© Sheffield Woodturning Club 2015
© Sheffield Woodturning Club 2015
designed by Hilary Sinclair
Photos from club demonstration nights with brief descriptions
click the boxes to show a popup window with more images and demo description
,
,
January - Club Member Demonstrations
Brian Oxley - Opera House shape Graham Brooks - 3-centre bud vase Brian showed us his take on a demonstration at the club in 2012 by Bob Chapman (click here for link to club archive of Bob’s demo) based on the opera house in Tenerife. Brian described how he approached the techniques involved and showed us how he turns a ring by using the large size Ashley Iles beading tool. Graham gave us a demonstration of multi- axis turning by turning a block on 3 centres for a bud vase. The technique and ideas can be seen on a Barbara Dill demo on YouTube and also on her website (www.barbaradill.com). We had 2 very different and interesting demos on a very cold evening, which ended earlier than usual.
(click thumbnails for larger images)
February -
Emma Cook “The Tiny Turner”
turning & carving
Emma gave us a demonstration of how she turns wood ready
for carving, together with how to approach the art of carving
and finished by showing us how she makes a carving mallet.
The pieces she turned for carving were both lime, which is good
for carving though more difficult to turn. She used a block of
wood cut into a heart shape which would end up as a flattish
carved dish and a box carved into the shape of a cup cake.
Emma talked us through the techniques for sharpening carving
tools - different to turning tools as they have to be completely
smoothed and polished on both side with no heel - the angle for
sharpening is 21 degrees. The wheels must be running in reverse
when sharpening and polishing so the tools don’t catch.
She told us what to consider when carving, including the lighting
where the piece will be displayed and how you will hold the piece. The cut is made by rolling the chisel
onto the wood, slicing into it preferably diagonally into the grain. She finishes her piece with Danish oil
thinned with white spirit if it is a thicker make such as Rustins.
Emma finished the evening demonstrating how she makes a carving mallet out of beech.
(click thumbnails for larger images)
Jan was visiting us from the Netherlands, after demonstrating at
Turners Retreat. He gave us a superb demo that held everyone's
attention with his techniques and tools, demonstrating thread
chasing and off centre turning. His favourite pieces to turn are
small threaded boxes and the variety on display showed us just
what skills he has.
Jan turned two pieces, a multi-axis box with finial and a small
acorn box. Both pieces had threaded lids.
The main part of the multi-axis box was turned with cherry, Jan
says he finds fruit woods particularly good for thread chasing.
The lid was olive wood, another good thread chasing wood and
the finial was maple. Jan uses special jaws with rounded
internal profile for multi axis turning, called
“Exzenterspannbacken with dovetail for Nova Art.Nr:250149”
available from a German company Drechselbedarf K. Schulte and
cost 64 euros.
His 2nd piece was a small acorn threaded box, using boxwood
and a real acorn cap (search online for supplies - Etsy have
suppliers), he likes American red oak acorn caps as they are
wider and flatter than European ones. A threaded piece of
boxwood was glued inside so there is no need to find a way to
hold the cap in the jaws.
(click thumbnails for larger images)
April
Jan Hovens -
Multi-axis, threaded boxes
Susan R Evans gave an illustrated talk centering on examples of
medieval woodwork in the Barnsley area. She went "off piste"
now and then, making it all the more interesting and
highlighting her love of history and all things wood related.
Her enthusiasm for her subject shines through. She also
showed us several of the pieces for which she is well known,
and is pictured with a piece based on one of Aesop's fables -
"The Cock and the Pearl"
(click thumbnails for larger images)
Susan R Evans - talk:
Medieval Woodwork
in the Barnsley area
Joey Richardson, internationally acclaimed
turner and sculptor gave us a fascinating
demonstration of how she approaches the
creation of her complex and intricate pieces.
Having worked with top American turners,
including Binh Pho she has developed a range
of techniques that she shared with us.
