Start time 6.45pm
Our meeting this week, Thursday 13th April 2023 is the first of our Shield Competitions for 2023, it’s being handled by Nick Simpson and David Hobson, see below for the rules of the competition and the criteria for each category, I.E. novice, intermediate and experienced.
We want as many of you to enter as possible from your category, do remember you will only be competing against those in the same category as yourself, how experienced you are is of little importance, let us see what you can do.
As this is the first time a competition has been arranged with only Eggs and Egg Cups being the theme we did not have any suitable pictures for you to see, however I did find a couple of pictures on the net that go some way to showing what can be achieved.
Left, are some turned eggs that are straight off the lathe, Right, a batch of decorated eggs.
Left, some named egg cups with simply decorated eggs, Right, more in the way of named and dedicated egg cups, we don’t want real eggs!
HWC Competitions 2023
There will be 2 types of competition each membership year – the traditional Christmas competition and 3 or 4 themed competitions leading to the award of the HWC Shields.
Competitors and classes: The competitions are open to all members of the HWC. Members are divided into 3 classes: Novice, Intermediate and Experienced. Allocation of entry class will be made by 3 or more members of the HWC teaching and training group (TTG) at the end of the membership year. New members who join during the membership year will be allocated a class level through discussion with 3 members of the Teaching and Training Group.
Competitions and dates 2023
| Date | Subject | ||
| Novice | Intermediate | Experienced | |
| 13 April 2023 HWC Shield round 1 | A decorated wooden egg of any size | A decorated wooden egg of any size in an eggcup | A matching pair of decorated wooden eggs of any size in eggcups |
| 25 May 2023 HWC Shield round 2 | An off-set or multi-axis piece | An off-set or multi-axis piece | An off-set or multi-axis piece |
| 9 November HWC Shield round 3 | A Christmas decoration | A Christmas decoration | A matching pair of Christmas decorations |
| 14 December Christmas Competition | Open No limit on number of entries per member | Open No limit on number of entries per member | Open No limit on number of entries per member |
HWC Shield Competitions
Rules:
These will be held on a regular club evening with reduced general lathe usage and time will be dedicated to judging and feedback.
The aim of these competitions is to encourage members to try new techniques and turn items outside their normal range, to improve their versatility and skill as turners.
- Entries: Limited to a single entry per member. The entry must be the original work of the member, have been made in the current membership year and not have been entered into a club competition previously. Entries must be handed in by 1845 hrs. to the competition secretary for the night who will render them anonymous. Signed or stamped entries must have their origin obscured.
- Theme and subject of competitions: Competitions will have a single Identifiable theme or subject which will be declared at least 2 months before the competition to allow entries to be produced and refined.
- Judges: Two judges will be appointed for a membership year. Other members will be encouraged to take part and learn the practice of critique.
- Judging Criteria: Judging will be as objective and transparent as possible. We have produced semi-objective criteria which include marks for design and innovation as well as finish and turning skill. The list of criteria and the marking system will be available to all members by March 2023. Where a proforma sheet is used the content will be made available to the entrant.
- Decisions: The decisions of the judges shall be final and not negotiable.
- Results: Results will beannounced on the night by the competition organizer.
- Feedback: Feedback will always be given by the judges, who will be accompanied by a senior and respected member – usually drawn from the teaching team. Points of strength of an entry will be highlighted and constructive critique will always be available on the night in open forum (or private if requested).
- Scoring: For each competition, points will be allocated as follows. Ten points for first, 9 points for second and 8 points for third in each class with all other entries being awarded 4 points. Judges may enter an item and shall receive 4 points for doing so. Points will be accumulated through the membership year. The competitions organizer will keep a record of all entries and the individual and accumulated scores in a dedicated spreadsheet. An updated list of competitors and their accumulated scores will be displayed on the HWC noticeboard.
- Winners and Prizes: Certificates will be awarded to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd placed entries at each competition. The members in each class with the highest scores at the end of the year will be announced at the Christmas meeting of the club. First, second and third placed members in each class will receive appropriate certificates and the first placed will be presented with the appropriate HWC Shield for their class. [The HWC Novice Shield, The HWC Intermediate Shield, and The HWC Experienced Shield.]
HWC Christmas Competition and the McGregor Shield
Rules:
The HWC Christmas competition will be held at the meeting before Christmas.
This competition is open to all members of the HWC.
- Entry
- Classes will be Novice, Intermediate and Experienced as defined for the year. Members may enter as many items as they wish. The item must be the original work of the member, have been made in the current membership year and not have been entered into a club competition previously. Signed or stamped entries must have their origin obscured.
- Judging
- For each class there will be 1st, 2nd, and 3rd winners.
- All members who attend on the day may vote.
- Each member taking part in the judging will have 3 paper slips of one colour and 3 of another colour. The colours will indicate their 1st or second choice within a class. Members will write their preferred entry number on the appropriate coloured slip (eg N2 or I3 or E1) and place the slip in one of 2 boxes allocated to that colour for each class.
- At the end of judging two or more of the Training Team will collate the slips by entry number and award 2 points for a first choice and one point for a second choice. Points will be summed and the three winners in each class will emerge. If there are 2 entries with the same number of points then the entry with the most 1st votes shall win. If there remains a draw then the organisers will ask a further 2 members of the teaching team to adjudicate.
- Winners and Prizes
- Winners will be announced by the Chair.
- There will be prize certificates for 1st, 2nd and 3rd in each class.
- The McGregor Shield will be awarded on the night to the member whose entry had been awarded the most 1st choice votes by the judging members.
- Show and Tell and Feedback
- The Chair or another respected member of HWC will comment on the winning attributes of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd winning entries in each class.
- Winners will be encouraged to tell members about their entry and how it was made.
- Feedback will be offered to every entrant. This will be available on a private basis with any member of the Training Team on the night.
Here are a nest of eggs using a Laminated method of construction.
In addition to the competition we will be using the time during the judging process to do a FIRST AID demonstration, this will be handled by Joe Webster our First Aid leader, this will involve a couple of dummies being used to show how to resuscitate someone in an emergency, and the use of a defibrillator, the whole programme will take about an hour. We are still looking to increase the number of First Aiders in the club, this may be a perfect moment to let you realise you may be interested in being a member of the First Aid Team, if so speak to Joe after the demonstration.