Club Information - Executive Committee

George Kabacinski, Lane Bradford, Mack DeBose, John Van Domelen, Tom Enloe, Clyde Collier,
Dave Barziza, Jim Keller, Steve LeGrue, Dale Barrack & David Morley
 

President: George Kabacinski
Member Since: 2005
Occupation: Program / Project Manager, Information Technology, Hewlett-Packard
Favorite Wood: Free (or at least cheap), Pecan is nice but there are a lot of woods yet to be experienced
Primary Lathe: Jet mini, until I build my new shop then it's on to a Jet 1642!

My early interest in woodturning started way back in a shop class in middle school when I 'turned' a lamp from a discarded bowling pen. That was followed by a major lapse of a few decades. A couple years back I started taking classes at Woodcraft and happened on the pen turning class using the Jet mini lathe.   Shortly after that I attended the 2005 Woodworking Show in Houston and found the GCWA booth. Everyone was friendly and encouraging and I learned of the Spring Retreat.
The 2005 Retreat was the first GCWA meeting I actually attended and what a blast is was.   I'm hooked and amazed at all that I've learned form the fantastic members combined with the great video library. So much to learn and so many cool tools to buy (or make)!

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Vice President: 

This is my second year to participate on the club's board and I have found it to be extremely
interesting. I would recommend that everyone try it at least once. Like so many other things, "you get out what you put into it" and it is never truer
than in a non-profit organization like this.

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Treasurer:  Mack DeBose
Member Since: 1999
Occupation: Retired Engineer/Computer Tech   
Favorite Wood: Rosewood
Primary Lathe: Pwrmatic 3520

I have been enjoying woodworking since high school shop too many years ago.  I acquired my first wood lathe around 1965.  It was a second hand Sears ultra-mini lathe, very limited in all aspects.  I really did not become seriously interested in woodturning until I "inherited" a 1945 vintage Delta 1236 bench lathe.  Even then I was unappreciative of the art of woodturning until I encountered the GCWA booth at the 1999 Woodworking Show.  By Reed was one of the demonstrators and he convinced me that GCWA had a lot to offer.  After joining I soon found out that was an understatement.  I have since graduated to a larger, modern Craftsman lathe and finally to a Powermatic 3520A that has allowed my turning skills to more thoroughly develop.  I owe any and all my skills, however, to GCWA and the sharing of knowledge and information that is prevalent throughout the membership.  My tenure as Newsletter Editor has placed me in the center of this enlightment and has been a very enjoyable task even including the sometimes frustration of obtaining newsworthy content.         
          
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Secretary

Many years ago my grandfather Paul R. Smith introduced me to turning on the lathe. I am at the point in my life that I have the time to rediscover the joy of woodturning.  

I use the lathe as the primary tool in the creation of my art and craft.  Further work is sometimes done off the lathe. Inspired by the work of Andi Wolfe and that of our own Janice Levi, I now carve, burn, texture and dye some pieces in order to further bring forth the beauty in the wood.  I enjoy sharing the process of creation and hope that by sharing it another generation will carry on the art and craft of wood turning.  

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I became interested in woodworking as a Freshman in High School. Over the years I have made furniture, most of which was given to the children. In 2005 I met Bill Berry and Luna Ford at a woodworkers meeting at Lowe's in Pasadena. They invited me to the Retreat in Conroe after which I decide to exlpore this new area of woodworking.. After the retreat I took a lesson from Bill and have concentrated on turning since then. My primary interest is in segmented turning, but, will occasionally turn something else. My primary lathe is a General Model 260, but, I also have a Jet mini and have used both at the same time for some projects.


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Board Member: Dave Barziza
Member Since: 2002
Occupation: Retired 
Favorite Wood: Mesquite, Ash
Primary Lathe: Stubby 750

Wood has always fascinated me, the shapes and texture of weathered wood, the grain in carved and turned objects.  For a long time, I have done a little woodworking, but when I would see turned pieces, I always thought I must try that.

