Club Night Report

Wednesday 13th September 2023

Club Night Photos for Wednesday 13th September 2023 - Guest Demonstrator: Keith Fenton

The demonstrator for the September 2023 meeting saw a welcome return of Keith Fenton who describes himself as an "enthusiastic obsessive", who has been woodturning for over 50 years.  His last visit to the Club was in June 2022 - where he showed the making of a Laced Vase.
Tonight's demonstration was the making of a Wine Bottle Tea Light Holder - where he would show how to cut and smooth a wine bottle along with the tea light holder, which Keith explained needed to be able to 'breathe', to ensure sufficient air-flow to keep the candle alight.

Keith started with an ash blank, 4 inches square by 6 inches long - mounted between centres. A spigot was cut on one end and then mounted in a 4-jaw chuck. The end face was cleaned up and a line marked across the end, through the centre line. A 10 mm Forstner bit was then used to drill three-quarters of a hole across the end - this is part of the 'ventilation-system'. A 1-1/8" diameter Forstner bit was used to drill a hole down the centre - about 4" deep. The end face was slightly dished to leave about half of the cross drilled hole - and the end was rounded over. The outside diameter was turned to match the wine bottle outside diameter. The base was then finish sanded to 400 grit, sealed with cellulose sanding sealer, burnished with a handful of the shavings, and then Keith's own recipe of a mix of beeswax and carnauba wax (stick) was applied and polished.

The chuck was changed to one with pin jaws and the part was then held on the central hole. The outside diameter of the base was then blended into the existing diameter - and the chucking spigot was turned off. The Forstner bit that would be used to drill the hole for the glass tea light liner was used to lightly mark the end face. Two 13 mm diameter holes were drilled on the perimeter of the marked hole. The hole for the glass liner was drilled to depth and opened out to suit the liner. The 1-1/8" Forstner bit was used to drill a hole to meet with the original hole drilled in the base to complete the 'ventilation system'. A location spigot to suit the inner diameter of the cut bottle was turned to provide a loose fit - be aware that bottles are not perfectly round. The base was then sanded, sealed, burnished and polished to complete the part.

Keith showed the cutting of a bottle using a jig (of which there are many different designs) - which holds a glass cutter and positions the bottle at the length required, to score a line around the bottle. He then used a combination of hot and cold water to induce a 'thermal shock' at the scored line to successfully separate the two halves. The razor-sharp edges left from the cutting need to be removed. Keith showed a home-made holder for a 6" diameter diamond faced disk (180 grit), mounted on the lathe to smooth the base of the bottle and the outer edge. A diamond file was used on the inside edges.

For the second part of his demonstration, Keith showed how he makes Apples and Pears.
Starting with a pre-spigoted blank of yew, mounted in a 4-jaw chuck, he turned the outside shape of an apple, including the recess in the base for the calyx. A 3 mm diameter hole to suit his home-made screw chuck was drilled in the end face. The part was finish sanded, sealed, burnished and polished, and then parted off. The same technique was used to make a pear in ash.
The screw-chuck was held in a 4-jaw chuck and the apple was fixed to it. The upper part of the apple was finish turned and blended with the lower section - along with the turning of a recess for the stalk. Sealing, sanding etc. was completed. Again, the same technique was used to complete the turning of the pear.
A 5 mm diameter hole was drilled - at a slight angle, in the top of the apple and the pear for the stalks - a piece of the dried central 'spine' from large horse chestnut tree leaf, was used for this. A clove was super-glued in the base to mimic the calyx.

Keith once again, entertained us with a topic not previously seen at the Club - a method for cutting a wine bottle - and then something to mount it on. In a very full and informative evening, we saw a number of skills, techniques and creative ideas to apply to our own woodturning.
Thank you, Keith!

The Display Table was a little bit bare and relied on quality not quantity…

Richard Branscombe showed a burr offcut - 'not big enough to do anything with' - holding ten small mushrooms made in various timbers. Roger Blake presented an ash bowl decorated with a variety of acrylic paints and Martin Barrett displayed several coloured, hanging, sea urchins with turned finials.