DECEMBER 2022
Wood Thread Cutting with a Screw Box and Tap with Paul Reeves.
Thu 15^th Dec 2022 at MWCC Club Night
 

(click any photos in this demo for close up views)

You will need a matching set of Screw Box and Tap.
A size suitable for cracking nuts would be about ¾" diameter.
A close grain wood would seem a better choice but Paul has had mixed results when tapping into hard wood end-grains as the resulting threads would often crumble away.
He found that threads were more sturdy when cutting across grain for hard woods.
TOP TIP : If using soft wood, tap into the end grain after allowing some thin supaglue to soak into it. This will stabilize the resulting action of the cutter as it produces a thread.

Making a Nutcracker

  The Body
For the demonstration Paul had prepared a 3" square by some 6 to 7" length of Hornbeam to mount into a chuck.
The width of the holding bowl will depend upon which nuts you are intending to use : small nuts like almonds/hazel nuts would need about 1" diameter whereas larger nuts like walnuts would need more room. (Probably best not build one for a Coconut!)
In order to accommodate walnuts, Paul fixed an 1¼" diameter Forstner bit into a Jacobs Chuck held in the tailstock marked for a depth of about 2" - this would allow the walnut to be inside enough to be held steady rather than catapulting out the opening when applying pressure with the screw crusher.
With the bowl hollowed, the Forstner was removed.
A hole in the side was drilled with a size slightly less than the Tap's diameter.  (If you study the photo above for the ¾" Screw Box, you will notice Paul's Father had placed a ⅝" flat hole cutting tool as a starting point but Paul chooses to use a slightly larger Forstner)
The Tap is going to form the female thread. Once the Tap has started a thread, it will need to be reversed a quarter of a turn after about every half turn in order to clear the cutting debris.
With the thread completed, the outside was turned and shaped into a barrel with the thread hole at the fattest dimension.

TOP TIP : When your gouge passes over the thread hole, you will need to avoid any excess weight into the wood or else you will end up with a dent/cove in line with the hole.
Keep a check where the bottom of the hollowed bowl is relative to the outside in order to avoid shaping the handle too close and weakening the piece.
Abrasives were used through the grits but again, being careful of around the thread hole or else it would end up elongated. The first grit has to rid the scratches left by the gouge, while the finer grits get rid of the previous abrasive marks.

The piece was turned around and a Jam Chuck was used to drive via the Forstner hole.
The original spigot was turned away to a thin support, but strong enough to maintain the piece against the Jam Chuck. The thin support was sawn off and abrasives applied to finish.

  The Crusher
A square blank of Hornbeam about 8" long was mounted between centres and turned to a cylinder at the required diameter for the chosen Screw Box size. 
The length of thread required on the dowel was measured from the outer edge of the bowl though the thread hole to the opposite inside edge. A further 1" was added to compensate for the distance the dowel has to go into the Screw Box to reach the thread cutter, which creates the male thread, and for the space of a chamfer to be turned at the end point of the thread (to help avoid damaging the thread as it contacts the nut or else the curved inner surface of the bowl).  This is best achieved accurately by use of a Skew Chisel held with the long point down.

Unlike the Tap procedure, the Screw Box technique requires turning the dowel in the same direction (without any quarter turns in reverse) so that the off cut exits the box without breaking off and jamming inside.
A handle was then turned and sanded before being sawn off at the chamfered bottom of the thread and at the top of the handle.
TOP TIP : If using softer woods, a hard tip could be added to the bottom of the thread with a hob nail or gluing a button of hard wood, eg Box, Rosewood etc.

(photos by Rick Patrick & Paul Reeves)
<to index>

October 2022  -  DEMO 4
Animals  with Paul Reeves
Thu 20^th Oct at MWCC Club Night

The Internet can show a confusing scrapbook of examples but googling, for example, "animals for wood turners" should be able to give you more focused ideas.
The challenge to produce something unique is to see a picture of a finished item and then use your experience and wits to work out how to achieve it rather than just following instructions from start to finish.

Paul had seen a picture of a hedgehog and thought he could improve it with an up-turned snout using 'Off Centred Turning' principles and some 'Texturing' to suggest a prickly coat.
(You can find both of these techniques described in our previous demonstrations <HERE>)

When approaching a project where you have to work out the way of doing things, it is likely that you will need to experiment on your first attempt. Paul confided that the finished article he had shown at the start was his second attempt and that he had adapted it from his initial plan.

HEDGEHOG
He didn't need a big piece of wood - he had selected a 100mm length of 40mm square and marked diagonals on both ends. To achieve the eccentrical turning to come, he marked the centre and a small offset up one diagonal with a larger offset on the other side of the centre mark. He repeated this at the other end taking care to mark the same offsets adjacent to the same side edge.
The large offset would be used for the animal's underneath and one of the small offsets would be used to form the face.

The Body
With the blank mounted between centres, Paul turned it to a cylinder and then marked out the desired length of the hedgehog while ensuring that each end had sufficient remaining wood to be strong enough to support the head and tail drives for subsequent texturing and offset turning. He rounded off the back end of the animal (without parting off) and tapered the face end.
It was important to sand before texturing because it would be impossible to sand anything afterwards without spoiling the texture effect.

Paul's texturing tool was a metal-worker's Knurling Tool (although similar could be achieved with others available eg Henry Taylor Decorating Elf). To obtain the best result, Paul maintained a positive inward force to keep an even pressure on the cutting wheel(s) while the tool was moved along the tool rest making contact parallel to the surface of the piece.
Paul finished the body with some appropriately coloured stain applied with a cloth.

  The Underneath
With the blank now centred on both large offsets AND checking by hand-turning before starting that the piece cleared the tool rest, Paul started turning away the hedgehog's underneath. This called for smooth movements because of the the intermittent contact of the cutting edge of the gouge. The back and front ends were rounded away but importantly, NOT turned away more than the central axis of the starting cylinder (which of course is not the same as the central axis of this current configuration). Paul's intention was to get the end of the finished nose at the original central axis.
The underneath was then sanded with abrasives on a hard flat block held rigidly perpendicular to the turning surface such that it only sanded the newly turned surface without affecting the edge of the textured surface.

  The Face
The piece was configured with the headstock driving the central spot and the tailstock holding the small offset at the hedgehog's face end. Paul turned away the cylindrical wooden block end carefully so as to preserve the original cylinder's central spot, which allowed better access to turn away a curved face.
This was sanded with a flat block as above before reconfiguring both stocks to the original centres.
The tail and snout ends were turned away to almost parted. A Skew was the preferred gouge to finish off the cross-grain ends to thin stubs, which were then sawn clear.
The new cuts were tidied up with abrasives and fresh coloured stain applied to the tail end.
Paul set the headstock with a block holding an abrasive disc with Velcro in order to put a flat on the underside to aid stability.

