Club Night Report

Wednesday 13th March 2024

Club Night Photos for Wednesday 13th March 2024 - Guest Demonstrator: Paul Sweet

The demonstrator for the March 2024 meeting was a welcome return of Paul Sweet, who last visited us in April 2023.
Tonight's demonstration was the making of a Bowl with Handles. This is basically a bowl with an undercut and rolled over top edge - the rim is then cut away to leave two opposing handles.

Paul started with a copper beech blank approx. 10 inches diameter by 5 inches tall. A small hole was drilled in the centre of the blank to locate an aligning tool for the faceplate - which was then secured with 6 screws. Utilising tailstock support the blank outside diameter was trued to round, the back face was cleaned up along with the front face. An 80 mm diameter dovetail tenon was cut. The outside of the bowl was roughed and finished to leave an undercut rim for the handles and a shaped foot for the bowl. A teardrop scraper was used to remove any ripples in the profile and the outside was sanded.
The bowl was located on the tenon in a 4-jaw chuck. The hollowing for the bowl was started and the handle profile shape was completed. Two opposing handles were marked out to be approx. 95 mm wide. Paul stated that this next operation was usually carried out on his bandsaw, with the bowl face down on the table - but, tonight he would be using a coping saw to remove parts of the rim to leave just the handles. Paul then introduced his home-made version of a bobbin sander - a dowel with Velcro attached abrasive, driven by his drill. The edges were sanded to blend with the bowl outer shape. The bowl was finish hollowed and sanded.

The second part of Paul's demonstration was to show how he finished the handled bowl - using one he had made earlier… His preferred finish is a coating of lemon oil, followed by his home-made mixture of one-third finishing oil mixed with two-thirds hard wax oil. This was brushed on to flood the part, then any excess was wiped off - left overnight to dry, then repeated several more times, de-nibbing with Webrax/ NyWeb as part of the process. Paul swapped the bowl over to use one where the oil finish had cured so he could show how he used a drill driven buffing wheel to complete the finishing - first using Tripoli compound followed by carnauba wax.
Tonight, in the absence of his vacuum chuck, Paul used just the suction cup to provide a soft surface support to hold the bowl and used the tailstock to secure it in position. The tenon was turned off to leave only a small nub - this was sanded off via a small disc held in a Jacobs chuck, in the headstock. The base was sanded, oiled and buffed

Paul concluded his demonstration by making an apple in acacia wood - using a blank approx. 3 inches square by 5 inches long. This was mounted between centres and turned to round. Both ends were faced to clean up. The top of the apple was turned at the tailstock end and the bottom half shaped at the headstock end. A friction/ cup chuck was mounted in a 4-jaw chuck and the part was lightly pressed into it using the tailstock for alignment. The top shape was finish turned and sanded to provide a recess for the stalk - similarly, the part was reversed in the friction chuck, and the recess for the calyx was completed. Cellulose sanding sealer was applied and then, when dry, the part was buffed - first with Tripoli compound followed by carnauba wax. A small holed was drilled (at an angle) and a turned, tapered stalk was super-glued in position. The base of the apple was drilled to suit a clove to represent the calyx.

Tonight, we were presented with a very different take on the usual bowl turning demonstration - a shaped rim was removed and sanded to leave two handles - clearly executed and something we had not seen before - very nicely done! An excellent, engaging and entertaining evening, showing varied techniques - leaving us with a few more ideas for the next time we set about making a bowl...
Thank you, Paul!

The Display Table was well supported and showed a good number of items…

Bill Savage showed two puzzle boxes, that were a challenge to open, along with a long-handled mirror and a multiple captive ring, babies rattle. Martin Stanway presented an arched watch stand that he had made as a gift, over thirty years ago. Tim Mortimer displayed a simple ash bowl he had made a couple of hours earlier. Dave Branscombe showed a gonk with a fur beard made from a charity shop purchase, along with an off-centre (wonky) bowl in walnut. Ron Carter made an involuted candle stick in pine, inspired by the February demonstrator, Robert Till - Phil Lawrence also made a similar candle stick (made from sapele and mahogany) - but applied black stain and lacquer as the finish. Phil also issued a "Name the Wood" challenge - it looked very much like yew - but was revealed to be Cedar of Lebanon. Graham Furze presented a small weed pot made of beech. Frans Brown displayed an interesting, tall vase made from a laburnum branch. Paul Kohn presented a 'smoking man' - that he showed to be working! Martin Barrett displayed a large tulip wood, coloured platter he had made on 'An Introduction to Air Brushing' training course, and a hollow form bowl made in yew.