Author: Alec Mutch

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This week’s meeting 19th September 2019, making pens.

This week’s meeting has been organized by Jim Kelman, he has made this meeting all about making wooden pens. There will be 3 turners working the lathes doing their own style of pens, those are David Line, David Hobson and Bob Chisholm. We are looking for a good turn out as usual and hope you find something of interest from the 3 turners.

These were some examples of pens and other items that were made at a previous meeting.

Here is a reminder that the Christmas raffles are now on sale at every meeting prior to the Christmas meeting at a price of £1.50 each, there will be the usual plentiful supply of prizes.

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Report on our Showtime meeting 5th September 2019

Our Showtime meeting on the 5th September 2019 went very well, there were 10 members doing presentations and we had a good number of entries from our members, most of them had more than one item to show. The turnout was good for the members who were not doing presentations and everyone appeared to enjoy the presentations. A summary of the meeting follows in the form of a picture gallery with a little bit of text included.

First up we had John Ruickbie, he showed a small barrel made from some whiskey barrel staves.
John went on to describe exactly how he made the barrel.
Here John is showing the members part of one of the staves as he got them and described what he had to do.
This was part of the waste material that John was left with but it showed just how the barrel was constructed.
Here we have Bob Chisholm (in the pink jumper) showing one of his entries, a vase shaped candle holder.
Here we have Bob showing a small spalted bowl.
Another of Bob's entries, a splated beech bowl, I'm answering a question from the floor on this one.
Last of Bob's entries was a very nice natural edged bowl, again in spalted beech.
Here we have Douglas Stewart, Douglas made a whole wide range of wooden jewellery.
Douglas had some bangles, ear rings, pendants, rings and a ring tree.
Douglas was also into making wooden toys, here he is showing a small spinning top he had made.
Just some of Douglas's many item of turned jewellery.
Here we have Dave Line, Dave made a hollow form from a turning that he then cut and reassembled giving him the boat shape.
Dave had taken a few picture of his hollow form to show the members just how he did it.
Another of Dave's entries was a small laminated hinged box.
Here Dave and myself are showing the members the finished item and the pictures of how he did it.
Here we have Geoff Potter, Geoff made this very nice spalted beech bowl.
Another of Geoff's entries was another spalted beech bowl, here he is showing the underside and how it looked before he started.
The smaller of the 2 spalted beech bowls that Geoff made, Geoff told the members he needed a lot of sealer on the soft areas.
Another entry from Geoff was this small hollow vessel made from Cherry and Mahogany.
Geoff's finished Cherry hollow vessel.
Here we have David Hutcheson showing on of his entries, a shallow natural edged bowl in Elm.
Another Dave's entries a very nice Burr Elm bowl.
David was in the process of making a Quaich for a special occasion, here he is showing the part finished item.

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If you would like to see a larger example of any of the pictures and see a little text, just click on any of the pictures. We would like to thank all of you who put forward your entries and did the presentations, we look forward to seeing even more in the future, Pictures were courtesy of Mike Day.

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Showtime this week.

A reminder that this week’s meeting on the 5th September is a Showtime meeting. You are all encouraged to bring along anything you have made recently and to show and tell the members how and what you have made. The usual format will be applied where you will be asked to do a short presentation on anything you have made.

Here are some of the items that have appeared on previous showtime meetings.

We hope to have lots of items brought in to show, no matter what stage you are at with your turning we would all like to see some of your work so do participate.

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Report on our spindle turning competition held 22nd August 2019.

Our turning competition on 22nd August 2019 was all about spindle turning, this is the system where most of the turning is done between centres, i.e. between the headstock and tailstock. The competition was organized by Colin MacRae, the judges for the competition were Colin MacRae and Jim Kelman. The entries for the Novice category were good, as were the entries for the Experienced category, but the Intermediate category still comes up short on entries. In addition to the competition, Colin had arranged for 4 more of the lathes to be in use during the judging. These were Bill Munro, David Hobson, Dave Line and David Hutcheson, each of these turners would be doing something different. A summary of the competition and the free turning follows in the form of a selection of pictures and some text, pictures by Mike Day and Alec Mutch.

