Turning of the Week for October 16, 2023

[Donna Banfield]

I think it’s important that we all have a refresher in utilitarian and quite useful woodturned objects. Dennis J. Gooding’s "Croquet Set" is the perfect example of such a reminder. So many skills are needed to make a full croquet set: spindle turning - lots of spindle turning, simple but classic embellishments in the scoring of lines and rolling of beads on the mallets and balls, and of course, turning a sphere. If you’ve never turned one, try it. It’s not as easy as you think. And of course, color! How else can you distinguish between your croquet ball and the one you’re about to knock 50 feet away in the opposite direction ... because the rules allow you to do that.

Dennis, thank you for the memory of a fun game I played a long time ago, and for reminding us all that Woodturning isn’t all about embellishing today. My choice for Turning of the Week for October 16, 2023.

 

[Michael Anderson]

Great choice, Donna. I have fond memories of my brother and I playing croquet in our maternal grandparents’ backyard when we were super young. Good times.

Congratulations on the feature, Dennis. This is a wonderful set, and the recognition is deserved.

 

[Tom De Winter]

I too spent many hours playing croquet with my brothers and neighborhood kids.

I'm sure our set was purchased with S&H Green Stamps. My mother saved these and almost always used them to purchase something for us kids that we couldn't afford otherwise.

 

[Dean Center]

Thank you, Donna. Highly decorative pieces can be very impressive, but so can utilitarian work. We need to recognize and appreciate both. Well said. And wonderful work, Dennis. There's no way I could make 6 equal spheres, much less put beads on them. You da man!

 

[Russ Braun]

The things we did before personal computers and phones. The great thing is Dennis elected to create this set and not go to Amazon! How special does that make this set of outstanding turned wood objects!! I would suggest going to Amazon to get a set that can be abused by kids having fun; leave this for the visual impact only!! Nice choice Donna and well done Dennis!! Certainly, thanks for the trip down memory lane!!