Wood 'n' things. Future Events

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1 Mid Staffs Woodturning Association Newsletter Issue 54 - July 2010 Editor: Paul Bellamy editor@mswa.co.uk Tel: Future Events STOP PRESS!!!! 6 th. August Club night Mark Raby on finishing is now a full demonstration evening. Don t miss out on some excellent advice. AND New toolshop in the area! Handtools Xpress, Pelsall Ask for Mark. More details on last page..17 th. July - Alrewas show Local village show. Lots to see and do, but come and help demonstrate woodturning. 24th. July - Kings Bromley show Another excellent village show. And help is needed here as well. European Woodworking Show 2 nd / 3 rd. Oct. Braintree, Essex. Club Competitions Novice cup - August A small platter Challenge cup September A piece for the Gordon Fradley challenge Premier Cup, January 2011 A decorated or carved vase or vessel, no less than 8 tall. Notes from the Chairman As I start to write my notes for this month I am aware that we are already now half way through the year and with this being the busiest month of the year for our club, it too will doubtless fly by. Already we have had a lathe at the CHADS garden party thanks to Dawn who both brought the lathe and did most of the turning. In addition I would like to record my thanks to those members who came along to support both the club and CHADS, especially those who provided turned work to sell on the day and at the subsequent Alrewas and Kings Bromley shows. The result was that we raised 40 for CHADS as well as getting our pockets lightened purchasing refreshments, plants, raffle tickets and a go on the side shows. The other two shows we are doing this month will be in aid of Oak Tree Farm and I am hoping we will be able to make a significant amount, which in combination with the monies raised so far from the sale of Ted Webster s wood, will go to helping them in their work with people with learning difficulties. On behalf of the club I recently visited Oak Tree Farm and was very impressed by the work they carry out there and well understand why Ted found them a charity he wanted to support. Our support will be a mark of respect to Ted and all that he stands for. We will be taking a lathe to their open day in September thereby continuing what Ted had previously done. Our demonstration this month was by an old friend of the club, Graham Lovett (an AWGB stalwart of many years and was made a life-time member for all his work supporting the association). As I may have previously mentioned, Graham seems to me to be a fun type turner, clearly very competent, but who demonstrates items we all want to go home and have a go at. His flowers from a bit of soft wood from a pallet being a classic example, coloured in with a kids felt tip pen, stuck on the end of a bit of wire, put in a small turned vase and the sort of thing that might get you out of trouble with the wife when you come bringing shavings into the house! Added to all that is minimal expense in materials, something else that was evident from the small odd bits of wood that he took and turned into a delicate finished article. So whilst you might spend out on a nice piece of cocobolo or burr oak for a special bowl, don t overlook the bits that you have already got kicking around that are also capable of being turned into something very attractive, just as Graham showed us. John Gordon Fradley challenge And a reminder about the Gordon Fradley challenge to create something from a piece of his yew, for judging in Sept. & October. Document: C:\MSWA\Newsletter\2010\07_July\MSWA_July_2010.doc Page 1 of 8

