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Hampshire Woodturners Association newsletter.

Spring issue, March 2012

Reports of:-

Christmas Social

February Turn-in

Jennie Starbuck

AGM Notice and

Nomination forms

Hampshire Woodturners Association newsletter. March 2012.

CONTENTS

Editorial

Reports of Meetings 5 December – Quiz and Christmas decoration challenge 16 January – Turn-in 6 February – Jennie Starbuck

Coming Events 6 March – HWA Challenge 31 March - Simon Hope all day Workshop 2 April – AGM and discussion forum 21 May – Greg Moreton

Novice Corner – Keith Barnes & Harry

Woollhead

Hints & Tips & Things – Keith Barnes

DIY Sharpening Jig – Alan Truslove

Membership – Denis Hilditch

Signing off

APPENDIX - 2012 AGM AGM Announcement Agenda Proposed subscription change Proposed constitution change Committee Nomination form

Minutes of 2011 AGM

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COMMITTEE John Holden, Chairman - 023 8073 3627 john.hwa@handjholden.plus.com Bob Hope, Secretary - 011 8981 3552 hopebob1@aol.com Alan Sturgess, Treasurer - 023 8089 2622 aesturg@sky.com Denis Hilditch, Membership - 023 8042 0901 denishilditch@aol.com Dave Gibbard, Editor - 023 8026 2660 d-m.gibbard@dsl.pipex.com Phil Bristow, Webmaster - 023 8065 3376 philip_bristow@hotmail.com Geoff Spierling, Shop - 023 8027 4462 2geoff2@talktalk.net Lynda Barkaway (was Clark) - 017 9452 2788 Lynda@thethatch.org Keith Barnes, hints & tips - 023 8055 0971 keith.hwa@mypostoffice.co.uk EDITORIAL Turn again… Here is the first issue of the year and how are those resolutions going? Gone already? Well, how about this for a new one – participation? We had an “old fashioned” turn-in at the January meeting in which I participated along with Bob Hope and John Holden. Several people thanked us (always nice to get a little encouragement) and said they thought we should have more such events. Personally I totally agree. It’s good to have professional turners visiting us but maybe our members can relate more easily in smaller groups led by home grown talent. So why don’t we do more? The answer is simple; getting enough people to step up and do a turn. I remember the late George Gale who had the task of getting “volunteers” to do turn-ins. George was the most persuasive and persistent of people but he was regularly reduced to falling back on the old faithfuls with the result that members grumbled that it was the same people doing the turn-ins all the time! We have demonstrated that you don’t have to be perfect to do a turn, in fact a few errors and uncertainties can spark interesting debate and participation from the floor! So if you feel like having a go sometime, have a word with Bob. You’ll find him embarrassingly grateful.

Dave Gibbard, Editor

YOUR TURN

Spring 2012

REPORTS OF MEETINGS

5 December Christmas Social and Quiz What a good turn-out, the numbers swollen by guests of members. Nice to see you all. Some of the supporting activities were run by committee volunteers for the night to allow the regular operators to participate in the quiz. Lynda and Derek Barkaway dispensed free tea, coffee and snacks including some of Lynda’s wonderful biscuits and cakes. Keith Barnes and his wife took over the raffle, the prizes tonight reflecting the occasion. Geoff Spierling and Helen, however, ran the shop as usual. Geoff had gone to a lot of trouble making things for the challenge to make a Christmas decoration but forgot to bring them. What a shame as the response from everyone else was disappointingly poor, just 6 items on the table. People formed themselves into 6 teams. The first task was to think of a name and they chose “I Told You So”, “Hogwarts”, “Outnumbered”, “Brain Dead”, “Crawlers” and “The Young Ones” (!) (the exclamation mark is mine- Editor). The quiz master was chairman John Holden with rounds provided by himself, me (Dave Gibbard), Robert Long, Denis Hilditch, Lynda Barkaway and Keith Barnes. Phil Bristow and Bob Hope also contributed rounds but such was the response that they were held over for next time. Nothing like getting ahead of the game! Alan Sturgess kept score. Quiz rounds were “Around the World”, General Knowledge, Sport, “Who turned that?”, Scrambled Phrases, Parliamentary Quotes, People Dates and Places and Christmas Carols. By the second round, “I told you so” had their noses in front and managed to stay there in spite of an abysmal knowledge of Christmas carols. In fact no team managed to identify more than 4 carols from the lines within them provided by Lynda. Obviously woodturners don’t sing.

