October 2020 - Highland Woodturners Club (Scottish Charity SC053651)

26/10/202026/10/2020

This weeks meeting 29-10-2020 Demo by Andy Walters.

This weeks meeting on Thursday 29th October 2020 was to be a demonstration by Andy Walters of Black Isle Woodturning, this was being organised by Jim Kelman however with the Covid-19 restrictions still in place this has been changed to a virtual meeting now. Andy will not be demonstrating but we invite you all to send in some pictures of your latest turnings along with a bit of information about each article.

We are not going to put any particular criteria on what to make as long as you make something and then send them to me for publication.

We have a few very dedicated people in the club that send in articles on a very regular basis and we very much appreciate these people, however I would like to see the number of these increase, do remember that you do not have to be an expert on anything you are making, we would like to see them anyway, come on some of you novices to the club and woodturning show us what you have been doing.

This is Andy Walters of Black Isle Woodturning, most of you will have seen him at previous demonstrations, this picture was taken at his annual visit in 2018.

This picture was taken at the 2018 demonstration that Andy Walters was about to start as the members began to take up their seats.

This is the finished product that Andy Walters made at the 2018 demonstration, a nice bowl in local Ash.

Andy Walters also did a demonstration in 2019 for the club, this is the item he made on that occasion, a very nice Quaich (traditional whisky vessel).

We are not asking you to make anything like the Quaich, but we are asking you to make something, anything at all and do send me the pictures.

You will have up to Friday 30th October to send me your pictures, send them to me at,

a.j.mutch4321@btinternet.com

Good luck with your turning and do remember the clubhouse remains closed.

18/10/202018/10/2020

Report on our virtual meeting 15-10-2020 making pens.

Our meeting on the 15th October 2020 was going to be mainly about making pens, it was to have been organised by Jim Kelman however with the Covid-19 restrictions still in place this meeting had to be moved to a virtual meeting.

I invited all of you to enter a pen or something else if you did not have the kit to make a pen, anything that used a brass tube like a key ring or some other item that made use of some elements of a kit, and failing all of that just to enter something you had made.

The response was as usual very poor, but I must thank all of those who did take part and some who did not take part because I have included some work from them.

You will see in the Gallery I have included some pictures of items made by our members that are clearly not a pen or have anything to do with any kit, I make no apologies for including these items, indeed to the contrary I have included a couple of items I made recently that I felt could be shown.

To see a larger picture on any of the gallery images just click the picture, you will also be able to see the text that goes with each picture.

Our next meeting is due on the 29th October, again being organised by Jim Kelman, he had arranged for Andy Walters of Black Isle Woodturning to give us a demonstration, this will not be taking place, instead we will have a virtual meeting on any subject you prefer, lets see if we can improve on the numbers taking part for this next meeting.

Do remember the clubhouse remains closed.

13/10/202013/10/2020

Our next virtual meeting 15-10-2020.

Our next virtual meeting will be on the 15th October 2020, the subject matter is pens, it was to be organised by Jim Kelman but with the Covid-19 restrictions still being in place this meeting will now be held virtually. You are all invited to make a pen or pens, they can be made from any material you wish, be it wood, acrylic or even metal just as long as you make something. You could also use this meeting to make anything that contains a brass tube, like a key ring holder or an atomizer.

There may be some of you who do not have any of the brass tubing or the pen mechanisms, in which case we would be very pleased to see any entry you wish to put forward.

Here are a couple of pictures of pens made in previous meetings.

Here we have a selection of pens plus a key ring.

Do try to take part in this meeting, we would all love to see your examples.

You will have until the end of the day on Friday 16th October to send me you pictures.

Send them to me at, a.j.mutch4321@btinternet.com

Do remember the clubhouse remains closed.

10/10/202010/10/2020

Tricylinder timeline by Nick Simpson.

I recently received some pictures from Nick Simpson on the subject of Tricylinders, Nick wanted to know if anyone would be interested to see one being made. I thought this was an excellent idea and Nick agreed to do a time line on the making of a Tricylinder. He also supplied some text with each picture to make it easier to follow, and on being asked where he got the idea this is what he said,

This form consists of three cylinders of equal radius which intersect at right angles to each other. The correct name is a Tricylinder.

In recent years forms involving the intersection and relationship of cylinders have been popularized by the Irish woodworker Max Brossi. I chose to make the tricylinder as a starting point rather than attempt the very much more complex forms with uneven numbers of cylinders which Max Brossi is producing now.

I have not seen a description or timeline for making these forms so what you see here is my approach. I know that others, recently including Alec Mutch, have made a tricylinder but I do not know they achieved the result. Nick Simpson.

I have put Nick’s Timeline into a gallery presentation to keep the text relevant to the picture, I do hope you are able to follow the timeline, and do have a go at making one, if you do send me the pictures.

If you want to see a bigger picture and read the text, click on the picture and follow the timeline.

This entry by Nick is more than welcome, we would be very pleased to see any other timelines being put forward by any of our members, you can do this on any subject you prefer, just follow Nick’s lead and do a timeline of your own, I will post it on line.

Our thanks go out to Nick Simpson for taking the initiative and the time to do this timeline.

05/10/202005/10/2020

Report on Showtime virtual meeting 01-10-2020

Our Showtime virtual meeting was on Thursday 1st October 2020, it was to be organised by myself but due to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions had to be done as a virtual meeting. The response was less than good, with only 4 members taking part, those were Dave Line Nick Simpson, David Ross and myself.

The Showtime meeting have generally attracted a very good response when held in the clubhouse with 15 to 20 members taking part, why it should be so different when it’s a virtual meeting leaves me somewhat puzzled. However we are where we are and I am pleased to see we did get some response, all be it from the usual few members.

I will give you a taste of what’s in the gallery for this meeting, firstly from Dave Line,

This blank of Spalted Beech was Dave’s first entry, you will see there is a large crack through the blank, you will see in the gallery what Dave did about it and how it turned out.

Now an entry from Nick Simpson, Nick supplied 6 pictures that can be viewed in the gallery section along with an explanation on all, see below what Nick Had to say about his entry.

Hello Alec
Here is my Showtime entry
In 2018 I spent some time experimenting with mathematical spirals as a decoration for bowls and plaques. The method was to follow the arc of various spiral forms by creating off-centre bowls of increasing or decreasing size. Nick Simpson.

Next is an entry from David Ross, David supplied 3 pictures, all can be viewed in the gallery section.

Hi Alec
I have two items to show one is this painted bowl the other is an open segmented vase I only have one photo as my daughter claimed it as soon as it was made and a decorated bowl. Regards David Ross.

Now for one of my own turnings, I have put forward several for you all to see, these can all be viewed in the gallery section, I have added a bit of information about all of them.