Club Meeting 10th December 2025
Report by: Denise Donovan
Janets demo today involved making Lollies / Chocolates for Christmas Table decorations and tree ornaments (think wrapped sweets like Chocolates, Chocolate Eclairs, Minties and toffees etc)
Pen blanks are a good source of wood for the small ones
Put the blank between centres and round on the lathe to 20mm diameter.
Mark out the lines for parting off and adding the “twist” recesses. 30mm for the centre of the sweet and 15mm for the tail twists. Don’t make them too long or they look like Christmas crackers
Using a thin parting tool shape the twist recesses and then part off each sweet. A thin parting tool like the Robert Sorby one gives you a nice narrow recess and saves wood when parting off.
You can also leave the blank square and just turn the tails for a Mintie / Toffee shape
One you have made the basic shape, you are ready for carving
Drill down the ends of the sweet to just shy of the twist recess
Janet uses a Micro Motor Carver at 45k rpm, and a sabre tooth bit, which allows you to remove excess wood quickly, and if used in the right direction you don’t have to sand afterwards.
These bits are strong and as Janet says “you’ll wear the machine out before the bits are worn out”
Use a wire brush to clean the bit if working on gummy wood, or it was advised that you can also flash the bit with a torch/flame to burn off the gum.
The Carvers are retailed by Timberly for approx. $600 and come with an optional foot pedal.
Janet uses Interchangeable hand pieces – allowing her to swap to different ends at ease.
Janet showed us a face sheield from Temu that is a good protection option for carving and burning as opposed to a full-face helmet. Undiluted dish liquid wiped on and off prevents fogging of the face mask.
Can make vertical or horizontal waves on the ends
Draw a 5-pointed figure and a circle half the radius of the outside
and hollow out between the 5 points not the centre circle
For a jagged edge carve all the centre out and draw a wavy line around the edge and carve out
Metallic embroidery thread (can get from the $2 shop.
Wrap around the recesses and glue. Do not use wool or Janet will haunt you.
A range of colours and shapes creates a festive mix
Toblerone shape, Barley twist, square, round, oval, different lengths and widths
For a traditional look, leave with a natural wood finish, in a plain bowl.
For a more festive look, use a colourful bowl as opposed to the classic look.
Janet demonstrated the carving technique for multi directional pattern in the bowl with peaks and troughs.
Paint background in solid colours (red and green for Christmas)
Guilders paste or paint can be applied to the peaks using your fingertips (just a smudge on the fingertips is enough) running in the direction of the peak.
Bandsaw lollies
Cut on the bandsaw and then carve
Take a long blank, and come in on an angle at each end, 4 times (4 sides) to create the flared ends
These can have hooks or loops added to add to a Christmas tree
A $2.50 tinsel tree has bands for hooks to hang decorations on
This was a fun, festive demo to end the year with, and gave some great ideas for adding Wood Turning to your Christmas Décor.
