Wood 'n' things - MSWA · Wood 'n' things Page 2 of 9 Document ref. C:\MSWA\Newsletter\0C...

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Wood 'n' things Mid Staffs Woodturning Association Newsletter Issue 11 - December 2006 Editor: Paul Bellamy Email: [email protected] Tel:- 01543 472669

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A message from our chairman For me, Sunday afternoon is a good time to settle down for an hour and read the newspaper. Saturdays newspaper! Do you read the Daily Telegraph? It's the only daily paper I have and I only take it on a Saturday. This is because there are so many sections to it - twelve, I think -that it takes me the whole week to get through them all! I usually leave aside the Sport and Gardening sections but I do like to read the Motoring section and the Money magazine. Well, I was well into Honest John's article about the problems people have with their cars when I was pulled up short by a sudden and determined question from Joan, sitting at the other end of the sofa. 'What would you like for Christmas?' My mind was thrown into confusion at this as I was just reading about how good the new Mercedes 'S' class saloon was and I almost blurted out 'a Mercedes!'. Good job I didn't, as I know Joan had been pondering the Christmas present list for days and was in no mood for frivolous suggestions. It was help she was looking for and was in no mood for unfunny jokes! Choosing presents for our family and friends can be a stressful exercise and the later in the year it gets, the more problematical it seems to be. And choosing for men is the most difficult. (So I am told!) There was silence. 'Did you hear me?' 'Yes, of course. I'm thinking about it' 'Well, have you any ideas yet,?' she probed, after a couple of minutes. 'Oh, I don't know, I can't think of anything I need'. 'You're hopeless! - never any help when it comes to presents. There must be something you would like.' 'Give me some time to think about it,' I sighed. 'Well don't take too long about it. I want to go shopping tomorrow and get all of the presents sorted out'. 'I might like something for my woodturning,' I suggested, hoping that this would soothe the tension a little. 'Good idea, that, but you would have to get it yourself. Obviously I can't get that in the High Street' 'I'll think of something and let you know' I said. Well, it's not that easy to settle on the right thing. Obviously, certain things are much too expensive. A new, bigger and better lathe might be at the top of my list but suggesting that would bring forth some class one derision and put me right at the bottom of the 'charm scale'. Equally, suggesting something very cheap, however much I might find it useful, would bring out some equally scathing comments. No, I had to come up with a reasonable, sensibly priced idea. My thoughts took me back sixteen years to the day I took early retirement from Lecturing at the college. They told me that a certain amount of cash had been allocated to buy a leaving present and I had been asked that same question. 'What would you like for your present' Now I knew what most of the other 'early retirers' were asking for, - wrist watches, cut glass whisky glasses, wedgwood bowls, wall clocks, etc. etc. All very appropriate. But on this occasion, I was different and knew exactly what I wanted. 'A Bosch GST 60P Jig Saw !' That brought a few funny looks from the people in the Education Department, I can tell you. There was a special event organised at which the Director of Education would formally present these gifts and as I entered the room, I saw a long table with all of the gifts laid out ready for presenting. You have no idea how incongruous a Bosch GST 60P looks when surrounded with the most sophisticated giftware that the Potteries, Stourbridge and the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter have to offer. But I got what I wanted. Exactly what I wanted! You see, I had just embarked on fitting out our new narrowboat and I could see many jobs ahead just crying out for a decent jig saw!

Wood 'n' things

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But back to Christmas presents. I decided that it would be a good idea to browse the Axminster and Craft supplies catalogues because they have items ranging in price from less than a fiver to more than £5.000. There must be something I need in there, surely. But when you begin to look, many of the items rule themselves out because they are not 'presenty' enough. I mean, who would want to give four rolls of abrasive, say 180, 240, 320 and 400 as a present?. No, I couldn't ask for that, however much I might need it. After scouring the catalogue for what seemed like hours, (I find the Axminster catalogue great fun to read!) I decided that as far as my style of woodturning was concerned, I had everything that I needed. But why settle for something I need. Why not go for something I just fancied? And then my eyes settled on a section detailing all the bits and pieces needed for making a violin.....or a guitar! I haven't plucked up the courage to ask for it yet. And probably, I never will. But there is still time! And the Bosch Jig Saw? It's been worked very hard, cutting steel as well as yards and yards of hardwood - and is sti ll going strong! I can strongly recommend Bosch Jig Saws. A Happy Christmas to you all and a prosperous 2007 Peter P.S. No, I didn't notice the link between 'guitar' and 'plucked' until I had typed it all out.

