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Art in wood: From blocks to bowls
BURLEY, Nov 23, 2008 (The Times-News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
At a woodturning shop in Burley, Dick Anderson is carving a goblet with an impossibly thin stem. A dozen onlookers pay attention to his every chisel, every cut he inflicts on the wood.
Members of the Magic Valley Woodturning Association are giving their Friday night for the monthly demonstration. They share skills and show off their work over orange juice and cookies.
A menagerie of completed cups sits on display, including a "captured ring goblet." Two wooden rings circle the stem of the whimsical cup, all carved from one piece of wood. The cup is popular with newlyweds, Anderson says. And if they divorce, they can just bust off one of the rings, he adds cheerfully.
Other members make wooden toys, bowls, teacups and segmented vessels, crafted from several pieces of wood glued together and turned on the lathe. Projects can be massive, like vessels, or small enough to fit in a soup can.
Each work starts as a regular block of wood. Mahogany, ash and box alder are popular choices in the club.
Member Alan Johnson especially likes using wood from local sources, including mountain mahogany, available in the SouthHills with a permit.
Other wood is harvested by tree removal people and handed over to woodturners. Recently, Johnson was given wood from the Idaho Capitol remodeling. His finished work, a segmented vessel, will be displayed at the Capitol. The wood is mounted on the lathe, which spins as fast as 3,000 rotations per minute. Sometimes, though, slower is better:If the wood spins too fast, wood will chip instead of carve away.
The works are beautiful, but are hard to come by outside of the woodturning scene. Some members sell their work at local craft fairs, but many are content with turning for themselves.
"Ijust goof off,"said Dusty McCurdy. His specialty:wood pens.
At the front of the room, Anderson continued his demonstration, this time with a wine bottle stopper. Use paper, not cotton, to buff the finished piece on the lathe, Anderson told his audience as he waxed a newly rounded piece of wood. Paper tears away from the wood, while cotton can get caught and wrap around the lathe -- taking a finger along with it.
Johnson hasn't lost any fingers -- but has experienced something almost as painful. When coming home from an Oregon woodturning conference, he crashed his car. No one was injured, but the impact broke a massive segmented vessel he had spent dozens of hours working on.
"Everybody keeps bringing it up,"Johnson said.
Back in the wood shop, the demonstration wrapped up around 9, but most members stalled departure to chat with their acquaintances. As they filed out, the sound of the lathe and chatter died down, and all that was left was a light dusting of sawdust on the floor.
Melissa Davlin may be reached at 208-735-3234 or melissa.davlin@lee.net.
Recently, the local woodturning association moved its meetings from once a month to every Thursday. Beginners are welcome.
Where: 150 W. Fourth N., Burley
When: 7 p.m. Thursdays
Information:Alan Johnson, 219-9136
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