We start this month with our first demonstrator of the year, Wolfgang Schulze-Zachau, he is also a member of our very own club and is always helpful to anyone who asks. We had a total of 26 members in attendance for the demonstration this evening.
Part One Of The Evening
Wolfgang’s demo was turning a thin-walled goblet from a length of green Beechwood, which had not been down for long and so therefore there will be more moisture in the wood than normal, giving it different properties whilst turning and then whilst it is drying, with water coming out as it is turning. The Wood used was Beech about 100mm in diameter and around 200mm long.
Wolfgang started by turning one end down to a tenon so that it could be mounted within a chuck. The blank was reduced in diameter by means of a bowl gouge being used in the pull-cut orientation with the speed of the lathe set to around 1800 rpm. The bark is left on at the goblet bowl end so that it would be left with a natural edge to the goblet, this was then faced off to produce a square face, using a spindle gouge.
The bowl part of the goblet is the first part to be hollowed out prior to removing any additional wood for the stem. The tailstock was left in place as long as possible, after tailstock removal, the hollowing continued until the correct depth was reached.
Waste wood was then removed from the stem side of the project so that the thickness of the goblet will be reduced to a thin layer so the light can be seen through the layer. It was at this point that Wolfgang went for the wood turners proverbial one last cut and the head of the goblet came away from the main body of the stem, Wolfgang then proceeded to demonstrate how to get around this problem so that there was no waste of wood and we still end up with a goblet. The base of the goblet was turned down to accept the hole in the base of the goblet bowl, making it look acceptable to the eye.
Part Two Of The Evening
Wolfgang stated that he works with a light fitting firm producing lampstands, and went through the process of being a production turner. He follows a plan (supplied by the customer) as accurately as possible for woodturning. The lamp-holder spindle had a hole drilled out, all the way through by use of an auger bit with a screw section as the point prior to this demo.
Wolfgang then demonstrated how he mounted the spindle blank, then how using a spindle gouge he forms the beads and coves along the length of the spindle, this was done with the use of a memory stick with all of the measurements marked along the length.
The base of the lamp holder was next on the lathe and was turned at around 1000 rpm. Wolfgang used a template for marking out sizes and defining the shape of the piece. He stated he has found that the template needs to be thinner, and he would be making another one.
Members asked relevant questions throughout the evening which is a good thing, with everyone taking in the relevant techniques employed by Wolfgang.
Once again the club would like to thank Wolfgang for the evening’s demonstration and explanations of what was taking place during the demo.
Wolfgang stated that he would be turning professional in about four weeks’ time which would be halfway through March. The club members wished him well with his new career
Once again Roger Sherwood and Arthur were stalwarts of the tea urns, and Steve was looking after the raffle for the evening with many excellent prizes up for grabs.
Thanks must also go out to Rob and Ian for setting up the video and audio equipment, this included using our new camera, which was used for the overhead shots.
The club would like to thank Dean Smitheman for the donation of a large amount of wood (Ash, Silver Birch, Laburnum, and Blackthorn). All proceeds from this wood are to go towards the club’s charity, Mary Stevens Hospice.
The club would like to give their thanks to all who helped out with both the setting up process and also the cleaning up at the end of the evening.
Also, just a reminder that a new events calendar has been released which includes a Saturday all-day event on the 22nd of April, where members can go along and have a go at various tasks and hopefully sort out any problems that they may have.
Report by Barrie Fisher, edited by Steve Hackett
