Our meeting on Thursday 17th April 2025 was organized by Keith Brown, Keith’s theme for the evening was making wooden Platters or Shallow Bowls. He had arranged for all of the club’s lathes to be in use, each of them making a Platter or Shallow Bowl and all with a different take on the subject.
The meeting started by our chairman Nick Simpson welcoming everyone to the meeting, he went on to give the usual safety reminders and also what was on the agenda for the next few meetings. He also made an appeal for someone to take over the web site blog after the 30th April when Alec ceases to do the blog, but sadly there were no takers. Finally he announced that this was Keith’s meeting and for everyone to enjoy seeing the turners at work, he did remind everyone not to interrupt any of the turners unless they are momentarily stopped.
I took a few pictures of the proceedings during the meeting, I hope this along with a little text will give you a flavour of what actually went on.
On Lathe 1 we have Errol Levings, Errol had arrived with 2 pieces of wood for this project, one was Alder and the other was Oak, it was the Alder he chose to work first. Here he can be seen working the base and edge of the disc getting it flat on the base and even in the circumference.
Left, here Errol is shaping the base of his Platter, you will see that he has already done a chuck recess on the base. Top right, here Errol is working on the inside shape and design. Bottom right, the inside completed, Errol has added a raised ring to the rim as part of his design. His Platter has now been sealed and polished.
Left, as I mentioned Errol had brought 2 pieces of wood, well this is the 2nd one, he had time to almost complete the Oak Platter in addition to doing the Alder Platter. Bottom right, here is Errol with his finished Platter.
On Lathe 2 we have Alan Smith, Alan had chosen a piece of Beech for his Platter, here he can be seen firstly setting up and then starting to work the base, he has already done a chuck recess and is now working on the Platters profile.
Left, here Alan has now turned the Platter around and is busy working the inside. Right, here we see Alan holding up his finished Platter after sealing and waxing the finished item.
On Lathe 3 we have Marco Baglioni, Marco had chosen a piece of Pitch Pine for this project, left, we see Marco making a start on his Platter, Right, Marco continuing to work the base, he would not use a chuck recess in his Platter, he opted for a spigot on the base.
Left, the base almost complete, here we see Marco sanding the base and the spigot he formed can be seen quite clearly. Right, with the item turned around Marco is now working the inside profile.
Left, Marco has almost completed the turning on the inside, here he can be seen on his final cut, he would sand the inside first before applying a finish or altering the design. Right, after a little discussion he opted to make 2 very small grooves near the rim and then to highlight them by using a piece of Formica to turn the grooves black, a little bit of pressure is needed when doing this and the Lathe needs to be running fairly fast.
Left, Marco has sealed and polished his Platter, it has now highlighted the grooves and the grain of the wood. Right, Marco with his finished Platter, and an exquisite piece of work I must say, well done Marco.
On Lathe 4 we have Nick Simpson, Nick took in a piece of African Paduak a very bright red/orange wood that although from the tropics not a difficult wood to work, just very messy, it coats everything it touches with a very fine dust that is bright red/orange, don’t wear anything light in colour if you work this timber, it can stain. Left, we see Nick just getting started. Right, now he is working the outside profile.
Left, here we see Nick working the inside profile. Right, he was to encounter a slight problem with a knot from a branch that had a much harder consistency than that of the surrounding wood. Right , he overcome the problem by using a heavier tool and taking a very fine cut.
Left, Nick wanted to remove the spigot of white wood he used for holding the Platter whilst doing the inside. This was his arrangement for removing the spigot, he could have used a set of bowl jaws but not everyone has such an item, this was his alternative. Right, Here we have Nick showing his finished Platter. The problem area can be seen as a dark area on the right side of the Platter. A work of caution if you work this wood, it is highly susceptible to ultra violet and as a result it will eventually turn almost black.
Left, here is Keith Brown the organizer of the meeting. Right, on Lathe 5 we have Keith Brown, here he is just getting started on his shallow Platter, the wood Keith is using is Beech.
Left, here Keith can be seen working the inside of his Platter, this was one of Keith’s first Platters he has ever made and he felt he had achieved his best results so far, I had to agree, for the stage that Keith is at he had done a very good job of the cuts and the finish, he did agree there was room for improvement in the design but as he is new to woodturning all of these little problems will eventually disappear as he gains experience and with experience comes confidence. Right, Here we see Keith with his finished Platter sealed and waxed. Well done Keith.
Top, this is from the show table, the items here were brought in by the members for others to see, we like to encourage everyone to take part in this, it just broadens the mind for others to also take part in showing what they had made. Bottom, these are the items that were produced at the meeting from all the turners , 5 turners but 6 items, Errol did 2.
The evening went well, all seem to enjoy seeing the turners at work, lots of questions asked and answered throughout the meeting, well done to all the turners.
This is my penultimate blog, I will be doing another in a weeks time for the Showtime meeting but that will be my last, after 6 years of doing the blog it was time for me to step aside and let new ideas come to the fore. I will be happy to help any other person who wishes to take on doing the blog.
Next meeting is on the 1st May and it’s SHOWTIME again, do turn up with something to show.