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Waveney & District Woodturners 2006 Archive

Club Night 21 December 2006

The last Club workshop night is always a little different, and with this year's there was no change. In all the pre-Christmas excitement a demonstrator from the members hadn't been sorted out. As one of the closest to the Village Hall I was sent off to collect some wood and a few hastily sharpened tools whilst the members set the lathe and lights up.

Having picked up a sack of wood from the workshop and finding it was filled with small section Ash and Elm from an earlier demonstration of spurtles and honey dippers the options were limited. Well, spurtles and honey dippers actually!

Having turned one of each I asked if anybody else would like a try. John, a relatively new member and very inexperienced turner, was “volunteered” and he quickly donned a smock and took up his place at the lathe. John's session was a proof of several things: firstly, if you haven't heard the stories about the skew, you will have no fear of it, and secondly, even a complete novice can turn a useful item with the correct attitude and a willingness to try.

After a few minutes John was using the skew with relative ease. He had decided to turn a honey dipper, and turned it to his own design off the cuff. He was very pleased with the finished article, and promised to buy a jar of local honey to use it with on the following day. Well done John!

14th December

Club Christmas Dinner 2006

This year's Christmas Dinner was a little different to the norm, in that we held it at the Club's venue rather than Yacht Club. We had an outside catering firm provide the food and the members – at least those that remembered to! - provided their own beer and wines. In excess of sixty people booked and turned up, so the change in style seems to have been a popular choice and the evening was a great success.

Tom Kittle, of Lapwing Turnery, and his wife, Susan, were our guests for the evening, and Susan had the unenviable task of choosing her favourite piece of those brought in by members for the table trophy. This was won by Mike O'Conner for a beautifully turned and carved discus style hollow vessel. Congratulations, Mike.

The Steward Cup for spindle turning was awarded to Roy Edmunds for his fabulous lathe. This was a popular choice, and some agreed almost a forgone conclusion. The detail in the piece was incredible, and even more so when you consider that Roy is, and I'm sure he won't mind me saying so, a little over the age of twenty-one! Congratulations, Roy.

The annual points cup for the Novice turners was awarded to David Ritchie. David has worked hard throughout the year, bringing a piece every month to put into the competition. Well done, David.

The annual points cup for the advanced table went to Andy Coates. (But as I'm typing this I'll leave it at that!)

Chairman Colin Barber took the opportunity to thank Richard Pye, retiring Treasurer, and to urge the members to consider putting themselves forward for a place on the committee at the coming AGM. Thanks for hard work and dedication were also offered to Gerald Short, Vice Chairman, and Ronnie Summons, Secretary. Ronnie took the opportunity to thank Colin for his hard work throughout another year. With all the pleasantries completed it was on to the raffles!

I'm sure the members would agree to me saying a big “thank you” to all those who worked so hard to make the evening a success, and to Susan & Tom for braving the boarder patrols once again on our behalf.

The table entries this year were wonderful, and I know that aside from Roy's lathe the judges had a difficult task. The range of work put forward was encouraging too, with plenty of spindle work, novelty pieces, bowls, platters, turned work with carving, segmented turning, and traditional turned ware. The standard was very high across the board if you ignored the miniature candles. (I'm only kidding, Colin! And Ellie was thrilled to receive them, by the way, and wanted to take them to school this morning for Show&Tell...of course I said she couldn't just in case anybody thought I'd turned them!)

So it was a good night all around. Gerald Alderton even managed to bag the leftovers for his ravenous hounds!

9th November 2006

I'm a little late with this update, so, my apologies to all those who've checked in and found nothing.

This month Club night had a slightly different feel about it; we had Philip Streeting down to give us a talk on design. The talk came about after a heated "debate" on the AWGB's website forum, when Philip challenged any forward-thinking club to hear his thoughts and ideas. Anyway, true to his word he came and gave his talk. A full account is to be found on the Blog page, but suffice to say that he gave us all a great deal to think about, gave us some new and exciting ideas, and is to return on Thursday 16th to complete his talk.

