2015 Seminar
The Craobh Eo Seminar for 2015 was held on Sat 23th May in the Craobh Eo Centre in Aghamore. There was a good attendance and our appreciation to all who attended especially those who travelled long distances.
Demonstrators for the day were Sean Clifford (UK) and Tom McCosh (Ulster Chapter).
Sean Clifford
Sean’s first project was a laburnum winged bowl. The blank was mounted on the lathe, the bottom shaped and spigot left to later turn the top and hollow it out. Turning a winged bowl is not for the faint hearted and since you have no support for most of the turn safety is of primary concern. Sean took us through his techniques for doing this. When the bottom was done the blank was mounted in the chuck to turn the top. Sean chose to cut out the inside and save the wood. Its a good idea and demands a fair bit of skill to get it right. The blank was then finished to reveal a beautiful, eye catching laburnum winged bowl.
Next Sean turned a decorated bowl. He mounted the small bowl blank and shaped it on the outside to a finish. Then three sections of equal width (the width of the electric finger sander) were marked off at the top with a marking tool to prepare for the decorating.
A series of coves were then cut into the wood with the electric sander along the previously marked top section all around the bowl. This was followed by a second series offset from the first and finally a third series to complete the decoration. See below. The sections were further defined by deepening the marking to give a very pleasant appearance. The bowl was then remounted and hollowed in the normal way. Finally Sean mounted the bowl on a rounded blank between centres and finished off the base.
Sean’s last act was to mount the laburnam bowl turned earlier in similiar fashion and finish off the bottom.
This was Sean’s first demo in Ireland. We were delighted to have him in Mayo and hope it will be the first of many demos here.
Follow the progress of both project in the photos below.
Tom McCosh
Tom McCosh is a member of the Ulster Chapter and comes from Ballymena. Tom’s strength is his ability to design and then follow through with inventions to be able to produce it on the lathe. He arrived with lots of inventions to prove his point and encouraged us to follow suit and never be limited by the traditional round shape.
Tom’s first project was on segmented turning. Since this type of turning is about cutting accurate segments and glueing them together, some way of achieving this needed to be found without investing in expensive equipment which would discourage the beginner.
Tom’s answer was to invent a segment making jig for cutting the segments with the use of a Japanese saw. A number of other jigs to assist in sanding and accurate measurement were on view also. The fruits of all this was a very accurate ring of segments. He then turned a small bowl and finished it to a very high standard.
The second project was a square box. Again Tom had a very sophisticated jig made to turn the box. A blank was prepared to precise dimensions to fit into the jig and secured properly. Each side of the box could then be turned and decorated. The box was then removed from the jig and inserted in a jig for hollowing out and finishing on the lathe.
These were very sophisticated jigs and very well made and are a credit to Tom and his design skills.
See the story in pictures below.
Competition
There was a wonderful display of turned items for the competition which was judged by Sean and Tom.
Bothe judges were very impressed by the variety and quality of the pieces on display and complimented all who took part.
Winner Pat Walsh Dublin (Wych Elm Bowl)
Second Gabriel Wall South East (Walnut Bowl)
Third Paddy Murphy South East (Lidded Yew Bowl)