-----o00000o-----

ELEPHANT
Another turned animal that caught Paul's attention was an Elephant, but very much in a Scandinavian style rather than life-like. The design was clearly in 4 separate pieces connected together; possibly by dowels or perhaps by gluing flattened bearing surfaces.
Inspired by the thought of a pink Elephant, Paul chose his recently planked Redwood. This is a soft and slightly brittle wood so a ring centred tailstock would be best.

  The Head & Trunk
He had prepared the body prior to demonstration as it was a simple shape. Paul felt the stylized head and trunk shouldn't touch the ground nor be much higher than the body. He shaped and sanded before removing from the centres with a Skew Chisel across the end-grain.

  The Ears
With an appropriately sized square blank, Paul had band sawed it in half and had taped the halves together again with double-sided sticky tape applied to the ends. (This can be done after turning but it helps to keep the ends square). Both drive and tail stocks needed to be ring centred types to avoid the piece from splitting apart while turned to a centre. Having ridden elephants himself while holidaying in Asia, Paul could vouchsafe that their ears were quite triangular so he turned the cylinder into an oval shape before sanding and then removing from the blank using a Skew. This resulted, after separating, into a rounded triangular shape.

For assembly, he carefully checked where the various components would need to be joined so he could then sand flat the corresponding surfaces using the circular Velcro-holding disc above ready to be hot glued together.

The November Competition was set for a turned example of an animal as a stand alone piece or else on / in something relevant.

(photos by Andy Ogilvie, Rick Patrick & Paul Reeves)
<to index>

  SEPTEMBER 2022

Taking on the Kilner Challenge with  Andy Ogilvie
Thu 15^th Sept at MWCC Club Night

Some thought should be given to which type of finishing to use.
As the most common contents of these jars will be foodstuffs, a 'food safe' oil or wax should be considered for at least the inside surfaces.

  Refinements
Andy explained that his first wooden lid & base attempt for a single jar was a design he subsequently rejected because it prevented the user to visually identify the contents, whereas a glass jar is obviously not as limited.
However, adding wooden lids to glass bases or wooden bases to glass lids overcomes this limitation and certainly enhances their style.

Another possible enhancement was by adding a flower decoration, which Andy demonstrated after the tea break using Box with a Purpleheart insert (shown above).
Finally, Andy produced a wooden top version for a Kilner bottle that he had made at home to complete the Kilner range as well as his Challenge for the night.

<to index>

For clarity, games like Solitaire (although they involve many turned parts) are not considered a puzzle in the sense we mean tonight.
We are looking for a teaser that cannot be easily or readily solved.
For example, Paul's Ball & Beehive puzzle with its apparently disappearing ball, is a precisely turned piece with a very thin walled half ball within a segment of a model skep (ancient straw beehive).

  Lipstick Puzzle
The Puzzle Maker demonstrates to his punter that the inner lipstick is able to slip out of its tube by turning it upside down.
The task is to remove the inner lipstick without tipping it over. The stick is annoyingly smooth, pointed and barely above the rim of the outer box.

The skills required of the woodturner are to fashion the lipstick to a close fit of a perfectly parallel inside wall of a box and at just the right height to be unable to grip with fingertips. Also, as a contrast of colours appears more striking, choose woods that have stood long enough to have stabilized their moisture content and are of varieties unlikely to shrink/swell differently to each other on dry/wet days.
The best way to achieve the parallel wall is by using a drill held within a Jacobs Chuck in your tailstock, (although if you don't have these tools available, next best is a Box Cutter).
As accuracy of this cut is paramount and there can be a tendency for a drill to 'walk' on its first touch, you might consider using a Centre Drill Bit (aka Slocombe Bit) which are designed to provide a starting hole for a larger-sized drill bit.

 ¤  The Box Section
Paul mounted a rectangular block clenched between the side edges of his o'Donnell jaws and turned the exposed end to a cylinder of sufficient length for the outer box.

A Jacobs Chuck was fitted to the tailstock and Paul selected an appropriately sized Forstner bit with a toothed rim. Originally, a Saw-tooth Bit was used for drilling down end grain and a Forstner Bit for cross grain.
The lathe was set to a slow speed and a hole was drilled to about 30mm depth.

 Top Tip : When using a Jacobs Chuck, the operation works well while under the positive pressure of winding the drill into the piece but upon withdrawing, the bit can bind onto the inside of the cut hole and get pulled out of the morse taper. Suddenly, a perfectly still drill chuck with gear teeth has started revolving at the speed of the lathe. Anticipate this by supporting the chuck to stay in the tailstock with your free hand gripping it clear of the gear teeth.

Having checked the depth of the hole, Paul marked where he planned the base of the box to be with a narrow Parting Tool and shaped the outside to a thinner body. He sanded through the grits on the outside and also, more importantly, the inside using abrasives wrapped around a pencil.
To add interest, Paul used his Decorating Elf, brushing off resulting fluff with a stiff bristle brush, used a Point Tool to define outlines and then a Taut Wire to burn mark them taking care to keep the burn colour similar.

He parted off (still using double width cuts to avoid jaming up his Parting Tool) and then converted what was left in the jaws into a Jam Chuck to fit in the drilled hole for reverse turning in order to finish the base.
He removed any centre pimple with a sharp Spindle Gouge or a shallow pointed Skew, which cuts end grain very cleanly.
Paul applied decoration to match the sides although the circular burn marks had to be done with a formica edge.
Finally, a touch up all round with abrasives, gently done to avoid any shrinkage through sanding heat.

 ¤  The Lipstick
For a contrasting colour and lighter weight, Paul mounted a Sycamore blank as previous.
Paul quickly turned it to a cylinder larger than the drilled hole of the box so he could then carefully turn away the end with a Parting Tool, little by little, regularly checking against the hole until the end could slide in & out without any slackness.
He extended that diameter down the piece until further than the depth of the box.
He used a Skew to turn the end to a point and at a slope that would leave the cone shaped top reach full width below the lip of the box.
Paul sanded and decorated to match before parting off at a length that would leave the point just proud of the box, Paul used the o'Donnell jaws to reverse mount the Lipstick and finish the bottom.
The entire Lipstick was finally highly polished and placed in its box.

And the solution to the puzzle - blow it!
Providing there is a step down inside the lip of the box, a sharp puff will be funnelled down the side of the lipstick and pneumatically raise it up and out.

