Gerald Jensen

Gerald Jensen

I spent 28 years in the TV and Radio news biz, followed by 18 years in computer systems and software. I never really gave much thought to what I would do after I retired, and on a whim, decided to give woodworking a try a couple of years before retiring.
I was just starting a class on furniture building at a tech school when duty called and I was out of town on business for a week. When I returned, I had no plans or materials, and the instructor told me I couldn’t just stand around with my hands in my pockets. I asked if he had any suggestions, and he responded “Have you ever turned wood?”. I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about but decided to go for it. He set me up on a lathe, gave me about 10 minutes of instruction, and I whiled away the evening turning coves and beads on a chunk of 4×4 from the scrap bin. I was smitten!
I gave up flat work, bought a lathe, and fell straight into the vortex. That was 14 years ago. Since then, I have discovered the challenges and rewards in segmented turning, joined the Segmented Woodturners chapter of AAW, attended two SWT symposiums, graduated from a 2 year woodturning program at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (NWTC), and have served as a part-time instructor in the woodturning program at NWTC’s Artisan Center for the past 6 years. My favorite class to teach: Segmented Woodturning!

Danny Scoccia

I taught at New Mexico State University for 28 years, retired in 2016, and took up woodturning about 2 years later. I was a self-taught, solitary turner for 3 or 4 years, then joined Arizona Woodturners Assoc, where I got some instruction from experienced old pro’s and exposure to some amazing turnings. At the “show your recent work” table at AWA’s monthly meetings, J. Paul Fennel displayed some of his beautiful pierced vases and urns, while Brian Lensink and others showed off some of their segmented and basket illusion pieces. Segmenting drew me in for several reasons. I could use up the many scraps of wood I’d accumulated over the years; segmenting requires jigs, and building jigs is fun; it’s part engineering, part art; and the design possibilities are endless. I was pretty clueless about how to proceed but fortunately found the Segmented Woodworkers club, where I got invaluable help from Russ Braun, Steve Bonny, and several others. Tom Lohman and Jerry Bennett have also provided support and encouragement. I’ve been churning out a new bowl or vase from my small garage workshop every few weeks for friends and relatives, who love them. So far my designs and production techniques have been fairly basic, but I expect to begin experimenting with new methods and designs next year. I’m looking forward to attending the turners’ convention in Portland in May 2024 to buy toys, attend demos, and meet other segmenters.

Eli Polite

My name is Eli Polite. I’m a professional craftsman. My career has been in the kitchen and bath industry. I have always been drawn to working with my hands. For the past 7 years I have been exploring wood turning and trying to create my own path. I like to disappear into my work when I can find the time. One of my favorite things to do is explore the use of rare materials. I also like to push the limits when it comes to segmented work. It is not uncommon for me to spend over a year on 1 piece. Problem solving seems to be what really grabs my attention and pulls me in. What makes us all the craftsman that we are is our own style of working and exploring. I refuse to use a computer with any aspect of my wood turning and I never draw any thing out. I start with a very simple idea and slowly build off of it as I go. I don’t think I have ever pictured a finished piece in my head before it was more than half way done. This is in part because the overall shape is dictated as I build off of my initial idea. The initial idea may be something as simple as a 1″ diameter pattern to be used in a feature ring so I build that and than add to it as I go, making every effort to have it be as appealing and satisfying to me as possible. The reason I make it as satisfying to “me” as possible is simply because I do this for “me”. Wood turning is how I calm my mind and part of how I recharge my self. If the end result Is loved by others that’s defiantly a bonus. I do enjoy teaching, sharing, and demonstrating what I know when ever I have the time to do so. I’m currently working on several very time consuming projects one has been in progress for a full year at this point and may be another 5 to 6 months before it’s finished. This has a lot to do with my insane work schedule at the moment: I hope to some day have more time to invest into wood turning.

Harvey Crouch

Woodworking has been my hobby since High School shop class.  As a career Marine moving every 2 or 3 years I worked with a Shopsmith.  After retiring, I immediately started buying larger and more permanent tools.  

When my wife decided we didn’t need any more furniture, I bought my first lathe and was immediately hooked.  In South Texas, large hunks of wood are fairly hard to come by so I gave segmenting a try.  That has been my focus since.  I have taken 2 one week classes with Malcolm Tibbits and give him full credit for whatever skills I have.  

I guess you could call me an “old fashioned” segmenter because I have kept to graph paper designing, miter saw cutting, and rubber bands for clamps.

