Page 1 Issue 11 July 2009

Hello everyone and welcome to Issue 11

which contains several new features. Firstly, I would like to draw your attention to the arrangements for a summer craft fair at the Shrivenham village fete on Saturday 29th August. Secondly, my thanks to Vernon Hughes for his contributions to this issue. Vernon, as many of you may realize, was the editor of the Bristol and Avon club newsletter. Normally, the word editor is a euphemism for author, so it’s great to have a new contributor. Also my thanks to Ian Hooker for his contributions, too. This has lead to a new article to review one of the few timber/tool outlets up and down the country. This month, Ian and I review John Boddy’s of Boroughbridge in North Yorkshire. I hope this will become a regular feature in future issues of Making Shavings. If anyone has visited a timber/tools outlet recently please jot a few notes down and send them in to me.

I must say how very impressed I was with all your ideas and tricks of the trade which were demonstrated at the members session of the May club night. I was particularly taken with Mike Crawshaw’s home made hollowing tools, so much so that I bought a handle-sized piece of ash from Yandles on a recent visit. Well you know of my penchant for hollow vessels.

Clive Alabaster

I've recently had a few days away in

Durham and on our return journey decided to stop off at John Boddy's in Boroughbridge as I'd often seen it advertised in turning magazines and I was curious. Very easy to find and less than 1/2 a mile from J48 on A1(M). A very large timber mill with an adjoining shop. The shop was very impressive with a huge range of just about everything you can think of; I wanted to try something new regarding colouring wood filler and the lad assistant was extremely helpful. There was also a separate room full of the most beautiful veneers, and another separate shop with masses of blanks, planks, burrs and nuts. In all a very impressive place and well worth a stop if you are in the area.

We also stopped again on the way home at Turners Retreat at Harworth, only 1/2 a mile from J34 on A1(M). A new place where they moved into last October and again had a very impressive amount of stock of everything, and again the staff were brilliant. Two Christmases in one day!! Here though on the shelves were screwed small bowls alongside blanks so as you were able to see how a finished turning would come up - rather a helpful idea, and again they had stuff I'd never heard of. Now all I must do is to Google 'Father Time' to see how I can acquire some of his

The Newsletter of the North Wiltshire Woodturners Association

EDITORIAL JOHN BODDY’S A review – Ian Hooker

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merchandise to enable me to use up some of the new goodies I've purchased over the last few months!! Keep the shavings flying!

Ian Hooker I have called in at John Boddy’s many many times over recent years. They have a vast range of timber in their self selection warehouse. However, I have always been wary of the prevalence of cracks, splits and all many of other defects in so much of their stock. However, the choice of foreign and native hardwoods is so vast that you can invariably find some decent pieces of whatever you may be looking for. I visited John Boddy’s twice last summer and although I noticed that the timber stocks were not so impressive, I still managed to buy some beautiful pieces of mahogany, which is becoming increasingly difficult to source these days.

Clive Details John Boddy’s Fine Wood and Tool Store Ltd, Riverside Sawmills, Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire YO51 9LJ Opening hours: Mon – Fri: 8am to 5pm, Sat: 8am to 4pm. Closed on Sundays and Bank Holidays Tel 01432 322370 http://www.john-boddys-fwts.co.uk/ email info@john-boddys-fwts.co.uk Wanted! Used stamps please for charity. Anything and everything including 1st & 2nd class and foreign. Just put them in an old envelope and give them to me (Ian Hooker) from time to time. Thanks. IH. Yew for Sale. The club still has some of the unseasoned yew for sale at approximately a quarter of the market price. Please see Ian Hooker.

CLUB NIGHTS Venue: The club night meetings take place at Hook village hall, just north of Hook itself, between Wootton Bassett and Purton. Times: The evening runs from 7.30pm to 9.30 pm although the hall is hired from 7pm to 10pm to enable us to set up and clear away (your help would be appreciated with both). Fees: £2 on the night, however, bring a little extra and have a flutter on the raffle. All proceeds to club funds. Diary: The program for 2009 is as follows: 1st July: Gerry Marlow. 5th August: Jane Flippance and Ken Crittle. 2nd September: Ron Headon. 7th October: Chris Eagles. 11th November: AGM & Ian Dudley. 9th December: Christmas do & Clive Alabaster. MONTHLY THEMES The “Show and Tell” themes for the forthcoming months are: To bring to the club night on: 1st July – A lidded box (with or without thread). 5th August – A long stemmed goblet. 2nd September – A turned piece which incorporates some carving. Items may be photographed for the web site (with owner’s permission). You may also bring in any other item to show us all.

CLUB NEWS

SALES/WANTED

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OK, it’s not often we feature poetry in Making Shavings, so here goes for a ground breaking venture from the NWWA. Ian Hooker’s sister-in-law was moved to poetry and penned the following little ditty following Ian’s talk to the local WI group.

