Club Programme.

It now looks as if won’t be going in to hospital until July in which case the Club Programme will need to be changed back to what it was originally. This means that the June demo will be a Platter and the August competition is a platter. The August Meeting will be a Question Time and the September Competition will be “Anything”, the winning pieces going forward to represent the club at the Borders Open Competition.

Competition Secretary.

Due to a change of work pattern Jamie Copeland is having to step down as Competition Secretary. We are therefore looking for a volunteer to take this on. If we do not have a volunteer the competition may have to be suspended.  If you wish to know what is involved please e mail Jamie or myself.

Robert Sorby Orders

Next month we have Chris Pouncy from Robert Sorby coming to Demonstrate. If anybody requires an order for any Turners Retreat  goodies – usually at a discount and no postage then please let me know be a return e mail. I have to have orders in by Tuesday.

 Roger

 

Notices – April  2016

Tonight our demonstration is me being eccentric!

The wood of the month is Hickory presented by Bob Lees

The competition items are “Wee Critters”.

Next Month (10^th May) We welcome back Chris Pouncey from Sorby demonstrating some of the latest Sorby tools and gadgets.  Chris will also be selling a range of Sorby tools, usually at a discounted rate. If any member wishes to order a particular tool there are catalogues available tonight and if you would like to place an order with either Jim Brown (Shop) of myself we will ensure that Chris brings them with him (no postage).

The competition next month will be an item with off centre turning.

The wood of the month is Lignum Vitae (Bryan Jardine has volunteered).

Changes to the programme– Due to my imminent sojourn in hospital I will be unable to do any turning for a few weeks after my operation so we have had to tweak the programme over the next few months

We have had to swap the club nights for June and August which has also affected the competition items for August and September. The changes are highlighted in the GW Programme 2016 on the web, if you want to print yourself a new copy:

Tue 14 June: Question Time (comp = a table lamp)

Tue 9 Aug: Platters (comp = anything)

Tue 13 Sept: Easy Bowls Part 2 (comp = a platter)

We are also having to change our programme for professional turners. Simon Hope cannot now come in October but we have managed to persuade him to come in September. He will be with us on Saturday 17^th September for a full day demo followed on the Sunday by a full day Master Class, the cost of this class will be approximately £55. If you would like to take part in this master class ( limited to 5 people and I have had interest from 3 people already) please see me asap – First come first served.

The demonstration by David Lowes which was to be in September is now booked for February 25^th 2017

Our next Professional Demonstration will be by Mick Hanbury from Lincolnshire on Sunday 22^nd May.  Mick is a skilful and artistic woodturner who has been turning for over 20 years. He is listed on the Register of Professional Turners as well as being a member of Association of Woodturners of Great Britain. Over the years Mick has developed a unique style of decorative finishes to his pieces and is well known for his beautiful finial boxes, elegant spiral stem goblets, and delicately patterned platters. Tickets are on sale from the shop – get yours Tonight

Afternoon Turning Session – Due to the fall-off in uptake the Wednesday sessions have been curtailed until October

Spring Fling – This will be on 28^th – 30^th May and we will be taking part by having a sale of members items at Kirkandrews Kirk. Hopefully we will be demonstrating as well (weather permitting) Members are invited to attend over the weekend and provide support.

The Kirk will receive 20% of wood turners’ sales and the club 5%.

A catalogue of items and prices needs to be prepared so if members have any items they wish to sell they must be given to a member of the committee by the week before.

Post Meeting Notices

Nikos Siragas will be with us for a demonstration in December. It may be possible for him to stay on an extra day for a Master Class. If any member would like to take part in this please let me know ASAP. This was announced last night and I have three names already!

 

Notices – March  2016

Tonight our demonstration should prove interesting with Phil and Jake producing some “Wee Critters” for our edification!!!

The wood of the month is Bog Oak presented by Judith Simpson

Next Month (12^th April)  the demonstration will be by myself and will concentrate on Off Centre Work

The competition will be Animals and the wood of the month is Hickory (volunteer needed)

 

Last Saturday we had an excellent demonstration from Richard Kennedy which was well attended with people coming from both Strathclyde Woodturners and Border Woodturners. Thank you to all who help make this an enjoyable event.

Our next Professional Demonstration will be by Mick Hanbury from Lincolnshire on Sunday 22^nd May.  Mick is a skilful and artistic woodturner who has been turning for over 20 years. He is listed on the Register of Professional Turners as well as being a member of Association of Woodturners of Great Britain. Over the years Mick has developed a unique style of decorative finishes to his pieces and is well known for his beautiful finial boxes, elegant spiral stem goblets, and delicately patterned platters.

