5 May 2021 – Digital Night

Wednesday 5^th May saw our second Digital video night, not many notices to give out, however Mick announced that we are hopeful of restarting our one-to-one training days when restrictions are lifted, this is dependent on how we are able to move forward and the interest from you the members.

One of our meet the turner interviews started proceedings with Chris talking informally to a ‘new to the Club and new to turning’ Gary Gray who although being new has been very active with our various online formats and was more than generous in his compliments of the Wolds woodturners. Engineering is his background and he explained that his first contact with turning was at Gunby Hall with Mick and Pete some years ago, and by coincidence a friend introduced him to the club and as the saying goes the rest is, or will be, history. Like most of us he seems to have been grabbed by the turning bug and looks forward to mastering the craft with the help of his fellow members; a very entertaining chat, thanks to both.

Our first of many new contributors was Andrew Harris, a carpenter by profession and production turner, showed and described how he turns ‘Bun’ feet for a large client; given the pattern and materials he is required to make several identical pieces, which as most amateur turners know is hard to do unless you are skilled in that area. Tulip, the chosen wood for this task, which he did say is quite forgiving for the turner.

Dai Crawford, another very active member sent us a video of an adjustable sliding holder made from a car phone mount and some of his workshop timber, yet again he showed his ingenuity to make everyday items into something he could use and share videos from his workshop.

Peter Barrack sent in a very well-produced video of his design and execution of a square lidded box; with full instructions from workshop safety to marking out and the turning of the piece, his presentation made it understandable on how to achieve what at first to the lay-person difficult to do. Hopefully, this will be available on our Youtube channel for you to see the marking out.

We were extremely pleased to see how many members are happy to share their experience by sending in videos, and Adi Backhouse next showed us in true Blue Peter style how he makes personalise pens, these can be names, flags or even regimental badges. All stages of the method were covered from building the blanks or casting acrylic to finishing, the results are very impressive and truly ‘One offs.

Our Chairman Mick ventured into the realms of presenting from his workshop with the aid of the equipment obtained partly via a grant from the AWGB; due to Covid restrictions sharing the gear has been almost impossible, however, yet again we overcame the obstacles. Mick turned one of his favourites, a reasonable sized mushroom from a very nice Yew blank. He also showed examples of how large or small you can turn a mushroom from a small Christmas tree hanger to a garden ornament. All avenues of safety and turning techniques were covered and a finished piece produced at the end. Mick is a seasoned presenter having spent a few years turning at Gunby Hall with another of our members Pete Blows; he showed confidence turning although he said that due to the year’s lockdown he had been away from the lathe for several weeks, it didn’t show.

One of our Three Turners ended the evening with a ‘back to basics’ video which is important for us all to remember, how to prepare a blank for turning either a bowl of spindle work, the methods then of finding the centre point, this then inspired other member to share their ideas and innovations and Mick to added that devices are available from the shop. Screw chucks, Steb centres and pronged drives all came into the mix. Optimum chucking points, tenons all discussed and then onto putting a piece of wet timber onto a screw chuck to demonstrate the safety elements of turning. As usual Chris made it both informative and entertaining.

A full evening of varied entertainment from a variety of members, we did have a break somewhere in the middle, a big thank you to all those who made it possible, and we look forward to out next workshop night which is Tuesday 11^th May 7PM start, hopefully we will have lathes turning and some of our members work in the ‘show and tell’ section; more on that later.

Don’t forget we have loads of workshop clearance items for sale, please see the previous sales News Posts, plus come along on the 15 May when we will be opening the Club Shop between 10am and Midday.

You should have received an email from us regarding the idea of a Training Day so please ensure you respond to it so we can see if there is enough interest to run it or not.

If you have any photos of items you have made recently, please send them to us by no later than Monday night.

Talking of that, we hope to see you all on the Workshop Activity Night on Tuesday 11th May.