at Woodcraft. I hope to see you all at this important meeting. The next demonstration will be posted on our web page by our program chairman and I know we have some good ones lined up.
Bob // Robert F. Greenberg, Club President