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December meeting should have been a demonstration with Mark Baker but his wife had gone in to hospital for surgery and he felt his place was with her so at the last minute Tony Handford stepped in to fill the gap. Tony is best known for his large hollow vessels, usually ash which are pitted and filled with holes and bark inclusions. He did show us a couple of oak bowls he had textured and coloured, a new venture for him and the gallery that sells his work found them to be a good sales item. Today he turned a hollow vessel, roughing it out to the point where it needs to rest for a few weeks before the final finish. Studying the log to decide the shape with the least amount of waste before marking where the drive and live centres should go is important. Tony uses a centre finder rule for this and once happy with the position he drilled a hole to take the drive centre. This prevents the log from flying off the lathe if the drive teeth should tear the log at its point of contact. He then mounted it on the lathe and at a slow speed carefully turned the chucking spigot. He then mounted the log in the chuck and turned the outside to the desired shape. Next Tony used a saw tooth bit to drill a hole to a depth to suit the profile before boring it out with his deep hollowing tools. The tool support is his own design and is fitted with a small light that enables him to see clearly to the bottom of the hollow. The pictures in the gallery for December show the sequence of forming that took place and the ‘appy chappy wot did it!! After lunch Tony chose one of the vessels he had brought in to finish and he did so to the point where all it needed was a few coats of oil. Before this though Tony judged this months entries and as can be seen in the gallery we had a good number on the table although the number of members who turned up for the meeting was disappointingly low. I am sure this will be explained in more depth at the AGM but out of interest we have ended up approximately £100 out of pocket over the last twelve months. Tony had brought in one ready for finishing today. With a rubber mat draped over a wooden cone he mounted the neck of the vessel against this and brought the running centre up to the base and turned it down as small as was safe to go. Then he removed the final pip with an electric carving tool. The finished piece just needing a few coats of finishing oil. With a bit of time to spare Tony talked about his other interest, which is working on old and listed buildings and as an example of what he gets asked to make he turned a finial for a porch or maybe for where a four hip roof comes together. The finished item would be covered with lead sheeting and so the shape has to allow it to be moulded to it without too many wrinkles. Tony has done some of this work himself so he knows what is required by the craftsman. Many thanks Tony for turning out at only a couple of hours notice and putting together an interesting day for us. The next meeting is on Saturday 9th January and we start off at 10.00 am. with the AGM. The agenda will be as follows. Reading of the minutes of the last AGM of which copies are enclosed, followed by: Chairman’s report Secretary’s report Treasurers report Events organiser’s report Website manager’s report Equipment manager’s report Selection of committee for 2010 A O B I don’t have to tell you how important this meeting is so please let’s have a full house. Don’t forget that this is your club and if you want any changes made to the way it is run now is your chance. If you want to propose someone as a committee member you must first get their agreement. We will require a new events organiser, or two to work together if that is more comfortable for you. After the meeting we will have the rest of the day doing our own thing. We have had a couple of volunteers to do a short demo so if you have a few ideas to pass on please step in to the lime light!! Your current committee members are: Chairman Bert Lanham Vice Chairman Des Segens Secretary Graham Holcroft Treasurer Roger Martin Events Organisers Pat Hughes (Retiring) Paul Hunt Website Manager Fred Taylor Equipment Manager Alan Smith Caretaker Alan Dungey At the A G M all the above can be voted off and a new committee elected, the choice is yours. Pat Hughes is standing down and has said he will not be up for re-election so we really must have someone to fill this important place in the team. Maybe two people so that you have someone to bounce ideas off. Please let us have a good turnout for this important date in our diary because it will affect the way we shape up for 2011. Graham |
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