May 2015 Meeting

 

The May meeting of the 2014/2015 year was held on Thurs. 14th May in the Craobh Eo Centre in Aghamore.

 

Our demonstrator for the evening was Willie Creighton who stepped in at short notice to save the day.

Willie chose to turn an offcentre table leg and started off by explaining how to mark the offcentre point at each end of the square blank. First get the centre point. The offcentre point is a point half way between the centre point and one outer edge of the square blank. Mark this at one end and at the opposite side on the other end.

First the shoulder of the square end or top of the leg is marked with a skew and the remainder turned to a round. Turn below the surface close to the square end. Measure out a bead at the very bottom – this will be the width of the rounded blank divided by 3 and turn using spindle gouge.

Next position blank to offcentre position 1 – middle of bottom to offcentre position on top. Turn using roughing gouge starting at top. Connect carefully with square end and blend in from the bead end. Some blending by hand will be necessary.

Now position blank to offcentre position 2 – middle top to offcentre bottom. Work from bottom and blend to bead. Shape middle towards cove. Lathe at 2000 rpm. Shape from square end next.  Some hand blending will be necessary under square shoulder. Sand as you go.

Move to between centres to finish bead. Generally strive when blending from both offcentre positions to achieve nice convex and concave shapes. If you are turning more than one leg turn each stage together. Leg done and a very nice shape.

Willie then turned a bowl from baltic pine. Blank was mounted between centres and the bottom turned to an ogee shape. Light cuts were taken to shape the rim and then the outside of the bowl was shear scraped at high speed for a nice finish. A spigot was turned at the bottom to hold in the chuck.

The bowl was then remounted in a chuck and the inside hollowed out. Sides were shaped first leaving a spigot in the middle which was then removed. A bead was cut on top for a nice design touch and light cuts made to complete the bowl.

This method of holding between centres works well for small bowls with a faceplate for larger bowls.

This was a very comprehensive demo from Willie who is always so willing to pass on everything he knows to his fellow turners. Well done and thank you for a very enjoyable evening.

May's Competition

 The May competition was a table leg from a drawing. Well done to all who submitted a piece.

 

June’s competition piece is a trophy.

 

 

               

 

 Winners                 Albert Cornwall

   Second                    Dickie Barrett

   Third                        Paddy Treacy