Lead Demonstrators for SWAT 2025
Sally Ault
Sally Ault is a renowned woodturner known for her artistry and craftsmanship in creating functional and decorative pieces. With a strong emphasis on the natural beauty of the wood grain, her work combines traditional techniques with innovative designs. Ault has contributed to the woodturning community through teaching, demonstrating and participating, inspiring both novice and experienced woodworkers to hone their skills and appreciation for this intricate craft.
Demo Topics:
Make a crack into a feature
Turn and embellish a "Top Box"
Jerry Bennett
Demo Topics:
Segmenting is fun if you know how.
Anyone can make perfect segments as well as staves and zigzags without measuring or calculating a single thing! I will show you how.
Unbelievable Sculpture directly from your Table saw and Lathe!
With a few crafting techniques combined with segmenting, the perceived limitations for size and shape in making wood sculpture are now virtually non-existent. I will show you how.
Lyle Jamieson
Demo Topics:
Foundations of Hollow Form Turning Skill level: All Levels
Entertaining and educational. Lyle will use the hollow form format to demonstrate the fundamentals of hollow form turning. He will concentrate on safety, tool control, chucking issues, support problems, vibration issues, grain orientation, hollowing in stages and laser measuring techniques. He will look at techniques for both outside and inside of hollow form turning.
Thin-walled Goblet Skill level: All levels
Entertaining and educational. The goblet is a good vehicle to teach spindle turning and to demonstrate the fundamentals of hollow form turning. Guaranteed to learn some new perspectives. You will get an understanding on tool control, safety, chucking issues, support problems, vibration issue, grain orientation, carbide cutter use, hollowing in stages, and laser measuring techniques. Come and see techniques for both outside and inside of hollow form turning. Discover easy and safe techniques for all skill levels.
Mike Mahoney
I have been a professional bowl maker since graduating from San Diego State in 1989. My main production items are salad bowls followed by burial urns, hollow forms, treenware, and any job that walks through the door. I learned to sell my work wholesale to American Crafts Galleries and catalog stores. I developed a style of work that highlighted the wood that I worked with. I have always sourced my wood from local tree yards and processed the wood myself. This gave me the ability to create unique objects from wood that could not have been purchased by a sawmill. My intent was to create work that would be noticeable as my own. I have been lucky enough to travel the world teaching my craft. I have taught in eight countries and across almost every state in our country. I am passionate about my craft and live and breathe for it. I never miss an opportunity to educate the public about what woodturning is and the wonderful people involved with the craft as a whole. The American woodturning movement has been an example to all craft mediums to the importance of sharing skills and techniques that enhance our abilities to make better work throughout the ages.
Demo Topics:
Hollow Heirloom Salt/Pepper
Quarter Sawn White Oak Platters
Bowl Coring
Matt Monaco
Demo Topics:
Traditional Open Ceramic Style Vessel
Learn how the application of advanced traditional woodturning skills can yield superior results with a variety of approaches to cutting, scraping, and shearing, based on an item made in volume for the wholesale & retail craft industry, and the furniture trades of Shackleton Thomas. –This demo will include the correct usage of the Spear Point, and modified freehand bowl & spindle gouges to cut tear out free surfaces, as well as theory, and importance in why the particular shapes of edges matter as much as the sharpness of the tool created at the grinder.
Advanced Skew Work
Learn both left & right-handed application with Skew Chisel, developing skill, familiarity, finesse, and how to practice with one of woodturning’s most beneficial and misunderstood tools.
Mike Nish
Mike Nish has inspired thousands of woodturners with his superb instructional videos on YouTube. Drawing from years of experience and the wisdom passed down from top professionals, including his grandfather, the renowned Dale L Nish, Mike has honed techniques and methodologies that resonate with woodturners of all levels. His personable, easy to follow approach has made him a popular demostrator and instructor within the woodturning community.
Demo topics:
Coin Box
Birdhouse ornaments
Toni Street
Toni Street is an award winning polymer clay artist and acknowledged pen maker. Numerous publications have showcased her pieces to be seen by artists across the world. Originally from the Hudson Valley in New York State, she now resides in the beautiful state of Alabama. Toni’s passion for polymer clay began in the 90’s after nearly a decade of working with ceramic clay. The vast color palette and versatility of polymer clay has been the perfect medium for Toni’s creativity and skill to shine.
An ancient glass technique called Millefoiri, meaning “one thousand flowers” provided the original inspiration for her process. Toni uses meticulously crafted canes of polymer clay, sliced into thin pieces and arranged in stunning mosaics to recreate this idea in her favorite material. She uses this technique on pen blanks to create her detailed and colorful custom pens.
Toni was accepted into the Pen Makers Guild in 2011 and has demonstrated her techniques at professional venues across the US. The natural world around Toni provides the inspiration for her intricate pieces and she shares this passion for her work with others. Her teaching focuses on introducing students to polymer clay, crafting the Millefiori canes and applying them to pen blanks.
Demo Topics:
Creating Polymer Clay Pens
Have you ever wanted to make a pen that was not made of wood or acrylic? Something beautiful and more feminine to reach your female clientele? Well Toni has the perfect pen for you. Challenge yourself by Learning how to make a Polymer Clay Millefiori Pen. She will introduce you to the ancient art of Millefiori using Polymer Clay to do it.
Millefiori Pens with Different Materials
Using an array of materials, Toni will show you how to make a unique pen, incorporating wood, ebonite, and other kinds of pen blanks into your Millefiori creations, resulting in a pen that is truly one of a kind. She will also demonstrate how to add sparkle and shine, along with some protection for the Clay, by adding a CA finish. This new take on a hybrid blank will make your work stand out from the rest.
SWAT 2025
SWAT 2025