Member? - Login so you can access all the Guild has to offer!

January Meeting Demonstration

Roberto Ferrer - Wood, Fire and Wire

The January 2025 monthly meeting will feature demonstrations by Roberto Ferrer. 

Roberto Ferrer is a wood artist, sculptor, wood turner, instructor, and demonstrator based in Chicago, specializing in creating unique, handmade wood art pieces and lathe-based sculptures. He is a person who is passionate about art and wants to share this passion through his work.

Featured in several AAW journals, he demonstrates at local woodturning clubs and teaches in woodworking schools.

”…bowls aren’t just functional objects; they’re personal works of art, designed to bring warmth, personality, and a touch of nature into your home” - Roberto Ferrer

View his online gallery at https://www.ferrerstudioart.com/gallery

Watch a PBS show featuring Roberto: (455) Eye On The Arts | Roberto Ferrer - YouTube

Not a member yet? You can sign up at the meeting or any time of the year. Click here for more info…

Here’s your chance to learn from an expert and nationally acclaimed demonstrator! Spaces are still available for Roberto’s classes at the Learning Center…

Wood, Fire and Wire

Want to create the perfect gift or just show off your turning skills, then this is the class for you.  Attendees will learn how to turn delicate flowers out of small freshly cut branches. Sharp tools, light touch, and a little bit of imagination are the perfect combination for this project.

The focus of this class is to learn the necessary skills to turn delicate flowers that can later be airbrushed for eye-catching looks. The vase is an integral part of the composition, and it can be turned either out of a discarded piece of wood, or an exotic blank you might have saved for years. For this project you will use basic turning tools, a microwave, wire, and an airbrush.

You can learn from the expert - sign up for the class at Roberto Ferrer Wood, Fire and Wire Class - 1/19/2025

Embellishment Techniques

Attendees will be introduced to different texturing techniques using rotary carving tools, wood burning brands, and quick and easy textures . All these textures will later be highlighted using the dry brushing technique to apply color for striking results.

Participants will gain skills to embellish a wide range of wood-turned objects. Some of the tools used for this class are rotary tools, burrs and bits, wood burner, paint, and brushes. Most of these techniques will be done on a story board thus allowing the student to take home several processes to use in the future.  

Students may bring pieces to try techniques on but since several processes will be taught, time will not allow the completion of one technique on a piece.

You can sign up for this class at Roberto Ferrer Embellishment Class - 1/20/2025

December Meeting: Member Appreciation Luncheon

Annual December Contest - Turn a Bowl Winners

KC Kendall elected President of the American Association of Woodturners

Congratulations to OVWG member KC Kendall who will be the new president of the international American Association of Woodturners (AAW) organization (woodturner.org). With more than 13,000 members and over 365 local chapters globally, AAW members include amateurs, hobbyists, professionals, gallery owners, collectors, tool and equipment suppliers, and others.

KC was a two-term past president of the Guild and is an Honorary Lifetime Member. He championed the development of the Learning Center and has co-chaired several symposiums.

American Association of Woodturners selects member Gabriel Hoff’s lidded box as the AAW Turning of the Week. Please give it a “like”, share with your friends, and follow AAW on Facebook.

From AAW: “Gabriel Hoff's boxes are elegant, pure and displays a classic design. Regardless the wood species, he manages to create a beautifully turned box.”

According to Gabriel: “This box is really a stunner from all aspects, grain, spalting, and design! Turned from a blank of American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) gifted to me from my woodturning teacher, this box has a lot going on with the grain. The spalting is really intense, and the color variation and grain flecking is really pronouced. Style features include a true round bottom, chamfered rim, and domed lid. Turned, hollowed and finished with only wax. Size is 1 3/4" tall x 1 7/8" diameter. This box really turned out well, the wood was not too punky, and it took sanding and finishing very nicely!”

November Meeting: Ornaments Galore Demonstration

Ornaments Galore

At the November meeting, members got a head start on the holiday season and were treated to several demonstrations for turning ornaments. Member handout document for the ornament demonstration can be viewed here: Ornament Making Demonstration handout

At-Large Board Position

Congratulations to Jesse Parrett for being elected as the new At-Large Board member for the Guild.

November Meeting: Show and Tell

New Classes - sign up now, classes are filling up.  Check the Calendar for more classes and skill building sessions….

Multi-axis Forms

This hands-on class walks through the steps necessary to create a multi-axis piece. Attendees will learn about selecting wood, selecting tools, mounting and turning challenges, finishing recommendations, with a discussion on advanced forms. 

Register for the 1/30/2025 class at Multi-axis Spindle Turning, 6-9pm - 1/30/2025

Segmented Feature Rings

This Session will explore Feature Ring construction. Areas discussed will include stacked features, laminated designs and stave construction. We will discuss materials, design, and construction methods. You should leave the session with enough basic knowledge and understanding of methods to allow you to create attractive feature rings for your projects.

