Wood 'n' things. Future Events

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1 Mid Staffs Woodturning Association Newsletter Issue 33 - October 2008 Editor: Paul Bellamy editor@mswa.co.uk Tel: Future Events November 7 th. Club meeting Demonstrator - Steve Heeley December 5 th. Club meeting with Mince Pies! Demonstrator - Phil Irons January 9 th Annual General Meeting Elections Prize giving Club Competitions November, Challenge cup A natural edged bowl December Novice competition A Christmas ornament Premier Cup, January 2009 A matching pair of candlesticks - almost! (one large and one small, with the smaller of the two being a 2/3 scale copy of it s big brother) Notes from the Chairman After a wet and windy weekend, with the temperature showing 2 degrees centigrade as I drove home on Sunday night, I am reminded that we have only two more meetings this year before Christmas, New Year and our AGM in early January. At that time our treasurer, Maurice will have served his three years and be standing down, but thankfully we have a replacement in Roy ready to take over which should ensure a smooth transition. Fortunately we have a strong committee and are not in the position of having to plead for help but fresh blood and new ideas are always welcome. It is in this context that I would ask if any member feels they would like to be more fully involved with the running of the club, then please do not be too reticent in letting any of our committee members know. Following our recent committee meeting I can report that Geoff is now well under way with next years programme and it looks like being a mix of top names, new faces and a few old friends. Full details will be available at the AGM as usual. At the same time the 2009 competition list will be available as well. This month we welcomed a first time demonstrator to our club in Margaret Garrard, who has featured in winning awards for her work and proved her skill with the two pieces she turned on the night. Personally I am not a fan of the offcentre wobbly bowl, albeit beautifully made, but I really liked the flowers produced by inverse turning. It seems to me the possibilities are considerable by changing the size, the colour of wood used and the little extras that can be added like stamens or seed pods as well as double flowers. Added to that, Margaret s tip of drawing onto the sections before gluing up, to show the wood that is to be removed, then turning the two pieces that comprise one face through 180 degrees to show how it will look after turning, was something well worth knowing, as it applies to any inverse turning project. Last year s outing to the Powis wood fair included a stop off at Ockenden Timber where several of us purchased timber and blanks including yours truly who bought a piece of lime. This has subsequently been carved into a runner duck and I got to wondering what else had been produced from wood bought on that day by others in the party. You can see my efforts on the left and the chairman s challenge is, - what have you produced from your purchase? Please send your pictures in to the editor and I look forward to seeing them! John Document: C:\MSWA\Website\Newsletter\2008\10_October\MSWA_October.doc Page 1 of 10

2 Editor's scribblings Well it's been a busy month for me. It's quite surprising what people will ask you to do, and what they expect can be done with modern materials. The latest glues and fixings are good but they won't join everything, especially plastic items, so I find it very enjoyable, and easier, to promote the benefits of wood. Easy to look after, difficult to break, warm to the touch, no sharp edges and if it does get damaged, repairs can be relatively easy to do. It was not surprising therefore when I was approached by an elderly lady with a broken jewellery box. The hinge had broken out of the back section. She explained her husband had made it for her when they started seeing one another and she was obviously upset that she could no longer use it. The box wasn't amazing quality, in fact when I started working on it I discovered it was softwood faced with veneers, but the sentimental value was priceless. After a bit of careful work, the damaged section was replaced, the veneers replaced and new screws fitted to the hinges. A polish with beeswax and the box shone like new. Two days later, when I returned it to the lady she was almost in tears, but I felt on top of the moon. An amazing experience! The reason for recounting this tale is to remind you that you can never know the value of your work to someone else. It doesn't have to be the most expensive wood or the most complicated design; if someone appreciates it, that is good enough. So next time you are making something, consider who would like it, not what it is worth financially. Paul What is it? Can you identify the object in the picture. Send your answers to me and the first person with the correct answer will have their name published in next month's newsletter. Last month's picture was a mystery object shown to me by David Neale. I have had a few suggestions but we aren't convinced, so it remains a mystery. So far I have had a whistle, a mechanism for getting pills down an animal's throat, an examination tool for the other end of the animal and a pop gun. David brought the piece in to the club meeting but with all the other events that evening, there wasn't time to review it. I believe he will bring it to the November meeting so any more thoughts as to what it is?? Page 2 of 10

