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
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
Today we are at Mary Stevens Hospice to present the Wig stands that were turned by the club members for the people who are undergoing treatment for illnesses who also need additional help with other areas of their treatment and wellbeing.
Those present for the handover were Roger Cheshire, Stephen Hackett, and Barrie Fisher, committee members of the Black Country Woodturners Club. James Totney, the community, and events fundraiser from Mary Stevens Hospice accepted the Wig stands from us on behalf of the hospice. James stated that it was a pleasure to accept them and was impressed with the craftsmanship being displayed.
At the handover we undertook a photoshoot of the Wig stands and people present, James also had Beth come along for the event.
He also stated that he is looking forward to the visit by the club for the summer fair being held in September. In addition, he confirmed we would be able to have an area for the items that we can turn for the charity to sell, so they can gain additional funds for the Mary Stevens Hospice.
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.
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.
In Early May 2020, Phoebe Vaughan from Slimbridge Wetlands & Wildlife Trust contacted Blackcountry Woodturners via the contact page on the website enquiring if the club would be interested in supplying the trust with a quantity of around 50 wooden Goose eggs in two different sizes and what the cost would be.
The eggs were required as dummy eggs, to be painted by staff and then used to swap the real eggs from various nests around the complex, this serves two functions help reduce damage and breakage by other birds and preserve boost numbers of new chicks.
The real eggs would then be incubated within facilities at the trust and replaced on the nest just prior to hatching. This would ensure the maximum return and best chances for the young bird’s survival going forward.
Wolfgang drew the request to the committee members and it was agreed that this would make an excellent lockdown club member challenge for all levels of ability, It was agreed the club would pick up costs and ask all members to make and donate the eggs. With this an email was circulated to everyone proposing the idea, this came back as a resounding yes and so the challenge was born.. Game on…
Wolfgang emailed Phoebe informing her that the club would make all the eggs and would do this at no charge to the trust to which they were stunned and very appreciative.
Within two weeks club members had made 106 wooden eggs, the eggs were then either collected from members’ porches and front door steps or dropped off the same way at the two agreed collection points Mell and Wolfgang’s homes.
A small sample of the eggs before sending off…..
Six boxes of wooden eggs were boxed and sent to the trust, 5 by Mell and Wolfgang and 1 by Nigel and Teresa Goodricke who sent their own egg contribution as due to distance was simply a more practical solution during the Covid19 lockdown.
Within no time at all Phoebe had made contact stating the Trust had received all six boxes to which they were thrilled with the result and were staggered by the number of eggs made for them by our members.
A section of the reply…
To let you know that I have now received 6 incredible boxes of eggs.
Thank you so much!
Today I managed a lesser snow goose nest, and put together a few photos to show you all. You can see one old wood, with chipped gloss paint after a herring gull tried to eat it. There is then some real goose eggs mixed in with a few of your wooden ones.. The real goose eggs range from 105g to 140g, and so you see how different sizes can work in our favour 🙂
Both new and older club members, beginners to advanced were more than happy to help the trust in this very worthwhile cause, this being a different type of challenge, not one that comes around every day, the egg making being a welcome distraction to the mad Covid19 world we currently live in.
In
October 2019, the AWGB contacted a number of Midlands based
woodturning clubs seeking a little assistance.
The
AWGB Committee required help in manning the AWGB stand at the
Creative Craft Show, National Exhibition Centre NEC, hall 20 between
Thursday 1st
and Sunday 4th
November 2019.
The
call went out to our Blackcountry members, which was met with a great
response, 5 members agreed to help out during the event, Bob Mercer
Thursday 1st,
Ian Brown & Roger Cheshire Friday 2nd,
Bill Hubbard Saturday 3rd
& Kim Harris Sunday 4th.
Without
exception everyone enjoyed their day, and agreed it was well worth
their days’ time.
We
all met and chatted to some very interesting people from all over the
country and further afield, many interested in taking woodturning up
as a hobby, and were pointed in the direction of their local home
clubs, several were pointed in our direction and we may get lucky
with a few new members in the future.
We hope the AWGB come to the show next year as we will volunteer again, below are some pictures from the event.
The Summer fayre is the second of three events this year that Blackcountry Woodturners will be attending raising funds to help support the children’s hospice, this has been Blackcountry Woodturner’s selected charity for some years now.