(click for close up view)

  The Sticky Ramrod
The punter is told of the importance of packing wadding tightly in a cannon and that in Nelson's time, there was a device fitted to ensure the cannon would fire its shot properly every time without misfiring. It used a rubber rope fitted inside the barrel which the ramrod could hook up to and tamp the charge more efficiently.  Here is a scale model and this is how it works. The problem was that only a skilled seamen could twist the ramrod the right way to make it work. Let's see if you have what it takes to be a Master Gunner.

 ¤  The Cannon
Paul mounted a 5" x 1" block of Beech as above but supported with the tail stock while turned to a cylinder.
With the tail stock withdrawn, the end was squared off with a shallow pointed Skew.
The Jacobs Chuck was re-fitted and as the end cross-section was quite small, Paul elected to start with a Centre Drill Bit before using an 8mm twist drill to bore a hole almost to the end.
Paul turned the outside to the shape of a ship's cannon.
A tiny hole was drilled on each side opposite each other just short of where the internal bore ended so that a string of rubber could be threaded through and glued at the holes.
The cannon was sanded, decorated and the back end (the Cascable) was turned before it was parted off.

 ¤  The Ramrod
A dense piece of Yew was mounted between his o'Donell Chuck and the tail centre to make a stick in the shape of a ramrod.
Using a Roughing Gouge to start and a Parting Tool with an Outside Spring Caliper for turning the diameter away with precision, Paul turned the blank to a cylinder with 3 sections (evenly spaced out) having been carefully turned down to just under 8mm but keeping a cylinder of wood at each end.

The Roughing Gouge was then used to turn away the wood between the 3 sections.
As the piece was getting quite thin, Paul rested one hand on top of the piece immediately above where the gouge was cutting.  This allowed him to lightly press against the upward force of the gouge tip cutting the wood.
Each ramrod end was shaped as shown in the photo below before being well sanded and parted off.
The distance between the cannon lip and the rubber was measured and a notch was made on the ramrod at a position where it would engage with the rubber string before the rod was fully in the barrel. Finally it was touched up all round as necessary and highly polished.

June 2022 - DEMO 2
Bird Box with Paul Reeves
Thursday, 16^th June 2022 at MWCC Club Night

He used a blow torch to lightly blacken the body (executed outside the Fire Exit in order to avoid setting off the Hall's alarm!).
As the piece had to be removed from the lathe, a sensible precaution was to wear an appropriate glove on his hand in front of the flame.
The Proxxon carving tool looks intimidating but isn't when handled with respect and a bit of practice.
With the piece secured in the chuck, one hand held the body of the grinder while the other hand remained on Paul's side of the cutters, either switching the motor on/off or supporting the other hand or rotating the chuck.
When switched on, the rotation of the cutters will be trying to move the grinder away from your body.
Paul's technique was to just gently stroke the wood while pulling the grinder towards himself using just the corners of the teeth to cut.

If this is your first attempt with a carving cutter, it is probably best to practice on scrap wood before attempting on your hard worked piece. You might find it helpful to control the motion of one hand by supporting it with your other - rather than have both hands gripping the tool.

The first cuts Paul made were horizontal just below the entrance hole to give something for birds to grip upon landing. He specifically made the horizontal cuts angled downwards so any water would drop away rather than collect in the groove.
The rest of the cuts were vertical.

April 2022 - DEMO 1
Unnatural Natural Edge with Paul Reeves
Thursday, 21^st April 2022 at MWCC Club Night

Natural Edge pieces rely upon the outside parts of the tree to improve the final look of the turned piece, whether it is by retaining the bark or stripping the outside edge to the Cambium Layer as seen in the Banana Bowl below.  The latter's often unexpected shape is produced by turning a log 'end over end' as if you were making a two-bladed propeller.

An Unnatural Natural Edge is when the edge has been 'embellished' prior to turning the intended piece.

(click for close up view)

These shapes can be achieved by first turning between End-Grain centres (like a spindle) to create an outside shape, a tiny part of which will become the edges of the piece when subsequently turned 'end over end'.

 Individual Method.
A log was turned into a cylinder and the ends were squared off.
A pencil line was drawn down the length of the cylinder and its midpoint circumference marked.
   Top Tip  :  Now is an opportunity to draw the pencil line so that any flaw on one side of the cylinder will be part of the wood turned away from the finished piece.
Then the point 180° opposite was found using either the index of the lathe/chuck; alternatively if your lathe hasn't any indexing, then by carefully extending the pencil line through the end-grain centres and down the opposite side so that the opposite centre will be found where this new line intersects the previously drawn midpoint circumference.

With the cylinder still being in/returned to its end-grain centres, a profile was turned into the sides.
Ideally, the shape should be a mirror image either side of the midpoint circumference and avoid any sharp outward points as these are vulnerable to breaking when turning end to end. 
The shape was sanded through the grits as it will be the finished edge of the final piece.

The piece was now mounted between the end over end centres previously marked.
The photo below shows the planned outline for two spigots to be turned
The inside spigot (labelled ❶ in photo) is the first to be formed while between centres.
Then with that first spigot being mounted in a chuck (and if you feel necessary, the opposite side being supported by the tailstock), turn away the outside to your desired shape while creating the second spigot ❷ to where the base of the piece will be.
  Top Tip  :  With the shape formed, sand through the grits with a flat block held vertically so that it only touches the wood perpendicular to its surface; this will ensure all leading edges will remain crisp.

The piece was then reversed so that the base spigot (labelled ❷ in photo) was now mounted in the chuck.
The piece was hollowed out to match the finished outside shape by carefully maintaining an even thickness down the length of the profiled edge.  Get the thickness of the edges furthest from the centre accurate before progressing inwards in order to maintain strength & integrity while working on the outer wings.
Eventually, the inside spigot will be either turned away or shaped to accommodate an embellishment (eg a candle holder; a box).
The inside surface should be HAND SANDED carefully to keep all edges crisp.
Reverse chuck to remove the remaining base spigot and to create a base/foot.

 Pair Method.
Sometimes you will want to create a matching pair of intricate edged pieces.
This is easily accomplished with two identically sized rectangular blocks.
Paul's happened to have two 6" x 3" x 1½" Ash blocks, which he hot glued together to result with a single square ended block of 6" x 3" x 3".
He then hot glued plywood squares marked so that they could be mounted exactly on the centre line of the combined block before turning between centres to a cylinder.
Then as above, a midpoint circumference was drawn followed by two opposite points for the end over end centres, but this time, of course, both had to be 90° from the glued joint.

