Tony Handford was our demonstrator for the day and he kept to his traditional big pieces.
His first project was to be a natural edge bowl made from a large log of monkey puzzle tree.
The wood was very wet. Yep, very very wet as Steve and Bert and a few others in the front were to find out.
Tony studies his logs carefully to see the lie of the grain and how to mount it on the lathe to get the best possible effect from the wood.

He started off with the log between centres and keeping the speed down to where he had no vibration he shaped the back leaving a spigot to hold on to when he reversed it to hollow the front.
All the time he watches what is happening with grain to be sure the balance is right.
Once happy with the shape he reversed it and hollowed the piece out leaving the walls about 3/4 inch thick.
This will be left to dry out for about three months before finishing it.
Any thicker and it would most likely split. Any thinner and it would warp too much.
The one area that could possibly split is the foot because it is thicker than the rest.
One way he prevents this is to paint it with a thinned down coat of PVA. This will soak in to the wood and give it added strength.
It’s a good idea to treat the edge of the bark as well to stop it from breaking away.

Tony’s second project of the day was to turn a natural edge vase or what is more correctly termed a hollow form from a large silver birch log.
Again he carefully studies the log to get the best from it and try and get the width of the bark at the rim as even as possible.
This was also a wet log and the same principal applies as with the first item.
To hold this one he used a large four prong drive which he set in to the log by first drilling a hole to just allow the drive to fit in to. This prevents the log from flying off the lathe if the drive begins to slip.
As with all wet wood turning you should constantly check the tail stock to be sure the log is secure at all times. Once the outside had reached the shape that Tony was looking for he turned a spigot at the end to hold on to when hollowing out the inside.
To hollow out he demonstrated the use of several different types of tool including a support that he had designed himself to be used with most gouges.

The sequence of photos that show this are all in the gallery

Both pieces will be finished with finishing oil.

Our next meeting is on Saturday 14th December and it is a club day with no demonstrator. We haven’t had a speed turning competition so far this year so maybe this will be the one?

I’m getting this out to you earlier than usual so that you get the message about the fair at Romney Marsh in time to consider going. Details on the notice board.

Also, Included with this newsletter are your membership renewal forms, please get these back to me asap (complete with your cheque!) so that I can make a start on the 2014 members directory and the diary of events for 2014.

Graham

Notice Board

We have been invited by the Kent Wild Life Trust at Romney Marsh to have space at their craft fair to be held on Sunday 1st December between 10 am and 3.00 pm. The space is free but they do take 25 per cent of all the money we take. As Bert announced at the last meeting this means that if you want to sell something you must be there yourself. For one person to have to keep account of everything sold and note who it belongs to is too much to ask.

It would seem that space is limited to one 6 foot table plus room for a small lathe which means we can’t display too much at once but I guess that there should be room on the floor for a back up box of goodies if we have a mad time and sell a lot. It’s a new venue for us and we know next to nothing about it.

Sooo worth it or not? There is only one way to find out!!
The address is
Kent Wild Life Trust
Dymchurch Road
Romney Marsh
TN28 8AY