Frank's Hobby

Frank Turner was our March speaker. He spoke to us about his specialty, wood carving. Besides having good hands and all 10 fingers, he is very creative. He remembers having a pocket knife when he was no older than seven. He still has a knife that was given to him at age 12. It had been owned by a 90-year old friend.
Frank was a train engineer, and the trains carried some wooden sticks that were used to plug holes in their pneumatic lines. He never had to use one on a hose, but he did hone his whittling skills. He saw a coffee table book with a lot of pictures of sharks. He thought he would like to carve a shark that was floating in air, but then again, you don't find sharks out of the water. A wood carver gave him a piece of wood that had speckles which looked like a bobwhite. He decided to carve a bird floating in air. The bird, with its wings spread, would have a deep hole in its belly for a smaller post. This would allow the bird to rock in a draft. This bird was an Arctic tern which he took to a carver's show in Colorado Springs. His floating entry really impressed the other carvers.

He showed us a butterfly made out of myrtlewood, his favorite wood.

Note the Aggie chain saw.

When a friend gave him a twisted piece of wood, he had to figure out what to do with it. He first carved a train (spiral stick), then added some cool things he had seen on boxcars long ago. One example was a palm tree with a date and name.
He found another stick in Galveston that stirred his interest. He first carved "Frank" and "Jerry" on it (dark stick). He carved 6 sticks inside the handle with family names plus many other family names and a coat of arms on other areas.

The myrtlewood butterfly and several belt buckles.
Jim Cunningham was sporting one of Frank's belt buckles.

His grasshopper that will "hop" when you pull an invisible string. Once he surprised a 5-year old girl with his trick, and she had to show it to her family. It really made his day when she surprised them.

Note the Reedhops on his hind legs

This cane looks like a hip joint and was made out of saguaro cactus. Another cane was in the shape of a dog's head.

Nice looking snake.

He saw a US Postal Service commercial in which an eagle swooped down and caught a bass out of the water. It took him 5 years to carve this scene.

This carving contains over 9 different woods. The wings, fish, table top, and legs all pack nicely in his travel box.

His tools are a chain saw, radial arm saw, band saw, and the pocket knife. He still has his $13 knife that he bought at Gibson's. It's been a great knife, but he doesn't dare just carry it around. He buys some wood, finds unique pieces of wood, and friends give him choice pieces. He impressed us all.

Finely Dressed Members

Jonnie DeVaul, Laurie Taylor, and June Bohn

Charlie DeVaul, Al Bohn, Ron Taylor

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