(click for close up view)

Again as above, your chosen profile should be turned into the cylinder; avoid leaving sharp points (unless very dense timber is used).
Sand to a finish before taking apart the ends and glue joint, and divide the cylinder into an identical pair of rectangular blocks.

Once the centres of the resulting flat rectangular surfaces were marked, repeat the end over end turning guidance described above <click here to find>

 Factors to Consider
►Lathe speed is important  -  the faster the better in order to decrease the time the tool is turning 'air gaps' (although speed is limited by any imbalance of the piece);
►Move the tool in a controlled smooth curve and allow the rotation to do the cutting;
►Don't press the bevel onto the wood  -  else you will end up pushing the tool into the 'air gaps' and the leading edges will become damaged.

The May Competition was set for an Unnatural Natural Edge turned piece or matching pieces.

<Competition Results>

<to index>

  MAY 2022
Revision of Bowl Turning Techniques with Paul Reeves
Thursday, 19^th May 22 at MWCC Club Night

  FEBRUARY 2022
Demonstration of Sphere Turning Plus with Paul Reeves
Thursday, 17^th February 22 at MWCC Club Night

Spherical shapes are predominantly used in games and for decorations.
If a large number of same-sized wooden balls are required (for example a solitaire set) then purchase from an eBay supplier might be the quickest, most economical and accurate method rather than making them yourself. (Feb 2022 price for 50 of 20mm diameter beech wooden balls = £10).

But a perfect sphere is not always necessary.  For example, a ball used in a coconut shy needs to be more robust, dry and stress-free than be perfectly round.
For a decorative ball in natural finish then a perfect sphere would be preferable and the choice of wood should be something interesting; for example burr or figured or chatoyant.

The 'Plus' element is referring to starting with a ball and then enhancing by carving, hollowing out or colouring.
In fact, you don't even have to start with a ball.

There are several options to turn your own sphere :-
            Buying a Ball-Turning Jig - expensive
            Roughly turning with a round cutter - difficult to control
            Rubber ring chuck with a rubber ring tail stock - inaccurate if rubber flexes
            Wooden Cup Chuck method

Paul demonstrated using the Wooden Cup Chuck method.
A rectangular block of Yew had been prepared with it held between centres and turned to an even cylinder.
He set an External Caliper to the diameter of the cylinder (which would become the diameter of the sphere).  With this set Caliper resting approximately centrally on top of the cylinder, he marked the two ends of the Caliper with a pencil and then with the aid of the tool rest, drew two pencil lines around the cylinder to mark the extent of where the edges of the sphere would be.
Using a ruler, he calculated and marked another circle around the cylinder half way between the previous two lines. This circle became his starting 'meridian', which from now on, SHOULD NOT be cut any smaller (although might end up being so later to correct errors!).
The two sphere edges had to be kept clearly defined with a Parting Tool so that the outer edges of the sphere wouldn't get lost.
A spindle gouge was used to turn a curve like a giant bead which started at the untouched centre meridian and would have eventually ended vertically at the centre of the wood but for Paul refraining from completely parting through.
As the curves progressed, Paul had to return to using the Parting Tool in order to prevent losing precisely where the ends were going to be.
Once he had reduced the attached ends to about 5mm (and the curves not quite yet vertical), Paul stopped the lathe and after taking the pressure off the tail stock, used a saw to detached the approximately shaped sphere with 2 small stubs at opposite ends.

Making a Cup Chuck
End Grain is preferable as it is less likely to distort into an oval shape as the wood moves with age/humidity.  A softer wood than the object wood is also helpful.
With a suitable blank mounted between centres, turn a spigot at one end to fit your lathe chuck.
Then with that lathe chuck fitted and holding the spigot of the Cup Chuck, square off  the face and drill/gouge a hole down the centre in order to help hollowing out.
The hollow across the face should be fractionally less than the diameter of the sphere but definitely deeper than its radius to avoid the sphere from 'bottoming out' when fitted into the cup.
Should you inadvertently hollow out the width too much, then further squaring off will reduce the diameter because of the bowl shape of the hollow - but remember you might need to deepen it further to avoid bottoming out. 

Working with the Cup Chuck
Fit the sphere into the cup with the starting 'meridian' at right angles to the face of the chuck. A slap with the palm of your hand should result in a good grip provided the two small stubs from the previous turning do not protrude too much.
The aim now is to use a narrow Parting Tool to create another meridian just deep enough to match the depth of the starting meridian at the 2 points where they intersect.

To achieve this, increase the lathe speed, then very VERY gingerly move the narrow Parting Tool inwards so that it gently nicks the stubs. Stopping to draw a pencil line along this new meridian will help to judge when your depth is enough. Continue to gently part away until the pencil line almost disappears before stopping and checking the depths where the meridians intersect.  Repeat until the intersections are of matching depths.
A Spindle Gouge can then be used to turn away any excess above the two meridians.  Move the tool rest so that the gouge bevel can touch the rotational axis point or 'pole' where the surface will be perfectly level and therefore no buffeting vibration will be sensed through the gouge when the lathe is turning.  However, once you move away and come across something higher than the meridians, you will feel, hear (and possibly see) the tool buffet.
The next steps require precise and delicate control of the gouge tip.
Slide the bevel back sufficiently for the gouge tip to reach where the buffeting started and allow the tip to just cut some dust; then carefully and steadily move the tool forward to cut away a very thin layer; stopping if the tool starts to run smoothly. Backtrack using the bevel and test for buffeting. Repeat the delicate cutting until the buffeting dissipates.  Smoothness can be assessed with a light touch of the surface at the top of the piece with your thumb pointing towards the direction of rotation.

Once this hemisphere is nearly even, a straight edged skew can be used to gently smooth out any bumps sensed by your thumb, but keep the tool's contact moving at all times.
When satisfied, slow the lathe speed down and briefly sand with abrasives.  If abrasives are used too much, there is a likelihood that more surface will be removed on the side-grain than the cross-grain sides resulting in the sphere appearing pointed.
The abrasive can be hand held or used with a flat block, but in both cases keep the abrasive moving and parallel to the point of contact.

Next, the sphere was removed.  It might require a mallet to tap the Cup Chuck in the direction towards the head stock, but be ready to catch it when it pops out with the first tap. (Do try to avoid hitting the sphere of course!)
The sphere is reversed to tackle the remaining hemisphere.

However, the Cup may be too large for the previously trimmed hemisphere so a quick squaring off the face of the Cup Chuck as described above will narrow the opening. Remember to check if the bottom of the hollow needs deepening.
Repeat as above to remove all the surface that is standing proud of the meridians.
Short use of abrasive and your sphere will be complete.