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The teams were invited to vote for their favourite decoration. It was close but the winner that eventually emerged was Gerald Nicholson’s bell (pictured left). All the pictures are on the website.

Dave Gibbard

16 January 2012. Turn-in 3 lathes were set up, operated by John Holden demonstrating off centre turning, Bob Hope, spirals/twists and Dave Gibbard, wet turning. Wet turning Dave likes to retain the bark or “natural” edge on his wet turned bowls and vases. He had brought a number of examples of different styles which can be seen on the members’ gallery on the website. He first turned an end grain bowl in yew, i.e. with the core of the wood in the direction of the lathe axis. This is a nice way to present the whole cross section of the branch and the often interesting shape of the edge. However the core is retained and some star cracking is almost inevitable. The outside was partly turned first but leaving a large amount of wood around a spigot at the foot at this stage to give support for turning the rim. Reversing onto the spigot allowed hollowing to start but the important thing is to concentrate on the rim. This will start to move as it dries and there’s no going back with a cutting tool. It’s a good idea to run some thin superglue along the bark/sapwood interface at this stage. Keeping the bowl mounted on the spigot the outside and inside were alternately worked towards the foot. Normally Dave would have proceeded directly to sand whilst wet but in this case the bowl was put in a plastic bag with wet shavings to be finished later. The next item was a tulip shaped bowl with the core at right angles to the lathe axis. The method employed was similar but the bowl was initially mounted on an expanding pin chuck. With this orientation the grain is across the spigot and usually in the weaker sap wood. Care must be taken when hollowing as a dig in could tear it off sending the bowl across the room. Dave likes to use a spigot which is much larger than the eventual foot. The hollowing is quite deep and there is a good case for using a hollowing tool. However, Dave was using a bowl gouge supported by a rest thin enough to insert into the hole as a cheaper alternative.

Continued……..

Lynda’s carol questions defeated even the winning team in the foreground.

January Turn-in continued…. Off Centre Turning John started by turning an off-centre female figure in beech which came out somewhat well endowed! The next project was a candlestick. Both these projects were turned between centres, shifting the live centre by about 6mm in opposite directions. The candlestick was going very nicely until a lapse of concentration led to a dig in and the wood broke in two. But at least John demonstrated what not to do! Finally John turned a small finial successfully. This was held in a chuck and just tilted in the jaws. John can supply instructions for turning the figure if anyone is interested.

Twists Bob demonstrated the making of twists on spindles to decorate things like chair or table legs and parts of table or floor lamps. The process can also be used to decorate vases as well. First the spindle is turned to size and the ends left square to start with to aid holding whilst carving the twist. The twist is then marked out. The first piece was marked out for a double or barley twist. First the pitch lines are drawn at intervals of the same distance as the diameter of the piece. These are then subdivided into four sections and lines are drawn around the diameter. Then four equally spaced lines are drawn along the length along the quarter points of the diameter. This gives a grid and lines are drawn around the circumference joining the crossing points of the pitch and longitudinal lines. For a double twist this line crosses two of the divisions before meeting the next longitudinal line. Two lines are drawn from opposite sides of the piece. For a single twist the line will cross every corner. A saw cut is made along this circumference line about 5mm deep and the hollow is made with a file or microplane to a depth of one third of the diameter. The high points or bines ore rounded over with a file and the hollows and bines and blended in and sanded. He then demonstrated a hollow twist where a hole is drilled before turning the piece and involves deepening the hollow to break through into the centre hole and carving and shaping the bines.

Phil Bristow -4-

Dave turning natural edge bowls.

John doing his off centre demo and examples (right)

6 February – Jennie Starbuck

Tonight we welcomed the return of Jennie Starbuck. She seems to have been very busy experimenting with methods of decorating her work. Her sources of inspiration are Jan Saunders for her colouring and the Vietnamese Binh Pho for his pierced work.

