Stateline Woodturners
January 10, 2026 Club Meeting
Visitors: Visitors were being welcomed and introduced as I, your secretary David Wimberly, arrived and I missed their names other than Nathan Bradford of Bella Vista. Feel free to notify me of the omissions and I will gladly amend this post.
Ben Johnson: Ben, as our new president, spoke on the following topics.
1. The President’s Challenge for each month of 2026 where a small project is defined (see them on the website). This is to encourage everyone to try something perhaps new and different, and bring it to that month’s Show-N-Tell. You just might win a special award at the end of the year. February’s challenge is a lidded box, titled as a place to keep your heart (in recognition of Valentine’s day).
2. Our Show-N-Tell segment which is divided between Novice and Advanced turners. Everyone is encouraged to bring in and present something they have turned, which will be circulated through the attendees. The previous month’s winner judges the work and selects a winner. A Novice moves to the Advanced group once they have won three times.
3. A demonstrator is needed each month for our club meeting. A sign-up sheet was circulated to solicit demonstrators for 2026.
4. Rogers Historical Museum has a display case where club members work can be showcased. Debe Krogman collects new pieces each quarter, changes out the display, and returns your work. All work is acceptable and participation is encouraged.
5. Public demonstrators are needed for special events to generate interest in woodturning and in our club. In April there will be an ESSA (Eureka Springs School of the Arts) charity hands on event. Volunteers are always needed for these events.
6. Tennessee Woodturners Symposium is coming up January 30th-31st where there will be lots of classes, demonstrations, and displays. These are great places to learn and network with other woodturners. Also, the AAW (American Association of Woodturners) national symposium will be in Raleigh North Carolina this year.
Treasurer Report: Paul Moore recapped the club financial information for December as income $278.65, expenses 616.18, with an ending balance of 15,333.50. He noted that we have 65 members recorded for this year. He has placed a list of members on the website and asked that you please contact him if you have paid but are not on that list.
Safety Tips: Ben asked for personal experiences related to safety when turning. Members volunteered the following.
1. Don’t lay your finger over the tool rest, a member lost a nail when a wing hit it.
2. Don’t turn when you are tired.
3. Be extra cautious when working a natural edge piece.
4. Unplug an angle grinder before changing the bit.
Show-N-Tell, Novice: Entrants were:
· Mike Elkins (a 1 year turner) brought in a piece that blew-up on him three times that was patched together with coffee grounds and glue, and an 18 open segment spalted hackberry bowl with a walnut foot. Mike won best in the Novice category for his open segment bowl.
Show-N-Tell, Advanced: Entrants were:
· Paul Moore showed a pepper mill made from alternating maple and walnut laminate, a walnut bowl, and a hackberry bowl.
· Mike Skiba with lidded cubes finished with walnut oil.
· Larry Copas with a homemade tool (carbide steel bar with handles on both ends) which he uses to restore a burr on scrappers between sharpenings.
· Frank Emeterio with a small box made of spalted maple, walnut, and sycamore finished with Waterlox, tung oil, and Mahoney’s oil.
· Jim ? with red cedar rims for jar lids which allow room to prevent them from binding with the jar.
· Kory Trent (a new turner who should have been in the Novice category) with a deep red cedar bowl that cracked days after it was turned.
· Thurman Hatch with a basket illusion lidded box (recently returned from Rogers Historical Museum) made from Bradford pear using his own design inspired by Carl Hanson’s work.
· Deb Ness with a potpourri box with pewter in the lid, a calabash (rounded bottom that always returns to center) candle holder box in walnut with a pewter/walnut finial, and a cherry hollow vessel incense burner with walnut imbedded in drilled out holes.
Paul won for his walnut bowl.
Bring Back Raffle: Mike Skiba’s ticket was drawn first, but your secretary failed to record whose piece he chose and thus who gets a free raffle ticket at the next meeting. There were at least 6 other winners.
Demonstration: Larry Copas on turning a live edge bowl
(The following write up is available individually on the web site under Member Resources > Documents > Bowl Turning.)
Larry Copas Presentation on
Live Edge Bowl Turning
Larry broke his talk and presentation into the highlighted categories that follow.
Bark
A live edge bowl can be turned with or without the bark. If you want to keep the bark, the tree should be cut in late winter when the tree is growing slowly, and the bark is most firmly attached. In the spring (April – May) the tree is growing quickly, and the bark will be loose. The species of tree also matters, since some have a loose bark by their nature (cedar) and others have a heavy thick bark which will tend to break (walnut and oak). Maple and hickory tend to have a thinner bark and will cooperate better. Loose bark can be hardened by soaking it in thin CA glue and letting it dry before turning.
