Montgomery County Woodturners
of Montgomery County Maryland: A local chapter of the American Association of Woodturners
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 MCW Skills Enhancement Program


Vision


Our vision is to establish and support woodturning skill enhancement capabilities for MCW members utilizing MCW-loaned lathes residing at the Woodworkers Club shop along with the Woodworkers Club repertoire of lathes. An arrangement between the MCW and the Woodworkers Club has been established whereby the Woodworkers Club has free use of the MCW-loaned lathes in return for MCW continued use of the Woodworkers Club facilities and turning facilities for our monthly meetings and regularly scheduled monthly MCW Skill Enhancement sessions. Participation is generally limited by the number of available lathes so a sign up process is used for registering for Skill Enhancement sessions. An MCW Volunteer will act as the Skill Enhancement Coordinator, scheduling the skill enhancement offering sessions, coordinating the signup and providing coordination of preparations.

Objectives

  1. Offer regularly scheduled Skill Enhancement offerings of 1-3 hour durations for MCW members with either one or two sessions per month. A variety of weekday, week night and weekend sessions will be offered in order to accommodate as many different member needs as possible within the scheduling constraints of the Woodworkers Club.
  2. Provide enhanced lathe facilities at the Woodworkers Club Shop for Woodworkers Club and MCW use.
  3. Continue to maintain and enhance our win-win relationship between MCW and the Woodworkers Club.
  4. Skill Enhancement sessions are targeted at very specific techniques and are not to be a replacement for or in competition with Woodworkers Club or VisArts turning classes.


Procedures

  1. The MCW Skill Enhancement Coordinator coordinates with the Woodworkers Club and maintains a schedule of future Skills Enhancement Offering dates and times. The schedule of dates/times will be published and maintained on the MCW website.
  2. The MCW Skill Enhancement Coordinator establishes the specific offering or focus for each set of monthly sessions. An offering is usually based on what is the current month’s demonstration focus or can be targeted at participants sharing specific techniques and mentoring each other in such areas as sharpening, finishing or a specific turning technique issue.
  3. The MCW Skill Enhancement Coordinator will announce specific offering sessions for each month on or by the first of each month via an email announcement to all members requesting signup and participation. Signup is on a first-come, first-serve basis based on email responses back to the coordinator.
  4. Skill Enhancement sessions are conducted on a “peer participation basis” thus not requiring a session leader and/or skill mentor. The MCW Skills Enhancement Coordinator does not need to be present or participate in each session. However, MCW members are encouraged to volunteer to coordinate, lead and/or mentor specific sessions whenever possible. A specific session volunteer’s activities can vary widely with each session and could include such activities as: 1)obtaining/prepping and/or providing turning materials, 2) sharing special purpose tools, jigs or accessories, 3) demonstrating a technique, 4) bringing completed or work-in-process pieces for discussion, or 5) just offering assistance to others during the session.
  5. Participants are responsible for setup and cleanup for each session.
  6. Participants are to bring their own tools, chucks, jigs, accessories and supplies. Guidance for each session will be provided as part of each skill enhancement session email announcement.
  7. Guidance, procurement and/or preparation of turning blanks or other recommended items will be provided in the session email announcement. Since each session will require different turning materials, participants may be asked to prepare and bring their own turning materials, a participant may volunteer to procure and prepare the materials for free or a nominal cost fee or the Woodworkers Club may be engaged to prepare and provide the materials for a fee. The Skills Enhancement Coordinator will make the determination for each session situation.
  8. There are a sufficient set of MCW-owned spindle adapters available for use to accommodate most member’s chuck configurations. The Woodworkers Club will retain the MCW-owned accessories and make them available to participants.
  9. Other Woodworker Club shop tools and equipment beyond the lathes and sharpening station are not to be used by participants. Turning blanks should be prepared by members or session volunteers at their home prior to the sessions unless arrangements have been made with the Woodworkers Club by the coordinator.
  10. The MCW Skill Enhancement Program will be promoted through MCW monthly meetings, MCW Newsletters, the MCW website and email broadcasts to all members.
  11. A periodic review of the operation and use of the MCW Skill Enhancement Program will be made with changes and enhancements occurring, as needed.