Look up their galleries on Google for a real treat. Jennie regards such techniques as a way of adding value to plain boring wood as well as presenting the opportunity to let those artistic instincts run wild. Jennie covered so much that this report is not going to be a detailed account. Take a look at her website www.artycraftywoodturning.com for a fuller picture. Jennie said she’d be happy to answer questions too and you can contact her via the website. She also has a list of suppliers of tools and materials she will let you have. For piercing, the starting item (often a bowl) needs to be thin, not much more than 1 mm, and of uniform thickness. She demonstrated making a shallow bowl from sycamore. Since the bowl was shallow she used a conventional straight gouge grind. When hollowing she left plenty of wood in the centre when turning the rim and worked towards the centre. She warned against trying to go back to the rim to do a final finishing cut – it will have moved.

Some examples of Jennie’s work See also the front page of Your Turn

She uses a dentist’s drill with a burr tip to cut a pattern by piercing. A Dremell works too but the dentist’s drill is much faster and the cut is less sensitive to being pulled off line by the grain of the wood.

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So how do you get the pattern onto the wood for piercing? Well, you can just draw on the wood freehand if you feel confident enough. Or you can use grids with radial and axial lines and mark up by joining corners of grid boxes rather like marking up spirals on spindles. An indexing device on the lathe helps with this but Jennie will sell you grids for the purpose. You can buy stickers of shapes and patterns which will do the job if you can find some that suit. Another method is to get a paper print of a line drawing, hold on the wood and transfer the ink by dabbing the paper with a suitable solvent like cellulose thinners or xylene. The solvent obviously has to dissolve the ink. You might need to get a photo-copy as the ink in ink-jet printers resists common solvents. Jennie then spoke about crackle paint and went on to demonstrate the use of iridescent paint. In bulk this appears not to be coloured, the colour only becoming apparent when spread thin. This is achieved by a suspension of mica particles of certain sizes which reflect light, the colour being produced by optical interference, rather like the colours on a film of oil on water. It looked great fun if a little messy, spreading the different paint colours around with the fingers! Finally she had a tip if you want to reserve an area for piercing bounded by thicker wood, maybe separated by a bead. (She’s a fan of beading tools by the way, for speed if you are going to do any number of them, especially if they need to be the same size). Putting this detail on the face of a bowl when it is thin is difficult because of lack of rigidity. Jennie suggested cutting the beads and recessed area on the face first, then turning the back in a smooth curve. She left a spigot in the centre of the face for reversing to do the back, reversing again to remove the spigot. She was happy to give her comments on the members’ gallery items. A good display this time as you can see on the HWA website. Finally she presented the Club with a turned wooden plaque carved and coloured with the Club logo. This was produced with a CNC laser cutter which she and Chris were playing with. What a clever, generous gesture.

Dave Gibbard

COMING EVENTS

6 March – HWA Challenge – A- something from a 2”x2”x12” blank,B- Something involving carving or texturing, C- Interpret ”the Magic Roundabout”

2 April – AGM and Open discussion forum and Brains Trust. See notice and voting forms attached.

21 May – Greg Moreton

31 March - Simon Hope Workshop. 10 am – 4 pm Community Centre, Badger Farm, Winchester (next to Sainsbury’s. Just a few tickets left at £20, available from Bob Hope.

January Meeting. Alan Truslove showed us his home made sharpening jig. Alan has sent his design in to share with us. Please see Alan’s write up on separate page. Alan also showed us his Oak Bowl made from an off cut of kitchen worktop; like the piece that gets cut out to take the sink. Alan said, “if you are having a new wooden worktop fitted or know of a kitchen fitter; it can be a great way to get good seasoned timber”. Better still if you can get hold of pieces of Corian or similar material used for work tops, it is a great material for inlaid work and turns well. Jack Mansfield showed us his Bowl on a stand with ebony finial. Gerald Nicholson brought along his necklace stand made from beech. (I am sure Gerald’s necklaces look splendid on the stand). Alan’s and Jack’s bowls can be seen in the January gallery on the Club’s website. February Meeting Harry was unwell on this evening so Bill Willits stood in for him. Jennie Starbuck had such a fantastic gallery of her turning and artistry laid out for all of us to see and our members’ gallery was well supported. Little time was available at the Novices section to discuss any issues members may have had. It was good to see that Novice members are continuing to place items on the gallery for other members to view. Alan Baker and Jack Mansfield were two who did so this time.

