November 2016 Issue 126

Transcription

1 November 2016 Issue 126 November Competition Reminder An artistic non-functional piece. 2016/17 programme 8 November Stuart King 13 December Club Social 10 January Gary Rance 14 February Jason Smith 14 March John Boyne-Aitken 11 April AGM 9 May Carlyn Lindsey 13 June Club Night 11 July Les Thorne 8 August Andy Coates 12 September Club Night 10 October Jason Breach 14 November 12 December Xmas party 2016 monthly competition subjects Nov Dec An artistic non-functional piece A Christmas decoration All Day Demo October 23rd with Phil Irons Twenty eight club members were treated to a full day's entertainment by Phil Irons who demonstrated how to make a hollow-form vessel including a screw-on lid. As the burr elm does not thread well, a separate threaded ring made from ebony would provide a contrasting feature when glued in the top, ready to accept the threaded lid made from boxwood. Both the male and female threads were cut using a Simon Hope attachment with the whole project receiving very little sanding to save time and protect our lungs. 1

2 Hollowing underway Final form The turning demonstration was enhanced by a lot of witty anecdotes and as always, the lunch and refreshment selection was excellent. As in previous years, Grahame Tomkins did a brilliant job in organising the event with assistance provided by other members. Richard Hartshorne See below for a detailed report by Tony Taylor 2

3 An excellent attendance October Turners of the Month - a square edged item Beginners Advanced 1 - Adrian Sims - Kingwood pen,?square edged 1: Colin Clark, Zebrano bowl 3

4 Masters 2: Peter Hoare, Cup & dice 3: Brian Luckhaus, Bowl with coin 1: Colin Smith, Spalted beech with coloured centre 2: Tony Taylor, Yew bowl OPEN 1: Don Guy, Laburnum vase 2: Tony Taylor, Pear box 3: Ian Wood, Priest (wood unknown) (ed. I regret with the new categories my computer cannot manage the file sizes to include everyone s picture. I m working on the problem.) 4

5 October Demonstrator Colin Smith Colin showed ideas for left0ver small pieces of wood. In this case using a piece of mulberry from a tree from Trinity College, Cambridge. The base has to be thicker than the sides to give it stability. The 2 lines of decoration were burnt in with thin copper wire. The finish was melamine but would be lemon oil if used with food. After the coffee break Colin made this miniature bird feeder. The hole for a piece of dowel is just visible. Forthcoming Events 2016 Dec 4 Paper Trail May 2017 Woodworks@Daventry Daventry Leisure Centre Lodge Road, Daventry, NN11 4FP June 2017 Art on the Common Harpenden Events in red are those where we are represented If you would like to publicise an event please details to the editor. 5

6 Wood Offers Francesca Naylor - old oak beams/planks - South Mimms. naylorf@onetel.com or phone Martin Hicks - plum 3 to 4 years, 12 in diameter x 24 in long approx and holly 18 in diameter x 24 in long approx - Hemel area. martin.hicks61@gmail.com or phone Ayletts Nurseries Apple Weekend 22 nd /23 rd October It was a well-attended event with a decent footfall and plenty of conversations that might lead to some new members as well as some good sales. Tony Taylor, Peter Hoare and Martin Gomme were on duty on Saturday. Peter, Martin, Bruce Edhouse and Keith Harrup on Sunday. Bruce at work All Day Demo detailed report Everything was ready at Northall Village Hall in good time with coffee from 9.15, so we got started early at Phil had brought his own VicMarc VL100 lathe and all the tools and materials to make one of his special hollow urns complete with screw cap 6

