News

News - Our Renaissance Faire page has been started.  It's something new we're getting into so that's where we'll cover all of that.  Check it out!

Upcoming Events - Here's a partial list of what shows, symposiums and classes we'll be at ....

2009 ...

• Woodturning demonstration (and class???) at the Stateline Woodturners Club monthly meeting on January 10th. 

• Please note that we will not be at the Greater St Louis Renaissance Festival in Wentzville in the Spring.  Many people have called/emailed us about it and we couldn't get things organized for this year.  We are, however, at some other RenFaires and, of course, crafts shows, galleries and other events this Spring so ask about our schedule.

2008 ...

• Bowl Turning class at The Wood Gallery in Springfield, MO on September 20th.  Give Ray a call at 417-881-9663 for more information.

   

• Andy will be demonstrating modern woodturning at the Woodcarvers of Northwest Arkansas annual Show and Sale again this year in October.  I'm very happy to be able to attend this event again and entertain the crowds.  Looking forward to seeing friends that I've not seen for awhile!

• We will NOT be vendoring at the SWAT Symposium in October, 2008.  Unfortunately, the symposium couldn't accommodate our setup requirements this year so we won't be able to take our woodturning blanks down there this year. However, keep an eye right here to see where we'll be showing up (clubs, other events) soon with our wood blanks.

• Nathan Boone Homestead Festival in October. We'll be demonstrating the traditional craft of Bodging and selling a few furniture and kitchenware items too.  This is an early 1800's period event located at the homestead of Nathan Boone ... a son of legendary Daniel Boone.  Join us for this weekend.  It should be a great time!   NOTE:  WE NEVER HEARD BACK FROM THIS EVENT WITH FINAL DETAILS OF OUR PARTICIPATION AND THUS HAD TO SCHEDULE AN ALTERNATIVE EVENT FOR THIS WEEKEND.

• Louisiana Renfest in November for a limited-time run of demonstrations and living history education (maybe a little sales too!) showing the ancient trade of Bodging and traditional woodworking/woodturning. We'll be there for only 2 weekends as well as all of the student days.

• Holiday Woodturned Ornaments & Gifts class at The Wood Gallery in Springfield, MO on December 13th.  Give Ray a call at 417-881-9663 for more information and to sign up.

• We have several private and club classes lined up this fall of '08.  But don't let that keep you from contacting us to see if we are available for your event or class too.

LatheCAM - Wood LatheCAM

See live woodturning being done in a real shop here in Southwest Missouri / Northwest Arkansas area.  You can chat, ask questions, make requests and see woodturning done so close that you'll feel like you have to shake those shavings off of you!  Click here

Woodturning Articles - We're always updating the Woodturning Articles area. Sometimes we just get an idea for an article; sometimes we keep getting asked the same questions over and over again in classes, demonstrations or shows; and sometimes we get requests from customers, readers and even woodturning clubs.  If you have something you'd like a bit more information on how to do it, just let us know!  We're here to help you.

Latest Happenings

Back by popular demand ... See our Wood Codes, those codes that we put onto our blanks to easily see the species and characteristics.

We here at Hilton Handcrafts have been incredibly busy and have neglected the website for about 2 years now.  Instead of trying to keep everything updated ... blog, latest happenings, news, articles and so on ... we've decided to pare things down quite a bit on here.  That means that some of those things are now going to be combined and shortened.  While other areas such as articles and how-to's will be expanded.  Stay tuned, folks! 

Wood Sales
Archives

11/13/07
Spalted Pecan
We don't get a whole lot of pecan around here.  Lots more up north near Kansas City but not really here in the Ozarks.  But, we found a nice little bit of it and snapped it up quick!  Here are a few pictures of our last little load here. 

General Stuff
Archives

5/04/07
Missouri has talent !
It's not often (or ever) that I get to talk about the judging I do for various fairs, shows, galleries or competitions. They don't want anyone to know who does the judging for good reasons, I suppose.  But this competition of the best highschool students in Missouri was different.  They encouraged the judges to talk with the students after the judging so that they might learn and get a different perspective.  Imagine that!  I (and several others) judged the furniture and woodturning divisions.  Here's a few pictures of what these talented craftsmen showed off.  Check out a few of the pictures here.  And, if you'd like to get a few tips from one of the judges, click here.

Demos & Classes
Archives

10/19/06
Bella Vista, AR - Ozarks Bodging Demo
Cool, crisp Fall days in the Ozarks.  Tourists from all over the USA with tons of questions about bodging.  Some wood, a pole lathe and shave horse.  What could be better?  We were at the crafts fair this year and gave quite a show!  Several thousand people came through and I think we chatted with most of them. ha!   Check out a few of the pictures here.