For the Novice who finds it difficult knowing what height to set the tool rest may like to follow the instruction given by Betty Scarpino of the American Woodworkers Journal. Tool rest height At what height do you set your tool rest? The tool-rest should be set so that the cutting happens at or above the centre line of your work. If it is too high, the tool will not cut but it will be safe, and all you need to do is lower the tool-rest. If it is too low, that’s when it is unsafe and a dig in may occur. If the tool-rest is positioned at or above centre, there is resistance between the wood and the tool’s cutting edge. If the tool rest is too low and the cutting action happens below centre, there is no resistance, and in fact, the rotation of the wood will pull the tool away from the tool-rest. If a dig in happens, the tool could be pulled away hitting you or an innocent bystander. The tool rest should be as close to the work without it touching, Rotate the lathe by hand to check the rest is clear of the wood. (Betty is presumably talking about cutting tools like gouges. The reverse is true for scrapers which should trail, with the edge at or below the centre – Editor) Jennie Starbuck demonstrated the way in which she turns beads on platters & plaques using Ashley Iles beading tools. These tools can be purchased by telephone direct from Ashley Iles on 01790763372 or e-mail sales@ashleyiles.co.uk or their web site www.ashleyiles.co.uk

Keith Barnes

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Safety in the workshop Part 2 keith.hwa@mypostoffice.co.uk To follow on from the last issue of H.T&T, safety is a subject usually given insufficient thought. I’m not trying to teach you how to suck eggs. I’m sure a lot of you could teach me a few things on safety but if I have prevented just one accident by writing this column then this has been a worthwhile exercise. Wearing and using the correct equipment for your personal protection, known as P.P.E. is important in keeping you safe. Ignorance of the correct techniques, taking unnecessary risks, lack of concentration and tiredness, all of these can cause an accident. Personal Protection Equipment can be Respiratory equipment with head and eye protection, or a good face shield, dust mask and a hard hat. Foot protection in the form of good leather type shoes. Wearing close fitting clothing and keeping long hair out of the way at all times. (If you are like me this is not a problem). Dust extractor to remove dust particles when sanding or when turning such timbers as yew and exotic woods. In addition if budget permits hang an air filtration unit from the workshop ceiling. LATHE

While your woodturning lathe is arguably the safest of all woodworking machines. Serious injuries can be caused when turning. Please Remember Always isolate your machine before replacing or changing belt speeds and applying the test of tightness to the belt. Ensure that all locking handles are tightened and the wood spins freely. Double check the wood for tightness in your chuck and between centres, (very important) Before starting your lathe ask yourself these two questions…. Is my lathe Safe to Start, am I wearing/using my P.P.E? Stop the lathe before Moving / adjusting the tool rest. Timber Examine for dead knots, splits, shakes etc. If any are found replace the wood (very important). Unsound wood can break loose when being held in a lathe chuck.

General safety when turning. Keep the tool rest as close to the work piece as possible. Remove the tool rest when sanding. Do not use brass / soft screws to hold wood onto your face plate, as these can shear off. When using a chuck, if practical use the tail stock for additional support. Lock your chuck to the drive shaft to prevent it coming off when you reverse the rotation for sanding. If your window is close to your lathe replace the glass with Polycarbonate clear plastic or cover the glass with plastic sheeting. If buying a lathe second hand, check out the electrics before you start to use it. Check that it has a good earth connection. BANDSAW

Keep the saw blade fence / guard down as close as possible to the timber when cutting. Keep the blade to the correct tension. Sharp blades will help prevent jamming. BENCH GRINDER Fix your grinder to a rigid surface and make sure all guarding is in place and secure. Check soundness of the wheels, and ensure the rests are not touching the wheel. Wear eye protection at all times. (very important) Keep your hands clear from the spinning wheel. Hold small items with some form of holding device, e.g. grips / pliers. DO NOT use your grinder for soft materials e.g. brass, copper, aluminium, plastic or wood, these material will clog up the grinding wheel and cause metal objects to jump off or even shatter the wheel when it is next used. If the metal you are grinding is likely to get hot do not hold it with gloves as these may catch in the wheel, hold with grips or pliers. If you need to use a naked flame take the work out into the open air away from any combustible items. Keep a fire extinguisher handy in the workshop and do not smoke or let others do so. Just a Thought If you should have a fire in your workshop do you have sufficient cover in your house “Fire and Contents” insurance policy to replace the building, equipment and your tools? It’s worth checking your policy and maybe a phone call to your insurance company to confirm. The above list is by no means exhaustive. Use your common sense be patient and please don’t take risks.

