19 Apr 2022 – Workshop Night

Easter being over, 22 members saw fit to give up on Easter Eggs in favour of an evening’s entertainment of virtual woodturning. Chris and Zak were on duty endeavouring to give us the benefit of their skill, expertise and wit; the first two being a given, the third more open to debate.

Chris’s first project was to produce a bowl with a wobbly bottom. The wood was mounted on the lathe and the outside shaped. He then hollowed the bowl out but deliberately left more thickness than usual in the bottom section. The piece was reversed and held in a smaller chuck so that the shaping of the outside and bottom could be refined the objective being to produce a curve on the bottom that would allow the bowl to wobble. When finished and removed from the chuck the bowl did indeed achieve the required wobble but did not fall over because of the weight of wood left in the bottom section. Sounds simple but as usual does require skill and expertise to obtain the desired result. Chris then discussed with his audience the tools he had used and in particular the scrapers used for the hollowing out process, showing the different shaped scrapers that had started life as skew chisels and how they could be used to get into awkward spaces.

In the second half of the evening Chris turned a thin stemmed podlet. Having formed and shaped the top of the podlet (which looks like a small cocktail glass) Chris placed a predrilled piece of wood over the centre in his tail stock and brought it up to the piece in order to give plenty of support for the shaping of the stem and base. Having used very wet wood Chris made the point that ideally he would sand it with wet and dry sandpaper which would give a very good finish and then dry the piece by placing it in a microwave for a series of two minute sessions, letting it cool between each cycle until the weight stabilised. As we expect from Chris the stem was thin and it flowed into a base that was properly shaped and proportioned such that the finished article had the elegance Chris demands from his turning.

Zak meanwhile had opted to make a small goblet with a very thin stem. This would be made in three pieces, the bowl, the stem and the base. The first part of the process was to make the bowl. The wood was mounted in the chuck, the outside shaped and the inside hollowed out. It was then reversed in the chuck so that a hole could be drilled in the base that would take the stem. The shoulder leading down to the stem was then completed. A pen blank was then used as the basis for the stem which was expertly turned to a uniform diameter of 6mm. Unfortunately the first attempt did not go strictly to plan and the stem was broken. Undaunted however, Zak chose another pen blank and repeated the process, this time with success. The ends of the stem were carefully worked so that they were the correct size to go into the holes for both the bowl and base. Once the base had been turned we were entertained by some squeaking noises as Zak, off camera, ensured that the stem was a good fit into both the bowl and base. We were then shown the finished article which was both elegant and delicate and despite some comments from the members, we were assured that it was the one we had seen in production and not one he had prepared earlier.

As usual we also had the show and tell section in which we saw various pieces from four of our members again illustrating their individual skills and creativity

In conclusion, there was, as expected, skill and expertise in abundance and it has to be said that the wit and banter were also up to the normal high standard.

Thank you Alan Selden for another great write up of the nights activities.

The Spring Fair at the Wolds Wildlife Park (just down the road from the Hall) will be on 18 & 19 June 2021 and is to be based on an old style event with traditional crafts being displayed.  We have been invited to demonstrate the craft and have a display table and make small items on the lathe that could be given away or for a small charge.  We can’t do this unless we get your support.

1. Would you be interested and available to attend? If so, on both days or one or the other?

2. There will be some setting up and clearing away required, so again we need help and obviously have to get a lathe etc to the venue.  Can you help?

3. Are you prepared to man the lathe for the sessions during both days or one or the other?

4. Could you make some small items to put on stand i.e: Spinning Tops, Wands, (something quick and easy to make, and maybe we can follow the same theme on the lathe)?

5. Would you have any items that you would like to display (not sell)?

We obviously need to let the organisers know, so can you please get in contact with us asap.  Thanks.

Turners Retreat have introduced a new ‘Community Showcase’ where they would like to further support you and your hobby or small business by providing an additional platform to showcase your handcrafted work, and somewhere for them to direct those looking to purchase a ‘finished’ or ‘custom made’ item for themselves or a loved one.  Every month, they will share a theme. You are invited to create new work or share photos of your existing work that relates to the chosen theme of the month, this month it’s ‘Time’.  Submissions will be added to a page on their website for all to see! This will become a place for the public to browse handmade products and discover you and your small business. Your work will also inspire fellow makers within our community and potentially increase your online following, so let’s help each other grow!  Check out all the details on their News article HERE

The Club Shop will not be opening on any Saturdays in April and we are considering whether there is now any requirement to do so, as we are now opening on the Hands on Nights.

Next online demo by Gary Lowe ‘The Tartan Turner’ is next week, so you will be getting the invite in the next day or so.  If you are a PAYG member, remember you need to purchase your ticket to watch this demo, go HERE to buy it.

Next Hands on Night is on the 10 May so will see you all there, hopefully.