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 22^nd 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

The subject for the evening was Christmas Decorations.

Projects will be a Christmas tree, a Snowman & a Star Shape German Ring Turning

Wolfgang started by going through the various items that he was to cover through the evening and gave advice on which project would be good for the beginner and the more experienced woodturner, also starting that any new members should take tuition from a more experienced turner so that they can develop their own individual skills to a safe level and then to keep practising.

Project 1 – Christmas tree

He started by turning an approx 50mm square spindle down to a round, during this process, he stated that you needed to listen to the sound of the wood as you can sometimes hear problems prior to something happening on the lathe.

When in a round state a dovetail tenon was cut by means of a parting tool which had been reshaped to form the dovetail shape for the chuck mount.  At this point, the blank was remounted in the chuck in a secure and safe manner so that the tenon was gripped all the way around.

The shape was then looked at and a taper was cut down to a point whilst the tailstock was in position when the point was achieved the waste nub of timber dropped off and the tailstock was now removed.  The shape was cut mainly by means of the spindle roughing gouge and then refined with a skew.  The layers of the tree were then cut and at this point, you could use either a skew or spindle gouge with a fingernail grind applied. 

Wolfgang also demonstrated how he sharpened the fingernail grind with a diamond card to establish an edge again.

The bevel must always be in contact with the blank as that is the direction of the cut that you will require.  During the process, Wolfgang demonstrated using the tools both right and left-handed which is good practice to get into but again this will take practice.  This exercise will help develop your skills for both skew and spindle gouge turning.  Pine is a good wood to use for practice sessions.

Project 2 – Snowman

The blank was again mounted between centres and turned to a round again the wood blank being 50mm square.  A tenon was again produced in the same manner as the tree, at this point, the blank was again remounted in the chuck.

The top of the blank was now cleaned off and made flat, the shape of the snowman was the next thing to be marked up so that the dimensions were clear, the largest section of the wood being at the headstock end and then gradually getting smaller as you get to his head.  Each section is turned as a bead but they need not be a total round, these being produced by rolling a spindle gouge.  For the head, only part of the head is showing as the rest is in his hat.

The item itself was then painted on the lathe so that any overlapping paint could be removed easier.

Project 3 – Star Shape German Ring Turning

The wood blank for this project was a large slice of a Leylandii tree with the grain running lengthways in line with the bed, Wolfgang explained that Leylandii was ok to turn but produced a poor quality finish with lots of tearout. But was the only blank he had available at such short notice and it would do to show the ring-turning technique. He mounted the blank in the spindle orientation, its size was approx. 9in x 3in.  Wolfgang used his sanding disc on the headstock as a drive plate with a pointed live centre in the tailstock pressed up against the blank, it was then cleaned flat and a tenon was produced for when the blank was turned. 

Wolfgang started by showing his template of half a star which would be used on a regular basis to keep checking the shape, this template needed to be accurate.  He found where on the blank the centre of the side wall would be and then proceeded to mark the areas for the other points of the star.

The removal of waste was by means of a spindle gouge, and always developing the straight lines to produce the crispness required and also to cut down on the sanding process.  When he was satisfied with the shape against the template he remounted the blank and carried out the same process on the opposite side.

With the thickness getting less and less a securing tape was added to the back of the blank so that it could be held on to the chuck as the last cuts are trying to get the hoop to come apart from the main core, again you need to listen to what the wood is telling you.

When the last cut had been produced the hooped star came away and it then needed to be cut into strips around the edge to form each individual star.

Wolfgang used a pull saw to cut through the hoop and took one star out which left plenty more, a better way would be to use your bandsaw as he stated.

This is a process which was developed in a region of eastern Germany in the Ore mountains of Erzgebirge.

You will need to be very patient with this process as the majority of waste is in the form of dust instead of shavings.

Using this technique you can achieve amazing results

Thanks go out to Wolfgang for stepping in at very short notice and the evening was well worth the change.

Also, thanks again to Steve for the raffle and also to Ian for stepping in this month, and setting up the video and audio equipment.

Additionally thanks to all who set up the room and also who put it back in a usable manner for the college.

Report by Barrie Fisher, edited by Steve Hackett

For our October all-day demonstration, we have booked Chris Parker who is a very accomplished woodturner who is very approachable and is willing to impart his knowledge to everyone who is interested. Chris, (also known as The Bald Woodturner) enjoys adding texturing to turned work, and likes his pieces to be organic and individual in their own right. He has stated that he looks towards ancient ceramics for his ideas.

The committee stated that the cost of the event would be £10.00 for the complete day with tea and coffee on tap all day, also during the day, we had a good selection of food for everyone who attended the event. Club members also were able to take their own items for sale in addition to the wood on sale for the club and the donated wood selection the profits from the sale are going towards the club charity.

