18 Oct 22 – Workshop Night

As darkness fell, twenty six members took to their computers to see what this month’s workshop had in store and were rewarded with the choice of three turners this month with Mick making his debut online to compliment the efforts of Chris and Zak.

Chris mounted a piece of wood onto the lathe and declared he would turn a natural edge “thingy”. There was no preconceived idea of what the finished article would be so the turning began. It was obviously going to be a hollowed out form but the shape and size would develop as it went along helped by advice and guidance from his audience (mostly ignored!) The outside was shaped to form the bowl of the vessel before Chris turned his attention to hollowing it out, being careful to preserve the natural edge. That done his attention then reverted to the shaping of the outside and as usual Chris was meticulous in his efforts to ensure the shape flowed correctly from the bowl into the stem and then outwards again to form the foot, at all stages considering the overall appearance and balance of the piece. And so the natural edge “thingy” was born, not really a goblet nor a vase but more like a small urn, which if in stone, would not look out of place in the garden. Unfortunately, throughout the evening Chris had been experiencing technical difficulties which meant that after the break he was unable to continue on the lathe and spent the second half of the evening as a spectator.

This month Zak started where he left off last month, firstly by showing us the bud vase he made which had now become a fully working table lamp andthen moving on to complete his natural edge bowl. The bowl was secured in the chuck and the hollowing process started. Not being a round piece of wood the same care that was needed to shape the outside had to be repeated for the hollowing process, hands kept well away from the spinning edges coupled with care and precision when picking up the cuts. To aid that process Zak put a mark on his tool rest to indicate the edge of the spinning wood and thereby denoting the position of the tool on the rest in order to pick up the cut. Zak was aiming for a reasonably thin bowl and was challenged to achieve a thickness of 5mm, which he achieved. The bowl put aside another piece of wood was put onto the lathe and a foot fashioned that would allow the spigot on the bowl to sit into the foot. The bowl would be hand sanded and finished and the foot coloured to make a very delicate and pleasing little natural edge bowl.

For his second item of the evening Zak gave his audience a choice of either completing a yew bowl he had started or making a Christmas decoration that incorporated the see through look of the bud vase referred to earlier. The vote was for the latter and so Zak mounted a piece of wood between centres into which he had predrilled two holes through the wood at ninety degrees to each other so that the wood at that point was see through. Zak then proceeded to turn the wood incorporating many different shapes and contours. Once done the piece was parted off ready for some hand finishing round the holes and the addition of a small ring in the top making it ready for the Christmas tree. As he turned the wood Zak maintained he was not a spindle turner. Maybe not, but there was no shortage of skill on show as the piece took on its final shape.

For his first appearance in front of the cameras Mick opted to turn a Halloween pumpkin complete with internal lighting, a cut out face and a pointy hat. Having done some preparation the blank that would yield both the pumpkin and the base was held in the chuck and the hollowing out of the pumpkin started. After hollowing shaping the outside was next followed by sanding with Mick using his own method, sandpaper attached to a stick, to comfortably sand the inside. The pumpkin was parted off and work was started on creating the base. This involved hollowing out the centre of the base to the depth and diameter necessary to accommodate the light and the creation of a lip onto which the pumpkin would sit. That done another piece of wood was put onto the lathe and production of the hat began. It was hollowed out to the appropriate dimensions before being reverse chucked and held in expansion so that the required conical shape could be created. Once sanded the hat was removed from the lathe and a 10mm hole drilled into the pointed end. A hole was also drilled into the top of the pumpkin so that a dowel could be used to connect the hat to the pumpkin. Mick turned the dowel and in the final stages used a 10mm spanner not only as a gauge to check the diameter but also as a scraper to ensure the diameter of the dowel was consistent from end to end.

He also demonstrated the technique for cutting out the facial features using a mini jigsaw. All that was left was colouring of the pumpkin and hat followed by its assembly and although we did not see all of that on the demonstration piece, we were shown, in true Blue Peter fashion, one that Mick had completed earlier. A spooky start to Mick’s first and very entertaining online workshop demonstration.

Once again the Show and Tell section featured many varied and interesting examples of work produced by eleven of our members. We also saw a short video produced by Dai showing how he put colour onto the outside of a bowl by dabbing with a sponge and then spraying droplets on using a tooth brush. Many thanks to all who contributed their photographs and to Dai for his video.

Thanks Alan for the account of the nights activities and to see more of the screen shots taken please have a look in the Gallery.

Next Tuesday 25 Oct 2022, we will be welcoming back to our screens Colwin Way, from Axminister, so if you are a PAYG member, please go HERE to buy your ticket.  Everyone else, the meeting link will be sent out shortly.

Sat 29 Oct 2022 – Club Shop will be open between 10am and midday so please pop across and make it worthwhile Mick opening up.

Tues 8 Nov 2022 – Next Hands on Night in the Hall.

Sat 26 Nov 2022 – Training Day – only got 7 slots left, so please get your booking in now.  Go HERE to do that now.