Local Chapter of:

Gulf Coast Woodturners Association
Houston, Texas




Southwest Association of Turners
Multi Purpose Events Center
Wichita Falls, Texas

September 30 - October 2, 2005



  The second largest woodturning symposium in the United States was held by SWAT at Wichita Falls. Attendance was nearly 500 for the three days of demonstrations and hands-on turning. Lead demonstrators included Bonnie Klein, Alan Lacer, Malcolm Tibbets, Mark Sfirri and Craig Timmerman. There were also 18 demonstrators from member SWAT clubs. Five of them were from the Gulf Coast Woodworking Association. They were (and are) Andy Chen, Marty Kaminsky, Brian Laing, Bill Tilson and Larra Zarra. In addition, the hands-on area was the responsibility of Don Fluker and Greg Gonzalves who were assisted by By Reed and Luna Ford as full time workers. Their principal function was to assist any one who wanted to turn on one of the three lathes that GCWA provided and to answer "how do I do this or that" questions.

There were 46 demonstration periods running an hour and a half each. Other activities included an instant gallery with nearly 500 turned pieces, hands-on wood turning, pen turning, a banquet, two lotteries and a variety of events for the ladies who did not turn.

A group of 8 vendors offered lathes, tools, wood and other turning accessories. There are no awards given for pieces shown in the SWAT instant gallery but the lead demonstrators each selected two turnings to critique. One of Craig Timmerman's selections was Fog Tanner's pine boxes. Larry Zarra's bowl was admired by Alan Lacer. Bill Tilson's inlayed box was selected by Bonnie Klein. Tom Enloe's oil can and Jerry Bennett's sculpture were appreciated by Malcolm Tibbets.

Click Slide Show to see the beautiful turned pieces.

Note: If you find the speed of the Slide Show too fast and would like to review the pictures at your own pace, please depress 'Stop' and proceed through the pictures by repeatedly depressing 'Next Picture'.
You may also use F11 as a toggle to show a larger picture and when you are finished looking at the pictures, use F11 again to return to a normal view.

 

 

Slide Show      Home