January 2022 - DEMO 5
Added Value to a Two-Part Candlestick/Lamp with Paul Reeves
Thursday, 20^th January 2022 at MWCC Club Night

The basics of two part turning was covered in Spindle & Face Plate Turned in January 2020 with a three-legged stool.  <available HERE>

This time we are turning a candlestick/table lamp with "added value".
Some examples are shown in the adjacent photos :
● A Victorian Table Lamp with a shoulder at the top, elegantly turned and enhanced with gold colour highlights.
● A plain wood decorated with a base coat beneath a top contrasting coat, which was wiped before drying to expose the base colour in places.
● A slender column enhanced with a knop (ornamental rounded protuberance) painted or conjoined with a different colour or wood type.
● Paul's oversized candlestick with its added value of a large piece of copper plate, which doubled as a fire precaution as well as the spiked seat for the large candle above.
 

This demonstration is a Table Lamp with the added value of alternative embellishments, e.g. Corian.
(Corian is a man-made mix of minerals and acrylic typically used in worktops and can be turned on the lathe with a scraper.)
  Top Tip  : As synthetic materials tend not to move with humidity, best to select dry wood for the wooden parts of the piece to avoid loose joints when it inevitably shrinks inside a home.
Paul is using some surplus Corian-like material that had been developed for aircraft interiors; however it can be worked the same as Corian.

 The Knops.
There were to be decorative rings at the bottom & the top of the stem.
To save time, Paul had initially used his bandsaw to cut out a circular piece of his material at home (surprisingly, the bandsaw had no problem cutting an accurate circle on these types of synthetic material). He had then mounted the resulting disc within his chuck jaws and drilled a central hole of a size suitable for a spigot (soon to be turned on the stem so it would fit securely into the base).

Next he created a Jam Chuck from a cylindrical piece of gash wood such that one end could be secured in his chuck and the other end reduced using a Parting Tool so that it just fitted into the hole of the Corian and had a clean cut shoulder to hold the Corian perfectly square. He carefully made an accurate saw cut through the centre mark of the working end (down to well below the shoulder line) using a band saw or a tenon saw. With the the Jam Chuck attached to the head stock and the Corian ring set against the shoulder, the tail stock was tightened with its tapered point gradually parting either side of the saw cut until it jammed the Corian fixed onto his chuck.

Corian doesn't have any grain so it has no problem being scraped into a bead with virtually any piece of well honed metal. The scraper works best with a negative rake and by keeping it moving while at a slower lathe speed than when turning wood.
Paul scraped one half of a bead and squared off down to the Jam Chuck on the tail stock side of the piece before sanding. Corian sands well but does need the lathe slowed even further while keeping the abrasive clear and cool by brushing a carpet against the grit. He polished the surface to a shiny finish with some 0000 wire wool before reversing the Corian on the Jam Chuck and repeating for the other half of the bead to match the first half so that both sides were flat and parallel to each other.

 The Well.
This was to be a larger decorative ring resting in the upper surface of the base.
Again, Paul had prepared a circular piece of his material attached centrally to a MDF faceplate with double sided sticky tape.

The outer edge was fashioned with an undercut using a scraper as before.
The scraper was then worked from the highest point towards the centre following the curve already made.
As seen in the intended profile above, the outer curved edge finishes at the bottom of the material while the inner curved edge finishes higher up.
The desired shaped ring was cut with a parting tool straight into face of the circular prepared piece.

  The Base
For the demonstration, Paul had prepared the base by mounting between centres; turned a cylinder of appropriate diameter; shaped an upper surface.
A hole had been drilled in from the side to the centre running close to the underside and another hole drilled down the centre to accommodate an electric cable to enter the base at the side and bend upwards and eventually through the stem to a light socket.
The top of the base was mounted in a Screw Chuck.
The outer edge of the underside was squared off and the centre slightly hollowed. A ridge was turned within this hollow at an appropriate diameter for Paul's jaws to grip the base in expansion for the next step.
Having turned the base around, the top of the base was pared off sufficiently to allow the first turned Knop described above to sit in perfect proportion to its diameter.  Then the same drill used to cut the hole in the Corian Knops was placed in a keyed chuck & arbor fitted to the tailstock and used to bore a hole sufficient to receive the spigot soon to be turned on the stem.

Next, the internal diameter of the shaped Corian ring (that was to form the Well) was measured and marked on the base.
A Parting Tool was used to carefully get the width exact for the ring to fit snugly.
Once the ring's inner edge was right, the Parting Tool was used to deepen the cut a little at a time until the ring's outer edge became flush with the base.

  The Stem
Having turned the stem between centres to a cylinder of a size to allow for some shaping by the finish, Paul changed the tail stock centre from a pointed tip to a hollow ring type, which allows for a Shell Auger to be used through the tail stock for boring a long hole up the centre for the electric cable.
With the stem re-mounted between these centres, Paul placed the point of the Auger at about half way along the outside of the piece and marked the Auger with a piece of sticky tape adjacent to the back end of the tail stock.
He started the lathe and fed the Auger through the back of the tail stock until it eventually started to bore into the stem.
It now required a gentle steady feed with frequent withdrawals to clear the waste sawdust in order to prevent the Auger going off centre.  Once deflected, you would never be able to correct it back on course.

Once the tape mark on the Auger reaches the back of the tail stock, Paul stopped, changed the 4-prong drive centre for a Counterbore Drive, reversed and remounted the piece for boring the rest with the Auger.  Paul advised that he could feel the Auger in his hand go soft just as it broke through the first hole.

The hollow ring tail centre was replaced with the pointed tip centre and the stem returned to between centres with the tail stock supporting the end destined for the Lamp's base.
After setting his Spring Calipers to the size of the drilled hole in the base, Paul used a Parting Tool to turn a spigot of appropriate length & diameter to fit the base, remembering to account for the depth of the first Corian-like embellishment he had turned.
He then continued to finish shaping the stem and added a shoulder plus another Corian-like knop to go beneath the light bulb socket.

 

Paul had a brass insert that screwed directly into the drilled hole of the stem. This insert couples the bulb socket to the stem.
  Top Tip  :  If a Lamp is going to be sold at some point there are some electrical goods regulations that must be followed eg. cable clamp.
To avoid this problem, the simplest way is to sell it un-wired with the customer arranging for a competent electrician to do so.

And finally, below all the parts individually and assembled with a coat of oil applied.

