South Puget Sound Woodturners preview Kathleen Duncan trembleur turning session

A trembleur is the kind of spindle that stops turners in their tracks, and South Puget Sound Woodturners used Kathleen Duncan’s return to show why. The club previewed her hands-on session for June 18 as more than a showpiece, framing it as a practical look at one of woodturning’s most exacting forms.

The trembleur, also called a trembler, sits at the far edge of ornate spindle work. South Puget Sound Woodturners described it as a very long, very thin turning with decorative elements spaced along the length, and said long versions can run 30 inches, or 42 inches and beyond if the lathe is long enough. Between the ornaments, the diameter can shrink to 3/16 inch, 1/8 inch, or even 1/16 inch, a scale that explains why the form demands concentration and a delicate touch.

That visual drama has deep roots. A museum in Tours, France, described the trembleur as a historical masterwork made up of plates, rings and spheres on an axis as thin as possible, while a French craft source placed its appearance at the end of the 17th century. In other words, Duncan’s demonstration was not just a novelty turn, but a chance to revisit a form that has long been used to test a turner’s nerve and control.

The club said Duncan planned to show the small tools that work best for these spindle projects, along with the simple but essential jigs known as string steadies. That detail matters, because trembleurs are as much about support as they are about cutting. A La Vie en Bois example describes using a string steady rest for the work, while an American Association of Woodturners forum post about tremblers noted that patience is key because already-turned areas wobble and the lathe cannot run very fast. Another woodturner’s portfolio said a 48-inch trembleur required 26 steady rests, a reminder of how much setup can stand behind a piece that looks almost weightless.

Duncan’s background gives the session extra weight. Her biography says she first learned about woodturning by watching her father, Oscar Frey, and later began turning on the Shopsmith she inherited from him after his death. South Puget Sound Woodturners also identified her as an accomplished woodturner and artist who served two terms on the American Association of Woodturners Board of Directors from 2015 to 2020.

The club’s June 19 workshop on building and using a piercing system extended that teaching run into a second day. For local turners, Duncan’s return offered the rare mix that makes a club night worth showing up for in person: a difficult form, a proven demonstrator and techniques that can carry back to finials, slender spindles and the next project that needs to stay perfectly under control.