SPLINTERS
Tennessee Valley Woodworkers
     Vol. 18/ Issue 3         March  2003        Editor: Tom Gillard Jr. 

Meeting Notice:
The next meeting of the TN Valley Woodworkers
Will be held, March 18th, at 7:00 p.m. in the
 Duck River Electric Building, Dechard, TN
All interested woodworkers are invited!

The following people have agreed to serve as contacts for their particular skills.  If you have questions, suggestions for activities, or other comments relating to these skills, please call these folks.  Their interest is to help the club better serve their area of expertise.  Your participation with them will help them achieve that goal.

          Design: Alice Berry                       454-3815                 Finishing:    Phil Bishop           967-4626
          Turning: Tom Church                    967-4460                 Carving:      Harry May           962-0215
          Sharpening: Bob Reese                 728-7974                 Joinery:       Ross Roepke       455-9140
          Health and Safety: Maurice Ryan   962-1555

As part of Kentucky 's entry into the 21st century, they thought they should develop an atomic clock site (sort of like that one used by Indiana to coordinate clocks, military operations, and the like).  After three years of R&D, they opened the site at the beginning of the year.   It may not have all the features of the Indiana site, but I'm sure you'll be impressed.

James Coulson made a candleholder for multiple candles and after he had it done his wife told him it was too large and so he had to make a smaller one, which he also brought.  They were made of Maple and Black Walnut.  He brought extra copies of the plans for anyone that may want them.

Henry Davis made a keepsake box with a wormy maple top trimmed in black walnut and mahogany. He also brought in a bottle of Locktite wood glue that he bought because of the type container it came in.  He found that the glue works well but dries opaque instead of clear.  He said it acts more like an epoxy then glue.

Loyd Ackerman made a segmented/lamented bowl out of elm, cherry, maple and alder.  He cut the pieces at 12 degrees and put them together with polyurethane glue.  This is his second attempt and he said he was not sure it was worth all the trouble to make it.

Tom Gillard  made a Shaker table out of black walnut.  The tabletop was made of 4 pieces cut at 45 degrees with mahogany inlay at the joints.  It made a very pretty and unusual table. He also brought some natural edge bowls that he made on his new lathe.

Tom Cowan brought in a table he built that was a copy of an antique table.  It was made out of Tennessee cherry and he used square pegs in the mortise and tenon joints.

Marion Riley showed a corner cabinet that he had made from a small picture in a magazine.  He had chisel carvings on it and it was made from black walnut.

Ken Gould brought in a steel stand he made for a gazing ball.  He was also trying to see if he could use it for a stand for a wood bowl or candleholder but he would need a very big bowl to look right.  He is working on one out off a piece of box elder he got from Tom Cowan and Tom is also making a bowl out of other half of this wood.  We will be looking forward to seeing both of their bowls when they are finished.

Karen Kerce brought in a bowl which she turned and put copper leaf in the inside of it.  She also made a small oil lamp holder and another turning which has a top.  All of these items were made out of wood from Doyles scrap pile.

Jim Van Cleave showed us a jewelry box he made out of black walnut a knot on it for figuring which he used for the top. He made a triangular divider for the inside, which he said, was easier to make than the thinner ones.  He had a carving on the front of the box.  He also made a pair of bookends, which he had the "torch of knowledge"  he cut out of a contrasting wood glued to the face of them.

Geoff Roehm brought in a resonator guitar he had built out of black walnut glued to aircraft plywood for the top, since resonator guitars need a dead top.  He also used ebony on it.  He also showed a Tipo guitar, which is very small and has 10 strings.  He played a few notes on each to show us how different they sound.

Eastern bluebird numbers have decreased over the last 10 years for
many reasons. You can help increase their numbers by providing a place for
them to nest. Building a bluebird box 
and watching as they nest and the young fledge into the wild can be a fun
project. It can bring you and your family lots of enjoyment. You can also
feel good that you are helping increase the bluebird's population.

Where to put your nestbox
*Bluebirds usually nest in open fields or orchards.
*Place the box in as open an area as possible. Do not mount on trees or buildings. Fence lines are a great place.
*Mount the box 4 to 6 feet up a pole or board.
*Put a guard on the pole to keep out raccoons, snakes and other potential predators.
*Face the box opening towards a tree or bush so that fledglings have a safe place to fly to
*Place boxes 100 yards from each other to give bluebirds enough room so that their territories don't overlap.
*If birds of prey attack your bluebirds, move the boxes away from trees where the prey birds may be launching their attacks.
*Keep the grass and weeds trimmed near the nestbox to remove predator hiding spots.
*Keep stray cats away from the nestbox. They prey on many bird species.

Here's how to monitor your bluebird box:

• Monitor at least once a week.
• Stop monitoring 12 days after the eggs hatch. Or the young may prematurely fledge.
• Minimize your time at the nest, especially in wet/cold weather.
• Tapping on side of box may help flush out brooding parent.
• Make notes of the number of eggs and nestlings you find. Also write down the dates when laid, hatched and fledged.
• Remove the nest after nestlings fledge so that other adults will nest again. Bluebirds will nest up to 3 times a season.

You can go to this site for more information and other types of plans. USGS
And another one for you to visit:  The Bluebird Reference Guide

This quote is taken from Kevin's page http://www.turnedwood.com   This is a nice site.  I have his angle figuring software.  It works well if you are into segmented bowls.

Doyle

Members sites:

Doyle McConnell's page

Loyd Ackerman's Page

Falls Mill

Russell Brown's Web Page

Geoff Roehm

Tom Gillard Jr.
 

Resourse Sites:

American Association of Woodturners

WOOD ONLINE newsletter

Scott Phillips Video Help sessions

Arrowmont School of Arts and Craft

Appalachain Center for the Arts

Forest Products Lab. 1999 Wood Handbook

Woodworker's Journal

WOOD Online TVWW page

Kevin's Woodturnings

The Oldham Company

The Woodworker's Choice