Club meeting 29 May 2019
Report by Earl Culham

Bob showed members two examples of the cake stand he intended to make; a single platter on a pedestal, and a two tier platter with a central supporting column. The demonstration would be how to make the two tier version.

Bob commenced by emphasising the need to attend to the basics i.e. plan your project. A little planning will make the project run smoothly. He suggested that the platters could be made from recycled cupboard doors or old cabinet sides. The central column was to be held together by a threaded rod so that the cake stand could be disassembled for storage.

When planning platter sizes, remember that a standard cake size is 250mm but can range from 200-360mm.

The central column included the base, a central spacer and the top which could be turned to your preferred shape e.g. as a handle.

Bob had prepared his support column by drilling a hole through his base, centre spacer and top for the threaded rod. A recess was drilled in the bottom of the base to take the jaws of a 50mm chuck and later the assembly nut. The platters had been cut to round on the band saw and a centre hole drilled to take a spigot.

Once the base had been shaped, the next task was to turn the first platter to round. Bob fitted the base to the platter using the spigot and using the tail stock, pressed the platter against a large disc mounted on a faceplate. With the lathe running at a slower speed, this was a quick and effective method of holding the work for finishing.

The centre spacer was turned to shape and the same method of using tail stock pressure for holding the second platter would have been used. However there was a technical problem and the project was not completed.

Thanks Bob for a well planned demonstration.

So the plan was to have a hands on night, where each member of the club made a slimline pen.

As there have been many new members since the last attempt at something similar, Terry started with a “short” demo. Of course Terry the proceeded to try and get everything he could about how to make a pen into the demo, here is a quick report of the major points.

Blank – 20mm square cut slightly longer than tubes

Mark to keep grain aligned

Drill a 7mm hole for the tube – alternative methods of drill press with jig or on lathe using pin or pen jaws were discussed

With lathe option about 500rpm. Make sure you align the lathe head first.

Rough up the outside of the brass tube with some sandpaper

Put potato plug in end of the tube to prevent glue going in.

Glue into blank with superglue

Mill ends of blank – don’t use vice as may stretch brass tube.

Put the blanks on a pen mandrel with bushes to match pen kit.
Mandrel saver (live centre) presented as an option instead of default knurled nut.

Turn lathe up fast as you are turning a very small diameter.

Cut from the centre out with spindle roughing gouge.

Skew for finishing cuts

Sand through grits -240 320 400

Use U-Beaut EEE-ULTRA SHINE to get a high polish.

Terry the used SHELLAWAX GLOW to finish.

Take the matching pair you have just turned – keeping the grain aligned. Terry suggested if turning a lot of pens to make up a board with 4 inch nails to keep them together.

Assemble pen – taking care to put mechanism in correct distance into the pen to have the point protrude the correct distance and allow it to retract.

Terry then gave a quick demo of the disassembly process if you want to refinish a warn pen or replace some parts.

The crowd then went to the lathes and the real fun began. Many people taking home a successful first pen.

Thanks Terry.

Club Meeting: 8 May 2019
Report By: John Whitmore

The intention was to both inform members and to preserve the Guild’s tools. Consistent sharpening of SAWG tools makes it easier for new turners to move between work stations and the tools last longer. Instruction is available for using the sharpening station.

Tools can be sharpened on either an abrasive wheel or on a flat abrasive surface such as a disc or linisher (a belt sander in disguise). Whilst all have their merits, the basic difference is that wheels produce a concave bevel and discs/linishers give a flat bevel. Honing was not part of this presentation but could usefully be incorporated in a later demonstration.

The usual form of abrasive wheel sharpening is via a double-ended grinder having wheels of 150mm (6”) or 200mm (8”) diameter, the larger size being preferable but more expensive. More specialised machines are available including several brands with larger 250mm (10”) wheels running in a water bath and slower speed grinders intended to reduce the generation of heat.

Ordinary ‘workshop’ grinders are usually supplied with (grey) carborundum wheels of low quality. Internationally, there is a variety of different coloured grinding wheels purporting to serve different purposes but the ideal approach is to have a cubic boron nitride (CBN) wheel for high speed steel (HSS) tools at one end, plus an aluminium oxide wheel (white) for other ferrous materials, at the other end. Both are readily available in NZ.

The use of a 300mm disc sander for sharpening was developed in-house and with a jig for each tool, enables a quick ‘polish’ rather than serious grinding to replenish an edge. The linisher is a much more expensive product by Robert Sorby having a useful variety of easily interchangeable belts and reliable jig settings for repeatability. Whereas all grinding wheels (except the CBN) gradually reduce in diameter, the disc and belt abrasive surfaces remain consistently flat.

Other useful points arising were:

• Recommended bevel angles for Guild tools are bowl gouges of 35 and 55 degrees, spindle gouges 30, spindle roughing gouges 45, parting chisels 30, skew chisels 30.
• Wheels, disc and linisher abrasives have different grits (or roughness) and hardness.
• Don’t dip HSS tools in cooling water as the temper will be ruined. Tool steel is OK for cooling.
• Always use a jig to achieve a single, smooth, and symmetrical bevel. This doesn’t work well for negative rake scrapers or if an asymmetrical bevel is wanted – the latter usually by professionals freehand sharpening.
• Putting a diamond-section parting tool sideways into the Guild’s Truegrind tool holder enables both bevels to be sharpened without any repositioning.
• A diamond dresser is available for cleaning dirt and glaze off all sintered (cooked in an oven) wheels. A CBN wheel is never dressed.
• Sintered wheels can shatter so always use them with guards in place.
• Do not sharpen on the side of a wheel unless specifically labelled as a side-cutting wheel.
• A 55 degree bowl gouge is useful across the inside bottom of bowls when a more ‘pointy’ 35 degree grind may result in a gouge shaft hitting the bowl rim.
• Sharpening a pencil is a good analogy to explain ‘cutting with the grain’.
• A plug was also given for using sharp sandpaper.

Alongside the theory, sharpening using Guild jigs and tools was demonstrated with some bowl shaping. The presentation was accompanied by excellent visual aids and invasive music from next door. Despite the music, a good time was had by all and clear information was received during a well-structured performance.