Author: Stephen Hackett

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Demo Report Feb 2022 – Paul Hannaby

We are back at the college for the second time this year and Rob set up the camera and audio equipment for the zoom broadcast, for members who were unable to attend the college for the demonstration.

We were using the new cables that the club has purchased were used for the first time this evening to enhance the picture display and cut down on the interference for the viewers.

Final after a very long time we were able to have a professional turner demonstration to the club. 

A number of members join the demo via Zoom, whilst we had 24 members in total within the club room.

The demonstrator for this evening is Paul Hannaby.

He will be demonstrating the use of a ring hollowing tool whilst carrying out the development of two projects.

Project one – Natural edge Cherry bowl

Paul explained how he decided where the centres were to be mounted on the log blank.  He was very good in his explanations throughout the evening and answered the questions when requested.

The Cherry wood was mounted on the lathe in spindle orientation, the speed was increased until the lathe started to vibrate and then backed the speed off ready for turning.  The Cherry blank was turned down and a tenon was cut on one end ready to be mounted in gripper jaws.

The blank is cut down into a taper with the edge of the bark still on at the opening part of the bowl,  The lathe was complaining a bit with the number of cuts that were coming off, he explained that this was due to the lathe being at its limit due to that length between the bearings and the overhang of the blank. After the basic shape had been set the cup part needed to be addressed and a straight cut was put directly across the blank.

Next, the centre hole was hollowed out using a spindle gouge, used as a type of drill until the required depth was achieved, this was then opened out to about one inch. Paul also demonstrated the Richard Raffan cut where the tool is used upside down and towards the opposite side. 

At this point, Paul started to demonstrate the use of a ring tool with the tool rest moved further away from the blank so the tool clears the rest whilst removing the waste.  The ring tool is used at about the seven o’clock position within the blank and can be used to remove a good amount of wood.

Paul demonstrated how the ring tool can be sharpened with a diamond file by rubbing against the bevel and moving it in a circular motion.

The top inner edge of the bowl was refined by using a spindle gouge until the required shape was achieved and then the remainder of the waste wood was removed from the inner part of the bowl.  After the hollowing out was completed the outer edge was defined whilst leaving the bark on the rim, the outer shape is now looked at and a ball is produced prior to the base being turned and then cut off.

To make the bowl more stable whilst getting thinner Paul used polystyrene balls which were mounted into the opening and then the tailstock advanced up to hold the ball in place, these helped stop the vibration from the lathe and held the project more secure.  Polystyrene balls can be obtained from Hobbycraft.

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Project two – Goblet with a Barley twist stem

The goblet was made from a Sycamore blank 75mm x 75mm x 200mm, it was started off the same way as the previous project, to get the blank round and have a tenon created on one end for the gripper jaws.

Always working back towards the headstock, as previously a hole was bored down the centre and widened out so as to take the ring tool to hollow out the bowl part of the goblet.  A chamfer was included to the top of the goblet and was taken back to a level area but not to a sharp point.  The outer shape of the goblet is then formed, and as this is being developed the size of the stem needed to be formed and sized (3/8 or 10mm).  As the stem was being formed a length of approximately 100mm was left ready for the twist to be applied. 

Between the bowl of the goblet and the stem a feature was included to differentiate between the two areas both at the top of the stem and the bottom, this was produced by using the skew chisel.  The size of the foot is about the same diameter as the opening of the goblet.

Paul was able to carry on a running commentary as he worked through the projects and passed on a lot of information in addition to answering the questions aimed at him.

Cutting the twist in the stem, Paul used standard engineering files:

6in Rough Cut Round – 8in Rough cut round – 8in 2nd cut

Microplanes can also be used.

No measurement was used, it was estimated by sight, the file was applied at a 45-degree angle to the stem and started to file whilst turning the lathe by hand. when the first twist was cut a second one was then cut between both ready to form the twist, this was produced by using the 6in file and then followed up with the 8in rough file to give greater depth. The file is now placed across the groove at 90 degrees to the stem and removed additional waste wood, the file was then placed at about 22.50 coming back towards the base.

The twist is then finished off by the use of abrasive sheets at about 400rpm on the lathe and additional grits added for a smooth finish, the base was then parted off.