 About 5 or 6 years ago, I finally took a beginner woodturning class and purchased a used 12/36 lathe.  Sometime went by with very little advancement of my skills and consequently not much turning.  I took several private lessons and at that point I finally had acquired enough skill to start turning out rather crude bowls.  I heard about GCWA and soon joined and started attending meetings.  I’ve learned a lot from watching demonstrations at the meetings and talking to and getting hands on help from members.  Through my association with GCWA, I have progressed considerable from my starting point.

 As I have often heard, “It’s my passion” and that certainly is true in my case.  If I have not turned for a while, I must get a turning “fix” by turning most anything. (Just make some shavings.)  Being a member of GCWA, I have acquired additional skills and new friends.  My hope is by serving on the board, I can give back a little for all the benefits I have received.

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Board Member: Jim Keller
Member Since: 1991
Occupation: Sculptor
Favorite Wood: Mesqutie
Primary Lathe: Oneway 2436

I began working with wood at the age of eight.  I worked my way through college as a sawman and foreman of a residential framing crews during the summers.  I did remodeling and built furniture over the years.

In 1991 I acquired a lathe turn replacements for broken spindles on captains chairs at the house.  In the summer of 1991 I joined GCWA and started face plate turning.  At a monthly club meeting Clay Foster introduced me to the concept of negative space and I was off creating sculpture forms.

My work has on large multi axis turning.

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Board Member: Steve LeGrue

I got into woodworking as a recently married college  student when my wife and I started looking at furniture. I was stunned at the poor quality and decided that ‘I can do that’. Over the next 15 years I puttered in my shop making furniture and boxes. One day in 1985 I noticed that I did not own a lathe, and decided to buy one to make table legs (they never got made). I did not own any turning tools or have any concept of what turning was about, so I grabbed some carving gouges and gave it a try. I was totally self-taught (well, with a lot of help from Richard Raffan) and struggled with every aspect of turning, but I was hooked.  

In 1986 or ‘87 I saw an article in Fine Woodworking about segmented turning, which appealed to me because of the design opportunities and the frugal use of exotic woods. My house began to fill up with bowls, so I decided to start showing my work at juried shows like the old Westheimer Art Colony Festival and the Laguna Gloria show in Austin. When I was putting some pieces in a gallery in late 1988, the owner said, ‘Oh, you must be a member of the woodturner’s guild’. I did not know any other turners, and was fascinated that a guild existed. She directed me to Archie Hartkoff, Luna Ford and a few other hard-core turners in Deer Park, and my fate was sealed. The GCWA was a huge help to me in honing my skills. To have skilled craftsmen like those in this club show me subtle aspects of tool control and vessel design was invaluable.

When Teri and I started The Cutting Edge in 1993, I wanted to offer instruction to shorten the learning curve for new turners. As a bona-fide wood and tool junkie, I have a great job enabling other addicts. After 15 satisfying years of helping hundreds of new woodturners begin their journey, I am glad that I can contribute to the GCWA and give back to this great organization.

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I hope you enjoy this website as much as I enjoyed creating it.  It's our Executive Committee's hope that this site will draw increased attention to the fine turning work being done by club members and improve awareness of our club within the woodturning community.

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Newsletter Editor: David Morley
Member Since: 2006
Occupation: Network Engineer, Texas A&M U
Favorite Wood: Mesquite
Primary Lathe: Grizzly & Jet Mini, but I'm building my own 24"x36" > out of Baltic birch plywood and an I beam. It's gong to be a humdinger! Kudos go to Dave Mueller for his design and tremendous help.

This is my first year as newsletter editor and I am having a lot of > fun with it. I have been turning for about 4 years now, but I hadn't
discovered the local clubs until late in 2005, so I don't really consider the time before that. I was lucky not to have hurt myself. After finding the Bryan-College Station Brazos Valley Turners I really got started, and 6 months later the Gulf Coast Woodturners. Seeing what was possible really kick started my turning.

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