These were the entries for the Novice category.
These were the entries in the Intermediate category, you no doubt will spot that one of these is not spindle turned.
These were the entries in the Experienced category.
These were the winning entries in the Novice category, right, the goblet came 2nd by Alan Ross, left the table lamp came first by Richard Comfort.
This was the winning entry in the Intermediate category by Dave line. There was no 2nd as the entry was disqualified.
This was the winning entry in the Experienced category, a very nice candleabra by John Ruickbie.
This was 2nd place in the Experienced category, a table lamp by David Hay.
Bill Munro as he starts his free turning.
Bill was making a candle holder in Yew made for a pillar candle.
The work progressing well.
Here Bill can be seen nearing the end of the turning.
Now for a bit of sanding, sealing and polishing.
Here we have David Hobson, David was to make a Harry Potter style wand in Mahogany.
Here David can be seen taking the blank down to the round using a roughing gouge.
Now David starts to shape the wand working from the tailstock back towards the headstock.
Making progress taking fine cuts to avoid any rippling from the wood flexing.
Getting very thin now, even more care required to keep the wood from getting ripples.
Working towards the head, taking very fine cuts, the shape begins to appear.
A little bit of hand sanding with the lathe stopped dealt with any areas of concern.
Here David is sanding the tip with the lathe running being supported by his left hand.
David's finished Harry Potter wand.
Dave Line was to make a small bowl from a piece of Ash, here he can be seen taking the first cuts.
Here Dave is using a bowl gouge to bring the blank to his ideal size.
Now Dave can be seen shaping the base of his bowl.

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To see a larger picture along with a little text, click on any of the pictures.

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Ian Asher.

We have just learned that Ian Asher from Aldearn has died, Ian was a member of the Highland Woodturners for many years, joining the club shortly after it moved to Munlochy. Ian was a very regular attendee during the whole of his membership and often brought in items for the rest of the members to see, as I recall they were always a bit on the big side, he did like to work with large pieces of wood. Due to the lateness of knowing of his passing we have only found out that his funeral is on Thursday 22nd at 11 o’clock at the crematorium. Ian will be missed by all of our members and our thoughts and condolences go out to his family at this difficult time.

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Competition reminder.

Just a short reminder that the competition on Spindle turning is this Thursday 22nd August 2019. The criteria for the competition along with a few ideas was posted on line at an earlier date and can still be seen here on line, just roll the page up to find it. In addition to the competition there will be 4 turners working the lathes whilst the competition judging is going on, the judges for this competition are Colin MacRae and Jim Kelman, Colin is also the organizer for this meeting. Remember there is a prize of £25 to the winners of all 3 categories, so good luck to all of you entering the competition and lets see lots of entries.

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Report on our meeting on the 8th August 2019, working with threads.

Our meeting on the 8th of August 2019 was mostly to do with threads in woodturning, James Wares was using hand held thread chasing tools and I was using a traditional tap and thread box system. Both have their own merits, the hand held thread chaser tools are first class for making fine threads on things like small trinket boxes, where as the tap and box system is very good for producing threads on things like standard lamp connections or the bases for table lamps. In addition to the threading going on a 3rd turner, Errol Levings was taken in to work another of the lathes, Errol was to make some Harry potter wands. A summary of the meeting follows in the gallery below. This meeting was organized by Colin MacRae.

