Club Meeting 5th Novemeber 2025 Report by Denise Donovan
“I’m going to have a grizzle” says Bryan, “no-one bothers to make a toy that can be specifically used in a hospital environment. One that can be played with while the patient is in a hospital ward, and then taken home to play with. We should make small toys for individuals that are simple and easy to grasp and hold onto…Simple Shit!!!”
Bryan made a dozen small peg dolls a while ago, as good practise with a skew, and demonstrated how easy they are to make, and showed us the different design options, such as Snowman, Santa, Doll, Clown, Elf etc
Process
Small block of wood – 30x30x120 approx (A good wood option is offcuts of straight soft wood from a timber merchant)
Put one end into chuck – bring up tail stock
2000 rpm
Round the wood blank and then remove the tail stock
Starting at the tail stock end mark out a hat, brim, head, collar, body, legs
Shape the top of the hat first, followed by the brim, and then work the head
Optional is to turn a captive ring as a necklace or collar.
Next turn the body shape
Lastly, use a Bedan style parting tool to narrow the diameter for the legs
Part off at base of legs.
Another option is to turn just the wooden body, with a head and hat, and add pipe cleaners for arms and legs, with beads made from 8mm dowel for the feet and hands. These make good “Elf on the Shelf” toys.
While Bryan was turning he had Kieran, Janet and Strett decorating toys already made with Acrylic brush markers purchased from Ali Express – Guang Na brand. These are multi-purpose pens for use on Paper, Rock, Timber, Glass, Canvas etc. The winner to win a set of these Acrylic Brush Pens … And the winner is… Strett … Yay!!!!!
Club Night: 22nd October 2025 Report by: Graeme Mackay
A well presented view of children’s rattle types. Cory put forward three different types of rattles and supporting examples. All provided was good clear voice. These types were aptly named; single rattle, two-piece rattle and three-piece rattle. Production methods were given with a smile and good humour.
At each stage construction options and alternatives were illustrated with a return to the SAWG project sheet. Production targets/items: standard tools and gouges Wood and material choices Sound and percussion items.
Measurements: Always, or as usual, the correctness of the working measurement raises its head. The accuracy is challenged, queried and rechecked.
Single Piece Rattle: A variety of methods were shown and/or demonstrated including manual carpentry chisel splitting to assist the making the rattle hollow. Glues were mentioned with Corey preferring the standard PVA approach.
There was interesting discussion as to the shape of the interior space and type of Woods that would provide the best reaction. A wide range of opinions were put forward or should one say, the shape opinions.
Two-Piece Rattle: Completed examples were shown to the audience. Again, a range of personal opinions, production comments, and a return of the question of measurement. Cory had solid advice for the new Turners and a reminder about the project sheets within the SAWG workspace,
Three-piece rattle: The steps were similar; however, the shape was a different strain. Cory version was for three bits of wood with the hollow section being drilled or Forstnered out of the thicker central piece. The laminated style allows for different wood colours to provide embellishment. Again, encouragement to experiment with wood types and thicknesses. Further, the project provides the use of different spindle techniques i.e. shadow or ghost turning.
Key point: the diameter and size of handle and rattle head matter. The rattles are toys for the very young. The large adult hand is not the target.
Cory commented that the project is an avenue in which to experiment with timbers and try alternative methods. Try the process, check the measurements, and avoid the cut too far.
Glenn’s demo was an interesting take on producing flowers of varying types as art pieces. Also this is a great way to practice and improve your spindle gouge and skew work.
Flowers
Glenn started out with a cylinder of wood mounted into a chuck. This was hollowed out leaving a centre piece to be made into the stamen. After this initial hollowing for the face of the flower a skew was used to “peel” back the centre “stamen” in small shaves at a time being careful to not remove them but to leave then attached to give the rough ‘feathered” look of the inside of the flower.
Now the back side of the flower is turned. Accuracy is required to keep the petal thin and leaving the base thick enough to either turn or attach a stalk / branch to the flower.
Once this flower was paired off, then produced another using the same technique but turned down about 100mm from behind the flower to produce one on a longer stalk.
