Many clubs in Florida take time off in the summer, when the snowbirds have left for the north and many locals are taking vacations out of state. We continue to meet and enjoy ourselves; we just have fewer members than usual at our meetings. Only 24 members and one guest, Jeff Unthanic, came in June.
We who were there were treated to a well-paced, thorough, presentation on clamps by Floyd Yoder. We learned about clamps from antique to brand new, from tiny to huge, and from nearly free to very expensive. He brought clamps made from wood, plastic, and metals; of various shapes and sizes; and ones that close up in different ways. With each example, Floyd explained what kind of clamping he would use it for, and described its ease of use and drawbacks. Anyone can go to the store and look at the display of clamps, and experienced woodworkers like Floyd know what they’re looking at. Now we know too.
Only three members reported during Show & Tell, another indication of how the weather affects us. John Darovec showed the pieces he has made for his clarinet; Denny Wetter showed a spirally segmented platter; and Harold Haines brought an album of pieces he had made prior to joining our club.
The Turners’ Meet was held at Harold Haines’ house/garage/shop. Harold does segmented turning, and he had many examples of his work, most of which are closed segments. In his garage/shop, he showed everyone his ShopSmith, which is what he works on, having donated his other equipment to schools before he moved to Florida.
Larry Simmons hosted the Shop Meet on the 24th. Another hand tool, in addition to planes, that Larry is working to master is the hand saw, and he showed us several that he has acquired. After demonstrating the different cuts by a couple of saws, he encouraged people to try the saws themselves. We can look forward to a club presentation next year on this topic.
Thank you, Harold and Larry, for hosting these events.
See you all in July,
Susan
