May 1998, page 1

Spring Retreat this Month

GCWA Newsletter

GCWA is affiliated with the AmericanAssociation of Woodturners. GCWAmeetings are usually held at 9:00a.m. on the 3rd Saturday of eachmonth. Check the last page for ourCalendar of Events. Annual duesare $15. Dues may be mailed toHelen Young, 2502 Esther Ave.,Pasadena TX 77502-3239. Makeyour check payable to GCWA or GulfCoast Woodturners Assn.

May 1998

plaints left over from last year that “toomuch was left for too few.” Well, you andI can prevent a recurrence of this by re-membering this dictum: At Retreat #2,No one is a guest. This event will beby-and-for GCWA, and the expectationis that each of us will lift, tote and cleanup after ourselves. After all, we’re notpaying $200 to Provo to be pampered. Itwill be our privilege to pay $42 and thenwork like dogs … again, because we loveturning and want to advance the art.

See you in Conroe.-- Murray Powell

Due to the Retreat

Library items may be returned, but notchecked out this month. Since you won’tbe keeping someone else from usingthese materials, bring them to the Julymeeting, if that is more convenient.

Show and Tell will give way to the Gal-lery, and Linda Box has agreed to takecare of that this year.

We will not have Bring Back, so bringthose items to the July meeting instead.

And folks, Boyce and Diana have given agreat deal of time and energy to YOURRetreat. Don’t forget to express yourgratitude to them and all the volunteers.

Just don’t miss the Retreat.-- Helen Young

Are YOUheaded for Conroe?

Much of the “buzz” around GCWA thesedays has to do with our Turning Retreat#2, which takes place in Conroe on May16–17. There will be two full days ofhands-on classes, demonstrations andfellowship about turning, with a dedicatedcrew of folks who are committed to fur-thering the arts of the lathe. Last year’sRetreat was where I really began to seemyself as being a woodturner, and notjust a woodworker with a lathe. I can’timagine missing this event.

I have therefore been surprised to dis-cover Club members who are still on thefence about attending. In my informaltalks, these folks seem to be from twogroups.

First, there are novices who wonder ifthey’ll be waayy outclassed by the ad-vanced turners. Answer: no way. Wehave a wonderfully wide variety of offer-ings, and the class leaders are goodteachers. Even if you don’t yet own asingle tool, consider attending this eventif you are serious about wanting to learn.(You will be even more welcome if you’lldrive around your neighborhood andgrab fresh-cut hardwood logs to bringalong!)

The second group of reluctants is a big-ger surprise. These are the advancedturners who apparently consider them-selves as being “beyond” the scope ofthe weekend. True, I don’t really expectto get a registration slip from RichardRaffan — but HE’s not one of ourmembers. The GCWA is about turningand turners, and there’s always more tolearn and contribute. Perhaps you won’tlearn a new technique; but how will yoube helping turning if you’re not there?

There might also be a third group: thepeople who worked too hard last year.There are some arguably-valid com-

In this IssueDue to the Retreat ......................... 1

Are YOUheaded for Conroe? ...................... 1

April Meeting .................................. 2

First Monday'sat Cutting Edge ............................. 3

Election Results ............................. 3

GCWA Web Site ........................... 3

Membership News ......................... 3

E-mail Addresses .......................... 3

AAW Chapters Exhibition .............. 4

Turning on the Internet .................. 4

Retreat Registration ....................... 4

Show & Tell ................................... 5

Bring Back ..................................... 5

For Sale ......................................... 5

GCWA T-shirts ............................. 5

Library ............................................ 5

Calendar of Events ........................ 6

This Month ..................................... 6

Executive Committee ..................... 6

Instant Gallery

GCWA participants are invited to bring asmany of your own turned creations asyou like. The Instant Gallery will be setup to show as many as five items fromeach participant at any given time. Mem-bers who bring more than five items canrotate them to ensure all are displayedduring the weekend. The Instant Gallerywill be open to members, spouses andthe public. The Gallery will be monitoredat all times and secured overnight.

-- Boyce Gahagan

May 1998, page 2

One of the attractions for me about beinga turner is working with many differentwoods. Exotics, domestics, burls and

curb woods – eachof them is a thrill.Over the past fewyears I’ve especiallyenjoyed collectingdifferent woods formy pen collection.The challengesteadily increasesonce you get pastabout 80 varieties.At the moment I

have close to 150, and it’s surprisinghow many I’ve found in the Houston area.

