Anyone have a good time at SWAT

[hockenbery]

I was fortunate to spend last weekend at SWAT. Met lots of people, two of our moderators were there.
I got to walk around the gallery with Steve.
Andy introduced me to Bill the first day but the closest we got to having a conversation was standing in the food line.

I also saw and met several other forum contributors.

Sherry and I had a great time. Enjoyed the gracious hospitality of organizers and attendees.

The Beads of courage display blew me away.
Imagining those pieces lighting up some child's room and generosity of the makers was overwhelming and emotional for me.
Sherry and I are going to make some every year we are able.

The trade show is way above any other regional symposium. It must be over half the size of the AAW.

One demo I particularly enjoyed was Tippe Tops by Neal Brand. These are tops with ¾ of a partly hollowed slightly flattened sphere on the bottom and a short handle to spin it with. When spun on the ball, they flip over and stand on the handle. I selected this demo because I have turned a couple dozen or so of these intriguing objects since I was introduced to them 20 years ago but not all of mine will flip over. Thanks to Neal, I should be able to make a few of these with a near perfect record of flipping over.

Thanks to all the AAW chapters that run SWAT.

AL

 

[Bill Boehme]

I had a fantastic time, Al. I really wished that I would have been able to visit with you more than the the couple of very brief conversations that we had. The pace of everything seem to be so hectic that there wasn't much time to just sit and talk. I did have a few minutes to talk with Steve Worcester. Andy Chen and I had a few minutes to talk also.

Several months ago, I went to Andy's home to buy an Airstream respirator battery that he didn't need (he lives close to one of the clinics where I take my dad). The "brief" visit turned into several hours and I need to apologize for monopolizing his time that afternoon. He had just returned from a "Turners Without Borders" trip to China and I am sure that he was still suffering from jet lag. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit with him. I am also very envious of his shop/studio and it was so incredibly clean and organized.

I went to both of your demos and thoroughly enjoyed both of them. Your programs are very well organized and you are very entertaining and hold the interest of your audience extremely well. I am not sure why they stuck you in one of the smaller demo rooms.

I can understand why you liked Neal Brand's program -- You are a mathematician and so is he. Neal is a member of my club, the Woodturners of North Texas, and also the Denton club, the Golden Triangle Woodturners. His Tippy Tops program was outstanding. At first, I wasn't sure that I would care to see a program on turning tops, but I am very glad that I did because it was one of the best.

He grabbed by interest when he showed a picture of Wolfgang Pauli and Neils Bohr trying to understand the physics behind the tippy top.



BTW, I turn a ball about the same way that you do except that when it is approximately spherical, I do some random orientations and remove any residual shadow areas. The largest one that I turned was from post oak and it was about bowling ball size. Post oak is extremely heavy and hard, so I mounted it between two small roughed out bowls that were destined for the Empty Bowls project. I wasn't comfortable just using a point at the tailstock end with that heavy thing. I like your ring idea to check for roundness.

 

[Andy Chen]

Al and Bill, I felt compelled to post something here because both of you mentioned me by name. Actually, I would have posted some comments and I wanted to do it sooner. I was so intrigued by Neal Brand's demo that I turned one as soon as I got home. What delayed my posting was making the video for the benefit of those who don't know what a tippe top is. I hope the attachment will play properly. View attachment Tippe Top-s1.wmv

The official attendance of 825 at the SWAT symposium this year was somewhat lower than last year's record number but nevertheless big enough that you don't have the time to do everything you'd like to. One of the things I really enjoy doing at these symposia is to visit with friends you only get to see once a year. Among these friends I was particularly pleased to see Cindy Drozda (with Cindy's smart phone).

I had offered to the symposium organizers to make a slide presentation on my March trip to China on behalf of Turners without Borders. Because of the short break between the Friday afternoon sessions and the Special Interest Group (SIG) discussions that evening, the organizers catered a spaghetti dinner for those who didn't want to go out to dinner and then trying to rush back for the SIGs. The organizer decided to make use of that time for my slide presentation. I was somewhat concerned about being that lonely pianist in the corner of a bar but people were attentive once they realized what was going on and a number of people came up afterwards and told me that they enjoyed it.

Bill, I am not sure if I can accept your assessment of my shop. I am a firm believer of the saying that a clean desk is a sign of a sick mind, and its extension, a clean shop is a sign of an inactive shop. And my wife would totally disagree with your assessment. As to monopolizing my time, that's total nonsense. I enjoyed your visit thoroughly. I would welcome you back next time you bring your dad to the clinic here.

I have been to nearly every SWAT symposium (and its predecessor, a Texas Turn or Two) in the last 20 years and have enjoyed everyone of them. I will keep doing it in the future.

 

[Bill Blasic]

SWAT is for me is probably the best run symposium that I go to, the closest to it would be the Cincinnati Symposium which next year will be Turning 2015 (held on odd years). SWAT gives you the greatest bang for your buck than any out there. I know the vendors love it as the reasonable booth fees actually allow them to make some money and they are situated where the people do not have to hunt for them. The folks down there are friendly and outgoing. I was lucky enough this year to pair up with Andy Chen at the WoW Exchange. Had a great time and looking forward to my 1,400 mile one way drive next year 😀
Bill

 

[Charlie Knighton]

well, do not know about swat, but the hokies thank yall for letting us get a quarterback out of texas that yall did not need

 

[Bill Boehme]

well, do not know about swat, but the hokies thank yall for letting us get a quarterback out of texas that yall did not need

Yeah, we have more quarterbacks than we know what to do with them.

 

[nicksilva]

Here is a thread on another site to help balance things out.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?221184-My-Disappointment-with-SWAT

 

[Andy Chen]

Yeah, we have more quarterbacks than we know what to do with them.

And we have more Monday quarterbacks at Sawmill Creek.🙁

 

[Bill Boehme]

And we have more Monday quarterbacks at Sawmill Creek.🙁

🙄 🙄