She showed us how she turns wet sycamore
down to around 2mm - using a light to see
that the turning is even (important to prevent
the wood cracking) - this can then be dried in
a microwave, 20 seconds at a time with
kitchen roll paper to absorb the moisture. She
transferred a photocopied image of a rose onto
the wood using either a xylene pen or cellulose thinners (keeping the brush just damp). This was then
pierced with a compressed air NSK Presto air tool and a dental supplies 699 piercing burr - keeping the burr
perpendicular, cutting clockwise. A Dremel can also be used, although slower with less control. Thicker
wood should be cut in several passes. She cleaned the piece with 3M bristle brushes and created a natural
edge, cutting round the top of the rose using a Proxxon jigsaw for the cutouts. The edge was carved and
sanded down rather than left flat. Joey demonstrated other techniques including pyrography with a wire
pyrography tool; filling small pierced out gaps with 3D Crystal Colour lacquer for a stained glass effect; and
airbrushing techniques to get a shaded image for the butterfly wings. Her pieces are finished with Chestnut
Acrylic spray, polished with 3M wet and dry polishing paper, then relacquered. The demonstration packed a
lot into a short time and was much appreciated.
Tools used include Simon Hope’s square bar end grain cutting tools, her tip for cleaning the airbrush was to
dilute 40% Mr Muscle cleaner with water. The webpage www.joeyrichardson.com/demo.html has
demonstration notes and links to suppliers.
(click thumbnails for larger images)
June
Joey Richardson
Wood Artist
Dave gave us an action packed day, promising 4 pieces
and eventually turning 5, comprising a threaded box, a
doughnut bowl, a quick demo of how to turn a small
goblet, an off centre female form and a Mark Baker
style finial box.
Dave initially drew out the design for the base of the
box to show us how it is approached, then turned and
thread chased it, making the thread chasing look
considerably simpler than it usually is for a beginner!
The wood has a spigot at both ends to allow the lid to
be turned and threaded. Dave always works at a slow
speed (under 500 rpm for thread chasing. For the
female thread he used a support tool tucked under his
arm to rest the thread chasing tool on. He finished the
piece with buffing mops - starting with the No. 2 mop
and diamond white cutting compound followed by
carnauba wax on a swansdown mop. He runs the lathe
faster for the harder mops and slower for the soft.
The doughnut bowl was mounted on a screw chuck and
the outside shaped, then chucked and the inside
turned, saying that a better finish could be achieved
with the bowl gouges at a slower speed, including the
Simon Hope tool. The base was finished by mounting
the bowl on a jam chuck - making the chuck slightly
loose then packing it with kitchen roll to prevent
marking. Dave sharpens all his gouges to the same
angle with a fingernail grind apart from the acute
angled bowl gouge for final finishing inside bowls.
We were given a quick demo by request on how to
make a small goblet, which didn’t go entirely to plan
as the lip broke - Dave pointed out that this would
happen if you attempt to return to the edge after
moving further in!
The instructions for the offcentre female form with hat were handed out and can also be found online at
www.atco732.tumblr.com
The final piece of the day was a finial box, where the base of the box was similar to the doughnut bowl,
but on a stand. The finial top was turned first then parted off. It’s important to remember to make the the
hole in the base the same size as the top but allow for a small step inside for the top to rest on. The
bottom of the finial top was finished by mounting it in a jam chuck with a hole through the middle that
the finial will fit through and a piece of kitchen roll to prevent marking.
We saw an interesting range of products demonstrated and Dave used his position as AWGB Chairman to
tell us to look out for the next AWGB seminar to be held in 2018 at Yarnfield, which will be a greatly
improved affair.
(click thumbnails for larger images)
June 18th
Dave Atkinson
All day demo
Sally started out working in glass and ceramic and
moved on to woodturning, mainly with green wood,
which she then decorates with a variety and
combination of styles. She did no turning at this
demonstration but spoke about how she approaches her
choice of decoration and some of the techniques she
uses, giving some members the chance to try them out.