Happy turning. Keith Barnes I would like to add that if using a bandsaw to cut wood without a flat bottom side, like a log, chock it properly with sacrificial wedges to prevent it trying to Roll and jam if it snatches.

Editor. -7-

D.I.Y. SHARPENING JIG – Alan Truslove

I am a bit of a “make it yourself fiend.” My garage is well stocked with all sorts of “junk.” Sifting through I found several useful items, e.g. a drive shaft nut, some off-cuts of 15 mm copper tube, a strip of flat steel and various nuts and bolts. My design is of trial and error with a lot of educated guess work. I soldered the pieces of copper tube together. You could use Araldite if you do not have soldering equipment. The angles are not critical, as how you set the system up will compensate for any discrepancies. I used the drive shaft nut to make the holder for the gouges; care must be taken when putting the groove into the bottom of the nut as it must be directly below the bolt thread above. (see picture) as any discrepancy will result in a lopsided grind to your gouge. Having made the body I then constructed a sliding bed to the right of my bench grinder. After a bit of adjustment with my grinder I found the required height to produce the same grind time after time. I also made up a set of stops so that I can set each gouge in the holder exactly the same way every time. I decided to paint the holder in black Hammerite paint. This does nothing to improve its performance but it looks more professional than something made from scrap material. If anyone would like to have a go at making one of these sharpening jigs, I would be only too pleased to supply more detailed instructions. You can contact me at 023 8061 0039 or alan.truslove@hotmail.co.uk

Signing Off

I hope you enjoy this first issue of Your Turn for 2012. Many thanks to contributors, like Alan Truslove with his sharpening jig. Don’t forget it’s your turn and I’m always looking for contributions even if it’s just a letter or Email comment, but projects like Alan’s would be particularly welcome. Do you remember Keith’s presentation last year “what’s in my shed?” Well it was such fun we’re doing it again in June. Keith is looking for workshops to feature, so he is looking for some volunteers to be interviewed.

Dave Gibbard, Editor

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MEMBERSHIP Please welcome 2 new members, Ivor Miller from Park Gate, Southampton and Les Barrow from Totton. Membership now stands at 90 with recorded attendance of 43, 45 and 59 at the last 3 meetings though we are sure there were a few who came in without signing. Remember if you get there early or come in the back door, don’t forget to sign in. And please let me know about changes of address, ‘phone number or Email address

Denis Hilditch, Membership secretary.

APPENDIX – Hampshire Woodturners Association 2012 AGM

Notice of 2012 AGM

Your Committee hereby give notice of the Association’s Annual General Meeting to be held

at the Railway Institute, Eastleigh on Monday 2nd April 2012 starting at 7.30 pm

Current Officers and Committee:

Chairman John Holden Available for re-election

Treasurer Alan Sturgess Available for re-election

Secretary Bob Hope Available for re-election

Committee Member Dave Gibbard Available for re-election

Committee Member Geoff Spierling Available for re-election

Committee Member Denis Hilditch Available for re-election

Committee Member Lynda Barkaway Available for re election

Committee Member Phil Bristow Available for re election

Committee Member Keith Barnes Available for re election

Agenda for HWA AGM 2nd

April 2011

1. Apologies

2. Minutes of 2011 AGM

3. Chairman’s Report

4. Treasurer’s report

5. Subscription Rates

6. Amendment to constitution.

7. Election of Officers

8. Election of Committee

9. Any other business

Proposed subscription change (Agenda item 5)

With membership having stabilised at around 90 and faced with increasing costs I will be

proposing at the AGM an increase to the annual subscriptions. This has been discussed at

our committee meetings and is fully supported by the committee.

