A very Happy New Year to everyone and welcome to our first Club meeting of 2015.

At the AGM last October we asked you to help out with the running of the club – we still need volunteers for some of the jobs, none of which are very onerous, so please make yourself known if you can help out.

 

Club Champion

The final result of the 2014 Competition was published on our web site on 10 December and is 1^st – Chick Hampton with an average score of 7.7, 2^nd – Bryan Jardine, 7.6 and joint 3^rd – Phil Howard and Reg Thirlwall with 7.5. Congratulations once again to Chick who retains the trophy and well done to everyone who entered. The full results are on the Notice Board.

Still on the subject of the Competition, we originally decided to organise a monthly Competition to encourage members to actually make something and to have a go at items that they may not think of making otherwise. Last year less than half the membership entered any items into the competition so to encourage participation we have introduced a ‘New Turners’ section separate from the Main section of the Competition. The two sections will be run as follows:-

• the competition item will be the same for both sections
• the two sections will be displayed on separate tables
• each member may enter 1 item per month
• the member decides which section to enter
• members will assess each section separately
• results will be published separately
• at the end of the year there will be a separate prize for New Turners
• the winner may be encouraged to enter the Main section in subsequent years!

This was announced on the web site on December 16^th and at Turning Tuesdays and is repeated here for everyone’s information.

 

February

The topic this month is Balls! which should suit Rolf down to the ground. The competition item is a turned scoop or spoon and the Woods of the Month are Laburnum (because Phil H forgot to bring the samples in December) and Maple.

 

March

Next month we have managed to arrange for Record Power to visit us to demonstrate Bandsaw setup and maintenance. Dave Biven, who supplied our new Jet lathes and bandsaw at very competitive prices, will also be coming with a range of ‘stuff’ for you to buy. If you need anything in particular let myself or Roger know ASAP so that he can ask Dave or Record to bring it along. Should be an interesting evening.

The competition item is listed on the Programme as ‘A carpet bowls jack and two bowls’. However it has been pointed out that carpet bowls doesn’t actually use a jack! What we mean is simply one small ball, approximately 2 inches diameter and two matching larger balls, each approximately 3 inches diameter.

The Wood of the Month is Monkey Puzzle.

Our first professional demo of the year is on Saturday 14 March when we welcome a return visit by Nikos Siragas. Tickets are available tonight, still only £10 for the whole day, including lunch and unlimited tea/coffee.

We will be holding a Chainsaw Workshop on the afternoon of Saturday 21 March from 1pm to 4pm. We’ve got Andrew back from the excellent demonstration we had last November on chainsaw maintenance and use so bring along your chainsaw and get some practical guidance in using it safely and efficiently and keeping it in good working condition. More details will be added to the website in due course.

 

Turning Tuesdays

This seems to get busier every week with about 20 people there last week and all six lathes in operation. There have been suggestions for getting another lathe, more chucks and a good quality table saw – all of which the committee will consider at the next meeting. If anyone feels they’d like to open up the workshop on another night, maybe when the nights aren’t so dark and cold, let us know.

Some quick housekeeping requests: please remember to:

• wash your mugs (not just rinse them!)
• make sure the drive centres are not left in the lathe
• make sure everything is put away (even if you weren’t using it)
• change/remove the dust/shavings bags

 

And finally . . .

Also we’re re-floating the idea of a ‘Better Bowls’ workshop and/or a ‘How to turn a bowl’ refresher. Have a think about it and we’ll take a show of hands to gauge interest at the end of the night.