FEBRUARY 2004 NCWT DEMO

Turning and Decorating Techniques
Andi started her demonstration by explaining to the NCWT membership that woodturning was a method to obtain a media for her further work. She has developed many surface decorating techniques and uses the turned wood form as a basis for what she does further. For Andi, form is what counts. If the basic form is poor, nothing can be done to improve the object. With her turned bowls, she likes to give the illusion that the bowl is floating off the table.
	As Andi starts to turn, she works on form right away. The bowl will round out in time as she is working on the form. Working on the outside of the bowl: 1. Start to work on form. 2. Form Tenon 3. Refine Shape 4. True the edge 5. Fine tune the profile using a pull cut 6. Shear Scrape 7. Sand, starting with 100 grit and working through 1200 grit.
Andi reverses the bowl and chucks the bottom, establishes the rim first, then hollows the bowl. Again, she finishes the inside by sanding from 100 grit to 1200 grit. The fine sanding is required due to the way that wood behaves with the ink pens she uses and the way the wood absorbs the ink. To get uniform staining, the wood has to be very smooth. When finished with the inside, the bowl is jam chucked and the foot formed. The nib left in this process is removed with a curved carving tool.
Andi presented a slide show, showing NCWT some of the plants and micrographs that inspire her surface decorating techniques, as well as some of her works.
Andi uses the Foredom carving tool, both with the standard rotary attachment and with the Wecheer reciprocating attachment. Andi also uses the Powercrafter high speed carving tool.


Andi says "I love fire." She uses a micro-butane torch and many other pyography techinques to achieve some striking surface effects.

			Andi give some tips on setup of a new burning tip. 1. Does not recommend replaceable tips, the non-replaceable tips are more stable. 2. When new, turn the unit all the way up to get the tip glowing red, then turn the unit down and let the tip cool off. 3. Sharpen with a diamond stone until the desired sharpness and shape are obtained, being careful not to cut all the way through the wires.
Andi traces patterns onto her turned objects, then burns the pattern into the wood. Some of her patterns are wrapped around the lip of the object, giving a very intricate appearance.


Andi demonstrated her use of Prismacolor markers to provide color to her works. Using two colors greatly enhances the brightness and appearance.
Two colors on left. One color on right.
		Andi also uses paints. She usually puts a base coat of black gesso on the piece, then uses a variety of colors, blends, interference paints, etc. to get the effect she wants.


Andi brought several of her works for examination and enjoyment of NCWT membership.