3 Club information Your club committee for 2008 comprises:- Chairman - John Smith Tel Mob chairman@mswa.co.uk Secretary - Dawn Hopley Tel Mob secretary@mswa.co.uk Treasurer - Maurice Partington Tel treasurer@mswa.co.uk Assistant treasurer - Roy Fallows Tel paulacon@btinternet.com Events secretary - Geoff Payne Tel Mob events@mswa.co.uk Abrasives - Terry Gray Tel terrygr-marg@tiscali.co.uk Raffle - Margaret Hill Tel margaret.hill@mswa.co.uk Member's representative - Ron Barnsley Tel Mob ronbarnsley@blueyonder.co.uk Newsletter - Paul Bellamy Tel Mob editor@mswa.co.uk Please only use phone numbers if absolutely necessary. Next issue Write up on Steve Heeley's demonstration. Part 2 of Gordon Fradley's Companion Tables. That said, articles, pictures etc. from any other members will help keep the newsletter going. After all it is YOUR newsletter. Merchandise Clothing 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 sweat-shirts are ideal for the workshop at this time of year; nice and warm, 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. Newsletter Archive on CD A CD is now available with all the newsletters for 2006 and 2007, 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 Books, videos and DVDs Just a reminder. The club has books and DVDs for hire. There is quite a selection and the fee helps support the club. Page 3 of 10

4 October competitions results This month was a teapot stand with feet. Judged by Margaret Garrard. First place Tom Young Second place Brian Garratt Third place Dave Neale And an interesting fourth place, from DaveDawes. I just had to show the underside!! Page 4 of 10

5 Margaret Garrard Wood 'n' things Margaret is a new name for Mid Staffs. club so it was going to be interesting to see what she would do. Geoff had told us she specialised in offset bowls and involuted turnings. Margaret started with a brief biography. She teaches woodturning at John Boddy's after using an AWGB bursary to develop her skills. She uses a Union Graduate lathe but is considering changing to a Stubby or Vicmarc. The flowers use the technique of involuted turning to achieve their interesting shape. Starting with four equal sized pieces of wood, they are glued together with paper in the joint to allow easy separation later on. Mounting these can't be done with a normal centre as that would tend to split the joints so steb centres were used. You could glue a piece of scrap on each end if you don't have step centres available. To make sure these are dead centre to the joints, Margaret drilled small holes for the centre points. The shape is determined using templates, transferring the shape on to the sides of the workpiece. The wood is rounded over near the tailstock end, taking the wood down as thin as possible. This work could be done with the piece mounted in a chuck, allowing the end to be completely rounded over but Page 5 of 10 Tonight's piece would be turned from a piece of sycamore, already cut as a bowl blank. This was fixed to a faceplate using square headed screws. Margaret prefers these as they don't 'cam out' like normal screws. The edge of the blank was trued up using a bowl gouge, watching the top edge not the tool once the cut had started. After that, Margaret moved to the face of the piece. This needed to be flat but for now she was only concerned with the outer 20mm as the rest of the surface would be lower than this. Once she had a ring of flat wood to work on, she made a groove with the parting tool, about 10mm in to define edge of bowl. The resulting lip would be cut into a bead later but first Margaret used a bowl gouge to flatten the rest of the face.. This was sanded through the grits. Going back to the edge, she marked the centre of the bead with a pencil, then used a swept grind spindle gouge to cut the sides of the bead. The intersection with the flat face was tidied up using the parting tool. Now Margaret could establish the size and location of the offset bowl. The rim of the bowl would be used as the chuck mounting so Margaret uses the jaws at the extreme of their travel, not the 'best circle'. This diameter was measured and marked on the face. Now the faceplate was fixed over the new centre and the piece returned to the lathe. With the speed well down to accommodate the unbalanced wood, the first thing to do was cut the chuck recess with the parting tool. In the past Margaret has left this as a straight cut but another turner suggested undercutting the edge as a continuation of the bead that would surround the bowl section. Leaving a small shoulder, the rest of the bowl was hollowed out and sanded with a small sanding pad. That completed the top of the bowl. The work was reversed onto the chuck and the tailstock brought up to provide additional support. Margaret stressed the importance of good lighting as the edge is hit and miss due to the eccentricity. She used a large bowl gouge to remove the waste wood, but working on narrow sections at a time.. This lets the remainder of the wood support the work right up to the finished stage. Only when she was happy with the thickness and finish of each section would Margaret move further in to the piece. The finishing cuts were made with a smaller, lighter gouge. The final job was to cut the outside of the bowl section, stopping frequently to check the overall shape and thickness of the bowl wall. Margaret did not have time to fully finish the bowl but the design concept could be seen. To balance the bowl, Margaret mounts wooden flowers on the rim and these were the next part of the project.