Editor's note As it's coming up to Christmas I thought I would pass on a quiz for you to have a go at. I have done it as the last page of this newsletter and you will need to print it so you can write down the answers. If you really want to get the most out of it, don't read it through first, just give yourself three minutes to do it. For even more fun, print out several copies and hand it out after the Christmas dinner. Don’t worry, it is suitable for all ages but I am sure it will cause some amusement, and if you really want I will give out the answers at the AGM. Or if you are really desperate, email me with an article and I will send the answers on to you. Bribery and corruption works every time ☺ Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year See you on January 12th. 2007, Paul

Quote for the month

Mistakes are invaluable; you can learn from them! - Anon.

Wood 'n' things


Club information Your club committee for 2006 comprises:- Chairman - Peter Worrall Secretary - John Smith Treasurer - Maurice Partington Assistant treasurer - Roy Fallows Events secretary - Geoff Payne Abrasives - Terry Gray Raffle - Margaret Hill Member's representative - Ron Barnsley

Club merchandise

Clothing

The club has a selection of items for sale, all featuring the club name on a blue background. Sweatshirts (dark blue) £12.00 T-shirts (light blue) £7.00 Baseball caps £6.00 The sweatshirts are ideal for the workshop at this time of year; nice and warm, and they keep all that loose clothing wrapped up, but they are also smart enough to wear down the high street. See John Smith at the club meetings if you would like to purchase any item of club clothing.

Abrasives If you need that finishing touch, Terry Gray has the club's stock of abrasives. They are £1.75 per metre and we have 180, 180, 240 and 320 grit in stock. He also has packs of Abranet, recommended by some other club members, at £1.80 for a set of 5 sheets.

Club meetings

The next meeting will be the club's Annual General Meeting. It will be on the

12th. January 2007 This is one week later than normal!

Club Competition pieces The Challenge Cup piece for January is:- A wine coaster. That's it, no other specifications so lot's of opportunity for artistic interpretation. And for the Premier Cup - A pomander incorporating pierced work, either on a stand or hung from a cord.

Next issue

Report on the AGM. Exotic wood letter opener by Bill Kinsman Microwave drying Answers to the quiz - maybe! That said, articles, pictures etc. from any other members will help keep the newsletter going. After all it is YOUR newsletter.

Wood 'n' things


How to fold a bandsaw blade, NOT how to fold a bandsaw!! Takes a bit of practise but a useful skill to have

Article taken from D&M tools show brochure

Wood 'n' things


December competition entries

This month's piece was a needle case.

First place – Albert Heath

Second place – Andrew Plews Third place – Ken Slatcher It is always interesting to see the different interpretations of the specification. Unfortunately the pictures can’t show the ‘extras’ of each case but they were quite ingenious.