The following list of sources is far fromcomplete, but it should get you startedtoward a sufficient supply of materialswhether you do spindle, face-work orsegmented turning.

1. Local Sources

Austin Hardwoods (16749 North Free-way, phone 281.440.0764) – Often hasexotic scraps that are great for penblanks, as well as a good stock of exoticsand domestics. Prices are fair.

Fine Woods of Houston (1818 Upland,phone 713.468.7032) – Not a big selec-tion, especially on imports, but theirprices are very reasonable.

Hardwood Lumber Co (700 E 5-1/2 St,phone 713.862.6628) – Probably thebiggest selection of turning woods,though their prices seem high. We’veheld some of our monthly meetings here.

Hardwood Specialties (Mike O’Connor,phone 409.653.2739, Cold Spring, TX) –Kiln dried lumber, and a terrific source forhighly figured domestic hardwoods. Thisis the place to go for spindle turners, andalso segmented turners.

Houston Hardwoods (4910 W 34th,phone 713.686.6176) – Deals mostly incabinet woods, though they do have aselection of domestics, along with someimports, for slabs and segmented.

The Cutting Edge (7123 Southwest Fwy,phone 713.981.9228) – Steve LeGrue’s

selection varies between shipments, butthere’s always burls and highly figuredblocks for turning and carving, as well aspen blanks.

2. Cheaper Sources

The Wood Chop (6613 Pinemont, phone713.956.0151) This is a wood lot for BBQand fireplace woods, which is also agood source for mesquite, pecan, hick-ory!

Mahogany door manufacturers will sellscraps cheap; they can’t use figuredwood. I once bought a truckload ofscraps for $25!

Tree surgeons are a good source forburls and less common varieties, i.e., or-namental pear, mulberry, mimosa, blackwalnut (occasionally), redbud, pear,peach. All of these are beautiful woods.You need to make it clear what you wantand how you want it cut.

Curbside; the cheapest of all! Olderneighborhoods where new constructionis taking place is the best. Always askbefore taking.

3. Exotics & Highly Desirable Hard-woods

Tropical Exotic Hardwoods of LatinAmerica (PO Box 1806, Carlsbad CA96018; phone 760.434.3030) Hard tofind exotics including snakewood, Cubanmahogany, Primavera. If you really needan exotic wood, and are willing to pay forit, then here’s your place.

Winkler Wood Products (261-A Kekua-naoa St, Hilo Hawaii 96720; phone808.961.6411) – Hawaiian wood source:koa, coconut palm, macadamia.

Maple Specialties (David Borek, phone1.800.409.9663) – Maple & redwoodburls, especially big bowl blanks.

Unique Mesquite (Harold Jambers,HC01, Box W-11, Whitsett, TX70875-9401; phone 803.256.4414) –Mesquite burl source. Those of us whowent to the Symposium in San Antoniolast summer met Harold. He suppliesmesquite to dealers all over the world.

4. Sources for Bowl Blanks & PenBlanks

Boyce Gahagan, pen supplies, phone281.446.1590

Cutting Edge (7123 Southwest Fwy,phone 713.981.9228)

Wood Crafters of Oklahoma, phone1.888.333.7513

Hut Products, 1.800.547.5461

Craft Supplies, 1.800.551.8876

5. Unlimited Source

International Wood Collectors Society,applications available from Bill Cockrell,2300 West Rangeline Rd, GreencastleIN 46135-7875; 1-765.653.6483. TheWood Collectors Society will enablemembers to connect with a large numberof wood enthusiasts to learn about andtrade woods. Some members havewood collections numbering in thethousands.

There are over 70,000 different woodyplants on this planet.

-- Bill Hubbard

-- picture by Jerry Alspaw

April Meeting

Many thanks to Steve and Teri LeGruefor hosting our meeting. We had a tre-mendous turnout. There were lots ofthings to tempt the woodturners, and Iunderstand Steve offers a registrationservice so family members can selectfrom tools the woodturner wants andneeds. Rather handy with Father’s Daycoming up.

Wood Sources

May 1998, page 3

First Monday'sat Cutting Edge

I've recently been in conversation withSteve LeGrue, who is agreeable to host-ing an additional monthly gathering forGCWA members at the Cutting Edge. Tobe held on the first Monday evening ofthe month, from 7:00--9:00 PM, the clearfocus will be to make shavings and pro-mote turning.

