A Branch of the
Association of Woodturners of Great Britain
RECENT DEMONSTRATIONS
February 2022
Peter Nicholls gave us a very interesting evening. He started by listing all the important things which should be considered when starting a woodturning project and followed with an interesting number of simple projects which helped him emphasise those points made at the beginning
October 2021
Emma The Tiny Turner gave us a full day demonstration. What a great day this was. Emma showed us a number of unusual things including a Hollow Glass Ball with fairy lights inside mounted on a decorated plinth. A lidded box decorated with Pyrography and gold leaf a small bowl made from Oak with lots of features and finished with the traditional aging process. Emma gave us lots of information about the way she turns and decorates wood. I am sure that every who came learnt some worthwhile things.
Thank you Emma for a super day.
November 2021
Alan Arnold our Chairman stepped in at the last minute to give us a demonstration of two different pots. As usual this was a very jolly event and we all appreciated that he had to do something on the spur of the moment. Thank you Alan
March 2022
Shaun Clifford showed us how to make a square dish with three hand carved feet and decoration on the base. Very interesting thank you Shaun.
Pictures by Nick Rowe
April 2022
Club Member John Butcher gave us a really good evening making a very delicate miniature clock on a lovely stand. John showed a lot of skill making such a thing at a demonstration.
Well done John
June 2022
Nick Rowe one of our members showed us how to turn small trees. This was Nicks first ever demonstration and he gave us a superb evening showing various techniques and giving very good explanations of his turning. Very well done Nick
August 2022
Alan Arnold gave us a very different evening by making some flower heads. This required some very delicate work to make the individual petals. Alan managed despite his problem with his left hand. Well done Alan
August 2022
Mick Hanbury gave us a whole day’s demonstration and showed us some great turning together with lots of useful ideas and explanations. Thank you Mick very much
September 2022
Terry Smart the boss of Chestnut Finishes gave us a very worthwhile demonstration of the wide variety of finishes which his company produce. He started by explaining that most woods are quite happy with most of the finishes and that the important thing is to think what the wood is going to be used for. For example if you are making a pen, then it would not be great to use an organic wax finish, as a pen is in the users hands and fingers a great deal, and wax would show finger marks. During the evening he showed the application of many different finishes. This was done using two freshly turned pieces made by one of our members which had no sanding done at all. I am sure we all picked up some useful ideas. Thank you Terry.
Lots of different finishes shown on this little platter tea light
This Ash candlestick was given a coarse brush first to emphasise the grain, then sprayed black followed by putting different colours over the top to enhance the grain. Terry did not have the time to give the final finish but it showed the technique.
November 2022
Paul Howard showed us a very interesting off centre box. There were very difficult turning techniques explained by Paul.
February 2024
Shaun Clifford took a grotty looking bit of wood and turned it into something very acceptable. He is certainly not put off by the look of the wood. Well done Shaune
March 2024
Brian Partridge took a basic lump of Ash and preceded to produce the turning for a clock and showed the procedures to do the final finishing, as the turned piece would take to long to do in a demonstration.
The Start The Finish
April 2024
Mike Favager always brings something different to show us. This time we were not sure what he was going to do with a glass tube and two pieces of wood. He started by turning them round fitting them to the top and bottom of the glass. He then painted parts of the wood black and put one of the pieces of wood into a very interesting machine that then started to electronically put a picture on the wood. It was an electronic pyrography machine. The final activity was to attach an incense burner on the top and light the burner giving a wave of incense into the room. Wow thank you Mike for something very unusual and different.
May 2024
Nick Rowe one of our younger members showed us how to do thread chasing by hand using two chasing tools, one for the inside and one for the outside. The diameter of the inside and outside have to be very carefully set so that they match after the threads have been turned. The speed of the lathe is also very critical as the tool has to be very gently applies to the wood. A very good evening we look forward to see of some of our members have a go. Very well done Nick
July 2024
Paul Howard showed us how he makes the wonderful Owl this is a fantastic piece to be made in an evening demonstration.
August 2024
Tic Challis showed us the techniques she uses to make the wonderful animals. She showed more than just the woodturning including the super eyes, the production of floppy ears and the details of the wings. Her full project was a Black Bird. Each step of the project was shown but each piece was passed around and she carried on with the next action with a pre prepared piece so that she did not waste time doing the full finished stage. This happened for each stage so the she was able to show the final bird completed without taking the full time.
Sorry I have lost the picture of the finished piece. But here is a good sample of what she does.
September 2024
Steve Kearvell showed us two of his decorated pieces using a range of techniques which he explained in detail.
December 2024
Allan Arnold showed us how to make a hollow form with the inside hollowed out. This was done by taking four identical pieces of wood and gluing them together and cut the shape of the inside. He then undid the pieces of wood and reassembled them with the cuts he made now on the inside. It was then put back on the lathe to turn the outside followed bu turning a to and bottom to make the complete piece.
February 6th 2025
Shaun Clifford gave a very interesting demonstration which looked at first if it was a nice looking vase, however once that appeared to be finished he said, now is where things get interesting, and proceeded to cut the vase in half from top to bottom and then joined the too tops together. It was very fascinating. Thank you Shaun very much.
April 3rd 2025
Mike Favager made a really nice grinding pot using a number of different woods. The turning process went well and then he showed us the problems of getting the mechanism inside the pot so that it would not fall out in use. Avery nice and helpful evening, thank you Mike.
August 7th 2025
Steve Kearvill gave us a really fascinating evening by making a decorated dish from start to finish. He showed us how to cut a fine finish with turning tools and then made a very fine finish with sanding. He then showed us how to decorate the top outside with fine gold sheet. He then produced a small ridge and coloured it with a black paint. He then turned the inside of the dish and then applied an oil finish. It looked great. Thank you Steve.