December 2021 - DEMO 4
Box of Contrasting Woods with Paul Reeves
Thursday, 16^th December 2021 at MWCC Club Night

Spigot on base for decorative ring.
With the box base mounted using the prepared tenon, Paul squared off the front. Having measured the inside of the decorative ring carefully with callipers, he marked the same diameter on the front using dividers. The length of the required spigot was calculated to incorporate the width of the ring and then sufficient to grip the sides of the lid but avoiding making the lid's top too thin. Using his broad parting tool again, he made a cut at the calculated length and formed a parallel spigot to just short of the earlier dividers mark. The final fit was done gradually with the negative rake scraper with regular cross checks against the decorative ring. Paul finally glued the ring to the base using some superglue.

Inside of lid to fit spigot.
With the box lid now mounted on its tenon, the spigot was measured with callipers and the underside of the lid marked as described above.
To make this small recess, Paul initially used a spindle gouge from just inside the dividers mark towards the centre and then from in to out towards the mark. The box cutter was used for fine adjustments of both depth and inside diameter with regular fitting cross checks with the spigot on the box base to avoid a loose fit.  [  Top Tip  : don't be tempted to use abrasives at this stage because different densities around the piece will abrade away differently and the recess would become oval. It would also be difficult to maintain a square fit. A box cutter avoids both these problems ].  The correct fit was when there was a slight resistance to removing the lid.

Cabochon fitting.
Paul had removed the box lid from the chuck, lined up the lid to the base using the pencil mark drawn down the side of the cylinder at the start and closed the box. Some insulating tape (or similar) was applied around and over the joint of the base & lid before mounting the base spigot into the chuck. The lid's tenon was turned away and the process of making a small recess for the cabochon was exactly as the previous paragraph - other than the fit was finished by gluing the decoration into place.
Next, Paul used his spindle gouge to trim the insulating tape off, the decorative ring back to the outside of the box and matched the lid to the base to a smooth finished shape.  Finally, Paul used a thin parting tool to mark a groove where the bottom of the box would eventually be parted off.  This allowed him to calculate the maximum depth he could take from the inside of the base.

Hollowing out base.
With the lid removed and the lathe started up, Paul used the tip of a skew to mark the centre of the spigot.  He now calculated how deep he wanted to go inside the base measured from the top of the spigot and allowing for just how thin he wanted the base of the box to be.
He took his old drill with its handle that he used above and marked this depth with the aid of a piece of tape around the drill so that when its bottom edge was flush with the top of the spigot, he would be at the correct depth.
With the lathe at a moderate speed, the tail stock well out of the way and his old drill in his hands, Paul gently presented the drill tip to the centre mark keeping it as level and square as he could tell before pushing the drill into the wood. As it went deeper, the rotation naturally guided the drill to run absolutely true. Paul only allowed the drill to go as deep as the leading edge of the tape before withdrawing.
This hole made it easier for a gouge to remove the centre. Also, by keeping close attention to the bottom of the box, he was able to see when he was nearing the bottom of the drill hole and hence his selected depth.
The next decision was whether the shape of the base inside be curved (use a round scraper) or square (use the box cutter). His audience opted for round.  Whichever is used, it is vital that the scraper/cutter must move horizontally in and out. 
Any slight deviation from level will result in the cutting edge digging deeper into the wall of the piece as the tip travels further away from its pivot point on the tool rest.  The same problem arises if the tip moves away from being parallel to the 'ways' (the rail-like metal bars that the tail stock slides on).
One aspect to remember when hollowing is that the walls will become heated by the friction of the cutting tool.  This results in driving moisture out of the walls (the thinner the walls, the more the effect) and the diameter of the box will shrink slightly.   Suddenly your previously perfect fitting lid has become very loose!  Don't panic.  Leave the piece alone and after some 12-24 hours, the wood in the walls will have cooled, had time to re-absorb the lost moisture from the natural humidity in the air and come back to that perfect fit.  [  Top Tip  : don't try to turn the inside of a lid to fit a spigot immediately after you have hollowed out the base. You will probably end up with the lid welded tight onto the spigot ].

The tool finish on the Box Wood was good enough to proceed with parting off.
The thin parting tool was used in the earlier made groove and parted off the box base from its tenon. If it had been necessary, the box bottom would have been finished off by reverse chucking.

Paul changed his chuck for buffing mops, which he used to smooth the surfaces with just the White Diamond compound. He feels that the Tripoli compound with its red colour tends to darken the finish of the pale Box Wood. Following a change of mops, he finished the buffing with Carnauba wax.  Don't put too much wax on the mop wheel as this can lead to a hard ring building up, which will need wire wool to remove.
  The technique for all the stages is a steady gently stroke of the piece against the mop wheel and keep slowly turning it in your hands. [  Top Tip  : spreading a folded towel or similar on the 'ways' underneath the mop wheel helps to avoid dents if the spinning mop should rip the piece out of your hands ]
Pushing the piece hard onto or holding it still against the mop wheel will result in a build up of heat which could distort the piece or burnish a flat into the side.
Be warned - buffing a thin close grained wood to a magnificent sheen does make the piece appear just like plastic.

Below are some more examples of Paul's boxes with contrasting woods for inspiration :-

The 'screw in ring stand' has a ring caddy which slides up & down when inside the box but held steady by a screw thread just below the brim.
The 'stud earrings box' has small holes for the stud pins and a central container for the selection of ornaments to go on the studs.
The '2 cups inside' has one ring box with another lidded box on top, both having a soft-close fit inside the outer box.
The 'dimple in lid' has a ring caddy that is the precise height to hold the top of the caddy in place when the lid is on, which stops it rattling about.

November 2021 - DEMO 3
Offset Turned Bowls with Paul Reeves
Thursday, 18^th November 2021 at MWCC Club Night

When is a bowl considered offset?
Take the three examples below.
The first has its bowl centre only slightly away from the centre of the rim of the piece.
The second has its bowl positioned to avoid the natural voids and imperfections (further enhanced with some piercing).  [  Top Tip  : if you wish to pierce Yew, plan to do so with 'green' wood as Yew gets very hard when old]
The last has a markedly offset bowl from the centre of the piece which has the advantage of providing a large part of the rim available to decorate.



Note that with any offset, the piece will have a tendency to tip towards the thicker denser edge and take up a natural 'show me' stance.
The slight offset example takes up this position but Paul has helped to maintain it with a seat of soft rope with the strands at each end pulled apart to stabilize the orientation (which he prefers rather than standing the piece on a separate circular stand).  The other two examples have thin rims and are best displayed using plate stands.

Another important consideration is that when the piece is centred on the offset, it will always be out of balance.
The more the offset (or wood removed in the pierced case) the greater the imbalance.
Consequently, it is important to ensure the lathe speed is minimal BEFORE starting to turn your piece in the offset position.  Many lathes can only change their speed with the drive rotating and it will be a bit late to realise it is too fast when your lathe is shaking itself across the floor!

