26 Nov 2022 – Training Day

Early on a chilly Saturday morning, we set up the Village Hall with our 4 lathes ready for our last Training Day of 2022.  Thanks to Chris Chance and John Cox for their assistance and not forgetting bringing the biscuits and milk to keep us going throughout the day.

Our Turners were, Mick Close, Ian ‘Zak’ Flack, Chris Fisher, Darren Brown and John Mitchell, so firstly a big thank you to the guys for giving up their time so that we could put on this event.  Mick and John were going to be sharing a lathe with one covering the morning sessions and the other, the afternoon sessions.  The others each had a lathe to themselves and with the first four Students ready to go, they were soon making shavings.

This training day was advertised as being open to all, so we had several Club members come along, plus it was great to welcome three guests who had either not turned before or very little experience. Whilst we hope to see them back and maybe become Club members in future, there is of course no commitment to do so.  All the students throughout the day all went away happy and pleased with the training given, so another successful day for our Club.

We are planning to run these training days next year, possibly 4 throughout the year, but watch this space for further details.  If you would be interested in attending any of these events, obviously no commitment as we don’t know the dates as yet or the Turners availability, please let me know and you will be given advance notification.

Instead of me saying how good these days are, here are the real reviews and feedback from some of our students:

“These one to one training sessions are very instructive and helpful to me. The lessons have raised both my confidence and skill levels allowing me to tackle more ambitious projects”.  

“As a total novice to turning I once again chose to be paired with the one and only Mr Christopher Fisher for my second training session. I was probably more apprehensive about this session than the first I attended. Thinking that I would of forgotten what I had been taught previously, soon put at ease by Chris it soon came flooding back although I do seem to regress to 9 & 3 instead of 10 & 2 o’clock. Now my workshop is fully operational apart from dust extraction I hope to start putting all Chris has passed on into practice “. 

“For me, it was all good – I don’t have any negative remarks. I would say 2 hours is probably the ideal duration, long enough to ‘get stuck in’ and get plenty of practice under an expert eye. Darren was patient and thorough, he would demonstrate a particular technique and then give me ample opportunity to practice – which, to my mind , is the ideal way to learn. The atmosphere was relaxed and the facilities very good, the session has certainly boosted my ability and confidence on the lathe, and given me a shot of enthusiasm to to do more turning. All things considered, an excellent session and good value too”.

“Having now attended two separate training days with different instructors, I can certainly recommend it to anyone wanting to progress any aspect of their turning. The days are not just for complete beginners. My objective for the training days was to improve my gouge work by a better understanding of the techniques and to get some general one to one tuition/feedback on my techniques. Just spending the time on a lathe with experienced turners is a great learning experience. I found the time goes really quickly so having a broad plan for the session helps and would also recommend booking more than one time slot to get the most out of the session. I will be attending again on future training days”.

So as you can see, we have some satisfied customers, so next time we run these events, I hope all the places will be snapped up fast!

If you have attended any of the Training Days, we would love to hear your feedback as well by leaving comments below or email us instead.

For more photos taken on the day, please have a look in the Gallery HERE.

What’s up next?

Well we don’t have much year left so here you go:

6 Dec 2022 – Committee Meeting 7pm on Zoom.

13 Dec 2022 – Last Hands on Night in the Village Hall and your very last Christmas shopping evening in the Club Shop.

20 Dec 2022 – Online Social Night (replacing normal Workshop Night).  Bring some Christmas cheer, drinks and snacks, plus if you have been turning, send in your Show and Tell photos and videos.

If you can’t make any of them, we look forward to seeing you in the New Year.

p.s. Membership renewal for those who usually pay at the end/start of the year will be due shortly.  Stuck for ideas to give you for Christmas, how about getting your Family/Friends to pay your membership fee.