Author: Alec Mutch

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Competition report from 21-02-2019

Our competition on the 21st February 2019 was all about making a turned box. The number of entries for the novice group were very good, as was the number of entries for the experienced group, however the intermediate group had far fewer entries, this has a lot to do with the way the groupings are arrived at and that is something the club is going to address for future competitions. The standard of work in all 3 groups was excellent which made the judging very difficult, it was hard to pick a winner, the judging was done by Alec Mutch and Gordon Leitch. The pictures for the competition were taken by Alec Mutch. In addition to the competition all of our 5 lathes were in operation during the whole event with the turners doing their own things, 2 of those turners were on the lathes for the first time at the club. The pictures for these turners were taken by Alec Mutch and Phil Moore.

For a larger picture and some more information click on any picture.

These were the entries for the Novice group.
These were the entries for the Intermediate group.
These were the entries for the Experienced group
The winner of the Novice group, a lime box made by Mark Dale.
The winner of the Intermediate group, Ash & Mahogany box made by Dave Line.
The winner of the Experienced group. Purpleheart, Beech & Cherry Made by Errol Levings.
Free turner Vicky Pocock as she makes a start on a small Sycamore bowl.
Free turner Colin MacKenzie as he makes a start on making wooden pens.

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This week’s competition.

You only have a few days left to make a box for this week’s competition on Thursday 21st February 2019. We want to see lots of entries from all 3 categories, if you need any inspiration, there are quite a lot of box designs and ideas on this web site , good luck with your entry and do remember there is a £25 prize for each of the winners in all 3 categories. There will also be all 5 lathes in operation during the evening whilst the competition judging is going on, there should be something for everyone to see and enjoy.

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2019 AGM report.

Our AGM on Thursday 7th February 2019 went very well. We had a very good turnout of members and all the existing committee members were present. The chairman made an opening statement, followed by the secretary presenting the minutes of the previous AGM. The chairman did a report on the years events, that was followed by the treasurer giving a report on the financial status. Topics discussed were , the constitution, skype and the internet, membership fees and training fees. As the committee had shrunk to just 7, we voted a few more members onto the committee taking it back up to 12. There were a few items raised under A.O.B. that the chair announced would be discussed at the first committee meeting.

Pictured here at the start of the meeting, Left, Cliff Sim, Treasurer. centre, Alec Mutch, Chairman. right, Peter Lawrence, secretary.
Here I am opening the meeting, welcoming everyone to the meeting.
Here are some of the members reading Peter's minutes report.
In this picture Cliff Sim (treasurer) is reading his financial report to the meeting, copies of his report were handed out to the meeting.
One of the votes in progress for the new members of the committee.
Another of the votes taking place.

The committee would like to thank all of you who attended the AGM. For a larger picture and some more information, click any of the pictures.

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AGM this Thursday 7th February 2019.

Our AGM is to be held this Thursday 7th February 2019, start time of 18.45pm. We are looking for a good turnout as there are positions to be filled on the committee.

This is likely to be a shorter meeting than normal as there won’t be anything happening out with the AGM business.

Yes, we have all been there at some time in our turning experiences.
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Club meeting on Thursday 24th January 2019.

Our club meeting on Thursday evening 24th January 2019 was a one to one meeting, where an experienced member would take a less experienced member through the process of doing something that they find challenging, this could be some element of turning or it could be sharpening the tools. We had 3 lathes in operation and the sharpening station. Bill Munro was showing Dave Line some of the finer points of spindle turning. Errol Levings was doing long hole boring with Graham Charge, (Graham is a new member to our club). David Hay was at the sharpening station demonstrating the art of sharpening, we had asked the members to bring in a tool to get reground or sharpened, suffice to say David was kept very busy. Lastly I Alec Mutch was demonstrating the use of a bowl gouge with Bill Henderson, Bill has been using tipped tools thus far but now felt it was time to try and use the gouge. The turn out of members was very good and the evening went very well, Peter Lawrence was the manager for this session.

