February 2026 Newsletter

Note: a separate email will be sent to the MAWT members with the contact information for the individuals identified below – this keeps their contact information from being harvested by spam-bots, etc.

MAWT February 2026 Newsletter

Dennis Motl did a presentation on dust collection and sanding. There was a wealth of information on various ways to set up your shop to capture dust. He also shared some thoughts on sanding techniques and equipment at the lathe.

At our March meeting, Cindy Drozda will demonstrate from her shop in Colorado via an Interactive Remote Demo. She is a fantastic turner and teacher. In order to give as much time as possible to Cindy, we will not have a wood raffle or show and tell.

Membership dues for 2026 continue to be $35. Please get your payment to George or Edwin. You may also renew via our website.

Open Shop day

Our next open shop day is February 21 from 9:30 to noon. We’ll send an email to members with Ron’s contact information as the date approaches.

AAW Symposium Chapter Group Discount

June 4-7 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

When five or more MAWT members who are also AAW members register they get $40 off the registration fee. I believe that is only valid if you register for the full event. AAW states that best pricing is available by registering by February 28. Our discount code is MAWT2026.

Washington Park Senior Center demo

Jim Knoerr and Fred Roos will be doing a demo at the Washington Park Senior Center on February 25. If you can help them move one of our Rikon mini lathes contact Jim.

Moving our lathes – part II

Ron Zdroik is looking for input and ideas to improve our capability of moving our lathes when we travel to do public turning demonstrations. We need to get them up and down the stairs and then into the venue. We are currently doing annual demos at German Fest, Empty Bowls, and Folk Fair. Contact Ron.

World Wide Woodturners event

Www.worldwidewoodturners.org – They offer free weekly Zoom meetings with turning demos.

They are organizing a hands on turning event in Wisconsin Rapids Wisconsin 17-19 September 2026. More information at

https://www.worldwidewoodturners.org/level-up-plans-to-date/

Turn on Chicago

Registration is now open for the event scheduled 7/30 to 8/2. https://www.turnonchicago.com/

See you in March.

Kevin Seigworth

Tom Hipsak did get pics of most of the instant gallery items – We only got the maker’s name of a few of them. If you want your name added to a piece, let the webmaster know – you can reply to the email that had the link to this article.

2026 February Meeting