Membership dues for 2006 are now (over)due. The cost is $20 per year. If you have not already paid, please see treasurer Mickey Goodman at a meeting or renew via www.cnew.org.

February was our annual "shop-visit" month. All shop hosts had visitors except for Joe Harbey. Joe attended John McAtee's open shop instead.

Treasurer's report: Our bank balance is currently $1746. We have 8 new members so far this year. 44 members have paid dues, 44 still not yet paid up for 2006.

Internal VP Frank White has been lining up programs for upcoming meetings. Tentatively, we will have:
Apr: Al Czellecz - surface decoration
May: ?
June: Rick Angus
July: Ray Boutotte

On May 11, Frank may be able to schedule an evening demo with Alan Lacer (who will be travelling in support of the NH symposium). Our cost is expected to be $375 - we voted that Frank should proceed as long as our total costs do not exceed $500. Many details are yet to be worked out including demo location (probably at the Craft Center), cost to members to attend ($20?), and whether we can accomodate AAW members from other chapters (space permitting). Frank will announce firmer plans at a later meeting.

External VP Reid Gilmore had registration fliers for the NH symposium in Derry on May 13 (also available on the web - follow the link on www.cnew.org). Apparently they are not waiting for April to accept these.

Several members demonstrated at the Woodworks show at the big E last month. These demos attract some attention, and we may have recruited some new members - but we need to print more CNEW brochures. Next year, we may want to request more floor space. There are some event photos on www.cnew.org.

Angelo Iafrate is organizing a Northeast Regional Symposium. Norm Mancuso and Frank White volunteered to act as the initial CNEW liaisons.

Dave Eaton gave out some certificates in appreciation of members volunteering their time to host open shops or get other CNEW business done behind the scenes. Recipients were:
Reid Gilmore
Clive Hamilton
Joe Harbey
John McAtee
Ray Boutotte
Phil Bowman
Norm Mancuso
Dave Eaton

The ART club has some events coming up that might be of interest.
June 3/4 Michael Hosaluk
no date yet? Betty Scarpino
More info will be linked from www.cnew.org.

Mickey Goodman expects to have a membership list for us to review next month. CNEW is occasionally asked to provide contact info for outside events (such as the NH symposium). We make an effort to ensure that this will not result in unwanted further distribution - but please let Mickey know if you would like CNEW to keep your contact info private.

Ray Boutotte has refreshed the CNEW logo, creating an electronic version suitable for use on the web or for desktop publishing.

Dave Eaton is making a list of those interested in pooling rides (chartering a bus?) to the AAW symposium in Louisville KY. Please contact him if you would like to consider this.

CNEW will be printing 2006 membership cards soon. Showing one will give you a discount at some area stores.

CNEW has a Yahoo e-mail list. Joining is the best way to stay current between meetings. To date, we have not had any problems with spam. See www.cnew.org for more details.

In the event of snow on a meeting night.... we will post a notice to www.cnew.org by 4 or 5 PM.

Dave Eaton gave an update on the reorganized www.cnew.org website - but the best way to find out about this is to visit it and have a look around.

Mickey Goodman recently took a private class with CNEW member Ken Dubay. He reports that he found it helpful and worth the $200/day cost.

There was some discussion about the wood swap. Sometimes we have too little wood, sometimes too much. Nobody volunteered to work on leveling the volume, so it looks like it's going to continue to be erratic.

Project Goodwill: As planned, Charlie Croteau brought a load of wood to the meeting. Members who took some are expected to bring back a finished piece or two suitable for auction. Proceeds will be donated to an organization that provides wheelchairs to people who need them. This organization gets wheelchairs at a cost of $41 each, so there is potential to raise enough money to buy ten or more. Please return your finished pieces at a future CNEW meeting.

Want to be the first to donate a finished item to Project Goodwill? George Whippen has beat us all to the punch. He donated a tall peppermill this month.

Steve Reznek announced that Lexington Arts & Crafts is having a show through March 16. They are located at 130 Waltham Street in Lexington and show admission is free.






Show & Tell:

Joe Harbey
Cherry burl bowls
Desk clock from cherry burl cutoff

George Whippen
Peppermills

Dalton Lugg
Ipe(?) bowl
Natural edge bowl with finished base

Reid Gilmore
Bowl colored with acrylic paint by his wife Beth

Rick Gonzalez
Largest piece he's ever made (maple bowl)
Smallest piece he's ever made (ring)
icicle ornament

John McAtee
Segmented box on stand

Graeme Young
Burl vase
Box with lace inside lid - destined for a charity auction

Will Hunt
Tall segmented vase

Reid Gilmore
Hollow vase form, hollowed through base, in ornamental pear

Tim Elliott
Two vases - variations on the same barrel shape with stem

Charlie Croteau
Maple bowl

Mickey Goodman
Spalted maple bowl
Ambrosia maple bowl
Burl bowl

Dave Eaton
Foam padding

Phil Bowman
Vase form
Salad bowl & servers




Frank White on burls

Frank brought in many items he has turned from burls, and many still unturned burls from his wood pile.

He began with a "history lesson."

At one time, Frank had access to Sturbridge Village collections that are not normally on display to the public. These include some early American woodenware. Native Americans had a long tradition of making utilitarian and ceremonial pieces from burls. Black ash burls seem to have been a favorite medium, perhaps because they tend to be solid inside (unlike, say, cherry burls). Many of these items would have been burned and scraped, not turned. Typical examples would include bowls and trays, many with decorative knobs or handles.

These objects probably influenced colonial woodenware, but there is little documentation of this. Frank showed an example black ash dish which may have been turned on a pole lathe in the eighteenth century.

Frank works with burls a lot, and estimates that he has made around 250 items from cherry burls. Ironically, he finds that the burls he gets for free get turned quickly while the ones he pays good money for tend to sit around in his woodpile.

Many burls have large bark inclusions or voids that force the turner to split them into smaller chunks. This is particularly likely in maple and cherry. Birch burls often have prominent quilting in the grain that gives good visual depth when finished. The turned surface of a burl piece is often easier to "clean up" (less sanding) than straight grain.

Frank finished by discussing how he might cut up his sample burls when he gets around to using them - it is not always obvious how to make the best use of the available material.




Al Faul demonstrated his homemade threading jig, but I didn't stay for this so I have no notes. Sorry, Graeme.