By Betty Scarpino

30 October 2008 Woodworker’s Journal

Size matters: large turnings command attention; smallobjects draw the viewer in to hold and to touch. Thelimitation presented to these four woodturners was tocreate one or more small objects from a piece of woodmeasuring 2" x 2" x 4".

The creations of Ed Kelle, Bonnie Klein, Joe Seltzerand Jennifer Shirley have a presence that goes waybeyond their size. Yes, size matters, but so do designand execution.

Many of these tiny objects were made using standard-size lathes; however, for those who have spacelimitations, a miniature lathe, a few tools and somethingto sharpen with are all that are needed. Well, wood’srequired, of course, and I’ve found there’s plenty of thatlying around everyone’s shop: those precious scrapsthat are too good to burn, yet not large enough for majorprojects. In fact, even though I offered to supplyeveryone with wood, three of the turners selectedpieces from their own stash.

Small-scale turning can open a wide range ofpossibilities for individuals who need to sit whileworking; for snow birds who travel; and for youngchildren just learning to turn.

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Ed Kelle’s love andunderstanding of naturetranslate well to theobjects he makes, likethis tiny walnut wood“blossom.”

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says, “I was mesmerized by the curlsrapidly coming from the bowl.” Afterfrustrated attempts using a poorlyrunning larger lathe, he purchased a JET® mini-lathe and began makingsmall-scale objects.

Ed sometimes uses small-scaletools, but generally he relies onstandard turning tools for most of hiswork. For hollow vessels, he madehis own small-scale hollowing tools.

I first met Ed a few years agowhen I acquired a set of Ed’snested acorns boxes. They aremade from cherry wood, with thetops textured and darkened. Theylooked like the real thing! The useof texture and detail on a smallscale are two elements Ed uses todraw viewers into his work: “peoplecan’t help wanting to pick them up.They step closer and then see thedetails that are present.”

Ed Kelle

Ed has a background in fine art,painting, drawing, sculpture andphotography. He says, “Visual artsteach you the importance ofconcentrating on your subject, asthere are no casual glances.” Hebelieves that form is the mostimportant element in turning, andstudying the art of other media canincrease a person’s knowledge baseand visual skills.

He’s not afraid to incorporate ideasfrom other fields and utilize skillsfrom all areas of his life into hiswoodturning endeavors. He’s madefurniture, sculpture and jewelryboxes, often using the lathe for thebeginning phases of his work.

Ed’s “blossom” is made fromwalnut and measures 2" x 2" x 31⁄2". It is very thin, giving it thelightweight feeling of a real blossom.Ed textured the outside using

Bonnie Klein Joe Seltzer Jennifer Shirley

Most small turnings requirethe use of miniature orsmall-scale turning tools.But don’t worry, they’reeasily available throughwoodturning catalogs and at woodworking stores.When it comes to tinyturnings, it’s helpful to select a fine-grained wood.Excellent fine-grained speciesare boxwood, dogwood,pear, persimmon, holly, hardmaple and many of the exotics. Butdon’t forget to consider the branchesof larger trees. For example, if I wantto use ash wood for a small turning,I might harvest a small branch froma large tree. The growth rings will becloser together and finer-grained,helpful for small-scale turnings.

The ability to see well is ofparamount importance. I recommendthose magnifying lenses that fit on a person’s head. They’re sort of likewearing a pair of reading glasses, buteasier to use when working at bothmedium and close distances. They’rea standard fashion accessory forBonnie, as well as for many otherturners! I have my own pair.

Ed KelleEd began turning in 2003 after hefirst saw a lathe being used at theLong Island Woodworking Show. Ed

Ed Kelle

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a Dremel® tool and bleached the endof the stem with two-part wood bleach.

Ed suggests that anyone who isinterested in learning how to turnshould take a few hands-on lessons.As a three-year member of the LongIsland Woodturners himself, hefinds there is always someone whocan offer help or insight.

Ed now teaches woodturning, andgenerally holds lessons at hisstudents’ shops. It’s easier to teachstudents in their own shops becauseEd can evaluate their equipment todetermine if problems stem from lackof technique or from machines andtools.

Bonnie KleinIn 1989, when I attended my firstwoodturning symposium, Bonniewas one of the lead demonstrators. I was totally mesmerized by her skillat woodturning, her ability as a demonstrator and her enthusiastic,positive personality. Hard to imagine,but she’s gotten even better!

Last year, I saw Bonnie’spresentation on how she preparesanimal bone for usein her woodturning.The small boxes andjewelry made fromthis bone look likeivory! To say theleast, she likes toexperiment with turn-ing unusual materials.

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Bonnie is known in the turningworld for having pioneered the fieldof small-scale turning. Shedeveloped the Klein lathe in 1986,then followed that with the Kleinthreading jig in 1992. She haswritten a book and produced manyvideos.

It’s an understatement to say that Bonnie loves the creativeprocess. In her words, she is“addicted to discovery, progress andthe fact that perfection is foreverelusive, but as I strive for it,yesterday’s challenges become thebasic skills of tomorrow.”

Bonnie’s nested boxes are madefrom boxwood,coveted for itssuperior turn-ing properties,as well as itslovely color andtexture. It’s notenough that theboxes all havelids: each lid is threaded andscrews to its

corresponding base. Lined up, theyshow Bonnie’s skill in tool control andher eye for detail. The surprise insideis a miniature top. It spins, perfectly.

