I would like to publicly thank the amazing people at NorCal Turners club for inviting me to do my first demo. I’ve always turned down requests in the past, but I’m glad I said yes. Thanks Chris and Noelle!
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First Demo
- Thread starter Nick Matley
- Start date
Excellent! Not much more fun than doing demos, IMO. Well, except maybe teaching one-on-one! (takes less prep 
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As someone new to demoing , if that a word. It’s both nerve racking and a blast! Here’s to many more to come!
I generally use an outline of the points I want to cover when doing a demo, and tape it to the headstock. I always forget some thing, and some one always, and I mean always will ask that as a question. They are fun to do!
robo hippy
robo hippy
I really like it when a certain friend is present. He doesn't miss a thing and if no one else does, he'll ask questions to remind me of what I needed to say!
Another thing I started doing - if the club has big screens and the connectivity, I might take a laptop and step through a very quick slide show of a variety of things I've made, especially for a club I haven't been to. For those who don't know me (and there are always new members in every club), it gives a quick introduction of the kinds of things I like to turn.
I strongly agree with making an an outline! I write or print the outline in big font and use a highlighter to remind me of the key points. If I have time I write up a handout too.
If the demo is making a project, and it's not large, I often take enough wood blanks so anyone interested try their hand right away, instead of having to locate wood first. I don't do this for larger pieces! However, sometimes I'll take a few larger blanks and at the end of the demo auction them off with any proceeds going to that club's treasury. That only takes a few minutes and can be good fun in itself!
For example, I might auction a few blanks like these, shaped and sanded flat, ready to go on the lathe for my little squarish dished platter demo:
@Nick Matley, I read the blurb on the club web page. Looks fascinating! Do you have a write-up or video or something describing the process you use?
JKJ
I have only done demo’s at our club. They are fun to do.
Thanks Ted. My hope is that there will be many more to come. We have a great community of talented and supportive people.
I was lucky enough to be in a club full of people I know and respect, so it wasn't as nerve wracking as it could have been!Excellent! Not much more fun than doing demos, IMO. Well, except maybe teaching one-on-one! (takes less prep
Thanks! I spent a ton of time on prepping for the demo, including making a power point that I made available to all the members. I figured I would be doing this demo at other clubs (which has already turned out to be the case), so I put a lot into making it portable and scalable. I will send it to you the power point in a direct message.
Congrats! those of us who are program directors very much appreciate people stepping up!
Thanks Dave! I enjoyed it so much I agreed to do it at another club already. Woodturning is a huge part of my life.
This is an interesting thread for me, I was asked to do a demo at our club's October meeting. This will be my first demo. I have prepared 21 blanks for practice and improving the demo as well as having a few available for the actual demo in case of an issue. I've created a power point presentation as well, mainly to burn in the steps and procedures. I figured to share this as a step by step review/refresher of the process for anyone who wants to try to turn one later. It's been a month and a half since I agreed to do this, and I have a month and a half left to go before the demo, you could say I'm obsessing a little, but it has been an almost constant focus for me in my spare moments.
Everything worth doing, is worth doing with obsession. At least that’s what I think.
I'm really glad I did the demo. It was for our local club, about 28 members present. All went really well, and several said they were planning to go home and give it a try. Today I saw pictures posted on our club facebook page of one who did. The demo write up was posted on our club web site so they could download it for reference. The project was a square bowl, but I turned the bottom so that it could fit on a wine glass and thus made it into a Wine Glass Topper Charcuterie Board. Presentation writeup attached.
Sounds like a good one!
What a cool idea! I do square trays as well as wine glasses, but never thought to put them together. Wouldn't it be a great set if your wine glass stem matched the wood on the little charcuterie board?!
Brilliant idea for a project. (and for a first demo) well done! 
