The evening was a demonstration by Roger Gilbert who made a mug tree to hold four mugs.
He started off making the base and drilling it to take the upright. Wax was used as a finish throughout the project, giving the wood a nice warm tone.
Next was the upright, made out of a length of square wood mounted between centres. The four holes for the mug hangers were pre-drilled into the square blank to give a slight upward angle to the hangers once fitted.
Roger made the tenon to suit the base and, as he proceeded to shape the upright, there were a number of requests for particular features from some of the audience so he included a few burn lines and a captive ring in the design. The ring inner surface was sanded against abrasive wrapped around the upright.
Finally, Roger made the four hangers from square blanks held in pin chuck jaws, making the first one and using it as a template for the remaining three.
As there was still a little time left he demonstrated how the conical end, cut off a banksia seed pod prior to mounting on the lathe, need not be wasted and could be used as the head of a mushroom. The picture shows the result.
This brought the interesting and enjoyable (i.e. mildly rowdy – the usual culprits!) evening to an end.
