Journal

Finishing Techniques, Tool Sharpening, Texturing and Push/Pull cuts

4 stations were set up, one with Russell demonstrating various finishing techniques from sanding, waxes, oils, colouring and more.
The second station had Alan E demonstrating push and pull cuts using bowl gouges, a lot was learnt by some of the less experienced turners in the club.
Alan P was on another station demonstrating how to sharpen your gouges and used some jigs he had to help with this. Some members had brought in gouges that they needed help in sharpening.
The last station had Steve on it showing various texturing techniques using a micro motor and paints with acrylics.

Hands On session

This evenings exercise was in bowl turning. 4 lathes were set up with their lathe leaders to help and guide less experienced turners to how to turn the bowls to a preset design. Thanks to everyone who helped set up and then tidy up later on.

We had Simon Greaves from Saw & Pour pay us a visit to answer questions and give advice about using Resin in turning, he had lots of tips and help for nearly everyone there. You can find his website at sawandpour.co.uk. He is based in Wychbold, Worcs.

The rest of the evening was taken up with questions and answers which were many and varied:-

Which is the best sanding sealer Cellulose or Acrylic and why, especially if using acrylic paints after – various answers were given, cellulose is quicker to dry, denibbing is a must as the sealer will raise the grain, but acrylic paints can be used on either.

How do people store their wood and tools – so many options here depending on space etc – one rule that was mentioned that you should not have to reach over your lathe to select a gouge as this can cause accidents.

How to avoid streaks in polishing with carnuba wax – don’t apply to much at once and build up the polish in thin layers.

Applying Acrylic gloss to bowls – aerosols can be wasteful and you need to protect the lathe/environment from over spray, it can be more economical to use brush or foam pad to apply especially in the insides.

Where to get bandsaw blades – Stevens Saws (www.stevens-saws.co.uk) who are based in Claines, Worcs who are very speedy can cut and weld saw blades while you wait.

Who are good woodturners to follow on YouTube? The following were suggested –
Ronald Kanne
Tomislav Tomasic
Richard Raffan
Mike Waldt
Richard Findley
Glen Teagle

It was fantastic to have Nathanael to give us a demo tonight. His project was to show us how to make a bowl from a board, This involved mounting his square piece of Elm wood (12 x 12 x 2.5cm) onto a block with hot melt glue and cutting rings from this that could then be glued together and turned to create a bowl.

This sounds easy but there are several steps that needed to be taken to ensure a good result from turning the mounting block to make sure the mounting surface was suitable for gluing, mounting the piece of Elm centrally with hot glue, rounding the square piece so it is round, shaping it before cutting the rings for the bowl. These rings needed to by cut at an angle to ensure that the layers fitted correctly using a narrow parting tool, Nathanael explained why different parting tools would not be suitable for this operation.

He showed us how to keep the first ring out of the way by gluing it onto the mounting block, cutting the next ring and then using acetone to soften the glue to take the pieces apart. All the glue needed to be removed to avoid clogging up chisels and sandpaper. The mounting block was then cleaned up and the bottom section of the bowl hot glued to it, the next two rings to make the bowl are glued onto the base with wood glue and this is held in place with a block of wood and the tail stock.

Once dried the piece can have the tail stock removed and gently turned, sanded and finished in whatever manner you want, Nathanael used cellulose sanding sealer (de-nibbed after) and a wax finish.

Throughout his demonstration Nathanael spoke about tools, tool presentation, not forcing the tools, listening for changes in sounds whilst turning to indicate that cuts are progressing. He also told us about his journey into woodturning from learning at school, expanding workshops at home, video interviews for when he entered the Handmade Britains Best Woodworker on Channel 4 – which he won!

He now works for Chestnut Products and is heavily involved with their products of which he brought along a selection for members to purchase if they wanted.

How to make and use Jigs

This is a topic that is close to many of our member’s hearts – the many and various ways to hold wood in the lathe to achieve your aim. Making a sphere for example. We were shown several ways that wood can be held in order to turn a sphere – jigs to turn that sphere accurately and other jigs to hold it for further embellishments.

Jigs to make scoops, spirals, pendants and more were demonstrated by several members along with homemade items to hold a variety of projects.

Thanks to all the contributors to a really interesting evening.