January 2018 Meeting

 

 

The first meeting of the CraobhEo Chapter for 2018 was held at Martin Wilson’s workshop in Beltra, Co Sligo.

Philip Mahon from the Sligo Chapter was our demonstrator for the evening.

Philip’s demo was to turn a matching candlestick which consisted of four sections to be turned individually. The wood for the project was olive ash.

The first stage was to turn the base. He mounted a blank 146 mm diameter and 40 mm deep onto a screw chuck. A template for turning each section was used to ensure precise dimensions at each stage of the demo. Following the template, the base was turned and shaped. Finally a hole to receive the stem was bored (1 1/4 in diam, 7 mm deep) and the area around this made flat.

Next stage was the stem using a blank 150 mm long by 43 mm diameter. Again following the template, measurements were taken, incisions made at precise points along the blank, followed by shaping. Undercut edges where possible to give a nicer design. Turn spigots for base and to receive drip tray coming next.

The third stage was to turn the drip tray. A blank measuring 130 mm by 25 diameter was prepared. A hole 1 1/4 in wide by 7 mm deep was drilled into the bottom to receive the stem. This would also be used to re chuck later. The base was turned to a convex shape with outside rim undercut. Following re chucking the top was dished out to the same shape as the sister candlestick. A 30 mm by 7mm fillet was left for the cup (coming next) to sit on. Finally a hole 3/4 in diameter by 7 mm deep was drilled to receive the cup.

Last stage was to turn the cup using a blank turned down to 53 mm diameter.  A hole was drilled on top, 1 in diameter by 1 inch deep to receive the insert for the candle. The top of this hole is widened and tapered to accommodate the insert. The top is then shaped and the dimensions for making incisions in the rest are marked out. Final shaping is done and a spigot to fit into the drip tray turned.

This was a very precise and challenging demo. No room for error when turning the second candlestick. However Philip gave us a wonderful demo and left us with some great ideas to improve our design. Well done to Philip and a big thank you.

Thanks also to Martin for his great hospitality once again and for the use of his great new workshop which has us all wishing we could have somewhere like that to do our turning.

 

 

 

 Monthly Chapter Competition Results for January 2018

Winner             –    Michael Ruane

Second             –    Pat O’Malley

Third (Joint)     –   Tom Burke, Dickie Barrett