13 Sept 2022 – Hands on Night

Sorry for the delay in posting this, but I was away on holiday, so thanks to Alan Selden, Chris Fisher, Zak and Chris Chance for getting the material together ready for when I was back.

It being a mild Tuesday evening, 31 members saw fit to make the journey to West Ashby to participate in September’s hands on evening. In what is now the norm, the four lathes were set up in readiness for the evening before the majority of the members arrived and thanks must go the team that is now doing this job on a regular basis.

The four turners on duty were Chris, Zak, John and Darren all ready to bring their own skills to the fore. Zak did a sterling job with two of our least experienced turners and our youngest member, Morgan, was justifiably pleased with the piece he produced with Zak’s expert guidance.

In the meantime. John was attracting an audience as he demonstrated various techniques when working between centres. As usual there were many questions answered and many observations made.

Darren was strangely popular with members having a go on his lathe as he was inviting then to have a go at forming a bead with a skew chisel, a tool that many turners shy away from. Everyone however had a go and as might be expected some beads were better than others but there was a general feeling that the skew is a useful tool and perhaps perseverance in its use could pay dividends.

Chris was in his usual good form allowing members to use and abuse the wood on his lathe but at the same time showing the student where they were going wrong and how to improve their techniques. This being Chris, there was naturally a certain amount of banter which flowed both ways which all adds to the entertainment that is an essential part of these evenings.

As well as the turning there was also a lot of socialising amongst members which all in all led to a very pleasant evening for all.

Members were also reminded that Mick was looking for volunteers to form a working party on Saturday 24th September in order to carry out some repairs to the container roof. If you are interested please contact Mick as soon as possible.

Another training day has been proposed on the 26th of November. This will only take place if there is enough interest from members so if you would like to participate please contact Martin, again as soon as possible, so that he can decide whether or not the numbers justify holding the event.

Thanks Alan for another good write up.

For more photos of the evening please check out the Gallery.