After the Saturday Banquet, the Segmented Woodturners Chapter is proud to present the Lifetime achievement award to Bill Smith for the influence he has had on the field of open segmented turning. Curt Theobald will make the presentation
Bill Smith got involved in segmented woodturning in 1993 and open segmented turning since 1996. He is primarily self-taught having acquired an interest in turning as a hobby. He developed the system he is demonstrating after seeing a turning made by Yosh Sugiyama, the originator of the open segment concept. He first demonstrated his system at the 1999 Tacoma AAW symposium. Since that time many turners, both beginners and experts, have successfully created open segmented turnings using his system.
In 2002, he authored the book Segmented Woodturning published by Schiffer Publishing Ltd to make the system available to turners who missed his Tacoma demonstration. In addition to being an excellent teacher, Bills unique work has been on display in numerous Galleries over the years.
