Accessible lathe program

[Dennis DeVendra]

This thread is to discuss the Accessible Lathe program, initiated by the AAW. Please join in. The following is a portion of the AAW newsletter sent earlier this month:
The AAW was one of eleven arts organizations in the Twin Cities recently awarded grants for projects to make the arts more accessible to people with disabilities. The American Association of Woodturners received $15,000 to create curriculum materials and guidelines for instructors to use in assisting blind and low vision community members to discover the craft of woodturning. Under the leadership of Linda Ferber, AAW Program Director, the project will also develop resources and techniques to enable current woodturners experiencing vision loss to remain involved with their woodturning activities. The project will include research, consultation, instructor training, and a pilot class to test and refine the curriculum. When completed in early 2013, the curriculum materials will be available digitally to all of our members and local chapters at no cost.

 

[CW Sapp]

Training for assisting blind and low vision members

Our club, Woodturners of St. Louis has a member who is blind so I was drawn to your article in the AAW newsletter that was just released. It is great to see that the AAW is supportive of training for assisting blind and low vision community members discover woodturning.

He has demonstrated turning at our club and others in the region. He recently participated in a class taught by Trent Bosch on turning hollow vessels and was featured in our November newsletter. The article includes a quote from Trent.
http://www.stlturners.org/newsletter.htm

Having a blind demonstrator at the national symposium would be both instructional (how to use all your senses, organization at the lathe,…) and inspirational to both sited and blind members of the AAW. It could also be a forum for sharing ideas, experiences, and accomplishments.

We wish you and the AAW the best in developing this program. If our club can assist, please let me know.


www.stlturners.org/index.htm

 

[Dennis DeVendra]

Our club, Woodturners of St. Louis has a member who is blind so I was drawn to your article in the AAW newsletter that was just released. It is great to see that the AAW is supportive of training for assisting blind and low vision community members discover woodturning.

He has demonstrated turning at our club and others in the region. He recently participated in a class taught by Trent Bosch on turning hollow vessels and was featured in our November newsletter. The article includes a quote from Trent.
http://www.stlturners.org/newsletter.htm

Having a blind demonstrator at the national symposium would be both instructional (how to use all your senses, organization at the lathe,…) and inspirational to both sited and blind members of the AAW. It could also be a forum for sharing ideas, experiences, and accomplishments.

We wish you and the AAW the best in developing this program. If our club can assist, please let me know.


www.stlturners.org/index.htm

It sounds like I will be participating in a discussion about woodturning and accessibility at the 2013 symposium I would be interested in what people would want to hear about accessibility and woodturning.

 

[Dennis DeVendra]

This weekend I travel to St Paul MN, the home of the AAW headquarters to participate in the third and last leg of the Accessible Lathe program setup. I will be working with Jim Sanarud and other turners to run a class for 5 blind woodturning students. We will use this time to validate the instructional materials and to have some fun. The class will last for two days. After that we will spend the third day reviewing and updating our materials.

In June I will join Andi Sullivan and two turners who are in wheelchairs to talk about turning for people with disabilities. We will be talking about the Accessible Lathe program and other related topics. We all will have a chance to demonstrate our woodturning skills as well.

I have submitted a journal article that will describe the Accessible Lathe program and the steps in the process we had gone through. Stay tuned for more information.

 

[grant marshall]

Hi, I am very interested in this accessible turning program. I am fully blind and want to learn how to wood turn. I am wondering if this is only going to be available to people living in the USA, and do i have to be a member of the aaw not the forums. Also when does it look like this will be finished, I thought i read some where june time. Thanks.

 

[Dennis DeVendra]

materials for accessible lathe program

Hello - I cannot answer all your questions now. I will provide a couple pieces of information and find out more this week.

First the materials are designed to help an experienced turner work with a turner who is blind. Many of the basic techniques for turning are not addressed in the program.

To answer one of your questions. The materials should be available to anyone around the world.

As far as having materials for only AAW members, I do not think it is limited, but I need to find this out.

Finally, the materials should be up on the website in the next month or so. With the crunch of the AAW symposium, the materials may take a backseat until the first part of July. I have an article published in the AAW Journal this month describing the program. The Journal is only available to members.

More to come. There may be a turner or a club full of turners near where you live to provide help and guidance. This would be the best, but not the only way, to get started.

Good luck and I will provide more in the next few days.

Hi, I am very interested in this accessible turning program. I am fully blind and want to learn how to wood turn. I am wondering if this is only going to be available to people living in the USA, and do i have to be a member of the aaw not the forums. Also when does it look like this will be finished, I thought i read some where june time. Thanks.

 

[Rod Smith]

I am very interested in this program. I have a 17 year old grandson that is blind in one eye and very visually impaired in the other. The last two years I have worked with him do the first two 4-H woodworking programs. I would like to work with him on this program.

 

[Dennis DeVendra]

access for turning

That sounds great. I love turning. This is a great outlet for bothartistic and craft. You can check out my webside for videos and other information. www.blindwoodturner.com

 

[Dennis DeVendra]

That sounds great. I find turning is a great outlet for my artistic and craft side. You can check out my website for pictures and videos of my work. I love it. Stay tuned for the manual and videos from the AAW. Let me know how it works for you. Any updates and advise would be appreciated.

I am very interested in this program. I have a 17 year old grandson that is blind in one eye and very visually impaired in the other. The last two years I have worked with him do the first two 4-H woodworking programs. I would like to work with him on this program.