She emphasised how important it is to decide how and
what to decorate before starting out and planning in
advance. Sally uses a variety of techniques for
decoration, including dried beans and peas that she
fixes with Golden Gel. She also uses varying size dots of
Golden Tar Gel to get a raised effect - a technique that
requires some practice. There was an impressive array
of pyrography techniques on show, including a carved
chequered effect. We were told that to avoid the
‘blobs’ at the start of pyrography, particularly when
doing a signature it is important to have the pen
moving prior to touching the wood. More about Sally
and her work can be seen at www.sallyburnett.co.uk.
(click thumbnails for larger images)
July
Sally Burnett
Designs in Wood
Richard gave us his usual straightforward and edifying
demonstration of turning a candlestick, full of hints and
tips, particularly with reference to spindle turning - his
speciality. This was in 2 parts, and used pine, showing us
that pine can provide just as effective in woodturning as
other harder or more exotic woods - as usual it just needs
sharp tools! Richard has a 35 degree grind on his spindle
gouges.
Richard turned the base telling us to drill through the side
at this stage before turning it round to make a bowl recess
underneath to take the wiring. He suggested it looked
better if you drill the hole either into the side grain or at
90 degrees into the end grain.
Richard gave us a tip when cutting against the grain - spray
on sanding sealer (or any other finish) which stiffens the
fibres to allow you to get a better finish. To make the
centre hole in the stand he uses a hand held extra long
drill bit, fixed into a handle. It comes from the Wealden
Tool Company, who also supply a wide range of routing
equipment. He drills through halfway down before turning
it round to drill the remainder going in only an inch at a
time before taking it out to clear it.
August
Richard Findley
spindle turned candlestick
Richard uses a skew chisel to cut coves, reminding us to use the bottom half of the chisel tip. He finished
by giving us some advice on the electrical fittings, if you are planning to sell them they must comply with
the regulations.
(click thumbnails for larger images)
Susan returned to give us a fascinating talk on how she
designs and constructs her automata. She started with a
single chicken popping out of a box. She talked about
where she gets her ideas, from folk art, books on birds and
other sources that interest her. Wherever possible she
likes to include driftwood in her work. She has no website
and relies on word of mouth to sell her creations mainly
through galleries.
The chicken, carved from lime and decorated, had a small
brass picture wire eye in the base, which is attached to
the cam at the base of the box with a the crank wire made
from electro plated brazing rod. The cam is mounted on
dowel which protrudes through the side of the box, with
beads for spacers. Her boxes are made from birch ply,
which she scorches and colours with Brusho powder paint.
She gets her handles from B&Q.
The gull automata had a fish in the front and the gull was
attached by a wire to a screw at the back of the piece, all
controlled by the handle at the front. She uses screws that
have a smooth part below the head so the crank wire
doesn’t get caught in the thread.
Despite there being no turning this proved to be an
extremely entertaining evening with plenty of Sue’s
anecdotes to keep us amused.
(click thumbnails for larger images)
September
Susan R Evans
Designing and making automata
Andrew Hall, made a welcome return, this time covering
some small projects. The 1st - a ‘Dickie’ bow tie, he
suggested was ideal as a warm up exercise. He turned a
120-150mm long cylinder from which he made the beads
and coves for the bow tie (see photos). This was mounted
in a specially shaped holder in order to bandsaw the bow
tie in half, producing 2 identical pieces. He showed us
how he made a cylinder sander with a cylinder of wood
mounted in the chuck and applied self adhesive
sandpaper, bought from a Motorists discount store. He
used this sander to sand the back of the bow tie from the
centre to make a curve and also sanding out at each end.
It was finished with Tetrasil trade spray lacquer cut back
with webrax and resprayed. He attached a 14” long piece
of elastic to the centre of the back with thick superglue
and an upholstery stud (with the point cut off to 3mm)
glued into a 3mm long hole using a 1mm drill.
His 2nd project was an owl made from a sphere for the
head and a separate turned body. He uses a Paul Howard
sphere cutting jig (£150).and showed us 2 different sorts
of cup chucks to hold the finished sphere to turn the pair
of eyes. The beak was carved with the flat of a cutter
from Woodart Products in a Dremel and inserter teddy
bear eyes into drilled holes. The body was turned with a
bowl shape in the top to fit the head - he suggested this
could be turned into a box.
