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Club Years 2021 & 2022
April 2021 to March 2023

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March AGM 2023 - Display Tables

The Wood Sale

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The Committee gave their reports. After some 12 years of the same Annual Subscription, an increase of £5 was proposed, which will take effect from the year starting April 2023.
The annual awards were presented (see e-Newsletter for photos).
Clive Potter and Richard Slee have stood down from the Committee and Allan Rae joins.
The Wood Sale was well stocked as usual and this year, with a selection of Burr Oak, English Box and Redwood.
The Chairman had asked Members to bring in some of their favourite pieces they had produced this year and some are shown below.
 

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February 2023 - Comp 5
Buttons

TABLE  A

TABLE  B

February 2023 - Appraisal Table
with Paul Reeves

 Paul Reeves had brought last month's demonstration buttons after completion at home. There were also two Pink Ivory buttons that didn't match the three he had used for his competition entry. When highlighted with Gold Gilt cream, the decoration clearly shows different patterns made; this lack of consistency is common with a chatter or a knurling tool like the Decorating Elf that Paul had used. However, there were still 3 out of the 5 that matched well.  Next was a 'Guiro' (a handheld percussion instrument) made from American Plane with a Rosewood playing stick.
The night-light holder was a piece of spalted burr Beech rescued from his firewood pile which demonstrated that sometimes a natural split in a piece has far more character than a turned rim.  When it comes to goblets, Paul prefers very thin examples. One was turned from a discarded pine curtain pole, which judging from the tightness of the annual rings, originally grew in a cold region of the world.

 Joe van Wyk had used a scroll chuck to produce a fine ornamental lid to his box.  David Game had made good use of some rippled Maple for a stunning box and brought along his home-made Jamb Chuck he had used as his button finisher for the competition; once he had finished one side and parted off, he finished the reverse with the chuck holding the spigot and the dowel portion disappearing inside the headstock, ready to flick the button out of its jamb.
 Rick Patrick had been commissioned by family to turn a bowl sturdy enough for car keys. He had selected some Apple cut from an old orchard over 10 years before and for the ornamental exercise, decided to wallop it with a Ball Pein Hammer followed by a bright shade of Gold Gilt. His other piece was from a fallen Hornbeam from a neighbour's woodland that had blown down over a year before and was showing promise of some interesting figure within but hadn't turn out quite as exciting as hoped.

 Vic Russell has been dissecting a 10-pin bowling ball all for a good reason; having turned bespoke wooden jaws in the round and accurately sawed them into quarters, this was a jig to position them precisely for drilling securing holes to connect to jaw carriers.  He had also found in the props cupboard of 'Some Mothers Do Have Them' a stool sample for the lead character.
 Some more work from Andy Ogilvie's Ornamental Lathe. It probably took some time to do each one but they certainly are a close match. Finally, 4 examples of Ribbon Streptohedrons created by John Bolt.

January 2023 - Appraisal Table
with Andy Ogilvie

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 David Game had brought in 2 fine examples of salvaged worktops highlighting his carpentry skills - the stool had uniform matching decoration on the various components while the Bar Skittles had perfectly flush fitted Laburnum insets for the skittle positions.  His Skittle template had cone-shaped wedges which allowed very accurate marking up with a sharp pencil.
 Andy's first piece was made using an Oval Chuck on his ornamental lathe, which works by the wood (and the chuck holding it) being moved towards/away from a fixed cutter by a sliding mechanism twice every turn to create the oval shape. The stopper is of Faux Ivory, which he had intended to have as a thin curved oval shape to match the top of the wood. Real Ivory is often ultra thin but clearly Faux Ivory is not as sturdy, so he had to resort to creating an intricate decoration out of the remaining stem.  Andy Ogilvie's hollow form was of Fig which had numerous splits within (somewhat similar to inside Eucalyptus). After turning, he had considered trying to fill the splits but realised it would have been easier to do so before the finishing cuts.

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 Following last month's demonstration of thread cutting with a Screw Box & Tap, Paul Reeves had brought in some alternative (more economic) cutting tools.  If you look at the enlarged photo of the 'Nut & Bolt' tool, you will see angled grooves in the ends of the 2 parts so that the waste wood has somewhere to get out of the way. Paul had created these using a thin metal grinder disc attached to his drill.  These nuts & bolts were metric sizes, which produce quite a fine thread; if you can find them, Whitworth size have coarser threads.
Paul also brought an example of a square sided Nut Cracker in response to a Member commenting that someone in his family suffered from poor grip.  With both the top and the body being left square, the action was a lot less difficult.
There were 2 examples of spheres with dome decorations achieved by being held in a Jamb Chuck. Paul warned that this was a difficult job to know when to stop putting in more decoration - he found he could always see an area he thought was too big compared to the rest.
There was a Cedar and Spalted Holly bowl from a competition several years past. It is surprisingly light because the Cedar body had been hollowed out and sharply undercut leaving a lip for the thin sided Holly to be glued in.  Paul thought the beauty of this was that he had easy access to hollow out and didn't have to worry about how smooth or rough the inside work was!
Lastly, Paul had brought in a beautifully figured bowl of Maple Burr.

