Acorn boxes benefit from a threaded lid, because the top is larger than the bottom.  Dennis cuts threads in the traditional English way, by using chasing tools and a good sense of rhythm.

Threads are always cut in very hard oily woods so that they do not crumble with use.  These bases are boxwood, and the tops are turned from blackwood, cocobolo, and mopani.

Remember: mighty oaks start as a small acorn.

Parking is always challenging, so the club will run shuttles to the FREX parking lot on the east side of Exit 161.

Nick is well-known for pioneering color and decorating techniques on woodturnings.  Both the demonstration and the class will provide gazillions of new ideas for turners of all skill levels.  You can see some of his work at www.turningintoart.com.

Call Dennis to sign up for the class:  719-481-8754

Dennis learned the canteen form from Chris Stott.  Chris makes a vessel about 3 1/2″ tall, which is illustrated in his book of Turned Boxes.  It is considered a box by woodturner standards because it is turned in the spindle (or end grain) orientation.  This form, however, also requires turning on the other axis, so it is technically a multi-axis turning.   Canteens do not appear very often in exhibits and club galleries, although both Dennis and Nick Cook teach the canteen in demonstrations and classes.

Dennis turns the canteens with contrast wood inserts, threaded lids, and lids of various shapes.  There are many opportunities for decorating the inserts, which gives the canteen project many opportunities for experimentation and decoration.   The steps for making the canteen are listed on the ‘Project’ tab on this site.

How simple the form, and how varied the shape!   One of these captures and holds its contents, and the other opens out to the dome of the sky.    They are 15-17″ in diameter:

You may remember American persimmon as a substitute for ebony.  It was often used for golf club heads because of the hardness of the wood.  Dennis has found that the wood holds a very clean cut when wet, and stays a beautiful creamy white.  The bark is extremely dark, deep, and appears on the tree in big chunks.  These chunks yield the lovely scallops on the bowls.

The curve of the bowls is an ‘ogee’ curve, which is a type of stretched-out S-curve used by cabinet makers for mouldings, and by woodturners for balusters and other architectural elements.   This lovely curve emphasizes the bark edge, and creates the oval shape where Dennis has been cutting air instead of wood.  It is a fascinating puzzle for everyone who has difficulty picturing the bowl inside the tree.

There is a video project waiting in England, fresh cherry logs on the ground in Missouri, and numerous masterpieces locked in the wood shop’s lumber supply.   Nevertheless, Dennis has figured out that he can still do some small diameter spindle work.   Magic wands, to be exact.  Two grandchildren had broken their Harry Potter wands (made last year for Halloween), two more had wands on order, and then son James requested a gift for a co-worker with a difficult new assignment. Instructions for the Harry Potter wands are vague enough to allow changes in wood and general design.  The photo is an early prototype which has found a home in the Liggett kitchen as a general purpose cooking wand.

For 2010, Dennis has chosen a colorful roof, perch, and finial to highlight this simple bird house turned from Colorado Aspen.  A variety of colors creates a luscious mixture  in bright candy colors.

The birdhouses are a limited production run, which will be available at the LoMere coffee house in Monument, or from Dennis: 719-481-8754.

Woodturners will note that each house has 5 turned elements:  upper finial, roof, body, perch, and lower finial.

Photo:  One of Stuart Mortimer’s classes on cutting twists and spirals, September 2010

In the photo, he is turning a lid to fit to a box base.  The wood is American osage orange, one of Stuart’s favorite woods.

Stuart is best-known for his innovative ways to achieve the precision of traditional twisted spindles and twisted hollow forms, open-twist finials, and specialty twists such as the pig-tail and lace edge.   He is an expert carver on turnings as well, and he teaches quick and effective techniques for hollowing turnings for carved detail.  To see current work from the Mortimer woodshop, visit www.stuartmortimer.com.

Stuart made a variety of turnings while he was in Colorado.  Some of the demonstration pieces were auctioned at the Symposium.

The Pikes Peak Woodturners will auction several more at meetings in October or November.   Ths auction will include two finished pieces–a goblet with a twisted stem, and the box from the demonstration in Manitou Springs.  For more information about the PPW auction, call Dennis  719-481-8754