Paul's hollowed form Yew turned end grain is surprising light weight with walls about 4mm from top to bottom; the threaded Boxwood lid had its facets done on his ornamental lathe. An eye-catching figured bowl turned from one of the American Maples donated to Paul by Mark Baker. An old design nut cracker and a child's 3-legged stool for a forthcoming gift for a little girl.
In the right hand photo, the bulbous spalted box is small and was kept light weight by turning the walls down to a couple of millimetres because a small box feeling heavy is always disappointing. The adjacent threaded box is a prototype idea for a travelling ring box with some spongy felt washers to protect the contents from one another; the lid holds the caddy's handle centrally secure when closed but when opened, the rim of the caddy's base has a thread which will grip the inside screw thread at the top of the box when lifted, leaving both hands free to select the desired jewellery.
Below, the spalted bowl is endgrain turned and like so many before, had shrunk to a misshape with the bottom blown out despite the blank being left to dry and originally from a long time dead Sycamore sawn down the previous year; the spalting is particularly impressive and had formed while the tree was growing so might even have caused the disease that resulted in its demise. There are two nut crackers of similar workings but the left one was specifically designed for the elderly who find it easier to grip & turn a squared handle; its thread was produced with a Screw Box & Tap (method described in Archive webpage <here>) so the best method for getting the handle to line up square with the body when fully closed was to use a separate Boxwood thread insert glued into the body to achieved such. He had made a Nail Puzzle with nails of Laburnum heart wood which is normally too hard for woodworm and certainly won't rust! Lastly, a selection of different coloured pen kits as a trial display of available colours; Silver, Gold, Anodised Green Red & Blue, Chrome, Gun metal and Black Chrome currently available from Amazon and others; finish was achieved with a slow turning lathe, wet a small piece of cloth with thin superglue and apply an even coat by moving slowly along the rotating barrels while keeping your fingers away from the wet area of the cloth of course; when the end was reached, the piece was left turning for another 20 seconds to dry; a light sanding before applying another coat; sanded again to 800 grit then treated with U-Beaut EEE, Hampshire Grit or similar, followed by a light coat of wax over the top.
  This is Julian's second project using his recently purchased Roly Monro hollowing tool and is a piece of Leylandii. He seems to be getting on rather well with it.

  Phil had several items; a hollow form with a nicely fitting lid in Bird's Eye Maple decorated with an elegantly proportioned finial of Black Limba (more commonly used for electric guitars) - although these days the Health & Safety Executive would probably wince at the pointed top; a natural edge goblet from a branch taken off one of the American Ironwoods; a square platter of an attractive wood with straight cuts of a router to divide the space and textured with various knurling and cutting tools; a coloured collection of various designs which is a good method of keeping an index of which finish and colour look good together. An eye-catching and clearly painstakingly carved hollow form with metallic highlight finish, cut from an end-grain blank. Paul warned that turning pieces with the pith in, risks the tendency to move (invariably outwards) which leads to a wobble and only dealt with by remounting.
  Finn has been busy with turning the family's Christmas presents; a Bedside Clock and a Rosewood Box for his Nan's sewing needles.
  Andy's White Walnut square rimmed bowl had been a contender for some resin infill in its larger blank but the grain was so attractive, he turned away the rough parts and ended up with this beauty; one of his two boxes had a choice of lids - a domed shape gave an oriental feel while the flatter shape resembled a ginger jar.
  Al's offset pendants avoided having their lanyards through their holes but instead via appropriate sized drilled holes for a neater effect.

September 2024 - Comp 3
Straight from the Tool

 Al's Burr Ash bowl was beautifully finished to show off its pattern. Paul recalled the procedure of final cut of a bowl surface described in the recent 'Straight from Tool' demonstration (available <HERE>) which was Sanding Sealer to lift the fibres, reverse lathe direction and cut/shear with tool on other side of the rails.
Next was Al's Thuya Burr stitching tool; it might be protected with metal caps covering ends comprising a sharp seam ripper opposite an even sharper stitching awl but Paul wasn't sure one should be caught walking down the street with such!
 Andy described how he had sawn a log longitudinally down the line of the pith and secured the resulting triangular prisms apart for a resin pour. Once hardened off, hollowed out to a thin walled vessel illuminated by a LED Tea Light.
Originally, Andy had turned a clean Oak bowl for an aged relative which had been signed by her relatives as a keepsake but now needed to be re-purposed as a smaller platter/bowl decorated with Milliput.