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Cold weather and travel distance put paid to January's Meeting for David Patrick & Geoff Beddoe. However, they had produced a couple pieces that they thought might be of interest.  The small box with a threaded lid was a collaborative attempt and made of Sapele, 70 x 70mm. The Simon Hope Cutting Jig was straight-forward to use and made an accurate 16tpi thread without suffering serious damage to the thread peaks. The kit also included a 12tpi spindle, which they have yet to experiment with.
 The 250mm diameter segmented bowl had been made by David from two scrap plank ends. The light-coloured wood is Tulip, and the dark wood is Mahogany. The method was simple with only two rules :- The bandsaw cut angle must be 45º AND The distance between the cuts must be equal to the thickness. This is a great introduction into segmented turning, easy to prepare and cost effective.
  The replica oil lamp was made by Geoff Beddoe from a combination a Monkey Puzzle body and a spalted Beech base/lamp carrier. The intention had been to hollow out the inside of the oil reservoir, but Geoff found the wood was too wet and pithy despite more than 18 months in the workshop and thus was left solid.

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December 2022 - Appraisal Table
with Paul Reeves

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  John Bolt has added 3 identical new Christmas tree decorations to his collection virtually every December and brought a selection of past & present Gonks, Angels & Xmas Trees.
  The Son of John Williams had bought and renovated the Saab 95 which had been his first car in 1987.  As it was his 50th on the 26^th June, his Wife decided to find another Saab's speedo and 'clock' it to show his birth date in the mileage and the pointer against his age.  It took a long search and discrete conversations with elderly/retired car dealers who would admit to being skilled in the 'ancient art' before the job was done.  Dad's job was to turn a hollow form and base ring to display the end result.
  Phil Walker's snowmen were striking for their delicate Padauk 'carrot' noses and their convincing rivet eyes & buttons. One assessment about his box with a finial lid was that the lid felt out of proportion and made the piece appear top heavy.
  Ordinarily, bowls are turned thin to infer a delicate beauty but Alan Brook's Robinia Burr with its thickness of natural edge and sides magnifies the interesting contrast of sapwood to heart.
  Andy's 4 offset-turned Ladies were done as an exercise to discover which different shape, colour and texture worked best.
  Julian Hellebrand is working towards making a Nussknacker (German levered-mouth nut cracker). This was a foot high trial version without the mouth mechanism but great attention to decorative detail.

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November 2022 - Comp 4
Animals

TABLE  A

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TABLE  B

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November 2022 - Appraisal Table
with Paul Reeves

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Alan Brooks had brought two 6" bowls superbly finished to show off their grain. The bark of the natural edge had to be supported by superglue, which was subsequently treated with accelerator or allowed to dry before restarting the lathe.
Joe van Wyk's 8" vase had been 'arbortech-ed' and ebonised with metallic spray.  It is easy to agonize how much and how random is enough for each cut of the blade but thankfully, one's initial unease always seems to end in an impressive and coherent overall effect.
Andrew Fairfax's bowl had a great shape on the outside but because of the steep sides, he had found difficulty getting a smooth inside bottom. To get rid of these undulations, Paul suggested one (or a combination of ) - less steep sided design; a gouge with a greater bevel angle; hours with a block sander.  Andy's candlestick had good sharp details in its coves obtained with a round scraper and small gouge.

Jerry Lewis had some magnificent pyrographic examples. He had used artist quality wood dyes on the beautifully coloured tablemat but warned members that after applying acrylic or water colours to bare wood a cellulose sealer should be used as other sealers may lead to unwanted bleeding of colours. Upon being asked how long the mat had taken to decorate, apparently "a short day's work!"  His eye-catching Remembrance bowl with colouring pyro and barbed wire insert came with a 'handle carefully" warning.
Andy Ogilvie's spalted white walnut crotched vase had a remarkably even wall thickness although Paul noted that the inside would have benefited by further smoothing with the help of more coats of sander sealer to stabilize the surface.
Paul explained that with his own bowl, he had deliberately left different levels and areas on the outside to allow for decorative effects such as texturing, pyrography etc
David Hamilton's puzzle might have been a month late but very well made incorporating a number of turned elements.

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October 2022 - Appraisal Table
with Andy Ogilvie

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 Andy expressed delight that a couple of Members had attempted last month's Kilner challenge. He was impressed with the elegant slimness of both lids. Joe van Wyk had turned his jar quite thin which made for a comfortable empty weight. Nigel Batten set off his decorated lid with a matching base plate; he was also commended for including sweets!
 John Bolt had been practising duplicate turning and then constructed a playing surface for various 'pub games' but didn't seem to be keen to progress to turning a chess set although draught pieces could be a possibility.