Here's the background. Steve has said tome on several occasions that he reallyregrets not being able to make the Sat-urday meetings that are away from Cut-ting Edge. So, while he believes that thisis for “him,” truth is, this will benefit manyof us with an additional opportunity tolearn about turning.

Please note that these will be "gather-ings" and not "meetings" -- there will notbe announcements, judging, raffle or li-brary. Just turning, and fellowship. Otherbenefits: He's got enough lathes andtools so that more than a few of us cankeep busy. Being on the West side oftown would be helpful to some of ourmembers, and perhaps to prospectivemembers. This could be a way to revivethe GCWA Mentor Program, encourag-ing new turners. Open to all skill levels.

Steve has agreed to host these gather-ings through September 7th, then look at

what's happening. As announced at ourApril meeting, these gatherings startedMay 4th. Come and join us June 1, 7 PM.(Cutting Edge Woodworker's and ToolSupply, 7123 Southwest Fwy,713-981-9228)

-- Murray Powell

Election Results

Our new officers take office June 1st.

Board Member - Boyce GahaganSecretary - Carl BlairTreasurer - Helen Young

Thank each of you that voted, and thankyou, Bill Berry, for serving as our Nomi-nating Chairman.

-- Helen Young

GCWA Web Site

Gary Rodgers is working on the GCWAweb site. We need photographs andphotographers. Your original pictureswill be scanned and returned to you.Thus far, we have pictures from DaleBarrack and Andy Chen. The Gallery willbe your opportunity to showcase yourwork. Mail or e-mail or bring originals tothe next meeting.

helen@orbitworld.net

Membership News

Please welcome our new member, CarolLand.

Membership Rosters will be available atthe May meeting. We don’t mail them,so ask for your copy. They will be at thenext three or four meetings.

GCWA does not release the mailing listto anyone, and we ask that you not makethe roster available to anyone, either.We respect your privacy, and we ask thatyou extend the same courtesy to theother members of GCWA.

The name tags are right by the donuts.Wear one, and it will help us get to knowone another. Introduce yourself to someof the members you don’t know.

-- Helen Young

E-mail Addresses

If you haven’t sent in your e-mail ad-dress, why not do that today? This is awonderful way to communicate withother GCWA members.

While you’re surfing the Net, if you seesomething you think would interest othermembers, send me the web site infor-mation so we can pass it along.

helen@orbitworld.net

Closing Sale

All pen parts and related items, 20% less than our low, low prices.

Boyce Gahagan, 281.446.1590.

May 1998, page 4

REGISTRATION FORM

The member registration fee for theentire weekend includes participationin all events, including demonstrations,hands-on events, Instant Gallery, andscheduled meals on Saturday andSunday.

FEES:GCWA Member $42Each Additional Family Participant $26

Meals for each NON participantEach meal $10.

Mail this form and check or moneyorder to:Gulf Coast Woodturners Association2502 Esther AvePasadena TX 77502-3239

Name:

Address:

Home Phone:

Work Phone:

# GCWA Member Registrations

# Family Registrations

# Lunches for non participants

Enclosed is my check or money orderfor $

AAW Chapters Exhibition

Eight members of the Gulf CoastWoodturners Association submitted atotal of eighteen entries to our Chaptersjuried selection for the Third BiennialChapters Exhibition.

The local entrants and their work were:

Jose’ Berrios: “Four Corners”, blackwalnut platter, “The Fountain” goncaloalves platter and “Parthenon” purpleheart, wenge, zircote and hard maplelidded vessel.

Thomas Irven: “Keith’s Point #2,” pe-can, apple, corian, ebony and brass windvane

Jim Keller: “Morning Glory Series #6,”hackberry and manzanita flower form,#623, chinaberry and copper open form;“Contrast,” bleached, scorched andcarved ash, hollow form sculpture.

Mason LeGrue: “Branching Out,” ashopen form, and “Small Simplicity,” mapleburl, open form.

Kip Powers: #783, ornamental pearhollow form, #784, ornamental pear ves-sel

By Reed: “Sunset,”: slippery elm hollowform sculpture, “Double Up,” bois ‘d Arcopen form

Steven Russell: “Genesis I - Garden ofthe Gods,” fiddle back silver maple plat-ter, “Genesis II - England’s Splendor,”English brown oak burl.

Max Wohlgemuth: walnut vase, mes-quite natural edged bowl, and Christmasornament, pine and wenge.

