Dallas Area Woodturners (DAW) is a non-profit organization that was organized in 1996. The club focuses on helping our membership learn and grow through education, demonstrations and sharing techniques, tooling and best practices with one other. The DAW is active in community service through woodturning. Monthly club meetings are held at WoodWorld of Texas on the 3rd Thursday of the month from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Click here to join!

A Message from the President (June 2023)

In my humble opinion, May was an excellent month for DAW. We had our annual Round Robin meeting, featuring three separate demonstrators. Glen Boudreaux presented information about Pen Making, Brian Evans, demonstrating a Christmas Bell Project and Kevin Bassett discussing Chain Saw Safety. Saturday’s open shop featured a tool swap and sale. DAW was able to add almost $1200 to our coffers which we need to build up funds to purchase new lathes in the not to distant future. We also had the lathes out and I believe we had several candlesticks made which will go towards our commitment to SWAT.


The June meeting will feature Howard Hale of Woodcraft. Howard will demystify the finishing process. Howard had done this years ago for the club and I wished I had taken better notes. Probably the three most important elements in Turning are: Form, Figure and Finish. Howard will help us with the finish. Also, upcoming on June 10, Kevin Bassett will teach the second class in a series for beginning turners. This class will be on making bowls. The wood will be provided. If you have tools bring them, however the club does have tools to get you started. Tickets for this class are available on the web page. The cost is $25 and we can have up to 7 students.


One item of Club business we need to take care of concerns the revision of the club by-laws. A copy of the proposed By-Laws is available in the newsletter and on the Web page (coming soon). Please read this document. We will need to have a vote from the club membership to enact the changes made to our By-Laws. If you have any questions, corrections or proposed amendments, please contact me (kbassett@arborilogical.com) prior to the June 15th club monthly meeting. I am hoping to spend as little time on this chore as possible so we can get to the fun parts of our meeting.


I would encourage you to plan on attending SWAT as this is the second largest symposium of woodturners in the world. Only smaller than the AAW annual symposium. Information about the SWAT symposium is available on their web site: www.swaturners.org. I would also encourage all of our members to join AAW. DAW is an affiliated chapter of the AAW and although membership in AAW is not a requirement to be a member of DAW it is encouraged.


Finally, I want to ask you to step up and at least consider helping DAW become better by your participation in the leadership of the club. Many of your Board members have done extraordinary tenure. Elections will be this Fall and we are in need of some new ideas and fresh leadership. Please don’t take this to mean that we are lacking! It is just that many of our current board are long in the tooth and their continued support and presence cannot be taken for granted. The time commitment is not overbearing, and many hands make the load much lighter. Currently, I see a need for an assistant librarian to learn the library and help Mark. Our Treasurer has been in office for at least 5 terms, we can also use help the technical aspects of our AV system. We could improve with some consistent photography, newsletter stories and input. In short, without member participation in the leadership of the club there is no club. Our mission is to showcase and educate our members about the art and craft of woodturning. Our webmaster has made great improvements to the web site including a member’s gallery. Thus far only a few have taken advantage of this new feature. I urge you to send in some photos and let the world see your gifts of creativity and improvement as a wood turner. We are here to encourage each other and to support each other. I have been encouraged to see the development, creativity and progress demonstrated in the monthly Show & Tell portion of the monthly meeting. I look forward to our June meeting. You make it worthwhile! See you soon!


Kevin Bassett

2023 SWAT Activities for Spouses Information

Activities for Spouses have been part of the woodturning conference for the past ten years.  Volunteers—all of us wives or daughters of woodturners—schedule fun, creative activities Friday-Sunday. Participants can learn new skills and make new friends. See here for more information.

Beads of Courage Boxes Delivered to Children’s Hospital!

Kevin Bassett delivered a total of 37 Beads of Courage boxes to Children’s Hospital in Dallas. Members who made this donation possible were Lou Boudreaux who made 28, Kevin Bassett with 4, T. Fischer and Bill Kirk with 2 each, and 1 from Shawn Rogers. A special Thanks to each of you. Your gift of time and skill is greatly appreciated! Please see the post below on how you can make Beads of Courage boxes!

Left to Right: Kevin Bassett – Melinda Goff – Haleigh Stewart
Photo by: Chloe Popovich, May 2023

Beads of Courage – Make a Box, Help a Child (Pre-Cut Kits Available)

As a child goes through the journey on treatment for cancer, blood conditions, heart disease or severe burns, they collect colorful beads as meaningful symbols of courage that commemorates milestones they have achieved along their unique treatment path.  The DAW makes and donates boxes to hospitals who give them to these ill children for storing their beads of courage.

The DAW has pre-cut segmented box kits which are ready for glue-up and turning.  Just pick up a kit, turn the box, and return it at a monthly meeting.  We have directions for making the segmented box as well as additional information.

