Our meeting on Thursday 25th April 2024 was a Showtime Meeting, it was organized by Dave Line and handled very efficiently, Dave had asked for the members to bring in an item or items they had made recently or otherwise and to say a few words about what they had made. A good number of items were brought in some were of single entries whilst others were putting forward more than one item, and that was good to see. The items brought in were wide ranging and very well made by everybody.
There was also a request from one member for suggestions on what to do with a large root ball that he had brought in and a short discussion on how to cut and handle Elm Burr wood.
I took a few pictures of the items being presented along with their owners, I have listed then in no particular order as some were presenting more than once.
This is Alan Smith, he had more than one entry. Left, he showed a selection of goblets and had a discussion on long stem turning. Right, he showed a lidded box, explaining that the lid fitted better when it was made but some movement had taken place since he made it, not that that took away anything from his turning.
Here we have Geoff Potter, he had 3 items to show, all were made from Laburnum and Geoff likes working with Laburnum, on this occasion he had mad a couple of natural edged items and a small goblet.
Left is Richard Sawicki, he had made a few pens with very high class mechanisms one of which he donated to our open day sales, and we thank him for that. Right is Bill Munro a long time member of the club, he was one of the founding members, here he is showing and discussing the making of a double handled rolling pin, a task that requires very accurate work to get the rolling part straight and even and the handles to rotate.
Here we have Bob Chisholm, Left, Bob is showing a goblet he made from a piece of wood he got from a pallet (lucky so and so), it just shows you what you can get with a little bit of luck. Right, here Bob is showing a large platter that he made from kitchen worktops cuttings, made up of lots of strips of wood a discussion took place regarding the type of wood glue to use.
Here we have John Ruickbie showing an Elm bowl that he had made, it was cut from a piece of Elm that had quite a large branch coming off it, this made the bowl a lot more interesting than it might otherwise have been, the branch created some wonderful grain patterns that can be seen in both pictures, Left, the inside of the bowl, and Right, the outside of the bowl.
Here we have Dave Line our organizer for this meeting, Dave had brought in several items the first of which was a Honey pot with Dipper and a lid, it was meant to be entered into a previous competition but Dave forgot to bring it.
More from Dave Line, Left, he is showing a laminated vase, some of the crossover assemblies didn’t quite match and a discussion on how to avoid this in future took place with Dave receiving some very useful advice. Right, a bowl made from a cube that was mounted diagonally across the points, a very interesting way to cut a bowl, Dave managed it to great effect.
Left, Dave again with a polychromatic assembly, a closed top form made from hundreds of pieces, Dave went on to explain how it was made and how long it took, the outcome was very impressive. Right, Here we have Susan Drew with a small bowl she made after seeing one of our demonstrators working with the grain of the wood, she had textured an area on both the outside and the inside following the grain on both then coloured it dark brown and highlighting the textured area with Gold paste.
Here we have Nick Simpson showing a Honey pot with dipper and a lid, the wood is Oak that has been chemically fumed to create the antique effect, Nick also left some cracks in the piece to illustrate what would likely happen were it to have been an old item. which it wasn’t but very effective none the less.
Left, another item from Nick Simpson, this time it’s a section of root growth that he wanted some thoughts about what to do with it, several ideas were put forward but the main outcome was to possibly use it in conjunction with some coloured filler. Right, this is me (Alec Mutch) I brought in 4 items plus a couple of pieces of Burr Elm to explain how to cut burr’s. This 1st one is an Elm Burr bowl that was allowed to texture due to it being not quite dry giving an interesting effect.
Here I am again, showing a couple more small bowls, Left, is another Burr Elm bowl but this one was fully dry so did not texture. Middle and Right , a holly bowl with a knot in it plus some decorative lines applied to the outside near the rim, these were applied by using a small groove then a wire to give a burned effect with the lathe running.
Me again. Left, this time I’m showing a small bowl from a Yew log turned in end grain, the log had a weird shape that produced a very interesting bowl after it was turned. Right, here I am with 2 pieces of Elm Burr, I explained that how a burr gets cut leads to much different outcomes in terms of looks something that should be taken into consideration when dealing with them.
Here are 3 views of the items taken into the Showtime Meeting by all those participating, we would have liked some more items from our members but we are very appreciative of those who did bring items in to be seen and talked about.
That concludes the Showtime Meeting, our thanks go out to Dave Line for organizing the meeting who in turn thanked all those participating, a show of appreciation was given to Dave for all his efforts.
Our next meeting is on the 9th May, it’s being handled by Keith Brown and it will be all about using the bowl jaws and any other chucking methods including using jigs.
Our next competition is on the 23rd May it’s all about Scoops, Wooden Spoons and Ladle’s, see notice board or web site for more details. Daniel Stewart will be demonstrating how to make a scoop, spoon or ladle at the meeting on the 9th May for those interested to see how they are made.
We have vacancies in our membership and are currently looking to recruit more new members, if woodturning is something you think you might like to try contact us and we will give you an invitation to attend one of our meetings free of charge.
We are also one member down on our committee members and are looking to fill that vacancy, if you feel you have something to offer the club by becoming a committee member we would be more than interested to talk to you, you would be required to devote a little bit of your time to the club if you take on the role. If interested talk to any of the committee members and let them hear your views, they would then bring your interest to the rest of the committee for approval.