“Made in the Blackcountry” June 2019 – Dudley Canal and Tunnel Trust

Saturday 29th & Sunday 30th June 2019

“Made in the Blackcountry” 

This was Blackcountry Woodturners’ third event at the lovely Dudley Canal & Tunnel Trust building.

This time we were at the “Made in the Blackcountry” weekend craft event, along with other local people displaying and chatting about their particular type of crafts on display, and what lovely people we met too.

The weekend started with several members turning out of their beds and arriving on site at about 08:30am, for the grand set up to begin, by 10:00am we were ready to go, with lathe demo area and splendid craft display all ready for the visiting public to enjoy.

The morning foot traffic was a little slow but picked up as the day progressed, during the day it was great to see a fair number of our club members turn out in support of the club and we all enjoyed a good old chinwag between ourselves.

The lathe was kept busy all day, entertaining the public, who as usual was very interested in watching what was being made and asking loads of questions, the children especially enjoyed the demonstrations and went away with a free spinning top.

The first day concluded at 4 pm and we all went home for a well-earned rest….

On Sunday we arrived at around 9 am and prepared the tables for the 10 am opening.

Thanks go to Steve & Rob Hackett plus Roger Cheshire, Kim Harris, Mel Adams and Roger Sherwood-Howells for making and giving away children’s spinning tops and other projects throughout the weekend, and also to all the club members that turned out to support us over the weekend….….well done all of you.

Again the public footfall was quiet, to begin with, but picked up throughout the day, again the lathe was in full swing keeping the adults and children entertained. 

Below are some more photos from the event:- 

Demo Report June 2019 – Robert Till

Black Country Woodturners welcomed back professional Woodturner Robert Till for the evening. Robert last demonstrated at the club in October 2018.

For our evening entertainment, Robert identified that he would be demonstrating how to
make a “spindle Turned” finely shaped candle stick by using the
“Reverse Turn” or “Inside Out” method, and during the
the process he would be showing in detail how the piece would be
constructed highlighting how best to proportion/balance the project
out to the eye as it went along.

He identified that
the project was a “spindle-turned piece using all the standard
basic cuts that Woodturners of all levels would be able to have a go
at, and that the project if made at home could be made as simple or
as detailed that the maker wished by adopting his demonstrated
methodology.

To start off with
Robert detailed how he constructed two pieces of identical square
stock and glued them together but introducing a paper seal between
the two mating glued wooden edges, this technique later allows the
joint to be broken without damage to the timber.

Blank after spliting

The blank was mounted onto the lathe and Robert detailed how to mark up the blank for initial turning which in this instance would be the inside shape of the candlestick, as when the shape was formed the blank would be split open and turned round 180 degrees then glued back together again to form the internal shape.

For the next 40
minutes or so Robert turned the initial shape where throughout he
demonstrated the cutting stages, tool techniques, and logical step by
step process needed to achieve the first stage shaping process.
Robert then identified how to split the wood in preparation for the
re-gluing process.

Robert then re-mounted a pre-prepared blank that had been stage 2 glued up giving the internal shaped detail, the blank was now ready for the external shape to be applied.

For the main part of the remainder of the evening, Robert demonstrated the step-by-step process of achieving the outer refined shape, going into great detail around the eye line balance and shape proportion, illustrating this clearly by “tweaking” the shape as he went along.

His detailed explanation of the process was clearly enjoyed by those present and created some very lively and probing conversations around techniques, methodology, and finishing processes.

For the final part
of the demonstration, Robert made the base to complement the
candlestick, we were all amazed that he managed to squeeze it all
into two and a half hours and had a cup of tea and biscuits in the
process.

Another wonderful evening’s entertainment was provided by Robert, well enjoyed by all and we look forward to his next visit with us in 2020.