29 Aug 2023 – Online Demo by Phil Rose
PHIL ROSE DEMO
29th August 2023 and as the year speeds by ever faster, club members logged into Zoom for our monthly professional demonstration and this month we welcomed back Phil Rose from New York state USA. After the usual notices and introduction Phil took us through his project for the evening and in his words “a square edge, wavy, off-centre bowl on the lathe, covering off-centre turning of the bowl and the waves, as well as the embellishments — carving, painting”.
True to his word Phil guided us through the process with prepared graphics and detailed descriptions of tools and techniques, showing us examples of the different designs, he works on.
A square cherry blank was secured off-centre on a homemade jig mounted on the lathe, the blank held in place with four screws which
only protruded through the jig a small amount and held fast with the tailstock. After squaring off one face a recessed tenon was made, a parting tool and another modified tool ground to the correct angle to make the dovetail was used before reversing and repeating on the opposite face. Phil drew guide lines onto the edges of the blank to illustrate his plan and also give himself reference points to work to and decide which material to turn away.
The best way to describe the process of creating the wavy effect is to compare it to turning a regular bowl. Firstly, shape the bottom to your design, in this case not an Ogee or similar shape but a definite wavy line with hills and valleys, bear in mind that half the time you are turning through thin air, the other difference is that you need to decide the size of the bowl and at this stage and to decide the best side of the blank for top and bottom of the bowl, this he explained would depend on any features of the timber that you wanted to keep; this done, timber was removed creating the desired wavy lines.
Phil used a bowl gouge with swept back grind and a negative raked scraper to get to his desired shape before reversing the piece and matching the curves on the other side of the blank. At this stage the first turning stage of the process was finished, however, Phil explained that following his carving and painting he would then go back to finish the base and hollow the bowl. We had a short break before moving on to an explanation of different mechanical carving tools and the bits used.
Safety always in mind Phil recommended jewellery should always be removed and we should be aware of items that may get caught whilst using machine tools. Several different bits were shown and what effects could be achieved before Phil produced a second bowl, he had already painted with a base coat to show how airbrushing could be used to enhance and decorate the carved piece.
We had a run down of various airbrushes and paints and Phil used three contrasting colours to illustrate how he enhances the hills and
valleys of his carving; this he does by changing the colour and direction that he sprays from also making sure to clean the airbrush before moving on to the next colour.
Phil certainly packs a lot into his demos and still had to remount his project onto the lathe to turn off the base and create a foot and to hollow out the inside bowl shape and to turn away any over spray so that he has a natural wood finish both underneath and inside of the bowl. Finishing ideas were described and questions followed.
Another entertaining, informative, and hopefully inspiring evening to get us all to try something different. A big thank you, Phil.
For more pictures taken during the demo with kind permission of Phil, please check out the Gallery HERE.
Thank you Zak for producing yet another great write up. For those that missed the demo or if you want to watch it again, Phil we be providing a link to the recording he made. Once we have the video link, we will send out an email to all Full members and any PAYG members that brought a ticket. Any PAYG members that want to watch the demo but did not buy a ticket prior to the demo, please get in touch.
And lastly,
IMPORTANT NOTICE – Club Secretary – You will have seen an email from Alan Buckle our Club Secretary asking for volunteers to come forward to take over the role due to his ill health. I am disappointed to say, despite having over 70 members, we have had ZERO response, which is very poor! Alan has now sadly stepped down from the role, his position on the Committee and his membership of the Club due to his condition. On behalf of the Club, I would like to thank Alan for all his hard work and support over the years and we will always be indebted to him as without his determination to keep the Club going through Covid, we would not have a Club today. Club Secretary sounds a daunting role to take on, but its not. Being good on IT is a must. We have taken some of the jobs and spread them out to other Committee to make it less of a burden. The main role now is to do meeting minutes, agendas and answering general enquiry emails. So to keep your Club running for years to come, we need volunteers stepping up to do their bit, so please have a think about it and get in touch asap.
Next Meetings:
5 Sept 2023 – Online Committee Meeting
12 Sept 2023 – Hands on Night – 1/2 price sale in the Club Shop on clocks and project kits while stocks last. Reminder that the Club Shop is now cashless so please bring your card or we do accept Apple and Google pay.
16 Sept 2023 – Training Day and painting the lean to – volunteers required to help with the painting (opening up Hall for Training Day set up from 8am).
Another clear and detailed demo from Phil very enjoyable, not sure the carving was to my taste but as Phil said there are endless possibilities. Some demonstrators have plenty of skill but lack presentation skills Phil is not one of those. He is amiable and happy to answer any questions but because of his detailed delivery very few are required. Looking at Dragon Rose Studios he is also a man of many talents. I look forward to having him back again.
On the lack of response to the secretary requirement it is very disappointing that no one has stepped forward. We have a great club , probably the best in the country ,but need support from the members the committee do a great job of providing what the members want , hands on nights, demonstrations, training days, a good social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, and a website, a club shop , discount and various retailers etc all this for £85 a year. Unfortunately too many members take that as a right. Can I suggest that we have a paid Secretary, these are available. And see what members reactions are if we increase membership to pay for it ?
Yet again only Paul and myself commenting on the latest post. Someone has made the effort for those that attended and those that didn’t, putting together the script and pictures. Surely it is not too much to expect members to give feedback for their efforts. I for one enjoyed the evening and the unusual item turned. A good demo well presented thank you Zac and Martin you are appreciated.