October Meeting

The October meeting will held at 7 PM on Monday, October 2^nd in room 07-2470 at RIT. Items on the agenda are: proposed by-laws changes and vote, nomination and election of officers, instant gallery, and the presentation. This month’s presentation will be microwave drying of wood by Ed Lehman. Ed will present his methods and experience drying wood this way and will be demonstrating it as well.

Proposed By-Laws Changes

The Board of Directors is recommending the following changes to the By-Laws. The position of Programs Director will be eliminated. The Board of Directors will then be comprised of the President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary. Other changes recommended will be the roles and responsibilities of the Vice President. It will include: arranging/providing the necessary input to the RWS Webmaster for the maintenance of the FLW website, coordinating the FLW display table at the monthly RWS pre-meeting display, acting as liaison to the AAW, and coordinating the monthly programs for the FLW member meetings. A vote on these proposed changes will be held at the October meeting prior to the election of officers.

Anchor Seal

We have a quantity of Anchor Seal available at reduced prices. You can buy it for $7 a gallon delivered to the October meeting. This is the out the door price. Compare to $13 a gallon plus tax and shipping. Bring the proper change please. Contact Ed DeMay if you want a large quantity. He will be bringing a few gallons to the meeting.

Instant Gallery

We apologize for forgetting to have our instant gallery at the September meeting. We won’t forget again. Bring in your treasures for the gallery. We will have a table set up for the display in the meeting room. Your items can be a recent turning or something from the past. Check in the BOD minutes to find out about the Christmas Competition in the instant gallery.

Pumps and Bearings

After the September Vacuum Pump presentation, names were taken for those wanting to order the bearings and vacuum pumps to make a home built vacuum system. Those have already been ordered and Kurt will keep you posted as to the status. Since then we have one more member wanting to get these items. If there are any others, get in touch with Kurt asap. We will put in the order for any others who missed the meeting and want to get the pieces. The bearings run $1 each, needing two for a system, and the surplus pumps run $35 ($40 at the outside). All of the pumps come as is (they are surplus) but are tested to operate and pull 20" minimum.

Elections

October is elections month. We will be looking for new officers for all offices. In last month’s newsletter was a description of the various positions and the efforts required. Think about it. It is only a year commitment with a modest effort and time requirement. Don’t let it fall on the same folks. How about pitching in and giving a bit back to the organization? All positions are open. There are no prerequisites for any office. You can start out at the top, in the middle, or the bottom. The existing board will be available for assistance and counsel as required and there is a two-month overlap to effectively transfer the responsibilities. The pay stinks, but the satisfaction and fun are great. If you have any interest, contact Kurt prior to the meeting. If you have specific questions, contact the respective current office holder for any particulars. We will not put anyone on the spot or embarrass them. All nominations will be agreed to prior to putting them on the floor. All officers do need to be members of the AAW for us to be a legitimate chapter.

Board of Directors Meeting Minutes of 9/18/00

Kurt Hertzog called the meeting to order at 6 PM at Ward Donahue’s home. Ward Donahue and Ed DeMay were present. Doug Crittenden was unable to attend.

The BOD discussed the September general meeting and the presentation made by Jim Hilburger and Frank Stanko. There were many members interested in making vacuum systems for their lathes after seeing the presentation. We were surprised that the turnout was only 19 members. We expected it to be higher with the advent of fall and the scheduled presentation. Again, we discussed what we could do to increase attendance at the meetings and hopefully please a larger segment of the membership. Since the surveys indicated the membership is content with what we are doing and the way we are going about it, we decided that there was no reason to agonize over the size of the crowd. The board decided to authorize the purchase of the necessary components for a vacuum system for the club. This is in anticipation of purchasing "club lathes" with a grant from the AAW. Doug Crittenden will be submitting our grant paperwork in the near future. We hope to receive sufficient monies to purchase two Jet mini-lathes, a set of tools, and accessories. This will allow us to do demonstrations without carting around borrowed lathes and tools.

