New Mexico Woodturners

Fellow turners,

So, most of us survived another holiday season, and I presume are now justifying how we can dismiss our resolutions and get back to business as usual.  I am just trying to understand how I ended up in this position. Most of the elected officials are relatively new club members and are also relatively new turners, so please forgive our mistakes in advance. I actively support your feedback and suggestions, and I will endeavor to post ideas for comments prior to implementation of any changes. My suggestions are just that. I am open to revision or reversal.

Last month’s Jigs and Fixtures seems to have been a success, at least from the feedback I have received. The format did leave our remote attendees at somewhat of a disadvantage, and we have discussed how to revise the format so that the remote attendees can get more out of the presentations. Any additional comments and suggestions are welcome.

I would also like to run an idea past the membership. There seems to be ongoing interest in sharpening demos. From the December meeting’s subject voting, sharpening was the most voted on demo subject that was not included in the upcoming year’s list, and we just have a sharpening workshop in October. I would therefore like to throw out the idea of having annual (or semi-annual) sharpening workshops, but not in conjunction with our monthly meetings. This way we would not be beating a dead horse for those who are confident in their sharpening skills whilst offering training to those members who are looking to improve their skills. Members could bring their tools, and maybe their grinders/gigs, to the workshop for hands-on instruction. If this idea is well received, I will investigate finding a location to host the workshops.

I am also working with Stretch to see if it is possible or realistic to process some of the green wood into more workable sizes and forms. I have come to realize that many members (not just the new ones) have smaller midi- or even mini-lathes, and they are not likely to have access to a large bandsaw, or a chainsaw with which to reduce the large trunk section into slabs, and from square into rounds that will fit onto their smaller lathe. I am also going to add some questions to the member survey regarding access to supplemental equipment. This should provide more insight into whether this endeavor will be worthwhile.

Please reach out with any other suggestions or questions,

Mark

President NMWT