Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette Doug Trembath demonstrates his method of turning wood on a lathe at a meeting of Turners Anonymous at Max Peterson's studio in Bethel Park. Click photo for larger image.

Jessica Henry likes to dance, act in theater productions at Blairsville High School and sing in the chorus.

She's also a turner. Turning wood, that is, with a chisel and lathe.

"My dad put me up on a stool so I could reach the lathe when I was 5. I've made miniatures, bowls, candlesticks, ornaments, tables, desks and tops -- lots of tops."

Spinning tops, that is. In eighth grade, Jessica gave a speech explaining how she made a three-part top. It was still spinning when she finished her report 20 minutes later.

Her father, Bob, a municipal worker in Black Lick, Indiana County, also began turning as a child.

"My dad made me a lathe using a washing machine motor when I was 10," he said. "I've been turning ever since."

Jessica and Bob Henry belong to a local group, Turners Anonymous, that meets once a month in member Max Peterson's workshop in Bethel Park. The rest sit or stand as one member works at the lathe, focusing on a piece of wood that spins to a blur. To shape the wood, he or she applies a cutting edge, anything from sandpaper to an ax blade, depending on the curve desired.

That cutting edge intrigues people. Professional woodworker Linda VanGehuchten came here in 1991 from Venezuela with her husband, Jan, and their children.

"We were thinking of settling in North Carolina, and a friend suggested Pittsburgh," she said.

They liked what they saw here and settled in Sarver, where Linda has a studio. Although she is now on the board of the American Association of Woodturners, she still learns new and old skills at the local chapter meetings, which draw 50 or 60 people each month.

Bill Wade, Post-Gazette Bob Henry holds a hollow vessel of poplar, cherry and aromatic cedar he made with daughter Jessica. Click photo for larger image.

"The club brings in well-known wood turners from around the world who are revealing their secrets in tool use and design," she said.

One Saturday a month, woodworkers and wannabes gather in Peterson's workshop to discuss, display and watch wood turning.

Mike Stadler demonstrated the use of color in the turning process -- with Crayola crayons. He suggested listening to music while turning.

"I like Black Sabbath myself," he said.

"How about a little Bach?" called out Peterson, a former director of the Bach Choir.

The turners are as diverse as their musical tastes. Surgeons, construction workers, dentists and computer techies all come together at the lathe. Before the meeting, members gather around the "Instant Gallery," a table where turners display their work.

John Colombini of Whitehall sat on a stool near the table at a recent meeting. He is agile with the lathe, but club members revere his delicacy and creativity. Intricate carvings done with a dentist drill, lattice-like open designs and Indian pottery designs are his signature works; many can be seen at Pugdog's Rock & Bead Shop, 5802 Douglas St., Squirrel Hill.

Before retiring to wood turning, he played and taught guitar and repaired stringed instruments.

"And before that I was a backhoe driver," he said.

Just a different degree of precision.

	Bill Wade, Post-Gazette Jessica Henry demonstrates wood turning at the Center for Furniture and Wood Turning at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Click photo for larger image.

Doug Trembath came from California three years ago. He has been a professional woodworker for six years, "but I've been dreaming about it for 30 years," he said.

He picked up a large wooden vase from the "Instant Gallery."

"This vase is in the ancient Greek tradition, modeled after their oil and spice jars. They were made from pottery, of course," Trembath said with some reverence. "We can't even approximate the skills that they have. They had techniques that we don't even understand."

He, too, can baffle the experts. At a recent meeting, he demonstrated how he forms an elongated oval vase with a fluted opening, then hollows it out to leave only a thin shell.

Martin Stolpe, who calls himself "Felix Sylvius" on his business card, and his woodworking partner have built a dream workshop in the woods in Neshannock, Lawrence County.

"It's amazing what you can do when you cooperate with another person," he said. "It all came from dreaming. Every so often, we sit around the wood stove, put our feet up, have about a hundred beers or two, and do some more dreaming."

Turning tools can be costly, he said, but there are ways around that. A new lathe costs $200 to $300, or you can buy used tools from the surviving spouse or relatives of a turner.

"That's one of the services our club provides, evaluating the tools of an estate," he said.

Wood can be costly, too. Or not. Stolpe regularly gathers fallen trees and branches to turn into treasures. He comes to turners' meetings with a load of scavenged wood in the back of his pickup truck to share with other members.

Bill Wade, Post-Gazette Bob Henry of Black Lick, Indiana County, shows off his hand-turned acrylic pen, and daughter Jessica, 18, holds her hand-turned wooden pen. Click photo for larger image.

"I've gone as far as Montana and Massachusetts to get a fallen white ash or a butternut. If a tree that grandma swung on, and you swung on, becomes sick and dies, it can become something useful. Whether you make a crooked walking stick or a bench, it has tremendous historic value."

"Turning Wood into Memories" is a quote on Bob Henry's business card, alongside a picture of a large tree. He proved the truth of that adage while working one day in Black Lick:

"On the highway, where the road was being widened, I saw that an older man was going to give up his house and belongings and move into a nursing home. I took the crotch of a tree from his yard, and Jessica and I made him a bowl and put all the information on it like where it was from and the date. He cried when I gave it to him."

Turning is a family affair in the Henry household. Even Bonnie Henry gets involved, though not at the lathe.

"My mom is really creative," Jessica said. "We bring up something from the basement and get her advice on design."

Next year, Jessica will go to Shippensburg University to study communications.

"I'm afraid she won't be able to do much turning then," said her father.

But the club will continue to turn out her trademark tops. Members make as many as 400 to donate to Children's Hospital every Christmas. Last year, they also made 50 wooden ornaments in association with the Society for Contemporary Crafts and the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.

Some of the turners also belong to Western Pennsylvania Woodworkers, which usually meets on the second Saturday of the month at James Wood Works on the North Side.

To attract members, Turners Anonymous participates in A Fair in the Park in Mellon Park and the Three Rivers Arts Festival. Some also teach wood turning classes in association with the Society for Contemporary Crafts.

The club has 85 members, according to treasurer Dave Beringer, and continues to grow.

"We might outgrow our meeting place, but that would be a nice problem to have," he said.

For more information on Turners Anonymous:www.turnersanonymous.org or 412-996-5666.

For information on Western Pennsylvania Woodworkers: www.wpwoodworkers.org or 412-322-2233.