We discussed forgetting to do the instant gallery at the September meeting. It was probably due to the hurry to start the presentation. There were items brought in. We will apologize to those who brought in pieces and make sure that it is not forgotten again. Kurt will encourage the folks to bring in items for the instant gallery through the newsletter.

The planned presentation for the October meeting is Microwave wood drying by Ed Lehman. Kurt will bring in a small microwave so Ed can do actual drying while making his presentation. The planned presentation for the November meeting is turning with the next basic tool on our list. The August meeting was the roughing gouge. November will be the next tool in the sequence.

The board discussed reviving the RWS pre-meeting turning SIG table. For quite sometime, we assigned a member, on a rotational basis, to orchestrate the works required for the pre-meeting display. This has fallen apart in recent times. We would like to revive it. It not only is a showcase for our members work, but also helps the pre-meeting efforts of RWS. We will begin doing this again with the responsibility being assigned to the Vice President.

The group discussed the upcoming elections and the relative shortage of candidates. The goal is to transfer the ownership to a new cast of characters. This will share the workload as well as bring in new ideas. Currently, we have 5 board positions. The President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, and Programs Director. In reality, the need for an individual to do programs is minimal since the BOD undertakes this collectively. At Wards suggestion, the board decided to recommend a change to the By-Laws to eliminate that position. The responsibility of programs will fall to the Vice President. If this change is approved, there will be four officers. This will give us fewer positions to fill, while still having a functioning board. The discussion then focused on the Vice President. The duties of the Vice President would be: act as the liaison to the AAW, arrange the member support for the RWS pre-meeting display, and arrange the regular meeting presentations (with the assistance of the rest of the board). Doug will not be able to attend the October meeting and has asked Kurt to run the meeting. Proposed changes to the by-laws will be voted prior to the elections.

Ed DeMay reported that he has Anchor Seal for those interested in it. He will bring a quantity of it to the October meeting for those who have ordered it as well as some for those wishing to buy it.

It was decided to have a Christmas "competition". The idea was to help foster the growth of the instant gallery. We would like to see the instant gallery become an important part of the meeting and, in reality, it would be a replacement for the challenge projects. The problem with a competition is that it would put the newer turners at a disadvantage. Also, the board felt that those capable of turning larger items would overshadow the smaller works. It was decided that the competition would really be lottery. For all of those bringing items to the December meeting, a ticket will be entered into the drawing. Individuals will get an entry for each item brought for the gallery, up to a maximum of three tickets. There will be a drawing at the meeting for a prize. The planned current prize is a set of the AAW turning project books. There are three in the set. The club will foot the prize and will have them available then.

Meeting was adjourned at 7:10 PM

KTH/kth
9/20/00

Meeting minutes of the September FLW meeting
(9/11/00 at RIT)

President Doug Crittenden called the meeting to order at 7:07pm. Doug welcomed the first time visitors to the meeting. Treasurer Ed DeMay reported that we had $644 in the treasury prior to writing a couple of checks that evening. Secretary Kurt Hertzog reported that the e-version of the newsletter is now on the RWS website. He will continue to drive the number of mailed hardcopies down to as small a number as possible as we expand our usage of the website.

Show and tell included several ideas for being summoned, alerted about a phone call, or other need, while in the shop. Doug showed a remote controlled appliance switch. Anything electrical could be plugged into the plug in switch and turned on and off remotely by the push of a remotely located button. He plugs in a light. When his wife wants to get his attention, she can push the button and turn on the light. This is a non-startling way to break into his turning efforts. The remote button is not connected to anything, therefore easily portable, and works up to 100 feet away. The approximate cost is $25 at the local home improvement stores. Ed DeMay demonstrated a couple of telephone ringer systems that can be used to let a turner know there is a phone call. Both were available from Radio Shack and were visual, rather than audible. A strobe light flashed to indicate a phone ringing or something plugged into the device that would be turned off or on. These were modestly priced as well.

