‍Hi Folk

Hope all well with you and yours and you are surviving the lock-down. It was certainly a different Easter for me as it is normally a time when we get away for a week or so in the caravan and see the family, however this  year the weather was good in the back garden!.

Hopefully you have found some of the excellent You Tube videos to watch from some well known turners. I am particularly enjoying the Colwin Way ones from Axminster and who knows I might even be able to master the skew chisel by the end of this week. (Colwin is demonstrating making Christmas decorations with a skew chisel this week) 

Also worth watching are Emma Cook akaThe Tiny Turner, Gary Lowe aka The Tartan Turner and Wayne the Woodturner.

Below is the link to Border Woodturners newsletter and attached are the PDF files for Northumbria and Galloway Woodturning Clubs.

 http://www.borderwoodturners.org.uk/newsletters.

Thanks to Allan, Len, Lee and Jim for their additions to the Members Gallery, I have added a few of my own.

The pictures added to Allan's Gallery are of Winged Branchwood Boxes . Below are his demonstration notes on making these boxes. When we are back to normal (whenever that is) we can ask him to talk us through it at a Members Hands on Night.Thanks for your support Allan

Winged Branchwood box (with / without a lid.

Need   Dryish branchwood . Some are bonnier, Yew, Laburnum, Cherry etc. Any will do for practice. 6” to 8” long and about 2” to 3” diam. Forked pieces work well.

Tools   Gouges, traditional and/or fingernail grind, parting tool, round nose scraper, Skew chisel, marking and measuring gear. Finishing gear.

Holding method         Normally on ends between drive or steb centres and a revolving centre. This will be mounted across the branch - between centres is a bit iffy. WHY ?Curved surface, bark , sapwood don’t provide adequate support. Piece is likely to be out of balance, we will be trying to cut a ‘propeller’ with hit and miss twice every revolution – risk of dislodging the work. Popular choice to give firm support is a screw chuck. Loads of options, bought ones, home made ones, adapted ones, offset ones.

Screw chuck issues All rely on the size of the hole and the quality of the thread – must provide the best possible contact between work and chuck. Options :- On what is to be the ‘top’ of the piece, plane down to solid wood or use a ‘forstner’ bit large enough to provide jaw support. For optimum security, hole (same size as screw root diam) should be centred and at right angles to the workpiece, (I use a drill press). Depth should allow for thread removal to form the bowl when piece is reverse chucked, spacer might be needed. Screwing the wood onto the screw will lift surface wood fibres and compromise the fit. I use a countersink to compensate. Surface to surface contact is the most important aspect to ensure security.

Preparations  With screwchuck in the jaws and wood securely located, bring up the tailstock with revolving centre for added support. Remove any loose bark, position the toolrest and revolve the piece by hand. Check again using lathe set at a slow speed.

Method  Priority is to create a dovetail spigot for reverse chucking and decide ‘Happy or Sad’     . Potential issues / risks when turning commences. Seeing the work, Contact with spinning propellers severely damages skin and bone and can stain the wood, the ‘hit and miss nature of this type of work makes it difficult to maintain a continuous cut or produce a good finish off the tool, cutting side grain produces tear out, access to some parts can be severely restricted. They are my excuses so If you still want to try, using a lathe speed and tools you are comfortable with flatten off the bottom and create an appropriate chucking point. Continue to produce the underside of the wing from the outside in and shape the bottom of the bowl. Aim for a bowl which appears to pass through the wing. Diameter is important for final re-chucking for foot removal. Sand the bowl area then reverse chuck. Produce top of wing from outside in, form a lip for outside edge of bowl (diam same as underside bowl diam) Lip to protrude slightly above wing. Form inside of bowl to outside profile with an undercut rim to allow chucking in expansion mode for foot production/removal .

Finishing Sanding on the lathe largely limited to bowl area. Convex wing surface can be tackled, carefully, using supported abrasives but hand sanding always necessary to obtain acceptable results, especially on the underside. 

Contributions, pictures, articles, comments are always welcome.

Keep safe and keep turning.

Andrew