Club Night Report

Wednesday 9th July 2025

Club Night Photos for Wednesday 9th July 2025 - Club Demonstrator: Frans Brown

The demonstrator for the July 2025 meeting was a long over-due return of Club Member Frans Brown, who last visited us in December 2012, as a professional demonstrator.
Frans's demonstrations for the evening were announced as the making of a "Cut and Chopped" platter, a "Cone Clock" and some "Hazel Flowers". Frans stated that he believed as woodturners, we needed to 'add value' to the work we produce - make it different! He began with some lathe preparation - by waxing the bedways - to ensure a smooth sliding of the banjo and the tailstock.

For the Cut and Chopped platter - a dry elm blank, approx. 10" diameter by 2" thick was drilled to accept a screw chuck mounted in a 4-jaw chuck. Frans emphasised that it was important to get the hole drilled square into the face at 90 degrees to reduce the side stress on the woodscrew. The blank was mounted onto the screw thread, with tailstock support for 'safety.' The outside diameter was trued to round - and the front face was cleaned up. A pull-cut was used as the quickest method to achieve this. A recess for 'C' jaws was accurately marked out and a parting tool was used to cut it 4 mm deep and slightly dovetailed with a skew chisel laid flat on the toolrest. The underside of the bowl was shaped and power sanded through the grits. A series of five radial grooves were cut to the same depth - using a shaped scraper, into what would be the underside of the rim.

The blank was reversed and re-mounted into the dovetail recess. The front face was reduced in width and the top outer rim was shaped. The wall thickness was carefully measured from the depth of the grooves on the underside to create a constant thickness. The centre portion of the bowl was finish turned and power sanded. Frans mounted a custom shaped, wooden toolrest in the banjo as support for his Proxxon long neck angle grinder, fitted with an Arbortech cutting blade. After adjusting the tool to cut on-centre - it was gently traversed (freehand) along the curved rim - to break through into the grooves cut in the underside of the bowl. The bowl was 'indexed' by a 'random' amount - with the intention of creating an 'organic,' non-uniform appearance and another cut was taken. This process would be repeated around the rim until all of the surface had been cut. To avoid repetition, the item was concluded at this point as the technique had been explained.

The second project of the evening was the making of a Cone Clock. Basically, this is an 80 mm tall cone with a 60 mm diameter base - with a 60 mm diameter disc bored to hold a 32 mm diameter clock insert. A 70 mm diameter blank by 150 mm long (approx.) of spalted beech, was mounted between centres. A tenon was cut on one end and then held in a 4-jaw chuck. The blank was turned to 60 mm diameter, marked out for the 80 mm length and then turned to a cone. The cone was power sanded, and cellulose sanding sealer was applied. Frans showed his home-made drilling jig to hold the cone securely and tilt it to 40 degrees, for drilling an 8 mm diameter hole in the side of the cone on a pillar drill. For tonight's demonstration he drilled the hole (freehand) with his battery drill. The cone was parted off.

The second component was the disc that holds the clock insert. The end face, that remained in the chuck was cleaned up and slightly dished - then drilled to 32 mm diameter by 6 mm deep, with a Forstner bit - the hole size was adjusted to suit the clock insert with a skew chisel. The back of the disc was relieved and shaped - and an 8 mm spigot was produced. The component was sanded and parted off. The two components were assembled with CA glue.
Frans suggested that the Club Members could engage in a friendly competition to make a Cone Clock (with or without feet/ legs) and show it at the next meeting - he distributed a dimensioned drawing for his Cone Clock. He would be the judge of the entries and present a small prize for the item that 'grabbed his attention.'

Frans's final demonstration for the evening was the making of Hazel Flowers. These are traditionally made from wet hazel twigs - using the point of a skew chisel. A twig blank was mounted in a chuck and the bark was turned off. The technique of dragging/ pushing the point of the skew along the length of the timber was shown and produced a collar of curled shavings - several cuts later and we had a flower! The end was cleaned up and the 'flower' was parted off - a small hole was drilled in the end, and then mounted on a stalk of dogwood twig.

Tonight, we were presented with a varied, wide-ranging and interesting display of solid turning techniques - to produce a platter that was different, unusual and indeed 'rustic.' An entertaining, engaging and informative evening.
Thank you, Frans!

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

Don Webster presented an attractive pale cherry bowl, along with a large elm bowl - both had been finished with Chestnut Cut 'n' Polish abrasive wax and then a coating of Wood Wax 22. Sean Snook had once again been 'skip diving' and had rescued a quantity of old oak flooring, which he recycled into a very large, laminated, salad bowl - finished with acrylic lacquer. Harry Rock presented a bunch of wooden flowers, made in various shapes and timbers. Dave Newman showed an oak stand he had been commissioned to make - to hold a 'cannon ball.' This was actually a support bearing from a set of canal lock gates - the metal was thought to be brass, or bronze or maybe gunmetal? Graham Furze showed a couple of items - a pair of garden shears where he had remade a damaged handle and a large cranked, skew chisel manufactured by Ashley Isles, fitted with his custom-made handle. Paul Kohn displayed three items - a whimsical clock mounted on a column, made from Hong Kong rescued teak, along with fine set of finials, a pair of candle sticks and a yew bowl with some condiment cups mounted on the rim. Roger Blake shared a maple bowl that had been sprayed with ebonising lacquer and then 'spin painted' with a blue lacquer.