The last meeting for 2012 and we had Simon Hope pay us another visit.
Actually we paid him but you know what I mean. As with his previous visits he had a couple of interesting and fairly simple projects to show us, and a lot of tools etc. to sell !!

His first project was a salt shaker shaped like a sea shell. Someone asked where he got his ideas from and this one came from his daughter, sort of. He was in the loo having a pee, yep, and on a shelf in front of him were some sea shells that his daughter had collected. That’s an idea he thought as the pressure on his brain eased, that could make a good salt shaker, and here we are.
He used a piece of sycamore and quickly turned it to round and turned a chucking spigot on either end then parted it into two pieces roughly two thirds and one third of the length.
First the bottom end was shaped, tapering it towards the chuck and then hollowed out using a spindle gouge, a small carbide tool (a little round cutter on a square shaft) and a square ended scraper, almost to the bottom. Now remove it from the chuck and reverse it on to jam chuck. Face off and form a small spigot with a recess at the back of it.
To save the piece from damage when removing it from the jam chuck run the parting tool just behind it leaving a thin collar on the jam chuck then with a thin blade lever against it to ease the piece off.
Now the second part.

Turn it to a cone shape with a small rounded end and form a couple of beads, one larger than the other.
Reverse on to a jam chuck and hollow it out and then drill a 2.5 mm hole through to the outside and form a recess for the spigot on the first to fit in to.
The end of the first piece is cut at an angle which Simon did with a pull saw but you might prefer to do this on the band saw. After it’s all finished and polished Simon uses a yellow waxed hemp wound tightly into the recess turned at the base of the spigot to hold the two pieces together but allows them to be parted to fill with salt. I imagine some would prefer to have these two components threaded so that they screw together.

For his second piece Simon made a three part hollow form.
An outer vase in ash with a top using a contrasting wood and finished with a pewter centre.
The vase was turned first with a recess in the top to receive the top.
Next the lid from a darker wood and turned quite thin which when finished was glued into the top of the vase.
A hole had been turned in the lid to receive the pewter centre. Using an old saucepan and a camping gas cooking ring he melted a small quantity of pewter which having a low melting point didn’t take long.
The molten pewter was poured into a wood mould, turned earlier, and allowed to solidify. When it was cold Simon faced it off and turned a spigot on it to fit the lid and also turned a small hole in the centre. Next it was removed from the mould and glued in to the lid. Finally it was turned and textured and the hole trued up.

Piece number three was a penny whistle. Take any old piece of wood about 1” square and about 6” long and turn it round. Drill a 16mm hole 50mm deep which should give you an A sharp note. With a fine saw a make a cut 19mm from the end about 1/3 of the dia. In depth. Move to 34mm from the end and cut at an angle to meet the bottom of the first cut. This leaves you with a hole from your puff can escape. Now, turn a 16mm dia, x50mm long dowel and sand a flat along its length. Done that? Good. Now press it into the tube with the flat facing the hole you have cut in the side. Finally cut a slice off to form a mouth piece. Take it out of the lathe and place it between your sensuous lips and blow. You have just blown a perfect A sharp !! !!

I had to leave at this point but Fred sent me the following.
The last item that Simon made on Saturday was a box with a yew threaded top and an ash base He made the threaded inserts from African blackwood. Which he glued to top and bottom. That was the end for 2012 and now we look forward to 2013.

Our first meeting is on Saturday 12th January and opens at 10am with the AGM. Please come along to this important meeting. It’s your chance to voice your opinion in the way the club is run and to suggest any changes, if any, you feel should be made. It is also time to select a committee to see us through the year. ALL positions are open so if you feel we need a change of management and would like to fill one of the posts please let us know. If you want to nominate someone you must get their consent first.

A copy of the accounts for 2012 is enclosed with your newsletter along with a copy of the events calendar for 2013 and a menu for the club dinner in February with an order form to be returned ASAP. Also, would those of you who haven’t yet paid your subscriptions for 2013 please get them to me in the next few days so that I can get the directory up to date, printed and sent out to you all.

After the AGM business is closed Peter Blake will take over and entertain us for the rest of the day. What will he do? It might not be turning. Last year he showed us how to do things on a band saw that you wouldn’t let your granny do, bless her cotton socks.

Come along and put some input at the AGM and then enjoy a relaxing day with Pete.

Graham

Notice board