February 2016
On 17th February we welcome Jason Smith who will demonstrate decoration and Chestnut products.
On March 16th Chris Taylor will demonstrate how to turn a sphere inside a cube.
Members were treated to another demonstration from Alex in the skills of pen-making. On this occasion the focus was on incorporating a Celtic Knot band into a pen blank. The AGM shrunk the period of time for Alex to make the pen; however, in true ‘Blue Peter’ fashion with some parts prepared earlier it was completed on time.
The woods used were Maple for the blank with Padauk to create the Celtic Knot. Alex emphasised the importance of using woods with similar hardness characteristics. The finished knot consists of curved lines, but the project all starts off using flat pieces of wood.
Alex showed members the jig that he had made to prepare the blank for the lathe using his bandsaw. The pen blank should be as square as possible with the ends cut at right angles to the line of the blank to ensure that the blank fits accurately into the jig when the four cuts are made. Veneers of Padauk need to be cut to the same thickness as the band- saw cut. Dependent upon the depth of the Knot required the band-saw cuts can be made at either 30 o or 45o.
Before making the cuts number each face of the blank from 1 to 4 with the cuts being made in the sequence 1, 3, 2 and 4. The same process must be repeated for each blank face. With the blank secure in the jig make the first cut, not through the whole blank, but to within a few millimetres of the back face.