Club Meeting 31 Jul 2024
Report by Roger Pye

Denise would happily toss away housekeeping in favour of woodturning. Her campervan is ready to roll complete with mini lathe to join in with any convention where there are other woodturners doing their stuff as well. No, she does not travel alone; her husband is there to do the driving and provide the meals or as time permits is out visiting the local sights.
So, this time, at her favourite SAWG Clubrooms, she elected to show us how to use other materials than just wood.

Being naturally inclined to produce items of jewellery, her choice was to make a pendant. The materials comprised a 4mm slice of pure white deer antler, together with a 4mm slice of jet-black buffalo horn. These two separate pieces were held in place face to face with double sided adhesive tape. A scroll saw was then used to cut an interesting design.

A drill press is used to drill an 8 mm hole through the joined slabs in the centre of the pendant scroll. When the two 4mm slabs were separated and one of the two pieces reversed, an exact fit is achieved. These two pieces are then permanently held in place with superglue.

With appropriate shaped blocks of wood fashioned to fit and hold the pendant centrepiece in the lathe the outer edge is carefully trimmed. Because of possible variations in thickness, a 10 mm round rubber pad is used at the tailstock.

8 mm diameter black and white infill buttons are turned-up separately about 10 mm long. Each is cut to an appropriate length for insertion in contrasting positions on the pendant.

A dense piece of mounting wood for the pendant is cut to a diameter of 60 mm. A Forstner bit of 38 mm diameter is used to cut out the initial mounting hole. The depth and final diameter are turned to get the exact fit for the pendant. The newly made disc is glued into place using medium Superglue.

A suitable “jamb-chuck” is then made for the final finishing of the new pendant. With the usual grades of sanding and polishing materials the front face of the pendant is brought up to a highly polished and smooth finish. Using the same wooden “jamb chuck”, reverse the pendant and polish the backside.

A small hole drilled through your selected top edge of the pendant will enable the fitting of a cord on which to hang the pendant around your neck.

Thank you Denise.