RCWA - August 2008 General Meeting

Photos from General Meeting

The third meeting of the RCWA was held at Splinters Woodshop in Rapid City ( http://www.splinterswoodshop.com/). It included a short business meeting prior to a presentation by Will Bellucci and Rachel Scheffel of Woods of Wisdom.

Woods of Wisdom Presentation Photos


Will Bellucci and Rachel Scheffel of Woods of Wisdom gave the special presentation for the evening. Woods of Wisdom specializes in woodturning and woodcarving. They "create wooden bowls and vessels with hand-carved decorations from tree to table." The group listened intently to Will and Rachel and thoroughly enjoyed their very informative presentation. They explained the processes they follow to produce their fantastic artwork and invited us to visit their workshop anytime.

We met Will and Rachel at their booth at the Festival in the Park in Spearfish in July. They spent last week demonstrating on-site at the art gallery Prairie Edge, Art of the Lakota on 6th & Main, in downtown Rapid City. For our presentation, they described and illustrated the step-by-step process they use from wood acquisition to final turning. Will provided a very entertaining description of the process of acquiring wood for turning, and how to prepare it for final turning. They emphasized early waxing of the green wood, wrapping with cellophane, and then later, dunking in a large bucket of 50/50 liquid soap and water for a period of time to preserve the wood and retain use of the core. These tips will help ensure that the wood will be prepared without splits and cracks, and even help to encourage the growth of spalting lines. It was a very informative session; well accepted by all in attendance. Will and Rachel invited all to come to their shop anytime and learn more. You can go to their website: http://www.woodsofwisdom.net/ for additional information.