Photos from Kevin Bassett’s Class (May 2023)

Everyone learned a lot at Kevin Bassett’s class “An Intro to Wood Turning for Beginners”.

  • Class members
  • Clare Nixon with Kevin Bassett
  • Brent and Grant Lacey. Both did a great job!

Member Gallery – a new web feature!

We are implementing a new Gallery feature on the website where members can display up to 8 photos of their turnings.  We would love to see turnings from beginner, intermediate, and advanced turners! Don’t be shy!  To see an example, visit https://dallaswoodturners.com/member-gallery/.

To have your work shown in the Gallery, send an email to admin@dallaswoodturners.com with your name and up to 8 photos.  You can optionally also send a headshot photo, any social media links (Instagram, websites, YouTube, Etsy, AAW gallery, etc.) and any brief comments on whether you take commissions, teach classes, etc.  By default, your email will be included unless you tell us otherwise.  Contact us at admin@dallaswoodturners.com if you have any questions!”

For Sale

The following woodworking items are for sale. Click here for contact information.

  • Jet 1221EVS Lathe
  • Sawstop 3 HP 52″ tablesaw with
  • INCRA SE-1000 miter gauge and
  • Sawstop integrated mobile base

DAW Membership Information and Benefits

  • Current members – Click here to RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP
  • Monthly club meetings are held at WoodWorld of Texas typically on the 3rd Thursday of the month from 7:00 pm to 9pm. Come earlier to socialize! Visitors are welcome. Meetings typically include a live woodturning demonstration and a ‘show and tell’ session. You can also join the meeting through Zoom. Check the Events calendar.
  • Open Shop is held at WoodWorld usually on the Saturday following the club meeting. During Open Shop, we set-up multiple lathes to help members improve their turning skills. No tools or wood needed. The club can provide everything needed. Check the Events calendar.
  • Classes: We frequently invite nationally known turners and our own advanced members to teach classes. A small-group environment is an ideal way to learn. Check the Events calendar for ticket cost and availability.
  • Forums:  Members can ask questions and share their knowledge by posting on the Forum.
  • Library Privileges: We have one of the most extensive libraries in the southwest with more than 1500 books, magazines, and videos from more than 200 authors on a wide variety of topics.
  • Discounts: Members with an active paid membership card can receive discounts at selected local stores when buying in-person. In addition, members can purchase AnchorSeal through the club at a significant discount.
  • Latest Newsletter: We publish a monthly newsletter that summarizes our activities. Please subscribe. Visit our archives to see older newsletters.

Recent DAW Meetings

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Examples of our Members’ Work

  • Kevin Bassett embellished this vessel using TransTint dyes.  He made the handle from Compwood which can be shaped into tight curves.
  • Steve Bigelow made this segmented vase from cherry, maple, and purpleheart.
  • Lou Boudreaux made this segmented plate made from multiple concentric rings. Lou said it was a challenge and would be the “second and last one he’d make!”
  • John Struckmeyer’s second piece is also elm and has intricate art nouveau decorations along the grain line.
  • John Struckmeyer carved out the base of an elm tree and made a flower out of it.  The second piece is also elm and has intricate art nouveau decorations along the grain line.
  • Ed Mastin took Matt Monaco’s class and made this bowl.
  • Ed Goodfellow made this interesting collection of pens and beer bottle openers
  • Alain Schwartz made a three-sided off-axis turning.  The top was cut by hand.
  • Todd Fischer made a candy bowl and used a Sorby texturing tool to decorate it.
  • Desirae made these cabinet door handles from marblewood.
  • Michael Boyle turned this bowl from black walnut using a bowl gouged with an Irish grind (Ellsworth and 1/8” parting tool.  He finished it with EEE-Ultra shine and Mylands friction polish.
  • Dennis Ogren made this spalted maple hollow form.
  • Richard Coker made a goblet out of pear with a walnut lid.
  • John Struckmeyer made an offset turning from ash and elm. It was hollowed through the bottom.
  • Ed Haluska made an elm bowling bowl stand.
  • Bill Kirk made this piece from the 60-year-old root ball of a Japanese yew.
  • Barry Fromberg made this piece from resin and maple burl. He poured the resin into a pressure pot and added gold flakes.
  • Michael Boyle made a bowl from glued-up white oak with dowel inserts.
  • Alain Schwartz made this two-part piece. He calls it his ‘oops’ bowl.
  • Susan displayed the beautiful pens she made.
  • This is the sheared portion of the safety cage support from Chris Cohen’s close-call.
  • Chris Cohen had a close-call when this plate blew-up on his lathe.  The worm screw split the wood along the grain, the plate flew off the lathe, and sheared off the Powermatic safety cage support.
  • Bob Fleming used a router to make the compound miters for these vases.
  • Barry Fromberg made this vase from flaming box elder.  He cut and shaped it wet and then dried it over several weeks in sawdust.  It warped a little but did not crack.  The red is from the Fusarium negundi fungus per Kevin Bassett.