Wood 'n' things


Mick Hanbury - a lot of torque! This month’s demonstrator has been to the club before but not for some time so, for many of us this was the first time to see Mick Hanbury’s work ‘up close’. Mick started the evening with a brief biography, which in itself was a good preview of his philosophy. He first got involved with woodwork at the age of six, following in the steps of his father and grandfather. He is a professional cabinet maker and woodturner, who lives woodturning. His speciality is cut, pierced and decorated pieces, becoming more art than functional. Although this does not have a large market in the UK, it is popular in the USA. This evening he was going to be turning a piece of rippled sycamore. This has a distinct, appealing grain pattern but costs a bit more than ordinary sycamore. But Mick explained if you start with firewood, all you end up with at the end of the day, is decorative firewood. Mick planned to use just four tools for this piece; a long grind ½” bowl gouge, straight grind ¼” bowl gouge, parting tool and ¼” spindle gouge. He stressed the importance of having a good edge on a tool, so that if there is a problem, you can't blame the tool. He usually sharpens every 30mins. but that depends on the wood as well. Another advantage he has with his tools is that the blade is made from a rod, so it can be slid in and out of the handle, to reduce the length over bed. The wood was to be mounted on a screw chuck so the first thing to do is drill a hole in the centre of the piece. Mick used a home made depth gauge to ensure there is no waste of wood, which he justified by stating that “Yorkshiremen are like Scots but with all the generosity squeezed out”. He used the T-bar of the Supernova wrench, not the pinion as it is easy to snap the pivot pin. He also pointed out you should not use the index lock to hold the lathe, as this will damage the indexing accuracy. With the lathe set at slow speed, he used the long grind bowl gouge to clean up the edge, making sure there was no tear out. Then he put rest across the face of the piece to true it up. Now he could mark the chuck spigot size, with an additional mark at the centre for later reference. Now Mick could start shaping the piece. This was going to be a decorative, not functional bowl so the rim was to be much larger than the bowl itself, at a ratio of about 2 to 1. Working from the outer edge he step cut to the rough shape. This keeps the ‘wings’ clear, otherwise you would be removing too much wood in one go. As the shape started to appear, Mick reminded us it is better to watch the wood at 1o’clock, not the tool edge but this is something that comes with experience and confidence in tool handling. Once the basic shape was formed, Mick used a shear cut with the long grind bowl gouge, then the small gouge to finish off. He could still see some tool marks but these could be sanded out using a Makita screwdriver and a velcro pad. Mick prefers this tool as it has more torque than many other cordless drills, running at around 700rpm. He starts sanding with 240 grit paper, with the drill rotating against the grain of the workpiece, then lightly with the grain. It is important to use a dust extractor, which wasn’t available to begin with, as was evident by the resulting fog cloud! He finished with two grades of Webrax, then oil from his hands to give gloss! An interesting alternative to Liberon, and almost as effective. With the back of the bowl completed, it was reversed onto the chuck jaws, the top face squared up and Mick could start to turn the bowl rim down to the desired thickness. In this case it was to be around 3mm but it is important to keep the thickness consistent across the bowl as any variation will be very evident through any piercings. The first thing to do was transfer the diameter of the bowl section from the bottom to the top side. Mick did this using a pair of calipers, held vertical, with one point resting on the transition on the underside, the other point indicates the limit of the rim on the top side. That done, and starting at the rim, Mick worked in to about 3cm from the edge. By leaving the inner part of the bowl the rim is well supported and less likely to flex away from the tool but you must still finish the bowl in one go otherwise the wood will move out of shape. The calipers are set to the desired thickness and used to check the work as it progresses to the centre. The points are rounded off to prevent them damaging the surface. An experienced turner can do this by hand but calipers guarantee an even thickness.

Wood 'n' things


The edge of the bowl was to be defined with a small bead, cut with the spindle gouge, but Mick used the waste wood at the centre of the piece to practise the cut. It helps even experienced turners to get a good feel for the wood and chisel before committing to the finished shape. And if a small mistake is made, this can be used to advantage, in this case Mick used a texturing tool to cover a small area outside the bead where some tearout had occurred. As Mick had said earlier, art pieces can be designed ‘on the go’ but you have to be careful not to ‘over decorate’. Design is also something that gets from inspiration from many sources. Mick’s family obviously has a big effect, as he cited both his son’s drawings and his wife’s ‘curves’ as guides for the shapes used in his turning. The actual bowl section was cut starting with the large gouge but eventually the heel of the bevel was leaving marks on the surface. At this point, Mick changed to a small gouge, with a double bevel grind. One bevel is at 60 deg. and the other is 45 deg. Some other turners use a micro-bevel on the edge of the tool but Mick prefers to have about the same of each angle as this can be sharpened several times without losing the two bevel angles. This tool worked so well that Mick was able to use it one handed, give a commentary and still get a good flowing curve. One more tip was to leave a pimple not a dimple as a pimple can be sanded out, a dimple requires a lot more wood to be removed. Once Mick was happy with the shape, the surface was sanded, as before to its final finish. Now the fun could start. The first idea was to have four spiral lobes of piercings but that looked too ‘busy’ so Mick reverted to just two. These are marked with soft pencil, using the indexing of the lathe to space them out and a compass to give the curves. The piercings are cut using a Ryobi multi-tool which runs at 33,000 rpm and has a flexible shaft, allowing the motor body to be hung on the bed of the lathe and the cutter to be easily manipulated. Mick has tried a range of cutters but now has his own preferred set which are available for purchase from him, via his website http://www.mickhanbury.com/index.html. The cutter is pushed through the wood, but it must enter at 90 deg otherwise you will rout a groove not drill a hole, then it is moved sideways to create the pattern. This is where the personal design takes over and it was a pleasure to watch as the piece developed. Even at this late stage, Mick chose to change the design, deciding that a single spiral lobe of piercings looked good, and a second lobe would just clutter the surface. I think all of us agreed with this decision. The piece was hand sanded after the piercing to remove any whiskers of wood from the edges. Mick uses oil not wax or sanding sealer to keep piercings clean. If it was to be shown in a gallery, the piercings would be filed to tidy them up but even without this touch, the piece looked most effective. Thanks, Mick, for an interesting and informative evening on another style of woodturning.

