Our 2nd Shield Competition of the year was on Thursday 25th May 2023. The subject matter for this Competition was to make something using an offset or multi axis mounting point or points, all 3 categories Novice, Intermediate and Experienced had the same brief and the rest was left for you to decide.
The competition was organized by Nick Simpson and the judging was to be handled by Nick Simpson and Errol Levings, however neither of the 2 judges were able to be available so Nick brought in David Ross and David Hobson to be the judges on this occasion, with Susan Drew handling the registration of all 3 categories.
In addition to the Competition Alan Geddes had organized for a couple of turners to man 2 of the club lathes as a supplement to the competition and to give the members something to observe during the judging process. The 2 turners were to be Richard Comfort and Liam Comfort but a change had to be made when Richard withdrew and John Ruickbie stepped into the vacant slot, Liam was to go on and make a Natural Edged Bowl and John made a Carving Mallet.
The judging was over by 8pm and all the entries were brought through to the main arena where David Ross gave a very detailed summary on the items in all 3 categories, stating that he and David Hobson found the judging to be very difficult because of the standard of work on all 3 categories being very high and difficult to separate, however they did reach a decision on all 3 categories, and the results were for the,
Novice category, in reverse order, they had chosen in joint 3rd place, Alan Smith and Marco Baglioni, in 2nd place was Susan Drew, and in 1st place was Barry Cumming.
Intermediate category, 2nd, was Geoff Potter, and in 1st place was Daniel Stewart. There was no 3rd place due to lack of entries.
Experienced category, 2nd, was Dave Line, and in 1st place was Alec Mutch. There was no 3rd place due to lack of entries.
After the presentations the judges were thanked for their deliberations and the table with all the entries was left in the main arena for all to see and to comment or ask questions on. it was noted that the entries were very well observed by all of those present, whilst the 2 turners continued with their projects in the remaining time.
Here are a few pictures taken at the time.
Here are all the Competition entries. Novice Category, items 1 to 4. Intermediate Category, 5 and 6. Experienced Category, 7 and 8.
1, Barry Cumming, 2, Susan Drew. 3, Alan Smith. 4, Marco Baglioni. 5, Geoff Potter. 6, Daniel Stewart. 7, Dave Line. 8, Alec Mutch.
Here are a couple of pictures taken whilst the supplementary turners were working.
This is John Ruickbie, picture 1, shows John drilling out the hole in his mallet head. 2, the head made from Lignum Viti. 3, John is polishing the head. 4, Making the handle in Ash. 5, the finished Mallet.
This is Liam Comfort, picture 6, shows Liam working on the base of a Natural Edged Bowl made from Ash. 7, working the outside of the bowl. 8, forming the recess to hold the work once turned around. 9, the outside almost complete, the grain structure was quite amazing on this piece of Ash. Liam promised to finish it at home and bring it back to the next meeting for all to see.
That concluded the meeting and everyone seemed to enjoy the evening, it went very well for both parts the Competition and the supplementary turnings, my only comment I would like to make is that I would have liked to see many more entries in all 3 categories, perhaps at the next competition we will have a bigger entry, it’s not as daunting as it first appears and I’m sure if you enter in a future competition that you will enjoy the experience.
In the meantime I would like to thank all the entrants, the organizers and the judges for their sterling work in making this happen.