July 2024 - Comp 2
Mixed Solid Media

June 2024 - Comp 1
Gavel

 June 2024 - Appraisal Table
with Andy Ogilvie

(some of these can be clicked for close up view)

Joe's basket bowl slots were achieved with the piece locked in place and a router supported as it was guided around.
Andy had found the Gavel competition as an interesting project for his ornamental lathe making use of 3 different procedures of drilling, sculpting and spiralling.
Al has been turning some long stored wood blanks; a Laburnum bowl; a Silver Birch Burr natural edge bowl which had a lot of rotted wood to be removed before he finalised his shape; and an Elm platter from a tree cut down more than 30 years before and required an oblique cut out of a large block to obtain this blank.

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David's Oak gavel had an interesting design with one head rounded for use when gripped in the palm of your hand and the opposite head being flattened for knocking down on a block.
John had used this family heirloom as a basis of his Gavel Competition entry. It has a cartouche inscription stating it was used to lay the foundation stone of Cambric Chapel in Cornwall circa 1890. Another example of different shaped heads.

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Rhob continues to enthral with so many pieces he brings of interesting examples of wood and technique. His competition piece was of Garrya Elliptica (aka Silk Tassel Bush) which most present had never come across and his two fine examples of Acorn Boxes with screw lids, both incorporating extra interest with miniature tops/mushrooms within, bear witness to his turning skills. A torch blackened bowl decorated with indexed routed grooves.
A natural edge Yew bowl demonstrating Rhob's skill at seeing what can end up such a fascinating piece from out of a tangled mess of Yew branches grafted together by nature.
A shallow bowl coloured with embellishing wax.

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Combination of contrasting woods with the added feature of captured ring.  An intriguing bowl with a wavy indentation achieved with using his band saw to create a curved cut by feeding the bowl blank through the blade while on its edge.
Rhob still had some Birch Burr from previous months for a dark curved bowl and some Charm Jewellery with detailed finishes on all sides.
Finally, some spellbinding adventurous turning of 'cubes within a cube' with remarkably clean cut corners throughout.

(some of these can be clicked for close up view)

(photos by Dick Bugg)
 

May 2024 - Appraisal Table
with Paul Reeves

 Following on from the Chairman's challenge along the lines of David Springett's Bottle Trick, Vic's effort with a long narrow necked bottle was very impressive.  John's highly polished pens were of acrylic & finished with a burnishing cream.
For most Members, the previous month's sunnier weather appears to has kept them out of their workshops; fortunately Rhob had found time to bring fine samples of his latest turning. He had several pieces turned from Silver Birch with a reddish hue heartwood and spectacular burr. The foot of his offset bowl gave evidence of his method of mounting.

 The burr on the low thin bowl showed off the piece perfectly while his 'gatepost' hollow form brandished its beauty with its gnarled natural sides and his Laburnum with its holes and contrasting sapwood.
 Rhob's natural edged bowl is of Griselinia Littoralis (a New Zealand Privet-like evergreen with a difficult to pronounce Maori common name of 'Pãpãuma' and used as a hedging plant). It had lost its inside edge and Paul wondered if this was by design or just a case of over sanding the inside with a powered tool.

Rhob's figured Oak platter had its rim stained with Colron's 'Jacobean Oak' water stain and abraded back to highlight the indented decoration.  His Elephant Foot hollow form was another example of his Silver Birch Burr and was rescued from an original taller piece. Despite this wood being felled more than 2 years before being turned, Paul warned from his previous experience of flat bottomed forms, they had a tendency to bulge with humidity changes. This piece might end up rocking on its base.  Paul also commented how pleasing it was to see time and effort taken in underneath decoration to several of Rhob's pieces although that's probably only noticed by other woodturners!

April 2024 - Appraisal Table
with Paul Reeves

  As is now usual of Rhob, a varied selection of hollowed pieces had been brought to the table; one with wings, some off-centre turned and a natural edge - all of which had the time & effort spent producing good framed decoration underneath. These had also benefited from a larger angled bevel to his Bowl Gouge compared to his earlier pieces. Some of them were flat bottomed inside, which Rhob had cut with his Box Cutter. Paul offered the tip that if one uses a Forstner drill, the diameter at the bottom will be known precisely so another piece of the same wood turned to that diameter can be thinly parted off and stuck to the bottom to give an impressively clean finish.  He also commented that it requires considerable care to sand the sides of a natural edge without removing the crispness of the tool finish.
  Some more of John's (not-so-PC) ladies.  Again, the effort of turning accessories like parasols & water carriers adds to these pieces.

