Author: West Northants Woodturners

The evening demonstration was undertaken by one of our members who made a gavel and anvil. 

         

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This demonstration showed many techniques for both spindle and faceplate orientation turning as well as an inlay which went into the strike part of the anvil. Overall this was an interesting and informative demonstration.

The start of another year and the demonstrator for the evening was Roger Gilbert. The evening was filled with 3 projects, two of which were intertwined with each other. Roger’s first offering was to make a circular picture frame from the section of a bowl blank that usually ends up as shavings. In this case he mounted the bowl blank as usual but instead of shaping the outside of the bowl he parted off a ring that could be rechucked to make the frame.

Roger then remounted the bowl and followed the usual processes for making a bowl. However, this one was a little different as it was a “boat bowl”. This is different from a standard bowl as the finished bowl is made by cutting the bowl in half then gluing it back together using the small flange on the top of the bowl. (Not that easy to explain, it was much easier to understand when you watch it being done.  

                                                         

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The third project was a 2 part vase that included a glass tube that Roger won as part of the recent raffle.

The January competition was also run and the results were as follows

1st        Mick Denton with a multi lidded box   

 

 

 

 

 

2nd       Dave Simms with a Bertie Bassett Liquorice Alsort model 

 

 

 

 

 

Joint 3rd was Bob Green with a bottle light and Colin Humphries with a Laburnum goblet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The evening was intended as a social event with Christmas nibbles plus a bit of turning. The food table was well stocked with all of the usual low calorie items all of which were well received.

Mick Denton did the demonstration showing how 2 bowls can be created from one piece of Yew log. He showed the making of a standard bowl and then a natural edge bowl. The evenin g progressed really well and Mick even managed to make 2 bowls without going through the bottom of either of them. Amazing!! 

 

Mick Denton started the evening with some requests for the members to ponder and answer at the next meeting.

1        We are looking for 2 volunteers to pick up the hall keys, open up, close at the end of the evening and then return the keys.

2       Next meeting is a Christmas event so please bring along some savouries, cakes drinks etc. Alcohol is not allowed in the Hall.

3       Should we restart interval tea, coffee and biscuits

4       We need a couple of volunteers to help with the audio visual equipment.

5        We need a volunteer for Programme Secretary.

If anyone is interested in the volunteer positions please contact Mick Denton at the next meeting.

The main part of the evening was a hands on with a couple of lathes set up for anyone to use and a sharpening station. Each was demonstrated by Gerald Hubbard, Roger Gilbert and Mick Denton.

       

There was a great deal of interest in the machines and the demonstrations turned into a tuition event with quite a number of people getting involved. This was a great evening and time passed so quickly.

The December competition was also run and there was a dead heat for 1st place. Dave Simms created a merry-go-round and Roger Gilbert produced an olive wood bowl.

       

 

Second was Bob Green with a table light.

Third place went to Colin Humphries bowl.

 

Gary Rance was the demonstrator for the evening. Gary is a well known production turner and he decided to show us the making of a small box with an insert in the lid.

The wood was Bocote which has a marvellous grain pattern, however, this particular blank had a serious crack down it which gave quite a few headaches but Gary persevered with it. The box itself was made using the usual processes but Gary did explain the techniques he uses to achieve the accuracy. The insert was one that he had made previously comprising a body of boxwood, an ebony ring and a centre of what looked like cherry. This was offset from the centre for interest. This was turned to size and then the box lid had a recess turned to match it. Again many tips, techniques and processes were discussed and demonstrated.

The finished box looked really nice even though the crack was still present so we saw lots of ways to get over problems that we all encounter.

To finish the evening Gary made a small Christmas tree bauble which showed off a whole new series of processes.

The demonstrator for the evening was Emma Cook (aka The Tiny Turner) although Emma was stuck in traffic but managed to get to the venue just in time. She introduced the subject for the evening as a variation on her “Gonks” which was to be a Father Christmas LED light. This was a multi component project comprising turned wooden base, hat, nose, bobble, beard fabric and a glass dome and LED string light.

The turning aspect followed usual faceplate and spindle orientation practices although the base and hat needed a bowl turned fairly accurately to match the glass dome. The base was brushed to clean the grain, sprayed black and then gilt waxed to highlight the grain. The hat was stained red except for the bead at the bottom which represented the fur trim.

The wooden bits and the beard were assembled with ca glue and the wood to glass joints were bonded with Soudal Fixall glue which is flexible.

Emma had some kits for this project for sale on the night and if you are interested she also has them for sale on her website. Overall the demonstration proved to be of interest and showed that you can create a project of your own with a little imagination.

The November competition was also run and the winner was Colin Gee with his nicely turned vase.

Second place was David Hartley with his tripod stool (although the poor photography work makes it look like 2 legs. The third is behind the front one).