Blank Preparation
Ideally you would cut the tree, cut the blanks, and then turn the bowl the same day (especially if keeping the bark on). Cut short logs and split or saw them down the pith for two blanks. This is a good time to go ahead and cut the corners off. You will need a flat surface for a faceplate, or a scrapped spot for a drive center (which Larry does quickly with the tip of his chainsaw since he uses a custom drive – see Lathe Drives below).
Design
A winning and easy design is a catenary curve (seen when you hang a string from two ends), which is found in nature and easy to turn. The ears will be the high points on the side of your bowl. Those will be on the long grain sides of your blank – decide what you want and try to balance them. While doing this, also look for features in the blank that you may want to highlight or hide. A balanced grain pattern is generally best.
Lathe Drives
Larry emphasized that live edge turning is very violent and thus a good solid drive is critical. He spent time expounding on the best options.
1. A faceplate is the most secure, which is followed by a screw chuck. They also take more time and tools to implement. They also do not work well if you discover after starting that you want to reposition the work (a blemish or feature emerges).
2. A four-prong drive is by far the worst because it is least secure and can drill into the piece – especially with soft or spalted wood.
3. Two prong drives are a step up and can be acceptable. If you can’t find one, they can be constructed by grinding off two prongs of a four-prong drive.
4. Another step up is the Nova Jumbo Drive Center, which was the choice of David Ellsworth. They screw onto the spindle and are expensive ($100+).
5. In Larry’s opinion the Oneway Big Bite is the best and only costs $30, but it only fits a Oneway Chuck. So, Larry made his own for his Vicmarc chuck. The two prongs are in the same plane as the center and each other – providing a very firm drive. This type are the easiest to re-center, if you decide you would like to do that after starting.
Demonstration
1. Species: Larry cut a hickory tree the week before and turned several test pieces for practice (it had been years since he done a live edge bowl). He brought those samples and circulated them with comments as he progressed through his demonstration.
2. Mounting: He attached his drive to the live edge where the bark had been scrapped off and brought up the live center. He spun it by hand and adjusted the mounting to get it somewhat balanced. For this work, he always uses a helmet since bark will be flying off profusely. He stood to the side and turned on the lathe at a very slow speed, and then slowly raised the speed.
3. Rounding the bottom: He began with his bowl gouge by rounding the bottom to roughly establish the sides. He found that he needed to adjust the club’s lathe for higher torque and lower speed. He retightened the tail stock and continued rounding off and tapering the bottom a bit. He left a good mass in the sides for now to support the ears.
4. Cut a tenon: He used a stick to measure the size he wanted for his tenon and marked it. He prefers a large tenon where the chuck jaws are spread, so that the corners can dig in and provide a firmer connection. He roughly cut the tenon and then refined it with a smaller gouge adding the dovetail needed for his Vicmarc chuck. He then refined the bowl sides with shear cuts.
5. Examine: Larry looked over the outside of the bowl and pointed out some Ambrosia beetle holes which will leave a gray stain. That is an example of something you may want to feature or hide.
6. Hollowing: Larry removed the piece, removed his drive center, and remounted it with the tenon in the chuck – tightening it down firmly. In a larger bowl he would have brought up the tailstock for stability but didn’t bother with this small bowl. He began quickly hollowing the bowl. Soon he switched to a homemade J rest to get inside the bowl. His goal is a 3/16” to ¼” walls and bottom. He left the walls thick as he gaged and worked toward his depth. He then came back to the top of the bowl, the ears, and worked down an inch in his first cut series. Then he went down another and finally finished the inside walls. He emphasized that you must do it this way, and if you were to go back to the ears they would crack.
7. Juvenile wood: Larry talked about the juvenile wood near the pith where the first 10-15 years of growth occurred and how it does not behave. He circulated one of his test bowls that cracked from the bottom because he had not removed the tenon. Someone asked about how long to let a green turned bowl like this dry before it could be finished. He said he had put one through a couple of microwave cycles and it was ready to finish. He had another test bowl that he passed around and was able to knock the edge on the table and the bark was sound.
8. Jam or vacuum chuck: He mounted his homemade vacuum chuck and used it as a jam chuck with the tail stock pulled up. Then he refined the outside with shear cuts and reduced the tenon to ¾”. From there he said you could put it between your knees and knock off the tenon with a chisel since it is side grain – or sand it off.
9. Sharpening: His chisel was dull by the end of his demonstration. Bark is dirty and dulls tools quickly. He has his own sharpening system and, in his shop, he said he would have stopped to sharpen two or three times.
Attendance: Approximately 43.
Please send omissions and corrections to David Wimberly (wdw@uark.edu) so that this record can be updated on the website.