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Those of you who know Dave, know that his wealth of experience and down to earth demeanor make him a very enjoyable speaker.

Dave will be talking about and demonstrating vacuum pressing systems. He will discuss electric pumps, venturi generators and hand pumps.

There is a vacuum force demonstration planned to give us a feel for what type of forces these systems can generate. Part of the demo will include how to make forms and the materials used.

The May CMWA meeting subject is Wood Drying with Paul Herbst. Paul has a facility just off Hwy 23 near Foreston, MN. He brings in wood from sawmills, dries it, dimensions it, and either returns the dried lumber to the sawyer or sells it himself. Greg Pont has Paul dry wood for him. Paul should be able to answer any of your drying questions.

The May meeting of the Woodturners Group will be Saturday, May 16th at 9:00AM at the home of Dick Beumer, 3750 15th Street NE, Sauk Rapids. Dick will demonstrate how to build and use jam chucks. If time permits we will also have a hands-on activity to rough out round blanks to be used at our June meeting. Bring your face shields, roughing gouge and apparel. The topic of the June meeting is Spindle Turning Basics - Beads and Coves. Our blind auctions are going strong. Bring an item to donate and/or cash to purchase. Our challenge project for May is a weed pot.

All future meetings of the Woodturners Group will be held on the third Saturday of each month. This will coincide with the Wednesday night CMWA meeting to utilize the Club newsletter as the meeting reminder.

We have a group of four members who are making replicas of a Stickley arm chair. The group consists of Tom Zak, John Skalla, Jim Pruesser and Scott Randall. They will be discussing their experiences of working as a group, demonstrating a few of the tools they used and sharing some of the problems they encountered.

The Woodturners Group will meet Saturday April 18th at the home of Gary Mrozek 1314 West Oakes Drive, St. Cloud. The subject is EXTREME turning - the construction and use if a steady rest. The challenge project is an egg (plain or decorated). Bring items for the silent auction.

Our agenda will be an open forum to discuss topic and issues of your choice. There will also be a demonstration and hands-on opportunity of a shop build “Laser Guided Deep Hollowing Tool” on both a mini and full sized lathe. Information will be shared regarding a possible custom education course at St. Cloud Vocational College where you’ll have an opportunity to fabricate a tool like this for your own. Be sure to bring your Show & Tell items and donations for the silent auction. If you don't have a donation, bring some cash!.

Gary Mrozek will demonstrate how to set up and use a jointer to achieve those perfectly straight boards. He’s also going to demonstrate changing blades, which can be a real challenge with a straight knife jointer. Glenn Street and Rollie Johnson will talk about insert cutterheads for jointers and planers. They will compare spiral and helical and explain how they cut and show some examples of how the helical shearing cut results in minimal tear-out even in typically hard to plane wood such as curly or figured maple.

To get to John Caye’s shop go about 4 miles north of the Holiday station in Sartell (across the river from the paper mill). You need to be on the west side of the river on Riverside Avenue North which turns into hwy 1. Take a right on Pine Point Road and John’s place is about ½ mile on the left side. The fire number signs are 4391 and 4392. He has 3 lighted snowmen and a seasons greetings sign out front.

John’s driveway is long and only wide enough for one car. There is parking at the end of the driveway near the shop. If this parking area fills up, parking out on the side of Pine Point Road is fine.

If you will need to sit down during the meeting, you should plan on bringing your own chair.

The Woodturners Group will meet at 9:00am, January 10th at the home of Gary Mrozek at 1314 West Oakes Drive. Connie North will give a presentation about the Empty Bowls event at the Paramount Theater on March 22nd. All CMWA members and guests are welcome to attend this meeting to learn more about this event and how we as an organization can help.