The demonstration went well throughout the evening with all questions answered by Paul. The club would like to thank Paul for an informative and expertly delivered demo.

Report by Barrie Fisher and edited by Steve Hackett

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Demo Report January 2022 – Wolfgang Schulze-Zachau

Welcome back to the first in-person club night of 2022, where we had a live demonstration from our very own committee member Wolfgang whose project will be a Chinese Style Square Box with Lid.

Thanks to the club’s audio-visual setup, we were able to broadcast the demonstration via zoom to other members of the club who were unable to attend the meeting, Many thanks to Rob for his expertise.

Covid regulations and guidelines were followed and in line with the club’s covid policy. 

This evening Wolfgang will be turning a Chinese Style Square Box with a Lid made out of Crab Apple which has a fine grain.

Tools he used were 2 x bowl gouges, 2 x skew chisels, and a basic chuck.

Wolfgang started by marking the centre and setting up the lathe so that the blank was positioned against a pressure pad for the drive with the tailstock positioned up close to apply a ridged and secure position for the blank.

The first thing to carry out was clean the surface and then form a tenon for mounting within the chuck later, the speed was set up to 2700rpm which means that you keep your fingers and hands away from the edges whilst it is spinning.  Whilst the blank is spinning at this speed and the square shape it is essential to have sharp tools for developing the corners and keeping them sharp and clean, also you have a better chance of not having the corners chipping off.

When shaped the corners will need to be sanded whilst the lathe is stationary and your fingers are safe.

When he was satisfied with the base of the box Wolfgang turned it round and mounted the tenon into the chuck, at this point the flat wings were perfected and the bowl part formed, at this point we are now at the halfway point.

Sanding was carried out at this point, which Wolfgang stated that he goes to 240 grit only unless it is a gallery piece.

The same process was carried out for the lid apart from making sure that the lid actually fitted the box base

Wolfgang explained and demonstrated how gentle you needed to be so as to get a sharp edge on the corners.

To remove the tenons from both parts of the box a jam chuck was used which was a softwood so as not to damage the crab apple project, this chuck was used with both parts with the smallest being done first and then the largest, in this way we only need to produce one jam chuck.

The club would also like to thank all of the club members who helped out during the night with putting everything together and taking it back down again. 

Report by Barrie Fisher and edited by Steve Hackett

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Mary Stevens Charity Coffee morning December 2021

The day started with a small number of Black Country Woodturners members being in attendance to erect the stall area and the covers due to being in a position outside due to Covid rules.

Apart from the charity table which was the main part of the event we also had a number of members (Mel, Steve, Rob, Ian & Barrie) in addition to a couple of members items but could not be with us in person, to sell their own turned items, which included some Christmas items.

From items that members had sold, we had a 10% donation which went with the charity table amount to hand over.

A big thank you from the committee goes out to all club members who gave their time and effort to produce the donated items for the charity table.

The day itself was very cold which kept a number of people away from the event, but thankfully the rain kept away and we did have a steady stream of people passing through and buying the odd piece.

Ian looked after the charity table along with anyone who was free a the time and in the area of the table.

Ian’s wife Kim was also in attendance selling her Christmas cards table decorations and presentation bags which she had produced herself.

All in attendance also helped to take the equipment down whilst Ian sorted the funds to be handed over.

Report by Barrie Fisher and edited by Steve Hackett

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Demo Report Sept 2021 – Stewart Furini

The demonstrator for this evening is Stewart Furini. He will be carrying out some basic turning and applying various colouring techniques. He will be using a Sycamore blank 8″ x 2″. He began the evening by going through some basic Health and Safety issues to observe whilst woodturning.

Stewart started by finding the centre of the blank and drilling an 8mm hole to accept the screw chuck which was 19mm deep.

He used a draw cut to produce a flat surface with the use of a 3/8 bowl gouge, he then started to cut across the corner to produce a basic bowl shape with a recess for the chuck to be mounted and a foot for the bowl to stand on.  The recess was cut to 4mm deep with a dovetail shape for the chuck, the lathe speed being 600 rpm to start with.  The foot is not as deep as the recess so when the chuck is expanded it is not expanding onto very little material but is more solid.

