Wood Turners 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 now meets at the Handley-Meadowbrook Lions Club, 6013 Craig Street, Fort Worth, Texas 76112.

The Woodturners of North Texas now has 100+ 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 and Stormy Boudreaux. The current president of the Woodturners of North Texas is David Marshall.

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-François Escoulan, Trent Bosch, Nick Cook and others including countless demos by WNT club members. Many of these demos were videotaped and the tapes are in our library and available to members for check out.

The chapter meets on the last Thursday evening of each month from 6:30 - 9:00 PM at the Handley-Meadowbrook Lions Club, 6013 Craig Street, Fort Worth, Texas 76112. Visitors and guests are always welcome to attend our meetings. The Handley-Meadowbrook Lions Club is about 1.5 miles south of I-30, East on Craig Street.