6 it should be ok between centres. Once the outer shape is finished, the pieces are split apart, rotated and glued back together in their new position. One end of the work is effectively open so Margaret used a piece of leather inside the petals to provide support for the tailstock. Now the outside of the petals could be turned with a small spindle gouge, with a light touch so as not to damage the edges. Obviously it would not be possible to sand the work on the lathe so the work was removed and hand sanded. All that remained to do was for the flower petals to be attached to the bowl. Margaret's work presented an interesting artistic approach to woodturning and we all came away with thoughts on methods used to carry out the work. I am sure we will be trying the flowers in some of our own projects. Christmas workshop The moon was up behind the hill On a frosty Christmas night And whispers of mist gathered gently The stars were clear and bright But Mr. Frith, the maker Was busy working yet For he had to complete, today, this night The task that he had set. The swish of the plane cutting sweetly, Making the shavings fly Was a joy to his heart and the thought of his life. And a smile crept into his eye. Mr. Frith had been touched by a feeling That, in his own way, he could not explain It had come to him here, in his workshop, Over and over again. This Christmas, he thought would be different, Unselfish, with no hint of gain, He'd noticed the names of the boys and girls, And the old folk in need or in pain, He worked harder that year, his seventy fourth, Often far into the night, To prove to himself, if to no-one else, That the spirit of Christmas was bright. The light in his shop he left burning, Threw two more logs n the hod, Then set off alone on his mission, His secret 'tween him and his God, The gifts he had fashioned with skill and with care, Were laid at the doors of his chosen, To lighten the hearts of the young and the old, But his old body was chilled and frozen. He returned to his workshop again and again, Until his task was through And he warmed himself at the glowing stove, Took a pull of his favourite brew, And that is where they found him, The following Christmas morning, Forever asleep in the place that he loved, Take heed, hear the maker's warning. A. Talbot Thanks to Albert Heath. for discovering this verse. Page 6 of 10

7 Companion Tables by Gordon Fradley Gordon offered me an article that he had published in The Woodturner magazine as he thought club members would be interested in a project that makes use of our hobby. As it is quite a detailed write up, I have edited it slightly and split it in two. As they say on the telly, watch for the final episode next month! If you have any questions about the project, I suggest you speak to Gordon direct as I am sure he would be happy to help. Having been a draughtsman all my working life, a pencil always seems an inevitable and permanent appendage to my right hand, so I began to sketch various ideas. I knew that I wanted a pair of matching tables with round tops into which would be set a round disc of glass -- plain, smoked, toughened. etched -- all were possibilities but no decision was necessary at this stage. The height of the table top was easy to establish. Make it level with the top of the chair and settee cushions, and so not far to reach for my beverage. A scaled drawing was produced showing the top with an ogee edge, three turned legs about 1in. in diameter embracing beads, coves and tulips -- not too many, don't clutter the design, advised a true and experienced club colleague. The legs tapered gently thinner towards the bottom. each ending in a curving, flared foot. How I was going to make these I did not know at this stage but a challenge is always the spur to progress. From the drawings, I made a quick model using MDF for the top and some ramin rod for the leg. The height was right but that was about all! The diameter of the top was adjusted a couple of times, ending at 11in. (275mm). Three legs was not a good choice. Viewed from various angles, one leg seemed extremely near the edge of the top whilst the others appeared too far in, giving a most unstable look and feel. Lower down, where the curved portion began, I had joined the legs with three spindles forming a triangle between them - this too would have to change to prevent the table looking like a milking stool! Four legs were incorporated in the design together with a change to the linking arrangement at the bottom. But something was still missing. Something was needed to take away the apparently thin edge of the table top and its visually weak connection with each of the four legs, A 'skirt' to the underside of the top provided the answer. Again, how this was to be made, since it needed to be quite thin and joined to the top and the four legs was another challenge and another spur. At this stage, I decided to have the skirt fret sawn through, with a pattern I had used, on a much larger scale, in a garden arbour structure. I don't know where the pattern came from, maybe it was in a magazine or on a piece of furniture, but I knew that if I could create the pattern within a curved arching skirt, it would give the tables an almost Indian or Oriental flavour. The association with an afternoon pot of tea became inevitable. Turning the top With the exception of the skirt, perhaps the most difficult item is the top. This is segmented and requires a piece of planed timber 3 by 1in. (75mm by 25mm.)and long enough to cut eight segments, each 4 3/4in. (119mm) long at the longest edge. Glueing end grain does not provide the strongest of joints, so a dowelled or biscuit glued joint is recommended. After gluing, the assembly should be held with a clamping band which is left in position overnight. The octagonal top is jam chucked to a faceplate mounted bung and the face, which will be the underside, and the outside diameter are faced and turned to a good finish using a 3/8in. (10mm) gouge and a 3/8in. (10mm) beading tool. By now the decision was made to glue the skirt to the underside of the top via a groove, 3/16in. (5mm) wide by 1/8in. (3mm) deep. This is marked out together with the drilling position for the four legs before removing from the lathe. The top is drilled with a ]/2in. saw tooth bit and returned to the lathe and mounted by its turned and finished outside diameter. I use a large faceplate mounted MDF disc, with a series of radial holes drilled through and six MDF pads fixed by coach bolts at a diameter to suit the top. The pads are now carefully and accurately turned with a recess and to a depth to hold the top tightly with a jam fit. Cut the groove with a small parting tool together with most of the inside diameter. The face is skimmed with a I in, (25mm) scraper and checked Page 7 of 10