Equipment Availability

• Lathes (5)

  1. One Oneway Lathe with M33xR3.5 spindle.
  2. Two Jet Lathes with 1-1/4” x 8TPI spindles.
  3. One Woodfast with 1-1/4” x 8TPI spindle.
  4. One Jet Mini-Lathe with 1” x 8TPI spindle.


• Sharpening Equipment

  1. 8” Grinder with Wolverine sharpening jigs (bowl gouge jig, flat platform jig, long-arm jig)
  2. 8” Grinder with basic tool rest arrangement


• Chuck Adapters

  1.  M33xR3.5 to 1-1/4” adapter (for Oneway lathe only)
  2.  M33xR3.5 to 1” adapter (for Oneway Lathe only)
  3.  1-1/4” x 8TPI to 1” adapters (3) (for Jet and Woodfast lathes)
  4.  1” x 8TPI to 1-1/4” adapter (for Jet Mini-lathe)



2011 Schedule

  • Saturday Jan 8, 2011 - 10am - 1pm
  • Wednesday Jan 19, 2011 - 10am - 1pm
  • Friday Feb 11, 2011 - 10am - 1pm
  • Sunday Feb 20, 2011 - 10am - 1pm
  • Friday Mar 11, 2011 - 6pm - 9pm
  • Friday Mar 25, 2011 - 10am - 1pm
  • Friday Apr 8, 2011 - 6pm - 9pm
  • Friday May 13, 2011 - 6pm - 9pm
  • Sunday May 22, 2011 - 10am - 1pm
  • Friday Jun 10, 2011 - 6pm - 9pm
  • Saturday Jun 25, 2011 - 10am - 1pm
  • Friday Jul 8, 2011 - 6pm - 9pm
  • Sunday Jul 17, 2011 - 10am - 1pm
  • Friday Aug 12, 2011 - 6pm - 9pm
  • Sunday Aug 21, 2011 - 10am - 1pm
  • Friday 9, 2011 - 6pm - 9pm
  • Thursday 22, 2011 - 10am - 1pm
  • Friday Oct 7, 2011 - 10am - 1pm
  • Sunday Oct 23, 2011 - 10am - 1pm
  • Friday Nov 11, 2011 - 10am - 1pm
  • Sunday Nov 27, 2011 - 10am - 1pm
  • Friday Dec 9, 2011 - 6pm - 9pm


Potential Future Skill Enhancement Offerings

(Members are encouraged to ask for specific needs)

  1. Back to Basics – the Basic Tools (Roughing, Spindle, Bowl, Skew, Parting)
  2. Sharpening Alternatives
  3. Fine-tuning your Grinder
  4. Fine-tuning your Lathe
  5. Sharpening a specific tool: (a separate session on any specific tool)
  6. When to Hone
  7. Sanding
  8. Buffing
  9. Finishing
  10. Dust Collection and Air Filtration
  11. Surface Decoration (a specific session on each: Coloring, Staining, Piercing, Carving, Texturing, etc.)
  12. When to Scrape
  13. Shear Scraping
  14. Tackling the Skew Chisel
  15. Cutting the Natural Edge
  16. Lathe Alternatives
  17. Chuck Alternatives
  18. Mounting Alternatives
  19. Jigs & Fixtures (Sharpening, Marking, Mounting, Decorating, etc.)
  20. Tool Holder Alternatives
  21. Making the Friction Fit
  22. The Fine Point of Finials
  23. Stock Preparation and Roughing Challenges
  24. Design Challenges – Proportion & Scale
  25. Wood Selection Alternatives and Tradeoffs