Andrew then talked us through the process he uses to
make his new interest - a ukelele type instrument with a
sound bowl. He turns a pair of necks, with an 80mm
square length of timber cut in half and rejoined with a
paper joint (with a screw in each end to keep them
together), and does the same with the bowls. To end the
evening we had the pleasure of a demonstration of how
they play from Andrew himself and also from our own
Derek Bott.
(click thumbnails for larger images)
October
Andrew Hall
‘Dickie’ bow, owl and bowl ukelele
Steve gave us a demonstration of his skills as a
production turner with a proficient display of spindle
turning. Most of the evening was taken up with a
square edge goblet, which he turned then coloured
with black ebonising spray and gilded with gilding
cream. Starting with a square block he roughed down
the top and parted it off to create a lid later on. The
body was roughed down leaving a square part at the
top which he shaped. This was coloured with ebonising
spray prior to hollowing out the goblet to contrast the
wood with the coloured exterior. The exterior was
shaped and sanded before ebonising the stem. Gilt
cream was applied to the ebonised areas and wiped off
with finishing oil on kitchen paper with the lathe
running.
The lid was mounted in a jam chuck turning the
underside first to finish it off creating a tenon that
would fit into the goblet. This was then remounted to
complete the top of the lid, shaping, ebonising and
gilding as for the base. A jam chuck was also used to
remove the bottom of the base.
Steve finished the evening with a technical
demonstration of spindle turning a pommel block where
a square base meets round, such as in stair spindles.
(click thumbnails for larger images)
November
Steve Heeley
Oriental goblet with square wings
Our ever-popular home-grown demonstrator and club
member Rick turned a natural edge bowl and two trees,
both of which involved off centre turning.
(click thumbnails for larger images)
December
Rick Dobney
Gallery - 2016 demos
Sheffield
Woodturning Club
Gallery - Club Demonstrations 2016
Photos from club demonstration nights with brief
descriptions
click the boxes to show a popup window with more images and demo
description
,
,
January - Club Member Demonstrations
Brian Oxley - Opera House shape Graham Brooks - 3-centre bud vase Brian showed us his take on a demonstration at the club in 2012 by Bob Chapman (click here for link to club archive of Bob’s demo) based on the opera house in Tenerife. Brian described how he approached the techniques involved and showed us how he turns a ring by using the large size Ashley Iles beading tool. Graham gave us a demonstration of multi-axis turning by turning a block on 3 centres for a bud vase. The technique and ideas can be seen on a Barbara Dill demo on YouTube and also on her website (www.barbaradill.com). We had 2 very different and interesting demos on a very cold evening, which ended earlier than usual.
(click thumbnails for larger images)
February - Emma Cook “The Tiny Turner” turning & carving
Emma gave us a
demonstration of
how she turns
wood ready for
carving, together
with how to
approach the art of
carving and
finished by showing
us how she makes a
carving mallet.
The pieces she turned for carving were both lime,
which is good for carving though more difficult to
turn. She used a block of wood cut into a heart shape
which would end up as a flattish carved dish and a box
carved into the shape of a cup cake.
Emma talked us through the techniques for sharpening
carving tools - different to turning tools as they have
to be completely smoothed and polished on both side
with no heel - the angle for sharpening is 21 degrees.
The wheels must be running in reverse when
sharpening and polishing so the tools don’t catch.
She told us what to consider when carving, including
the lighting where the piece will be displayed and
how you will hold the piece. The cut is made by
rolling the chisel onto the wood, slicing into it
preferably diagonally into the grain. She finishes her
piece with Danish oil thinned with white spirit if it is a
thicker make such as Rustins.
Emma finished the evening demonstrating how she
makes a carving mallet out of beech.