A selection of Philip's work

Philip was asked to judge the tables and the following results were recorded:Advanced: 1st, Daniel Barber for his crackle-glazed Ash platter, Mike for his natural-edged bowl, and Nick for his Olive Ash bowl. Novice: Dave for his lidded crib board, John for his goblet, and Matt for his ring stands. Well done to all.

nov091106	adv091106	extras091106

28th October 2006

The W&DWT hold a sale a couple of times a year in the Methodist Hall in trendy Southwold, Suffolk. I haven't held a stall at the event, and didn't this year, but as my own plans for the day were changed, I thought I'd nip along and photograph the displays. Colin Barber - with his Grandson Joel as sales assistant, John & Daniel Barber, Ken Rogers, Andrew Bailey, Shaun Fitzsimons, and Roy Edmonds each had stalls. The fist impression upon entering the newly refurbished hall was "wow!". The displays looked fantastic, and the range of work on show was very impressive. It is only hoped that the public's reaction was the same, because they would be hard pushed to see such a fine display of work anywhere.

19th October 2006

Tonight's Workshop demonstration was by Daniel Barber, one of our younger members. At a past demonstration, Brian Partridge, AWGB Rep for the East of England, demonstrated his own particular take on off-centre figures, and Daniel chose to demonstrate his own take on the same item. It should be noted that Daniel has become quite the expert on these, and has sold a lot of them in various sizes and styles.

The demonstration began with an explanation of the off-centre techniques he would use, and proceeded with the turning. Each off-centre portion of the figures had to be finished before proceeding to the next. Daniel turned the figure and then proceeded to turn a hat for it in Yew.

The demonstration was more than a lesson in off-centre turning, it was a good example of how repetition can improve tool skills, and speed of turning; because Daniel has turned so many of these figures each movement was fluid and natural, and the process was made to look effortless. Of course, anybody who has attempted to turn off-centre will know that it is anything but. To end up with good clean, crisp edges is not easy, but Daniel achieved exactly that. The members seemed to enjoy the demonstration, and one member, Mac, was inspired to take some photographs of a completed figure to use as a reference for a variation he had thought of whilst watching Daniel's demonstration.

Daniel turning	A completed figure

12 October 2006

This month we had Tom Kittle RPT, from Lapwing Turnery in Holt, Norfolk, down to demonstrate. Tom is now an old friend of the Club, and his demonstrations are always well received and much enjoyed. Tom has been a professional woodturner for a long time, and has much experience of production turning, so his take on turning ordinary items quickly, cleanly, and effectively is well worth watching and listening to. This month his chose to show the members how he turns two-tier Earring stands from Sycamore and Black Walnut.

The demonstration was well attended, with over forty members present, and was enjoyed by everybody, as usual. Tom is a seasoned demonstrator, and knows just which pieces of information are worth imparting, and this approach seems to hit the mark each time.

Club Chairman, Colin Barber, asked Tom to judge the competition tables this month. The results were as follows:

Advanced: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively were: Andy Coates with a Padauk and Ebony box, Daniel Barber with an Elm bowl, and Ken Rogers with an Elm burr bowl.

Novices: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively were: Rae (a turner of only a couple of months experience!) with a stunningly achieved Chestnut bowl with a double rim, David with an impressive, and large, Ash bowl, and two people shared 3rd place as Tom could not decide between them, John and Eddie shared the placing with John having turned a lidded pot in Cherry and Eddie the same in Ash.

The extras table was also well supported this month with a large selection of other work for members to view, hold, and be inspired by. I think Ken Rogers must have hired a trailer to bring his selection of work in this month! Well done Ken.

All in all it was a  very good Club night, so thanks to everyone for attending, bringing work along for the tables, and to Tom Kittle for another great demonstration.

Next week's Workshop night at the Village Hall will see Daniel Barber demonstrating off-centre human forms, which promises to be a good evening...and I bet Daniel has already got an order for the figure he turns on the evening!

14th Septmeber 2006

Roger Foden RPT came to demonstrate to the club for the first time, this evening. I'm sure Roger does not focus on this, but it has to be mentioned that he is a disabled turner, in so much as he is a one armed turner. Aside from the woodturning interest, this was of particular interest to a number of our members who are also disabled. We also had a couple of guests watching the demonstration with a particular, and specific, interest in woodwork for the disabled; Steve, the manager of a disabled cooperative workshop in Lowestoft (our Chairman, Colin Barber is on the committee there), and a friend, attended to see how Roger works. I don't think they were disappointed.