The Longhorn Vase has become my signature piece as I have made several as gifts for University of Texas graduates.

Dennis Richardson

My father was a carpenter, but he kiddingly (must repeat kiddingly) said if I ever wanted to picked up a hammer & saw for a career, he would cut my fingers off.   He enjoyed having me in his shop, where I developed a fondness for the feel, smell and grains of various wood species and his collection of tools.  I was to go to college however, something my dad was not able to do in the 1930s in Montana.  I finished college at USC and retired 4 years ago after a 39-year career as a Commercial Real Estate Broker, 32 of which were with Cushman & Wakefield in West Los Angeles.

Fast forward from my playing in my dad’s shop to 2009 when my wife, 3 sons & I visited a museum (don’t recall where) that had a Ray Allen segmented vase.  It was approximately 2 feet tall and containing thousands of pieces.   I was in awe, having no idea how such a beautiful art piece was created from wood.  At that moment I made a mental note to research this wood art medium when I returned home.

My youngest of 3 sons was about to graduated High School and my years spent on bleachers watching sports, i.e. little league, flag football, soccer, basketball, baseball, and lacrosse was about to end.   Number 3 son was soon off to college and at the age of 56 I needed a hobby, a pastime.  Having seen the Ray Allen’s vase I looked to the internet on how one might make a segmented vase.   I found and called American Association of Woodturners, upon which I was informed there were 2 Woodturning Guilds in the Los Angeles area.   I was given contact information for the El Camino Woodworking Group (“ECWG”) and took advantage of an invite to their monthly meeting. 

Seeing various ECWG creations during my first visit I knew I found an artistic medium that had great appeal to me.  However, I felt that I needed to learn how to turn wood first before attempting segmenting and bought my first Laguna 18/42 lathe after my 2nd club visit.   After several years of woodturning, I decided that since it was segmented woodturning that prompted my initial interest……… I should give it try.  As ECWG’s librarian, I had access to both Ray Allen’s, Curt Theobald’s and Malcolm Tibbetts’ books, coupled with several of Malcom’s videos.  I was loaded for Bear…..and the time was “now”!  

That said, if I was going to attempt segmented woodturning, who better to learn from directly than Malcolm Tibbetts.  He was to teach Segmented Woodturning at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking and I took Malcolm’s eye-opening class the summer of 2016.   I cannot recommend it enough, both Malcolm’s class and the Marc Adam’s school, an amazing place for wood workers!

The below are some of my segmented creations:

Brian Witt

My name is Brian Witt and I reside in Fredericksburg, Virginia. I'm a retired chemical engineer and research manager but I currently have four part time jobs which severely limits how much time I get to spend in my shop. The picture shows me in my role as a docent at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. When I was in my mid 20’s my younger brothers were award-winning woodworkers in high school, and they inspired me to do some woodworking and specifically to try something on the lathe. I really enjoyed it and I've now been turning for about 45 years.
In the 1980’s I attended a few Utah Woodturning Symposiums and was exposed to the work of Ray Allen. I was amazed and thought “I’d like to try making something like that one day.” For the most part, that day is still off in the future! When it comes to segmented turning, I consider myself a sub-novice, but I hope to do more in the coming years. I’ve attended perhaps a dozen woodturning symposiums over the years, and taken about a dozen week-long classes, at either the John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina or the Craft Supplies facility in Utah. My most extensive segmenting work was done at a folk school class in 2015, and is shown in the attached picture. Thankfully our instructors helped out and did some pre-work for us which enabled us to finish a project in a week. I’ve attended one SWT symposium, the 2016 event at Quincy, near Boston.
In addition to being a member of SWT, I belong to Ornamental Woodturners, Richmond Woodturners (my local AAW chapter), and of course the AAW. Woodturning has brought a great deal of joy and satisfaction into my life, and I hope to continue doing this kind of work for many years.

Brett Johnson

I’ve been interested in woodworking since I was a child and building different projects with my grandfather.  I helped build my father’s house one summer while in college and the first “big” project was a toybox for my baby brother.  I spent 20 years in the Air Force and my woodworking was limited to building small projects like shelving or benches as we moved around the country.  We arrived in Tyngsboro MA in 2010 and I promptly built 70 linear feet of workbenches in the basement.

Little by little I added more and more tools to my workshop, however the one tool that always intrigued me was a lathe.  I took a green bowl turning class at Homestead Woodworking School in New Hampshire in November 2022 and I was hooked.  I picked up a Rikon 70-220SVR midi lathe shortly after and have slowly started adjusting my workshop layout more toward turning. 

