2016

December 2016

admin2021-12-08T15:20:10+00:00John prefixed his demonstration by advising us that he was donating his fee for the evening to a charity in support of the son of a family friend who is a Leukodystrophy sufferer. This was John’s third visit to Cheam and on this occasion, he intended to demonstrate the turning of a natural edge bowl and in the process core out the centre to provide a further blank for a smaller bowl. The blank to be used was a gnarled burly piece of poplar the shape of a wonky flower pot cut from a tree felled...

November 2016

admin2021-12-08T15:21:31+00:00A few words from the Editor, I really enjoyed Mark’s demon- stration it was refreshing to hear a grumpy old man who tells you what he thinks. A great deal of information was imparted which I found invaluable. Derek Dowle reports on the evening. An intriguing demonstration by Mark Hancock who showed us how to literally tie wood in knots. Mark’s goal for the evening was to turn a crooked goblet, a thin stemmed goblet with a captive ring. His aim was not to produce a gallery piece, but to demons...

October 2016

admin2021-12-08T15:23:26+00:00For the September demonstration Chris Grace showed members a safer method for turning a winged bowl. Chris started his demonstration by completing the making of a jig which he was to use later in the evening. The jig comprised a disc of mdf, on the back of which was attached a circular block that would be secured into a chuck. Chris expressed his preference for using Axminster ‘A’ chuck jaws. Onto the face of the jig Chris stuck a self-adhesive cork tile, the tile should not have any finish on ...

September 2016

admin2021-12-08T15:25:37+00:00Our demonstrator in September is to be Chris Grace who proposes to show a safe and unusual way of turning a winged bowl. Chris is a very talented wood turner who ably entertained members during our November 2014 meeting when the theme was Spinning tops. To learn more about his work visit Chris’s website www.notjustround.com Lessons to be learnt! All members come along to our monthly club meetings to enjoy the evening and to learn a little more about the craft and art of woodturning. T...

August 2016

admin2021-12-08T15:27:04+00:00Making a Calabash with Mark Baker Setting the scene Mark explained the origins of the piece that he was about to turn. A calabash is a gourd from the calabash tree. These fruit have hard skins and once the flesh is eaten and the skin allowed to dry the resulting vessels were used by nomadic peoples for containing foods and liquids. A calabash has a semi-spherical base which needs to be set down on a soft surface to prevent it toppling; e.g. sand. With modern hard surfaces a turned calabash woul...

July 2016

admin2021-12-08T15:28:11+00:00BJ Norman Decoration and Texturing Techniques BJ demonstrated various techniques of decorating and creating textured surfaces on turned blanks. In the introduction to his demonstration BJ explained that he enjoyed creating random designs, often through experimentation, noting that through making mistakes he often discovered new techniques to employ. Don’t be afraid to experiment with colour would be one of his mantras. As the evening would not be long enough to demonstrate or explain all of th...

June 2016

admin2021-12-08T15:29:46+00:00B.J.Norman would have been at our May meeting if he had got the date correct, unfortunately he didn’t, so Alex Bellringer and Francois Greeff stepped in with impromptu demonstrtaions, without any notice for the evening. Alex showed us his pen making skills. Alex answered lots of questions from members which I’m sure will help members with their pen making. Francois Greeff showed us his ball making skills. He had previ- ously purchased one of Paul Howards ball making jigs.

May 2016

admin2021-12-08T15:31:26+00:00At this month’s meeting Paul Howard demonstrated using various jigs that he has designed and made to enable spheres and other shapes to be turned and embellished. The demonstration was to focus on spheres; however, before any jig was to be deployed, Paul explained how to prepare the sphere blank. The blank from which the 100mm diameter sphere was to be turned was approximately 110 x 110mm in section and slightly longer in length. To each end was hot-melt glued an offcut of similar length to t...

April 2016

admin2021-12-08T17:19:49+00:00Members were treated to a magic evening with Chris demonstrating how to turn a sphere within a cube. What soon became very evident was the extent of preparation and planning which Chris had done before turning his first ball in a box. The main challenge was to work out how to hold the blank safely on the lathe during the various phases of the task. For the initial phase Chris has developed chuck jaws made in timber to hold the cube. Chris was using a cube of close grained wood with 90mm lo...

March 2016

admin2021-12-08T15:34:22+00:00Jason Smith’s demonstration showed us various techniques to give our turned items a new look with texture and colour! Jason came to Cheam with prepared blanks so that he could focus on decoration. Jason stressed the importance of having properly prepared wood before finishes are applied. Surfaces are best sanded to 600 grit to ensure that no sanding scratches remain which would mar the final finish. Jason introduced us to ‘sanding butter’ which when applied to sand paper reduces the amount of d...