Stateline Woodturners
September 13, 2025 Club Meeting
Visitors: Tom Anderson introduced Gordon Smith from Cave Springs who came out to learn more about our club. He is an experienced turner with a Jet lathe who has made 71 rolling pens with a goal of 100. Ray Taylor introduced Todd Daughterty, Operations Manager for American Born Hardwoods in Jane Missouri. He found us on Facebook and wanted to let us know of this Sawmill and Lumber Yard business. They would be glad to perform any custom milling members may desire. Todd passed out free cutoffs from his truck after the meeting.
Gary Oldred Memory Book: A card from Susan Johnson, Gary’s daughter of Lincoln Nebraska, was shared thanking the club for the Memory Book which the club had put together and provided to her.
Debe Krogman: Debe passed out a signup sheet for the Christmas party which will be held December 6th, since the room for the party is not available the 2nd Saturday of December. Setup will start at 9:00 with the party beginning around 9:30. This year will be a potluck, and Debe already had a signup sheet with food categories on the East entry wall to the club. Guests are welcome, and there will be a traditional, but optional, gift exchange held by drawing. This is great fun, and everyone is encouraged to make something to bring. The party will take the place of any December club meeting. Debe is also calling for club members work’s to be displayed the next quarter at the Rogers Historical Museum. Christmas themed items are desired but not required.
Bill Koch Wood Liquidation: Ray Taylor reported that Bill of Jay Oklahoma is liquidating his wood supply, probably a trailer plus truck bed full. Ray will be arranging a pick up and will likely plan a round robin raffle for the wood so that the club and Bill can benefit. There will be flat wood as well as turning blanks. Look for details on this to follow.
Officer Nominations: Randy Wright announced that officer nominations are now open and will run through the next meeting. He passed out a form that could be used for nominations, but also said they could be made on the web site and at the October meeting. According to the by-laws, the board will appoint the officers and club members will vote for board members.
Equipment/Tools Needed: John Adams announced that the club is seeking donations to further equip the club house. Please contact him if you have something in good working order that you are willing to part with.
David Morris:
1) Announced that there would be a special raffle for the hollow form turning created by J. Paul Fennell at the April 12th club meeting, following the regular raffle.
2) He also announced that there would be a $40 charge for the October 11th meeting. It will be an all day meeting with Mark Palmer of Wisconsin discussing finishing. Lunch will be provided, and members may bring items for critique or recommendations in the afternoon. A signup sheet was distributed. Due to this special meeting, there will be no Show and Tell or Bring Back Raffle that day.
3) David’s Skew class will be 9/16 and 9/18 6:00 to 9:00. Registration is full, but you can put your name on the waiting list online. Other members are welcome to come and observe.
Beginner Class: Thurman Hatch will be leading another Beginner class for 5 new turners and club members: 9/23 will be spindle turning beads and coves and 9/25 bowl turning. Five club member assistants are needed.
Treasurer’s Report: Paul Moore reported for Joe Fernandez (absent) that the club bank balance was approximately $11,000.
Ron East: Ron had found that Debe Krogman was a huge Elvis fan, so had secretly used the last of his Elvis wood to make her a pen. He made a surprise presentation of it to her at the meeting honoring her long club dedication and contributions.
Mentor/Mentee: Thurman Hatch reported that there are 4 mentees, but there are currently only 2 mentors. Tom Anderson volunteered to be a mentor, so there remains a need for one more mentor. These require the mentor visiting and working with the mentee in his/her own shop.
SWAT Report: The Southwest Association of Woodturners symposium is held in Waco in August, and is the second largest wood turning symposium in the world. Ken Ness, Randy Wright, and Ben Johnson commented about this year’s event: 830 entrants, 29 renown presenters, lots of vendor booths and giveaways (100 raffles), a very good lunch provided with the $190 registration fee, and just lots of fun. Randy won an Elbow 2 Hollowing System, a Doug Thompson spindle gouge, and a Vortex detailing tool. There was also a $7,000 American Beauty lathe given away. Deb Ness received numerous accolades for her beautiful display of work (see the video on the club website). Randy passed around this year’s SWAT Handbook. Motels are already filling up for next year’s event.
Peel Museum School Days: Many club members (Randy, John, Thurman, Bill, Jim, Scott, …) helped provide turning demonstrations to 1,300 4th graders visiting the Peel Museum earlier in the week. Every 15 minutes classes would rotate through the various booths. Lots of tops were turned and passed out, and then the kids got to paint theirs. A new club member may also have been recruited during the event.
Show and Tell, Novice: Entrants were:
· Larry Smith with a crisscrossed laminated rolling pen and a stump box with a walnut top and bottom,
· Chuck Gunther with a salt cellar made from red cedar,
· Scott Boyle with a turned coffee scoop and a pen,
· Bill Clift with a mesquite urn finished with 8 coats of tung oil (lengthy drying time) and lacquer, and
· Buzz Peine with a box of jigs he was using to create of a tapered violin tuning knob.
Scott won best in this category for his pen, which in the judge’s eye had no defects.
Show and Tell, Advanced: Entrants were:
· Ben Johnson with an 11” x 5” spalted maple urn finished with lacquer plus two lidded boxes,
· Larry Copas with several scoops made using 2 or 3 different axis, a snap in jig for use during hollowing (with that long handle whirling around during the process), and different size homemade wooden chuck jaws (a video is available on the NWA Woodturners Facebook group),
· Frank Emeterio with a cherry bowl and pepper mill finished with Waterlux,
· Mike Skiba with an extremely complex multi-axis turning that rotated within a frame finished with pyrography and walnut oil,
· John Adams with salt and pepper mills made from some exotic wood he obtained from Against the Grain,
· Paul Moore with a Green Bay bottle stopper,
· Thurman Hatch with several basket illusion turnings (different Christmas trees including a large tiered one and a box from a limb with finial on the lid) finished in lacquer,
· Carl Hoffman with a lidded box made from Bradford pear which he said was wonderful to turn,
· Ray Taylor with a piece cut into 15 segmented rings of Wingate and maple finished with lacquer,
· Jim Swank with maple basket weave illusion in the style of the Arkansas flag, and
· Deb Ness with a live edge bowl of unknown species (but very hard) with gaps filled with turquois and epoxy mounted to a walnut pedestal.
Mike won best in this category for his multi-axis turning.
Bring Back Raffle: There were approximately 15 winners. John Adams ticket was drawn first, and he chose a lidded box made by Thurman Hatch who will get a free ticket at the next meeting. David Morris won the special raffle for the hollow form turning by J. Paul Fennell.
Tom Anderson Bangle Presentation: Tom started by stating that he finds bangles (wooden bracelet) simple yet offer many options for creativity including decorating. He
demonstrated 4 different ways to turn bangles and then showed how to make napkin holders. A document describing the steps required is available on the club website under Member Resources > Member Documents > Bangle-Napkin Holders by Tom Anderson. (Member Resources are only available once you sign in as a club member.)
Attendance: Approximately 32.
Please send omissions and corrections to David Wimberly (wdw@uark.edu) so that this record can be updated on the website.