Benefits

Our club is roughly 75 members in size, with members ranging from absolute beginners to those who have been turning for decades! Our members are very engaged in helping each other to learn new skills or techniques, so there is plenty of opportunities for you to benefit from this amazing wealth of knowledge!

We have also recently added the new Turning Center to our member offerings. The Turning Center is a dedicated space for teaching the art and craft of woodturning. Within the Turning Center are numerous lathes, an assortment of tools, and space to be able to hold classes. A number of our skilled members have held classes open to all members on subjects like basic turning, use of the skew, bowl turning, and finishing techniques. As a member, you are notified of the schedule of events at the Turning Center, so you can join in when something appeals.

Make it a point to come to a meeting - meet our members, and then join us!

Our club holds monthly meetings both live and simulcast via Zoom for those who cannot attend in person. Our meetings, held monthly at the Howell Community Church, begin at 7:00 PM on the second Tuesday of every month. Meeting room doors open at 6:30 PM to allow members and attendees to socialize and chat prior to kicking off the formal meeting. All are welcome even if you are not a current member. If you do attend a meeting and feel the club could benefit your continued growth as a woodturner, we would appreciate your joining as a member after attending your second meeting. If you attend a meeting, please introduce yourself to the staff at the sign in table to let us know you are there! If you want to attend virtually, please send an email with your email address to njaswt@gmail.com 24 hours prior to the meeting time. We will reply back to you with the Zoom information.

Each meeting has a similar agenda where we cover club business, items of interest, safety advisories, and general discussions during the first half of the meeting. After a break for snacks and conversation, we typically have a demonstration on new or interesting topics relating to turning. A number of times a year, we engage professional turners from around the world to conduct Interactive Remote Demonstrations, where the turner comes to us via Zoom to discuss their techniques or specialty. Typically, these sessions do not cost anything extra for members, allowing everyone to attend a professionally run demonstration by folks you normally would not be able to see unless you travelled to a symposium or seminar. We have hosted turners from all over the world this way!

For those members who are unable to attend the live meetings, we offer a hybrid meeting format for all our meetings, allowing remote members and guests to attend our monthly meeting virtually via Zoom. We have members in various states around the country who only attend by Zoom, so it's a good alternative to attending live.

I hope you will consider attending one of our meetings and joining our growing club!

Our club offers a number of different formats and events for learning the art and craft of woodturning. We hold 'in meeting' demonstrations at our monthly meetings, weekend 'hands on' classes and events at various locations including our on premises Turning Center, and occasional Interactive Remote Demonstrations for remote learning.

In the fall of 2022, we opened our new Turning Center for classes and training. This dedicated space provides the environment and the equipment needed to experience turning firsthand, either using our equipment or bringing your own to try out. We have held classes on varied topics including skew chisel use and techniques, bowl turning techniques, and sharpening already and expect that we will expand our offerings further as we develop this great resource.

If you love to turn and are hesitant to spend a lot of money traveling to a remote location to attend a class or symposium, I suggest you keep an eye on our calendar, where we announce new meetings and classes in advance. Meetings are open to all, but classes typically require advance registration, as space is limited, so check back frequently.

Our club maintains an extensive library of videos and printed materials about the art and techniques of woodturning. Our members are welcome to borrow anything in our library collection, to bring it home and use it. Members may keep a library item for 30 days without fee.

Our members LOVE to show off what they have made - in our meetings, at local town events, or sometimes in a local library display. You will be amazed at the skill of our turners! At each meeting, we offer a table in the meeting room for members to bring in their most current pieces for display, prompting lots of questions and comments!

The club has been invited to exhibit our work in numerous libraries and meeting places throughout the area. Members never fail to fill the display with amazing pieces of art for all to see! Every piece is a creation of one of our club members and is loaned to the club for the exhibits!

As you can see, our members create a wide variety of items, from wood or other materials, some round and some not so round, on their lathes using different techniques and tools. If you join our club, you will have access to the wide variety of experience and fun that our club offers!