Dean Thomas
11-17-2007, 3:43 AM
I've been itching to share with the Creekers. What a great response we've had to the FPP here in Kansas City! We have three AAW chapters within about 20 miles or so and this year, I asked them to consider donating time, talent, and treasure to the Freedom Pen Project. The KC Woodturners chapter is the largest of the three clubs and has a really great clubhouse with eleven lathes set up and ready for turning, plus a bandsaw, drill press, and sharpening station. The KCWT eagerly agreed to host two Saturday Turn-a-Thons for FPP, and the other two clubs quickly got on board.
Each club donated $$ and we ordered a BUNCH of kits (400 total came to us) and folks answered the call for wood. Oh my goodness did they answer the call. I have more than enough plus a couple of guys really wanting to give even more! I already have a great downpayment on next year's events!
I've personally done a fair portion of the prep work for the event. I've had a number of folks who've jumped right in there, too. Certainly is not a one-man show, but I can only tell my own story, mostly at least. ;) What a delight it has been drilling and gluing. I am still very much enamored with the wood itself and the incredible character it shows. The aromas from some of the woods as they're drilled or worked is heady. Makore, padauk, imbuya, myrtle burl...all so fragrant like spices. No cedar this year, but some absolutely gorgeous flame box elder. Curly maple, red alder, elm burl, sycamore, Kentucky coffee bean, hickory, a bit of rosewood, and more. These guys really reached deep into their treasure troves and shared some great stuff.
Keep in mind that these are going to our troops, our fighting forces, right? One of the gents in the group said, "I really love the idea of this project and have a lot of walnut that I'd like to donate." Charles offered to give me more than enough to cover all the pen kits, but I already had about half the wood I needed. So he agreed to give me about 250 sets of blanks, figuring that we'd want to have at least 10% for spoilage and "just in case" issues. He provided even more than that! What a guy. But that's just the intro!
The real fun part of the walnut story is that this guy bought like a truck load of this walnut about 40 years ago from a company in Springfield, Missouri. What he bought were the off-cuts from a company that created rifle stocks for the US Army! This walnut probably still has relatives around the country in the form of M1 Garand rifles/carbines. Forty years dry and seasoned, very clear and lovely wood. He was honored to provide it, everyone has been enjoying turning it, and I hope that those who receive those particular pens may find the connection as impressive as Charles & I do!
Some of the turners here wanted to do more than just a couple of hours of turn-a-thon. They took stuff home with them! Some took kits, others took only wood with tubes. When we get to the clubhouse tomorrow morning, there should be about 100 pens waiting for us to either assemble or to admire. Those are in addition to the 100 already done from last Saturday.
And a guy from work heard we were doing this and asked if he could donate a few of his own self-turned pens since he could not attend the turn-a-thons. Coming out of the "wood work" so to speak. :rolleyes:
I wanted to write this, hoping that some folks would be inspired to gather their friends and fellow turners around and make chips together. Also hoping that the stories will encourage the leadership. It's hard to maintain momentum on projects like these, but when folks hear good positive success stories, sometimes that helps.
Each club donated $$ and we ordered a BUNCH of kits (400 total came to us) and folks answered the call for wood. Oh my goodness did they answer the call. I have more than enough plus a couple of guys really wanting to give even more! I already have a great downpayment on next year's events!
I've personally done a fair portion of the prep work for the event. I've had a number of folks who've jumped right in there, too. Certainly is not a one-man show, but I can only tell my own story, mostly at least. ;) What a delight it has been drilling and gluing. I am still very much enamored with the wood itself and the incredible character it shows. The aromas from some of the woods as they're drilled or worked is heady. Makore, padauk, imbuya, myrtle burl...all so fragrant like spices. No cedar this year, but some absolutely gorgeous flame box elder. Curly maple, red alder, elm burl, sycamore, Kentucky coffee bean, hickory, a bit of rosewood, and more. These guys really reached deep into their treasure troves and shared some great stuff.
Keep in mind that these are going to our troops, our fighting forces, right? One of the gents in the group said, "I really love the idea of this project and have a lot of walnut that I'd like to donate." Charles offered to give me more than enough to cover all the pen kits, but I already had about half the wood I needed. So he agreed to give me about 250 sets of blanks, figuring that we'd want to have at least 10% for spoilage and "just in case" issues. He provided even more than that! What a guy. But that's just the intro!
The real fun part of the walnut story is that this guy bought like a truck load of this walnut about 40 years ago from a company in Springfield, Missouri. What he bought were the off-cuts from a company that created rifle stocks for the US Army! This walnut probably still has relatives around the country in the form of M1 Garand rifles/carbines. Forty years dry and seasoned, very clear and lovely wood. He was honored to provide it, everyone has been enjoying turning it, and I hope that those who receive those particular pens may find the connection as impressive as Charles & I do!
Some of the turners here wanted to do more than just a couple of hours of turn-a-thon. They took stuff home with them! Some took kits, others took only wood with tubes. When we get to the clubhouse tomorrow morning, there should be about 100 pens waiting for us to either assemble or to admire. Those are in addition to the 100 already done from last Saturday.
And a guy from work heard we were doing this and asked if he could donate a few of his own self-turned pens since he could not attend the turn-a-thons. Coming out of the "wood work" so to speak. :rolleyes:
I wanted to write this, hoping that some folks would be inspired to gather their friends and fellow turners around and make chips together. Also hoping that the stories will encourage the leadership. It's hard to maintain momentum on projects like these, but when folks hear good positive success stories, sometimes that helps.