2 Editor's scribblings This month s newsletter is even more of a challenge, as my right hand is still wrapped in bandages following carpal tunnel surgery. No I am not looking for sympathy but it has strengthened my thoughts on handedness if you know what I mean. I am right handed but over the past few weeks I have forced myself to do things left handed and, obviously, one handed. Believe it or not I started teaching myself to turn left handed some time ago, so I could appreciate some of the problems experienced by left handed turners. That has helped in a host of ways and I am even more determined to improve that skill for myself and to encourage everyone else to give it a try. Try turning with your wrong hand. It is quite a novel experience but can become a real advantage. This was well proven by Steve Heeley at a recent demonstration. I hadn t realised Steve is a leftie! This month is full of summer shows and I would recommend attending these to all club members, if only as an opportunity to get to know your other club members. There is never enough time at demonstration evenings to have a realy good chat with anyone, or to have any practical debate but there is plenty of time at the shows. Lathes are available for you to try things and if you want, to ask for practical advice. They aren t there just for us to demonstrate to the public, you can use them as a genuine hands on experience. And of course, there will always be someone to talk to! See you there, Paul, the Editor. What is it? Can you identify the objects in the picture? Send your answer to me and the first person with the correct answer will have their name published in next month's newsletter. This month s object was sent in by Philip Watts. Phil says It s not a woodturning one but very topical of recent months, but it s still got me puzzled. What do you think? Last month's picture was a pair of wallpaper trimmers. Thank goodness we don t need those nowadays, although I can think of times when they would come in handy. Thanks to Brian Shaw for letting me use these. Brian Garratt got the right answer but there was another close guess from Ron Dixon who thought they were linoleum cutters. Ron tells me he has some mystery objects so watch out for those in future issues. If anyone else has a mystery object, take a picture and send it in to me. And to go with the mystery object, Phil has sent me this joke for everyone s amusement. Small girl having just arrived home from Sunday School, "Grandad, were you in the Ark?". Grandad "No". Small girl, " Then why weren't you drowned? Page 2 of 8

3 Club information Your club committee for 2010 comprises:- Chairman - John Smith Tel Mob chairman@mswa.co.uk Secretary - Dawn Hopley Tel Mob secretary@mswa.co.uk Treasurer - Roy Fallows Tel treasurer@mswa.co.uk Assistant treasurer We urgently need someone to take this on, ready to take over next year! Tel. Events secretary - Geoff Payne Tel Mob events@mswa.co.uk Abrasives - Terry Gray Tel terry13@talktalk.net Raffle Anne Hopkinson Tel. Newsletter editor - Paul Bellamy Tel Mob editor@mswa.co.uk Member's representatives Peter Worrall Tel worrall9pn@btinternet.com Margaret Hill Tel Please only use phone numbers if absolutely necessary. Clothing Merchandise The club has a selection of items for sale, all featuring the club name on a blue background. Sweatshirts (dark blue) T-shirts (light blue) 7.00 Baseball caps 6.00 The sweatshirts are ideal for the workshop at this time of year; nice and cool, but they are also smart enough to wear down the high street. See John Smith at the club meetings if you would like to purchase any item of club clothing. Abrasives If you need that finishing touch, Terry Gray has packs of Abranet, recommended by demonstrators and other club members, at 2.10 for a set of 7 sheets grit. Books and DVDs The club has the following DVDs for hire. AWGB Instant Gallery to 2003 Sharpening - GMC Turning Projects with Richard Raffan Turning Wood with Alan Holtham Table Lamp Colouring Wood Jan Sanders The Skew Chisel Alan Batty Next issue Write up of Mark Raby s Finishing demonstration. That said, articles, pictures etc. from any other members will help keep the newsletter going. After all it is YOUR newsletter. Newsletter Archive on CD A CD will be available with all the newsletters for 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, together with images of the original newsletters from '94-'98. The cost is 2.50, which includes a contribution to club funds. If you would like one, please let me know. Paul Bowls for Beginners Ray Jones Course on Spindle Turning Ray Jones Making and Decorating Platters Mick Hanbury Making and Decorating Boxes - Mick Hanbury Turn it On Volume 1 Jimmy Clewes Turn it On Volume 2 Jimmy Clewes Turn it On Volume 3 Jimmy Clewes All Glued Up! Open Segment Turning Sue Harker Turned Out Nice Again! Involuted Turning Sue Harker Wood Turning with Steve Heeley Steve Heeley Page 3 of 8