Although there are several Eccentric Chucks especially designed for offset turning, there is no need for such complicated chucks because a combination of a standard chuck with a Cup Chuck or a Screw Chuck can achieve the same results.

For best results, choose a blank with a decorative feature; eg burr, rippled, exotic or unusual wood.  It could be first mounted either on a Faceplate or a Screw Chuck.  Paul had chosen a spalted Ash bowl blank, which he mounted with its pre-drilled centre onto a Screw Chuck.  [Top Tip : if your Screw Chuck extends from a flat plate, bevel the pre-drilled hole in the base; this prevents any scurf (from the Screw Chuck as it bites into the piece) protruding and preventing the piece from being held flat against the chuck's plate]  Ensure that your pilot hole is just the length of the Screw so that it will later disappear when gouging out what will become the inside of the bowl.

As with last month's 'Turning a Plate' demo, you could use just 1 tool to make this project; eg a 1/2" spindle gouge or a small bowl gouge.  Turn the the back to a curve of your choice; eg hemispherical, conical, parabolic shape.  Sand to a final finish (see Principles' below) then seal with Sanding Sealer, wiping off any excess. Pay particularly attention to sealing the end grain in order to prevent hot glue from penetrating deeply down the grain in the next step.

Sanding Principles
Wisdom has it that the secret to good sanding is to avoid leaving tool marks in the first place. It's probably best to leave that wisdom with the Professionals who turn day in day out, and an aspiration for us especially considering the Club sells more than £400 worth of abrasives per year.
The procedure for we mortals is :
1. The first abrasive is used to smooth away dents and scratches.
But after doing this, they will leave behind smaller scratches from the abrasive particles on that paper just used.
These small scratches are then removed by using an abrasive paper with smaller particles, which of course will leave behind even finer scratches ... and so on until you no longer see or feel any scratches (although a microscope would see them!).
2. Before using abrasives with the lathe turning, remove or move well out of the way all tool rests (and tail stock, if not in use) to avoid your hand being injured if it slips off your work.
Reduce lathe to a low speed before applying the abrasive (to prevent overheating the wood) and keep the abrasive moving (to reduce ring scratches on the piece).
Set up adequate extraction to reduce dust from filling up your workshop and your lungs! Certain trees & plants create toxic dust; eg Yew, Rosewoods, Oleander and indeed most woods to a varying degree. Probably best to use a mask as well as an extractor.
3. Start at the low number grits. (The grit number refers to how many particles could be squeezed into a standard area). P120 will probably deal with tool marks but holes (eg from end grain pull out) might need a lower grit number just on and around the flaw.
Using a backing pad can help in giving a more even sanding. Keep a steady pressure on your abrasive/pad but avoid pressing heavily.
4. Stop the lathe and check if the worst scratches are gone. If some are still there, try rubbing by hand with the lathe motor off using the same grit ALONG the grain until improved.
5. Brush/blow off the dust to avoid the next grit picking up sharp dust particles and putting more scratches in than they smooth out.
6. Select the next finer grit (typically 80 → 120 → 180 → 240 → 320 → 400 → 600 → 800) and proceed as described in para 3 above. Note : for most jobs, you won't need to progress through all the grits above. Just stop when you see and feel a smooth surface. For all spalted woods and wide grained woods like Ash, you will need to restrict sanding to just the low number grits because the parts between the spalts or annual rings are so much softer that they will wear more under the abrasive and you will end up putting ridges into your piece. Dense woods can become exceedingly smooth and polished if you work down to P400 and finer.
7. If your lathe can, then change the direction of spin between different grits to avoid one area repeatedly getting affected more than the rest; eg a bowl with long grain and end grain - the end grains have more resistance than the long grains resulting in the end grain being sanded away differently at its leading edge. However, changing direction lessens this outcome.

October 2021 - DEMO 2
Turning Plates & Platters with Paul Reeves
Thursday, 21^st October 2021 at MWCC Club Night

What's the difference between a plate, a platter and a shallow bowl?
In Paul's humble opinion, you need to apply the TIP RULE.
If you press down within the inset of the piece about ¾ out from the centre and it doesn't tip - it's a plate/platter.
If it does tip, it must be a shallow bowl.
One certainly doesn't want to find a load of food in one's lap.

When does a plate become a platter? When it's big enough!
A single platter is normally used to cater several plates.
Plates tend to be functional while platters tend to be impressive.
If making a utility plate/platter then choose a plain wood to avoid food getting trapped in any decoration.
Paul prefers to decorate the rims of platters to achieve the spectacular.
It can also help to select a blank that has some marked feature (eg figure, spalted, burr)

Turning a Plate
There are 2 obvious ways of mounting : screw a faceplate ring onto the front face - OR - hot glue an MDF backplate which can then be driven via a chuck with a screw fitting or connected to a ring plate.
The first option is only suitable for thicker blanks as it needs to be fitted with short screws to attach into the central waste wood and will also require an expanded dovetail in the back to finish turning the front.
The second has the advantage of extra room to turn the back edge of the platter.

You could use just 1 tool to make this, eg a 3/8" spindle gouge or a small bowl gouge.
Paul started with pull cuts - with just the small radius touching - to level off the front surface for a couple of inches from the edge.
The edge was rounded off and the back was shaped by pull cuts (or a bevel cut if using a thick enough MDF backplate)
If your lathe allows, try swivelling the headstock away from the turner to get easier access to the back.
The work was then returned to finish off levelling the front surface.
It will help if you gradually slow your movement of the gouge as it gets closer to the centre; this will result in the feed speed of the wood being similar to the cuts nearer the outer edge.

John Bolt
Demonstration of Podlet turning
Thu, 19^th December 2019 at MWCC Club Night

Podlets are a name generally given to small thin wooden flower-like structures.
 

The choicest wood to select is wet/green, is of reasonable length to enable a degree of bend of the stalk; most with light or dark colours work well.  Natural edges look fine but it would not be a problem if all/some is missing (as explained below).
Another consideration is that the base be heavy enough to stably support the finished piece.

Bear in mind :-
● The piece will start off being supported between centres and that both ends will need to be squared off.
● The roundest end is better for the petal & supported in the tailstock; the drive end will eventually be trimmed as per your chuck spigot for supporting while hollowing out the petal and turning the stalk.
● Ideally, for strength reasons, you want to avoid the pith anywhere inside the finished stalk. Choosing a piece with an off-centred pith (eg horizontal branch with a large area of reaction wood above) would be ideal but otherwise, purposely plan to offset the centres such that the pith lies about 10mm from the stalk and so will end up being cut away.
● The tailstock will be removed for hollowing the petal but needs to support the piece when turning the stalk;
so a ring or cone live revolving centre would be the best to use.

