The demonstrator for this evening is Tony Jones. Tonys project for tonight is one of his signature pieces a thin-walled Vortex Bowl, The blank Tony has chosen is a piece of Spalted Sycamore 8” x 3”.

Tony came along with a good selection of his own turned work which was displayed at the back of the room.

The cameras were set up by a new crew this evening (Ian and Greg) who got on well with the process. with Rob assisting in finalising the set-up.

Tony started by turning the blank flat and squared the edges to get a true round-shaped blank to start working with.  The centre was identified by the use of skew and then this was used for the callipers to give the size of the overall diameter for the chuck which Tony stated was 44mm for this project.  This was then turned out ready for the chuck.

During the demonstration, Tony gave out some tips on how to keep wet sycamore workable and to get the best out of it.  At this stage, Tony also asked for questions from the assembled turners either at the break or during the session.

Whilst turning Tony started to get the overall shape of the outside of the vortex bowl that he liked.

Throughout the first half of the evening, Ian received additional training from Rob in using the camera broadcasting technology.

During the first part of the demo, it was hard to hear what Tony was saying due to the dust protection mask that he was wearing but this was sorted during the break with a different type of mask, which increased the understanding for all during the second part.

When he was happy with the outer shape the sanding began starting at 120 grit and working down to 400 grit, this was then sealed and finished with a microcrystalline wax finish.  Again during this sanding process, Ian helped out with the vacuum to clean the dust away.

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The blank was now turned around and mounted in expansion mode ready for the centre of the bowl to be turned out.  During this process Tony only took out part of the centre and sanded as he was going down, leaving a lump of wood in the middle to keep the blank stabilised. 

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The next part was to remove the central lump of wood to form the bowl shape itself, at this stage the thickness of the bowl was looked at during each stage to arrive at the desired thickness for the project.  Again the centre of the bowl was sanded down in the same manner as before.

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At this point Tony started to use Cole Jaws to remove the dovetail chucking point of the bowl, remembering to use a piece of tissue between the aluminium surface and the blank to prevent any marking from showing up on the bowl.  This was then sanded and finished in the same manner as previously.  The bowl was then passed around the assembled turners. 

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Tony was thanked for his demonstration by the club.

Thanks go to Steve for the raffle & refreshments and our new tech team of Ian and Greg.

Thanks go out to those who helped out in cleaning the room and getting it back to normal.

Report by Barrie Fisher and edited by Steve Hackett

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

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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.

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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.

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. 

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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.

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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

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.

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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.

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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