Alec Mutch, Author at Highland Woodturners Club (Scottish Charity SC053651)

12/04/202012/04/2020

HWC members pictures 12-04-2020

Happy Easter everyone, I hope you are all staying well. I have received a few more pictures from our members that I will share with you now. The pictures are from David Hay, Martyn Torode and just in this morning from Nick Simpson.

These 6 pictures are from David Hay, a Wych Elm box with a rather curious finial.

Picture 4, the inside of the box. Picture 5, the underside of the lid. Picture 6, the top of the box. The following was what David had to say about his box.
I have sent pictures of my mouse box, that I had originally made for competition,
Size width 155 mm
Hight 95 mm

Wood, wych elm burr, finished with sanding sealer, then waxed & polished with mops,
Mouse is cherry with ebony eyes leather ears & tail ,

Regards David

This box was made by Martyn Torode, a new member to our club, Martyn thought the wood might be Oak, but it’s more likely to be Iroko and for a first attempt at a box he has done very well.
This is what Martyn had to say about his box.
Here’s my first attempt as a beginner at turning a box. It’s 3 1/2” dia x 4” tall and I think made from a piece of oak and finished with friction polish.
I had a bit of trouble with dig ins on the internal bit but managed a reasonable job in the end but I’m going to need advice with that. Maybe oak wasn’t the best wood to start with.
Hope you’re keeping well
Martyn

Just in this morning, these 2 pictures from Nick Simpson, I have to say they certainly made me smile when I saw them.
Here is what Nick had to say about his pictures.
Not Easter eggs but their precursors
I was saving these for Showtime but they might brighten up someone’s day
Both are 12” tall made of sycamore the cockerel is finished in Jo Sonja iridescent paints
Happy Easter Nick

We hope you can all have as good an Easter as possible under these lock down conditions, you may not be able to get away anywhere but your workshop is not out of bounds, keep the pictures coming and remember I’m looking for your pictures from the Natural Edged Turning virtual meeting, pictures to me by the end of 15th April please. I have 3 entries so far, hoping for some more by Wednesday.

Do remember the clubhouse remains closed, you will be informed when we will be opening again.

08/04/202008/04/2020

Virtual Woodturning Meeting.

All HWC members should have received an email from Geoff informing you how a virtual meeting would work. We were due to have a meeting on the 16th April 2020, (this will not be happening) instead we would like you all to use our programme for that date to make something in accordance with that programme, the subject matter for the programme was Natural Edged Turnings, it was being organized by Geoff Potter and he did have 5 turners arranged to man all the lathes. However we would like you all to make something with Natural edges in line with the programme, I have included a few pictures of the type of thing you might consider making, once you have made your item take a picture of it (can be more than one picture) and send it or them to me, include some text giving me the size, the species of wood or woods and any other interesting information you think relevant. I will then do a post on all the pictures sent to me, as the meeting was due to be held on the 16th April, I would like to have all your pictures and text sent to me by the 15th April and I will upload them on the 16th April just as if we were at a meeting.

We intend to use the club programme in this way until we get back to having our normal meetings, if you want to see the full programme for 2020, click on “meetings” on our web site.

Here are some examples of the type of thing you might consider making.

These are all turnings I have done in the past. 2 were done in end grain, 2 made from full logs, and one made from a half log.

Natural edged turnings can also be made on items between centres, here are 3 examples.

A selection of small bowls made with natural edges intact.

I hope some of these pictures will give you ideas of what can be done using Natural Edges. We are not limiting the entries to just our members, we would like to see any entries from turners outwith our club and those who follow our web site and facebook page.

Half Log Natural Edged Bowl.

If you need any information on how to make a natural edged bowl click on this link.

We are looking for lots of entries. In the mean time you need to keep sending me your pictures of anything you have been making, don’t just wait for the Virtual meeting keep sending your pictures now.

Send your pictures and text to me at,

a.j.mutch4321@btinternet.com

07/04/202007/04/2020

HWC members pictures 06-04-2020

Here are the latest pictures I have received from 2 of our members, the first lot are from Nick Simpson and the second lot are from David Ross.

