Club Night Report

Wednesday 8th February 2023

Club Night Photos for Wednesday 8th February 2023 - Guest Demonstrator: Les Thorne

The demonstrator for the February 2023 meeting was a welcome return of Les Thorne - who last entertained us in July 2022.

Les declared that tonight's demonstration was to be an 'added value' presentation, in that he was going to make extensive use of 'jam chucking' - an underrated and underused technique that was in fact very useful.  He was also going to make a "really useless pot" that featured twin finials in the lid, on a separate base - made in three parts.

Starting with the body of the pot - made in robinia (aka false acacia) - blank size approx. 3 inches square by 4 inches long - held between centres and a Steb drive.  The blank was turned round, a spigot cut at the tailstock end and reversed into the 4-jaw chuck.  The end face was then cleaned up, partially shaped and a pilot hole (for the hollowing process) drilled to depth.  Les proceeded to cut the recess for the lid and hollowed the part with a spindle gouge and a carbide tip (6 mm diameter) hollowing tool.  The outside shape was roughed and finished along with further refining of the inner shape.  Les utilised an interesting technique - similar to a chatter tool - by inducing the part to vibrate, to produce a decorative pattern, as he finished a section of the outside profile.  A spigot for the base was cut and the piece was parted off.

The double-ended finial lid was made in sycamore.  Similar to the first part - held between centres, make round, spigot cut and reversed into a 4-jaw chuck.  The outside diameter was reduced to fit the recess in the body.  The part was then roughed and finished to produce a fine 'classic' tapered finial - Les used his fingers to support the part in the final stages.  The remainder of the lid was shaped and the second finial (a basic 'drawer knob' shape) was rough turned and the piece was parted off.   Les now showed the use of jam chucking by making a chuck in the 'scrap' remainder left in the 4-jaw chuck.  The lid was pressed into the jam chuck - and second finial was finish turned.

Les now proceeded to make the third part - the base, in sycamore.  Same workflow as before - and held in the 4-jaw chuck.  A shallow hole was drilled to accommodate the spigot on the main body.  The base component was then shaped and parted off.  Once again, Les used the 'scrap' remaining in the chuck to make a jam chuck - so that the base could be held and finished (concave, plus a couple of 'woodturners grooves').
A poll of the Members in the room produced a 50-50 vote for the tall slender finial 'vs' the drawer knob shape.  Both of them worked very well!

Once again, Les treated us to a wide-ranging demonstration of hints, tips, and techniques. An entertaining, engaging and informative evening. Thank you, Les!

The Display Table was supported with a wide range of interesting items.

Martin Barrett showed two finger rings he had made in African blackwood - based on a stainless-steel blank.  He also showed some of his work with sea urchin shell decorations, with finials. Also, a large urchin made into a small lamp - complete with a stand and an led light - very pretty and attractive.
Martin Stanway showed two pens, beautifully made in acrylic.
Arthur Kingdon presented a home-made wall thickness gauge (based on a commercially available design). This used a digital dial test indicator gauge and a plywood frame (make these in different sizes to suit). Arthur also provided a fine thin walled, bark on, cherry bowl to 'test' his indicator on.
Richard Branscome displayed a nice sycamore platter he made a while ago to show the use of water slide decal paper, along with some pyrography. He also showed the component parts of a saucepan handles replacements project he was working on, along with a small home-made (from an Allen key) undercut tool he needed to cut a very narrow recess.
Roger Blake showed a couple of sycamore, wide rim, shallow bowls that had decorated, textured and coloured rims. Very nice and very effective.
Dave Branscombe shared an experimental/ practice piece that utilised off-centre work and colouring.