Roger brought a piece of reasonably dry Yew log, with the intention of turning a natural-edged vase. A mishap with the natural edge called for a seamless design change, and the result was an attractive goblet-style vase. The evening seemed to meet with the approval of our members, and was clearly enjoyed. Roger used the Skewgigouge during the demonstration, an uncommon tool in the main, but one I feel he did great service to, and I can see a number of members rushing out to purchase one.

Roger was asked to judge the competition tables, and did so during the coffee break. On the novice table 1st, 2nd, and 3rd went to: Dave Ritchie for his Olive Ash platter, John Robinson for his finial box, and Rae Smith for her Yew bowl, respectively. On the Advanced table 1st, 2nd, and 3rd went to: myself (Andy Coates) for the crackle glaze rimmed platter in London Plane, Ronnie Summons for his tripod-legged lidded bowl in Ash, and Daniel Barber for his Lace wood bowl. Roger gave a critique of each piece whilst he was turning in the second half.

17th August 2006

Oops! It was workshop night tonight, and, with good reason, I forgot! My excuse is having family here for a week. Sorry folks!

I only have one photo, taken on a members phone camera, and little else to report. The demonstration was given this evening by Terry Horton, who reports that "all did not go well". A problem we've all faced more often then we'd care to admit. But, well done for getting up there and having a go, Terry. After the break Terry passed over the lathe to our Treasurer, and formally retired turner!, Richard Pye. Richard was forced to give up to a worsening eye problem, but has obviously not lost his touch because reports suggest that he produced a very nice box from branch Yew. Nice to have you back, Richard. Now go and buy another lathe!

Additional photos came my way, so here is Terry at the lathe.

10th August 2006

This month's Club Night began slowly, our turner, Reg Ball from Diss, was unavoidably delayed and so began a little later than billed. He soon made up for it, and had everybody interested in the Idiot Stick he turned. And just as many confused and frustrated at break when they tried to "work it". Well done, Reg! Reg's second piece was an elegant spinning top made from corian and with a Bog Oak pin. It was a lovely piece, and has probably had all the local kitchen fitters inundated with requests for corian off-cuts.

His demonstration even led to two potential new turners taking up the gouges, as I had brought along a visiting friend from London, who was so impressed that he spent the following day "playing" on my lathe, and has returned home with every intention of buying a small lathe and taking lessons. Surely that's the highest compliment a demonstrating turner can receive?

The competition table was a little depressed this month. Perhaps we've all been busy with other things? As I forgot to make a note of the placing all I can say is that I wasn't placed...I'll amend this shortly. In the meantime here are the pictures:

And here, somewhat later, are the names and places:

On the Advanced table, 1st, 2nd and 3rd went to Mike, Ken and Colin, respectively.

On the Novice table, 1st, 2nd and 3rd went to Dave, John and Rae, respectively.

20th July 2006

It was my turn (Andy Coates) to demonstrate at one of the two monthly Workshops this evening. I had chosen to turn a bowl, the thought of which must have brought on bouts total boredom in the experienced members, but there were good reasons for my choice: we now have quite a number of new members, and fortunately they are all very good at asking questions, and usually ask the correct questions. Most related to the inevitable bowl problems that we all are plagued by at the start...and often long afterwards! So I thought it was perhaps a good idea to go back to basics.

Having pre-drilled a blank to take the Club's Axminster screw chuck only to find that it has a marginally smaller screw than my own - which should be identical - Colin kindly returned home to fetch a drill/driver, so that I could remount it on a faceplate ring. Despite this hiccup all seemed to go reasonably well, with plenty of questions from the members. Some of which I was even able to answer!

To try and spice up what could very well have been a rather dry demonstration I incorporated beading the rim, the use of ebonising fluid, and my unusual finishing mixture into the demonstration, along with a few, perhaps, non-standard techniques. I hope it went down well, I did have a little positive feedback, which is always nice, but can only surmise how the remainder took to it. Although this was only a demonstration at my own club, and not my first, it does make you appreciate what those turners who travel around the country go through...just the simple matter of what to do is a very difficult decision.