Next Glenn put a larger piece of wood between two spindles. This was turned to 150mm diameter (approx.) with a 50mm tenon machined onto one end. This was then placed into a chuck. As before a concave front of as flower was machined with a centre left that was then peeled back in layers with a skew to produce the stamen. Now the back was turned but made thicker this time to allow the front to be textured with a carving tool. This allowed the flower to be made to look like the petals were overlapping and had texture on the surface (colour could also be added at this stage if desired).
Using the same techniques Glenn then rapidly produce another 3 or four flowers.
When getting ready to carve the flowers, initially draw with a pencil the shapes desired. Then either carve completely or make initial saw cuts to separate the beginning of the petals. Then Glenn carved the petals with grooves at the outlines with a slight undercut to make them look like the overlapped. The outside gape can then also be shaped with the carver to make the outside shape of the petals.
This was a great demo from Glen and showed a creative way of making flowers that could be used to decorate any room with style.
Club Night Demo: 10th September 2025 Report by: Emma James-Ries
This was a fantastically humorous demo and if you missed it, you missed some good honest turning & banter! Starting the demo, Kieran danced & sang to the original song My-Ding-A-Ling by Dave Bartholmu from 1952. We wondered where this was all going… only to see Kieran produce a small lidded box in the shape of a counter bell! Fabulous introduction to a great little project.
To start the box you need 2 x 95 x 95 x 25mm squares of cross grain timber. Using a hot glue chuck, Kieran mounted the first piece, which was to be the base of the bell, to the lathe, locked the tailstock and knocked off the corners. A little tip he shared here, to avoid spraying shaving everywhere, hold out your little pinky to stem the flow of flying shavings, but be careful not to touch the timber!
Once the piece is round, face off the front, Kieran used a draw cut here. Now to make a 50mm dove tail recess of 2mm deep in the bottom. Next he shaped a bead for the base of the box, then shaped the curve of the bell and sanded to a high finish.
Next he heated up the glue with a heat gun to free the piece from the chuck. An audience member cautioned here to NEVER part off the glue chuck with a bandsaw, unfortunately speaking with experience of the pain of cleaning hotmelt glue off his bandsaw blade. Thanks for the tip!
Next Kieran mounted the base using expanding jaws in the prepared recess. Then he faced off the front and put a small chamfer on the rim. After he moved on to creating a recess for the tenon of the lid to sit inside. Then it was time to hollow out, being mindful of the recess in the base and not to go too deep, Kieran first used a spindle gouge in the centre to drill the depth, then hollowed out with a bowl gouge. To smooth the bottom he used a standard scraper above centre to avoid a catch. That was the base of the box finished!
Moving on to the lid, again mounting with a glue chuck and turning round. Kieran was turning at a speed of 1750 in this process, he faced off the front. With calipers to measure the fit for the lid, he made a tenon with a parting tool to fit the base. He then proceeded to drill out the lid using the same method as the base. He made sure to leave enough room for a recess to fit the finial later. Once again, he smoothed out with the scraper and sanded.
Turning the lid around and holding very gently in the recess, he cut a little bead to sit proud of the base, then proceeded to shape the rest of the bell head. He made a small flat at the very top of the bell, for the finial to sit. He then drilled a small hole for the finish to sit.
Using a blank of 20x20x100mm timber, he turned round, made a spigot to fit the finial recess and made a cute finial in the shape of a bell button. After a little touch of sandpaper he parted off and assembled the finished bell box! Fantastic and entertaining demo, thank you Kieran.
Shannon talked about how they move the logs out of the forest, with bullock teams, rail and river. The applicable method to his demo was the use of the river where the floated the logs down and there were some that got caught up or sunk. There are companies now specialising in recovery of the lost logs. You can find these companies via google such as https://www.nz-native-riverwood.com/ or https://rivien.nz/
Shannon also has a piece of log that had evidence of the crew stamp on the log that would identify who gets paid once the log made it to the mill.