Here we have Bill Henderson making his first cuts on a bowl blank using a bowl gouge, being supervised by myself.
Here we have Dave Line working on spindle turning, Dave was being supervised by Bill Munro.
Here we have David Hay at the sharpening station, being observed by some of the members.
David was kept very busy sharpening and regrinding members tools after the members were encouraged to bring in a tool to sharpen.
Here we have Errol Levings about to show Graham Charge the method used for long hole boring.
Here Errol is about to start the lathe after positioning the long hole boring tool to start the hole.
I have picked up some of the shavings after Bill made a few cuts, these shavings were exactly what is required to achieve a good finish.
Here Bill Munro is guiding Dave Line as he make his cuts.
A close up of Dave Line's cuts, note the ribbon like shavings, exactly what's required to achieve a good finish.
Bill now taking some cuts across the face of the blank, he was growing in confidence with every cut.
David sharpening a tool on the belt sharpener, being observed by some of the members.
A closer view of how David holds the tool as it's being sharpened, note the position of the tool guide above the belt.
Here Graham Charge is using the long hole boring tool, being observed by some of the members.
Graham making headway with the tool.
Dave Line working on the shaft of a goblet, here he is getting close to completion.
Dave line sanding the stem of the goblet.
Here Dave line is being supervised on the use of a parting tool to cut the goblet free, Bill Munro is ready to assist if needed.
A view inside the club premises with the members watching all the different turners at work.
This was as far as we got with the bowl turning, time ran out on us, however Bill Henderson said he would try one at home now.
Dave Line with his finished goblet.

Click any picture for a full sized picture and some text.

All the pictures were taken by Mike Day

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Club Meeting 24th January 2019

Our club meeting is on Thursday evening 24th January 2019, this will be a one to one meeting where an experienced turner takes a less experienced turner through the process of doing a part of turning they are finding they need a little help with. There will be 2 turners working the lathes David Hutcheson will be going through the process of spindle turning with Dave Line, I will be going through the use of a bowl gouge with Bill Henderson, David Hay is going to deal with sharpening, and we invite you to bring in a tool you think might benefit from some expert advice. John Ruickbie is going to take a novice turner through the process of getting started, this will include a talk on safety, some sharpening and some lathe work. This session is being managed by Peter Lawrence.

Oh how things used to be! no electric motor here nor any high speed tools.

Late update for Thursday’s meeting, David Hutcheson can’t be there due to other commitments, however his place has been filled by Bill Munro so the spindle turning with Bill and Dave line will go ahead as planned.

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First meeting in 2019.

Please be advised the first meeting in 2019 is on January 10th at the usual start time.

The meeting will be all about spindle turning, there should be 4 turners working the lathes, Bill Munro, David Hutcheson, Charles Richards and David McGruer, they will all be doing different things with spindle turning, there should be something for everyone to see and hold your interest.

The club committee would like to wish all the members and anyone who views this site a Happy New Year.

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Christmas Competition & raffle draw.

A view of some of the many prizes on offer.
Another view of the prizes, Colin McRae (seated) was handling the prize giving along with Jim Kelman who did the draw.
These were the entries for the “Novice” category.
These were the entries for the “Intermediate” category.
These were the entries for the “Experienced” category.
This was the winning entry in the “Novice” category, the winner was Winston Amos.
This was the winning entry in the “Intermediate” category, the winner was Bill Henderson.
This was the winning entry in the “Experienced” category, the winner was David Ross.
Other winners in each category who were awarded a shield for the points based system for all entries in all the competitions for the year 2018 were,
Novice     David Line.
Intermediate    David Hobson.
Experienced     David Hay.

Congratulations to all the winners.

We hope to see even more entries in the competitions in the coming year 2019.
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Latest club news.

It was with some surprise that our club chairman Mark Sutton decided to resign his chairman’s position at our last meeting on the 19th December 2018 with immediate effect. He put his reasoning for his resignation down to personal reasons and pressure of work, in other words he didn’t have the time needed to give to the position that it required.

Through the club’s constitution the deputy chair Alec Mutch will automatically assume the position of chairman.

We hope Mark can still find some time to come to the club in future and perhaps do a demonstration.