December 2022 – Mary Stevens Christmas Fair & Coffee Morning
Mary Stevens Hospice is the Black Country Wood Turners nominated charity that we raise money for throughout the year not the least at the two Mary Stevens main events per year being the Christmas & Summer fairs.
Prior to the event opening to the public, we set out four main tables to take the items for sale:
- One charity table
- Two tables for the club members to sell their items.
- One table for Kim’s Kraft (Ian’s wife) selling Christmas cards, boxes and decorative bags along with Ian’s turnings.
Opening times for the event were from 10.00 until 14.00.
The club members gave donations from part of their takings to go towards the charity pot.
In total, we had ten members turn up for the event to set everything up ready for the opening, With additional members joining us throughout the day to take in the event and have a chat, along with our newest member Bill.
The charity table is made up of club members turned items that they have donated to the cause of the charity, this table is used as a means of getting the general public to donate the amount that they think is appropriate for the item, nearly all the time with them giving more.
During the event, we had a steady stream of visitors into the event and from the look at some of the other charity tables being almost empty, it was a good successful event for them and gives them some much-needed funds.
At the close of the event, we were in a position to hand over a further £219.70 to be added to their overall funds.
December 2022 – Chairman’s Challenge
November 2022 – Chairman’s Challenge
This month’s submissions for the Chairman’s Challenge and other items made by our club members this month.
The challenge was “A Christmas Theme”.
Demo Report Oct 2022 – Wolfgang Schulze-Zachau
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
AWGB International Woodturning Seminar 2022 – Report By Barrie Fisher
This was held in Yarnfield, Stone in Staffordshire, and is the 17th International Seminar.
The event began on Friday the 7th Oct. There was to be a selection of 10 woodturners who have 90 minutes to start and finish a project during the demonstrations over the weekend. The event itself started at 13.00 after the event was officially opened by the chairman.
It has taken a while now for this event to come around, I had paid for this three years ago prior to the start of Covid.
During the weekend you have the pick of attending 40 different demonstrations, of which you have the option of picking 9 from the 40. The event was staged so that on Friday afternoon you could attend two of the demonstrations, on Saturday you would be able to choose four, and finally on Sunday an additional three demonstrations.
The following woodturners took part and turned their own relevant projects, all of the demonstrators explained everything as they went through the projects and also answered questions as they worked through the relevant processes.
Bob Rotche
Bob is a Virginian from the USA and has worked with wood most of his life. Although he still uses a lathe, he is more recognised for his work with carving, colour and texture.
Sculptures and Spheres
Making the ordinary extraordinary
Carving, Colour and Creativity
Alain Mailland
Born on the Ivory Coast and moved to France when he was five. He started his woodturning journey at the age of twenty-eight. Alain developed his own style and technique particularly in hollowing, in addition to developing his own tools to turn flowers.
Wood flowers and carved trees
Carnivore plant
Neil Turner
Neil has a deep respect for the material and natural forces of nature and the natural world, this aspect is then transferred into his work. He looks at how water and wind form patterns in the environment.
Coral embellishment on an open form pretty wood
Jack De Vas Seedpod nature
Sea Urchin box
Vase with fire form
Joey Richardson
She is known for her delicate pierce and richly hued wood forms. Joey demonstrates internationally and her sculptures are held in numerous permanent and private collections worldwide.
Thin-walled turning and piercing
Airbrushing and colouring
Carving texture pyrography and inspiration
Joe Laird
Joe brings his talent and love of wood both in Ireland and overseas. Joe uses the wood to determine the final shape, Joe has been demonstrating for the last 20 years and became a full-time professional 16 years ago. He is the first woodturner outside of the UK to be accepted into the RPT.
Square Bowl
Shamrock Bowl
Celtic bowl
Nathalie Groenewey
She has been working with wood for almost 20 years and was trained in violin making in Newark. She started woodturning in 2009.
Small standing trembleurs
Tubes and ball joints
Colwin Way
Colwin lives in Lyme Regis on the Jurassic Coast. He has over 35 years in woodturning and is heavily influenced by the craftsmanship of the Erzgebirge region of Germany, he loves making his projects that are heavily influenced by Christmas.
Taming the Skew
German smoking figure
Christmas pyramid and nativity
Nikos Siragas
Nikos specializes in combining turning and carving to create sculptural artistic forms using mainly local woods from Crete. Nikos has 20 years of experience demonstrating and teaching.
Three stand vase
Tagliatelle Goblet
Vase with four feet
Lady with a hat
Gary Lowe
Originally from Glasgow and now lives in Moray, Northern Scotland. Gary started woodturning in the 90s and uses texture and colour in his work and has opened up a lot more avenues for him.
