Our new Lathe

Due to popular demand all of our monthly meetings are now geared to demonstrations.
This has always been a bit of a worry for me because when we started the club we intended it to be very much a hands on club but time has proven that this is not what the members want and at the end of the day it is their club They all say the prefer to be shown something that they can go away and practice in their own workshops.To be fair the standard of turning has improved considerably and members are not frightened to bring their work in.

Because we are now geared to demonstrating and have professional demonstrators we have decided to upgrade to a better lathe.It did not seem fair to expect demonstrators to work on a small lathe.
We have upgraded to an Axminster 1416 VS lathe as pictured.

 As you can see the lathe is on a platform to enable us to move it easily into the new cupboard we have been allocated it the Burnham on Sea Community Center where we meet.
I was A bit concerned that the lathe would not be very stable on the platform but after making a large bowl on it I am amazed how stable it is.
 George Foweraker

Colin Simson all day Demo

Today Saturday 21st July we had an all day demo by Colin Simpson.This demo day with Colin was arranged many months ago and although I had seen Colin demo on quite a few occasions most of our members had not.We discussed with Colin the sort of demo he would do for us and I told him that most of our members were novice turners.Colin said he would do a demo that would cater for all tastes and all skill levels and that is exactly what he did.Throughout the day Colin's easy relaxed manor went down really well with the members and everything he did was explained in simple language so that everybody could learn form him.Colin worked throughout the day showing many techniques rather than wasting time producing finished pieces.This went down really well and everybody enjoyed it and got really involved by constantly asking questions Every question was answered and Colin is obviously very knowledgeable about his subject.We stopped for lunch and a couple of tea breaks throughout the day and it was a very relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere.My wife Sue prepared all the food the day before and we had a wonderful spread of jacket potatoes chili, salad and much more.
This was our first ever all day demo but certainly not our last as it was a great success.
Below are some pics from the day.

Thank you Colin for a great demo.
Thank you Sue for your support and a wonderful spread of food.

George Foweraker, Chairman

To enlarge pics left click on pic.



First new year meeting of 2012.

Hi all.
On Tuesday the 31St of January we had our first meeting of the year.In spite of the bitter cold we had a very good turn out.
Being a new year we had a lot to discuss and a lot of things to get through.
Sue and I made an early start to set up our new Camera and projector system which worked a treat thanks to help from John Brewer who helped me sort thing out earlier in the week.Thanks John. Later in the evening one of our members Colin Stroud showed us how to make a nice box from a piece of Ash .Everybody enjoyed Colin's teaching demo which is good as next month our project to make is a box.
We have decided that every other month we will be having hands on and alternate months will be teaching demo's.
We will be sorting out a program for the new year soon to include a full day demo from Colin Simpson and later in the year a barbecue.
We are going to keep on  having our monthly tuition meetings in my workshop as they were very popular last year.
Nearly everybody has paid their subs for the new year inc a couple of new members.

Christmas Dinner

On Tuesday the 13Th of December we had our Christmas dinner.
Last year we had it in January but everybody thought it would be nice to have it in December this year.We decided to go to the same Venue as last year The Brent house Restaurant.
The food as usual was perfect and good value.I do think the drinks are extortionately expensive £14  00 for a bottle of wine that you can buy in Azda on three for a tenner is a rip off.
We had a very good turn out and everybody enjoyed themselves.
Mark Sanger took a few pics.
A nice happy crowd.

To enlarge the pics ,Click on pic

I think Liz is trying to pick Martins pocket but he is having none of it.

They have calmed down



November Meeting.

This was one of our best ever meetings.Lots of members and one of the best displays of members work I have ever seen.The best bit is how much the works we are now seeing has improved greatly so we must be doing something right.

These are the pieces that graced this months table.

This was our last meeting of the year except our Christmas meal which will be on the 13Th of this month at the Brent house.
We will have about 30 attending so it should be a good night.We need to be there for about 7 O clock to sit down for about 7 30.
A polite reminder we have to pay our membership fee to the AWGB by the end of the year therefore all membership moneys need to be in by the end of December latest.

