Blackcountry Woodturners all-day event.

This was the first all-day event that Blackcountry Woodturners have hosted for the past several years.

The Aims…

The aims of the day were to provide some well-earned entertainment for our current members, provide an opportunity to invite woodturners from other West Midlands Clubs, and with the aid of local media publicise Blackcountry Woodturners to the general public. This gave like-minded people the opportunity to visit and view the day’s events, talk to current members, and see what we as a club are all about.

There was also the opportunity for club members to buy and sell their unwanted/unused second-hand tools, purchase project wood, and bring in some of their own work to display, and refreshments were provided to all who attended during the day.

The club had secured the services of professional Woodturner Paul Hannaby from Gloucestershire, Paul agreed to complete three different types of projects throughout the day, ranging from basic through to advanced woodturning techniques.

The day’s summary…

It started at 8 am with early bird members arriving to set the rooms out for the day’s events, the main body of people began to arrive just after 9 am, the first job of the day was a hot drink, biscuit and general chat. The tool sales started in earnest along with the wood project sales. The first project, bowl turning techniques commenced at 9.45 am. Paul explained how not only to approach such projects but also design considerations, lathe mounting techniques, tool and cutting techniques plus ways to finish the project depending on the use to which it was to be put.

On completion we all took a 15-minute well-earned refreshment break then at 11.30 am Paul began project 2, Box making with texturing and colouring instruction. Paul began by demonstrating a number of market available texturing tools, how to use them and the varying types of effect that each are capable of achieving, he also demonstrated various ways of colour embellishing the patterns to bring out the best effect. Paul then went on to produce a small decorative oriental lidded box.

At 1 pm we had a 40-minute break for lunch, socialising, a raffle draw and more purchasing of tools and wood.

The remainder of the afternoon was taken up with the “Off Centre” platter with a decorative and air-brushed coloured rim.  This was a detailed advanced project well received by all present, with many questions being asked as the project unfolded. Paul explained and showed in detail the techniques, both turning and decorative, to complete the project from start to finish. The challenge now is for us all to go away and give it a go…

The event concluded at around 4.30 pm with everyone going home having enjoyed their day, learned a little or a lot as the case may be and hopefully inspired to have a go at new projects.

A big thank you must go to all the club members who brought in their own pieces of work to make up a fantastic display for all to see, providing project inspiration for us all.