Totally Turning Demonstrators, March 29 & 30, 2025
International/National:
Kirk DeHeer | Jim Echter | Kristin Levier | Art Liestman | Keith Tompkins
Regional:
Rick Angus | Stan Blanchard | Rich D’Ambrosio | Todd Gunter | Ray Puffer
Please check back for updates as we add presenters.
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Click here to see a list of demonstrators from previous years.
International/National Demonstrators
Jim Echter
New York, USA
True Creations Woodturning
Jim is a production turner, instructor and writer that has developed a series of wooden tools for fiber artists that he wholesales around the world. He specializes in architectural restoration work and turning custom and replacement furniture components. Woodturning started as a hobby for Jim over 49 years ago and evolved into a career twenty years ago. He markets his products and services through retail outlets and his True Creations Woodturning web site: www.tcturning.com. He also conducts private instruction at his studio and has taught and demonstrated for over 90 woodturning groups. In 2019, Jim demonstrated at the AAW Symposium in Raleigh and was a featured live demonstrator for the 2020 Woodturners Worldwide Online Symposium where his Sensational Skew program received outstanding reviews by the attendees. He also demonstrated at the 2022 AAW Symposium in Louisville.
With his manufacturing engineering degree, understanding of tool steels and grinding angles, and his skill for explaining tool/body movement when woodturning, Jim has developed a passion for teaching woodturning skills for all levels of student abilities. He is especially known for reintroducing the joys and benefit of learning spindle turning and in particular, the skew. Once spindle turning is mastered, Jim is confident you will become a more efficient and better bowl turner.
Jim was the founding President of the Finger Lakes Woodturners Association chapter of the AAW which is now over 170 members strong. Prior to the start of FLWT, for two different three year terms, he chaired the Woodturning Special Interest Group for the Rochester Woodworkers Society which, at that time, was the largest woodworking guild in the country. He has been an active member, board member, demonstrator and contributor to the woodturning scene for over 46 years.
Demonstrations
“Spindling” Your Way to Better Bowls
If you’ve made a few basic bowls or simple platters and now want to progress so you can refine your profiles and add details like beads and coves, then “Spindling” is the easiest way to develop the skills needed. For hundreds of years, woodturning apprenticeships taught spindle turning before face grain turning. The reason is the turner developed much better tool control and a feel for how wood likes to be cut. These skills can easily be transferred to bowl turning, taking your projects to the next level. This program will walk you through the basics on how to teach yourself spindle turning and how to apply those skills to enhance your bowls. The tools and their proper use will all be demonstrated and a series of practice exercises will be shown.
Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced
Mini Lathe Friendly
The Sensational Skew
Back by popular demand, in this demonstration Jim will take the mystery out of how to use the skew so it becomes the sensational tool in your arsenal. Utilizing a combination of images, large scale models and actual demonstrations, the use of the skew will be broken down into very understandable bites of information. The program will overview skew profiles, edge profiles, sharpening procedures, basic cuts, advanced cuts, and learning exercises. Project ideas will be demonstrated that will help you build confidence with using this sensational tool.
Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced
Mini Lathe Friendly
40 Tips for Mounting Blanks on Your Lathe
Jim will examine over 40 tips for mounting blanks on your lathe that he has accumulated over the almost 50 years’ experience. He will explore modifying tips, making special tips and how to turn thin spindles. Next he will review faceplate modification and friction driving blanks. Then, Jim will review the mechanics behind using 4-Jaw chucks for maximum holding power and safety. Finally, Jim will demonstrate and show several special techniques he has developed for holding all sorts of projects.
Keith Thompkins
USA
Keith began his woodworking career immediately upon graduating from high school, obtaining employment in a cabinet shop. His interests have gradually gravitated to working on the wood lathe, which allows him to explore his creativity to the fullest. Keith’s award-winning work was featured in Del Mano Gallery in Los Angeles, CA for over ten years, and his turnings have sold to collectors world-wide. Keith has demonstrated throughout the United States, Canada, and as far away as New Zealand.
Demonstrations
Multi-axis bottle stopper
In this demo I will turn a martini glass shaped stopper which appears to sit on two corks. I will demonstrate end-grain turning for the martini glass, and show how to get glass-smooth end grain cuts when turning the “corks”. The “corks” will be colored and textured to resemble real corks. The main emphasis of the demo is to show that multi-axis turning can be a useful and repeatable part of your turning skill-set and that there is no limit to your imagination when designing a turning…even a lowly bottle stopper.
Essential cuts on the lathe
Beginner turners often find that woodturning is a daunting task; often holding their tools in a death-grip while hoping to avoid a catch. In this demo I will show the basic cut I employ to create my work. I will focus on the spindle gouge, bowl gouge, and skew chisel, showing how to get clean work, free of torn grain. Turning beads, coves, and filets will be covered, as well as end-grain techniques. Anyone who is new to turning, or turners who are experiencing difficulties in tool control or having issues with ton grain will benefit greatly from this demonstration.
Things that cannot be turned on a lathe
This will be a fun demonstration! I discovered years ago that a cube can be turned on the lathe; yes, with it running! Since then, I have expanded upon the idea; in this demo we will turn not only a cube, but a curved tube which is hollowed all the way through. To make it a little more interesting, we will turn a curved square-profile tube, with a square hole all the way through. I will then demonstrate how to create one of my signature spiral forms on the lathe. This will be a fun demo, but it will expand your ideas of what actually CAN be turned on the lathe.