These pictures are from Nick Simpson of an African Blackwood box he made at a meeting held on the 23rd January 2020, it wasn’t quite finished at the meeting so Nick finished it at home before sending me the pictures. Here is what Nick had to say about his box.
Dimensions are:
Shaker outside 40mm inside 30mm diameters
Height of shaker 60mm internal depth 50mm
The lid is a spinning top and is threaded by hand chasing 18tpi
Height of lid 50mm
Diameter of lid where it meets shaker 44 mm so it just overlaps
Wood = African Blackwood. There were some of the characteristic voids which can be seen (as features)
Finished by sanding from180 to 400 grit and then 2 coats of Renaissance wax.
The whole was in regular use by our grandsons until lockdown
Best wishes Nick.

This Yew box was made by David Ross, pictures arrived today.

This picture was also sent from David Ross, David mentions he was not sure of what type of wood they were, I can tell you that they are all made from Spalted Beech. Here is what David had to say about his work.

I have attached a couple of things I have turned over last month or so, the small box is made of yew 30 mm H and has a 50 mm diameter
The wood for the three bud vases came from a wood pile my son had so not sure what kind of wood they are all the items are finished in sanding sealer and a couple of coats of melamine and a coat of polish both vases at front are 90 mm H with 60 mm diameter vase at rear is 90 mm H with a 45 mm diameter
Hope all the members are keeping safe

David Ross

Thank you Nick and David for taking the time to send your pictures, we hope to see many more pictures from any of our members, please keep them coming.

Do remember the clubhouse is temporarily closed, you will be advised when we will be re-opening.

03/04/202003/04/2020

HWC members pictures 03-04-2020

Hi everyone, picture just in from Tony Wilson, although not wholly woodturning this is still very acceptable to be shown as part of Tony’s work. As this was the only picture received in the last few days I have included a small box I made over the last few days.

Tony’s sit on toy made for his grand children, he made 3 of them, and well done too ! This is what Tony had to say about his picture, and I see he needed a little help with the computer part of this submission, this goes to show even if you are not quite computer literate you can still get a picture to me using someone else’s knowledge.

I hope you are in good health.
Following the request for club members to submit an example of their work please find attached a message from my daughter with a picture of a tractor with turned wheels etc.
I made three for my grandchildren.
It reflects the basic level of my skills but I thought it would be nice to try to support you and the committee in your efforts on behalf of the club and members.
I will not be offended if it isn’t suitable for your display ( probably quite relieved)
Thank you again for all the work, energy and imagination you all give for the club.
Keep well.
Tony Wilson

Below is a box I made recently, I’m calling it my Bell Box.

This is a small box I made over the last few days, quite a bit of gluing required so it takes a while before you get to the interesting part, the turning. The woods used were Oak for the main part of the body and lid, the half moon shapes were Goncalo Alves and the finial was made from Holly.

Another 2 views of the same box, this time the insides can be seen, you will observe I had hollowed out the lid as well, the overall sizes are, height 150 mm, width 150 mm and with a slightly elevated base to give you the bell shape appearance.

I do have one more set of pictures to post, but I’m waiting on some text information before I can upload them. In the meantime please keep the pictures coming, we are getting a good response from those viewing.

Do remember the clubhouse is closed temporarily, you will be informed when the first meeting will be after the crisis is over.

31/03/202031/03/2020

HWC members pictures 31-03-2020

Here are the latest entries for the show and tell pictures, today I received pictures from David Hutcheson and Mike Day along with a little text from both.

These pictures were submitted by David Hutcheson.

These too were from David Hutcheson, he did include some text, this is what he had to say about his entry.
The overall size is 100mm x 50mm with the Sycamore bottom being 55mm and the burr elm top being 50mm so 5mm being incorporated in the join if that makes sense. Both bits were finished using a jam chuck made from the scrap Sycamore and its all finished with @ubeaut_polishes shellawax which is basically a friction polish. The elm was rescued from Dad’s firewood basket of which I have two more rescued bits.
Cheers Dave

These pictures were submitted by Mike day. The wood is Sappelle and yes a type of Mahogany from the philippines.

