Our latest training day was on Thursday evening 12-09-2024.
All our training days are organized by Nick Simpson our training co-ordinator.
There were 5 trainees along with 5 tutors on all our lathes, 4 of them were on their 2nd training session with 1 person on their 1st session. The training is usually split into 4 sessions, 2 with faceplate or bowl work sessions and 2 spindle or between centres turning, with the pupil doing lots of practice between sessions, it’s normal to set them free from the tuition after they have had 4 sessions. Some of them may go on to receive advanced tuition at a later date, our training also deals with very specialised turning as well as what’s considered normal.
In addition to all the pupils and tutors Dave Line was present as our safety observer for this session.
Here are a few pictures from each of the pairings,
On Lathe 1, was Paul Troxler with tutor Alec Mutch, this was Paul’s 2nd session. Picture 1, shows Paul working on the outside of a bowl. Picture 2, the outside complete and polished, it’s now been re-mounted ready for the inside to be worked.
Picture 3, Paul is working on the inside of his bowl, making the final cuts. Picture 4, shows Paul with his finished bowl after it had been sanded sealed and polished.
On Lathe 2, was Matilda Rattray with tutor Nick Simpson, they were working on a bowl. Picture 5, shows Matilda working on the outside of her bowl, Picture 6, Matilda is now working on the inside of her bowl, here you can see that Nick is giving her some very specific guidance.
Picture 7, Matilda can be seen working on the inside of her bowl, the turning part is almost complete, she would go on to sand before applying a finish. Picture 8, Here is Matilda with her finished bowl.
On Lathe 3, was Judy MacDonald with tutor John Ruickbie, they too were making a bowl. Picture 9, shows Judy working on the outside of her bowl, you can just make out that John has a hand in showing her the correct position for the tool to get the best cut. Picture 10, here Judy is applying sanding sealer to the outside of her bowl.
Picture 11, here Judy is working the inside of her bowl, with very close supervision being applied by John. Picture 12, here we see Judy with her finished bowl, having sanded, sealed and polished.
On Lathe 4, was Inga Ballantyne with tutor David Hobson, they were making a shallow plate, still considered bowl work. Picture 13, Inga is working on the final cuts on the inside. Picture 14, the shallow plate after it had been sanded.
Picture 15, Inga is working on the final finish of sanding, sealing and polishing. Picture 16, shows Inga with her finished shallow plate, highly polished as you can see.
On Lathe 5, was Jennifer MacDonald with tutor Geoff Potter, they too were making a bowl, but on this occasion Geoff opted to help Jennifer to make a natural edged bowl. Picture 17, shows Jennifer working on the inside of her bowl. Picture 18, here Geoff is talking her through how to sand the inside of the bowl using a mechanical sanding system.
Picture 19, here Jennifer can be seen applying some sanding sealer to the inside of her bowl. Picture 20, a very pleased Jennifer as she shows off her finished bowl.
That concluded the teaching session for this meeting, a well deserved “well done” to all the pupils and a big thank you to all the tutors. All of these pupils will go on to have further teaching sessions before they are cut loose. There are more people in the pipeline for tuition if you want any tuition, whether it’s novice or experienced speak to Nick and he will organize it for you.