The bowl was now reverse mounted and the face was flattened but without the centre being hollowed out.  This face is now sanded down to 240 grit ready for spirit stains to take effect.  The dust was removed with a tack cloth to keep it clean.  The surface is now hand sanded with the grain to remove any circular scratches that may be present.

Technique 1

A white colour spirit stain is applied first to half of the bowl surface from Chestnut Products, this was painted on and a hair dryer was used to dry the base colour.  

Airbrush was used to apply the various colours that will be applied in sequence, and the lathe will be running for this, the closer to the wood then the colour is cleaner and more precise.

The first colour applied was blue and produced a ring, followed by Chestnut blue, Purple and then a lighter blue whilst expanding the rings to get an even covering, the stain is showing up cleaner on the white background.

A further set of rings were also produced using Red, Yellow and Orange, it was at this point that black was added for definition on the edging, this would normally be left overnight prior to using a sanding sealer aerosol, Stewart stated that he would not apply a sanding sealer by hand due to the possibility of the stain breaking down.

 Technique 2

Just after half time Stewart started by using an ebonising lacquer to cover the bowl surface black, this was done twice to get the required coverage.

Stewart then produced his homemade box to stop the paint flying from the bowl and onto the walls and ceiling, this was fixed down by use of two magnets which held on to the lathe bed.

The paints used were produced by Chestnut Products with a flow medium by Jo Sonja, this will thin the paint without diminishing the pigment content of the paint.

Yellow will be applied first with the lathe spinning and then the speed will be increased and then the pattern checked, this colour was then applied again to get the pattern spread a bit further.  A Sherice colour was then applied over the top again with the lathe spinning.  The finished colour was a sprayed-out system.

Technique 3

Dabbing and Centrifugal 

The ebonising lacquer was again applied, over the top of the face of the bowl ready for the next lot of paint to be applied.

The next paint to be used was the Jo Sonja Silver, this was applied by the use of a paper towel and dabbed onto the bowl in a non-uniform manner around the edge.  The same technique was used for the next colour Gold.

The next colour to be added was Crimson which when applied was set off spinning to form a starburst, the next colour was Gold and also spun around.

At this point, the centre of the bowl was then taken out to the required depth.

Technique 4

For the next session, Stewart used a Proxon long-necked grinder and a cutter with six blades is used, this was applied to the bowl at approximately 7 and 8 with reference to a clock face.  The lathe is set to 600 rpm to form the texture.  At this point, the textured surface is brushed out with a brass brush to remove the residue.  A Nylon filament rotary brush was then used to smooth the texture of the surface.

A green colour was applied first in a solid block, then splodged on, streaked and then dots so that we have four example areas on the same bowl when applied a purple was used over the top of the green.

Technique 5

For this one, the cutter was used again but with the lathe being switched off and the bowl being turned by hand, the cutter was used across the bowl both back and forth.  This was then brushed and cleaned with the nylon grit wheel.

The airbrush was used again with red colour and is applied from the side at the bottom, Yellow was then used but sprayed on from the top again from the side.

A black was then applied across the top of the ridges by using a dry brush technique.

This would be finished with a sanding sealer aerosol and then a gloss lacquer.

Technique 6

The top surface of the bowl was again turned flat again, this was then taken off the lathe to apply the paint effect.

The paint applied was colours by Montana 94 Acrylic

The yellow paint was sprayed over the complete surface followed by red, then yellow again and finally white.

Whilst the paint is still wet either a newspaper or a paper towel is folded to form a creased edge, this was then applied to the paint and lifted off this removed a certain amount of paint, and this was carried out over the area of the bowl.  This technique was moved around the bowl with a radius.

A lollypop stick was also used with the edge and also the flat part of the stick, other ways of doing this can also be used.

We finished off by giving Stewart a big thank you for the evening’s demonstration, all questions were answered during and after the demo.

Report by Barrie Fisher and edited by Steve Hackett

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Mary Stevens Charity Summer Event September 2021

Today we were at Mary Stevens Park for their open day. The event was open to the public from 10.00 till 16.00 hours.  It is a charity event organised by Mary Stevens Hospice as a fundraiser for their organisation.