With this in mind I have recently - as recently as ten minutes ago! - spoken to Philip Streeting of www.woodturningdesign.info with a firm plan to bring him to the club to give a demonstration and talk on design and practice. Philip has many fresh ideas, and the ability to communicate them well. I hope that he is received warmly and listened to intently because I believe he could provide the inspiration for some new approaches which would be interesting for all of us.

July 15th 2006

Some of our members attended the Club Sale at the United Reform Church in Southwold, Suffolk on Saturday. Members reported disappointing sales and public attendance, but they did have the glorious weather - Southwold is a beach resort - and a large local live music event to contend with. Ken Rogers kindly took some photographs of the event for us to see.

July 13th 2006

Our demonstrator this month was, Brian Partridge, AWGB Eastern Region Representative. Brian brought a considerable selection of turned items with natural edges and inclusions to illustrate the effects possible with natural edged work. Brian turned a small bark-edged bowl - often called a banana bowl - from a Lilac log. The demonstration was informative and interesting, and was enjoyed very much by the members, particularly the newer members, for whom turning directly from the log was something of a novelty. Brian had intended to turn another piece, but because we took so long over the tea break discussions time was against us. The bowl was 95% completed, having such wonderful colour and grain, Brian wanted to finish it properly at his workshop, rather than rush it and possibly spoil an otherwise very nice bowl. I hope his demonstration encourages some of our members to have a try at a log bowl. Thank you to Brian for another good demonstration. We look forward to his next visit.

The Monthly competition tables were a little better stocked this month, although it would be nice to see a few more of our Novice turners entering pieces. Whilst there are trophies to be had at the end of the year, winning them is not the primary reason for entering; the tables show the members what we have been turning, how we've achieved our aims, and how we are progressing. I know that when I joined the club the tables were are great help to me; not only are they a great source of inspiration, but they are also a good method of self assessment...and, of course, peer assessment. Without the critiques, comments, compliments, and the inevitable, "you've ruined a lovely piece of wood there, mate", I know I wouldn't have progressed much further than the heavy bottomed, straight sided bowls, that we all make to begin with. Having a few more Novice entries would also make it more interesting for the three stalwarts who enter a piece every month without fail. So come on Novices, get your pieces on the table!

The table results for July are as follows:

Advanced: 1st - Andy: beaded-rim Ash bowl, 2nd - Kevin: Walnut platter, 3rd - Ken: Yew desk set

Novice: 1st - Dave: Ash clock with stand & bowl, 2nd - John: goblet in Sapelle, 3rd - Rae: small bowl

The Extras table was also quite well stocked this month, with pieces from Daniel, Ken and Colin. Daniel brought in two very large off-centre figures he has turned, and Colin brought in a bowl that hadn't worked out as planned, and it's sister that did (can you read the poem inspired by this disaster?), and Ken brought in an rectangular bowl in Oak, that ended up that way after a design change instigated by SWMBO.

June 8th 2006

At this month's meeting we had Cambridge Blanks down with a large selection of pre-cut blanks and burrs for sale. Many of the members took advantage and spent some of their hard earned cash. We have another three new members this month, Eddie, Rae, Eddies's Grand daughter, and Brian. The Club welcomes them and hopes that they enjoy our meetings and find plenty to interest them. Rae made a good start by coming second in the Novice Table Competition this month, so well done, Rae. Keep up the good work! This is a great achievement after only two weeks of turning! Rae has had some help from Club Chairman, Colin, and here are the pictures to prove it:

1st, 2nd & 3rd on the Advanced table went to, Ken, Mike and Andy, respectively.

1st, 2nd & 3rd on the Novice table went to David, Rae and Matt, respectively.

Thursday 25th May 2006

It was one of the Club's two monthly demonstration evenings tonight. These evenings used to be held at the workshops of Colin Barber and Richard Pye, our Chairman and Treasurer, respectively. Richard recently decided that after over eleven years (!) of holding them in his ample workshop it was time to stop. Problems with his eyesight have sadly put an end to his active turning, which was a primary factor in his decision, but he remains a constant of club life. As a result, the second of these monthly demonstration evenings is held in the Mutford Village Hall, where we hold the monthly Club night.