8 for flatness with a steel rule. Note the pieces of masking tape on the six pads shown in the photo: these provide a little extra holding security. The underside and the inside diameter can now be sanded down to 240 or 320 grit. Don't use any finer than this or it will impair the absorption of any stain which you may wish to apply, but do not stain yet. The top must be reversed to finish to its correct thickness and to turn a nice ogee on the outside edge and the recess for seating the glass top. Of course, now that both inside and outside diameters are turned to a true round, it is a matter of choice which diameter to chuck from. For those with a four jaw chuck and large aluminium quadrant plates or button jaws, it may be expedient to chuck from the inside to leave the full outside edge for the ogee treatment. As an alternative chucking arrangement. I use smaller MDF 'buttons' for holding the inside. These are turned true to a diameter slightly smaller than the inside of the table top. The jaws can then be expanded to give a firm, positive and truly concentric grip. Complete the top by adding the ogee shape to the outside top edge and turning the recess for the glass top. Finish by sanding down to 240 of 320 grit, taking care not to destroy the crisp edges. The legs Cut the four legs from one piece of timber 1 1/8in. (78mm) square by 12in. (300mm) long. Mark the centres and turn to a 1in. (25mm) diameter spindle with a 1/2in, (13mm) spigot at each end. I prefer to use a cone centre to drive with a live centre in the tailstock. At this stage it is advisable to accurately cross drill the 1/2in, (13mm) diameter hole for the lower leg support spindles using a saw tooth bit in a pedestal drill. If you don't have a pedestal drill then be sure to drill these holes absolutely square and across the centre line of each leg. Re-mount each leg between centres and complete the turning, making each one as similar to the others as possible. Whenever turning sets of spindles, I always make an actual site drawing of the piece which is used as a pencil gauge or measuring stick. Any card or plywood will do, but having a supply of 1mm thick matt white plastic sheet which takes both pencil and felt tip pens and also cuts with scissors makes life easier. You can then make V cuts to establish the position of the various elements of the legs. The tools I used for the legs were a 3/4in, (19mm) spindle roughing gouge, a 3/8in. (10mm) spindle gouge for the cove, a 3/8in. (10mm) beading tool for the beads and spigot and a 1/2in. (12mm) skew chisel for finishing the tapered portion and cutting the "V 'grooves. As you can see in the photograph, the final cut on the tulip cove is made using a 3/8in.( 10mm) spindle gouge. Note the index finger is locked under the toolrest, the thumb to the left of the tool and two fingers to the right to hold the tool firmly in position. Clearly by now I had already redesigned the method of holding and joining the lower section of the legs. The sketches show the progression from three legs, joined in a triangular format with spindles, to four legs joined with spindles radiating spoke like from a central boss. This solid boss with added finials of various styles appeared much too heavy so again a re-think was necessary. The solution was to make the boss much less obtrusive by thinning it down, making it from four segments and leaving the centre open to look lighter. The final deciding factor was that this 'doughnut' ring now rather neatly mirrored the top. The ring and joining spindles Since the ring is so small it can be glued up from four segments. This not only reflects the treatment on the top but also obviates any problems associated with finishing and staining if turned from one piece with the inherent changes from end grain to side grain. Turn the ring either by jam chucking on a spare piece of wood turned with a spigot and shoulder or alternatively you can grip the outside in a four jaw chuck to turn one face, together with the inside and part of the outside diameter which is then reversed in the chuck to turn the other face and the remainder of the outside diameter. Remove from the lathe after finishing down to 240 or 320 grit and mark out the drilling positions for the 112in, holes on the periphery. These are best sited mid-way between the glued joints and drilled, preferably in a vice on a pillar drill, with a 1/2in. saw tooth bit. The four small spindles which join the legs to the central ring can now be turned. Having mastered the balls, beads, coves and tulips on the legs, these spindles should be simpler for you with a single ball and V cut slicing down to a slightly tapering spindle for a tight fit in the cross hole of each leg. Note that with matching spindles it is best to turn them in sets through their various stages - in this instance three stages were used. First, turn all four spindles to the maximum diameter and face to length using a cone drive and live centre. Second, turn one spigot and mark the length of the ball adjacent to it. Turn the remaining part of the cylinder to the diameter of the V cut top and indicate the final spigot diameter at the other end with an 1/8in. parting tool. Page 8 of 10