The Black Country Woodturners put on a charity table of turned items that were donated by the members, for the purpose of helping the hospice in fundraising.  At the same time, we are able to put our own turnings onto the tables of which 20% of the takings are also donated back to the charity.

After the chaos of setting up the tenting area with three units, we had eight tables with a good mixture of various items for sale during the day.

The charity table was totally full and needed an additional table to display the items donated by the members.

The club had a good turnout of members who all had a good selection of turned items for sale.  We also had a lathe running and was manned by Steve who kept up a stream of spinning tops for the kids free of charge, this kept him out of mischief for the day.  It must be said that he was tired at the end of the day, but it was for a good cause.

During the morning there was a steady stream of people going through the selling area with the charity stall doing very well and clearing a number of items.  During the day we also had a good many people taking our club cards with a number being interested in starting to turn, it’s a case of watching this space for this, we were also asked about the club and how the items were formed and developed.  The weather was very kind to us during the day, with it being sunny which also helped with the turnout of people who attended the event.

Along with the turned items we also had a couple of wives joining us,  Ian’s wife Kim & Steves’s wife Georgina, who had their own craft stalls of hand-crafted items along with us.

A big thank you must go out to all who turned up for the event and helped throughout the day with setting up, selling, and breaking down again.  This help was very much appreciated with us being able to clear the site quickly.

We raised a total of £244.72 from the charity table, and from the club members the sale items we raised £90.00 at 20% commission, this makes a total of £334.72 that was handed over to The Mary Stevens Hospice.

Report by Barrie Fisher and edited by Steve Hackett

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Demo Report August 2021 – Richard Finlay

For this evening’s demonstration and entertainment, we welcome Richard Findley who has his own business known as ‘The Turners Workshop’ and is a production turner for his living. The project will be a Box with Alternative Ivory Insert. The wood will be Walnut.  Size being 80mm x 80mm x150mm

Tools that Richard will use:-

  • Slow speed grinder with a CBN wheel
  • Spindle Roughing Gouge
  • 3/8 & ½ Spindle gouge
  • Beading and Parting Tool
  • Narrow Diamond Parting Tool
  • Negative rake Scrapers, Round & Curved

For those that joined early, they were shown by Richard how he sharpens his chisels and gouges which is via a freehand method. 

The Walnut blank needed to be turned down to approximately 75mm square, it was roughed down to round and had a tenon put onto each end ready for the chucking process.  Richard roughly shaped the blank to help decide where to part off the pieces.  At this point, the sections are parted.

TIP – When checking the size of the tenons with callipers, round the tips of the callipers so that they do not dig into the wood and also do not press too hard when getting the required size.

LID – This is mounted onto the chuck and then hollow out the inner area by using a spindle gouge with the flute at about 10.0’clock on the centre line, do not use an aggressive cut as this will tend to rip the wood out.  The round negative rake scraper to clean the end and also cut a recess which must be square.  When the desired inside is finished it is sanded to a final finish. 

TIP – Use a rule to press into the recess and line it up with the lathe bed, in this way we would have a parallel edge on the lid.

BOX BODY – This is also mounted onto the chuck and the edge is now cut to match up with the lid, this is not the final fit at present, this is done later, therefore he starts with a cut that does not match up at present.

The hollowing is now carried out with a slight undercut produced within the confines of the body and then sanded to a finish.

At this point, Richard gave a good explanation as to why he prefers to use a negative rake scraper and also to keep the angles the same, which in his case is 350.  This was followed by a demonstration of how he sharpens a negative rake scraper.

The tenon where the lid fits into the box has a rounded dome shape applied so that the lid will fit on without having to push down on the straight edge of the box body.

The lid is fitted to the box using the body as a jam chuck, the final shape of the box is then refined, prior to removing additional material from the lid to form a recess to take the alternative ivory.

The box body is now also ready to be parted off from the waste material prior to finishing the base. The remaining blank material is now turned so that the box base can be jam chucked onto it. The box base turned to clean the parting cut. Then sanded to a finish.

Richard demonstrated an ALTERNATIVE IVORY RESIN insert material for the lid. This is a dense material which is ideal to use a negative rake scraper with, we also need to be careful as it can chip.  