I will be doing demonstrations at several clubs next year so I used our members as Guinea pigs to try out a demo turning a large candlestick.
Sue Meads our Secretary has kindly done a write up of the process to help you  if you need a reminder when you make one.
Thank you sue.
The last meeting before Christmas drew most members to watch George demonstrating his 3 piece pine candlestick that he will demonstrate to several clubs in the New Year.
He explained that ideally you need to make a template. To make the initial board draw the sizes on some MDF.
He makes templates out of MDF so that they can be saved for another day and hung in the workshop.
All the sizes are marked and one side is cut to shape to give a visual aid and all sizes are to hand. Dimensions have to be accurate as they will be transferred onto the wood. The cut out is just a reminder of the form you are creating.
George used a 4" square of pine and rounded down to an even thickness with a spindle roughing gouge. Next the sizing and reference marks are transferred from your template to the roughed out cylinder.
A Mark Sanger tip is to create an indent for the pencil to sit in on your template - it makes marking easier.
With reference points marked he was ready to turn them down to size. George held the parting tool in one hand and callipers in the other to check the size. He turned the wood down for the spigot and then the adjacent cove. The cove was created between the two lines leaving a shoulder both sides. The pencil line marking the centre of the ball helps get a balanced ball. George worked both ways either side of the line to make sure the biggest possible diameter was left. All the time George had the template positioned behind the piece he was turning.
He then turned the flowing Baluster shape that made the body of the candlestick. He continually checked the shape with the callipers. When he was happy it was gently sanded.
He then started on the top and bottom.
The two pieces are cut from 6" x 3" pine and rounded. George would ideally then mount the pieces on a screw chuck while roughing out.
He put two marks on the blank one for the mortise and the other to show where the shoulder will start.
He used dividers and made sure that only the left hand point touches. George advised that when turning cross grain pine use as high a speed that is safe and take small cuts as big shards /splinters can break off if you take big cuts.
He then made a recess with a thin parting tool to fit the jaws. This will serve as the recess for work holding then it will be used on the finished piece for setting the candle in. On the base it would not show as it will be on the underside. The pieces are sanded.
A correct fit has to be achieved as you have to allow a bit for glue expansion.  Both the bottom and top are now ready to be fitted with the use of a hot glue gun.
After assembly there was further sanding and colouring with spirit stains to create the desired finish.

Myself and your committee would like to take this opportunity to wish you all A happy and prosperous new year.

Another enjoyable evening by Sue Meads.(ClubSecretary)

The second of our recently established small group sessions was held on Tuesday in Georges’ workshop . Giles, Dan, Trevor and Sue took particular projects and challenges in the hope that the ever patient George would help them overcome their difficulties or be on hand to support projects. During the evening a sharpening system was set up on a plywood base; a set of new  tools were sharpened; a candlestick was finished by curving the base and drilling the hole for the candle; a green ( cut on Friday )  macracarpa bowl was rough turned ready for drying; wood was cut into blanks and a yew vase was shaped ready for hollowing.
Sue was struggling with her bowl so we watched as George effortlessly helped  – a project that would have taken her hours but George completed in minutes, a true masterclass!
A great evening and many thanks to the long suffering George for his help and assistance.

September club meeting by Sue Meads.(club Secretary)

This month we were treated to a demo of bottle making by Mark Sanger.  The main form being cross grain sycamore with an insert that was then turned and inserted to the top of this form. Texturing was added by the inclusion of grooves using a point tool.
During the demo he spoke about the rule of thirds, the “Divine Proportion” and Fibonacci sequence in nature as a way to investigate proportion.  He also spoke about the difference between designing for a utility item or a purely aesthetic piece and the considerations of the size of foot respectively.
The form was turned using a 3/8th inch bowl gouge with a Celtic grind.
Both roughing and finishing cuts were shown using this tool.
He then discussed about using scrapers and how to achieve the best finish from the tool prior to finishing. No sanding was carried out as the finish from the tool was buffed using the chestnut buffing system after sealing the wood with liquid Cellulose sanding sealer.

Some pics of the evening.