  Three more examples of 3-sided bowls.  Nick had voiced concern that he would have liked to get his inner surface a lot smoother than he had managed for his outer surface. Paul's advice was firstly he had chosen a wood with considerable difference in hardness between the seasonal growths and that he suspected that he hadn't spent enough time with his initial abrasive grit to get it as flat as he wanted and that hoping the following grits would remedy the situation unfortunately doesn't work. It's more difficult to sand this shape accurately with the lathe turning.
  Joe's had even thickness and sharp clean edges while Phil's had turned a nicely finished (but rather bravely) piece of glued-up wood. The edge thickness betrayed that a little more of the centre needed removing but going any thinner would be expecting a lot for the wood glue to do its job.
  Andy's adaptation of the seemingly impossible doesn't rely on boiling water and squeezing sodden wood. He will keep his method secret for a month or two to see if anyone else can explain the method.

  Paul had brought in some past works explaining some unusual techniques used :- 
♦The large hollow form was a cube of Yew turned over 20 years ago, which had far more cracks within it than he had thought when he bought it from a local sawmill.  These days, Paul admitted that he would likely just chop it up for the wood burning stove but as a keen turner at the time, he patiently super-glued dust into all the cracks prior to hollowing out to prevent it 'blowing'. Once completed, he used over 150 copper welding rods, all cut to length with two holes drilled into the piece in order to make it look more interesting.
♦The 3-legged stool was a demonstration back in January 2020 which has the impression of strong and solid but was unexpectedly lighter than it looked by virtue of shaping the underside of the seat and hollowing out the recess for the jaws but still leaving a ring of wood with enough depth to prevent the legs from wobbling. 
♦When turning small boxes, Paul likes to not only camouflage their shape but also to include a surprise inside, eg a tiny turned mushroom or spinning top. 
♦The 'Game of Thrones' type hollow form is an interesting project starting with turning a hollow vase with a wall thickness of 10mm, then turning away sections of 5mm from the inside to leave the appearance of ribs before carefully skimming away upright sections of the outer surface to expose those ribs. The result was sprayed inside with red oxide paint and outside with a Chinese Blue paint followed by scorching with a blowlamp which had the property of catching alight the spikes at the top and if left to glow and burn a while before patting them out, resulted in organic shapes you couldn't create with any woodturning/carving tools.
♦This Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) is the sole living species of this endangered genus which Paul had turned while still 'wet' and hand sanded for ages in order to get an even thickness all around the piece. It was finished with a flat oil, which as Martin Saban-Smith had mentioned was a much better finish for such a large piece rather than making it shiny & highly polished.

March AGM 2024

Attended by 42 Members who heard the Chairman talk of a flourishing Club with many new Members demonstrating very good skill levels. Secretary, Trevor Elliott stood down from the Committee and Jane Wild was duly elected as the new Secretary. Joe van Wyk was also elected to the Committee.
The Club has negotiated a discount with Yandles for wood sales and with Axminster Tools for 'own brand' products when ordered through the Treasurer.
The following trophies were presented by the Chairman.

Table A winner - Alan Brooks    Table A runner up - Andy Ogilvie
Table B winner - Rhob Williams    Table B runner up - Joe van Wyk

Best Beginner - Rhob Williams    Most Improved - Nigel Batten
Creativity/Innovation - David Patrick
Presidents Design - Alan Brooks    Service to the Club - John White

plus a Special Presentation to Paul Reeves of a copy of Jonny Marrs Guitars by way of acknowledgement for all his demonstrations and technical help.

The meeting finished with its usual wood sale

February 2024 - Comp 5
Racing Cars

TABLE  A

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TABLE  B

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Subsequent to the judging, a Trials Race took place on the slippery floor of the Community Centre.
Each driver was allowed 3 attempts with the furthest from the start being the one that counted.  (One car had to be retired and taken back to the Paddock with axle failure).

The winner was John White who was awarded the Les Thorne Trophy (The piece that Les turned for his April 2023 demonstration).