On Sunday, May 3rd, the jurors, Char-lotte Cosgrove, Roger Deatherage, Ol-iver Goldesberry and Steve LeGrue metat the Glassell School of Art to jury the 18entries. The jurors expressed their ap-preciation of the wide divergence of workrepresented. Their comments of the in-dividual entries were given to each of theartists.

The top ten entries were ranked as fol-lows:

1. Steven Russell - “Genesis II - Eng-land’s Splendor”

2. Steven Russell - “Genesis I - Gardenof the Gods”

3. Thomas Irven - “Keith’s Point #2”

4. Jose’ Berrios - “Four Corners”

5. Jim Keller - “Morning Glory Series #6”

6. Max Wohlgemuth - Christmas orna-ment

7. Max Wohlgemuth - walnut vase

8. Jose’ Berrios - “The Fountain”

9. Kip Powers - ornamental pear hollowform

10. Jim Keller - chinaberry and copperopen form.

GCWA will be represented in the AAWChapters Exhibition by Steven Russell,Thomas Irven, Jose’ Berrios and JimKeller. Congratulations, guys. Ourthanks to the jurors and the entrants.Let’s do it again.

-- Jim Keller

Turning on the Internet

For those of you who love to turn and surfthe Net, check out these sites:

http://www.rtpnet.org/~aaw/

http://users.mwci.net/~rspragg/

http://www.tooltimer.com/OT.htm

http://www.avoca.vicnet.net.au/~pwguild/

http://www.libertynet.org:80/~woodturn/

http://www.MapleSpecialties.com/

http://tor-pw1.netcom.ca/~delargey/woodturn.html

Lovingly borrowed from Keystone Turn-ers News, Schwenksville, PA.

When Dave Greenawalt was called backeast a few months ago because of hismother’s failing health, he took his AAWroster and checked out some local turn-ers. He met some folks from this club,and asked that we exchange newslet-ters. Thanks, Dave.

-- Helen Young

Retreat Registration

Please don’t wait until the day of the Re-treat to register. We need to know howmany to plan for, and Diana Gahaganneeds to advise the caterer. We don’twant to pay for extra meals, either.

We are sending the newsletter out a littleearly, so you have ample opportunity toregister and make plans to attend.

Mail your check TODAY. This is YOURhands-on event. Lots of folks have do-nated their talent, time, materials andequipment to make this a memorableevent. Don’t miss it.

-- Helen Young

May 1998, page 5

This will be your last newsletter ifyour membership dues expired April30, 1998.

HARDWOOD LUMBER CO.700 E. 5-1/2 St (in the Heights)

(713) 862-6628

Hours: M-F 7:30-5:00, Sat. 9:00-1:00

We stock over 80 species of lumber including hard to findexotics!

Also: Plywood, Veneer, Molding, Custom Milling, Wood-working Tools, Books, etc.

Show & Tell

Special thanks to Greg Gonsalves andBy Reed for judging Show and Tell.

In the Beginning Category, Craig LeGruewon first place for an oak vase. MasonLeGrue took third place with a maple burlbowl, and second place with an ashbowl.

In the Intermediate Category, LarryThurston won first place with a red budnatural edge bowl and second place for aspalted pecan bowl. Denise Brethertontook third place with a canarywood per-fume bottle. A special award went to Er-vie Jenkins for a hickory vase.

In the Advanced Category, projectsturned from a single piece of wood, firstplace went to Steve LeGrue for an ec-centric maple burl box. Second placewent to Murray Powell for a red heart“mimosa” (!) bowl, and George Keenergrabbed third place with a closed syca-more bowl.

The new category for projects turnedfrom more than one piece of material isgaining momentum. First place went toAndy Chen for a corian soft soap dis-penser. Carl Blair won second place fora rosewood piece, and Andy Box wonthird place with a segmented edge bowl.

A special award went to Kip Powers for ablack art bank.

We had some other fine pieces on theshow and tell table: Eric LaGroueshowed a cedar vessel and an oak vase.Howard Moore showed three segmentedbowls. Murray Powell brought a mahog-any and mimosa bowl. I seem to re-member quite a few pieces that weren’tlisted on the clipboard.

This month, you have the opportunity toparticipate in the Instant Gallery.

