Phil Jones was our demonstrator for September and although his work can be very artistic he played it down somewhat for us.
The first hour or so was very much a lesson in turning. He turned what could be a table leg with beads and curves etc. explaining the way to use various tools, even starting by turning a square spindle to round using only a skew chisel. With a large wooden image of part of a grinding wheel he explained the handling of tools while sharpening them. Once he had gone through this routine he went on to turn a few small items and the first was a pepper shaker in the shape of a pig. This meant turning eight different components, the first being the body complete with snout. He turned his square to round with a chucking spigot on one end. He mounted it in the chuck and drilled a hole in the body and then with a scraper he hollowed it out to hold the pepper. Next he turned the outside to take the shape of the body and snout leaving it oversize to start with until he had drilled the small holes for the legs and the ears.. The reason for this is that there is always a certain amount of breakout when you drill which can be turned away after. To position the holes he marked four lines equi-distant apart around the body and then in to three along its length. Along two of the lines where they crossed he drilled four holes for the legs all at a slight angle and then…., taking note where the snout is, yep, that’s important, he drilled the holes for the ears. He then shaped the body and formed the snout and parted it off with a finishing cut with the toe of the skew chisel. He then drilled some small holes in the snout to allow the pepper to come out and put it to one side. Next he turned four little legs and two smaller pegs from which to shape the ears. He glued the legs in place and the ears he shaped on a small sanding drum fitted in the chuck before gluing them in to the body. Finally he turned the tail and fitted a small cork to it to give it a firm fit in the body after filling it with pepper.
That and the last piece were the only items he finished, the rest were an exercise in spindle and face plate turning.
The first of these was a clock, or it could be a mirror, on a base with two uprights to show the decorative use of beads etc. Phil turned the disc to hold the clock, checking the bore several times to be sure to get a snug fit. So snug I’m not sure how he would get to it to alter the time or fit a new battery.
Perhaps I wasn’t paying attention as usual!!
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