red Holder has turned quite a bit of wood in his day. But that's sort of like saying Ford has built quite a few cars. He lives in Snohomish, Washington with his wife Mildred and has been turning wood since 1988.
Mildred uses the Grip-All Jaws system more than Fred does as she does lots of carving. He specializes in hand thread chasing and making the Chinese Ball, however, he continues to experiment with different techniques. He has done quite a bit of segmented work; multi-centered work. He often depends on his trusty Robert Sorby Eccentric Chuck and an Escoulin type ball and socket chuck.
Fred is a busy guy. As if the turning work weren't enough, he publishes More Woodturning magazine. We invite you to checkout this fine, online publication - we're sure Fred does as well.
Fred and Mildred have three wood lathes: a Nova DVR 3000, a Vicmarc VL100 evs, and a Oneway 1018, plus a homemade Rose Engine lathe for ornamental turning.
Fred has demonstrated woodturning at (ready?)
The South Puget Sound Chapter of The
American Association of Woodturners (AAW)
The Seattle Chapter of AAW
The Northwest Washington Woodturners Chapter of the AAW
The Olympic Peninsula Chapter of AAW
Woodturners of Olympia Chapter of AAW
The Northwest Woodturners Chapter of AAW in Oregon
The Fraser Valley Woodturning Guild
The Greater Vancouver Woodturners Guild both in Canada
*INHALE!*
The American Association of Woodturners Annual Symposium in Tacoma, Washington
The same syposium in Portland, Oregon
The Utah Woodturning Symposium in Provo
The First Northwest Washington Woodturning Symposium-2000 in Everett, Washington
The Annual Woodcarvers Show in Monroe, Washington, by invitation
Local schools and Senior Centers - well, we said he was a busy guy! The way we figure it he'll retire sometime around 130.
He was invited to demonstrate thread chasing and how to turn a Chinese Ball in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales - and don't forget New Zealand and Australia.
Fred doesn't neglect the home front as he and Mildred have a woodturners meeting every month at their home. They all create a piece of work every month to stimulate creativity - all the time swapping tips and tricks with each other.
Not content to rest on a tall pile of laurels, Fred is also a writer and has written several articles for American Woodturner, two of which were reprinted in American Woodturner's Techniques & Projects Booklet. He wrote the "Letter from America" column for Woodturning magazine (in England) for over six years. He has also written a number of feature stories for Woodturning magazine including one on thread chasing, Getting the Thread in the July 1997 issue, which was reprinted in Useful Techniques for Woodturners and one on making the Chinese Ball.
It bears repeating that Fred Holder is a very busy guy and check out his web site at www.morewoodturning.net.