Decorated rice bowl
Flower pod
Texture and leafed box
Stepped open box
Wobble box
Eugene Grimley
Eugene started his woodturning career in 2000. His first demonstrations started in 2006. Eugene likes to use his demonstrations to teach and inspire the audience to try something new and different.
Oil lamp tri-corner turned from a cube
Easy hollow forms a potpourri bowl
Multi-axis turning bowls with handles
In addition to the above you could also join in with a masterclass event with the various turners and also:
Chestnut Products demonstration
Hope threading jig and other tools
Woodart’s intro to airbrushing techniques
The conference centre is split over two large floor areas and the accommodation areas moving out to other areas all of which are undercover.
Within the confines of the reception area is where the traders were set up and they seemed to be selling well throughout the event. Traders that were present at the seminar were as follows:
Ashley Iles
Axminster Power Tools
Jo Sonja
Hope Woodturning
Metal Clay / House of Resin
Henry Taylor Tools
Martin Pidgen wood
Shenton Woodcraft
Turners Retreat
Woodart Products
On Saturday evening the AWGB put on an auction of over 20 turned items by named woodturners, who had donated their projects, in total all of these were sold and raised an overall amount of £4150.00, all of which went toward the AWGB charity.
The final part of Sunday afternoon ended with a raffle which had some very good and expensive prizes.
Next to the restaurant, was the room set up for the gallery ( See the previous report for gallery photos), this is where woodturners from all over could put their own work in and have the possibility of having their item chosen by professional turners to go forward into the travelling exhibition for the next two years. In total there were 50 pieces chosen for this. Woodturners could also put their own work into the gallery so that they could be sold at the cost shown within the gallery. In addition to these items down the side was a collection of the late Ray Keys items.
During the four days (starting on Thursday to set up) the AWGB committee and area reps worked very hard, not only to get the area ready for the guests but also during the three days of the event to make sure that the event was run smoothly.
The committee also thanked all of the additional volunteers who came to the event and helped out on a daily basis, giving up their own time. It was good to see that all of the volunteers present on all of the days were from our very own Blackcountry Woodturners.
Report By Barrie Fisher
BCWT at the AWGB International Woodturning Seminar 2022 Gallery Photo’s
The Black Country Wood Turners were pleased to assist the AWGB at this year’s seminar.
Our members Ian & Roger, Nigel & Teresa, Steve & Rob and Greg & Andy worked hard in shifts over the weekend to help in running the Seminar’s Instant Gallery (see photos below) and being airport taxi service to some of the international delegates.
The AWGB expressed their thanks for all the assistance given by our club over the seminar weekend.
Report & Photos by Barrie Fisher & Steve Hackett
October 2022 – Chairman’s Challenge
Demo Report Oct 2022 – Chris Parker All-Day Demo
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
September 2022 – The Mary Stevens Summer Fayre
The Black Country Wood Turners were pleased to be invited once again to put on a display at Mary Stevens Summer Fayre. The Fayre was held on Sept 3rd at the Mary Stevens Hospice Centre in Stourbridge
The day started out with the threat of thunderstorms which would put a dampener on the day (forgive the pun), this would have a big impact on the proceedings and the number of visitors and some exhibitors.
We started off by erecting four gazebos to protect against the weather, the tables and lathe were then put in place, at this point we need to thank Ian, Steve, Rob, Greg, Mike, Barrie and Roger, also to help set out the selling tables and charity table ready for the start of the open day.
After we had set up there were six tables of items up for sale, of which two were for charity. The lathe was set up in the middle of the other four tables with Steve again turning his spinning tops for the kids who came along with their parents. We also welcomed Steve’s wife Georgie with her Magical Makes of sewing and needle felting crafts.
The smell of the BBQ food stand was terrific, we were also entertained and serenaded all day by the excellent singing and music from the main stage. Lucky the weather stayed dry most of the day.
Arthur was in fine form with small toy tricks which went down well with both youngsters and adults alike, he also helped look after the charity table along with Roger, Mike & Greg.
During the day we had a steady stream of people wandering through the turning area with people also asking various questions and with the possibility of gaining a couple of new members.
At 15.15 the day came to a complete finish when the clouds opened up and we had a complete down-pore which caused us to start packing up very quickly with the turned items before we started on the units themselves.
Our thanks go out to all who helped out by pulling the gazebos down and storing them away safely we were all a bit damp by the time we got in our cars to go home.
Thanks go to all members who have contributed to the charity table, helped out on the day and visited the event to say hello and show the event support.
Special thanks go to Ian for supplying everyone with tea and coffee throughout the day, which went well.
We have already had a good start to the charity donations from the event held at the Sedgley Flower Show with a good starting point of £115. The total we have raised over these 2 events for Mary Stevens Hospice is £431
Report by Barrie Fisher, edited by Steve Hackett