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The December meeting of the CraobhEo 2023/24 year took place on the 14th December in the CraobhEo Centre in Aghamore.

Our demonstrator for the evening was Joe Diver from the North West Chapter.

Declan Howley from FACT, our chosen charity for this year, kicked off the evening  and spoke to us briefly about their activities.

Urchin shell Finial demo.

Joe collects shells on local beach and uses them for his finals.

Round up a 30 mm diam, 170 mm long yew blank with spigot and mount in chuck.

Get diameter of shell centre for shoulder. Turn the shoulder for shell to go on to at end of blank. Bore 5 mm hole into the shoulder for the top tenon to fit into. Mark off approx 110 mm for length of main body of final and part off.

Turn top of finial from remainder of blank with a shoulder to fit into top of shell. Bore small hole for an eyelet. Turn tenon to fit hole drilled earlier in main finial. Fit eyelet at this stage. Ensure top fits into body and shell at this point and adjust if necessary.

Remount main finial using shell shoulder and commence shaping starting from the top and working your way down to the shoulder. This is a delicate operation but you can end up with beautiful finals with proper care.

Sand through the grits and apply finish of your choice.

This finial certainly looks the part and would grace any Christmas tree.

Joe has a shell for everyone in the audience which went down a treat.

Budvase Demo

Joe’s second demo was a budvase from yew. Round up, turn spigot and mount in chuck. Rough shape top end and bore hole to size and depth of your budvase insert. Shape around mouth of budvase. Check depth of hole as well and deepen if necessary. Turn the outside to your preferred design. Sand through grits and apply finish of your choice.

Remount budvase in a jam chuck supported by tailstock and finish bottom.

These were two lovely Christmas items and thank you Joe for making the long journey from Donegal (along with Stanley and Holly) to be with us. We really enjoyed your demos and look forward to seeing you again in the future.

 

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