Posted on by Alec Mutch

Report on our virtual meeting 13-05-2021 Platters.

Our meeting on Thursday 13th May 2021 was to be all about making wooden platters, the meeting was to be organised by myself (Alec Mutch) but due to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions this meeting had to be changed to a virtual meeting. You were all invited to make a platter or two and send me the pictures of what you had made, the entries were thin on the ground with only 3 members putting forward their work, those were Dave Line, Nick Simpson, Geoff Potter and myself. Those are all regular contributors to the web site and we do appreciate their participation but we would really like to see lots more of you taking part in the online meetings.

Our first entry is from Dave Line, this is what Dave had to say about his entry,

Hi Alec,

Please find attached a couple of photo’s of platters I have made. The first is 380mm dia and 50mm thick.

When I was turning this platter I went too deep so there was next to no wood at the recess (about 1mm) so I turned a hole (if you can turn a hole) 130mm dia in the middle of the base. I then turned the 5 pointed star and glued it in place in the base which I don’t think looks to bad. Wood not known. I think the wood is Black Walnut Sap wood.

No expense was spared with the second piece. It is made out of a piece of old kitchen worktop, it is 240mm dia and 35 mm deep.

Stay safe, Dave Line.

Here is Dave’s first item, probably Black Walnut Sapwood, a prime example of turning a disaster into a triumph, well done Dave and it looks good too.
Dave’s 2nd item, surplus bits of worktop being put to good use, and why not?

Now we have Nick Simpson’s entry, and here is what Nick had to say about his entry,

Hi Alec

Not platters but trays.

I think equally difficult to make well. The top and bottom have to be finished absolutely smooth and the edge should perform as a handle. These two are in what is called Tiger Oak. Both have burrs within them. The dark brown staining which makes Tiger oak so attractive is thought to be a chemical introduced into the trunk by bracket fungi. The trays are 420 mm and 470 mm diameter and the bases 12mm thick

Best wishes

Nick Simpson.

This is Nick’s 420mm Tray, ok it’s not a platter but we don’t mind, it can do a similar job.
This is Nick’s 470MM Tray.

Now we have an entry from Geoff Potter, and this is what Geoff had to say about his entry.

Alec,

I made this platter as my first attempt of an experiment at inlaying.  The turning of the platter was straight forward using a piece of oak. I dealt with the fine cracking by applying superglue which stabilised the cracks and knot. I cut the groove with my narrowest parting chisel.  I had some of the cheap 2 part clear epoxy from Poundland. I mixed this with blue acrylic artists paint and trickled it into the groove. It sets in no time and I then cleaned it off with the bowl gouge. Sanded and polished. Melamine finish.

Points to bear in mind are….

Take care mixing the epoxy as air bubbles rise to the surface of the inlay forming cavities. Mix slowly in a stirring motion. Wear gloves. The epoxy is very runny. I took the platter off the lathe so that I could lay it flat to drop the epoxy into the groove. So that the platter did not wobble when remounted, I took it off the lathe together with the chuck and kept the platter on the chuck throughout. Any distortion after remounting will show up in variations of the fine groove.

One day I will get around to doing more of this  – maybe buy some proper inlay material as demonstrated once at the Club.

Geoff Potter.

This is Geoff’s platter complete with inlay, the super glued cracks do not detract from the appearance.

Now for a platter I made some time ago, I have presented this by way of a timeline entry so that you can all follow this if you wished to make something similar. It’s going to be a floral platter.

1, shows the blank marked out with the floral shape. 2, A TO H are the first cuts you need to do, these will be done on the bandsaw and cut to the crux of the petal shape. 3, Cutting the petal shapes on the bandsaw. 4, shows half of the petals now cut. 5, the petals all cut. 6, the back had been marked out with just the centre point.
7, Drill a series of holes at the intersecting lines 10mm in diameter and 20mm deep, the centre hole should also be drilled using a 15mm drill to a depth of 20mm. 8, I cut a selection of plugs to insert into the holes, the centre plug was Ebony and the rest were Walnut, I drilled all the holes through with a pilot drill of 4mm, this will allow the air in the holes to escape when fitting the plugs. 9, the plugs now all fitted in their holes, secured with super glue. 10, mount a faceplate or face plate ring to the other side from the plugs. 11, Start by skimming this face flat, 12, the outside shaped, keep it shallow, remember you only have 20mm to work with, the depth of the plugs. Form a chuck recess.
13, The outside sanded sealed and polished. 14,Turned around and mounted on a dovetail chuck. 15, How it looks in the chuck. 16, Flatten this face. 17, The face or inside of the platter now being cut, the first of the plugs now visible. 18, Work the depth down until all the plugs are visible, further cuts can be made if thickness allows.
19, The finished platter, this one was made from Maple. 20,21 & 22 show the drilling process. 23, shows me cutting the plugs, 24, shows the tools used to cut the plugs.

This timeline by Alec Mutch.

That concludes our entries for this meeting, we hope you can take something from them in your own woodturning.

Our next meeting is scheduled for the 27th May 2021 it was to be a demonstration by myself on Inside Out Turning, this meeting will also have to be a virtual meeting, but we do invite you all to have a go at an Inside Out Turning.

Do remember the clubhouse remains closed.

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