Chris brought with him a couple of fellow woodturners as guests for the event, these being the Canadian woodturner and carver Kade Bolger, we will also welcomed Martin Clarkson from Lincolnshire, this is a big plus for our club as we will have had a good opportunity to discuss other areas of woodturning with these guys and take advantage of their combined knowledge, which I hope club participants took advantage of to a good degree.

For this event Chris planned out the following projects:

1 – Textured and coloured curved-rimmed platter

2 – Round-bottomed pot with external texture and internal stone layer colouring effect

3 – Making an off-centre jig, which can be used for many projects.

Project 1 – Textured and coloured curved-rimmed platter

Chris turned a recess for chuck expansion mode on the block of wood ready for shaping. The blank was reversed and the tool rest was set at the mid-point and also parallel to the work, this was then turned to the round, ready for shaping. In this position, a flat was turned smooth and parallel and then a 45⁰ angle was turned across the corner. Chris showed how to mount the blank on the chuck correctly and safely.

A negative rake scraper was used to refine the base of the platter. This is now ready for sanding, a sanding disc was used by means of a battery drill, and an area on the outer section was then made ready for texturing.

The Sorby texturing tool with the largest fitting wheel, Chris also stated how to sharpen the texturing tools so that they remain sharp. The large wheel was used first then swapped to a smaller texturing tool, both tools being held in the upright position. In the centre of the band, an orange peel effect was used by moving the tool over and over the surface area, you must be able to traverse the surface without too much pressure.

The block is now reversed and the outer rim of the platter is rounded to give an interesting shape to the piece, this will allow people to handle the item with a pleasing effect and feel. The edge of the platter was sanded at this point. The centre of the piece is now removed but leaving a wood nub right in the middle to add strength at this point. An electric cutter was used at this point to give added texture to the inner area and then with a rotary sanding brush remove the fluffy bits from the texturing. A graphite stick was used at this point to embellish the raised points of the texture. (graphite stick available from Amazon)

Chris used an airbrush to colour from the inner to the outer edge of the texturing at about 600rpm. A plain shoulder has then added on either side of the airbrushed texture, the bottom rim is done when the base is removed. A matt lacquer and wax are then used to finish the project.

Project 2 – Round-bottomed pot with external texture and internal stone layer colouring effect

Chris used a 5″ x 5″ x 5″ blank mounted on a screw chuck, the tail stock was also moved up to secure the wood between centres and then it was turned to a round. A tenon is then produced so that the project can be mounted in a chuck when reversed, also at this time, a basic shape is put on the pot

When reversed the outer shape is also refined prior to applying a grinder with a wood sanding disc attached for carving, this being applied around the bowl in a random manner until all the required area had been covered, the lathe is switched off for this operation, move the grinder in a small circular motion for each area, do not put pressure on the piece as this could cause burning and you would need to carry out the process again.

The project is now remounted so the wood core can now be removed, this was started off by means of using a drill set to the required depth which will also be used as a depth measure. The edge of the pot is now cleaned off and made square. After it has been hollowed out a small-headed sander from Simon Hope is used, also a brush sander to remove the fluffy bits again.

The pot is then sealed with a spray acrylic sanding sealer and the inner surface is then painted blue, with a granite spray added over the top of the paint. The front edge of the pot is now cleaned up.

After the paint finish had dried, Chris turned away the tenon and textured the bottom of the pot to finish the project.

Project 3 – Making an off-centre jig

The blank for this project must be hard and have a good grain like Oak.

A screw chuck was used first to develop the round shape required, when this is done the offsets were marked onto the blank and drilled and then remounted on the screw chuck to each hole with a thread in, these can be strengthened by running CA glue down the threads to give longer life to the jigs. At this point, you will need to mark where the holes will be placed for the countersunk woodscrews to be positioned for attaching the blank that you require turning. These woodscrews need to protrude through the jig by about 12mm or ½ inch depending on what camp you are in.

From this position a blank can be attached and then by turning out the blank in one position, move to the next screw chuck hole and repeat the process, and then on to the last, in this way a bowl with three hollows int can be produced which Chris showed. When all three hollows had been finished the jig was again mounted in the central hole and the outer shape refined up to the outer rim of the project.

Thanks go to Rob for operating the camera and audio equipment for the duration of the event. A big thank you goes to Kim (Ian’s wife) for the food during the day which went down well if you will forgive the pun.

Finally, the committee would like to thank everyone who helped set up the room and also to take everything back down again at the end, to meet the college requirements.

Report by Barrie Fisher, edited by Steve Hackett

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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

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.

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

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