Another good club night - May 2005

Arrived just after 7pm, most of the guys already there chatting away and getting raffle tickets, Dave was sorting tickets and money for our Master class this Sunday, also tickets for the annual social next month, I'll be away on holiday so will have to miss it. Derek our magazine editor very kindly agreed to write next months Another good club night article for me. I placed my competition piece and for another member away on holiday, put a few items on the gallery table and found a seat.

The chairman welcomed us all plus a few new members, he mentioned a lathe for sale which is now on this web site and ended with a few other bits and handed over to Ken. After a short introduction he handed over to Les Thorne our demonstrator for the evening. Les was received well and with his One Way lathe proceeded to explain the basics of turning in detail with some spindle work. A pummel then bead, cove and straight cylinder with the addition of a bead in a cove using various tools. This was followed by an egg on a pedestal but with definition i.e. the egg looks like it is sat on top separately. The join has a very fine knife like cut to define the join, very effective and as with the spindle work the tool finish was excellent, 2x2 pine was used in both cases.

Next he explained fruit in detail using a piece of Yew. Looks, size and methods all had their part to play in producing an acceptable item, its surprising that even with this simple task he showed us things we hadn't thought of or seen before. The vacuum chuck looks a useful bit of kit, but not for the likes of us hobby turners I fear because of the price, but it was good to have it explained. After a polish it was time for a tea break, thanks go to Ken and John for the tea this month.

Talking of polishes, Terry Smart of Chestnut products got a good a mention tonight, I think we are going to hear more about this in the near future. Personally I've been struggling for years with polishes. However, Terry very patiently spent some time going through the products and what finish I was looking for at W L West show recently. I used it on my competition piece and I was more than happy with it, very easy to do and idiot proof, thank you Terry. I'll write the details down sometime and post it on this site.

Back to the clubhouse. I checked out the competition points and entries, various discussions over entered pieces along with a brief explanation of how it all works to some new members filled the room with guys so I moved to the tea/coffee queue. I took a picture of Les's Combi gouge (see inset) and after sorting a few bits out we were back to Les.

The second part of the evening was to be a Sycamore bowl; it had a wide textured rim and was oiled. Throughout the evening we were shown in detail many new ways of turning, a good variety of polishes and most importantly some safety issues. There were questions and answers all night along with a detailed explanation of what he was doing. He referred to his beautiful finished items on display once in a while to explain things, which was a great help. All projects were finished to a very high standard even though it was a demonstration. Our two-television monitor's focused in on the lathe work; this helps to show cuts, tool shapes and grinds. These are tweaked during the evening to get the best shot.

A little later than usual and Les concluded receiving a round of applause. Ken said a few kind words and read out the competition results, we had a couple of very good entries in the novice section this month despite the project being relatively fiddly. Next was the raffle and tidying up. I got three tickets come up tonight Derek. I collected all my things and put them in my van to return to help clear the hall. There were the usual last minute things to say and off with the lights and there goes another good club night.


Boots - May 2005