Ian and the W.I. Ian had been invited to the W.I. He didn’t ponder or think to ask why? So off he trotted with thoughts in his head “I’ll just chat away” to himself he said. But opening the door, his face it fell “Oh no” he thought, “this won’t go well” The ladies were dressed in twinsets and pearls With faces so perfect and hair set in curls. Ian was smart, but casually so He thought he’d just chat and go with the flow So, not feeling too brave, he walked to the stage And opened his notes to find the first page. “So Good Afternoon, ladies – I hope you’ll be good And not be too bored when I go on about wood It’s so enthralling for me every day I can spend hours in my workshop just sanding away…” At first they looked at him all sour faced Then first one then another they all grimaced Then they all laughed and gave him 3 cheers And from under their chairs they all produced beers “We thought we’d have fun – to relax you a bit So, good luck with your talk, on Woodturning, innit?”

Ian’s sister-in-law

Notes from the Demo by John Berkley (June club night) by Vernon Hughes

I offer below for you a list of observations by John Berkeley that I jotted down. My approach is to not try to describe how a demonstrator makes things but to pick up on hints, tips and points of interest that he/she delivers during the demo, to give those who were there a reminder, and to inform those who were not at the meeting. 1. Point Tools are not as widely used as they should be. He makes perpetual use of a 1/4" size and recommends them to all of us. Uses include creation of patterns in end grain and for fine planing of side grain 2. Point Tools can/should be held with one hand. The thumb of the other hand should be positioned on the tool rest and used as a fulcrum for tool movement. This principle can be used with other tools, especially the smaller ones 3. Chucks should be 'doctored' as a safety precaution. Take out all jaws and file off all external sharp edges to a rounded condition. "A bruise is better than stitches." 4. He was also very strong on 'extraction' and lung protection. He uses an air fed helmet, an extractor close behind the point of tool contact and an overhead extractor. 5. When turning into end grain find the centre with any square ended tool. Then to mark the depth to be achieved he used a drill bit set into a handle (like a screwdriver handle) and simply pushed it in to the required (marked) depth freehand. 6. When turning boxes, learn to hollow out by feel and eliminate the habit of over-frequent visual examination. He used what he termed a 'Dale Nish' type of tool for undercutting at the rim of a box (Note: all the main toolmakers produce this design of tool but not all attribute it to D Nish). 7. He recommended a lathe speed of 450rpm for thread chasing but this may vary according to circumstances. (Some other notable 'chasers' certainly recommend slower speed). He emphasised the

ARTICLES

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importance of correct tool rest height (not too high) and strongly recommended the use of chamfers on both threaded components for ease of starting, but particularly to shorten the time spent screwing up and unscrewing the finished article. 8. A timesaver in identifying small pieces of abrasive is to open up the whole length of a roll and apply a standard line/s along its whole length to a self-decided code, e.g., 1 line for 80 grit, 2 lines for 150 grit, 3 lines for 240 grit etc. 9. He used a 6" nail to fabricate a texturing tool. The head was filed and cut to a neat pattern which he then demonstrated in use to great effect. 10. Keep 'superglue' in the freezer (not just the fridge) and it will keep indefinitely without freezing. 11. Shuttering ply can be threaded by the frequent application of 'superglue' to harden the surface. Re-apply as soon as each layer of 'superglue' has been penetrated. 12. Some timbers such as Yew and Pink Ivory are highly susceptible to heat stress. Therefore always use a single (unfolded) piece of abrasive and thereby keep your finger sensitive to heat build-up. 13. Get used to using a buffing mop mounted on a cone and spindle held by a chuck. 14. Carnauba hard wax is edible. It is used in 'Maltesers' and many other confections (By VFH: 'so there's no need to go hungry in the workshop!'). 15. He recommends and markets at reasonable price a one-piece 'combi' chasing tool for cutting both male and female threads.

SOME THOUGHTS ON DECORATION OF TURNED WORK

(By Vernon Hughes) Quotation from a Thai artist in a recent episode of Monty Don’s tour of world gardens screened by the BBC:

“Beauty must be useful” (If someone pops up and says ‘discuss!’ well fair enough.) The quotation recalls to mind several editorials in ‘Woodturning’ magazine a couple of years ago on the theme that American turning was more focused on art

and beauty, whereas in the UK we are more concerned with functionality. The situation is not that absolute of course, and in any case there is the complication that American turners have ready access to timbers far more exotic than most of ours, and they can produce visually pleasing effects much more readily than we can, just by using those timbers. However, I think we have to accept that true artistry is given to only a small proportion of mortals, so most of us fall into the category of craftspeople of varying degrees of ability. As such, we can work away at achieving visually pleasing results, with whatever degrees of success we have in our beings. This leads to the thought that few of us have the ability to create work that is worthy of display for visual effect only. We must leave that to the artists. Lacking artistic ability myself, I find that I lean logically, and almost automatically, towards making items that are more for use than ornament, whilst striving nevertheless to create the most pleasing appearance that my imagination is up to. I came into woodturning with the main objective of exposing the beauty of wood, not realising then that decoration would also come into

