Upcoming Events


Our demo for January will be Scarlette Rouse. Scarlette is a favorite teacher at the Campell Folk School and demonstrates at various clubs. She will be demonstrating a Chinese Hat Box, seen here.
Later in the day, from 1:30-5pm, Scarlette will teach a class on turning the hat box. She has some tips and tricks for holding the work that should be very worthwhile! The cost is $75 and is limited to the first 12 students. All materials and tools will be provided.




Our February demonstration will be Mitch Jones. Mitch is a teacher at Campbell and a long time turner. Here is what he says about what he will demo: “During this demonstration I will cover how to safely turn a small orb (slightly larger than a baseball) out of a piece of kiln dried lumber. That orb will be indexed and split up into different sections that I will then texture and prepare for painting. I will then show how I paint the orbs while I take questions and share all of the tips and tricks I learned through the process. I hope that this demo will take some of the intimidation out of adding some color and texture to club members turnings in the future!” Here is more about Mitch: Mitch Jones is a craft/folk school success story, he took a community class at Arrowmont in the winter of 2014 and was hooked. Having now taught or assisted over 1300 hours between Arrowmont and John C Campbell, he brings a wealth of knowledge from various instructors and his own experiences. Growing up on a tobacco farm in central KY, Mitch was initially drawn to the utilitarian aspect of woodturning making bowls and utensil handles. Recently he was bit by the embellishment bug and has enjoyed seeing where this new aspect of creativity can take him!
Later in the day, from 1:30-5pm, Mitch will be teaching a class on turning a bowl from a board. This is his description about it: “We will take a two-inch-thick board and make a nice bowl with attention to detail. I will demonstrate how to turn a square bowl to engage our more advanced turners, but we can easily tweak the project to be very beginner friendly. During the turning of this bowl, we will focus on attention to details (Continuous curve, proper proportions, etc.) allowing us to turn a simple board into an elegant heirloom bowl! ” The cost is $75 and is limited to the first 12 students. All materials and tools will be provided.


Our March demonstrator and teacher will be Tom Irven. Thomas has taught woodworking and drafting in public and private institutions, and has conducted seminars in woodworking, woodturning, and design. Woodturning has always been a passion for Thomas, and has always played a large part in his furniture making. In 1998 however, turning wood became the primary focus of his work. He is currently teaching classes in woodturning and design, and creating wood turned sculptures and furniture.
Tom will demonstrate hand chasing the male and female rings of Corian and how they are glued on to the tenon and the mortise to make threaded boxes. The way I make a suction fit box will also be demonstrated and discussed. I will go through each of the steps from the beginning through to the completed box. If there is enough time I will demonstrate how I use the Escoulen Chuck to make the eccentric finials that are on many of my containers.
For the Hands-On Class: Steps to be taken for any box/container will be discussed and students will perform the steps in this basic list: 1. Roughing Out 2. Turning the inside of the lid to completion. 3. Fitting the lid on the box body. 4. Turn and finish the body inside to completion. * This step may have to be done at home. 5. Turn the bottom of the box body. * This step may have to be done at home. 6. Final fitting of the lid. ** This step should be done the day after for a better fit. As time and or interest permits we can get into this more advanced list: 1. Finials – off-center and not off-center. 2. Various Finishes and their application. 3. Threading – hand chasing and machine made in wood and/or Corian 4. Different lid fits – suction fit, pop-off fit, loose fit – why/when to use each 5. Drying kiln