Wood 'n' things


Turning tips This section is for any tips or advice you would like to pass on to other members. It doesn't matter what it is, if you discovered something you found useful, that you think may benefit others, please pass it on. Help with spalted wood – Ron Dixon If you are working with spalted wood, try using Ronseal ‘Wet Rot Wood Hardener’. It dries in about 2hours and costs around £6.70 for 250ml. Sharpening hand saws – Ron Dixon For help and advice on sharpening handsaws, please contact Ron on 01785 249964. His address is 33 Wilkes Road, Creswell, Stafford ST18 9QR Email: [email protected] Abrasive cleaner – Paul Bellamy (Prompted by Mick Hanbury’s comments) For a cheap abrasive cleaner, use the ‘crepe’ sole from summer shoes. These are the type that go a bit sticky when it gets really hot. Might work better than the Craft Supplies carrier bags but still cheap!! Seasoning timber – Mick Hanbury If you are airdrying white timbers, stand them on end so the sap drains out and does not discolour the wood. Dark timbers should be dried flat, with spacers to allow air circulation.

Useful websites There is an awful lot of information available on the internet but some is better than others. If you come across any good or useful sites, please let me know and I will publish them in the newsletter. The following are worth a look :- http://www.mickhanbury.com/index.html http://www.yvonnearlott.com/ http://www.brimarc.com/home.php3

Latest news Offer from Ron Dixon Having won a 10” x 6” planer/ thincknesser, if anybody needs timber planing, the machine is available for use by club members.

Questions and answers This section is an opportunity for members to ask questions for other members to answer, primarily about woodturning but I see no reason why this couldn't be extended further. There is a lot of knowledge in the club on many subjects and this should be an easy way to get answers. Rustins Danish Oil Gordon Fradley answered last month’s question about this oil turning to jelly. He says it has happened to several of his tins so it is not unexpected. Thanks, Gordon. Should we query this further with Rustins?

Items for sale or wanted If you have any items for sale, or if you are trying to find something, send me the details and I will put it in the next issue.

Wood 'n' things


Three minute quiz 1. Write your name in the square provided. 2. How many animals of each species did Moses take aboard the Ark? 3. Divide 30 by 1/2 and add 30 (No calculators!) 4. Some months have 31 days, some have 30, how many have 28? 5. You go to bed at 8 o'clock in the evening and set your clockwork alarm to get you up at 9 o'clock in the morning, then fall asleep. How many hours sleep do you get?

6. If a doctor gave you 3 tablets and told you to take one every 1/2 hour, how long would they last? 7. How many sides does a circle have? 8. How far can a dog run into the woods? 9. Which country has a 4th. July - Britain or America? 10. A man built a house of rectangular structure, each side has a Southern exposure. A bear came wondering by. What colour was the bear that went past the door? 11. If you were alone in a deserted house at night and there was a lamp, a fire and a candle and you only had one match, which would you light first? 12. How many birth days does the average person have? 13. Why can't a man living in York be buried west of the Trent? 14. If you have two coins totalling 11 pence and one of the coins is not a 10p piece, what are the two coins? 15. How much dirt is there in a 2' x 2'6" x 3'6" hole? 16. If two monkeys sit in a corner of a room and look at another pair in another corner and so forth, until every pair in a corner looks at another pair, how many monkeys would say that they were looking at other monkeys? 17. Is it legal for a man to marry his widow's sister? 18. If you drove a bus, leaving Croydon with 40 passengers, dropped off 7 and picked up 2 at Addiscombe, stopped at Saunderstead and picked up 10, went on to Purley, dropped 8 there and picked up 5, then drove on to arrive in London 2 hours later, what would be the driver's name?

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