9 Third, mark off and make the two V cuts with the skew chisel. Complete the ball with a 3/8in. beading tool, complete the V cuts with the skew and turn the gently curving taper down to the 1/2in. spigot diameter. Finally, finish the spindles with 240 and 320 grit and put aside in readiness for staining. The curved lower legs These proved less of a problem than I had feared, once I had thought through the form of a suitable drilling jig and the means of ensuring that each leg maintained its 'roundness' and its ongoing taper throughout its curving form. The four pieces were cut with the grain running through the centre of each to provide maximum strength. I used one of the curved offcut pieces to make the lower leg support for a fairly basic and simple drill jig which helped to support each of the four pieces whilst drilling with a 1/2in. sawtooth bit. It is best to taper the two flat sides at this stage towards the bottom before attempting to round them. The rounding is greatly assisted by making a small steel button which is turned to a snug 1/2in. diameter fit into the previously drilled hole and whose top is turned to 0.7in. diameter which is the diameter to which the legs have tapered at this point. By using a sanding drum in the lathe and the steel plug to control the diameter, the sanding of these items will present little, if any, problems. To be continued next month... Page 9 of 10

10 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. Worn abrasives - The final act - Paul Bellamy Before discarding your used abrasives, use them to polish your toolrest. This will help tools slide along it more easily and is less aggressive than using a file. Useful websites There is an awful lot of information available on the internet but some is better than others. If you come across any good or useful sites, please let me know and I will publish them in the newsletter. The following are worth a look :- Our demonstrator's work at Wizardry in Wood and David Martin - interesting biography, nice work and good value shop especially pen turning. Follow the links from his personal website or go direct. & Lovell workwear who make one of the best turner's smocks are now online. Please mention Mid Staffs. Woodturners, if you contact Robert Hagon Something different - if you buy things on the Internet. TopCashBack gives you money back on your purchases just for going via their site. 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. 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 5/8" and 1" Morse Taper 2 sprung point drive centre These are very like steb centres but a lot less expensive. I have one of each for sale at Paul Bellamy Set of 6 Record Power chisels An unused set of chisels, perfect as a starter set or additions to your collection of tools. 70. Chris Gibb. Elu lathe Chris Gibb has got a new lathe so his demonstration lathe is up for sale. He has got the bed extension bars to allow spindles up to 50". He also has a Precision chuck and sanding disks to go with it. Any reasonable offer considered. Tel Another Elu lathe plus tools A member of the public approached me at Uttoxeter market saying he has had to give up woodturning and has an Elu lathe and a large collection of tools for sale. I have no further details but his name is Mr. Smith and his phone number is The lathe sounds the same as Chris'. WANTED Old auger bits please - Paul Bellamy I am still trying to get hold of some old used auger bits. They aren't for drilling wood so their condition doesn't matter. Can anyone help? Page 10 of 10