Herb's Blog

Summer Activities

2010-07-23T11:16:00.004-05:00

Wood turners and collectors may be interestd in various shows in which the Kingston Wood Turners club is participating this summer.

The Sheep Dog Trials are returning again to Grass Creek Park in Kingston Ontario. Members of the club will be demonstrating their design and turning skills. There will also be turned items for sale. They make wonderful, unique gifts for those special relatives and friends.

Members are returning to the McLaughlan Woodworking Museum to continue their Sunday demonstrations. The museum is located at the Grass Creek Park as well, and has added many wood turnings to the inventory of their shop.

In the fall, demonstrations and sales will be available at the Kingston Fall Fair. More information on the Fair will be provided later this summer.

New Turnings

2010-06-09T16:25:00.003-05:00

For those who are interested in woodturnings, I have updated my web site with a few new items. Some have been made with Manitoba Maple burls. The wood has a very pronounced natural red colour in the grain which is very attractive. One of the items is a fairly large, for me, hollow form vase. Another is a small lidded bowl/box turned from Walnut and Maple.

Active Again

2010-05-02T10:27:00.007-05:00

Well, I am back and hoping to be more active entering items in this blog. I am trying to get back to my wood turning on a more consistent basis. After a 4 month hiatus I am trying to build up my inventory of turnings, and with the help of Cam my webmaster, get them posted on my website ( www. herbsalter.com ). I have partially completed 3 new items and will post them when completed. I have always been a casual turner so I have never been very prolific even though the work sells well and seems popular with viewers.

For those interested in artistic and usable wood turnings, The Kingston Woodturners club will be offering turning demonstrations during the summer months at the McLaughlan Woodworking Museum in Kingston, Ontario, Canada again this year. They will also have items for sale through the Museum shop. The grounds of the museum are ideal for picnics and family fun, so plan on spending some time with the family to visit this great attraction. Visitors to the area should think about adding a visit to their itinerary.

Readers are encouraged to comment on all items in the blog or on my website. All ideas and comments are welcome. Ideas for relevant entries for the blog are also encouraged.

Holiday

2010-01-25T10:13:00.002-06:00

I have decide to stop turning for a few weeks. My work and my head have become too stale over the past few months so I have declared my lathe, and the whole shop, closed until I feel more able to develop newer ideas. My web site will not be updated with new items during this time.

Herb

Facebook

2009-12-31T14:05:00.002-06:00

I have recently joined facebook. I am not sure of the value of this activity, but joined because a friend wanted me to see some holiday pictures. I assume this is possible, so maybe I can do the same.

Happy New Year everyone.

Happy Holiday

2009-12-21T14:03:00.004-06:00

I have not made too many entries to my blog this year, but hopefully I will have more to enter in 2010. I am going to do some experimenting with project shapes and colours. I also hope to try various textures and maybe even do some basic piercing. If any of my experiments prove fruitful, I will log the ideas and the processes used.

I will also try my hand at taking better pictures of the designs, processes and completed turnings. My friend Cam just gave me a photography box. With proper lighting and the box I hope to develop my photography knowledge and skills. You can check out some of Cam's work at http://caminkingston.blogspot.com/

Happy holiday everyone, and all the best for the new year.

Recent Turnings

2009-11-18T10:07:00.007-06:00

These are some of my latest turnings. I will put them on my web site when I get a chance.

Kingston Woodturners October Challenge

2009-10-05T15:18:00.014-05:00

Starting with the 2009/2010 season of meetings, the monthly challenges to members will take on a slightly different format. This year each challenge will try to follow the theme of each month's demonstration/presentation with an added feature designed to increase the knowledge and skills of newer and less experience turners, while at the same time challenging the more accomplished turners.

Finishing, materials and techniques, was the theme of the September meeting. The normal challenge would be to have members choose and apply a suitable finish to a project. However, an extra feature was added to the challenge for October. Interested members were given a 6" long piece of unseasoned walnut as shown at right. The pieces provided ranged from 3" to 5" in diameter.

Using one of these pieces, this month's challenge is to design and turn, as well as finish a project using the wood blanks provided. Members were cautioned to be sure their design, execution and finishing procedures are accomplished with due consideration for any shrinkage, warping and checking/shaking problems associated with turning from the unseasoned wood. Members are then asked to offer a short summary of their experience at the October meeting.

Samples of two basic projects were used to provide a starting point for member ideas. The bowl on the left was turned from a piece of magnolia. The one on the right was turned side grain from a piece of walnut similar to those provided to the members. Both were unseasoned, freshly cut blanks. Both were turned to a thickness of 3/16th of an inch.

Fall Fair, Kingston, Ontario

2009-09-07T09:47:00.004-05:00

Members of the Kingston Woodturners' Club will again be demonstrating their skills, this time at the Fall Fair in Kingston, Ontario . The Fair runs from September 17 through 20 with demonstrations happening very regularly. Fine wood turnings designed and crafted by members of the Club will be for sale as well.

So, come out and enjoy the Fair, and drop by the Woodturners' booth to see the demonstrations and talk with the skilled practitioners of wood turning

Wood Turning Demonstration

2009-08-24T11:16:00.005-05:00

For anyone interested, I will be demonstrating the woodturning process this Sunday, August 30 between 1:00 and 3:00 pm at the McLaughlan Woodworking Museum. This is the last of a summer series of demonstrations offered by members of the Kingston Woodturners' Club in conjunction with the museum.

