Woodturning at ESSA

I failed to count the number of Woodturners at ESSA yesterday, but I counted over 20 cars in the lot, not counting my own. One gave a demonstration on cutting parts for segmented turning. Larry Copas gave a demonstration of a gun drill to create hollow forms.

The gun drill is a device my students at school would have loved for its capacity to drill very long, very straight holes into wood. You connect it to an to an air compressor, the air of which helps to remove the chips that gather inside. The stream of air also cools the tip so that it does not overheat. It would be useful for making long hollow tubes like one might use to make a flute. Can that be yet another project to add to my creative horizon? I thank Larry for showing me something new.

One thing should be noted about wood. It is easily bio-degradable.  Cared for, it lasts for centuries. Even used daily, it can last for a hundred years. The world is now drowning in plastic, and the latest National Geographic magazine tells the story. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/the-journey-of-plastic-around-the-globe/

When wood is no longer in service, it decays in a relatively short time into biodegradable bits that are natural to every biological system on the planet. Plastic does not. It decays into bits and molecular chains that were never a part of life on earth. Is it not time now for us to think about a few things?

I am beginning to prepare for my summer classes and taking time to work in my own shop.

Make, fix, create, and increase the likelihood that others learn lifewise.