May 2025 Meeting

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The May meeting of the CraobhEo 2024/25 year took place on Thursday the 8th April in the CraobhEo Centre in Aghamore.

Our demonstrator for the evening was Eugene Grimley from the Crossborder and Ulster Chapters. 

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Eugene’s project was a cheese board with a lid.

Base

Mount a 200 mm diameter by 45 mm deep blank for base in compression mode and turn spigot. Remount in chuck and work on bottom (underside). True up face, rim and turn a chucking recess for working on top. Turn design on bottom if preferred. Sand and apply a coat of Skydd oil (food safe). Remount again and turn down to desired thickness (20 mm – 30 mm). Measure for 150 mm tile to be inserted on the top, transfer measurements to top of base and hollow our recess for tile. Allow for a loose fit and slightly proud of the base. Turn recess for lid to fit over the base into outside the tile. Decorate the rim, sand and apply Skydd oil.

Lid

Mount a faceplate on 190 mm diameter by 70 mm blank for chuck, true up and turn chucking spigot. This will be the outside of the lid. Remove excess waste at this point on outside. Remount in chuck and true up face. Eugene used templates to get desired shape of lid which is really a bowl. Transfer the dimensions of the lid recess from the base (done above) to the lid blank and make a small cut to act as a guide. Hollow out the lid back to this cut. Measure to get desired fit at this point. Hollow out the lid leaving a nice curve on the inside. Use the template to get perfect shape and depth. Finish inside with a negative rake scraper. Next commence final shaping on the outside of the lid so it fits into the base recess.

Finally mount a jam chuck to fit the lid into in order to finish the top of the lid. Use hot glue or masking tape to hold in place and bring up tailstock for support. Turn top and knob to desired shape. Remount using knob as spigot and adjust fitting of lid. Sand inside of bowl using Simon Hope sander (or drill attachment). Finish with Skydd oil.

This was a lovely project for members to take back to the workshop and turn a very useful kitchen item. Thanks Eugene for making the long journey from Tyrone to be with us on a beautiful  summer’s evening. It was a pleasure to have you and see you again soon.