Bonnie volunteers a lot of her timeteaching youngsters how to turn. Shetravels with 10 lathes, tools and woodin the back of her van to teach classes.At the American Association of Woodturners’ annual symposium,Bonnie heads up a program where a bank of lathes is set up, and eachchild has a volunteer mentor to assist.They make a preplanned project andtake it with them when finished.

Bonnie’s advice: it’s more importantfor the tools to be in proportion toyour workpiece than to the lathe.Higher RPMs will produce smoothersurfaces right off the tools, providedthey are used correctly.

Joe SeltzerJoe was one of the first people I thought of when the idea of high-lighting tiny turnings was presentedto me. Joe likes small turnings and

Joe Seltzer

Bonnie Klein

There is more to Bonnie Klein’sboxes than firstmeets the eye:nested together withthe lids off, the topof each box is thesame height — buteach box is still justthe right amountsmaller or largerthan the next.

Joe Seltzer likes being ableto carry a dozen of his tinyturnings — many of whichhe gives away — around in his pocket.

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Betty Scarpino and her stash of pearwood reside in Indianapolis. Thepear wood is well hidden from thestray eyes of visiting woodturners!

a weekend session on embellishingturned objects.

Jen’s initial thought for this projectwas to make two decorated hollowforms; however, after rememberingsome little chili containers that AlanLacer brought to a class at MarcAdams, Jen decided to make herown version, calling them spicecanteens. Her recent interest andactivity in cooking has introducedher to a variety of new spices.

The piece of pear wood was justlarge enough to make two canteens.She hollowed them with a minihollowing tool made from a piece ofdrift key and a tiny HSS cutter,brazed on with silver solder. Jenenjoys the challenges of making herown small-scale turning tools.

The canteens are ready to fill withyour favorite blend of spices, tuckinto your pocket or purse and headto your favorite restaurant or pub!

Jen has always been intrigued withtiny objects and miniatures thatresemble their larger counterparts.When she was a kid, she lovedMatchbox® toy cars and wished shecould fit inside them. She sums up her participation in this challengeby saying, “the world of turningsmall-scale is very exciting andchallenging, and this project wasreally a treat to be involved with!”

has a vast collection of small-scaleobjects, all less than 7" in size. As a hobby, he also turns miniatures.

Joe started turning in 1998.Although he had been collecting foryears, he didn’t initially try turninghimself because he thought hewould hate sanding. Well, he doeshate it, but with small pieces,sanding is minimal. He joined theBucks Woodturners chapter of theAmerican Association of Wood-turners in 1995. They had a loanerlathe he borrowed, and he took a few lessons. He got hooked.

Now, a number of his friends havecollections of his work, which pleaseshim greatly. He derives pleasure fromturning and then giving.

Joe’s favorite woods are boxwoodand pink ivory because they turn sowell. He also likes highly figuredwoods or those with a sharp contrastof sapwood and heartwood. Joedecided to use boxwood for thisproject. The piece he selected hadtwo attractive knots, so heincorporated them into the finishedpieces. He turns most of his objectsendgrain-fashion, so that the stem ofthe goblets have the strength of thelong grain. I love the way the grainpattern on the small plate subtlyfollows the curve of the plate’s edge.

Joe is a professor of managementat LaSalle University in Philadelphia.His profession has little to do withturning or collecting, which is his hobby and passion. He is the vice president of the Collectors ofWood Art and also VP of his localchapter of woodturners. He’s on thesteering committee of an eventcalled Echo Lake, held every otheryear. A group of woodturners gettogether to turn, create and let ideasflow between participants. This year,they held their 10-year retrospectiveat the Wood Turning Center in Philadelphia.

Joe’s advice for people interestedin turning small items is to buy somesmall tools. He likes the Kleingouges and scrapers and the Sorbymini-turning tools. Scrapers can beground to different radii. Attach the

wood to the lathe using a faceplatewith a waste block or use a chuckwith small jaws.

Jennifer ShirleyJennifer has two lathes, a full-sizeGeneral and a JET mini-lathe. Yearsago, her son, Weston, learned howto turn using her mini-lathe. Jenniferworks in a one-and-one-half cargarage converted to a studio.

Jen primarily uses native Indianahardwoods, often rescuing timberthat might otherwise find its wayto a fireplace or landfill. The woodshe used for her spice canteens ispear wood, given to her by a friend... actually, given to her by twofriends. I live about two miles fromher in Indianapolis, and a little overa year ago, I helped myself to a couple of those small pearwood logs stacked in her backyard,sawed them up and dried them. I gave a hunk back to Jen for this project. It’s a lovely wood to work!

An educational grant from the American Association ofWoodturners allowed Jen to attenda turning class at the ArrowmontSchool of Arts and Craft in 2002. In2006, she studied for a week at theAppalachian Center for Craft.Learning new skills helped Jenlaunch her own career as a teacher.

Jennifer is in regular demand atMarc Adams Woodworking Schoolas a studio assistant. This year, shewill teach her first class there,

Jennifer Shirley

Jennifer Shirley couldn’t resist decorating her mini canteens. She used a wood burner for thedesigns and added texture with an electric engraver, modified by inserting a dull tip into the end.

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