April 2008 AAW Board Letter

From Frank Amigo

The Love and Lure of Wood Turning

I have been turning since the mid-seventies, and one of the most common things I have heard from other turners is that they have taken a class, whether formal or with a turner that they know, and are now hooked on turning. This is an expression I too have used. I hooked myself and drove it deeper after seeing John Jordan demonstrate and even more so after taking a class at Arrowmont with Michael O’Donnell. I taught two basic courses a semester at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts from September 1990 until I moved to New Mexico in 2000. Most of my students claimed to be hooked on turning and joined our local chapter, the Chesapeake Woodturners. These same people fed our master classes and had the chance to study with David Ellsworth, Al Stirt, John Jordan, Bonnie Klein, Johannes Michelsen, Michele Holzapfel, and Michael Peterson, among others. Talk about being hooked after that!

The popularity of wood turning is obvious to most members of the American Association of Woodturners, an organization that has grown from a handful of members to over 13,000 in just twenty years. My first chapter, the Chesapeake Woodturners has split three times in its short 18 years and is still a large chapter.

As a very successful craft, wood turning continues to draw people. I used to say that it was the perfect American craft in that it gave almost instant gratification. When doing a wood-working project, it is sometimes months between the drawing and having something approaching a finished product, but put a hunk of wood on the lathe, and you can have a finished piece in under two hours.

This was not the reason I was drawn to, and fell in love with, our craft. As hobbies, I first practiced wood-working, then lapidary and silver-smithing, and then wood carving. In lapidary and silver-smithing no one would show you how to do anything unless you took a formal class, and there were still a lot of secrets that were never shared. In carving, I was helping a friend who owned an antique store. I replaced carvings that were broken or missing. No one would share their secrets on repair or finishing. I went to some AAW sponsored functions, and there were people like David Ellsworth and John Jordan showing folks all of their techniques. The openness of turners is the greatest lure of our craft, that and their friendliness.

We talk about the American Woodturner, the Resource Directory, and the symposiums as the reasons for joining the AAW. They are good reasons, but the best is the brother and sister-hood, friendliness and sharing. Ask any member.