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play. Ideas have developed over time though, and my instinct now is to strive for more decoration alongside pleasing timber effects. The purpose of the photograph (which is not a complete success) was to show five functional items in my lounge that illustrate something of the VFH approach. The Windsor Chair was the first project after retirement and aimed to allow Ash, Elm and form to make an impact. The coffee table (in Bubinga complete with some stable sapwood) has some fine detail in the legs which is lost in this picture but aimed to give that timber its chance to add a quality piece of useful, everyday furniture. The stool illustrates my first venture into decoration using circular inserts of pleasing timbers into seat and legs. The same technique has been used in platters and stools for family and friends. The table lamp in Oak (negative shade for this photo) was an attempt to incorporate as many pleasing shapes as possible into a single spindle; it works in practice better than can be seen in the photo. Finally, the small bowl next to the table lamp was my first, and was made under the direction of the great Dennis May one morning in his then workshop. It employed Padauk, another colourful timber boasting solid sapwood. So there we are; all useful items but made with an eye to appearance and impact. Now, would other members like to chip in with their ‘philosophies of turning’ please? We should all be able to learn something useful from each other!

A WEIRD BUT USEFUL CONTRAPTION (By Vernon Hughes)

Ever since I was shown the idea years ago I have kept a fairly hefty general purpose vice screwed (with coach screws) to a solid chunk of 2″ board so that it can be moved in and out of a woodworking bench vice at will. When not in use it is stowed under the bench. The value of this arrangement is that only one section of precious bench space is

taken up by a vice. Chance/free thinking has led me to a further development of this arrangement. I needed to plane the surface of a turning blank (rough-hewn from a freshly felled large Beech tree) to get a ‘flat’ for mounting a faceplate, but lacked a convenient/efficient way of holding the blank secure whilst using a hand-held power planer on the chosen surface. My eye happened to fall on a 2' sash cramp, the ‘bar’ of which is in 2″ x 1″ box section (also now kept under the bench). Next step was to mount the cramp in the jaws of the general purpose vice and the blank in the cramp. It may seem elaborate but it works beautifully because everything, including the bench, is rock solid (where a workmate would not be for instance) and both hands are completely free to operate the planer. I see from a label that the ‘Paramor’ sash cramp came from ‘Leeke’s at Melksham. So, I pass on these details in case they are of use to other members. See photograph below (and note the quick-release levers on both vices). With this arrangement it pays to leave a couple of ‘flats’ in the circumference of the blank to get the most efficient seating in the cramp. This set-up can be achieved in seconds because all the components are ready to hand, and a free socket happens to be available to plug the planer into. It is therefore an ideal arrangement in my particular situation, in which incidentally, space factors prevent the cramp going straight into the woodwork vice.

o O o

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Shrivenham Village Fete – Craft Fair

2pm to 5pm Saturday 29th August The North Wiltshire Woodturners Association (that’s us) have booked a double pitch at the

above event. This gives us a display area of 6 x 3 metres (about 20’ x 10’ in old money). The

plan is to use half this space for display and sales of our pieces of woodturning and the other

half to run turning demonstrations using the club lathe. Our pitch is outdoors on the

recreation ground, so we plan to use a marquee to protect us and our woodturning from the

elements. If you would like to submit items for sale/exhibition please fill in the form on the

next page. Because space is tight, each member may submit up to ten items, maximum. You

name your sale price or designate it as NFS (not for sale); 10% of the sale price goes to

NWWA as a commission, the rest is yours. On the day, all sales will be payable to the

NWWA and you will then be paid by the club for your sold items less the 10% commission.

Instructions for Sale/Exhibition Items

1. Make sure each item is labeled with your name and the price (or NFS). No label, no sale.

It would be helpful if you could include other detail on the label such as the title of the

piece, timber(s) used etc. Complete the form on the next page.

2. Pack and deliver all your items to the home of Clive Alabaster, 3 Poynder Place,

Hilmarton, SN11 8SQ (tel 01249 760694). Please deliver your items, plus completed

form, on either Wednesday 26th August or Thursday 27th August between 7pm and 9pm.

3. Your help in setting up our stall from 10am in Shrivenham and in manning the stall and

dismantling everything afterwards would be very much appreciated.

4. Please collect your unsold items either directly at the end of the fete or from my home

address (given above) on Tuesday 1st September 7pm to 9pm or else ask me to bring

them to the club night on Wednesday 2nd September.

Your help, please.

We also need to beg, borrow or steal the following: marquee (at least 6m x 3m), tables, table

covers, lighting. Please see Clive if you can help us with these items, thanks.

We are also looking for three volunteers to do a public turning demonstration using the club

lathe for one hour. Three one hour demos should last the duration of the fete. The club

equipment is at your disposal, otherwise please bring your own tools, including chisels. The

club will reimburse you for the wood that you use. Please see Clive.

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Shrivenham Village Fete – Craft Fair Please complete and hand in to Clive Alabaster together with your items of turnery. Please note that whilst NWWA will endeavour to look after your items of woodturning it cannot be held responsible for any damage to them.

Name

Address

Tel

# Title Timber(s) Price (or NFS)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

I can help with the following (demonstration, setting up, clearing away, manning the stall, transporting club lathe to and from Shrivenham etc.):

I will collect my unsold items (tick one):

……………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

.......................................................................................................................................................

At the end of the fete in Shrivenham

From Clive’s address on 1st Sept (7 – 9pm)

Please bring them to the club night on 2nd September