Posted on by Alec Mutch

Report on our training evening 07-04-2022

Our latest training evening took place on Thursday 7th April 2022 organized by Nick Simpson our Training Manager.

There were 5 tutors with 5 trainees all making a shallow bowl as part of their training, we also had our Safety officer John Ruickbie present along with 2 other observers, Geoff Potter who is also one of the tutors, and Barry Cumming a club member who wanted to observe. The situation with observers is only available through prior arrangement with Nick Simpson our training manager.

We took a few pictures on the training evening, here are the pictures along with some information on what you will be seeing.

Here are (pupil) Catrin Anderson being mentored by David Ross (tutor), they were working on a small Sycamore bowl, here David can be seen instructing Catrin on the use of the tools for working the inside of the bowl.
Here are (pupil) Joe Webster being mentored by David Hobson (tutor) they were working on a shallow bowl made from a piece of Ash, here Joe looks on as David demonstrates the use of a bowl gouge to work the inside.
Here are (pupil) Susan Drew being mentored by Errol Levings (tutor) they were working on a shallow bowl made from a piece of Wych Elm, here Errol can be seen using a powered sanding system, explaining to Susan how it works and the benefits of using such a system.
Here are (pupil) Craig Dixon being mentored by Nick Simpson (tutor and Training Manager) they were working on a shallow bowl made from a piece of Sycamore. Here Craig can be seen using a bowl gouge to work the inside of their bowl under the guidance of Nick.
Here are (pupil) Kathleen Line being mentored by Alec Mutch (tutor) they were working on a shallow bowl made from a piece of Sweet Chestnut. Here Kathleen can be seen using a bowl gouge to work the inside of the bowl being guided and overseen by Alec.
Here are the pupils with their finished turned items, all were achieved within the 2 hours allocated for their training programme.

The observers found the training meeting very interesting, and our Safety Officer John Ruickbie was on the whole satisfied with the way it was handled, although he did mention that here were some instances of bad habits creeping into the tutorial that we needed to be aware of, things like moving the tool rest with the lathe running, and slowing the lathe down after being switched off by the use of a hand on the chuck, both these practices need to stop.