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  Alan Brooks had turned a Banksia Nut into a Bullet Box with Padauk for the box joints and African Black Wood for the bullet head. The joints between the Banksia and Padauk were very accurately done and even the base had been decorated to look like a bullet primer. Next to that was Alan's first attempt at an open spiral. He had used a 'surform' round file and achieved a uniform gap all round.
  Mike Woodhouse had also turned a spiral with a cunningly disguised candle holder having a candle cup at whichever end was upright.
  Andy Ogilvie had also turned a candlestick on his ornamental lathe. With mathematical precision, each flute of the bottom plinth and top head coincided exactly with the peak and trough of each spiral cut; and this was achieved while following a bulbous profile of the column.

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  Paul Reeves had brought in a selection of hollow forms to highlight problems facing any new turner. In Paul's early turning days, there weren't specialized tools available so everyone started off hollowing small pieces, which had the advantage of learning how to avoid 'blowing' the piece apart without it costing a fortune whenever your tool broke through to the outside. He then mastered thinner walls before progressing to larger pieces.  The largest of the 3 forms in picture 3 above is a prime example; this Masur Birch wood (blank bought for about £80 just after the Millennium) was one of Paul's early large hollow forms and although lovely to turn, it weighs too much because the walls should have been a little thinner
These days with Rolly Munro, Woodcut or Crown specialized ring, hook or carbide hollowing tools, it is easier to tackle large pieces but harder to grasp the skill of uniformly thin walled vessels with their consequent lightness.
In the same picture 3, the Yew form with a cut in the side was undertaken with more experience. There is only one way to approach the hollowing out; starting from the top opening, hollow out the first half-inch or so and sand before progressing to the next half-inch and sand etc so that the rest of the form below your hollowing/sanding is still solid and less likely to flex. These days, it is common to support the outside with several taut wraps of cling film.  The beauty of the side hole allows one to be precise with uniform thinness.
Probably the best way to hide the finish of the inside of your hollow form is to leave an opening so small that no finger can get down it to check by feel. This will require taking the neck out further down the vessel to access a larger diameter in order for your tool to hollow out. The neck is then refitted with the help of some decoration to camouflage the join.  It is also advisable to flare the inside of the neck at the bottom to make any view down the spout more natural.  An alternative way to mask the internal finish is to coat the inside with matt black paint, although beware that some porous woods might bleed through some of the black paint, particularly if thin walled.

September 2022 - Comp 3
Puzzles & Tricks

TABLE  A

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 Vic's laminated cone of Yew, Ovangkol & Elm had a Black Wood bar seemingly locked within it, but with a knowing thump in the right place, it can be removed.
 Not so obvious in this photo but David's red & blue candy striped strings seemed to have an unnatural influence on each other. If any acorn was extended, the acorn that could pull it back was attached to a different coloured string at the opposite end of the stick.
 Al's sphere had a hidden box within it but cunningly concealed by the ornamental coves. It opened by pushing the correct dimple on the opposite side to the box. This required very precise turning to maintain tight joints.
 Andy Ogilvie's interlaced rings was fooling everyone trying to work out how to separate one. The only solution is with a hacksaw!
 Paul's nail puzzle (balance 6 of the nails without any touching anything more than the central nail and each other) was turned Laburnum on an Elm Burr base. The Laburnum nails were so dense, they sounded like metal when dropped upon the table.
 Nick's magic ball-in-a-beehive trick had been precisely turned but had suffered slightly by the Box Wood moving since it had left his lathe.

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 TABLE  B

Regrettably, there were no entries forward for this table

September 2022 - Appraisal Table
with Paul Reeves

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 In the spirit of this month's theme of Puzzles & Tricks, David produced his 'embodied Lime arrows' ending up in impossible positions leaving one to ponder how it's done.
The solution involves turning the arrow separately then leaving the arrowhead in boiling water for 15 minutes before squashing the blade back towards the shaft using a bench vice, protected with polythene against rust & stains and ensuring that the edges were being crushed and not just folded over. David left the arrow & vice in this position for 3 days before pushing it through the apple/goblet which had been drilled with a hole slightly larger than the arrow's shaft. With the arrow now in its final position, he submersed the crushed head in a cup of hot water which miraculously allowed the wood cells to expand and return the arrowhead to its original shape.
 David's Uphill Roller is an optical illusion. Although not so evident in the photo, the wood is thinner where the arms are joined at the right of the photo than the opposite ends at the left of the photo, yet the roller always moves from the apparent lower end to the higher end.
The reason is due to the cone shape of the roller; when at the lower jointed end, the cone has larger diameters resting on the track arms which makes the centre of gravity of the cone higher than when it rests on the track arms at the separated ends where the cone rests on smaller diameters. Although the track arms are increasing in height, the slope is not enough to negate the effect of the reducing cone diameters.  As gravity acts upon the C of G, the cone has to move from the right side of the picture to the left.
 Vic's captured mouse within a Sycamore wedge of cheese was another marvel to ponder. Despite all attempts, one couldn't pull the mouse clear of the cheese.
 Joe's logic string puzzles relied upon planning several moves ahead. Fortunately, he was around to reset it when your editor managed to get it in a more complicated knot than he started with!