For this evening’s demonstration, BCTW was pleased to host Robert Till, who has demonstrated for the club many times previously.

Project 1

For this first part of tonight’s demo, Robert introduced everything to do with using ‘Green Wood’. Green wood or wet wood is kept in clingfilm to keep the moisture in, in this way it stops the drying-out procedure from being so quick and allows the wood to dry with less stress and hopefully less cracking.

It must also be kept in mind that whilst shaping the wet blanks and letting them stand after this can cause them to warp and move out of shape, which some might want. If any of the items do crack it gives the turner another avenue to produce something with added features. Robert gave a good explanation of why and how to treat the ‘Green Wood’ prior to it drying out completely.

The wood used in the demonstration is Cedar, with the first project to be a rough-turned bowl from a half-split branch. This is mounted by means of a screw chuck, but do not overtighten it as it may cause damage to the wood and become loose. The tail stock is also engaged for safety to stop the blank from flying off.

Robert used a bowl gouge which had a long grind feature with a 48-degree grind, he went on and produced a tenon as a mount for the chuck, prior to this though the outer shape was produced to a level that needed additional work when the blank had dried out some more.

With the blank being reversed and mounted to the chuck the waste from the middle of the bowl was removed, this being done to a set size again prior to it being finished off after drying out. Robert then used PVA glue to coat the outside of the bowl and also the rim but not the inner of the bowl, this was where he wanted the moisture to come out without undue pressure on the fibers of the wood.

At this stage a set of kitchen scales can be used to measure the weight of the blank with the remaining water or sap content, this was written onto the blank with the date, and this could then be checked out in the future to see how much moisture has dried out from it. Keep checking weight until it becomes stable or no more moisture is coming out. It can also be checked via a moisture meter to check the percentage of moisture held within the wood, this needs to get down to about 10%.

Robert then referenced the sanding of the projects whilst wet, this needs to be carried out when the blank has dried out more and the abrasive does not clog up so much, the project is then finished with finishing oil.

Project 2

The second project was again Cedar which would be made into a vase time permitting with a thin wall. The blank was made round by using the side wing of the bowl gouge, a roughing gouge can also be used but care needs to be taken if there are a lot of twigs and branchlets protruding.

When round a tenon was put on one end, if you require a lid to be fitted it would be best to put a tenon on each end prior to separating the parts. The outer part of the vase shape was achieved by Robert using three different tools a bowl gouge, a spindle gouge, and a spindle roughing gouge. This was taken down to an acceptable shape that was pleasing to the eye.

When this was achieved a 20mm hole was drilled down the blank to a sufficient depth ready for the hollowing out process, with the hole drilled some of the tension had been taken out of the wood, to help the drilling process candle wax can be applied to the drill to aid with the drilling process.

For the hollowing process, Robert showed a number of tools that he uses but settled for a Simon Hope hollower with an 8mm cutting tip. He hollowed out the piece until it was about 6mm thick. He then used an LED light internally on the hollowed-out vase.

Robert then started to remove waste from the outer again and took the thickness down to about 4mm, This showed up well on the screen with the light being visible through the wood thickness.

If you do not have time to complete the hollowing-out procedure then pack it with the wet shavings and cover it again with clingfilm but leave the hole open so that the moisture can run out.

Robert answered all questions directed at him throughout the evening, as a club we must thank him for an interesting demonstration with some good advice being given

For this evening’s demonstration, we had 27 club members present.

Thanks go out to all people who helped the evening go without any problems and to the members who helped with the setting up and taking down procedures.

Report by Barrie Fisher, edited by Steve Hackett

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