Chestnut Woodturning Weekender 3 – 4 Aug 19
CHESTNUT WOODTURNING WEEKENDER
They had four top-class woodturning demonstrators; Pat Carroll, stepping in at the last minute for Emma Cook who unfortunately could not make it, Stewart Furini, Phil Irons and Gary Lowe during the weekend to inspire, educate and entertain, showing best practice for turning, decorating and finishing. Many of the demonstrators were in the hall even when they were not on stage and available to chat to and ask questions. Visitors were also able to join them on the Saturday evening for a BBQ and entertainment.
Before the on-stage demonstrations start, during breaks and after the demos had finished there were displays and ‘up-close’ demos from local Clubs and Turners. Our Club was invited to have a stand at the show as one of the Woodturning Clinics and it looked mighty fine with a fantastic display of members work. A big thanks goes out to Mick Close, Peter Hallam, Chris Fisher, Stuart Lowe and John Mitchell who manned the stand over the weekend. We did rather well with sales of timber that we took along and answered loads of queries from the visitors.
STEWART FURINI DEMO
The following two write ups and photos have been kindly provided by Chris Fisher who attended the show on Saturday.
The Chestnut Weekender got of to cracking start on Saturday Morning with Stewart Furini. He demonstrated lots of techniques on colouring wood. Using Chestnut Spirit Stains he showed how he applied colour using kitchen towel and an airbrush. It was particularly interesting how he used cardboard and masking tape while airbrushing and even bounced the spray off his fingers to give a really interesting effect.
He used Proxon to create a deep texture then airbrushed it black and sanded back leaving only the texture black then added further colour.
I’m sure it was an eye opener to turners who have not tried colour on their work. It was a great demonstration with lots of humour and ideas for future projects.
Well done Stewart.
PHIL IRONS DEMO
The demonstrator for the afternoon was Phil Irons who is well known for his coloured hollow vessels. He started by showing us how and why he uses a glue block to hold his work in a chuck, something that is new to most of us.
Phil hollowed out a small vessel explaining his method and the tools he uses giving lots of useful tips along the way. He also explained the woods he used and how important the figure was to achieve his wonderful vessels.
Using a paint brush Phil applied Chestnut Spirit Stains to his turned vessel then sanded it off, he did this a number of times. To the shock and delight of the audience and the birds flying around the hall he set fire to the vessel. As it was already very warm in the hall I didn’t think it was necessary to increase the temperature, however this act of Pyromania does seal the colour.
Phil was both entertaining and informative. So thanks Phil for a great afternoon.
On Sunday, there were demostrations by Gary Lowe and Pat Carroll, of which at the time of posting this, I don’t have any details on what was turned or any photos, so if you were there and fancy sending me some information, please get in touch.
Yet another informative writeup and great pictures of events at the club and other venues. Keep up the good work Martin it is appreciated by all who visit the site.
Thanks Rob!