Dennis loves this set of pick-up sticks for the virtuosity of the turnings. Made of sandalwood, the sticks fit together snugly into the box. The box fit is such that it takes several minutes for the lid to settle all the way to the closed position. Richard learned to make these slow-closing boxes for Japanese tea […]
The Rider grandchildren–Brad, Brandon, and Hayley–spent a week in Colorado in July with several hours of woodturning instruction in the shop. They started with just two tools and a practice stick in a session something like ‘How to tame your dragon [lathe]. They advanced to turning a pen from holly (it will double as a […]
A friend brought Dennis part of a Gambel oak tree that was damaged in the Black Forest fire last year. These oaks are a scrubby style of white oak, which rarely reaches a diameter that interests woodturners. Natural edge bowls make the most of trees with a small diameter, because the bark creates the rim. […]
Stuart Mortimer was back in the Liggett woodshop in May to teach several area woodturners how to cast and turn pewter elements for their own work. Stuart has worked with pewter for several years, in addition to silver and gold, creating finials, hinges, and decorative rings for his beautiful eggs. Inspired by the Faberge tradition, […]
General Twist Information is available here on the ‘SKILLS’ page. Click on SKILLS right under the spindle on this page. Go to section #2 for Twist information. Use the link for Twistwork in the right sidebar to see all of the posts about Twistwork on the site. The details for the goblet with the twisted […]
Woodturners gather in the spring and early summer to exchange tools, skills, and ‘wow’s. Before the symposiums begin, however, there is a lot of work to be done. Dennis is holding a beginner class in early March for very, very inexperienced turners to learn and practice the safety procedures and tool management skills that every […]
This is the first time that Dennis and Kay have worked together to produce one-of-a-kind ornaments. Dennis turns the four parts of the birdhouse: roof, body, perch, and bottom finial. Kay decorates each roof with permanent inks. The patterns come from Zentangle® forms and Kay’s own quilting patterns. They are done spontaneously, so each one […]
Dick Jones, Scott Longberry, and Milo Scott helped Dennis create a very magical Christmas for kids at the Boadmoor’s Christmas house over the weekend of Nov 28-December 1st. Dennis, Milo, and Scott took turns making tops for kids waiting in line to see Santa Claus. There is a certain magic to seeing something made right […]
Dennis can make a variety of things on the lathe, but as Christmas approaches, he always returns to the Birdhouse Ornaments. Of all the ornaments he has created, the simple Birdhouse just looks right on any Christmas tree. By itself, you might notice the type of wood, the shape of the roof, the lovely curve […]
Like moths to the flame, woodturners from all over the world travel to the Utah Woodturning Symposium in May. The 34th meeting of the symposium continued the tradition of the Utah event as the premier teaching symposium in the US. For a few days, Orem becomes the crossroads for turners from the US, UK, Australia, […]