This month, in response to the needs of new members, Colin chose to demonstrate turning a simple toadstool box from small logs of False Acacia. The evening went well with plenty of questions, suggestions, and general audience participation. Having completed the first toadstool box, Colin went on to prepare a second box for hollowing, at which point the members were given the opportunity to get up and use the ring tool for hollowing. Several members had a try and all seemed to find the (sharpened) tool easy to use.  Our youngest member, Matt, even got up to try the tool and managed to remove a lot of wood very quickly whilst remaining in full control of this often difficult tool. Well done, Matt, and thanks to Colin for a great demonstration.

Colin at the lathe, and Colin showing Matt the technique with the ring tool

Thursday 18th May 2006

This month's Club meeting was very well attended in anticipation of the demonstration to be given by Norfolk turner, Chris Norton and his Wife, Rita, who colours turned fruit and vegetables. The Club continues it's growth spurt with two new members joining as we speak, and a couple more likely to follow. It seems that much of the interest we are seeing in the club has been generated by recent articles in the Lowestoft Journal, so thanks to the Journal! We hope the new and potential members find us an approachable group and derive as much enjoyment from the craft as our current members already do.

Demonstration Report

This month we invited Norfolk turner, Chris Norton, through the border patrol to show us his techniques for turning fruit and vegetables. Chris is perhaps unusual in that he has the added advantage of a talented wife, Rita, who proved to be more than adept at colouring his turned items to a naturalistic finish.

Many of Chris' techniques are self-developed, though he is willing to share his hard learnt techniques with other clubs. The demonstration was very professional and interesting and kept the audience focused through out.It was apparent that close attention to the details of the demonstration had been paid with examples at each stage of the process available for the audience to examine during the demonstration.

Rita Norton, then showed her techniques for colouring the various fruits and vegetables using Artist's Acrylics. The results were very impressive and the consensus seemed to be that the resulting fruits were of the highest quality many of us have seen. I imagine that there are versions of Chris' fruits being turned even as we speak in and around the district.

Our thanks to Rita and Chris for an entertaining and informative evening. We look forward to seeing them again in the future.

Chris & Rita Norton with some examples of their craft

Chris can be contacted for demonstrations via his club:

KINGS LYNN WOODTURNERS Secretary: Allen Atkins, North Norfolk Telephone:  01945 871242

The Monthly competition tables were well represented once again, although having more members contribute in future would add to the interest for us all, and repay the trouble taken by the regular contributors.

1st, 2nd and 3rd places on the Advanced table went to: Andy , Ken and Paul, respectively.

1st, 2nd and 3rd places on the Novice table went to: David, John, Chris, respectively.

Thursday 13th April 2006

This month's Club Night was a little different from the Norm. Malcomb Cherry, the Suffolk Councilor responsible for the grant that we put towards our new lathe, was there as an invited guest and observer. We also had Tom Kittle, a club favourite, from Lapwing Woodturning in Holt, Norfolk, down to demonstrate for us. Tom seemed quite taken with the Wivamac and used to it to great effect with a demonstration of wet-turning tall vases.  As usual his demonstration was littered with jokes and tales of Norfolk life and was enjoyed by all attending members.

The members had been asked to bring a few pieces of their work for a display of the Club's work to show just what it is that we all do. Malcomb Cherry seemed to be suitably impressed with both the work on display and the purchase we made using the funds he allocated to us. So thank you to Suffolk County Council for the help received; it was much appreciated and will be put to good use for a long time to come.

A few of the Members gather for a photocall with Colin Barber, our Chairman, and Malcomb Cherry around the new lathe.

Chairman's Notes: April 12th 2006

With the club now entering the second half of the year I thought I would post a report on the year so far...as I see it.

Firstly, the club has gone from strength the strength in my opinion, with over fifty paid-up members. With the purchase of the new lathe, which was made possible only by a most generous grant from Malcolm Cherry via the Suffolk County Councilor's "Locality Budget", we now own a lathe on which any professional turner can show off all of his skills. It should also help the members who also demonstrate on the second monthly club night at the hall.

