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