Bring Back

Charles Habermann won a bring-backturned by Jose Berrios. John Kemp wona piece donated by Robert Frost. EricLeGrue won a perfume bottle that was abring back, but I do not know who turnedit. Jim Herron brought a bring back but itwas overlooked during the drawing. Wewill have this at the July meeting. Therewill be no bring back at the June meeting,due to the retreat.

Charles, John and Eric will need to bringpieces to the April meeting. Our “bringback” auction gives you a chance to get aturned piece from another club member,and the proceeds furnish coffee and do-nuts for the meetings.

The Cutting Edge donated several giftcertificates, one of which Steve LeGruewon. He quickly donated it back andanother winning ticket was drawn. JoseBerrios donated two pieces of olive woodand Bill Hubbard donated a maple burlturning blank. Thanks to all of you thatmade the raffle such a success.

-- Helen Young

For Sale

Oliver lathe for sale. 12” swing, 40” pluscapacity. $500. Call Joe Trahan,409.986.5788.

10” Jointer - 10” Planer, ScheppackWoodworking System. Call Bruno We-solek, 713.939.9057.

Inca 12" 2-wheel Band Saw. Precisionmachine, in great shape. Made in Swit-zerland. $415. Call 713.682-2810, ormpowell@wantabe.com.

Original Oliver Lathe, 1936 Vintage,Model 51-B, S/N 45714, 110 volt, 3/4H.P. Original Variable Speed 380 -3000RPM. Swing, 12” Over bed x 36”. Bed 60”

In addition to face plates and tool rest,includes shop-made outboard stand,and Oliver Duplicator. Firm $2,100. S.Gary Roberts, Austin TX, 512.345.1521.

GCWA T-shirts

T-shirts with a beautiful embroideredemblem are $10 each, $12 for XX Largeor larger. Caps are $10 each. Polo shirtsand jackets are special order.

Teri LeGrue has our inventory at TheCutting Edge. Stop by and see them.Teri will also help you with a special order.

Library

Jonathan Bartz donated a set of plans fora child’s swing set. If you’re interested,check it out. Many thanks, Jonathan.

All tapes and books are due at the nextmeeting. If you can’t attend the meeting,either mail them to Ernie Thornton at2502 Esther Ave., Pasadena TX77502-3239, or ask someone to takethem to the meeting for you.

The Cutting Edge will accept your booksor tapes, and send them to the meeting.Call Ernie at 713.475.1832 or e-mailhelen@orbitworld.net to renew for asecond month. After the second month,a late fee of $5 per item per month isassessed.

Because of the Retreat, library itemsmay be returned, but not checked outthis month.

-- Ernie Thornton

May 1998, page 6

Calendar of EventsMay 16-17, 1998 ~ 2nd annual SpringWoodturning Retreat, Conroe, Texas

June 1, 1998 ~ 7 PM. First Monday @the Cutting Edge Woodworker’s and ToolSupply, 7123 Southwest Fwy,713-981-9228

June 20, 1998 ~ 9:00 AM ~ GCWAmeeting, Woodcraft, Hollister PointeCenter, 13155 Northwest Freeway,Houston, TX.

July 18, 1998 ~ 9:00 AM ~ GCWA meet-ing, Wood Wright Woodworking, I-45 N@ 2920 exit to Old Town Spring.

October 10-11, 1998 ~ Texas Turn orTwo VII, Maricopa Ranch. ContactBobby Bridges if you are interested indemonstrating. Let’s show the otherTexas clubs how great GWCA is!!

This Month

Each Retreat participant needs to bring the following:

• Tools, tools, tools. The more tools you bring, the moreopportunity you have to learn their use from our classleaders.

• Extension cords, safety glasses and face shields. All ofthese should be labeled with your name.

• Please bring extra blanks so you can share with others.We expect to have some beginners who might not havesources for wood.

Executive CommitteePresident Bobby Bridges 713.473.6491 rcabridges@juno.comVice President Butch Cross 281.855.9684 butchc@swbell.netSecretary/Treasurer Helen Young 713.475.2940 helen@orbitworld.netPast President Bill Berry 281.479.8073 bberry2301@aol.comBoard Member Dale Barrack 281.358.8529 rdbarrack@shellus.comBoard Member David Berry 281.930.8828 dberry@deer-park.isd.tenet.eduBoard Member Buck Huddle 281.655.0181 buck11@flash.netEditor Murray Powell 713.682.2810 mpowell@wantabe.comLibrarian Ernie Thornton 713.475.1832 ernie@ntr.netParliamentarian Boyce Gahagan 281.446.1590