(click thumbnails for larger images)
Jan was visiting us from the Netherlands, after
demonstrating at Turners Retreat. He gave us a superb
demo that held everyone's attention with his
techniques and tools, demonstrating thread chasing
and off centre turning. His favourite pieces to turn are
small threaded boxes and the variety on display
showed us just what skills he has.
Jan turned two pieces, a multi-axis box with finial and
a small acorn box. Both pieces had threaded lids.
The main part of the multi-axis box was turned with
cherry, Jan says he finds fruit woods particularly good
for thread chasing. The lid was olive wood, another
good thread chasing wood and the finial was maple.
Jan uses special jaws with rounded internal profile for
multi axis turning, called “Exzenterspannbacken with
dovetail for Nova Art.Nr:250149” available from a
German company Drechselbedarf K. Schulte and cost
64 euros.
His 2nd piece was a small acorn threaded box, using
boxwood and a real acorn cap (search online for
supplies - Etsy have suppliers), he likes American red
oak acorn caps as they are wider and flatter than
European ones. A threaded piece of boxwood was glued
inside so there is no need to find a way to hold the cap
in the jaws.
(click thumbnails for larger images)
April
Jan Hovens -
Multi-axis, threaded boxes
Susan R Evans gave an illustrated talk centering on
examples of medieval woodwork in the Barnsley area.
She went "off piste" now and then, making it all the
more interesting and highlighting her love of history
and all things wood related. Her enthusiasm for her
subject shines through. She also showed us several of
the pieces for which she is well known, and is pictured
with a piece based on one of Aesop's fables - "The
Cock and the Pearl"
(click thumbnails for larger images)
Susan R Evans - talk:
Medieval Woodwork
in the Barnsley area
Dave gave us an action packed day, promising 4 pieces
and eventually turning 5, comprising a threaded box, a
doughnut bowl, a quick demo of how to turn a small
goblet, an off centre female form and a Mark Baker
style finial box.
Dave initially drew out the design for the base of the
box to show us how it is approached, then turned and
thread chased it, making the thread chasing look
considerably simpler than it usually is for a beginner!
The wood has a spigot at both ends to allow the lid to
be turned and threaded. Dave always works at a slow
speed (under 500 rpm for thread chasing. For the
female thread he used a support tool tucked under his
arm to rest the thread chasing tool on. He finished the
piece with buffing mops - starting with the No. 2 mop
and diamond white cutting compound followed by
carnauba wax on a swansdown mop. He runs the lathe
faster for the harder mops and slower for the soft.
The doughnut bowl was mounted on a screw chuck and
the outside shaped, then chucked and the inside
turned, saying that a better finish could be achieved
with the bowl gouges at a slower speed, including the
Simon Hope tool. The base was finished by mounting
the bowl on a jam chuck - making the chuck slightly
loose then packing it with kitchen roll to prevent
marking. Dave sharpens all his gouges to the same
angle with a fingernail grind apart from the acute
angled bowl gouge for final finishing inside bowls.
We were given a quick demo by request on how to
make a small goblet, which didn’t go entirely to plan
as the lip broke - Dave pointed out that this would
happen if you attempt to return to the edge after
moving further in!
The instructions for the offcentre female form with
hat were handed out and can also be found online at
www.atco732.tumblr.com
The final piece of the day was a finial box, where the
base of the box was similar to the doughnut bowl, but
on a stand. The finial top was turned first then parted
off. It’s important to remember to make the the hole
in the base the same size as the top but allow for a
small step inside for the top to rest on. The bottom of
the finial top was finished by mounting it in a jam
chuck with a hole through the middle that the finial
will fit through and a piece of kitchen roll to prevent
marking.
We saw an interesting range of products demonstrated
and Dave used his position as AWGB Chairman to tell us
to look out for the next AWGB seminar to be held in
2018 at Yarnfield, which will be a greatly improved
affair.
(click thumbnails for larger images)
June 18th
Dave Atkinson
All day demo
Joey Richardson, internationally acclaimed turner and
sculptor gave us a fascinating demonstration of how she
approaches the creation of her complex and intricate
pieces. Having worked with top American turners,
including Binh Pho she has developed a range of
techniques that she shared with us.