The streamers that come off will need to be removed with the lathe off for safety purposes.  This is cut to the required diameter to match the recess within the lid. 

This material is now semi-parted off and then sanded, this needs to have a finer finish than the wood, and an abrasive of up to 1200 grit was used as a final abrasive, a burnishing cream was then applied as a final finish.

The depth of the disc is now measured and can be cut to fit the lid.

The project would be finished with hard wax oil.

Richard gave a good explanation all the way through the demonstration and answered all of the questions that were presented to him.

Richard recommended a book on turning boxes.

REFERENCE – Turned Boxes 50 Designs by Chris Stott.  1-86108 203 7

Yet another very good excellent demo from Richard,  which went down well with the members.

Report by Barrie Fisher and edited by Steve Hackett

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Demo Report May 2021 – Chris Parker


The evening’s demonstrator was Chris Parker from “The Bald Woodturners” who will demonstrate a Hollow Form with a Fluted Top and then colored similar to this picture.


Chris is a full-time Turner, artist, demonstrater & teacher. He enjoys being able to pass his knowledge onto others. His passion for our craft is as strong now as it was when he started. He enjoys texturing his turned pieces with various techniques from a simple wire brush to more advanced techniques, he likes his pieces to be organic & individual. He finds inspiration for his textures & forms from various places, but most notably from the ancient ceramicists.
https://www.thebaldwoodturners.co.uk/

The project itself is from a piece of Sycamore that is 7 1/2in x 3in thick and is turned at a rate of 1100 rpm for starters. It was mounted on a screw chuck for the initial process.


Chris started by curving the base round whilst also producing a tenon for the chuck, this curve being produced without the need of turning the blank to a true round. A pull cut was used to remove a large amount of the waste wood and then a push cut to produce a fluid curved form around to the top of the blank.

The marking out for the tenon was produced with a pencil attached to a piece of plywood sized to a set thickness, which when placed on the top of the tailstock and pushed against the blank to get the size required for a set of H gripper jaws made by Axminster.

Chris answered the various questions asked by the participants on the chat screen, with Rob relaying the questions to him, this in itself worked well.
Chris also used Blue Peter moments to keep the process moving at an even pace throughout the process, the blank was reversed onto the H jaws and then hollowed out, at this moment Chris produced his second blank which had been hollowed out and allowed to dry.


This then needed to be re-turned to bring it back to true round, this was achieved by mounting the blank onto Pin jaws that had hosepipe pushed over them so as not to mark the wood, this was inserted into the opening, and carefully secured.


A Simon Hope 6mm hollowing tool was used for this and a hook tool. When Chris was satisfied with the shape and the hollow form he then used his indexing plate to form 14 segments around the top of the form by drawing a line straight across the form using a pencil jig set to the height of the lathe center.

The hollow form was again refined with a curve from one aspect of the segment to another, (a French curve could be used for this) in this way a gentle curve was produced around the top of the form.

This was then removed with the chuck and fitted to a Woodcut Carvers Clamp that was inserted into the tool post holder. At this point Chris put a line around the top of the hollow form as a guide to how deep he could go, bearing in mind that he had a wall thickness of around 12mm to play with.


Chris then produced a Die Grinder with a Kutuall ¾ extreme bull nose burr which he used to start refining the top of the form in a sweeping motion for each segment, when satisfied with the depth and the progress he swapped to a 9.5mm smaller extreme burr to finish off the process. A further texture was added at this point by the use of a Dremel engraver with a blunt nail which was used in all of the flutes.


Chris demonstrated this process on three flutes and then produced another hollow form with all of the flutes cut and engraved. The smoothing process was carried out with a Silverline Filament Wheel which has a silicon compound embedded into it so that it always has a sharp edge.


The top of the form was then sprayed with Black Acrylic Paint from the center outwards to keep the paint spray away from the out edge of the curve, this was then dried utilizing a hot air gun although Chris did state that he normally allows them to dry naturally.


At this point a Metallic Gold Paint was applied to the ridges of the flutes utilizing a dry brush technique, this highlighted the ridges and also the texture produced by the texturing. This dry technique allows for more paint to be added if required but it cannot remove it if the brush is overloaded with paint. Stroke the paint onto the form, do not dab it on.