Again tickets are on sale from the shop – get your today..

 

Afternoon Turning Session – The Wednesday afternoon sessions are proving to go down well and David has agreed to continue for the time being. The session runs from 2pm until 4pm. These are not aimed to be teaching sessions in themselves, members should be able to work by themselves; however help is at hand for any advice needed.

 

Dust Masks – Last Saturday quite a number of people expressed interest in purchasing the dust mask used by Richard Kennedy. I now have 18 of these on order and they will be in the shop asap.

Club Purchasing Offers

www.pen-kits.co.uk are offering special offers to clubs where members combine orders.

If club members combine their orders, will they save on postage costs, they will also include free bushings for every kit style bought.

If you are interested, please see their web site and then let me know of your interest.

 

Events and Demonstrations at G&S Specialist Timber

Woodturning by Chris Pouncy: 14 April.  Woodcarving by Michael Painter & Peter Berry: 23rd & 24th September. More information see; www.toolsandtimber.co.uk/events-demonstrations

 

Launch of Europe’s largest woodturning competitions

Created for both amateur and professional woodturners, The Worshipful Company of Turners has launched its 2016 Competitions. Entries will be judged and displayed at Carpenters’ Hall in the City of London in October, the 2016 Competitions will be the largest event of its kind in Europe.

All entries registered with the Turners’ Company by Monday 12 September and received by 11.30am on Tuesday 11 October will be exhibited as part of Wizardry in Wood.

This is expected to attract several thousand visitors between 12th and 15th October at Carpenters’ Hall. Further information at: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/turners-company-2016-competitions-tickets-20942012122

Saturday 5th March saw a Professional Turner Richard Kennedy  give a marvellous demonstration at the Workshop. Richard started with a small hollowform using the Simon Hope camera directed hollowing tool. This was then coloured using spirit based stains. Richard then turned and carved one of his signature tree bowls going through each stage of the process in some detail. The final piece was a Rude Osolnik Candle Holder which was turned using only a roughing gouge. The demonstration was well attended with members from Strathclyde Woodturners and Border Woodturners joining us for the day.

Tonight the demonstration is by Rolf and it will part one of simple bowls
The competition, following Decembers Demo, is a Box with an inlaid lid or a plain lid for novice turners.
The wood of the month is a Banksia nut presented by John Brown.

Next Month we have an all-day Demonstration by professional turner Richard Kennedy. This is on Saturday 5th March – Tickets on sale tonight – if possible could you please take a poster and display it around the area. The day starts at 10am until 4pm – soup & sandwich lunch included

The club night on the 8th will be taken by Phil and Jake tuning some “Wee Criters”
The competition will be a small bowl with a QUALITY FINISH
The wood of the month is Bog Oak by Judith

There are still places left on the Workshop Tutorial days – but please note the dates
17th march – Wood preparation
17th July – Sharpening
25th September – Boxes

Spaces on these days will be limited so please sign up as soon as possible – forms on the notice board.

Raffle Prizes – If members see anything that they think may make a good Raffle Prize please bring it in – Costs will be reimbursed (usually about £5)

Afternoon Turning Session – The Committee has been asked about the possibility of running an afternoon session in the winter months for those who are retired. David Simpson has agreed to run a session from 2pm – 4pm on Wednesdays for the next 4 weeks. If there is no response to these then we will have to rethink day sessions.

Course Tutors – At present there are only two people taking courses (Rolf and myself) which, given the demand is quite an undertaking. The AWGB has recently started a course for tutors, followed by an assessment. They are willing to come along to the club and run an assessment day but need a minimum of 4 people. If anyone would like to volunteer and train to become a tutor then please see either Rolf or myself.

Workshop Practise – Attendance at the Tuesday and Wednesday Turning Sessions are quite full with members commenting about not being able to get on a lathe. To help overcome this, if all the lathes are in use and there are people waiting, then time on the lathes will be curtailed to one hour. There will be a list posted on the notice board with time slots for 7-8pm and 8-9pm.
The committee is also concerned at some of the practises being seen when turning at the club particularly the speeds being used when turning and about large groups gathering around lathes when they are in use.
A table of appropriate speeds has been posted on the notice board and will be on the web. Would members please adhere to these when turning on club lathes.

Last Tuesday a few people were asking about the light and jaws I used.
The light can be purchased from a company called Woodart –
www.woodart-products.co.uk
The jaws are the 75mm bowl jaws from Teknatool code N0.6014
These can be purchased from Dave Biven via Peter

Sorry for the delay – My computer started typing backwards – again!

Please note the date for the Sharpening workshop should be July not June as published last Tuesday.