Here I am setting up to start my threading demo using the thread box and tap method.
The first job was to make the blank round, here I'm using a 3/8th bowl gouge to bring the blank to a cylinder.
The next part was to bring the area where the male thread was to be down to size.
Here I'm explaining how the threads work, this is how I would make the joins in a standard lamp.
Now for the base of a lamp, here a female thread would be used, here I am skimming the base.
A hole for the tap needed to be drilled, the drill was a 20mm bit used for a 25mm thread.
The hole almost all the way through.
Here the tap is being put to use to make the female thread, to keep this in line the tailstock is used.
When making the thread, both the tap wrench and the tailstock need to be turned in harmony.
Once the thread has been started it's possible to complete the thread without the need for the tailstock.
The 2 parts assembled.
A slight skim over both parts to centralise them before starting to do the shaping.
Here we have James Wares as he starts his hand chasing .
Working from the tip towards the chuck, James starts to form the threads.
The treads now working their way back up the work.
With a new piece on the lathe James is now setting the speed, somewhere between 200 and 300rpm.
Here James can be seen starting a male thread on the outside of a small box.
The thread progressing along the threading area.
Here James got one of the members to have a go at doing some threading under his supervision.
Here is Errol Levings as he starts making a Harry Potter type wand.
Here Errol is bringing the blank into the round.
Here Errol is marking out his detail from a template.
Here we have a close up of Errol making a thistle design on his wand.
Here Errol is progressing down the wand, finishing as he goes.

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If you want to see a larger picture and some text just click on any picture. All the picture for this post were taken courtesy of Mike Day.

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Next meeting, working with threads, Thursday 8th August 2019.

Our next meeting on the 8th August 2019 is about working with threads in woodturning. There will be 2 turners demonstrating how threads are made in wood, James Wares will be using hand chasing tools and I will be using a threading box and thread tap. Also working a lathe will be Errol Levings. This meeting has been organized by Colin MacRae.

These are the type of hand chasing tools James Wares will be using.
This is the threading box and tap tool I will be using.

The hand chasing tools are very useful when making larger diameter threads on things like wooden boxes. The threading box and tap system is best used for making joints on things like standard lamps or to fix the bases on table lamps. The meeting will start at 6.45pm as usual but will be preceded by a full committee meeting.

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Report on our all day meeting on the 27th July 2019.

Our all day meeting on the 27th July was a great success, it was organized by John Cheadle who arranged for 3 turners to do different demonstrations throughout the day, he also arranged for Celtic woodturning supplies to be present to sell their wares. We had a good response from our own members, but what was also very pleasing a group of 12 woodturners from the North Highlands Woodturners based in Castletown Caithness also attended the meeting, there were also representatives from the Elgin Woodturners. The day went very well and to schedule finishing off with the customary raffle. A summary of all 3 turners work follows in 3 separate galleries.

Alec Mutch.

Here we have John Cheadle opening the meeting and introducing the first turner, Alec Mutch.
Here I am showing the crowd my intended work piece, a piece of spalted beech that will be a natural edged bowl.
My work piece mounted on a set of pin jaws ready to start the turning.
I brought up the tailstock for added support for the first few cuts.
The first cuts being taken on the outside shape.
Here I can be seen making the recess on the base to take the expanding collet jaws.
Now I have laid out the extent of the foot on the bowl, approx 55% of the outer diameter.
Cutting back the outside shape to suit the newly laid out foot.
The chuck recess requires a very small internal dovetail to match the jaws, this is the tool I use for this, it's a modified file.
Here I can be seen sanding the whole of the outside, I use the Powerlock system for most of my sanding.
After the sanding, I applied a liberal coat of sanding sealer and rubbed it well in.
After the sealer a coat of Melamine was applied, here I am rubbing it in with a paper towel.
Now with the lathe running and a fresh paper towel I burnished the outside to a soft sheen.
A change of chuck to do the inside, these are the standard dovetail jaws that will fit inside the recess I cut in the bottom.
The first cuts being made on the turning of the inside.
After the first few cuts, I moved the rest into the hollow to minimise the overhang of the tool.
Further cuts being taken on the inside.
Getting closer to the desired wall thickness and depth.
Checking the wall thickness with a double ended set of callipers.
The tool work on the inside now complete.
Sanding of the inside using the Powerlock system, both the lathe and the drill running.
The tops of the wings on the bowl being sanded with the lathe stationary.
The bowl would now be sealed, rubbed back with wire wool and a coat of Melamine applied and buffed.
My finished natural edged bowl.

Gary Lowe.

