Workshop Activity Night 10 August 2021

Once again the second Tuesday of the month has arrived so in the world that is LWWA it must be a Workshop Night, a fact recognised by 26 members who gathered around their computers to see what delights were in store.

Alan was unable to be on duty this August evening, so our hopes and expectations were pinned on Chris and Zak. It then turned out that Chris had suffered a technical failure (with his computer equipment that is, not him personally, although on the other hand………….) and was not able to participate as all of his cameras had downed tools for the evening. It was therefore down to the last man standing, Zak, who stepped up to his lathe and started what was to be an excellent evening of both wood turning and entertainment.

Having discovered a jar of ebonising fluid that he had made in 2018 from a mixture of cider vinegar and wire wool, Zak’s intention was to turn a bowl, into which he would cut some grooves. The grooves would provide decoration and would be finished with the potent brew. Having had a trial run earlier in the day Zak assured everyone that the fluid did the job, did not smell badly and did not appear to be a danger to health.

The wood for the occasion was Sapele. Having mounted the piece between centres he proceeded to form the shape of the outside and created a spigot on the bottom. Using a parting tool five equal grooves were cut into the wall of the bowl into which the ebonising fluid would be applied. Using a small brush Zak applied two coats of the eboniser to each groove. One member pointed out that the fluid works best on Oak and the addition of walnuts to the fluid enhances the blackness and makes it thicker. There was then a discussion about using pickled walnuts but it perhaps best to skate round that.

The outside finished (almost), the bowl was mounted in the chuck and the inside hollowed out. Zak then made some fine cuts on the outside in order to refine the edges of the grooves and remove all traces of the fluid that had escaped the confines of the grooves.

The bowl was sanded, treated with sanding sealer and removed from the lathe for the final finishing operations to be performed at a later date.

The Show and Tell section saw items on show from five members and once again highlighted the immense talent that many of our members possess.

Following the Show and Tell part two of the evening saw Zak take a hollowed out piece of wood that came from a project that went wrong. To make something of this Zak decided to make a top for it onto which he would add a finial, but, after suggestions from the audience the finial ended up as a tear drop shaped knob, which was secured to the lid through a predrilled hole. The woods for the body, top and knob were all different which demonstrated that everything does not always have to come from the same type of wood to look effective and that on many occasions what seems to be a disaster can turn into something worthwhile.

As always there were suggestions and comments from the audience, including Chris who managed to remove the odd (wood)bug from his system and join in, purely as a spectator. Naturally, there was much banter between him and Zak.

All in all a good night was had by everyone and our thanks go to Zak who did an admirable job in filling the void left by the unfortunate absence of Chris.

There is a distinct possibility that next month’s meeting may be in the hall so keep a look out for more information.

Our next online demo is by Les Thorne on 24 Aug 2021, so another new demonstrator that we have not had before, so not one to miss.  Don’t forget PAYG members, please purchase your tickets in advance.

The next time the Club Shop will be open is on Sat 28th Aug 10am to midday.  Mick is also selling Xmas draw tickets at £1 per ticket.

As you know we have a camera system funded by the AWGB which we would like you, the members, to get the chance to use and record you making things on either a Club lathe at the Village Hall or we could bring the camera system to your workshop, setup and show you how to use it.  Any videos recorded will then be edited and if you are happy with it, our intention is to put it up on our YouTube channel and share it amongst the Club members via a link or make it public, so everyone can see it.  If you are interested in doing this, please contact us.

Now for some exciting news……

On Tues 14 Sept 2021, 7pm – 10pm, we intend to open up the hall for a Hands on Night with hopefully 4 lathes set up, all suitably spaced out.  We appreciate there are several of you that are cautious in getting back to normal and having physical meetings.  We have a Sub Committee working on all the details to ensure we can run a safe evening for everyone.  We will be sending more details out about this very soon.  So watch this space.