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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.

Well after 17 months of Covid lockdowns and restrictions we managed to get the first club night where people could meet face to face. What a pleasant change it was, so welcome everyone who attended it was good to see you all.  

The night itself was a rather quiet affair, meeting old friends, catching up on what we were all doing and viewing the excellent pieces of work that members brought in. Such a good turn out and an inspiration to get on and challenge yourself.

We were lucky to have a small bandsaw donated to the group which will be a very useful addition to our equipment. Mick Denton took the opportunity to demonstrate how to set up a bandsaw to get the best out of it. He also demonstrated it’s versatility with free hand cutting and use of the fence including cutting veneers. The safety aspect of maintenance and usage was explained. A very interesting demonstration even to those of us without a bandsaw.

Hopefully this will mean that we can get back to normal (well the new normal that is). We obviously needed to abide by the covid rules for the village hall but they were not too onerous. 

The next meeting will be getting into the woodturning experience with Les Thorne doing a demonstration. These are always a great event so please come along and be prepared to learn something.

Tonight we welcomed Gary Rance who introduced himself and the itinerary for the evening.

The first part of the evening was a bit of spindle turning to show us techniques and tips on turning beads, coves etc. Although this sounds basic the information and expertise passed on meant that all of us learned something from the explanations that Gary provided.

The second project was a fob watch stand which was made in four pieces where accuracy of manufacture was required to ensure that they all fitted together correctly.

(photo of fob watch stand taken from Gary Rance website)

  The first part of the task was to create the base which was turned to predefined measurements.

The next part was the top ring which also used a cup chuck to finish it off, and then the 2 columns which had to be a matching pair.

There was so much going on with loads of information to take in it was difficult to keep up, especially when he did one of the columns at his normal speed. Very interesting to see him working without worrying about talking to us.

On completion of the main project Gary filled in the remaining time with a bottle stopper. 

It was a great evening that was crammed full of interest and entertainment.

The designs for the items that Gary made are for sale on his website as are the tools etc that he brought along.

Tonight also included the March competition.

1st prize was an inspirational half Taurus drawer by Clive Bryant.

Second was a box made from an old fence post by Ken Garratt.

Third was a pretty little potpourri bowl by Roger Gilbert.

Tonight we welcomed Gregory Moreton to give us a demonstration which consisted of 2 bowls, one rustic made from an oak fencepost, the other a winged form made from a laburnum log.

The first bowl was an old oak fencepost which Gregory prepared so that it could be mounted onto a pine jig to allow it to be turned. Before any turning took place Gregory showed us how he sharpens his bowl gouges to get the best finish even when deep hollowing.

Once mounted the bowl was turned out and power sanded working from the back edge of the bowl working to the middle, then back out again. The working back out is important to remove dust otherwise the next pass will clog the abrasive.

The natural faces of the oak post were then cleaned up using a fine nylon brush mounted on a drill. Once cleaned the piece was treated with sanding sealer. This was applied with a lint free cloth as paper towel would tear and contaminate the grooves. Once the sealer was dry the surfaces were waxed using a toothbrush to apply it. After about 15 minutes the wax could be brushed using a polishing brush in a jacobs chuck in the lathe.

The winged bowl was made from a laburnum log that was split down the middle, sanded flat and then scraped with a cabinet makers scraper to give a fine finish. Be sure to do the splitting of the log safely. The blank was mounted flat side onto a pine carrier to allow turning. The screws were in the area that was to be cut off when the bowl was finished. The wings and outside of the bowl was turned (very carefully as the wings are potentially dangerous). The outside of the bowl could be sanded on the lathe but the wings would need to be done off the lathe.

The bowl was finally reverse mounted on another jig so that the inside of the bowl could be turned and sanded.

It was a great night’s demonstration with lots of good, solid turning tips and insights.

We welcomed once again the 3 Musketeers, Roger Gilbert, Gerald Hubbard and Mick Denton. The night’s challenge was a box made to look like a water droplet using a piece of 2 coloured Padouk.

Roger was up first so he mounted the piece between centres, turned it to round, created a tenon on each end. The piece was then mounted in a chuck and using the rule of thirds the base and lid were parted off. The base was hollowed out and the recess for the lid created. The base was reverse chucked using the lid recess and the outside turned to a finish. When applying the sanding sealer Roger used the sealer on each colour in turn as the red will bleed into the white.

The baton was then passed to Gerald who worked on the lid, mainly the inside and concentrating on getting the tenon right to fit in the base.

This required a lot of fine turning to make sure that he did not remove too much material. He then got carried away and turned some of the outside but went a little too far so the water droplet shape was lost. It was at this point he dumped the final part of the turning on Mick Denton. The final shape was turned out and the piece reverse chucked on the tenon and the pointy end finished.

Overall the evening proved to be very entertaining and with some of the things that did not go quite according to plan proves that even the best can come a cropper from time to time. But there is usually some way to get over any problems you encounter.

The evening also had the February competition.

1st was an intriguing box that included a cute little mouse inside by Clive Bryant.

2nd was a mirror by Bob Green.

Joint 3rd was a vase with Fractal burning by Bryan Turner, a bowl by Gerald Hubbard and an egg box by Roger Gilbert.

Unfortunately the designated demonstrator for the evening was unavailable so we had to revert to plan “B” which was to press gang Roger Gilbert and Gerald Hubbard to provide the entertainment. Needless to say we were not disappointed even though both struggled with using tools that were not their own.

Roger took first dibs and before the tea interval he created a winged bowl which gave most of us at least one useful tip.

After tea Gerald produced a small box and again he also provided a number of tips that will prove useful for most of us.

The Facebook page for West Northants Woodturners seems to be drawing a fair amount of interest and we have had an increase in the membership which is encouraging. Also from this page we have received an option of some wood turning equipment. More details are  on the for sale page.

The evening was described as a social event which allowed us to have a chat and also watch a couple of people using the new lathe. Overall the evening was a reasonable success even though the turnout was a little below par. This was the last meeting of the year 2019, there will be no meeting on 1st January so the first will be Wednesday 15th January 2020. Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy New Year. See you all in the middle of January.

This evening was a new concept of “technique improvement” whereby a lathe was brought out so that members could get close and Roger Gilbert demonstrated woodturning techniques at close quarters. Members got to ask questions and be shown the relevant detail to that question. At the same time our new lathe, an Axminster AT406, was set up and then tested by Gerald Hubbard. He then supported Roger for the rest of the evening.

Also for the evening we had the December competition which was themed as Christmas Decoration and proved to be well represented with a good number of quality projects.

There was a dead heat for first place with a spiky bauble by Bryan Turner and a family of snow men by Bob Green.

Second place went to Ken Garratt with a tree decoration.

Third place went to Arthur Ellis with an elegant snowman T light holder..