This brings me nicely onto the next topic which is "helping hands".

There is a lot of work to do before and after every meeting now with the video and sound systems to set up, and the lathe to set up, and, of course, afterwards these all have to dismantled, cleaned down, and put away. It's an amazing trick how a hall of sometimes forty-plus people can, in a flash, turn into a few regular stalwarts who always stay behind to help clear up and put things away. Now I'm not saying that it's possible, or needed, for everyone to stay behind to help, but it would be nice if a few more people would stop and help. "Many hands make light work"!

Colin Barber

Chairman

Mutford April 2006

March 2006

The new lathe has now arrived. As we decided against the factory-built stand one had to be constructed. For a report on this and a gallery of photographs click on the following link:

New Club Lathe Report  This page now updated with a photograph of the complete lathe and stand.

March 9th 2006

This month we had meantime design down to show us their stock range and give us a talk on uses, techniques and to show us some of their product range in turned items. John from meantime gave the talk and served a heaving throng all evening. We hope he had a good evening and went away with heavy pockets!

The monthly competition drew a good selection of fresh turnery from the members. The Novice table only had three entries this month...come on, get turning and enter! In first place was David Ritchie with his bandstand clock.

The Advanced table had a healthy turnout this month. It seems that the members are making real efforts to participate, which can only be good news for us all. There were some lovely pieces on the table, and the care and thought put into them was obvious. I took away the first place this month...I think they were being kind because the same piece didn't do anything at Ally Pally! They're a nice bunch really....Walter took second place with his unusual turned and carved lidded vessel, and our Cairman, Colin, took third with a lovely burr oak bowl with a coloured rim. We watched him turn this at the previous evening's Workshop and it was a seriously hard piece of very old Oak, so the result was even more impressive.

There was another piece on the advanced table, that I couldn't get into shot, which was turned by Nick Shore; It is a three tier wedding cake stand in ripple sycamore. In a way I'm glad it wouldn't fit into the shot because it deserves a one of it's own. I was surprised it didn't get a place as it was beautifully turned and if suitability for purpose is as important as we are led to believe then it scores a perfect 10. One of the reasons I was so taken with the stand was that whilst the turning was of a very high standard it remained discreet. If the intended use is as a wedding cake stand- or in this instance, three different cakes -  then the last thing you want is for the piece to be so "showy" as to detract from the wedding cake. So I think the piece was well thought out, balanced, well turned, and deserving of more appreciation.

And here's the stand...I only wish I had got the supporting spindles clearly in shot...

February 2006

After the January AGM membership subscriptions have increased to 54. The club is pleased to welcome our new members and would hope that they find the existing membership helpful and approachable. Sharing is at the heart of the club's ethos, and questions and advice are readily answered and offered.

The Club's new lathe, a Wivamac DB801 Vario, has now been ordered from Jimmy Clewes and delivery is expected on the 22nd of February. Two members, Terry Horton and Gerald Alderton, have kindly volunteered to build a dedicated portable stand to enable the lathe to be quickly and easily setup in the village hall.

February 16th saw us at the Village Hall for one of the club's two monthly workshop evenings. The demonstration this month was given by the club's resident pen specialist, Mac Walton. Mac brought his adapted Carbatec lathe with a traveling jig, he designed and made himself, to demonstrate the process of fine pen making. With the advantage of the club's audio visual system in use, members were able to see the delicate work in close detail. Mac turned a pen in Coccobolo with a fine filigree shell. The demonstration was one of the most closely watched - and attentive! - that the club has enjoyed for a long time.

Mac also brought with him another, substantial, piece of his turning equipment, a router lathe he designed and built himself. The router lathe comprised the gearbox from an old DAF car, heavy-duty chromed bars, the handle from an old meat grinder, and pulleys designed for a washing line system! The quality of the design and construction was staggering, and had we not been told that Mac had built it we would never have known. I hope to post a photograph soon.

The demonstration was much enjoyed by all members, and our thanks go to Mac for his effort and professionalism.

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