When the paint has dried a Lacquer was applied,with either a Satin or Matt finish as Chris prefers this to gloss. When dry the hollow form is again reversed to remove the foot from the project, at this point either a flat or rounded foot can be used, for our project a flat foot was produced.

Chris’s demo went down very well with all participants and was also mentioned that he would be coming back to demonstrate for us again in the near future.

All references to the tools and additional burrs used will follow at the end.
I would like to thank Rob Hackett for his work with relaying the questions and for the excellent job of co-hosting the event as usual.
I would also like to thank the BCWT club for putting on this demonstration at no cost to members.

Ian Brown gave a date out for the Mary Stevens Summer Fair which was 4th September 2021 and hoped that club members would undertake various projects that could be used to sell for the charity event on a table that has been provided for us to use, with access to PowerPoint for the club demo lathe.

I will finish by stating that I think this was one of the best demonstrations that we have had and has given us all an interesting sequence of developments that we can use for our own project in the future.
Remember that our next chinwag event will be held on the 3rd of June 2021.

Don’t forget to send in your photos for the chairman’s challenge and any other items you are working on to blackcountrywoodturners@gmail.com
Report by Barrie Fisher and edited by Steve Hackett.

Tool Links
GOXAWEE 240W Die Grinder – Straight Grinder Mini Electric Drill Rotary Multi Tool/6 Step Variable Speed/8000-32000RPM (0.5-6 mm Collet)


GOXAWEE Rotary Tool Kit, 240W Multi-Functional Mini Electric Die Grinder Set with 1/4 Inch Chuck (0.5-6 mm), 6 Step Variable Speed (8000-32000RPM), Flex Shaft & 157Pcs Accessories for DIY Creations


Dremel 290 Engraver – Compact Engraving Pen Tool with Carbide engraving Tip

Kutzall Extreme Ball Nose Rotary Burr 1⁄4″ Shaft, Very Coarse – Abrasive Tungsten Carbide 3⁄4″(19mm) Dia. X 1-1⁄8″(28.5mm)

Kutzall Extreme Sphere Rotary Burr, 1⁄8″ Shaft, Very Coarse – Abrasive Tungsten Carbide, 1⁄4″ (6.3mm) Head Diameter, SX-14-EC

Silverline 675087 Filament Wheel 75 mm Coarse
Abracs Nylon Filament Wheel Brush 75mm

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Demo Report February 2021- Steve & Rob Hackett

Our thanks go out to both Steve and Robert Hackett who were again able to come together via Zoom and put on the turning demo for those of us who are in lockdown and unable to move around.

The meeting started with Ian Brown going through some club information prior to the demonstration

The live demonstration for this month is being put on by Steve Hackett who is turning a Pool ball trinket

box along with Rob who was looking after the audio and video side, in addition to hosting the event.

Steve began the demo with a slide show talking about pool/billiard balls, their common sizes. The phenolic resin that they are made of, and the possible hazards in machining them. The importance of using a dust mask and dust collection.

Steve explained the process that he was going to follow and the tools he would be using.

8mm tapered tap

8mm plug tap

Tap wrench

6.8mm drill        

Centre drill

Doughnut chuck

8mm Screw chuck

Steve then showed a video on how he drills a centred hole in the ball using a jig on a pillar drill, ready for tapping an M8 thread 

Instructions on how the doughnut and screw chucks were constructed. The doughnut chuck was used to the pool ball was secure into the chuck with an 8mm bolt through in the centre of the doughnut chuck, this is then further secured by adding an additional top ring to the mounted base unit of the doughnut by three M8 flat head Allen screws that are recessed, these are 120 degrees apart.

At this point, a further hole is drilled into the top of the ball and again tapped with an M8 thread, which means that the holes are lined up 180 degrees apart and in line with each other.

The top of the pool ball is now removed by using a a homemade thin-bladed parting tool.

This is then smoothed flat and glued on to a piece of end grain elm. The glue normally used to do this is epoxy but in this demonstration CA glue was used for its quicker setting.