While in between centres, start off at a slow turning speed as the piece will probably be out of balance.
Keeping the bark on the top end of the petal, even off the rest of the piece, which will gradually allow you to up the speed.
Start a shallow hollowing of the petal & form a spigot for your chuck at the drive end.
Mount on your chuck & continue hollowing with a smaller gouge (to avoid excessive vibration without the support of the tailstock) to a depth of at least an inch.

Once the inside is completed, finish with abrasives before continuing with the stalk & base.
Wet/Green wood tends to become fluffy and clogs the abrasive - problem reduced with wet sanding (i.e. dip abrasive into water)

Tailstock now returned into position but with some matting material to protect the contact area within the petal.
Trim back the bark towards the lip of the petal; if one side of the lip ends up too thick (perhaps due to avoiding the pith), an option is to reduce the protruding edge back into the round and then decorate the edge with a pyrographic tip.

Working towards the headstock about an inch at a time, turn out the stalk and sand finish as you work along while the strength of the piece is supported from the drive end.  John used a homemade Velcro-ed piece of plywood with various grits in order to even out the stalk as he progressed, making sure (where the stalk was particularly thin) to support the opposite side with his fingers.

Plan ahead where the piece will be parted off and thus where the start of the base should be.
The piece will look better with the base being a smaller diameter than the petal.
Reduce the base to desired diameter and shape to blend the curves.

Wet wood will naturally dry out and distort the piece.
For a more controlled process, one can microwave the piece with a heavy microwave-safe mug/bowl resting on the stalk.
After the one time he tried this method & the lady in the house expressed concerns of smells from the kitchen, John now uses steam from a kettle on a gas ring applied for about 4 or 5 minutes via a hose with a split in one end.

There is a helpful video on line <HERE>

Paul Reeves
Demonstration of Texturing
Thu, 21^st November 2019 at MWCC Club Night

When Paul asked his audience what they regarded as texturing, a few voiced it meant spoiling a lovely flat surface!
Paul had in mind something like, "Enhance a surface with interest or appeal." 
Not only visually but (perhaps more importantly) in a tactile way.

Techniques :
    With the percussive tools, indent edges should meet while flat areas between indents be kept as small as possible. It is hard to be random but for the best effect, all indents should be kept of similar size and the same should apply to the spaces between. To keep depressions even, side grain areas will require slightly softer hits while end grain areas will require slightly heavier.  Hole Punches & Metal Bars tend to need harder hits, particularly with harder woods.
    When applying a band of texture, it is helpful to define borders for the band with grooves.  This is achieved with a round skew, a parting tool or even the point of a gouge; all placed so as to mask any marks outside the originally intended border line.  Any wayward indents remaining outside might be recovered with judicial use of woodturners spittle!

    A change of the lathe speed will result in different effects. With powered tools, the higher the lathe speed, the less regular the texturing while with the piece turning slowly or stationary, the cleaner the effect.  The opposite applies with the speed of the cutting tool - the faster the speed of the drill, normally the neater the finish.

August 2019 - Demo 3
Working Plywood with Ed Walker

It was surprising to learn that the Egyptians used plywood some 3500 years ago; the Royal Navy used several laminated layers of hand-sawn veneers at the end of the 18th Century; and in 1847 Sweden, Immanuel Nobel (father of Alfred) realised that several layers of wood bonded together was stronger than a single thick layer and subsequently, he invented the rotary lathe to exploit plywood's industrial potential.

Ed went on to describe the types of plywood in increasing price : Softwood made from Cedar, Firs or Spruces; Hardwood from Oak, Beech or Mahogany; Tropical from wood as the name suggests; Aircraft grade incorporating adhesives resistant to heat and humidity (most memorably used in the WW2 De Havilland Mosquito aircraft); Decorative grade made from thin veneers of attractive woods; and Marine grade made from tropical hardwood with few defects and waterproof glue.

It was startling to see how many holes and flaws occurred within the cheaper grades, all requiring copious amounts of superglue and wood dust to stabilize. It seemed as if the better quality plywood grades wouldn't be much more expensive than the Softwood plus all the superglue!

Ed discussed particular aspects to consider when working with plywood :-
►Let your glue have plenty of time to really set before turning, eg overnight;
►Coloured plastics may be used as laminates but roughen the plastic sheets for the superglue to adhere;
►If using a doughnut ring with your chuck, glue an appropriately sized sheet of ply under the ring for a flat & secure contact;
►If using a tail stock, avoid a pointed centre splitting the laminates of the ply by either gluing a sacrificial piece of wood/ply for the pointed centre to engage or else a ring type revolving centre;
►Gouges will blunt quickly but shear scraping works well;
►With plastic as laminates, watch buffing speed as too much heat will soften it;
►Axminster supply resin-impregnated coloured wood veneers.

October 2019 - Demo 4
Handles & Feet with Graham Turner

Steaming was accomplished in Mrs Turner's Vegetable Steamer for about 5 minutes immediately before bending and clamping against it's shape former.
(It wasn't made clear whether Mrs Turner was aware of this usage but Graham did wash it out afterwards; so that will be all right then!)

Graham then demonstrated a method for producing feet for a piece.
Always enjoying humour in his turning, Graham took the literal sense of feet.
Starting with a piece of Walnut with a hole through one end using a 25mm Forstner, he turned a lip at the tail end before hollowing out to leave about a 10mm thick wall, (photos 5 & 6).
Using an indexed chuck to delineate every 30° so that a bandsaw could cut an individual leg (photo 7), a parting tool cut was made just above the depth of the hollow so that each segment could be easily broken off the round, (photo 8).

Each 'foot' was placed between a ring drive centre (for better drive support) & tail stock to shape the leg muscle
A microplane was used to round off the toe & heel areas before back to the bandsaw in order to form individual toes, (photo 9)

A similar process can be employed for making handles that connect at both ends.
Photo 10 shows the various stages.
With careful design, this system allows for the connecting ends to line up flush with the outside of your turned hollowed vessel to help with a larger gluing surface.

Other options allow different handle shapes; for example, double joint at the top with a single connect at the bottom, (see photo 11)

It is important to consider the direction of the wood grain in order to preserve strength.
Handles designed with large curves are likely to have a weak section of end grain somewhere while shallow curved handles with grain from one end to the other will have more integral strength.
Choice of close grain woods like Walnut, Maple also contribute to strength.

The November Competition was set for a turned piece(s) comprising an attached handle and/or foot.