Doug passed out samples of Ca glue from a vendor that Dave Schwardt lined up at the AAW convention in Charlotte. It is a low cost Ca that we might want to do a group buy on. Dave arranged for samples for the club. These were passed out. If you are interested in buying some of the product, go ahead and arrange for your own or let Kurt know. He’ll get a list together and, if there is sufficient interest, get some quantity pricing and a savings on the shipping for the group. Doug also reviewed the Anchor Seal opportunity for the club. We are taking orders for Anchor Seal at $7 per gallon delivered. Doug brought in a quantity that was sold and we are currently taking orders for next month. Contact Ed DeMay at 394.5672 or edemay@rochester.rr.com if you would like to purchase some. Our apologies to those who brought in items for the "instant gallery". Ed reported that our tagua nut inventory is almost gone. We’ll do it in the future when sufficient interest is present again. In our rambunctious ness, we forgot to have our instant gallery. We will make sure that it happens next month.

We introduced our guest presenters for the evening. Months ago, the board decided to try to link our group to the other upstate turning groups a bit closer by starting, maintaining, or improving our contact and interaction with the various clubs. One of the items was to swap presenters. All of the local clubs have members with great talents that can be shared. By sharing and swapping presenters, we get different perspectives and new ideas as well as building ongoing relationships and familiarity with the other organizations. Our program director, Ward Donahue, was charged with the task and kicked it off by contacting Jim Hilburger at the AAW conference. Jim graciously agreed to come to Rochester and make a presentation to our club on Vacuum Chucking. Jim has been involved with the development of low cost vacuum chucks systems and has been a user for quite some time. Jim was assisted in his presentation by Frank Stanko. Both are members of the Western NY Woodturners 1, one of the two Buffalo area woodturning clubs.

Jim and Frank took turns presenting the various facets of how to go about building and using a vacuum chucking system. Over the years and with much development and experimentation, they have developed a very functional, yet modestly priced vacuum system that the average home handyman can build. They have identified commercial sources for the required parts that cannot be home built. These items, the bearings, filter components, vacuum pumps, etc, have been selected for the their functionality at the lowest cost. Frank displayed several systems that he has built and uses himself. Jim demonstrated the actual construction of a vacuum chuck using Baltic Birch plywood and PVC piping. Jim turned the pieces and fastened them using the standard PVC cleaners and adhesives, even thought the PVC was being bonded to the wood. Through experimentation, it has proved to be the most reliable and economical technique. Jim and Frank reviewed the various facets of sealing. This is a very important point in a system as there are many potential leak paths. They covered the sealing techniques for the various points in the system. One of the most interesting items was the material used on the face of the vacuum chuck as the interface between it and the work piece. It is made from craft foam obtained in Walmart for well less than a dollar. It works better than all of the commercial and much higher priced materials. It also comes in a variety of colors for those needing to make a fashion statement with their turning fixtures.

At the end of the presentation, the group broke into smaller groups to inspect the equipment closer. Jim did a demonstration of how he turns tops for the various charitable events that he participates in. Jim can chuck, turn, chatter decorate, color, and had you a beautifully crafted top in less that two minutes. He demonstrated it to us and made on in 1 minute 40 seconds from start to finish, including explaining how he did it as he went. Jim handed out tops to all who were there as a gift and as an example for those who would like to learn how to do them. Frank provided the club with a set of masters of articles that he has researched and collected on the various facets of vacuum systems and components. Kurt will photocopy these for those who are interested. Kurt took a count of those who are interested in buying bearings and vacuum pumps and will relay that information to the appropriate people. The bearings run about $1 each and the salvaged vacuum pumps run $35. Jim and Frank did a stellar job of showing us how to build and use vacuum chuck systems. We thank them very much for their time and efforts and look forward to returning the favor. See the pictures and write-up on the FLW section of the RWS website at http://www.rochesterwoodworkers.org/flwseptmtg1.htm.

KTH/kth
9/14/00