WoodTurners of North Texas

The Woodturners of North Texas was organized in the spring of 1988 by Larry Roberts at the insistence of his brother from Austin, S. Gary Roberts. Six people attended the first meeting following a mailing to turners in the area. Among them was Clay Foster. The group met at Larry's house and then for a while in Arlington. The first large influx of members came about following a woodworking show in Dallas where the small group turned twig pots all day on Larry's old Powermatic 90 lathe. After that show where the club signed up about thirty new members, the meetings moved to Paxton's Hardwood in 1989.  Since that time the organization has met in several different locations and, when not constrained by COVID-19, meets at the Handley-Meadowbrook Lions Club in east Fort Worth.

The Woodturners of North Texas now has 150+ members, not counting spouses and children. The monthly meetings routinely have 75 or more attendees. Past presidents of the chapter include Larry Roberts, Robert Weber, Clay Foster, Bruce May, Nick Silva, Stephen Smith, Gary Sanders, John Horn, Mike Wallace, Paul Tiefel, Stormy Boudreaux, David Marshall, Glynn Cox and Bill Collins.

The Woodturners of North Texas invite turners from all around the globe as guest demonstrators and instructors to educate, inspire and entertain the membership.  A partial list of woodturners who have conducted demonstrations and taught classes at the club include Rude Osolnik, Richard Raffin, Ray Key, Michael Peterson, Bonnie Klein, Al Stirt, Clay Foster, Frank Sudol, Melvin Firmager, Lyle Jamieson, Stuart Batty, Dick Sing, S. Gary Roberts, James Johnson, Christian Burchard, Alan Lacer, Ron Fleming, Jacques Vesery, Jimmy and Johnny Tolly, Judy Williams, Dave Hout, Joe Millsap, Uel Clanton, Gene Kircus, Chip Taute, Bill Berry, J. Paul Fennel, Steve Worcester, Stacy Hagar, Dave Spurlin, Larry Hancock, Raul Pena, Bob Larson, David Ellsworth, Jean-Francois Escoulan, Trent Bosch, Nick Cook and others including countless demos by WNTX club members. Many of these demos were videotaped and the tapes are in our library and available to members for check out.

The following is a link to our By-Laws (By-Laws.doc)

Members of our club have volunteered to provide free one on one instruction to any club who wishes to improve their knowledge of any of 12 wood turning specialty areas. 

The table below lists our mentors and the areas in which they feel they can most assist other club members.