Feb 2017 Meeting

 

The February meeting of the 2016/2017 year was held on Thurs. 9th February in the Craobh Eo Centre (Old Schoolhouse) in Aghamore.

Pat O’Malley was our demonstrator for February where he took on the task of turning a pendant from acrylic.

Pat used his mandrel for making pens and started by boring a hole 7mm diameter boring in from both sides and inserting a brass tube of length 60 mm to suit the length of the acrylic.

The acrylic was secured on the mandrel and tightened in positioned with a screw however a piece that can be inserted into the tailstock and tightened onto the acrylic similar to the long hole boring kit could also be used to secure the acrylic.

The piece was then turned to a cylinder. When the cylinder was completed Pat worked on the end closest to the head stock cutting away layers of acrylic creating hemi sphere in the process. Patience and perseverance were at their utmost and turning at a high speed was recommended. Pat stopped the lathe on a regular basis to check his work as it progressed.

Next Pat worked on the lower part of the pendant again cutting away the layers of acrylic with the spindle gouge. When the required shape was achieved Pat started sanding the acrylic with240 grit working through to 400 grit. Each piece of sandpaper had been dampened and the piece was dried before moving on to the next grit. Next Pat used micromesh which had a very fine grit working as far as 12000 grit. This was a very slow process however Pat meticulously worked through the grits checking for blemishes as his work progressed.

To finish a burnishing cream was applied and given time to soak in and then it was buffed to give a high gloss like finish. Pat then added the attachments for the pendant to complete a pleasing piece of jewellery no doubt a nice present for Valentines day.

To complete his demonstration Pat showed those present a Longworth chuck he had made from MDF and how it was used to finish bowls. Further to this he showed how he mounted plywood on to the wood jaws of his Axminster chuck with a groove cut out for a bowl to be secured into when finishing the base. These were very useful tips for any woodturner.

This was an exercise in turning an acrylic from start to finish and was well received by those in attendance as many had not seen this done before.

Result for January.

   Winner                  Richard Barrett

   Tie for Second (5 Way)        

Pat O’Malley, IanMcDougall, Tom Burke, Martin Wilson, Noel Grogan

              

Result for February.

   Winner                  Ian McDougall    

   Second                 Pat O’Malley

   Third                     Richard Barrett