A note from Ed Pretty:
Lee Valley Turning Demonstrations
January 2017
Lee Valley Tools Coquitlam will be promoting woodturning during the whole month of January 2017. To that end, many of their seminars are woodturning oriented and they plan to have in-store demonstrations every week; one session on Thursday and Friday evenings, three sessions on Saturdays and one on Sunday afternoons.
To that end, they have requested both the Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley Woodturners Guilds to provide demonstrators. Their part of the bargain is to provide and opportunity for both guilds to campaign for new members. We will be able to display our banners and have information pamphlets available for the public. Considering that we will be courting a “woody” crowd, both guilds should be able to pick up at least a few new members. In the past, the GV group (and the FV group in the distant past) formally hosted similar membership drives in retail malls and experienced quite good success in those venues.
Lee Valley is also offering to display individual members’ favourite pieces in their locked display cabinet in the entrance way to the store. They will provide ballots for the public to chose a “Peoples’ Choice” award with swag to be won by first, second and third place. The swag will take the form of gift cards, however the amounts has not yet been announced. Any member – not just demonstrators – may enter pieces but there is limited space, so for now it is limited to two entries per member. If there are too many pieces, I feel demonstrators/talkers should get first consideration. Dates for delivery and pick up of pieces will be announced at a future date, but I would be prepared to get your pieces to them during the first week of January. Email Ed Pretty efpretty@shaw.ca if you intend to show any pieces.
That number of demonstration slots is a pretty big order to fill so I suggested that each guild focus on alternating weeks with the GV group on the first and third week and the FV group on the second and fourth week. They have staff who will be able to do some demonstrating so they are hoping to fill in the blanks that we cannot fill. Saturdays will be our preferred days however if you want to demonstrate but can only do the evenings or Sunday afternoon, by all means sign up for those slots.
Besides demonstrators, an additional key role in these presentations are “talkers”. If you are unable or choose not to demonstrate, please feel free to sign up as a “talker”. Typically answering the public’s questions about turning and the guilds will keep you amply busy.
As always, demonstrators must be certified as per our insurance requirements. If you are not certified but would like to demonstrate, both guilds have the process outlined on their respective website. GVWG certification information at http://www.gvwg.ca/_safety.html with list of evaluators at http://www.gvwg.ca/docs/Demo_Evaluation-Certifiers.pdf. FVWG certification information is at https://fvwg.ca/about-fvwg/fvwg-demonstrator-assessment-process/. For the list of FVWG evaluators contact efpretty@shaw.ca. The process is simple and relatively short, with the focus only on the safe operation of the lathe and proper use of tools. It is not a difficult process at all.
Lee Valley will be providing lathes (mini lathes – hopefully their new Rikon lathes) and safety shields while each demonstrator will provide wood (see note below) for their projects and their own tools. Sharpening facilities will be available: grinder and Wolverine jig. Coffee and donuts are the bill of fare during the sessions.
To sign up, please contact Ed Pretty at efpretty@shaw.ca. I will get times and any other relative information not covered here to all participants as a soon as I get it.
This is an ideal opportunity to help the guilds bring in new members and demonstrate our craft to the public. Thank you in advance for participating.
Note: Lee Valley has specifically asked that we do not use Cocobolo and Red or Yellow Cedar. Might I suggest that Western Maple or Alder would be a good choice for material. Check the GVWG website listing various toxic woods if you choose another species. http://www.gvwg.ca/docs/Articles/Wood_Dust%20Toxicity%20Article.pdf.