February 2024 - Appraisal Table
with Andy Ogilvie

 David Patrick's tall vase (about 24") looks very impressive but when one stops to consider what he had to do in preparation, one can only admire his workmanship even more because of what was required to produce this piece.  The chevron part alone seemingly required 28 pieces of precisely cut blocks that adjoined each neighbour so crisply that there were no holes showing at every glued joint. The piece was so long that David chose to design & build a Lathe Steady to fit his rails before he would finish the piece. With so many joints to glue, it was remarkable that every joint looked good. This was truly a commitment of great care and attention to detail and an excellent job done.
 Nigel appears to have been seriously developing a racing car for the competition but in fact these two were turned 3 years before for grandchildren, who had clearly been playing with them a lot because they had been returned to the manufacturer for repairs! Apparently, these two also benefited with 'upgrade' furnishments from points discovered from his competition piece.
 John's 'Ladies' is a useful way to showcase different woods in small pieces, which work particularly well when displayed together. A case of a set achieving more than the sum of the individual pieces. John commented that this project convinced him that felt tipped decoration was just as good as painted but much quicker.
 Andy's Laburnum box was finished with a Boxwood lid decorated like many have done for teapot stands; that is by using a Parting Tool to create the same depth grooves on one face before holding the piece to create grooves on the obverse face, but this time using an offset centre.  Andy said he wasn't happy with his first attempt which showed disappointing cracks appearing where the underneath grooves intersected the upper grooves.  This problem seemed to be resolved when the underneath grooves' depth coincided exactly with the bottom of the upper grooves' depths.
 Rhob produced several items for appraisal, all of which had little hidden finishes to admire.  His goblet with a captive ring had a beautiful spiralling feature underneath the base. The thickness of the rim was just perfect in proportion to the piece and a 'crackle glaze' had been applied to this and to a platter he had brought as well. Another platter was decorated with spirit stains in autumnal features & colours plus another spiralling finish to where the spigot had been. Following previous months of Sauracker Shell pieces, Andy was delighted to see an adapted example with flattened arc shapes and scalloped edge shaping which clearly distinguishes it from some sort of place mat.  Then there were 2 pieces in one using Judas wood and an Acacia hollow form with some dazzling decoration.

January 2024 - Appraisal Table
with Paul Reeves

Paul started with comments about Kururin, which is a wooden tumbling peg derived from a Nintendo video game. These pegs are shaped such that when they are skilfully toppled over, the movement allows the peg to spin back onto its end and if started off with enough force, they can topple over and up again several times.  Their production makes for a good exercise in precise and repetitive long curve turning. Density of wood has a significant influence over the number of consecutive topples. In the photo, the left two are of Sycamore (weighing 25g), then Kingwood (50g) and far right is of Indian Ebony (53g).
David had produced a grand segmented bowl. Paul admired his patience for gluing segments together for each gradually larger ring and then assembling each ring with more glue before starting to turn the bowl. Joints tended to be the problem and it was important to use the right glue to avoid holes appearing between the segments due to expansion or lack of glue.

Andy has been experimenting with some Sauracker Shells. Paul had seen them previously and remarked that they would make marvellous lids for boxes. Not one for ignoring a challenge, Andy went further by producing a box within a box.
Ian's box started off with a golden yellow colour similar to Robinia but with age, the colour has changed to a shade of bronze, which indicates it must be of Mulberry.
Joe's peppermill is of an Ash body with spalted Box top.
Alan has been turning another wooden incense Smoker Figurine. Paul highlighted just how many turned components have to be produced before the finished piece can be assembled. Following on from last month's light bulb project, Alan had combined his attempt with a candlestick. Paul particularly admired the stick's greater difference between wide and thin diameters as being more appealing than a Victorian style.

From a distance, Phil's candlestick Tea Lights could have been mistaken for Banksia Nut but were another example of segmented turning. Paul considered the two of them were excellent pieces and his only helpful point to add was that such fine work was let down by the tailstock point still visible in the bases. However, the pieces were still capable of being re-mounted and such evidence removed.
Nick is relatively new to woodturning and his bowl had been finished extremely well. Novice turners are renown for not sanding out tool marks and for leaving sanding circles in the surface.  This was a bowl that the turner had taken considerable care to finish without any of those 'newbie errors'. The plate had been turned from Oak furniture wood from a quarter-sawn plank showing off the Medullary Rays within the wood and the holes were from a screwed feature of the original, which adds interest to the piece.  Finally, Nick's Walnut box had a comforting pop to removing its lid. It was a pleasing shape but to Paul's taste, a little on the heavy side for its size - the wall thickness in his preference should have been half the size Nick had chosen but he accepted that Nick had wanted it to be like that; and why not?
John's wood shavings cast in resin was something new to those present. He had done the piece several years before and thought he had mixed the shavings with the resin before pouring into a mould although the shavings appeared very evenly spaced.
Paul joked that Rhob had obviously been working hard over December because he had only brought in 5 items this month.  The pens were meticulously finished and his small walnut hollow form had additional features like decorated rim and filled cracks. Paul has always advocated to start turning small hollow forms to learn from one's mistakes before tackling larger pieces and ruining a piece after hours of work and having to start again.