We turned up on-site at the Hospice grounds at 09:00 and were allocated our spot on the main field, it then took just over an hour and several cups of tea, to get things all set up and ready for the grand opening at 11 am, we were just one of many stalls supporting this great cause.
The event opened at 11 am and things got underway, the crowds soon built up and were entertained by not only the stall holders but also the great entertainers and events were staged throughout the day. The weather held until around lunchtime but then the heavens opened for a short while but quickly blew over and things soon got back into swing.
From the club’s perspective, again the stall looked great, with plenty of members’ work on sale, plus many items on the charity table. The public gave many complimentary remarks and the lathe demonstrations were as always a great success, enjoyed by both adults and children alike.
Many thanks go to Steve & Rob Hackett, Roger Cheshire, Roger Sherwood Howells, Arthur Mills, Mell Adams, Ron Lunn and Ian Brown for turning out giving their time and talents to support the social event.
Special thanks go to Roger Cheshire who organised and
oversaw the raffle of the skittles game made by him earlier in the year; lots
of tickets were sold with the eventual lucky winner being a family from the
Stourbridge area.
At the end of the day we managed to raise the sum of
£157.80p which Mell handed over to the event organisers who were very
supportive and grateful for the clubs attendance.
Thanks again to those that turned out and/or donated items
for the charity table, a great day was had with a good pot of money going to
Mary Stevens fund.
Our next Mary Stevens event will be the Christmas Fayre on Saturday
7th December 10am to 3pm please visit us and help in supporting a great cause.
The Max Carey
woodturning institute is a very well established and respected
woodturning teaching venue based in Portishead, Bristol and is a
fully equipped, multi lathed, and tooled workshop, delivering a
selection of woodturning courses from beginner through to advanced
woodturners.
This venue is also
used by the AWGB for hosting training days and weekends.
Blackcountry
Woodturners were very fortunate to be offered the opportunity to hold
a professional Tuition day at the venue, hosted by Stuart Bradfield,
institute manager and renowned Professional Woodturner Jay Heryet.
The aim of the day
was the preparation, making, and individual decoration /texturing of
a 250mm x 50mm Sycamore platter.
At 07:15hrs the crew
of 11 Blackcountry members all met for breakfast at a local hotel in
Portishead, some having travelled the night before and the remainder
travelling that morning, after a good chat, several bacon butties and
cups of tea we made for the Max Carey Centre arriving at 08:30am.
We were al welcomed
by Stuart and Jay, when having had the day’s induction and safety
briefing we were all ready to go, chosen sycamore blanks in hand and
lathe stations chosen.
Jay started the day
with an introduction of the days aims, emphasising that enjoyment and
learning were the key elements, she then gave a demonstration on ways
to mount the blanks, design features, general shaping and tooling
processes, implanting ideas and suggestions for us all to try as the
day progressed.
We all then retired
to our chosen lathes and set to work making our own individual
platters, using and practising techniques illustrated by Jay.
As we all worked on
our individual projects, both Jay and Stuart moved around the
workshop, talking to each of us and putting us right by demonstration
on identified areas in need of individual attention, plus encouraging
us to look at form, shape and consideration and development of the
finer detail touches to enhance the piece.
Everyone was so
engrossed time just flew by and before we knew it, it was lunchtime,
more tea, sandwiches and banter in the rest room, what could be
better.
The afternoon
started with Jay again demonstrating how to improve a number of
tooling areas she had recognised as she had visited and chatted to us
all during the morning session.
Jay then moved on to
decoration techniques and ideas, showing a number of nice pieces made
and adorned by herself, highlighting numerous ways where shape,
colour and texture work together to bring the piece to its final
conclusion, her point simply being do not be afraid to give anything
a go, if you do not try you will not learn and explore the endless
possibilities.
With this in our
heads we all set off back to our lathes to develop and try our own
ideas on decorating the platter, watched over and encouraged by both
Jay and Stuart. At the end of the session it was amazing to see the
differing texturing and colouring ideas we had all chosen.
At around 4:30pm
Stuart and Jay brought the day to a close with a final chat and Q&A
session. I am sure both Jay and Stuart enjoyed the day as much as we
did.
As a group we showed our appreciation of being invited to the venue
and being privileged to have had such good company and instruction, a
most memorable and satisfying day.