She showed us how she turns wet sycamore down to
around 2mm - using a light to see that the turning is
even (important to prevent the wood cracking) - this
can then be dried in a microwave, 20 seconds at a time
with kitchen roll paper to absorb the moisture. She
transferred a photocopied image of a rose onto
the wood using either a xylene pen or cellulose thinners
(keeping the brush just damp). This was then pierced
with a compressed air NSK Presto air tool and a dental
supplies 699 piercing burr - keeping the burr
perpendicular, cutting clockwise. A Dremel can also be
used, although slower with less control. Thicker wood
should be cut in several passes. She cleaned the piece
with 3M bristle brushes and created a natural edge,
cutting round the top of the rose using a Proxxon jigsaw
for the cutouts. The edge was carved and sanded down
rather than left flat. Joey demonstrated other
techniques including pyrography with a wire pyrography
tool; filling small pierced out gaps with 3D Crystal
Colour lacquer for a stained glass effect; and
airbrushing techniques to get a shaded image for the
butterfly wings. Her pieces are finished with Chestnut
Acrylic spray, polished with 3M wet and dry polishing
paper, then relacquered. The demonstration packed a
lot into a short time and was much appreciated.
Tools used include Simon Hope’s square bar end grain
cutting tools, her tip for cleaning the airbrush was to
dilute 40% Mr Muscle cleaner with water. The webpage
www.joeyrichardson.com/demo.html has
demonstration notes and links to suppliers.
(click thumbnails for larger images)
June
Joey Richardson
Wood Artist
Sally started out working in glass and ceramic and
moved on to woodturning, mainly with green wood,
which she then decorates with a variety and
combination of styles. She did no turning at this
demonstration but spoke about how she approaches
her choice of decoration and some of the techniques
she uses, giving some members the chance to try them
out.
She emphasised how important it is to decide how and
what to decorate before starting out and planning in
advance. Sally uses a variety of techniques for
decoration, including dried beans and peas that she
fixes with Golden Gel. She also uses varying size dots
of Golden Tar Gel to get a raised effect - a technique
that requires some practice. There was an impressive
array of pyrography techniques on show, including a
carved chequered effect. We were told that to avoid
the ‘blobs’ at the start of pyrography, particularly
when doing a signature it is important to have the pen
moving prior to touching the wood. More about Sally
and her work can be seen at www.sallyburnett.co.uk.
(click thumbnails for larger images)
July
Sally Burnett
Designs in Wood
![[x]](index_html_files/close.png "Close")
Richard gave us his usual straightforward and
edifying demonstration of turning a candlestick, full
of hints and tips, particularly with reference to
spindle turning - his speciality. This was in 2 parts,
and used pine, showing us that pine can provide just
as effective in woodturning as other harder or more
exotic woods - as usual it just needs sharp tools!
Richard has a 35 degree grind on his spindle gouges.
Richard turned the base telling us to drill through
the side at this stage before turning it round to make
a bowl recess underneath to take the wiring. He
suggested it looked better if you drill the hole either
into the side grain or at 90 degrees into the end
grain.
Richard gave us a tip when cutting against the grain -
spray on sanding sealer (or any other finish) which
stiffens the fibres to allow you to get a better finish.
To make the centre hole in the stand he uses a hand
held extra long drill bit, fixed into a handle. It
comes from the Wealden Tool Company, who also
supply a wide range of routing equipment. He drills
through halfway down before turning it round to drill
the remainder going in only an inch at a time before
taking it out to clear it.
Richard uses a skew chisel to cut coves, reminding us
to use the bottom half of the chisel tip. He finished
by giving us some advice on the electrical fttings, if
you are planning to sell them they must comply with
the regulations.
August
Richard Findley
spindle turned candlestick
(click thumbnails for larger images)
Susan returned to give us a fascinating talk on how
she designs and constructs her automata. She started
with a single chicken popping out of a box. She talked
about where she gets her ideas, from folk art, books
on birds and other sources that interest her.
