November 2019 Meeting

 

The November meeting of the CraobhEo 2019/20 year took place on the 14th November in the CraobhEo Centre in Aghamore.

Frank Fitzpatrick, Shannonside Chapter and Journal Editor was our demonstrator for the evening.

Frank chose to turn a hollowform snowman for his demo. The idea is to turn something useful for kids to play with and not be perfect.

Starting with a cylindrical shaped branch, mount on lathe and bring up tailstock for support. Turn to a round but leave a wing at the back and turn a recess at the front for remounting. Shape from front back to wing and use a nice finishing cut on the outside with an undercut around the wing. A detail cut around the base will make it stand out.

Remount blank and drill a 100 mm deep recess where screw chuck was inserted to assist hollowing. Hollow out using a hollowing tool of choice, in this case the Easywood hollowing tool. Tool is held horizontal and inside is hollowed using in and out movements. Frank made reference to Chris Fisher who is a blind woodturner and gives inspiration to many people. Turn recess at mouth of hollowform to accept the head.

Finally mount a new blank for the head,  round up and true the ends up. Turn the head, not actually a sphere but following this general shape. There are many options here. Turn a hat to finish off. Make this project as complicated as you like but have fun and make sure you have lots is little customers lined up to enjoy them.

Well done Frank for a lovely demo with great ideas to entertain the family over the festive season. It was a pleasure to welcome you to Mayo and we hope to see you again soon.

Some discussion took place on the type of demos that members want to see. These included sharpening, proper use of tools, off-centre turning, finishing, colouring and thread chasing. Demos for 2020 to reflect these topics.

Condolences offered to the family of Michael Ruane, CraobhEo Woodturner of the year last year, who passed away last month. Also to Michael Lacken on the death of his father. May they rest in peace.

 

 

 Monthly Chapter Competition Winners

Winner              –  Padraig Grealis

Second (Joint) – Richard Barrett & Liam Horan