I started with bowls, snowmen, pens, and gnomes.  The gnomes have really taken off.  I include a Niles bottle opener conveniently hidden in the sapele helmet.  I’m also a member  of the prestigious Funnel Club which I’ve learned is merely a design choice.

Segmented turning is quite new to me, and I have a new appreciation for the work and craftsmanship when I see a segmented item.  I built my own wedgie sled and my daughter’s boyfriend 3D printed some wedgies for me.  The sled worked okay, although I finally bought Pete Marken’s sled and cutoff table, and I look forward to using them often. 

As a very new turner I genuinely appreciate the advice, encouragement, and suggestions from the AAW and the Segmented Woodturners chapter.  I still have a demanding full-time job working for the Department of the Air Force so I’m truly a weekend turner at best.  Little by little I’m upgrading my basement workshop layout and tools.  My segmented turnings, to date, have consisted of a few bowls including two salad bowl sets for family friends. 

I’ve been asked to do a shop tour and follow-along project which I hope to put together soon.  I recently added additional electrical outlets and lighting.  I need to rearrange the shop layout and reorganize.  Great “excuse” to get started on another segmenting project.

Buddy Brewer

Buddy has been involved in woodworking for over 40 years. Most of that time was spent producing “flat work.” As a former member of the Washington Woodworkers Guild, he constructed all the cabinets for his beautiful kitchen and quite a selection of other furniture in his house. When Buddy showed us around, it quickly became apparent that he is a very accomplished craftsman, as the pieces he showed us were outstanding!

At Buddy’s place, things get created in his basement shop of approximately 700 square feet. He has a nicely equipped shop with: a 1.75 hp Sawstop tablesaw, Powermatic (PM) shaper with power feed, 15″ PM planer, PM mortiser, 8″ Bridgewood jointer, 14″ Jet bandsaw, 6″ belt and 12″ disk sander by Delta, 17″ Delta drill press, 3 hp Triton router in a router table, and a dust collector. His lathe is a Nova Galaxy DVR 16″ swing unit conveniently placed in the back of the shop. All accessories like turning tools, grinder and vacuum pump are all handy within arms length of where they are needed. Buddy is using a grinder with a classic setup of one CBN wheel on one side, and on the other side is a traditional grinding stone with a Wolverine tool sharpening setup.

Many years back, Buddy had a short stint at woodturning, but then work and other things got in the way. About five years ago, he picked up where he had left off and has been turning ever since. His early mentors were Liam O’Neill and Dell Stubbs. What impressed me the most was how fast he progressed in his skills in a relatively short time and the diversity of his turning portfolio. I really like his curiosity in trying new and different things like additional ways to embellish a vase, or the real challenges of open space segmented bowls, which you can see in the pictures.

Sometimes simple things work best, like screwing a three-foot section of a 4×4 to a base plate, putting the item to be finished on top of the post and walking around it while applying spray finish out of a can. How about that for a trick and technique? Anywhere you look in the house, you can see turned pieces, and as happens with so many of us, once you run out of space there comes the moment when it is more practical to start selling one’s creations. Buddy has definitely progressed to that stage, and you can visit him in his booth at the upcoming Bluemont Fair.

Buddy’s favorite turning tools are a 5/8″ and 1/2″ bowl gouge and a negative rake scraper. He does not care so much for carbide tipped turning tools. Live edge cherry is his preferred wood to turn.

Adapted from a Catoctin Area Turners Show Us Your Shop by Chris Kunzle.

Gary Sandler

I grew up in the LA area but relocated to the Sierra Nevada foothills outside Sacramento 30 years ago. I always disassembled (read “broke”) things as a kid. I was a born tinkerer. I got a Computer Science degree in college and did software systems for 40+ years in aerospace, financial services, and medical systems.

I had made a number of boxes and flat projects in the 2010s that kind of wore me out. The “thing” always needed a place to be and you had to get around, over, and even in it to do the chores. Space was a challenge.

I had inherited an old variable-speed Delta lathe from my father-in-law with the Reeves drive. It’d slip, it was loud, and it wasn’t very true. Still, I played with it, made some pieces by scraping, and felt like there was likely more. I learned there was a local turning group, Nor-Cal Woodturners in Sacramento, so I joined, watched the demos, borrowed the videos, and found there was more to lathe-life than scraping. Joy! Stuff was much simpler. The bowl gouge and skew chisel were my friends. I had control over the outcome without making it rough mess.

