June 2020

Lockdown and OSINTOTS by Peter Clark
This period of “lockdown” is playing strange tricks on me! I was in my workshop the other day, working on something, and thinking to include it for the showtable, and maybe some notes on the making as well. The tool work wasn’t perfect, and the initial sanding wasn’t going to hide that on a visual inspection. I actually caught myself thinking “That won’t matter—it won’t show up in the photos on the newsletter” (!) We can only improve our skill levels by overcoming the challenges. Is anyone else familiar with the concept of OSINTOT? This is an acrostic for “Oh Sugar I Never Thought Of That”. It’s an opportunity for learning and improvement, a challenge that, when we over- come it, leaves us as a better and more accomplished turner. My second OSINTOT concerned this latest project as well. I am trying to turn a case for a small skeleton clock. The body of the clock measures 88mm diameter. Guess what? I have chuck jaws to 80mm, and another set where the smallest compression is 89mm! Solution—buy more jaws for chuck. Further OSINTOT—I now need to find space for and make another shelf to keep all the bits on!