 

[Dennis DeVendra]

The 2013 Symposium

The 2013 symposium was something to behold. Imagine over a thousand people sharing the love and passion of woodturning, all in one spot. Between the demonstrations, vendor floor, and many friends to catch up with, it was all good. I was able to attend sessions on creating lamp shades, hollow forms, offset platters, little drunken boxes, natural burl bowls, and others so many others. The vendor floor was filled with current and new products. The people at Tormek were kind enough to provide me with a sharpening system to use during my demonstration on Sunday.

As part of the symposium rotations, I participated in a panel discussion on turning with challenges. There were 2 blind turners and 2 turners in wheel chairs. We talked about our stories of getting started with turning. Then we talked about challenges and how we overcame those challenges. After the panel discussion we gathered over in the youth turning area to have the visiting guest from the lighthouse for the blind try their hand at turning a pen. All was good.

I had many people approach me about their experiences with working with a potential turner who was blind. We exchanged ideas and stories.

On Sunday I needed to show my stuff. I turned a lidded box in the Robust lathe booth. Thanks to the team at Robust for providing me with a forum to show my stuff. I was told we had a little bit of an audience. Then there was Bob Rosand, a long time mentor for me, who was enjoying harassing me during the demo. He did a great job breaking the tension and making me feel like I was one of the turners.

I was told that the full accessible lathe program will be available later on this summer. Remember the program is targeted to experienced turners who would like to work with a turner who is blind. It is not a course in turning.
Also it is not intended to be used directly by a person who is blind. The main focus is to identify key modifications and techniques to provide a person who is blind with the tools to turn.

What a great time I had in Tampa. . Maybe just maybe I will be back next year in Arizona.

A special thanks to Ron Cinquanti, Dawn Pietry, and Rudy Lopez for providing me assistance throughout the entire symposium. They were able to describe the demonstrations, help me from session to session, and take me anywhere I needed to go. What a great time.

 

[john lucas]

It was a great symposium. I missed the discussion above, too many things to see and simply picked another demo that hour. Too bad we can't see everything. I did get to spend some time watching Andrea Sullivan who is blind turning a pen in the Robust Booth. Talked to her and asked questions about how she does it. Quite fascinating. I will be looking into this program to see if I can do any teaching around here.

 

[Dennis DeVendra]

John too bad you were not able to make it to the roundtable discussion. Many sessions to see and we all need to prioritize. Also too bad you did not stop and talk at the Robust Lathe booth. I was turning the lidded box at the same time that Andi was turning pens.

I appreciated the AAW providing a forum for discussing challenges in turning. Although we did not get many in attendance at the session, the ones that did show expressed gratitude for the outreach. We continue to grow one step at a time. I hope that as current turners face challenges that they can know that this does not mean an end for their passion of turning. I also hope that turners continue to reach out to people with challenges in order to provide a hand up. We shall see.

 

[Lee Tourtelotte]

Training for assisting blind and low vision members

Our Minnesota woodturning club has a new member that is an incredibly gifted woodturner, woodworker, artist, teacher, designer, inventor, businessman, entrepreneur, etc., etc. & the list goes on & on. His name is George Wurtzel. George was legally blind at birth & has been totally blind the past 42 years.

George came to Minneapolis two years ago from Traverse City, Michigan. He currently runs a complete woodworking business and a connected arts & crafts gift shop near 27th & Stevens Ave. So. George came to Minneapolis on a teaching assignment, to teach other blind persons how to do very difficult tasks, including woodworking, like he has completely mastered throughout his adventurous life. George has already taught me several great woodturning "tricks" that I never knew existed.

George has designed & developed his own signature "Craftsman Style" furniture that fits together like a puzzle, without any screws or fasteners.
I highly recommend you visiting George's website at: www.gmwurtzel.com There is an excellent You Tube video on the site that highlights George's many woodworking & life accomplishments.

George has built a custom piano coffee table for Stevie, Wonder, the court house doors at Traverse City, MI & currently is repairing old mansion, architectural columns in the Mpls. Art Institute area, on his gigantic lathe.

Needless to say, our MN Woodturners Assoc. is extremely excited to have George as a new member and as for myself, having George as a new friend, is just indescribable!

If anyone in the AAW would like to contact George about his special talent towards woodturning/woodworking and his teaching availability for the visually impaired, he would more than enjoy hearing from you. George Wurzel's email is: gmwurtzel@gmail.com

Lee Tourtelotte
MN Woodturners Assoc.
www.mnwoodturners.org

 

[Dennis DeVendra]

Blind Turner in MN

The turner/woodworker/artist George Wurtzel sounds like a great asset to your club and the woodturning community. I have visited his website briefly to learn a little more about George and his works.

I like the comments that speak of George and his abilities not that he is good for a person who is blind. Sight is something that can greatly help in most endeavors because instructions, tools, plans, etc. are created and targeted towards those who can see, walk/stand, hear, and use other senses. George is one of many examples of what someone can do despite the challenges that they face in their life. I will be reaching out to George to learn some of his techniques and request that he contribute to this forum thread so we all can learn a little more about turning.

One other comment I appreciated in the previous post was that George had shown you some new techniques. I submit since a turner with physical challenges is required, in some cases, to look for alternatives to perform the same tasks as a sighted person, those alternatives may be better than the common techniques. For example I use simple circles with a center hole to mark centers in my blanks. I use the jig system from Tormek to make sure my tool sharpening is quick and accurate every time. I use my fingers to feel the flat spots on a turned piece. I use my ears to listen to the thickness of a hollowed form. I could go on.

Thanks for the post about George. Looking for others, many others to be identified as role models for those who do not think they can turn.