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

Sue started the demo by welcoming the members and explaining the project she would be demonstrating, an open segmented vase.

Sue started with the base and was faced off so that the segments can be positioned correctly.

Sue produced a segment jig which makes it easier to position and measure between the spokes at the outer edge of the project, 

Sue stated that we needed to use side grain and not end grain for these segments, (35mm x 7mm) the angle being 15⁰, whilst cutting you will need to flip the wood over whilst cutting the required amount of segment, 

These were then sanded and glued into position.

The glue used was Titebond Quick and Thick.

Sue explained how to position each segmented section and how to glue each one for the build-up and cut down on the glue where the openings will be.  A pipe cleaner and water being used to wipe the excess glue out of the holes.  A thick piece of paper was used between the top and bottom, prior to the complete glue-up process being undertaken.

At this point, it is time to shape the vase to your requirements.

• 

• 

We now need to separate the two sections where the paper is holding the two parts together, these should be able to break apart where the paper is holding the two pieces together.  

At this point, we can hollow out the base to a depth as per the requirement.  You will need to be careful of the wall thickness at this point you will need a wall thickness of about 5 to 6mm.

Sue then hollowed out the top section being careful with the segments as there are gaps between the wood shapes.

Sue then put the two parts back together by using CA glue ( CA for the demo quickness, Titebond is usually used) and only apply on the segmented ends, pressure can be put on the two parts by the lathe as the CA glue dries.  When dry the final shape and sanding can take place to the required standard.  

The entrance to the vase now needs to be cut, as the top was drilled out we know that there is a reference point within the vase that will be close to the top opening.  By taking it carefully we can meet up with the drilled hole and shape the inlet part of the vase.

The complete vase can now be parted off from the waste wood.  We now need to consider the process of removing the parting tool marks, therefore we will need to produce a type of jam chuck that the vase can be mounted on and held in place by the tailstock drive center.  This jam chuck is not a tight fit as you will need to use a gripped mat to help with the holding.  The base can now be turned off. The nub will now need to be removed and sanded.

A finishing oil of hard wax oil is used to cover the vase but you need to remember to also fill the gaps between the segments for full coverage.

As the evening progressed, I think that we all should have been able to take something from the demonstration as Sue explained everything as she went along.

On behalf of the club, We would like to thank Sue Harker for this months demonstration. Report by Barrie Fisher and edited by Steve Hackett

This month’s demonstration via Zoom was hosted by Rob and Steve Hackett in a role reversal from last month. With Rob being the turner and Steve the cameraman.

The evening’s demonstration is a Basket Weave Illusion on Hollow Forms and Boxes.

• 

• 

• 

Sycamore is the chosen wood for the evening, and Rob emphasized the health and safety aspects of using the lathe prior to starting. The blank was turned around and a 50mm Tenon produced on the end.

Rob introduced his shop-made beading tools, one made from an old bowl gouge, and one from an old carving gouge.

And another made from a bolt.

Rob shaped the blank ready for the beading process.

At this point, Rob used his beading tool made from a bolt,  to apply three beads at a point where the blank was to be parted. 

The central one was then removed for the parting to take place, at which point a depth of 5 to 6mm on the rim was cut for when the blank would become one piece again, 

After parting the blank both ends were then hollowed out to the required depth, the shape of the lid part was taken down prior to parting with a small 18 or 19mm tenon for holding.

At this point, Rob introduced a Collet Chuck which can be found on Amazon’s website. 2MT ER32 Collet Chuck or 2MT ER25 Collet Chuck

After both parts had been hollowed out they were then glued back together with some CA glue in this instance for quickness, epoxy would be better. Being careful not to run the glue to the edge of the item as it could cause fumes when banding the item when dry, the beading then starts to take shape along the length of the hollow form.

At this point, Rob explained how he made a beading tool out of a normal bolt which worked very well, a slower speed was required for the beading of the hollow form with the tool being moved from side to side but it must be remembered not to go all the way to the bottom of the tool as tear-out could happen and spoil the artistic flair of the item.

At each point where the beads meet a wire was inserted with the lathe running to get a burnt line around the item, where the wire could not be used a small piece of Formica was used.

Drill out the top of the hollow form at this point with a 12mm drill to form the opening.

At this point, the complete project is sanded down ready for the decoration to be applied.

As Rob stated the basketweave required could be applied either by eye or by measurement depending on what you require the outcome to be, the upright lines are now burnt into the form being very careful not to touch the beads, work from both sides to aid in this aspect. 

When you are satisfied with the pattern you can start to think about the colors that will be applied and in what shape. The paint used was acrylic with a high pigment content, this will mean that you only need to color twice to get the depth of color that you would require.

All questions were answered throughout the session with good positive answers by Rob with additional information added also.

On behalf of the club, I would like to thank Rob and Steve for this month’s demonstration and for the bumping car announcement partway through. 

Report by Barrie Fisher and edited by Steve Hackett