Whilst waiting for the glue to dry a hole was cut into the main body of the ball in various size bits to a depth

of 20mm. This was then turned to a smooth surface and sanded, Yorkshire grit was applied and then

polished with microcrystalline waxto an even shine.

At this point Steve started on the top of the ball by using a screw chuck with a 8mm bolt fixed into the

centre position. The wood was turned down to form a round shape, this was then put together with the

base to form a complete round sanded and finished item.

Steve Turned the base and the finial, also made out of elm. Both of them have a 7mm stem turned with

the aid of a spanner to measure the shaft size. These were then screwed into the pool ball threaded holes, in this case without the need for glue, but it is recommended.

Steve has stated that if anyone needs additional information, then please contact him.

Our thanks go out to both Steve and Rob for this demonstration.

Next month Rob will be doing the live demonstration. He will be turning a hollow form colour and pyography decoration.

Report by Barrie Fisher and Steve Hackett

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Demo Report January 2021- Steve & Rob Hackett

Our thanks go out to both Steve Hackett and Robert Hackett who were able to come together and put on the turning demo for those of us who are in lockdown and unable to move around.

Robert Hackett – Gesso Texturing Technique

Robert started by applying black gesso on to a pre-turned bowl shape, whilst this was still wet sawdust was added which adhered to the surface of the wet gesso.  

A second layer of gesso was then added all over to remove the color of the sawdust showing.  This technique when applied does not need to be perfectly smooth as it is covered and will allow for a better key for the gesso.

When this piece had dried a mixture of Hampshire Sheen Embellishing Waxes was applied by dabbing this onto the top of the gesso and then rubbed into the bowl surface by way of a cheap toothbrush. Robert was also explaining the process as he progressed through the complete process.

Steve Hackett – Twisted Three-sided Weed Pot – (Multi-Axis Turning)

Steve started with a blank that needed to be turned round.  When this had been accomplished the marking up process was detailed onto the blank.

This marking up process was shown both live and through the use of a slide show.

Steve started by dividing the blank into three equal parts by means of the indexing set up included in the lathe headstock.  Two pencil rings were added to each end of the blank, the first one 10mm in and then the second one, in a further 5mm.  The equal lines were then extended down each end so that we have three areas marked on the inner ring.  These were then numbered 1, 2, and 3 on each end so that they matched up, these are 1200 apart.

To get the twist the following number combinations were used;

1 – 2, 2 – 3, 3 – 1    these give a twisted shape

If you only require a three-sided item, match up the following numbers;

1 – 1, 2 – 2, 3 – 3

Additional multisided items can be developed by using the same method.

The blank was mounted between centers with a two-prong drive in the headstock and a pointed live centre in the tailstock.

At this point Steve started the process of turning the twist, this was done by looking at the ghost image at the top of the turning blank, following the curve to get an equal displacement along each side.  

Steve stated that the turning should be cut from the centre out towards the ends, this prevents an aggressive cut from being applied to the ends.  The speed of the lathe went up as high as was safe to do so due to cutting a lot of free air. If you only cut straight across, you will end up with a project that bulges in the middle.

This was then sanded and sealed, a tenon was cut onto the one end and remounted into a scroll chuck.

A hole was then drilled down the weed pot by using a starting point with the aid of an engineering centre drill.  The top of the jar was then trimmed by scalloping the top into the bored hole.

At this point, a jam chuck was mounted and the weed pot was inverted and mounted on the jam chuck, the base was then scalloped out and finished, this process allowed it to stand correctly on a surface.

The weed pot was finished by buffing with a series 3 of buffing wheels on the lathe, Steve explained and demonstrated how to use this system.

The buffing wheels used are available from  The Polishing Shop. 

https://www.thepolishingshop.co.uk/polishing-kits/horn-wood-polishing-kits/menzerna-horn-and-wood-kit-for-a-bench-grinder-750160

Steve commented on the process as he worked through it, during the demo, a Blue Peter moment was required when the blank voluntarily removed itself from the lathe.

With the way that the lockdown is developing at present, the next demo will also be put on by Steve and Robert Hackett.

Last but not least we must also thank Robert for operating all of the equipment that allows these demos to take place.

Report by Barrie Fisher & Steve Hackett