.Workshop Report March 24 201
Jerry Twomey
Next up was Jerry Twomey,
our Chapter Safety Coordinator and several years a demonstrator. Jerry always
comes up with something interesting and today was no different with ‘inside
out’ turning a lamp. He has a very good approach to woodturning which is one
well planned step at a time. And as a result he worked through the process
making a potentially complex process very simple.
Here are the main
points:
- Check that the four pieces are square
(90degrees).
- Glue in pairs with paper joints so that
they will be easily split apart later.
- Fix squares of ply to the ends to avoid
the centres, particularly the tailstock centre from splitting the pieces.
- Turn the required shape to the blank
leaving some square material on both ends.
- Split the joints and reverse the pieces
carefully.
- Permanently glue the four pieces leaving
the turned area to the inside.
- Optionally a decorative spindle can be
fitted to the centre before the final gluing to camouflage the electric
cable.
- Replace the plywood squares.
- Turn desired shape and put a spigot at one
end to fit base.
- Turn base and fit to stem.
Jerry’s demo again
should appeal to all levels. The beauty of Jerry’s project is that it can be
made from small cross-sectional stock, 2”x 2”(50x50) and a small circular piece
for the base.
A Big Thank You! Jerry
from all of us.
See photos of Jerry’s
demo below and also the Competition Winners.
 |
| Peter Manning 2nd Advanced with Sean McSweeney Judge |
 |
| John Ahen 1st Advanced |
 |
| Jerry Twomey with finished piece |
 |
| John Ahern |
 |
| Demo Piece |
W
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| Senan 1st Beginners with Ger Hennessy Judge |
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| Kevin 1st Intermediate with Ger Hennessy Judge |
 |
| Jin Donovan 3rd Advanced |
John Ahern.
John Ahern, esteemed
Chairman, stood up to give the first demonstration of the day. Two parts - part
one on sharpening and part two on texturing. He began by stating that nice
tools, equipment and timber is to no avail without “ edge “ “ and I mean good
sharp tools all the time”. He then went on to explain the difference between
“grinding” and “sharpening”(honing). Grinding is where you take a damaged
cutting edge or an unsatisfactory grind angle and re-shape it that will
necessitate the removal of substantial steel. Whereas sharpening (honing) is
the removal of the minimum steel to regain keen edge on a dull tool. John went
on to introduce his preferred grinding/sharpening system, the Sorby Pro Edge.
This is a belt system with a variety of belts available: aluminium oxide for
carbon steel (carpentry and joinery tools), Zirconium for high-speed steel and
Ceramic also for HSS but more effective and longer lasting. Johns demo was
carefully thought out and dealt with questions as they arose. It was obvious
that John was convinced of this system and it delivered great edge as he
demonstrated later.
The following are main
points:
Grinding.
- Start with 60grit and work through each
grit.
- Keep flutes clean and be extremely careful
around that cutting edge.
- Finish off with 3000 grit.
- Optional is fine honing on a strop or
leather pad. Homemade pad – ensure smooth leather side is glued down with
rough side up.
John also touched on
different grindstone types and the importance of keeping the surface of the
stone true and clean – there are a variety of dressing tools available. On he
went to give a show of fine shavings with each tool previously sharpened. All
were impressed. He also demonstrated how a bowl gouge could be used with one
hand to stress that with good edge there is no need for force of any sort. To
push home the point a little further, when in doubt, stop the lathe and
reassess your whole approach – guaranteed its poor edge.
Texturing.
Having comprehensively
covered grinding and sharpening John proceeded to an overview of texturing and
provided some good tips:
- 1000rpm.
- Rotary head on texturing tool held at 45
degrees.
- Encouraged experimentation with speed and
angle of address.
- Colour can be applied with ink markers to
highlight the actual texture.
- A beads or a simple vee can emphasise and
separate certain sections of texturing.
Overall a very good
and informative demo with plenty for the beginner and the more experienced. The
overall thrust of his demo throughout was on the importance of “edge” and this
cannot be overstated. So it was good for everyone, I’m sure, to take a moment
to reflect on this most important aspect of woodturning.
Thank You! John.
See photos of Johns
demo below.
As Always the members would like to thank today's judges Sean Mc Sweeney and Ger Hennessy for judging the competition, and also for their excellent critique.