I apologise to our Chapter members for my failure to keep you all up to date for a number of months past.  I was preparing to move house, then moving house and on top of it all I became ill and spent some time in hospital.  I am, thankfully, slowly but surely recovering.  Thank you to my many friends within the Chapter for your kind concern that was shown in so many different ways.  A special thank you to Chairman, John Ahern, for filling in some stuff on our web page and Facebook page.

Our September workshop was back in Tony Farrell’s workshop and studio.  As usual we were well fed and Tony’s now famous delicious ham was better than ever.  Alice and her team did us proud yet again.

Tony took us through the intricacies of turning a hollow form.  He showed us first some pieces he had made over the years and with his usual straightforward approach was happy to show us a few that didn’t work out quite as well as expected.

He mounted on the lathe a piece of a birch log that was still wet and which he had harvested from the bottom of his own garden.  After getting through the bark and other imperfections the white streamers fairly flew from his tools.  He was soon down to a good cylinder and it was time to remount that on his chuck.  Recommending a set of gripper jaws he was very soon hollowing from the end grain.  Like the great demonstrator that he is we were shown a variety of hollowing tools, from the Woodcut to the Simon Hope small hollowing tool.

After the break, including the judging of the monthly competition, we were back to the workshop where Tony took us through his preferred finishing process.

In the course of that discussion he introduced most of us, who hadn’t heard of it before, to Osmo PolyX-Oil.  It is now much favoured by furniture makers and is available from Pat McDonnell Pints.  There are a number of different finishes and I include a photo of a tin of one of them, as promised.  The price is, I understand, about €25.00 per tin.

For whatever reason I turned up at the demonstration without my camera and I now await copies of photos taken by Alice so that I can share them here, together with detailed results of the competition.

Cork Chapter September 1st 2017

The Cork Chapter committee are encouraging all of our members to enter their work in the monthly competition, a practice that has fallen by the wayside over the past few years. Most if not all of our turners are producing work of a very high standard. These are comments made by Pat Carroll at the August workshop, who also pointed out that the number of pieces in the competition compared to the number of turners in the Chapter was very small.

It can take bravery to display your work and risk appraisal or, even worse , for it not to be noticed. so well done to everyone who seeks to improve their work, by entering competitions and accepting appraisal if it is necessary

The Chapter is always on the lookout for ways to improve it, for instance, more members being prepared to do demos  There is no doubt that there are many members who are more than capable of doing so.  The Committee are members who willingly let their names  go forward for election at the AGM, to oversee the organising and running of the Chapter for the following year, but at times it is disappointing that, except  for the few, the same people are left to clear up the shavings and restore the school as we get it. In future it would be appreciated if some more members gave a hand at this.

John B Ahern Chairman

August Workshop 2017

After a very successful annual Wood Spun Exhibition  and sale which was held in Kinsale our August workshop was held in our HQ in Togher. Making a return visit was guest turner Pat Carroll. Pat gave a wonderful demonstration on woodturning. Before starting his first demo Pat gave a talk on Health and Safety especially matters relating to the danger of dust and the necessity to keep dust protection on even after you have finished sanding , also the danger of dust explosion and flying items from the lathe.

Pat started  first demo. It was a  12ix2inch. platter in elm with a brick design on the side and continuing on to the top of the platter. He started by turning the platter to his desired shape, then marking out the brick shapes and proceeding to finish the bricks using a router again explaining in detail all the procedures he was using.

To finish the platter he first sprayed it with black acrylic paint and then coating it with silver gilt cream.

It was a pleasure to watch Pat complete his first project. We then took a break for refreshments. During this period Pat and our most efficient  Sec. Mick Bouchier judged the competition which this  month was a natural edged bowl .

For the second demo Pat turned a Nick Ager inspired bowl. He emphasised  the importance of sharp tools, as he proceeded to turn the bowl and mark it with a soft leaded pencil explaining the outline of the decorative design he was going to do. Having shaped and marked the bowl he proceeded to decorate it with a series of punches, carving tools, chisels, screws and all sorts of everything. When finished with the decorative tools he proceeded to spray it with black acrylic paint and silver gilt cream as he did in the first demo.

All present agreed that it was a great demo. The finished pieces were a witness to that. Thanks Pat we look forward to seeing you back in Cork in the future.   

John B Ahern