Third was Colin Humphries with a lovely turned and coloured bowl.

Paul Hannaby conducted the evening’s demonstration and set out to make a straight sided box. The first blank that he started to turn to round proved to have a crack and a knot going through the wood. He decided that he would not continue with that piece and restart with a fresh blank. This emphasises the importance of checking the wood you use to minimise the risk of mishaps.

Paul followed the usual process by turning to round between centres, creating chucking spigots at both ends then remounting in a chuck. The design that Paul followed this time had the male spigot on the lid with the corresponding recess in the main body. He continued to demonstrate the processes and box scrapers he uses to hollow out the box and create the finished box, including how to recover from slight errors during the making process.

To end the demonstration he showed us a quick make of an oyster shell box that is made by alternating the lid and body on the same blank to get a series of boxes without rechucking.

Overall the demonstration was educational, however, we were unable to set up the video system so that may have detracted from the evening as visibility for many was restricted. We can only apologise for this and expect to be back to normal for the next demonstration. 

For this evenings demonstration we welcomed Richard Findley, a well known and respected production woodturner. During his introduction Richard told us about how he got into woodturning and what his work entails. The demonstration was a table leg with a twin start twist which is one of the items he is regularly asked to make.

Richard demonstrated the processes he undertakes and the tools he uses, but more importantly he described in detail the type of cuts with those tools and how to handle them correctly and comfortably. As part of the production process he uses a story board to make sure that all of the important dimensions are the same on each piece.

The explanation of the layout for the twist was fully explained and then shown to us. The finished leg was not completed to the quality that he would usually achieve on his commissions but was sufficient to show us how it could be made.

The evening also included our first competition table for a number of months and the turnout was excellent both in number and quality.

First place went to Geoff Warr with his segmented bowl.

Second place went to David Hartley with his pair of 

Third place was a gravity defying wine glass and bottle by Dave Simms.

This was a fantastic evening, fully entertaining and insightful which everyone enjoyed.

Gerald Hubbard was our demonstrator for the evening and his first project was to use a Banksia Nut to create an innovative light using LED string lights. The nut was turned to shape and cored out so that the wire could be threaded through and that some light would shine out through the seed holes. Banksia Nuts are quite fibrous and they produce a serious amount of dust so full ppe was necessary. Once turned and sanding sealer applied a stiff brush was used to remove stray fibres.

To ensure the globe sat correctly in the top of the nut Gerald had to turn a corresponding dish. The project was not completed because Gerald only wanted to demonstrate the principles of turning the nut and assembling the light system which he did to the trial fit stage. This proved to be an interesting and informative demonstration which may have inspired some to take on a Banksia and others among us to look for another challenge.

Gerald also then went on to demonstrate turning a mushroom using the offcut end of the Banksia Nut and a piece of decking offcut for the stem. The nut made a very interesting mushroom top with the seed holes showing well on both surfaces. To fill in the reaminder of the time Gerald showed us a 20mm diameter knitting needle that he creates and sells at craft fairs. He used a commercial dowel, turning it to a long tapering point and then making a button for the blunt end.

Overall the evening provided insights into turning an unusual material and we all learned something.

The night started with the Extraordinary General Meeting which was primarily aimed at agreeing the future subscriptions. Mick Denton tabled the proposed subscription increases and explained the reasons for having to make these changes. The reasons provided were the cost of professional woodturners, an additional charge by the venue hosts for storage of the equipment. After a little discussion and some questions the meeting voted unanimously to the increases which are outlined below.

The yearly membership subscription charge will now be £15.00 and will be due immediately.

The evening meeting fees will now be £5.00 per meeting with the optional raffle ticket at £1.00. 

Any visitors or prospective new members  will pay the evening meeting fee of £5.00.

The meeting also included presentation of “Turner of the Year” prize which is for the person that has accumulated the most points over the season in the monthly competition. The winner for this year (bearing in mind Covid restrictions) was Clive Bryant so congratulations to him on this award. Below is the photo of Clive accepting his award from Roger Gilbert who organises the competitions.

The meeting then progressed with Adrian Finch doing a demonstration. He admitted straight away that he did not know what he was going to do, but he had several blanks the audience having to decide which he should use. It was just after this that Adrians luck for the evening ran out. The blank chosen had a problem with woodworm so by the time he cleared that the blank was  probably half its size. He had started to make a shallow bowl / dish which unfortunately he managed to blow the bottom our of. He mounted another blank to try to salvage the bowl but this was a glue up and the glues seemed to take the edge off the tools. However, he finally manged to produce a foot that fitted snugly into the hole in the bowl and produced a finished project although not to his usual standards. However, we appreciated his perseverance  and it does prove that with a little imagination mistakes can be recovered so do not give up.