Sign up for the 2/3/2025 session at Segmented Feature Rings - 2/3/2025

Traditional Peppermill

Learn how to make a peppermill from layout, shaping, drilling and assembly. As a a project for beginners and seasoned (pun intended) turners alike. These woodturning projects are beautiful and useful additions to any kitchen and they make great gifts. In this class, KC demonstrates how to bore the proper holes to hold the grinding mechanism and then how to turn the exterior and assemble the mills.

The 2/8/2025 class if full, but the waitlist is available at Traditional peppermill - 2/8/2025

Fundamental Tool Control and Cutting Edge Presentation for Spindle Turning 

Dozens of short exercises will introduce and build fundamental skills and concept understanding to enhance spindle turning projects. The emphasis will be on learning and practicing tool control fundamentals: body positioning; posture; arm and body mechanics; and handle grips; using a number of short exercises. Concepts that will be explained include riding/gliding/floating the bevel, raising the handle to lower the cutting edge, supported and unsupported cuts, ghost images, and more.

Rescheduled for February at Tool Control When Spindle Turning - 2/22/2025

SAVE THE DATES

Turn Fest

Cross Drill Ornaments with Inlays

As an intermediate class, we learned how to make a Christmas ornament using a cross-drill technique and advanced spindle turning skills. After cross-drilling a hardwood cube, the cube was turned to created a globe. Laminates (snowflakes and dog paws) were then inlayed into the cube. A cap and finial were turned to complete the ornament.

Bird House Ornaments

As the holiday season approaches, we found ourselves looking for special gifts for special people. For woodturners, small gifts that will have special meaning for others are well within reach. With a little imagination and the use of wood scraps, the class made birdhouse ornaments that relatives and friends will treasure for years to come.

Demonstrator Class: Winged Bowls

Following his demonstration at the October monthly meeting, national woodturner Jamie Donaldson guided class participants through the process of making their own Winged Square Turning and Winged Bowl. He covered the process of sharpening the tools as well.

Segmented Vessel Week

It was segmented vessel week at OVWG in August.  Jess Parrett led a two-part hands-on class that provided techniques for creating segments using a table saw sled, gluing segments into rings, and gluing rings on the lathe to create a rough vessel blank to finish at home.  Dan Gingerich, John Peters, and Terry Elfers provided instructional support and shared various techniques in making segmented pieces.

Offset Plate:

Bob Henrickson led the group in turning a different sort of plate by creating a plate using both offsets and tilts to produce a striking effect. The domed center provided a focal point for embellishment. Using a jam chuck, the back side of the platter was shaped into an ‘ogee’ curve. 

Cheese Platter:

KC Kendall provided the ingredients to create a cheese platter with a marble insert.  A tasty tip to share - repurpose a mortise.  A mortise on the top side is used to finish the bottom side of the platter.  If the marble insert in the center is set up to be removable, the mortise can also be used to hold a similar sized bowl for chip dip.

Introduction to Woodturning and the OVWG Learning Center

The latest group of new members attended the free monthly orientation to the Ohio Valley Woodturners Guild and our Learning Center. They were acquainted with a brief history of the OVWG that started back in 1988 and how we've grown as a friendly group of people who love to turn wood. The operation of the Learning Center was reviewed and how this great resource can help the journey of learning to turn wood and finding out what kinds of things you can make. 

Safety is a high priority for the OVWG in all of our activities. The parts of the lathe were reviewed and how to be safe when working on the lathe, as well as use of other tools in the workshop. An introduction to sharpening was provided as well.

Attendees used the lathes for spindle turning as a hands on introduction to woodturning by making a bead & cove stick, since beads and coves are the key design elements of many things around us every day. 

Embellishment Tools & Techniques

As an intermediate class, attendees observed the use of a variety of embellishment tools and the associated turning techniques for each, and was then able to try each out on the lathe. Demonstrated tools included the following:

• Point Tool
• Knurling Tool
• Chatter Tool
• Spiraling Tool
• Beading Tool
• Teardrop Tool
• Elf Tool

Intermediate Skills: Jam Chucks

In the July Intermediate Skill Building session, techniques using jam chucks to turn and shape round objects were demonstrated. Attendees created a jam chuck to hold a round work piece in place for turning and repositioning as needed to create a desired shape.

Intermediate Skills: Ball-and-Cup

It was time to have fun making a Ball-and-Cup toy in Bev Connelly’s Skill Building Session for Intermediate members.  In a round about way, the session started with making a sphere and then designing a cup to fit the sphere - all from the same workpiece blank.  Techniques included sphere making, hollowing with a Forster bit, caliper measure, and creating pieces that fit inside another. With Bev and Mark’s expert guidance in efficiently turning the workpieces, the biggest challenge was catching the ball in the cup.