Wherever possible she likes to include driftwood in
her work. She has no website and relies on word of
mouth to sell her creations mainly through galleries.
The chicken, carved from lime and decorated, had a
small brass picture wire eye in the base, which is
attached to the cam at the base of the box with a the
crank wire made from electro plated brazing rod. The
cam is mounted on dowel which protrudes through
the side of the box, with beads for spacers. Her boxes
are made from birch ply, which she scorches and
colours with Brusho powder paint. She gets her
handles from B&Q.
The gull automata had a fish in the front and the gull
was attached by a wire to a screw at the back of the
piece, all controlled by the handle at the front. She
uses screws that have a smooth part below the head
so the crank wire doesn’t get caught in the thread.
Despite there being no turning this proved to be an
extremely entertaining evening with plenty of Sue’s
anecdotes to keep us amused.
(click thumbnails for larger images)
September
Susan R Evans
Designing and making automata
(click thumbnails for larger images)
October
Andrew Hall
‘Dickie’ bow, owl and bowl ukelele
Andrew Hall, made a welcome return, this time covering
some small projects. The 1st - a ‘Dickie’ bow tie, he
suggested was ideal as a warm up exercise. He turned a
120-150mm long cylinder from which he made the beads
and coves for the bow tie (see photos). This was
mounted in a specially shaped holder in order to
bandsaw the bow tie in half, producing 2 identical
pieces. He showed us how he made a cylinder sander
with a cylinder of wood mounted in the chuck and
applied self adhesive sandpaper, bought from a Motorists
discount store. He used this sander to sand the back of
the bow tie from the centre to make a curve and also
sanding out at each end. It was finished with Tetrasil
trade spray lacquer cut back with webrax and
resprayed. He attached a 14” long piece of elastic to
the centre of the back with thick superglue and an
upholstery stud (with the point cut off to 3mm) glued
into a 3mm long hole using a 1mm drill.
His 2nd project was an owl made from a sphere for the
head and a separate turned body. He uses a Paul
Howard sphere cutting jig (£150).and showed us 2
different sorts of cup chucks to hold the finished sphere
to turn the pair of eyes. The beak was carved with the
flat of a cutter from Woodart Products in a Dremel and
inserter teddy bear eyes into drilled holes. The body
was turned with a bowl shape in the top to fit the head
- he suggested this could be turned into a box.
Andrew then talked us through the process he uses to
make his new interest - a ukelele type instrument with a
sound bowl. He turns a pair of necks, with an 80mm
square length of timber cut in half and rejoined with a
paper joint (with a screw in each end to keep them
together), and does the same with the bowls. To end the
evening we had the pleasure of a demonstration of how
they play from Andrew himself and also from our own
Derek Bott.
Steve gave us a demonstration of his skills as a
production turner with a proficient display of spindle
turning. Most of the evening was taken up with a
square edge goblet, which he turned then coloured
with black ebonising spray and gilded with gilding
cream. Starting with a square block he roughed down
the top and parted it off to create a lid later on. The
body was roughed down leaving a square part at the
top which he shaped. This was coloured with ebonising
spray prior to hollowing out the goblet to contrast the
wood with the coloured exterior. The exterior was
shaped and sanded before ebonising the stem. Gilt
cream was applied to the ebonised areas and wiped
off with finishing oil on kitchen paper with the lathe
running.
The lid was mounted in a jam chuck turning the
underside first to finish it off creating a tenon that
would fit into the goblet. This was then remounted to
complete the top of the lid, shaping, ebonising and
gilding as for the base. A jam chuck was also used to
remove the bottom of the base.
Steve finished the evening with a technical
demonstration of spindle turning a pommel block
where a square base meets round, such as in stair
spindles.
(click thumbnails for larger images)
November
Steve Heeley
Oriental goblet with square wings
Our ever-popular home-
grown demonstrator and
club member Rick turned a
natural edge bowl and two
trees, both of which
involved off centre turning.
(click thumbnails for larger images)
December
Rick Dobney
