Home - Woodturners Guild of North Carolina

Natural Edge Turning - Start to Finish with Chris Boerner

Thursday August 14^th
Hybrid: Live at NCSU Crafts Center and by IRD Broadcast via Zoom
Zoom call opens a 6:15 for socializing
Meeting begins at 6:45 PM
Demonstration begins at 7 PM

Chris is excited to share his approach, processes, and techniques for turning an artistic natural edge piece from start-to-finish.
This demo will focus primarily on the following:

Safety
- Wood dust control, and ways to avoid unsafe exposure.
  - Airstream Helmet.
  - Dust extractor.
  - Shop wall exhaust fan.
- Personal protective equipment, including eye & face protection.
- Secure mounting of wood before initiating the lathe.
Selecting a unique piece of wood.
Safely mounting the wood to the lathe for initial turning.
Lathe tool techniques for clean cuts.
- 3/8’’ inch bowl gouge.
- Round-shaft teardrop sheer scraper.
Reverse turning methods.
- Initial dovetail grip (for initial mounting in the chuck).
- Turning the foot / base (to finish the piece).
Turning a beautiful, balanced shape inside & out.
Methods for protecting the often fragile natural edge bark while turning.
- CA Glue – minimal use - avoid oversaturation & staining.
- Rosewood dust.
Sanding techniques (but no actual sanding).
- Sandpaper 60 – 500 Grit. (Bargain Box & Klingspor)
- Power sanding options.
Final finishing & oiling:
- 0000 steel wool.
- Air compressor to clean-out surface from particulate.
- General finishes: Seal-a-Cell Clear Oil (Red Label).
- Buffing wheel.
Open discussion – questions & answers.

Monthly Show & Tell Session

Aug 21st, 2025
Zoom session opens about 6:30 PM
Meeting begins at 7:00 PM

Join us for the August Show and Tell Session

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the July session. It was another fun and inspiring evening and we enjoyed seeing some new faces!

Everyone is always anxious to see what members are making and there is really no better way to do so than by joining in a Show & Tell session.

It is important to be reminded that the Show & Tell sessions are intended for all levels of woodturners and designed to be a safe and respectful place to solicit supportive input and advice, regardless of a woodturners experience level. It’s an opportunity for turners to engage in an informal and beneficial exchange of ideas and to foster further growth in woodturning.

All WGNC members and their guests are welcome to spend an evening with fellow woodturners as we explore and share members projects, ideas, issues and yes, even those shop disasters.

Please also keep in mind, you do not have to have a completed project to participate. These sessions are designed for the exploration of ideas, techniques, problems, designs and any other subjects pertaining to your woodturning experience. So, whether you have a completed piece, a practice piece, simply "idea boards", or something that challenges you, all are welcome for sharing and discussing with other members. If you don't have anything mentioned above, join us anyway. We always have a lot of fun, you can meet folks and like most of us, you just might learn something or be inspired to try something new.

To read the entire article and submission guidelines click here.

Saturday & Sunday, August 23-24, 2025

9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Cary Town Hall Campus, Downtown Cary

Join WGNC for the 49th annual Lazy Daze Arts & Crafts Festival showcasing over 250 exceptional artists from across the country! Enjoy live entertainment on four stages, savor delicious offerings from 25+ food vendors, and relax in the beer garden & Lazy Lounge. Be sure to bring the kids, they will love Kid Daze with fun activities throughout including the new Kid Collectors Market, where they can purchase pint-sized pieces created by many Lazy Daze artists! Participate in interactive art activities, engage with demonstrations by professional artisans, and embrace the “Lazy Daze” of summer.

WGNC will have booths set up for exhibiting and selling art provided by our members. We will also have a booth where lathe demonstrations will take place throughout the weekend.

Members, we need volunteers for this event. If you are interested in participating in the Lazy Daze event, slots are available to Exhibit & Sell your art and/or demonstrate simple turning. If you can make chips, you can demonstrate!

For more information and to register for available slots click a button below:

Display/Sale

Lathe Demonstrator

And, EVERYONE is welcome to stop by and visit the WGNC booths. Our location can be found on the map below.

We can’t wait to see you there!

And in other news:

New Videos:
The July Demonstration and Show & Tell videos are available now. Click here.

New Galleries:
The July Show and Tell Gallery photos are now available for viewing Click here

Breakout: CNC for Woodturners 2

On Friday June 6th Bob Taylor hosted another breakout session in his shop. This breakout was a second session where Bob discussed using a CNC to do blank prep, make jigs, and create custom joints for segmented turning that would be difficult if not impossible with traditional shop tools. Bob also demonstrated the CAD/CAM software that drives the CNC, and some custom turning-specific software he has written. Bob then used the CNC to prepare a live edge blank for mounting on the lathe. Bob closed out the Breakout by showing how he uses a laser to put his maker mark on the bottom of a finished bowl.

The original Breakout Session filled up quickly and many members asked if Bob would consider doing another session which he has agreed to do. We thank Bob for all his effort in putting a second session together. To see some of Bob's work and pictures from the breakout session click here.

Breakout: Women in Turning

The WIT breakout sessions tackled a new project on Saturday, May 10th. This breakout, hosted by Ted Ross, featured a funnel style salt shaker. The project, followed a basic plan to allow salt to move freely through the shaker, while also giving Eddie, Ellen and Maria plenty of design freedom to create their own exterior shapes and add any embellishments they found interesting.

Breakout: Comments

Below are a few comments regarding the "Let it Burn!" breakout:

Lars Nyland:

Great day yesterday watching all of you burn your pieces! The transformations were amazing!

I was shocked at the end of the day how much carbon had accumulated in the rinse water; I've never seen anything like it.

Here is a link to the slides I made. If you care to, you can take some time to look into each artist and the techniques they use.

Stephan Moll:

Thank you very much for having hosted such a wonderful breakout session. Not only was Lars” presentation great and relevant, but opening your workshop for us, the setup outside, the cookies and donuts - it all made for an educational, worthwhile, well organized, fun and peaceful day. The great weather, of course, helped, too.

David Chapin:

Today was a great day. Lars, it was wonderful to get the benefit of your experience, combined with a chance to experiment for ourselves.

Thanks so much!!

Karl Koch:

Thank you for sharing with us today Lars! I have been thinking about all the new ideas that I was exposed to today. And thank you Ted for hosting us in your shop and yard!

It was a good day! Which is never something to be taken for granted.

Much appreciated,