All Day Training Event

Saturday 29th March 2014 - Observations by Harry Rock

The first all-day event organised for 2014 was a 'Training Day'.  A schedule was published and all Club Members were invited to attend on a first-come first-served basis, as there were only 12 places available.

Arthur Kingdon (Secretary) did an outstanding job of organising the day - managing both the Instructors and the Delegates.  The delegates worked in pairs for each of the six 55 minute sessions - which in itself was quite a challenge in organising the timings!  Delegate skills ranged from absolute beginner through to intermediate/ advanced level.  It was strictly a hands-on day with everyone able to 'have a go' and gain experience or guidance on the techniques on offer.

The sessions were scheduled as follows:

• Spindle Turning - with Richard Branscombe
• Bowl Turning - with Mike Crawshaw
• Pen Turning - with Ian Full
• Tool Sharpening - with Ron Headon
• Pyrography - with Heather Crawshaw
• Rose Engine Work - with Arthur Kingdon

All of the Instructors had pre-prepared blanks - 'ready to go' for their sessions so that setup or preparation time was either eliminated or reduced.  For example:  Mike had pre-turned and faced the bowl blanks and added a dovetail spigot mounting and Ian had pre-prepared his pen turning blanks by gluing the brass tubes in place and trimming the ends to length.


At the end of a session the delegates were able to take home the item they had been working on - sometimes as a fully finished item e.g. a ball point pen or a rose engine African Blackwood 'insert' or a partially completed bowl or spindle (to be finished later of course!).