November Meeting

Club President, John Sheets, called the

November meeting of the Mountaineer

Woodturners to order. There were twenty-four

members and one visitor (Ray Simmons) present.

John informed the members that Cedar Lakes has

donated $300 to the Mountaineer Woodturners for

their participation in the “Make and Take”

program conducted at the Arts and Crafts fair in

July.

John Gregor provided a treasurer’s report. He

reported that the raffle of the donated Hunter

tools, conducted at the October meeting,

generated $88 for the club treasury. The club has

a balance of $3614.00 after paying all of the

current bills.

A discussion was opened regarding the club’s

agenda and the scheduling of guest turners. The

increased fees required by prominent turners have

become a major consideration when scheduling

events for club meetings. Increasing the yearly

dues to provide added revenue to afford the

increased fees was discussed. A motion was made

and seconded to raise the annual club dues from

$20 per year to $30 per year. The motion passed

and the Mountaineer Turners’ dues are $30 per

year starting with the 2012 dues. Sharing

expenses and/or conducting paid classes were two

ideas to help offset the cost of guest turners. No

resolution was reached on these ideas. However,

John resolved to have at least two prominent guest

turners per year.

Doug Thompson, who manufactures and sells

quality lathe tools and handles, conducted a

presentation to describe and demonstrate the

proper techniques and parameters necessary to

efficiently and quickly sharpen turning tools.

Doug elaborated on the necessity of a proper

sharpening setup. A decent grinder and good

quality wheels makes the task of resharpening fast

and stress free. Doug recommends Norton 3X

wheels or similar with a K hardness and in grits of

46 and 80. The coarse grits remove metal quickly

and with negligible heating of the tool. Doug also

advocates the use of a good quality sharpening

system, such as Wolverine, for all of us who have

not mastered the skills required for “free hand”

sharpening.

Doug discussed the metallurgy requirements to

produce high quality turning tools. He then

demonstrated the profile options for our favorite

turning tool – the bowl gouge. The bevel angle is

an important consideration and varies with the

turner’s preference. An angle of 60° is his

recommendation as a starting point. How far the

“wings” are swept back is again a personal

preference and somewhat depends on the job at

hand. A “fingernail” or Ellsworth grind is a good

choice for most bowl work. While looking at the

fingernail profile from the side of the gouge, the

top of the wings should always be flat or slightly

convex – never concave. A bowl gouge that is

ground without “wings” or pullback is less

aggressive for making finish cuts.

Doug answered all questions and after lunch, he

had a selection of his tools and handles available

for the members to purchase.