In approving the budget for 2012 – 2013 our prediction shows a short fall of income against

expense of approximately £250, assuming a renewing membership of 83. We have, I’m sure

you will agree, an exciting programme planned for the coming year but top demonstrators

and speakers are also seeing their cost increase and as such so do ours.

I have looked at a number of options but have proposed an increase in fees to £25. This will

bring in around an extra £420 and hopefully will mean the Association can maintain a

healthy working balance and hold fees at this level for the next couple of years.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the committee for doing all they can to keep

costs to a minimum. No one in the committee claims expenses except for bulk stationery

and postage.

I do hope you feel that £25 is still value for money, it’s only just over £2 per meeting. In

fact we are one of the least expensive woodturning clubs in the country and the committee

will do all it can to keep it that way. Alan Sturgess Hon Treasurer

Proposed amendment to constitution (Agenda item 6)

Members will be surely be aware of the increased concern about Health &Safety since the

Association’s constitution was written. Though we cannot take responsibility or liability for

what members do in their own workshops, it is the Committee’s intention to encourage and

promote awareness of H&S in woodturning. It is therefore proposed to add the following

clause to the constitution:-

“The Club will endeavour to ensure that the highest standards of Health and Safety are

maintained and promoted by the Club at all events held by the club. The Club will also

promote the use of safe practices by members in their own workshops. Health and Safety

matters will be considered when advice or training is given to members to encourage a

culture of compliance to good practice.” Bob Hope, Hon Secretary

Nominations for Officers and Committee (Agenda items 7 and 8)

Nominations must be registered with the Secretary on or before 21

st March 2011. These

must be in writing with the signatures of the Proposer, Seconder and Nominee, stating

clearly which position the nominee is being proposed for.

Send completed form to:

Bob Hope, Thornton House, Brimpton Common, Reading, RG7 4RF

Post being proposed for:

Print Name Signature Date

Nominee

Proposed by

Seconded by

Minutes of the AGM of Hampshire Woodturner’s Association Monday 4th April 2011

Eastleigh Railway Institute

Apologies for absence: Brian Hannam, John Breslain, Doug Dowse, Harry Woolhead, Ivan Taylor. Minutes of the AGM 2010. These were agreed as a true record, Proposed by John Holden, Seconded by Chris Davey. Chairman’s Report. Jon Gibbs, who was conducting the meeting, gave his report, (a copy of which was included in Your Turn, Summer 2011). In brief he said that he was leaving the club in good heart and thanked the members of the committee and others who had made his job easier by their help and support. Treasurer’s Report. Alan distributed his report, (a summary of which copy of which was included in Your Turn, Summer 2011). He said that the finances were on budget and very much in line with previous years. Five new members had joined during the year. He has recovered the library which showed an income of £89, and Bill Edmunds has taken over the running of it. A contribution of £300 has been received from the raffle, but sales income from the shop was lower than last year. The Xmas party expenses were lower because the chips did not arrive, and the gallery prize expenses were the same as last year. The hall hire cost was unchanged but the Challenge prizes are a new expense. Meeting cost were lower thanks to Lynda hosting the committee meetings and the internet cost were nil thanks to Dan Would. He recommended that subscriptions remain the same for the coming year. The acceptance of the report was proposed by Roy Holder and seconded by Roy Nailor. Presentations and awards. The Les Revell Trophy for Novice if the Year was presented to Phil Bristow. The Clubman of the year trophy was presented to Harry Woolhead Bottles of wine were presented to all the club helpers not on the committee and to the award winners. Election of officers and committee members The officers stood down and Chris Davey proposed that those nominated be elected on block and this was carries unanimously. The nominees were: Chairman: John Holden, Secretary: Bob Hope, Treasurer: Alan Sturgess, Committee: Dave Gibbard, Lynda Clark, Denis Hilditch, Phil Bristow, Keith Barnes, Geoff Spierling. Any other business: John Holden, the incoming Chairman, thanked Jon for his efforts in standing in as Chairman when the club was in crisis three years previously and for the excellent job he had done. He wished him well for the future. Jon was presented with a bottle of port by Alan Sturgess. There being no other business the meeting closed at 20.15.