I liked the work of Malcom Tibbets and got his book “The Art of Segmented Wood Turning.” I also got Dennis Keeling’s “Segmented Turning.” I made some segmented bowls. I found I made plenty of mistakes, so I tried one bowl a second time to get the shape better by starting with the correct length wedges. I also got Clarence Rannefeld’s “Laminated Designs in Wood” to improve my game with accent ring designs. I haven’t ventured into that territory yet and still aspire to.

I got the segmenting software, but frankly feel that the compass, ruler and graphpaper method is just fine. I did my measurements there and transferred them to an Excel spreadsheet with units in fractions (yes, you can do that). For me, the software just added complexity instead of removing it. I got the 18-piece open segment Seg-Easy jig and it worked great. The 36-piece jig is a challenge for me as the pieces stick in the jig instead of gluing up strong. Another area I need to work on.

I found I preferred the “make a ring in two halves” method. Still, it requires getting the angles just right. I use an old Dubby Sled and to get the angle absolutely correct I cut and glue up n pieces to make a 90- or 180-degree piece and keep adjusting the wedge angle until it glues up to the correct angle. I invested in a drum sander and I love it for the rings. It was a very worthwhile investment. Finally, I made an open segment piece and spent hours on removing excess glue with a small file from the open joints. A labor I am still glad I invested in because I really like how the piece came out.

I’m interested in trying the 36-piece open SegEasy jig again, or another wedge layout strategy to see if it can improve construction reliability and stability.

In addition to segmenting, I’ve done some lidded boxes, wands, pens, bottle stoppers, finger bowls, tri-corner bowls, laminated-glue-up bowls, natural edge bowls, and one in maple with iridescent paint.

My segmenting projects are below. My first segmented piece has that little cherry accent ring in it. The piece looks chunky from the top as the pieces don’t look curved, but of course they are.

My second piece, on the left, had an odd shape due to the way I cut the wedges and how aggressive I was in the turning. It was not as “roundy” as I’d wanted it, so I made it again. In both cases, the padauk dust is a total pain and requires great care to keep it from bleeding into the other segments.

The last piece I’m especially pleased with as it hit all the design criteria I had – color, openness, bowl shape, and “how’d you do that?” wonder.

Al Miotke

I have been playing in sawdust as long as I can remember.  My dad had a basement shop when I was a toddler before he started his own custom cabinet business which was located next to our home in Wisconsin.  As such, I was always in his company shop and had weekly chores to help him out.   Being a typical kid, I usually did not enjoy the work, but I did learn quite a bit about woodworking thru osmosis and without realizing it, woodworking was in my blood.  I eventually decided to take my career in a direction different from cabinet making and got degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and eventually became a Director of Program Management.  During my career I had the opportunity to work on the design of telecommunications equipment, fitness equipment like treadmills, retail computer systems, and lastly, garage door openers.  When I moved into my home, the first piece of furniture I purchased was a table saw so I could make my own furniture.   After working at it for 20 years I could say that most of the furniture and cabinets in my home were built with that table saw in the basement shop that I still have today.  I am also fortunate to have a wonderful family including my wife Brenda, daughters Dawn and Amy, and five grandchildren that all live in the area.

After being focused on flatwork for over 40 years, I was looking for something different to work on, so I decided to try my hand at woodturning.  After scraping out a number of bowls, I learned about a local club, the Chicago Woodturners, that had some talented artists including Binh Pho, Dick Sing, and Steve Sinner to name a few.  Learning from them and seeing their work got me hooked, and my woodworking focus turned to lathe work.  After a club member did a demo on this thing called segmenting in 2006, I immediately became obsessed and purchased all the learning materials I could get my hands on.  Malcolm Tibbetts book, Curt Theobalds videos, and the Book on Ray Allen’s work were my primary learning tools for a few years. Then in 2008 I heard about the 1st segmenting symposium being held at Marc Adams School of woodworking and learned more in that weekend than I did in the previous years.  I have now been to all seven segmenting symposiums and became active as a board member for our chapter in 2014.   I still do some chunk turning and teach a class each year for beginning turners as well as a segmenting class at the Chicago School of Woodworking.  Although I enjoy all forms of turning and try every new technique I can at least once, I always gravitate back to segmenting.

The attached photos show my shop which is a continual work in process.  Every time I see somebody’s shop I think of a way that I can improve my jigs, workflow, safety,  and most important, new toys that I realize “I need to have”.

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