President's Message


Welcome to the website of the Segmented Woodturners, a chapter of the American Association of Woodturners that was formed in 2009. Our on-line chapter is dedicated to segmenting education and the sharing of information between its 500 members. We are always striving to remain the premier international organization advancing both the art and craft of segmented woodturning for all skill levels from beginner to studio artist and we have a good mix of experience levels. Our mission is to provide a 1st class website, a forum for asking questions and sharing information, and a gallery of members artwork with an archive of 1000’s of pieces and growing to inspire you. You can learn more about what the chapter has to offer by visiting the “About” page at the top of the screen. I hope you will take advantage of our free 3 day trial so you can see our content. If you like what you see, please join our community. Everyone is welcome.
Al Miotke
President, Segmented Woodturners

Photo of the Week


Tricky Forces
By Malcom Tibbetts

55” tall, 19” diameter, canary wood, maple, stabilized/dyed cottonwood, purpleheart, stainless steel chain, and turnbuckles.
Long before I owned a lathe, I made a lot of furniture, mostly for our own use, but I never made anything quite like this. Kenneth Snelson gets the credit for discovering tensegrity, a term coined by Buckmister Fuller. Upon initial close examination, the shelves seem to float without obvious support. The chains provide opposite forces and hold the shelves in place. The assembly is surprisingly stable depending upon how much tension is applied with the turnbuckles.
Tom Lohman said "The physics of this is not intuitive, you really need to look at to understand. Wonderful!"

Meet the Member


Reto Gallati
Chicago, Illinois

Ciao, my name is Reto, and that’s obviously not exactly a common American first name. I was born and raised in Switzerland. My academic background includes a double-PhD in Math and Finance and teaching finance at MIT and University of Chicago. I served for 18 years in the Swiss military, starting as a radio soldier and driver for the Swiss air force and air defense and retired as a Lt. Cmdr. running recon units for an elite unit. I worked for several Wall Street companies in roles including portfolio manager, head of investments and chief risk officer...

Learn More

Segmenting News

1. Save the date - 8th Segmenting Symposium will be held on September 26-28, 2025 at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Northbrook, Illinois. A great slate of Demonstrators are now listed.
2. The October Technical Bulletin was released 10/15/24. It is on the 3rd in Steve's Gluing up Rings series. Members can find it in Resources under the SWT Club/News/Technical Guides Category.
3. Wayne Miller has graciously stepped up to run the 2024 Holiday Exchange. The process for signing up and doing the exchange was recently posted in the forum. Continue to watch the forum for updates and more details regarding the exchange. Pairings will be announced on November 4.

Segmentedwoodturners.org is a 501 (c)(3) Organization