Notices – December 2015

Tonight the demonstration is by Roger and it will be a simple box with an inlaid lid
The competition, following last month,s demonstration is a Toy Car with Turned wheels that turn!
The wood of the month is Rhododendron presented by Jake.

As we do not have a meeting in January our next club meeting will be on the 9th February and Rolf will be taking us through Easy bowls part 1
The competition, following tonight’s demo will be a box with an inlay for experienced turners and a simple box for beginners.
The wood of the month is a Banskia nut .

Next years programme is now available as well as the club nights and professional demonstrators we will be running three Workshop Tutorial days. These will be
o 13th March ~ Wood preparation
o 10th July ~ Sharpening
o 25th September ~ Boxes
Spaces on these day will be limited so please sign up as soon as possible – forms on the notice board.

The Committee has been asked about the possibility of running an afternoon session in the winter months for those who are retired. The main problem with this is getting somebody to run the session and be responsible. If you would be interested in an afternoon session please see a member of the committee and we will see if we can get a volunteer to be responsible.

Following a discussion at the committee we have decided that next year the wood of the month will be shared out among members. Jake has volunteered for this evening and Judith will be doing Bog Oak in March but we need volunteers for the other months. If we don’t get volunteers then names will go into a hat. All that is required is to talk about the merits of the wood as it relates to turning – it takes about 5 mins max and most of the information can be gleaned from books or the internet.

We now have 5 people interested in a beginners course so we will be starting a further course towards the end of January. If there is anyone who would like to join a course please see Roger.

I have had an e mail from a member of Grampian Woodturners ( Mark Cowan) who has started up a group on facebook called Scottish Woodturners and Crafts which you are invited to have a look and join if this would be of interest to you.

Dear All,

The AGM is next Tuesday at 6.30pm.

The relevant papers are below:

Galloway Woodturners

Annual General Meeting

Tuesday 13 October 2015, 6.30pm

Agenda

     1 Members Present

2. Apologies for absence

    3 Minutes of Previous Meeting (Attached)

4. Matters Arising

      5  Officer’s Reports to Members (Attached)

Chair

Treasurer

 6            Election of Committee

 .                               Officers – Chair, Secretary, Treasurer

                                  Ordinary Committee Members

7. Any Other Business

 

Chair Report 2015

Club meetings during the calendar year will have covered a wide range of topics :-

Balls

Bandsaw set up and maintenance with Record Power

Chucks, jaws and their uses

Robert Sorby demo and sale

Abrasives

Workholding ideas and gadgets

Pole lathe

Simple colouring

Toy car

Box with an inlaid lid

We have also presented demos by three professional turners – Sue Harker, Joe Laird and Philip Greenwood. A planned return visit by Nikos Siragas had to be cancelled due to a family illness.

The Club Champion competition continues with a variable level of support from Members. The introduction of a separate section for New Turners has not been met with enthusiasm, last month there was just one entry.

We have continued to run the ‘Introduction to Woodturning’ course. We ran a ‘Better Bowls’ workshop aimed at our intermediate members which met with a lukewarm response, but the ‘How to turn a bowl’ refresher course was fully booked, with a waiting list as well.

In April we ran a successful auction of woodturning and woodworking tools and equipment.

The Club has been out and about at the Kirkcudbright Country Fair and the Wigtown Show. The ‘Watch, Try and Buy’ day on the Spring Fling weekend was not well attended, but the few people that did come seemed to enjoy it. We probably need to re-think the timing of any similar event next year.

For the first time we presented a major show and sale over an extended period – in the Studio at the Kirkcudbright Tollbooth. As previously reported to members, we sold nearly £1,000 worth of members work over the two and a half week run.

The Committee is proposing that the Subscription for the next Club year remains at £25 per year and is now due. Subs have been held at this level for a number of years, and the committee have agreed that next year the Subscription will rise to £30. Income from subs only pays about half of the Workshop costs so we need to generate other income from raffles, shop sales, courses, sale of members work etc. to remain solvent.

As announced at last month’s Club meeting, I am stepping down from Chair and Committee. My sincere thanks go to all those who have served on the Committee during my tenure and I wish the Club continued success in the future.

Phil Howard

October 2015

 

AGM Accounts can be found by following this link:

https://gallowaywoodturners.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/GW-Accounts-2014-2015.pdf

 

GALLOWAY WOODTURNERS

MINUTES of the AGM 2014, held at the Workshop, Abercrombie Rd., Castle Douglas, on Tues 9th Oct 2014.