4 Small, simple, but beautiful a presentation by Graham Lovett writeup by Philip Watts Graham Lovett is a regular visitor to Mid Staffs Woodturning Association. Introducing himself as a self-taught wood turner, he quotes well known names such as Ray Key, Reg Sherwin, and Stuart Batty as being influences through their books and videos. His demonstration specialities are in small, beautiful items turned on a Charnwood mini lathe using a range of tools, some made by Graham himself using material from some unusual sources. More of that later. For his first project, Graham chose a simple reed pot with flowers. A short length of Paroba was held in a chuck on the lathe. Having cleaned off the end face, a simple auger made from a tool sourced in Poundland was used to bore a deep hole on the centre line of the piece. The hole was then opened out to form a flared entry. Graham spent a few minutes talking about the tools that he was using. His gouges had swept back wings and were made from tool steel held in aluminium handles. These were well balanced and allowed the tool to do the work rather than pressure from the turner. Another tool was a Bedan, a square ended tool with a single, simple chisel grind. Graham demonstrated how, when used in a conventional manner with the bevel downwards, this tool could be quite aggressive in the removal of wood. However, when used with the bevel uppermost, the same tool could be used in a variety of ways with a fine degree of control. Both Bedan and gouge were used to form the flared top and rim of the bowl before the main body of the pot was turned. A number of ways of decorating the pot were shown ranging from grooves in the lower portion to charring the edge of the rim. The finish was suggested to be the choice of the individual turner but Graham used a teak oil spray from what appears to be Graham's favourite store, Poundland!. An alternative suggestion as used by some American wood tuners was that of a mixture of a mineral oil and a paste wax. The flower heads were prepared from some common timber described as broom handle or pallet timber. The method will work with wet or dry wood and involves peeling back layers of wood with either a Bedan or gouge to form a flower head similar to a pom-pom carnation. Colouring, either with a food dye or felt tips from that well known store, was then applied. After parting off on the lathe, a small drill hole on the underneath of each head allowed a wire stalk to be inserted, possibly with the use of super glue. Graham suggested that he had first seen the technique employed by such as Guy Ravine or Stuart King. For his second project, Graham demonstrated how a a small piece of wood of an irregular shape that might otherwise have been destined for the scrap bin could be turned into an interesting bowl. The blank had a roughly triangular shape with bark on one edge and a rough sawn finish on the other two. It was mounted on a screw chuck and the base turned using standard gouges. A recess for chucking was turned into the centre with the aid of a Poundland sourced tool. The base of the bowl was then sanded to a finish. The bowl was then reversed onto a chuck. The outer edges of the blank were then turned first whilst the strength of the blank remained in the centre. These outer edges formed wings because of the initial irregular shape of the blank and care was taken not to lose the tips of the wings. The centre of the bowl was removed only when the wings had been finished to an acceptable standard. Graham commented how a recalcitrant tool mark proving difficult to remove could be turned into a decorative feature using a tool such as the Bedan. The same tool had been used to delineate the edge of the bowl recess and to provide a starting point against which the bowl chisel bevel could be placed, this being a simple precaution to stop the bowl chisel skidding outwards at the start of a cut. Graham enlivened his demonstration by telling the story of how, when once he had inadvertently turned through the base of a bowl, he created an abstract piece by slicing the remains of the bowl into segments, pinning two together at right angles and providing four turned feet. The result was then given an ebonised finish. Graham was approached by a prospective purchaser whilst the item was on display on an AWGB stand. He refused a bid of 50 for an item that Graham likes, but to which his wife will not give house room! Finally, Graham finished by turning a yew bowl. The blank had previously had the base turned and now required the upper side finishing. A wide rim was decorated with a series of grooves before the centre was removed. Had there been Page 4 of 8

5 more time, Graham would have demonstrated the use of resin and hardener combined with a material such as copper dust to infill the turned grooves. The main problem seems to be sourcing a clear hardener to add to the resin, otherwise any colour that the additive might have is masked by the hardener colour. A member of the audience suggested the use of eopxy resins from such as Turner's Retreat. July competition This month s challenge was an outside bird box. First place Tom Young Second place? Third place? And some nice miniature bird boxes from this month s demonstration journalist, Philip Watts. Unfortunately it appears nobody made a note of who gained second and third positions. Please can you let Dawn know as she needs to allocate points. And what do points mean? Page 5 of 8