December 2023 - Appraisal Table
with Andy Ogilvie & Paul Reeves

This month's theme was items Members had turned which were 'out of the ordinary'.

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 Ian's unusual piece is one project, later adapted to a second project. The articulated part was designed for a bed-bound patient to have a level tray for drinks readily available to be safely swung close inwards while anchored to the edge of the bed. The adaptation was for a Perpetual Motion machine with a ball bearing rolling around the inside edge of the lipped tray with the pendulum set in synchronous motion to be at the end of its swing just as the ball reaches the highest tray position. It certainly measures up to 'out of the ordinary'.
 It would be unfair to call Trevor's working Spinning Wheel as odd. This is a replica of a Colonial model primarily use to spin linseed oil fibres for weaving into linen.
 Nick's experience of spindle work (accrued from making safety stair gates for his family) paid off with spindle Christmas decorations. They are not identical as he was experimenting to find the best proportion.
 Al's Pagoda Boxes were produced following last month's Jason Breach demonstration while his trinket box is of Ziricote (Central American exotic hard wood) with beautiful colour & grain and finished with elegantly detailed metal fittings from Procraft Design, which happens to be the same source for David Patrick's hinged Laburnum Box.

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Paul's offset hollow form had caused a few scratched heads as to how to hollow out through such a tiny access and without leaving a large lump of wood internally furthest from the offset. The secret was contrived by hollowing out from a larger hole disguised in the base. The yew Satellite Dish was for a National competition he had entered many years before. The oddity of the other dish was that it has 3 hob/upholstery nails as feet, which needed pilot holes drilled and tags reduced before being hammered in to avoid splits/pins showing through the bottom of the dish. The various Christmas decorations were made over the last few Christmases by several Members working in Paul's workshop. Finally, no home should be without a Frankenstein Nut & Bolt for under one's hat.
 Vic's wooden toy figure is his replica of typical designs from the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains) region of Germany close to the Czech border. Originally, the area was populated by iron ore miners but when the mines ran out, the population changed their jobs to wooden toy makers. Now they are the premier wooden toy figure manufacturers in Europe.
 John has turned an earring stand.

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 Andy is another who was inspired by Jason Breach's samples and created an Arc in a polished decorative wood as well as Squares & Sphere in another exotic wood, African Mulmanana. For those with more time on their hands, you might consider making a chess set. Andy had used Sycamore and had brought along his templates for the various pieces for transcribing 'story lines'. See Mike Haselden's July 2022 demo <HERE> for explanation of use.
 John Williams had brought in a bowl he has been gradually filling with various turned fruits.
 Rick's wedged door stops weren't particularly extraordinary but they are something the Club's Sale Store is lacking so the Club would be grateful if Members might find the time to make some.  These examples were designed for hard flooring hence the strips of rubber grip stuck on the bases. Rick advises that he has bought a square metre of rubber and is happy to sell bespoke dimensions - typically at about 25p per wedge.

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 John has made more Christmas decorations this year but resorting to his new found supply of golf balls, duly hollowed out so they don't weight the branch down.

November 2023 - Appraisal Table
with Andy Ogilvie

With Q&A's following Jason Breach's Pagoda Box professional demonstration, Andy proffered his apologies that he was limited with so little time to some excellent work on the appraisal table. However, he has submitted some notes for this report to augment his comments on the night.

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Rhob never seems to disappoint with quantity & quality brought to the table; some excellent freehand sphere turning, one carved with face (neat way to display with little stand/body). Box with very tight fitting lid, embellished with decorative finish and stains. First attempt at resin work on a very holey blank, well finished, no signs of bubbles, very good effort.
A master class in natural edge from Rick's gorgeous piece of Cherry, well turned and finished to show the natural beauty off to a very good effect. Thin cyanoacrylate glue had been absorbed under the bark which should never now become detached.
Andy had been given a gnarly cracked tree root as a challenge with this as the result showing a lovely grain/figure. He had also created some dogs to fight with his cats shown a few months before and finally, a toothpick snowman as per newsletter - a Christmas challenge?
Nigel's well turned toothpick holder showed good control of dimensions to pack cocktail sticks into such a small pot.