7 He gave quite a long introductory talk with lots of information about sourcing and preparing suitable wood. The piece he chose was about 8 inches in diameter and 12 inches long, cut from a very large burr Elm log to avoid the central pith. It was mounted between a 1.25 stebb centre and a ring centre in the tailstock. Phil pointed out that a ring centre was really essential when turning unseasoned wood as the usual cone would just keep sinking in, allowing the work to come loose. He proceeded to rough turn to a cylinder with a bowl gouge, explaining that a spindle roughing gouge was not suitable for anything larger than 4 inches diameter. As he went on to start forming the basic shape he explained that the great advantage of using a swept back grind was that one can stand directly in front of the work so as to watch the developing profile on the upper edge of the piece. Using a straight grind one would be forced to stand to one side. The next move was to cut a tenon at the tailstock end and this he did with bowl gouge followed by a spindle gouge, rather than with a parting tool, to form a 70 degree dovetail. Some care was taken to make the tenon diameter match the inner diameter of the chuck jaws when they were closed to a circle as this gives the most secure grip even with only moderate tightening. As he developed the outer profile he emphasised that Form is All. One must not let the wood dictate the form as this will often lead to an unsatisfactory shape. We got a good deal of useful information about sharpening and the advantages of using a jig and CBN wheels. The next step was to reverse the piece and mount it in the chuck, with the tailstock brought up for extra security and steadiness. With the outer form finally established, the tailstock was removed and a depth-defining hole made using a spindle gouge with finger nail grind. This is important to ensure that the bottom is made thin enough without the risk of going through. Hollowing was done mainly with a Woodcut Flexihollower. The relative merits of the many different hollowing tools were explained. The Woodcut tool is essentially a hook with a guard which effectively prevents catches by defining the depth of cut. The guard position can be set with a single screw and allows cutting to take place on the front and side of the tool, whereas the Big Brother type cuts only at the tip. The other advantage is that the shaving pass cleanly through the hook, without clogging. The work has to be stopped regularly to clear out the shavings with a wire hook. By cutting with a series of sweeping movements, holding the cutter horizontal, one can make rapid progress with little risk of going through the side. The cutter is sharpened with a few strokes of a diamond file no grinding. Phil was kind enough to let two of the audience have ago and it was clear that the long handle of the tool held under the forearm gave a very secure purchase. As the hollowing progressed a screw calliper was used to check the wall thickness, aiming at about 10 mm all round. The large Veritas screw calliper is ideal for this. At this stage the piece would be put aside to dry for a few months in a draft free area or possibly wrapped in a brown bag. After lunch, Phil mounted up a previously roughed and dried similar hollow form. The first step was to re-turn the tenon to fit a smaller long-nosed chuck by mounting between a wooden cone in the headstock fitting in the vessel neck, and a ring centre at the tailstock. With the work now held in the long-nose chuck and with support from a tailstock cone, Phil used a teardrop shear scraper to clean up the surface. The advantage of this over the commonly recommended long grind gouge is that one can get to the whole length of the piece, even down the steeply sloping regions. Now the tail stock support was removed and final hollowing was done with a John Jordan type tool, which has a small steel removable cutting tip used as a scraper. The tool was held in a long arm brace and the object was to smooth out the inside taking about 2mm and leaving a wall thickness of about 8 mm. The neck was formed by carefully shear scraping with a spindle gouge. Attempting to do this by cutting with bevel rubbing could well cause vibration and disaster. The final stage of the turning was to make a threaded insert for the neck and a fitting screw cap. The insert was turned from African blackwood and threaded internally using the Hope thread cutting jig. The fitting male thread was similarly cut on a piece of boxwood and then held by mounting the threaded insert in the chuck and screwing the cap into this. Finally the cap was shaped to best conform to the shape of the urn. 7

8 Phil ended by describing the techniques which he uses to achieve his final spectacular finish. With plain wood he uses successive applications of spirit colours applied with a brush sanding after each with a finer grit, ending with at least 600. He then applies up to four coats of spray lacquer, drying for a day and rubbing down with very fine abrasive between coats. The ultimate fine finish is achieved using a burnishing cream the best one being obtained by buying a Mercedes car and robbing the maintenance kit. The very last work is to part off most of the way, finish the cut with a saw then carve away the stub and sand smooth with a small diameter disc. Phil emphasised how important it is to finish the bottom just as carefully as the rest and to neatly pyrograph with the type of wood, the date and your signature. A happy and highly instructive day was ended around 5 pm with thanks to Phil Irons for an excellent demonstration. Tony Taylor 24/10/16 Wizardry in Wood reports From Malcolm Wickens I always consider my expectations when I go to exhibitions, having been to many, so as to not be disappointed. I arrived at about and entered the main exhibition area and was overwhelmed by the variety and complexity of the work being displayed. All the stands were "manned" giving plenty of opportunity to talk about their work and ask questions on their skills and methods of creating. It was not just the fabrication of the pieces but the time consuming finishes they were displaying. There were pieces ranging from the very large to the finest work I have seen, including finishes looking like the lace wings of moths where they use "dentists drills" to cut the intricate shapes to the building up of 3D sculptures using laminating techniques, there were a couple of pieces on offer for 2000 plus. I also had the opportunity to have a long conversation with Simon Hope with a discussion about his Carbide tipped hollowing tool, as demonstrated at the club the week before. There was also Gary displaying his wares and testing peoples ability to "catch the elastic"! From the main exhibition area I then ventured in to the judging room. This was full of very interesting pieces which had been judged. It was a "Do Not Touch" zone but many hands were hovering over the pieces, they were very engaging to the eye. It was a one way route and took about an hour to do the pieces justice. It was inspiring and motivational and certainly not disappointing. From Chris Squires It was fabulous! 8

9 from Richard Hartshorne Pictures not words! 9