Aug
30
12:00 AM00:00

First Anniversary

On August 30, this site has been live for 365 days. Thank you, visitors from all over the world!

Here is the short story behind the website.

I wanted to have at least one personal website for many years. In 2017, I really felt the urge to start one. In early August 2017, my nephew completed his undergraduate study in Computer Science, and landed a Job in Dallas. I drove up to College Station to help him moving. He explained in great details on how to start a website, and suggested using Squarespace as a platform. I secured my domain name in mid-August, and started trial period on Squarespace.

At the end of August 2017, I went to Waco for SWAT Symposium. On August 27, against everyone’s advice I left Waco and headed home after lunch there. I knew that if I got into any kind of trouble on the road, there would be no rescue, as the warning on not driving has been broadcasted through every media channel. I ran into several road closures on Highway 290, Grand Parkway – SH 99 and local streets. I took several detours, and drove through water covered roads in heavy rain. I got home around 6:00PM. A 3-hour trip under normal weather conditions took me 5 hours.

There is no damage to my home from Harvey. I started working on this website.

During this time, I never watched any TV, not before or during Harvey. On August 29, the rain stopped and I went out for a walk. That was when I found out that many houses a few hundred yards from mine had been flooded. I started doing demolition work for impacted families. First job was for a friend, and then I joined a WeChat group, so that I did not have to look for volunteer works.

On August 30, I brought the site online.

I try to offer enjoyable, unique and concise content on the site. I still have a few interests to add and more content to the existing ones. But with every additional interest, others are watered down in the amount of attention. I will probably stay with the current ones for a while. 

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Aug
24
to Aug 26

2018 SWAT Symposium

It is a weekend for SWAT, check it out here. This is the second largest woodturning symposium in US. Lucky for us, it is also in Texas.

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I have been to this symposium several times, and always enjoy the inspiring experience. For every trip, I try to have a theme in mind, and select demos to attend based on the theme. For this symposium, I want to refresh my memory and collect latest information on “push cut”. I want to write an article on this topic, mainly to organize my own understanding, and to revisit from time to time.

Stuart Batty is invited back to this symposium as a lead demonstrator. I went to all 4 rotations on different areas of his turning style, “push cut”. In this photo, he is shaping the outside of a 10” bowl. He makes it look easy. There are not many people who can do this cut in one continuous motion.

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In this photo of 2018 SWAT gallery, you can see hundreds of art pieces brought by demonstrators and participants. The boxes on the front table are call “bead of courage”. They are made by woodturners from different clubs, and are donated to children with serious illness as part of arts-in-medicine supportive care program in 8 countries.

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The symposium also provide hands-on areas for casual visitors and beginners to try new things. Here the kids are making simple pens on lathe.

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It is a great weekend. I want to make some shavings.  

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Mar
9
to Mar 11

2018 GCWA Spring Retreat

Once a year for the past 20 years, the members of Gulf Coast Woodturners Association come to Montgomery County Fairgrounds, Conroe TX for a weekend of retreat. Here is the link at GCWA website.

They attend classes taught by other members on topics of their interests, visit with other members, and enjoy the food for the weekend. This year, the event is on March 9 through 11. Ninety members gathered for the retreat.

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I have been to this event a few times. For this year, I have 2 items on my schedule, teaching Advanced Pen Making on Saturday morning, and attending Production Bowl class in the afternoon.

Four members came to my pen making class. They are all experienced pen makers. I skip many basic operations, and challenge the makers to carry out the process with high precision and attentions to details. Everyone comes out of the class with a strikingly-looking fountain pen to show for. You can see the pen I designed for this class on my Woodturning page.

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In the afternoon, I tested a procedure for making production bowls. It is about quantity here, and not gallery quality. I carved out 5 bowls in about 2 hours. The bowls are donated to Annual Empty Bowls Houston, a charity event raising money for the Houston Food Bank. You can find more information at this link.

I had a great time through the weekend.

 

 

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