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Geoff Beddoe's toothpick holder had a smooth finish and again, good control of dimension to pack a lot into a small space.
Joe van Wyk had achieved a stunning finish on his acrylic stoppers and pens to show just what can be achieved with some of the kits that are available from various outlets. Additionally he (and by coincidence, Alan Brooks) had each produced Norseman smokers. Excellent mixed media project.
David Patrick's vase missed being credited on the night as it hadn't been named but an interesting experiment with 'grassroot', turned nicely with a contrast base to set it off.
Phil Walker made good use of contrasting woods to set off a vintage oil gauge, well finished and a great gift for car enthusiasts (inspired by John Williams' Saab speedometer turning earlier in the year)
John Bolt had brought in a selection of ebonised pieces with high voltage etching filled in with coloured wax for a very decorative effect.
New member, Merle de Pearle, specialises in bobbins and brought some examples of his intricate work, beautifully finished and made with his 'Bedan' chisel.
Grateful thanks to Bill Gibson for two more string holders for the club stock store.

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October 2023 - Comp 4
Decorative Mushroom(s)

The consensus of the meeting was that entries for both tables should be complimented as the Club's best quality & quantity competition for quite some years.

TABLE  A

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TABLE  B

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October 2023 - Appraisal Table
with Andy Ogilvie

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John has clearly taken a fancy to golf with 6 colourful spinning tops derived from golf balls. An interesting mix of colour and constituents working with natural wood.
Andy's mushroom boxes were made with grand-daughters' presents in mind being able to stow jewellery under the caps. He had also brought in a bowl with which he was disappointed because despite remembering to seal the wood before applying the resin, its blue colour still bled through into the adjacent spalted wood. The general consensus was that more applications of sander sealer were required before the resin.  While trying to remedy the fault, Andy had to reseat the copper ring (an earth wire stripped from electrical wiring) with araldite rather than Cyanoacrylate glue he had used originally.
John Yale's fabulous off-centre turned mushroom was surprisingly not entered into the competition. The finely turned discs working up the stem certainly satisfies the 'decorated' criteria.
John's mushroom was a tryout to see how well pyrography could enhance his decoration.

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At first glance, you could be fooled that the piece above is a mock-up of a camera with replacement lenses and spare film rolls!  It is in fact David's home-made method of off-centre turning. The 'camera body' is a screwed clamp that grips the 'lens' which uses the 'film rolls' of double sided sticky tape to grip the piece being turned. The 'lens' is annotated with 30º marks for rotating as desired. The clamp/'camera body' is held in a chuck with only 2 opposite jaws fitted so that it can be slid left or right of the centreline mark for the desired offset. Those 'replacement lenses' were just examples of David's off-centred turning. The neighbouring photograph is of further examples.
Thanks were extended to Lance Dean, Ian McClure, Joe van Wyk, Bill Gibson and Alan Brooks for their contributions below of Dibbers, Spirtles & String Tie Kits to the Club's general sale stock.

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One table was set aside with Christmas turned goods for ideas/inspiration that Members might consider in the run up to Christmas. The majority of the exhibits were Rob Randall's with some others by Rhob Williams (inside-out turning) & Vic Russell (mushroom patch).

 2023 - Comp 3
Splash of Colour

TABLE  A

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TABLE  B

September 2023 - Appraisal Table
with Andy Ogilvie

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It had obviously been another busy month in Rhob's workshop with his first attempts at hollowing. Following the Splash of Colour demonstration, he had tried his hand at Liming Wax but his white spirits had mixed with the wax rather than cure it. Paul Reeves advised that the spirit stain could not have been dry nor been sealed before applying the Liming Wax and that is why the wax has picked up the stain colour.
Alan's Kopy Kats were a copy of Andy Ogilvie (also copied from something Andy had read) that were on display at Mudeford Arts Festival and which could have been sold over a dozen times to passers by.
David has been melting some pewter in a ceramic crucible before pouring into a flat ring mould so he could stick it to pieces of Laburnum & American Plane and turn himself a goblet and mug.
Nick J's spalted platter was his canvas for showing his intricate embossed oak leaves & acorns while Nick G seems to have pre-empted this evening's Mushroom demo with some clean cut examples.

Andy had spotted a Resin Starter Kit from Yandles. Together with some odd bits of wood around his workshop, this was his first attempt at turning a resin bowl. The salt & pepper pots were also a try-out with Banksia Nut with Milliput filler. He was aiming for white for salt and brown for pepper but had only white Milliput. Apparently, you should colour the filler with acrylic powder - Andy tried various acrylic paints, which ended up okay but left his bench in a horrible mess.
Paul had produced 3 bowls from a single blank with the benefit of his bowl saver. He called them his fruit, nut & chocolate bowls but left it to others to guess which size for which foodstuff.