These 2 pictures were also submitted by Mike Day. He did include some text, this is what he had to say about his submission.
Pictures 1,2 and 3 are of my first attempt at a square bowl which I made yesterday. I have another identical blank so I might make another. Both blanks were given to me by my brother-in-law. Neither of us know what the wood is, but perhaps Mahogany. The resultant square bowl is 8″ x 2″.

Pictures 4 and 5 are of a 6.5″ x 3″ Spalted Sycamore bowl. Our neighbours had a Sycamore cut down many years ago and left the logs lying under some trees. They offered the logs to me and of course I snapped them up. The first two bowls I made went to them as a thank you.

Both bowls were sanded to 600 grit, followed by some Yorkshire
Grit and finished with one coat of Friction Polish.

All the best,
Mike

Our thanks go out to both Dave and Mike for their submissions, please keep them coming.

Do Remember the club house is closed and the meetings suspended for the time being.

30/03/202030/03/2020

HWC members pictures 30-03-2020

Hi Everyone, here are the first two lots of pictures I received from our members for publication on our web site. The first pictures came from Dave Line, and the next lot of pictures came from Geoff Potter.

These 2 lamps were made by Dave Line and this is what he had to say about them.
Now that I am the proud owner of a long hole borer, here are a couple of lamps I made last week.
The 1st (on the left) is 380 mm tall with a base of 175 mm in diameter. It is made out of an old table leg I found at the tip, I think it is laminated Pine.
The 2nd (on the right) is 250 mm tall with a base of 130 mm in diameter.
The main body and base are Ash with sycamore inlay, I burnt a couple of rings just to finish it off.

This entry came from Geoff Potter, 1,2 and 3 of 5.

Also from Geoff Potter 4 & 5. This is what Geoff had to say about his pictures,

Photo 1    Showing a similar log ( both from the firewood pile ). I think it is Scots Pine. Maybe I’m wrong?

Photo 2    The finished bowl 15cm by 7cm high. I like my bark edge to be wide – so that it shows off the bark. I had to use some superglue to stabilise some of the bark but not much. The outside of the bowl and the bark edge is finished in Melomine, the inside is finished with ‘food safe oil’ so that it is just ready for the salted peanuts to be delivered by Tesco’s next week. The Melomine was put onto the bowl with a cloth and buffed to a shine following the scraper, sanding sealer and 80 (tut tut …some small amount ) then 180/240/400 grit power drill abrasive disks. The bark was painted with Melomine with a brush.

Photo 3    The base. Reversed on to a jam chuck so that I could remove the spigot and apply a little decoration.

Photo 4    Problem 1. The highest side on the inside of the bowl is hard to finish. The bowl gouge is supported then unsupported as the bowl revolves so you get a vibration. At the same time the gouge is traversing the end grain. This leads to tear out and a darker patch even after a lot of sanding.

Photo 5    Problem 2. The knots in the bowl were loose and these needed to be left overnight with my cheap Pound Store superglue and pressed in fine wood shavings. I think this was reasonably successful. The reason it was left overnight is that previous superglue application looked to have set – but sprayed out when I switched the lathe on and put some spots on my glasses which will not come off. Thankfully not my eyes!

Approximately 3 hours work ie an hourly rate of £7 ?, unless I give it away! Any criticisms, hints or tips gratefully received from anyone.

Geoff Potter

Our thanks go out to both Dave and Geoff for sharing their work with us, please keep the pictures and their story coming.

28/03/202028/03/2020

HWC members pictures, 28-03-2020

During this lock down period I felt we needed to take advantage of the situation to stay in touch with each other by posting some pictures of what we have been doing whether it’s working on the lathe or anything else. I have done the first post showing some of the things I have been making since the lock down. You will all be receiving an email from Geoff outlining what this is about and what we would like you to do, we would like as many of you to take part as possible but there is no obligation to do so, you can if you wish just get onto the club web site and observe what others have been doing. This first post of my work should give you an idea what any picture and text you provide would look like.

