Club Night Report

Wednesday 12th February 2025

Club Night Photos for Wednesday 12th February 2025 - Guest Demonstrator: Les Thorne

The demonstrator for the February 2025 meeting was the welcome return of a long-time favourite Les Thorne (see website: www.noturningback.co.uk), who last visited us in July 2024.
Les started the evening with a statement that he "was a jobbing woodturner - where he turns what other people want - which is fine, as it pays the bills!" His day-job entails a lot of spindle work - but, tonight, he would make three different, thin-walled bowls, in very wet timber.

Throughout the evening Les commented on finding and processing 'free wood.' For example, trees should be 'winter cut' - when they are not growing, keep the timber in as long a length as possible - at least a metre long. Seal the ends of freshly cut timber - use anything that stops or slows down the moisture coming out - use cheap PVA brick seal, proprietary end-seal products, old gloss paint etc. Where possible season the timber standing on end (not horizontal). The heartwood in a log will cause trouble - so cut it out - bandsaw or chainsaw as a section 0.5 to 1 inch thick.

Les's first bowl was end grain orientation, with the natural/ live edge retained - made from a wet silver birch log approx. 6 inches long by 7 inches diameter. This was held between centres and driven by a Steb centre. A long-grind bowl gouge was used to cut a series of steps along the length of the blank and to make it round, and start the shaping of the outside. A parallel spigot was cut at the tailstock end - and the blank was reversed into 'gripper jaws' on a 4-jaw chuck - with tailstock support.
The outside shape was trued up and refined, the end was faced and the hollowing was started. The shavings produced were quite spectacular - long, wide and thin - coming off the wood in a continuous stream as Les 'unravelled' the wood. The inside profile was completed. If sanding is needed - the wood should be sanded wet, using water or oil as a lubricant - this is so the heat generated by sanding does not dry the timber.
Les explained the use of a strong light to gauge the wall thickness of the bowl - the colours showing through the wood indicating the wall thickness, from a thicker red, to orange, yellow then to white the thinnest. The lights in the Hall were turned off to leave only a strong work light shining inside the bowl. Using the colour of the light, Les worked to turn the outside shape to match the inside and leave a very thin wall. The foot on the bowl was finish shaped - also very thin, and then parted off to approx. 10 mm diameter, and then cut free by hand - so that the fibres in the end grain were not pulled out.

Les's second bowl was made in the 'usual' cross/ side grain orientation - wet silver birch, approx. 7 inches diameter by 3 inches thick. This bowl would be 'twice turned' - once to rough out the shape of the bowl leaving it with an oversize wall thickness. A good rule of thumb being approx. 10% of the outside diameter to allow for movement and distortion as the bowl dries. The second turning takes place a while later, when the part-turned bowl is judged to be dry enough for finishing.
The blank was mounted on a screw chuck, and the outside shape was roughed out. The shape was refined, and a spigot was cut. There was a discussion and demonstrations on the use of pull cuts and push cuts - with a reminder that it is 'stupid to use a pull cut on the inside of a bowl.' Les showed that there were opportunities to practice techniques on a bowl that would be re-turned - as the 'practice' would be removed when the bowl was finished. He showed his 'signature' single, continuous bead cut, using a spindle gouge on the outside of the bowl - one roughing and one finishing pass - very nice!
The bowl was mounted in the gripper jaws on the 4-jaw chuck, and the inside shape of the bowl was completed.

Les's third bowl was also a cross grain section, cut from the side of the log - approx. 7 inches long by 3 inches thick - wet silver birch. This bowl would have a square top edge, with the bark left on, and show an 'emerging bowl' rim going through the square top. The blank was mounted on a screw chuck and the outside shape of the bowl was turned along with the underside of the square top - these are interrupted cuts and require precise and accurate tool control. A spigot was cut for re-mounting the bowl in a 4-jaw chuck. The top face was cleaned up and then cut back to leave a raised rim for the emerging bowl. The inside of the bowl was roughed and finish turned - a light source was again used to indicate the wall thickness.

We were treated to an evening of humour, anecdotes and audience interaction - full of advice, comments and techniques, tips and in-depth knowledge - delivered with superb tool control, confidence and skill, and always achieving the expected result.
Thank you, Les!

The Display Table was well supported with some interesting items on display...

Martin Barrett showed a large Pagoda Box (in the style of Jason Breach), made from cherry - very nicely done. A friend asked him to replicate a small bowl that had split, and was showing some woodworm damage - he made two of them in ash. Martin also showed a small mushroom box made from ash and a thin stemmed, natural edge goblet made from cherry - he claimed it was 14 inches tall, but it looked more like 4 inches to most other people. Sean Snook presented a thin, square edge plate - made from a reclaimed section of oak skirting board. Ron Carter displayed a small dish that he had playfully painted black, and applied an old 45 rpm record label to make it resemble a vinyl 45 disk. Tim Mortimer showed a large lidded pot with a stained black holly finial, an ash lid that had been scorched and oiled, with the remainder made from spalted beech. Frans Brown displayed a pretty winged bowl made in yew and Don Webster showed a large, hollow, thin-walled vase made from spalted beech - that had (regrettably) split into two-pieces when it was accidentally dropped - he was able to use super-glue to make an invisible repair - very well done! Dave Branscombe showed two of his very early attempts at bowl turning - quite shallow and with thick walls, along with a more recent effort (some seven years later); a large coloured beaded bowl, that he had completed on a Les Thorne training course - clearly, major progress in his woodturning skills has been made. Martin Leadbetter presented a tall involuted candle stick - timber unknown. See the February 2024 demonstration for the inspiration and method. The candle stick was made entirely using carbide turning tools. Paul Kohn showed an interesting small pot and dish assembly, with a connecting column and 'side supports' made in mahogany and sycamore. Along with a large hanging bird-box and a painted Smoking Man (burner), complete with wood carving tools, a pipe and a bench.