April 2021 S&T

We had three gatherings in April - one on April 7th, one on April 13th, and one on April 21st. Below are photos and descriptions of the projects discussed during the Show & Tell portion of the meeting, if we received the photos.

Bill Keller completed this stunning Shaker Hall Table of 4/4 quarter sawn white oak. The table is 44" long by 16" wide by 28" high. The bottom edges are all hand beveled. Bill hand cut eight (8) pocket holes (see photo) for assembly. He finished the table with three coats of Mohawk Clear Pour & Wipe then two coats of Renaissance Wax.

Bob Casey makes Shaker Seed Boxes with authentic reproduction labels that are sold at Hancock Shaker Museum. These are his latest, included a collection of "in progress" boxes. Bob uses box joints to assemble the boxes as shown in the detail photo. After assembly and sanding, Bob paints the boxes and then applies the labels with Modge Podge.

Box Joints (before sanding)

Rod Castle sells a lot of pepper and salt mills via his Etsy site - WOODCastle. These are another set he recently completed. The maple with purpleheart stripe is a salt mill with the Crushgrind mechanism. The antique pepper mill is of walnut, again with a purpleheart stripe.

Larry Prunotto recently completed this bowl and ornament as wedding gifts for a niece in preparation for a Covid-delayed celebration. He used wood from a family hickory tree. The bowl is 10" in diameter and 4 inches deep finished with multiple coats of wipe-on poly. The ornament's globe is from the same hickory tree and Larry added purpleheart finials before finishing it with spray clear gloss poly.

Larry also presented this small juniper box he turned. He noted that when turning juniper it smells like cedar.

Ed Siegel continues to work on his spindle turning technique, creating each of these ultra thin spindles.
For this work, he received recognition as cover picture of the day on WOW - the World of Woodturners (thewows.com). It was also selection by AAW as one of their "turnings of the week". The tallest piece is 7.5" tall.

Bob Henry completed this set of gnomes that will be sold at an outlet in the Rochester area where he lives.

Steve Sabella is getting ready for Christmas during his occasional downtime from his business. Recently he purchased a 1/8" band saw blade to allow tight turns for puzzles like this as well as bandsaw boxes. This puzzle is about 3" square.

Jim Yonkers turned a few items while in Georgia. The first photo shows a group of larger cedar tops (spinners) with dowel stems. These tops are larger than usual and as such must be turned between the palms. The second photo may look like a weird column but it is actually a selfie stick, again of cedar! Jim plans to use it for a variety of things. To start with, he is going to use it with a small telescope he has. He says it helps to lessen movement. When used with a camera, it also improves the photos. He purchased a few other "attachments" as well. I suspect we will be hearing and seeing more about this new tool for Jim!

Charlie LaPrease turned a few pieces. The vase and bowl are mulberry. The lidded bowl is ash. The last bowl is spalted maple. All are finished with Osmo.

Jim Farrell has eight (8) grandchildren. For one of the birthdays, he decided to make a name plate. After spending some time looking at options, he settled on "puzzle nameplates" using information he learned watching the YouTube video How I Make Scroll Saw Name Puzzles with Curtis of Just Build Stuff.com.
For these nameplates, he used 2 1/2" walnut and the font Cooper Black, 250pt condensed, adding puzzle connectors as needed.

Barbara Raymond-LaPrease completed these two plaques. The frog picture is a pattern by Sue Mey cut from big leaf maple that is about 1/2" thick. Rather than cut the image out of the wood, she used a wood burner to outline where the cutting line would be. Then she added more lines to the log image. She also used pencils to add color to the frog and trees. The second picture is a Jim Blume pattern cut in a piece of 1/4" cherry.

Robert Ward spends many nights on his scrollsaw. As a result, each month he produces a collection of projects. Note that all of Robert's projects are cut from 1/2" wood and receive clear coat finish and a black painted plywood backer board before delivery or going into "stock" for future craft sales.
Initially, here are his "In Memory of" portraits that are commissioned by the future owner to either remember a loved one who is alive or passed on.

These portraits are of the same dog that saved its owners from a fire. Unfortunately, the dog did not survive. Robert cut both portraits and gave the second one to the owners as a gift. Both are from 1/2" maple.

1/2" Maple

1/2" Walnut

1/2" Maple

Moving on to other projects that Robert completed between late March and mid-April, again, all of the projects are of 1/2" wood, get a clear coat, and most will get a backer of some sort.