To take part you would need to photograph what you are doing or making and send that to me along with some text giving me the dimensions, the type of wood if known and any other useful piece of information by email, attaching any pictures, you can use my own email address to do this if you feel uncomfortable doing it through the web site contact.

My email address is, a.j.mutch4321@btinternet.com.

A spalted Beech bowl made by Alec Mutch, the bowl measured 190 mm in diameter by 90 mm high, some of the white areas were quite soft and required some fairy liquid being applied to achieve a good finish, the final finish was sanding sealer followed by a coat of Melamine.

A natural edged bowl made by Alec Mutch, the wood is spalted Beech made from a half log. The dimensions are 235 mm long by 175 mm wide and an overall height of 100 mm. The finish was sanding sealer followed by a coat of Melamine and buffed to a soft sheen.

A small shallow bowl made by Alec Mutch, made to hold your house keys. It was made from Beech with a decorated rim coloured with a felt tip pen, the engraving was done with the use of a laser.

Now it’s your turn to send me some pictures of your most recent work and I will post them here for others to see.

Do remember the club house is still closed and the meetings suspended for the time being, you will be notified when the club meetings will start again.

14/03/202014/03/2020

Clubhouse temporary closure.

Important notice to all HWC members.
Precautions against Coronavirus.

In light of the Scottish Parliament taking the decision to close all outside gathering of more than 500 people and all inside gatherings of more than 100 people we the committee for HWC have taken the decision to suspend all our meetings in the foreseeable future.

The reasoning for this is that our building does not allow for reasonable separation of the individual, the ventilation is poor and our members are mostly of a certain age. Although our numbers are less than 100 we are in a confined space with everyone breathing the same air.

The length of time the closure will apply will be open ended, but I would anticipate there being no meetings before the end of April and could be longer, a review of the situation will take place mid to late April.

Any new information will be posted on our web site and Facebook page.

Anyone with any questions or concerns can contact me or Geoff through the web site email contact.

Regards to everyone,

Alec Mutch, Chairman, this notice issued on behalf of the committee for HWC.

Updated 14th March 2020.

If you have made an item for the competition that was due to happen on Thursday 19th March, hold onto it, we will be holding that competition as our first meeting after the crisis has passed.

In the meantime our meetings have been suspended and the clubhouse is closed.

This applies to all meetings, committee meetings and training meetings.

09/03/202009/03/2020

Report on our meeting on 5th March 2020 making wooden goblets.

Our meeting on the 5th March 2020 was all about making wooden goblets. The meeting was organized by David Hutcheson and David had arranged for 4 more turners to man all the lathes, they would all be making goblets but not all the same design nor would their method of approach to making a goblet be the same. The turnout of members for this meeting was excellent and the 5 turners kept those observing occupied and fully involved with what they were all doing. The evening went very well and we hope those observing found it interesting and informative. The following gallery of pictures along with a little text should give you a flavour of just how the evening went, the pictures for this meeting were taken by Uisdean MacBeth.

We hope you enjoyed looking through all the pictures and taken on board some of the work practices that the turners employed.

Our next meeting is on the 19th March and it’s competition time once again, it’s being organized by David Hutcheson and it’s all about making wooden boxes, there will be 3 categories as usual, details to follow.

29/02/202029/02/2020

This week’s meeting, 5th March 2020 making wooden Goblets.

Our meeting this week is all about making wooden goblets, this meeting has been organized by David Hutcheson, he has arranged for 4 more turners and himself to man all the lathes. The turners will be David Hutcheson, Errol Levings, Mike Day, Dave Line and Nick Simpson. I’m sure we will be seeing some variations on what type of goblet each of the turners will be working on and we hope you will find the programme interesting and informative. Do remember that you can ask any of the turners a question if you are unsure of exactly what any of them are doing.

Here is one of my own goblets made some years ago, made from Sycamore with a bark inclusion.

Here is another of my own goblets, this one is made from Sweet Chestnut and as you see has 2 captive rings on it, I wonder if we might see something along any of these lines at the meeting.

We hope to have a good turnout as usual and for you to give all the turners the support and encouragement they deserve.