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August 2023 - Appraisal Table
with Andy Ogilvie

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Chairman, Andy Ogilvie, welcomed 3 new members by recounting his first Club meeting 4½ years ago with an expectation of being able to turn something wonderful the very next day. That meeting had demonstrated how to turn a wooden spoon but it took him a whole week before he had finished a pair of salad servers which he had brought tonight - and they are still being used today.
Following last month's various workshops, Ian McClure had been spurred on to turn some pens, which he'd purposely avoided creating a shiny surface in favour of sanding sealer, friction polish and Renaissance wax to leave a natural but still durable finish.
Similarly with the Ornamental Lathe workshop, John Yale was moved to bring in his concentric circle decoration done 10 years ago without the use of a specialist lathe.
John Bolt had produced a pot-bottomed bowl inspired by our 'bowl from a plank' series. John had achieved considerable variation of shape by making the walls of the bowl as thin as he dared.

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Bill showed a sturdy and stable design from unknown furniture wood.
Rhob Williams had a prolific month at his lathe.  I thought he had produced 5 pens but I missed another 6 under the flap; a tricky natural edge burr with a unique foot produced from turning and chisel work; and a homemade recorder which he hadn't finished 'tuning' in time for the meeting but could still produce a melodious note or two.

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Al Brooks has recently spent time at a 'Resin Sphere' tutorial course and brought along a spectacular example of his creations enhanced by the clarity of the resin without a trace of cloudiness nor bubbles.
Paul Reeves had brought along a deeply figured Pine Wine Mat as well as an Oak bowl he had turned as a demonstration at this month's Ellingham Show. The third piece was a commission set by a rope maker for a set of three spheres of specific calculated weight that would maintain a constant strain on the three strands that were being twisted to form the final rope. Paul had turned an initial Boxwood sphere to establish a diameter to weight ratio so he could then calculate the appropriate diameter for turning the required weight.

 July 2023 - Comp 2
Kitchen Item(s)

TABLE  A

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TABLE  B

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July 2023 - Appraisal Table
with Paul Reeves

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Joe had made several Kitchen Items for the competition and here were 3 that didn't make his final selection; spatula, spurtle & meat mallet tenderiser.  Andy's 4-stepped 'bowl from a plank' with catching grain effect.  Nick's 2-from-1 caddy spoons.  David's bulk turning of Nail Puzzle bases for the Club's Sales stock.  Clive's answer from items in his workshop for a resistant dispenser for his water softener salt; a Cherry goblet and pot for odds & ends or 'orts' (left-over snips of thread, cloth etc; orig referred to leftover food scraps); a spurtle.  Rhob's ladle with Dogwood handle and Smoke Tree bowl (Cotinus Coggygria) which Paul warned as known to contain toxins causing skin irritation although Rhob stated he hadn't found it any problem. Rhob also brought a mysterious box which foxed most of us - it turned out to be a burger-patty mould!

July 2023
Workshops
Ornamental Lathes - Andy Ogilvie
Decorative Finishes - Paul Reeves
Pens - Clive Potter
Lathe Care - Rick Patrick

Introduction to Ornamental turning with Andy Ogilvie
Ornamental Turning is a specialist area of wood turning but in its variety of forms can also involve metal and many other materials. The common element is the intricate shaping and decoration. This became a fascination for Victorian gentlemen who would use their wealth to commission lathes with as many accessories as they could afford from manufacturers like Evans and Holtzapffel. Ornamental lathes are over 100 years old and often over 200 years old.

The quality of the machinery/engineering can be stunning and made all the more impressive with accessories which can be added to the headstock unit (eg cams and elliptical chucks), to the tool post (including overhead driven rotary cutters) and even parallel to the lathe bed to achieve spiral and/or shaping effects. In truth, many current lathe owners are enthusiasts of the machinery as much as its use for ornamental work.

Andy’s personal set-up is very modest in comparison but it has the capacity to create many different decorative effects, spiral and form work, and elliptical work for example. Ornamental lathes were driven by a treadle originally but most now have an electric motor attached which can be used to drive the headstock or the overhead pulleys. A key element is a very good index plate so that patterns repeat accurately around the work.

To make his buttons, Andy :
 • accurately faced a cylinder to a set diameter with a static cutter in the tool post;
 • cut interlinking circles with an overhead driven eccentric cutter;
 • cut a central recess and then drilled the four holes;
 • the slide-rest was then moved to an angle of 45º and an overhead driven rotary cutter used to sculpt the front edge of the button;
 • a normal hand parting tool was used to part the work before reversing in a jam chuck with hot glue to finish the back;
 • the buttons were dusted and then oiled - no abrasives as it would spoil the sharp edges left by the various cutters.

