After over 40 years of teaching mathematics at the University of North Texas, I retired. I now have more time to pursue my hobby of turning wood. When making items, I often use mathematics to help design both the item and associated jigs.
I sell items at the Denton Community Market most Saturdays from the first of March through the middle of December. Items include bowls, boxes, vases, pepper mills, spoons, spatulas, tippe tops, kururin sticks, train whistles, and small animals. I mainly make functional item as opposed to artistic works.
I am a member of the American Association of Woodturners, Golden Triangle Woodturners, Woodturners of North Texas, and Dallas Area Woodturners. I have given more than 30 club demos, some in-person and some remotely. I have also given demonstrations at three Southwest Association of Woodturners Symposiums.
Web: thenaturallog.com
Demonstrations
Turning a Train Whistle
In this demonstration I show how to turn a train whistle. The train whistle is actually four whistles inside one body. I will show how make a jig, either using a 3D printer or just from wood, that makes it easy to use the lathe to drill the four holes in the required positions. I will also show how to make a jig to help to safely sand a dowel into a fipple.
Handout: Whistle-Turning-Directions
Hands-On: Turning a Tippe Top
Tippe tops are special tops that flip up-side down when given a good spin. I will show how I turn and decorate them. I will also indicate the most common errors that prevent a tippe top from working properly and I will show how to avoid or fix them.
