Chelmer Valley Woodturners Newsletter
January - February 2022
Words from the Chair
… it’s March and the Club will be meeting this month, at last; it seems an eternity since we last gathered for an evening’s entertainment.
Paul Howard will be demonstrating so we can all look forward to that as he is well known to us and always produces an interesting evening.
Now that restrictions have been lifted we should still stay aware, Covid has not gone away.
Although it is no longer compulsory to wear masks I will ask if you can, to please wear a mask and keep the chairs spaced as set up. For this I thank you.
We are planning to set the shop up, just waiting for supplies to arrive, hope members will find this helpful. We will also set a table for an instant gallery we must all have something we have turned during the shut-downs, so let’s make the table groan.
Barry Tucker-Vincent
Newsletter
Notice of AGM
The Chelmer Valley Woodturners will be held on Wednesday 20th April at our usual venue of Methodist Hall, Methodist Church Hall, Lime Walk, Moulsham Lodge, Chelmsford, CM2 9NJ. Please make every effort to attend as there will be a lot of important matter to review due to the lack of an AGM for the last 2 years due to Covid-19.
Toys for Phoenix Ward December 2021
A big thank you to those of you who made something for the sick children in hospital at Broomfield over Christmas. These gifts were very much appreciated by the play coordinators who have the unenviable task of keeping these children as happy and occupied as possible in a very difficult time in their lives. Every little bit we can do to make a difference is gratefully received.
A special thank you to John Austin who, although was unable to get on the lathe because of his other commitments, donated a large box of activity materials for colouring and making small things.
Come on you turners, you now have 12 months to make just one thing for a child next Christmas.
Ted Higgs
The return of a master
We are looking forward to welcoming back Paul Howard to the club on Wednesday 16th March. Going back through the event archive from the previous website (https://www.chelmerwood.co.uk/pre2020archive) showed us the last few things he did. It’s nice to see some of the previous events with some memories that come back - I (Kyle) still have the pagoda sitting on my desk that Paul gave to me as this was only my second session in the club. He said ‘just finish it off’ I don’t know what he was talking about as it was perfectly smooth off the tool!
Barry Tucker-Vincent on
Lockdown Blues……
…….but not for me! Being obliged to shut down my business, classed as non-essential retail, I realised I would be fully retired instead of semi-retired and could do exactly what I wished, provided I did not leave the premises. Such freedom was not to be squandered and the workshop beckoned.
I started by rebuilding my stock of pens, that is, until the bearing on my mini-lathe started to make nasty noises. Moving across to my main lathe it seemed like a good time to make some salt and pepper grinders using the crush-grind mechanisms. I enjoy making these because no matter how many times I make them, matching the two sections and getting a good fit for the mechanisms provides a challenge to pay attention to detail.
Now, I decided it’s time to move on to making some bowls and/or platters which are not my usual things. After a few false starts and as many silly mistakes, I realised I had moved out of my comfort zone. Time to study Mark Bakers ‘Woodturning Projects’ - a workshop guide to shapes. As I leafed my way through the book, methods and procedures started to come back to me. I had clearly forgotten the correct order in which to proceed when face plate turning. Back to the lathe and I turned a bowl and two platters.
My thoughts now turned to pyrography, something I had wanted to do for some time, in fact since our event secretary had arranged a pyrography hands-on evening with Bob Neill a couple of years ago - how time flies!
Some may remember a two section hollow form I turned at a masterclass with Mark, when I used a daisy pattern to decorate and conceal the join. One of the platters I had turned looked like it would take a similar design quite nicely. But before I tried on the platter, I decided to have a try-out on a thin dish I had turned for the Bob Neill evening that had not been needed. I out-lined some Acer leaves I had dried, and then burnt around them to help me get used to using the pen. This seemed to go reasonably well so I sectioned and marked out the daisy design onto the platter and proceeded to burn it into the wood. The final result was very much to my satisfaction and I was already thinking of doing more.
In the workshop I had disc which I had picked up in a bargain bag at some time; it was made by joining two pieces of Ash. Not the best wood for pyrography because of the open grain being alternately hard and soft but it owed me very little so I decided to turn it and use it as a practice piece.
I found some fish patterns which gave me a good shape that I sketched onto the platter and borrowed bits from the patterns to create my finished sketch. I refined the sketch making it clear where I would be burning and proceeded to burn the design into the dish. I admit to feeling quite pleased with the end result and also vowed to avoid using Ash for pyrography at all costs in the future.
I have had a lot of fun throughout the lock-downs and the various things I have been doing have contributed to giving me considerable confidence - come and see them at the next club meeting!
Ted’s Button Topped Yarn Bowl
Turning the bowl was the straightforward part of the job and I used Ash and reclaimed mahogany. I wanted a bit of weight in the bowl in keeping with the thickness of the button lid which made it slightly more difficult when cutting the yarn slot. To get around the problem of sanding the slot to the finished profile, I cut down two small lengths of plastic waste pipe so that just a slim finger was left on each. I used sticky back Velcro loop strips along the fingers, one on the concave inside and the on the convex outside. This worked very well with the Velcro abrasive. See pics above.
The next problem to solve was how to hold the 25mm thick plate of mahogany for the button without creating any marks in the wood but still allowing for the rim to be cut from both sides. I decided to drill the button holes very accurately first and then create a jig with 4 small posts that would allow me to reverse the plate to turn both sides. I left the posts unglued so the minute tolerance made it easier to get it centred on reversing. The centre was supported from the tailstock end with a rubber ball. It worked very well. See pics.
I was then able to mount the button in my Longworth chuck to finish the centre on each side with the correct profile down to the rim.
Ted’s top tip! - Sanding a narrow curved slot.
I needed to find a way to sand both the convex and concave sides of a curved slot that was only 5mm wide and around 12 mm deep. Small files were not coarse enough and cardboard nail files were also too fine and not strong enough so I looked at making something to use my loop backed abrasive.
I found that a small length of plastic pipe cut down on the bandsaw so that just a ‘finger’ remained was just the job as it gave me a firm handle as well as being flexible. I stuck a piece of sticky backed Velcro style loop onto it and I was then able to use whatever grade of abrasive I liked. The very slight curve with a degree of ‘give’ with the backing allows curves to be followed. I also made another with the Velcro style loop inside to sand the convex shape. See pictures.
A simple solution that has really worked well.
Ted Higgs
March 2022
Chairman@chelmerwood.co.uk - Barry Tucker-Vincent
Secretary@chelmerwood.co.uk - Steve Crouchman
Treasurer@chelmerwood.co.uk - Ted Higgs
Events@chelmerwood.co.uk - Louise Biggs
Comments, suggestions or feedback?
Please send your thoughts to info@chelmerwood.co.uk.
Alternatively, contact our Chairman, Barry Tucker-Vincent at chairman@chelmerwood.co.uk