Present: David Boncey, John Brown, Rolf Buwert, Elwin Campbell, Bobby Carson, Ken Coates, John Colbeck, Susan Colley, Robin Colquhoun, Richard Durling, Peter Fitzgerald, Robin Gibson, Chic Hampton, Eric Henderson, Phil Howard (Chairman), Bryan Jardine, Phil Jones (Treasurer), James Kerr, Eric McCowan, Nigel Musk, Andrew Ratnam, Les Reeves, Ian Robertson, David Simpson, Judith Simpson (Minute Taker), Ian Spencer, Reg Thirlwall, John Twiname

Apologies: Roger Cutler (Secretary), John Boughton

Minutes of the previous meeting: Adopted

Matters arising: Nothing raised.

Chairman’s report: Attached.

Treasurer’s report: Attached.

The Treasurer asked that members let him know if there was anything they would like ordered for the shop.

He reminded members how to create a new post on the website. Click on “Post,” click on “Add New,” give your post a title, add content, and click “Post.” To reply to a post, just click “Reply.”

He would like help maintaining the membership list and with the website.

Election of Committee: Officers and existing committee members were re-elected unopposed.

A further committee member was sought, but no one came forward immediately. (Addendum…Jake Twiname later volunteered and was co-opted onto the committee).

Roger Cutler (Secretary) indicated that he would be working away for significant periods over the coming year and he requested that someone offer to take the minutes at committee meetings when he was unable to be there. Elwin Campbell volunteered to do this.

Judith Simpson was willing to take over the membership list.

Susan Colley offered to help in some manner, but would not be available until after March 2015.

There were no volunteers for helping with audio-visuals, nor with teas and coffee, nor with manning the shop. (Addendum…Peter Fitzgerald and Andrew Ratnam later came forward to help run the shop).

AOCB: Jake Twiname proposed a vote of thanks to the committee members for all their efforts over the past year, which met with general approval.

Judith Simpson, Minute Taker, deputising for Roger Cutler

 

WORK HOLDING   METHODS

In order to turn you need to be able to hold your work on the lathe.

The most straight forward way is to use a chuck and Phil told us all about shop bought chucks the other month.

Work holding is one of the 3 main elements of woodturning:

1 Sharpening

2. Turning techniques
3. Work holding

Work holding as it applies to us is the way we safely and accurately position the work piece on the lathe so that we can turn it.

When we prepare to turn anything we should think about the entire process so that we know how we are going to hold the piece for each operation.

Whether it  be reverse chucking a bowl to finish the bottom or rechecking a box lid to finish the inside.

If we don’t prepare ourselves then we might find we have no way to hols the piece in order to finish it!!!

There are many ways of holding our work pieces and it’s well worth learning a few trick of the trade.

 

 

Most work holding fall into three categories:  the 3 S’s

Squeezing,    Sticking,    Screwing,     Sucking

(not my alliteration but Kurt Hertzog in the Woodturning Mag)

 

So  Squeezing,   Sticking,  Screwing    and Sucking

 

The 1^st S – SQUEEZING

Between Centres:  Arguably the most secure of all work holding methods.

You have the headstock providing the power and the tailstock providing the squeeze, keeping the piece connected to the drive.

Marking Centres

2 & 4 Spur drives –  give a good hold –  problems: can lead to splits and also can tear the fibres and spin – particularly on wet wood.

Morse taper – Cleaning

Self ejecting tailstock

Other drives

Steb Centres – Spring loaded point so you can disengage the teeth without removing the point.

Given better grip than the spur drive and will not split the wood.

 

If you were at the Joe Laird demo the other week you would have seen Joe jamming the wood between the chuck and the tail stock – yes it works but not the safest method!

As well as Squeezing between centres we also squeeze by holding on a chuck of some description.

First of all there are the home made chucks

Wood Jaws – use of Wood plates

Cole Jaws

Longworth chuck –    www.woodworkersguide.com

Off Centre Chuck

Doughnut Chuck

Mandrels

Pin Chuck

Collet Chuck

Jacobs Cuck

Jam Chuck – one of the most useful methods of work holding particularly if you are making boxes –

 

 

The 2^nd S – SCREWING

Faceplates – on Chuck – direct onto spindle

Natural Edge Bowls – Seating with use of Forstner bits

Screw Chuck – bought  –  one way, – Axminster!!

Home made !! – ok for small items (draw handles

Use of Spacers

Eccentric Chuck

 

 

 

 

The 3^rd S –  Sticking

Hot melt glue          Glue blocks ( not end grain)           Sticky Chuck

Paper joints with Titebond

Double sided tape

Pendant jig

 

 

The 4^th S – Sucking

The Vacuum Chuck

 

 

Other  devices & Jigs:

Carvers Jig

Drilling on the Lathe   –      Joe Laird’s Jig

Centre Steady