April
The hollowing have-a-go session on the Saturday after last month’s meeting went very well. We had four lathes going and members had the opportunity to try at least five different hollowing tools. The notes from the presentation are on our web site with some additional information about the retailers and prices of various tools.
May
The topic this month is ‘It’s about time’, a demo on clocks and other timepieces with Phil Jones.
The competition item is a hollow form. There have been a few discussions about what is meant by ‘a hollow form’ so we circulated an explanation via email which we hope you found useful. This was ‘For the purposes of the competition, a hollow form is a vessel where the diameter of the opening is considerably less than the maximum diameter.’ When you are marking the entries – large size, elegant shape, fine surface finish, thin wall, small entrance hole should all get good marks. Small size, poor shape and finish, thick wall (heavy for the size), large entrance hole should be marked down.
We hope that lots of you have brought a chunk of wood to enter into the draw. To remind you – this is how this will work . . . . .
1. At the May Club meeting, everyone who wants to take part brings a turnable lump of wood. Wood is photographed, then allocated by lot to all participants. The challenge is to make the best item you can from what you are given.
2. In June, the items are judged by members according to the skill and ingenuity shown, with the starting point taken into consideration. A second question on the judging form asks members to suggest a selling price for the piece.
3. Then at the fundraising events we hold over the summer the items are sold for the average price recommended. The two winning items (most expensive and most ingenious) are raffled.
From next week, 21st May, for three weeks, we will run Turning Tuesday in the afternoon and evening as a trial. In the afternoon from 2pm – 4.30pm and 7pm – 9pm as usual in the evening. Then there may be a pause in the afternoon sessions as Phil H will be on holiday.
On Saturday 25 May, Mark and Lisa Raby from Mylands will be presenting a full day of demos. Mark will be covering all aspects of Wood Finishing and Lisa will be demonstrating Pyrography. The full range of Mylands products will be available for sale. This should be of interest to all woodworkers, not just turners so please spread the word as widely as possible. There are some posters on the table below the Notice Board. Admission will be £6 per person, tickets are available tonight at the Shop, and on the day if there are tickets remaining. There is an opportunity for you to bring a piece of work for Mark to finish – bare wood, fully turned and sanded with the spigot or recess remaining so that it can be remounted.
On Monday 27 May we are running a Coffee Morning and Sale in Kirkcudbright to raise funds. It will be in St. Andrew and St. Cuthbert’s Church hall, High Street, DG6 4JW from 10 – 12.30 (map in the Calendar entry on our web site). As it is a Coffee Morning we need members to donate lots of home baking and to help on the day. Judith is leading this fundraising effort for the Club so speak to her to discuss your contribution. We will be demonstrating woodturning and selling work so we need you to get busy in the workshop as well as in the kitchen. You can either donate items for sale so that the Club gets the whole of the sale price OR we do a 75/25 split with the Club getting a 25% commission. Any unsold items will be returned to their makers, so make sure that all items are clearly labelled with your name or initials and selling price. You can bring items to Turning Tuesday or to the course on a Thursday evening or to the Coffee Morning. Speak to Phil H about this aspect of the day.
Spring Fling, the finest open studio event in Scotland, runs from Saturday 25 to Monday 27 May. This year a record 93 artists and makers invite you to visit them in their studios and workshops. Brochures are on the table below the Notice Board.
We have an ‘Introduction to Woodturning’ course running at the moment. If there is a demand we could start a further course in July – speak to Phil H if you are interested. The syllabus is on the Notice Board and on our web site.
June
The competition item next month is ‘a timepiece’.
The Turning Tuesday on June 4th will be a special have-a-go session with Texturing Tools, mainly the Sorby tool and the Decorating Elf.
On Tuesday June 11, Chris Pouncy from Robert Sorby will be with us to demonstrate their latest goodies. If you are considering any Sorby product this is the best opportunity to buy them direct. As usual, if you want anything from the Turners Retreat catalogue, let Roger know by the end of May and Chris will bring it without any Post and Packing charges.
July and August
The idea of having Club meetings in July and August has been raised. Here’s the deal – if members come up with some ideas for topics by the June meeting, the Committee will consider holding the extra meetings.
We have booked tables at the Dumfries (Sat 3 August) and Wigtown (Wed 7 August) shows to promote woodturning and the Club. This year we are asking YOU to provide bowls to sell on the same basis as at the Coffee Morning.
And finally . . .
The Shop has a good stock of wood for sale and we need the money. If you want a particular size or species, let us know and we’ll see what we can do.
Susan Colley has suggested that we design and sell Christmas cards to raise money for the Club. Members could provide a picture, or a piece of their work that they want photographed. What do you think ???
Our new web site continues to develop. The Calendar shows details of all our events. The Document Library includes 13 projects and 14 sets of Presentation Notes, all of which you can download and print for your own use. To get the most benefit from the site you need to REGISTER with the site. You simply need to enter a user name (make this easy to understand e.g. fredbloggs, not cleverturner) and your email address. Then you will receive an email when anything new is added to the site.
The Beading and Parting tool that went missing from the workshop has returned. Thanks to whoever returned it.