While clearing a workshop, Paul Reeves found an accessory for a normal lathe which is able to mimic a few ornamental effects and the common themes of accurate facing, centering, offset cutting, indexing and the use of depth stops were seen in its use, although of course, it achieves it in a very different way to an ornamental lathe.

The two wine bottle coasters were produced using this accessory.
Using ornamental machinery can be quite daunting for the first few times and certainly patience and accuracy are critical, as is the capacity to juggle indexing, depth, circumference to achieve the pattern that you are after.

Andy has yet to tackle using an epicycloid cutting-frame which can produce ‘spirograph’ type patterns – maybe next week!?

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June 2023 - Appraisal Table
with Paul Reeves

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Nick's Monkey Puzzle bowl was cut down several years ago and developed a blue stain mould. Paul commented the staining is common, takes ages but the change from maximum darkening to unworkable soft wood happens suddenly. His 7 layer bowl was from a single plank. Nick commented that both bowls, being so deep, had proved to be difficult to finish the inside bottom. He admitted he had left the outside showing as prominent bands because he was concerned that the walls were getting too thin.  Paul suggested that bowl gouges with 70º to 80º bevels can help but various hollowing tools also work well.
Joe also had a go at last month's demo of Bowl from a Plank.
Rhob had brought in segmented Pierced Earrings that were a birthday present for a loved one, a Bowl from a Plank and an Acorn Box turned out of Holly/Holm Oak, (also known as Evergreen Oak as foliage has evergreen leaves akin to Holly).

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Nigel's Bowl from a Plank of plywood was striking and Rick's Maple chopping board looked too good to use. He had finished it with Tung Oil - for the sole reason that the tin had been in his cupboard for over 10 years and he felt he ought to use it sometime.

May 2023 - Comp 1
Vessel with Finial(s)

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This competition had been set following a demonstration by professional turner Les Thorne making a box with a reversible finial while spotlighting basic gouge work and planning considerations along the way.  Les' demo piece is far left in the top photo. All bar Paul's entry had reversible finials.  Paul Reeves appraised the entries.
Alan Brooks won with a trophy style in Beech with trims in Padauk. The join between the base and the hollow form was unbelievably tiny - Alan explained that it had been reinforced with a pop rivet pin.
Nick Jazwinski  entry had succumbed to a change in environment since being turned because by the end of the evening, the knob shaped finial within the piece was getting tighter & tighter to get out of the hollowed entrance.
Andy Ogilvie's vessel was finished with some foil decoration and he had included the remnants of his first finial which had been perfect until it had inadvertently dropped to the floor and exploded into a dozen pieces.

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David Patrick's entry had originally been planned to incorporate a pierced scorched decoration but was subsequently rejected and successfully rescued with the use of Milliput epoxy putty.
Rhob Williams has only recently joined the Club and was a worthy contender with his smart combination of woods.
Joe is renown for his unusual wood treatments and this time it was vinegar and wire wool on a piece of Oak.  Paul warned that the smell of this process is probably best completed outside of the family home.
Nigel had used Cherry branch wood for his design.

May 2023 - Appraisal Table
with Andy Ogilvie

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Julian's collection of bottle stoppers in natural edged Ash left some of us pondering who has that many wines open at once! The kits came from Pro-Craft and the finish on the natural display was indeed striking.
Geoff's welsh mining lamp had a couple of hidden finishes. Not only did the bulb illuminate like a flame but the upper body could be unscrewed using a 12tpi thread constructed with a newly acquired Simon Hope Easy-Set Threading Jig.
Trevor displayed an impressive rippled Yew bowl and new Member, Rob Williams, brought along his air-dried Oak platter.
Andy's paint-dragged Beech bowl was quite dramatic while his ornamental glass mats were not done using his ornamental lathe but instead with an add-on to a modern lathe. More with this to be demonstrated in our July Workshop.

Although Rick's 2 pieces in burr Oak were both finished with a couple of coats of lemon Oil, they ended up with quite different shades of brown despite being adjacent to one another from the same plank.
Paul had brought in a threaded urn in Ash but with the lid fitted with an insert which provided a more resilient thread.

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April 2023 - Display Tables

With Les Thorne giving the Club a Professional Demonstration, there was insufficient time to give appraisals but below were the items displayed.

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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 benefitted 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!