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

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:-

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

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

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

This month the club had a Zoom demonstration put together by John Boyne-Aitkin, better known as the Bowler Hatted Turner who is primarily a jobbing turner.

We want to say a big thank you to The Shropshire Turners who joined the event in collaboration with us. This made the event a lot better with respect to the cost of the demonstration.

The Zoom session opened at 6.45 pm for a 7.00 pm start time, the demonstration went on until 9.30 pm with a refreshment break in the middle, and John was answering questions throughout the evening.

Project 1 for this evening is a Sea Urchin Ornament for hanging.

The project was made out of Maple for the top and bottom areas of the project.

The bottom part was 1.5” sq x 8” long – Top part was 1.25” sq x 6” long

The Sea Urchin shells can be found on Amazon or eBay but a good link would be www.onlineshells.co.uk

John has a good method of explaining everything as he goes along and uses close-up camera work for this also, we did have a problem with one camera at the start when it stopped working, but John was able to sort it out with the help of his technology expert.

John mentioned the use of Health & Safety throughout the demonstration.

1. First, start by making the hole at the top of the shell round by using a Dremel with a 10mm grinding cone.
2. To make the shells stronger when using them, paint the insides with PVA glue and let it set.
3. Turn the bottom section down to round with the speed set at 1330rpm.
4. On the end of the spindle turn a 12mm tenon about 19mm long, this needs to be the full depth of the sea urchin and the shoulder needs to be undercut to take into account the shape.
5. At this point, drill an 8mm hole down the centre of the tenon to a depth of 20mm
6. Turn the spindle around in the chuck and start to shape, this can be any shape that you require, as John said it is your work and your idea as to the finished shape. John used his Skew chisel for this.
7. At this point, John sanded the project and then used Friction Polish, and Carnauba Wax to give it a shine, the overall finished length for this being just over 6 inches.
8. The second part of the Top of the project.
9. Turn to round again and take the tenon down to 8mm, John showed a couple of methods of carrying this out.
10. The shoulder again needs to be undercut for the shape, and then the top shaped as required.
11. At this point, John sanded the project and then used Friction Polish, and Carnauba Wax to give it a shine, the overall finished length for this being just over 6 inches.
12. The two parts now need to be put together carefully with the shell being able to rotate freely, this is required due to the possible movement in the wood as it may still be drying.
13. At the very top end, a hole must be drilled through so that a ribbon can pass through and the ornament can then be hung up.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Project 2 for this evening was a mirror/picture frame.

Wood was 8.5“in diameter, and Mirror was 4” in diameter.

1. Turn a hole larger than the 4” diameter mirror due to the possibility of the wood moving, which could put pressure on the glass.
2. He turned the project around to cut the hole so that the mirror would not fall out of the front.
3. To cut a hanging point on the back of the frame, drill a hole large enough for the screw head to go through then drill a smaller hole above for the shaft of the screw, this is then run into the larger hole.
4. Take a screw and grind the head down so that you have a cutting edge, at this point insert this into the drill and you will be able to cut the slot at the back of the wood so that it will remain on the wall.
5. A piece of hardboard was used to protect the glass at the back and keep it in place,
6. Glazing sprigs were used at this point to secure the mirror into the frame.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

John answered various questions throughout the demonstration whilst carrying out the demonstration, he showed some very useful techniques of how to achieve different effects for patterning also.

At the end of the evening, John showed us around his workshop area with all of the various machines in place.

The club would like to thank John for the demonstration.

This may be the first of additional collaborations with SAW when we can share a demonstrator.