The museum is located on Hwy 2 about 10 kilometers East of Kingston Ontario in Grass Creek Park on th St. Lawrence River.

There will also be a small display of turned objects which illustrate some of the project designs which can be produced on a woodturning lathe.

So, come on out and enjoy the demonstration, the museum, and the park.

Demos at Grass Creek Park

2009-08-06T17:06:00.003-05:00

The "Sheep Dog Trials" weekend starts tomorrow, Friday August 7, at Grass Creek Park. Details can be found in my earlier blog entries. Kingston Woodturners will be there to demonstrate their design and turning skills, and other artists and artisans will be displaying wares. Logging contests and other activities will round out the Dogs herding skills, so come on out and enjoy the fun.

Walnut

2009-07-30T18:13:00.005-05:00

I will be picking up a few short pieces of freshly cut Walnut log tomorrow or Saturday. The pieces are 6" - 8" in diameter. Any wood turner living close to Kingston ON is welcome to a piece at no cost. The pieces may be picked up after a brief response to this posting, or a note to my email.

Sheep Dog Trials

2009-07-26T18:14:00.000-05:00

As promised in my last blog, members of the Kingston Woodturners Club will be demonstrating their design and wood turning skills at Grass Creek Park throughout the 3 days of the Sheep Dog Trials. A number of fine turnings will be available for sale.

Besides the usual sheep dog exercises, there will be a series of lumberjack demonstrations and contests. This is an added feature at this years festivities which will delight visitors of all ages. Many artists and artisans will also be on hand to display and sell their fine work.

Come out and enjoy the activities; bring the kids, enjoy a picnic, and visit the McLaghlan woodworking Museum on the grounds of the park. There will be fun for everyone. The action begins at 8:00 a.m. and lasts until 8:00 p.m. each day; August 7, 8, and 9. The park is located on the St. Lawrence river. Follow Hwy. 2 East between Kingston and Gananoque Ontario.

Woodturning Demonstrations

2009-06-29T17:02:00.000-05:00

For Kingston and area residents and visitors to Eastern Ontario, members of the Kingston Woodturners' Club will be demonstrating their design and wood turning skills every second Sunday starting July 5 throughout the summer. The demonstrations will be held in the McLaughlan Woodworking Museum at Grass Creek Park between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. Members will also offer demonstrations throughout the weekend of the Sheep Dog Trials in August. During the Trials, members of the club will be offering fine wood turnings for sale.

So, come on over to the park: learn about the history of woodworking at the museum; watch the demonstrations; and, bring the kids for some fun and a picnic. There is always something interesting going on at the park which is located on the shores of the St. Lawrence River. Just follow Hwy. #2 approximately 9 kilometers east of Kingston on the way to Gananoque.

Binh Pho Demo/presentation

2009-06-06T18:20:00.000-05:00

I spent a day watching and listening to Binh Pho give an enlightening and excellent woodturning workshop. The topics covered were based upon his fantastic creations, and included; thin wall turning, design, the use and application of colour, and piercing designs and techniques. Binh used an historical treatment of his background to provide an excellent pictorial illustration of many of his designs and their relationship to his life.

The workshop was sponsored by the Woodturners' Guild in Peterborough Ontario, Canada. My friends and I from the Kingston Woodturners appreciated the invitation to attend the workshop and wish more of our group could have taken part.

Binh is a great presenter using clear descriptions of his key points. He manages to relate to the needs of his audience through the use of good answers to all questions. His wise use of relevant humour, and his ability to intersperse his presentations with interesting personal experiences kept the audience interested all day.

I was fortunate to have him sit at a table with two friends and I during the lunch break. The discussion during this time spanned the gamut form turning, through comparing personal notes about design, and even politics of the day. Binh is clearly a personable and a widely knowledgeable and intelligent person. It was a privilege being a member of the audience and I would encourage all turners to take in any of his presentations whenever the opportunity arises.

Elm for Bowl Turning

2009-05-18T14:33:00.001-05:00

Elm is a pretty good wood for turning, so it would be possible to turn
a nice looking item. It tends to have nice colour and the grain
patterns can be very nice depending on the growth patterns of the tree
and on where the piece of wood was situated within those patterns.
Pictures of the pieces of the tree you have saved would help me suggest some ideas.

Elm for Turning

2009-05-18T14:28:00.000-05:00

I am looking to have a bowl made from elm. I have a variety of pieces which I saved when our 70+ year elm finally succumbed to Dutch elm two summers ago. I have one piece that is a burl (I think) and then a variety of other sections. I would like to have something made for myself and then potentially some items for family members as future Christmas gifts.

Is elm a wood that you could work with? Would it be helpful if I emailed you some photos of the pieces that I have to see if they are usable?

Thank you; excellent website!

Redesigned Site

2009-05-11T16:30:00.000-05:00

For anyone who has visited my site before today (May 11, 2009) you will now find it completely redesigned and rebuilt. Cam Inglis has done a superb job on the new design by providing even better access to, and display of, each item. More of his work may be viewed on his website, Inglis Advertising. He and I welcome your comments and suggestions. Thanks Cam.