Here we have John Cheadle introducing our guest turner, Gary Lowe, from Elgin.
Here is Gary showing the crowd the piece he is going to work on, He is going to make a variation of a spinning top.
Here Gary is fixing the tailstock, having mounted the other end in the chuck.
Using a roughing gouge Garry brings the blank of Beech to a cylinder.
Now he starts to shape the top end.
Top end shape almost complete, he now marks out where he is going to start near the bottom.
Bottom end shaping in progress.
This overhead screen shot shows Gary completing the final shape.
Sanding in progress, Gary first coated the item with a light layer of wax to minimise the dust.
This screen shot show to better effect Gary's sanding method.
Here he is buffing the wax finish he applied to the item.This completed the first part, the base.
Now for the 2nd part the spinning top itself, Gary used another piece of Beech for this.(can be seen on the lathe).
The small block of Beech mounted between centres.
The blank now turned into a cylinder.
Gary starts to shape the bottom of the spinning top.
The bottom and the inside of the bottom now nearing completion.
This was where Gary was heading to reproduce.
Gary had made a tool just for the purpose of shaping the pin in the inside.
Now he is sanding all of the inside including the pin the the top will spin on.
Now Gary starts to work the outside shape.
He sands the cup part before going any further.
This screen shot shows the top end of the cup being worked.
The final cuts being taken prior to sanding and parting off.
This screen shot shows Gary sanding the delacate stem.

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Mark Sutton.

Here we have Mark Sutton making his address to the crowd on what he was about to do.
He brought in a couple of examples, here he shows a Triptych, a set of 3 artistic works.
A close up of his Triptych.
Another example, this time it's a Diptych, made in 2 parts.
Mark shows the crowd some of the paints he uses in his work.
The turning begins,forming the first of a series of shapes from the centre out.
The shaping progressing well.
Here Mark can be seen sanding some of the first stages.
Mark showed the crowd some of the materials he works with, this was copper leaf.
Mark applying some size to the centre to hold the metal leaf.
The metal leaf being applied to the centre.
Once the leaf was firm, Mark put it back on the lathe to clean it up.
Using a skew Mark trimmed the edge of the metal leaf.
Now for the next part Mark put on some masking tape, here he can be seen trimming the edges.
Here he can be seen spraying the masked area with black acrylic paint.
While the paint was drying Mark showed the other colours he might use.
The other colour were applied with a small sponge, just dabbed on, and all at the same time.
With the tape removed, the results were quite clear to see.
Mark cleaned up the painted areas overspill.
As a final clean up of the face, Mark used a gouge on a trailing cut to smooth off the face of the work.
Mark put a second piece of detail on the work, here he is off centering one piece to do this work.
Here Mark is cutting the small 2nd detail, the ghost of the rest of the work is quite clear to see.
Mark repeated the colouring on the small detail.
A little bit of heat was applied to dry the paint using a heat gun.

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The all day event was first done in 2018 to good effect, this year however with the addition of Celtic Woodturning Supplies and a very good attendance this year was even better, we will be having an all day event again next year.

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Our next competition on 22nd August 2019, spindle turning.

Our next competition on 22nd August 2019 is all about spindle turning. The criteria and guidelines for this competition are as follows. Spindle turning applies to any work that is held between centres at the same time, i.e. headstock and tailstock, we will accept entries that have an element of faceplate work in them, like the base to a table lamp for example as long as the faceplate work is less than 50% of the rest of the item being made.

Criteria and guidelines, spindle turning.

NOVICE.

Any spindle turned item that consists of only one piece of wood.

INTERMEDIATE.

Any spindle turned item that consists of two pieces of wood, it can be made into a single piece by laminating if required or used separately (like salt and peppers).

EXPERIENCED.

Any spindle turned item that consists of at least three pieces of wood, laminating is a possibility or any other construction method, or used as separates (like fruits).

Here are some examples of spindle turning, you will see that there are some elements of faceplate work on some of the items, this is perfectly acceptable. You need not follow any of these examples if you have an idea of your own in your category.

We are looking for lots of entries in all three categories, do remember there are prizes of £25.00 for the winner in each category. Colin MacRae and Jim Kelman will be the judges for this competition. Good luck to all of you.

Whilst the competition judging is going on, Colin has arranged for 4 turners to man the lathes on free turning, these are Bill Munro,David Hobson,Dave Line and David McGruer.