6 Mid Staffs Woodturning Association Newsletter Issue 54 - July 2010 Editor: Paul Bellamy editor@mswa.co.uk Tel: i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i Document: C:\MSWA\Newsletter\2010\07_July\MSWA_July_2010.doc Page 6 of 8

7 Turning tips This section is for any tips or advice you would like to pass on to other members. It doesn't matter what it is, if you discovered something you found useful, that you think may benefit others, please pass it on. Sanding table Paul Bellamy It is easy to use your lathe as a sander, by mounting a sanding disk in a chuck, in the headstock but you really need a table on which to rest the workpiece. If you ve got a flat toolrest or the shelf support rest from Robert Sorby, drill two holes through it, ( they won t affect its use as a toolrest) and fix a piece of MDF on top. Now you have a large table that you can get close to the sanding disk without risking damage to anything. Questions and answers This section is an opportunity for members to ask questions for other members to answer, primarily about woodturning but I see no reason why this couldn't be extended further. There is a lot of knowledge in the club on many subjects and this should be an easy way to get answers. Wood whistle! I am renovating a voice tube (the tube used on ships to communicate with the engine room) and need to make a wooden whistle in one end. Does anyone know how to make a wooden whistle? Paul Bellamy FREE OFFER!!! David Fields has a deep fat fryer and large supply of cande wax to seal log ends. David is happy to lend this to anyone who would like to use it. You don t have to pay for the candle wax. Give him a call on or david.fields22@yahoo.co.uk Useful websites There is a lot of information available on the internet but some is better than others. If you come across any useful sites, please let me know and I will publish them here. Items for sale or wanted If you have any items for sale, or if you are trying to find something, send me the details and I will put it in the next issue. FOR SALE Craft Supplies Precision Combination chuck c/w backplates for 1 x 8tpi and 1 1/8 x 12tpi lathes If you are interested in this chuck, please contact Chris Gibb on All serious offers considered. WANTED The following are worth a look :- The website for the European Woodworking show. Stuart King was mentioned by Graham Lovatt and his website has lots of topics. Page 7 of 8

8 Member Services A request was made at the AGM for a list of club member's 'expertise' and interests. This would be difficult to administer for various reasons but the committee suggested having a section where members could offer their abilities to other members, so here it is. I hope it will grow as more of you are prepared to offer help or advice to other members. I have not given telephone numbers or addresses here as the newsletter is open to anyone on the 'net. I suggest you make contact at the club meetings or via a member of the committee Ron Dixon Derek Pyatt Ron has many years experience in woodworking and can show you how to sharpen traditional hand saws He also owns a larger planer/ thicknesser and a morticing machine. He is happy to let members use it on their own timber. Editor's note: If you take up Ron's offer to use his planer, please make sure there are no foreign objects in your wood! Derek has run his own tool supply business for many years but has now retired. However, he still has some spare parts for machinery e.g. drive belts. He is also able to supply spares and attachments for the obsolete Coronet brand. If you are looking for something, it would be worth having a chat with him. Unfortunately he can no longer supply bandsaw blades. Paul Bellamy I have built up a lot of experience using ebay for buying and selling. It can be a great way to add to your tools but there are a few points to watch out for. If you need any help, please get in touch. My first tip is "just because it's on ebay, doesn't guarantee it's the best price". Check other website, magazines and ask other club members. Handtools Xpress Pelsall. Dawn has discovered a new toolshop in our area that should be of interest to all club members. I believe this was brought to her attention by Ged Evans of the Norton Canes club so it s great proof that the club network is beneficial to all of us and my thanks to both of them. The shop s current address is Yates Industrial Estate, Lime Lane, Pelsall WS3 5AS. Tel I had a good chat with the owner, Mark Darby and he tells me he is currently building up stock so if you do visit soon, don t expect too much on show. He is a Brimarc outlet so can get Axminster tools and is hoping to be an agent for Record, Robert Sorby, Ashley Iles etc. To help buid up his business he is offering a discount to club members so if you need anything it may be worth a visit, or at least a phone call. I will keep you updated with any developments. Page 8 of 8