For the clubs’ entertainment this evening we have Ian Ethell who is a member of Trent Valley Woodturners and has been turning for a number of years now but still works full-time.

Off-centre honey dipper

For his first project, Ian will be turning an off-centre honey dipper and stand, and for this he produced a handout diagram of how to mount the piece between centres. The piece of wood was 200mm long by 30 mm square with the position being marked at 6mm each side of the centre line on each end of the blank, so we now have three points marked on each end of the blank.

Tools used were:

• 1” oval skew with a 15-degree angle
• 3/8 bowl gouge with 40 degree bevel and no wing
• Parting tool

The speed of the lathe was set to 3200 rpm.
Ian used the skew using the toe to mark the first area to be cut, these are marked first by using a story stick with all measurements on. By cutting in, only 40% of the blade and bevel must be in contact.
The skew was used to produce the shape of C, and then the bowl gouge for the shape of A. You must start in the centre of the area to be shaped and as you move along the shape open the flute of the gouge up. When sanding, you must keep the strip of abrasive tight across the turned section. To make the shape crisper, you need to go back to stage C.

Stage B
This is to cut the area for the honey itself again we use the long side of the skew and then with a peeling cut produce the required shape cut with the point whilst rolling the skew, the parting tool was then used to produce the slots on the end of the shaped blank, these slots are then sanded to remove any roughness

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Shape G The thin spindle
Using a gouge again to remove some of the unwanted wood, work towards the headstock for this. Ian used the gouge laid over on it’s side to produce a type of skew cut, the shape of the spindle should have a slight taper to it.

Shape I
Sharp tools and clean cutting is essential for this, this is the first cut, using a bowl gouge cut the curve to the required depth.

Shape H
Same cut as for I

Shape F

Same cut again for this bevel

Shape D

The very end of the tail stock.  Take this down to about 5 to 6mm, at this point we still need the offset positions.

Shape E

We need to watch the amount of pressure being applied to the item now so that it does not flex.

Cut the handle back towards the headstock.  Take it down to a thickness that is still sound, as the other end still need to be finished.  At this point, go back to step D for removing this additional waste. The ends need to be finished off by using a carving knife for each end, then sand to the required finish.

Yoke now which is made out of Cherry

A flat piece of cherry is held between the square jaws of the chuck.  Then a slicing cut across the end with a spindle gouge.  Hollow out the centre from the end so that a hollowed out section is all the way through the wood.  The tool rest is now turned square on to the side of the wood and run down the side of the blank, then curve the cut into the blank to form a Y shape.

At this stage it pays to have a plain colour background which helps you see what you are cutting.  A bowl gouge was used for the side.  Produce a chamfer prior to parting the yoke off the wood.

Now for the base, again use the flat stripe of wood used for the yoke, this is used to mount the yoke into to form a bed for the honey dipper to be mounted on.

Bottle Stopper 45mm square

Produce an inverted cone, now a dome is formed on the end which is the widest part of the cone.  This is then textured on the end by using an elf texturing tool and also frame this texture with the point of the skew. At this stage apply sanding sealer to the end grain and then apply wax into the created pattern.

Now tip the blank within the chuck and re-tightened, this will produce the off-centre effect.  Slice off a section of the wood at the chuck end whilst using a skew, the blank can now be put back into the chuck so that it is running true again, at this stage remove any surplus wax that may be present.

Remove the waste at the chuck end so that a plastic bottle stopper will fit, this reduction being done by the use of a parting tool.  Remove the item from the chuck and affix the plastic end onto the turned item.

I have never needed one of these as the bottle is always empty.

Ian was able to answer questions throughout the evening.

Once again we must offer our thanks to all those who make the night run smooth, without them, we would not have a club.

Report by Barrie Fisher & edited by Steve Hackett