A number of pieces of river timber were passed around, the colour varied depending on the minerals that were in the water.` The timber was very well preserved due to the lack of oxygen.
Next Shannon started talking about the wall hanging he makes, in traditional shapes like the toki (adze) or more of a teardrop shape. This was further enhanced with either ladder binding or weave binding.
The smaller examples he started making from offcuts and as such they were often irregular pieces. The starting point was to mark out the centre line, use a framing square to establish the top at 90 degree to the centre line. Width of the bottom was generally about twice that of the top.
Then to the bandsaw and cut out the shape. The shape is then refined with the help of a power planner, sander, use of wood filler if required and a wire brush to make sure all the dirt is removed from any natural edge or surface.
The surface is then sanded and oiled with a danish oil. First coat is a full flood coats, then the excess is rubbed off. This is then left for 24 hours before some fine sanding and a 2nd coat.
Shannon then demonstrated some of the binding techniques he uses. He suggested that anybody wanting to learn look at Campbell Carving on youtube. Although Shannon was using heavy cord rather than the fine cord on the pounamu shown on the youtube videos, the principle is still the same, but keeping tension is definitely more difficult.
It was another excellent demo which opens up more ideas people can explore in their craft. Thank you Shannon.
Club Meeting: 27 August 2025 Report by: Kieran FitzGerald
In his introduction the President banged his gavel and made out that the meeting was in fact a court hearing. Whether it was by design or totally off the cuff, Jon continued this theme throughout his demonstration to great effect.
Over recent weeks, Jon has shown some delightful bowls decorated with wooden inlays. Each week’s showing has been a more complex variation of the previous one. It was the story of the development of this journey that Jon was to describe to us tonight.
His journey began a mere 2 ½ months or so ago. He was intrigued with the potential for embellishing with wood inlays, and Dick revealed that he had a drilling jig for this purpose. (There was a story behind this, of course, but let’s not go there!!) Jon’s first instinct was to search YouTube for videos about bowls with inlays. The search returned countless responses on bowls with resin, a few with pewter, but only a couple on wooden inlays. So Jon basically had to design his own process and learn from his own experience as he progressed.
In typical Jon Pearse fashion, he took to the metal shop, and using Dick’s jig as a model, he built his own version of a jig in which to mount a power drill for drilling symmetrical holes around the rim of a bowl mounted on the lathe Drilling Rig For The Lathe. Responding to comments from the floor, Jon declared that his isn’t much bigger than Dick’s. Innuendo much.
Jon identified five main points which, from his learned experience, contributed to good results with wooden inlays.
Using contrasting woods: For example a bowl from dark wood, with inlays of oak or kahikatea. Jon produced an experimental eggcup made from jarrah with rimu inlays. Although tidily made, the inlays were not overly noticeable because of the lack of contrast.
Drilling accurate holes: Jon went into some detail about the need to drill the holes with the correct angle and depth. These factors will impact on the finished shape of the inlays (eg either round or oval), and the length of the required inlays. Exhibit 1 was Jon’s first inlaid bowl, in London plane with walnut inlays.
Cutting accurate inlays: A firm fit is essential. Although Jon glues his in, others are experimenting with a press fit to eliminate the possibility of a visible glue line around the inlays.
Indexing pattern. The index system built in to the lathes have some drawbacks. These include slop when locked into an index hole (if worn), and they are limited to 24 indexing positions which only gives you 2, 3, 4, 6, 12 or 24 evenly spaced inlay positions. Jon built a custom indexing disc (of course he did). Indexing System For The Lathe
Design. Jon advised he is fortunate to be able to imagine his plan in his head, but best advice is to draw the plan for your project.
Jon continued by going into a bit more detail on some aspects.
You cannot expect to drill accurate holes with a hand held drill. A jig to steady the drill and lock it in position is required.
The model both Dick and Terry have is a Drill Wizard made by OneWay.
The drill itself needs to have a mounting collar with which to secure it in the jig.
The 3 key must dos are: Drill on centre, accurate angles and consistent depth.
Holes may be drilled straight or angled. Jon recommends angled holes should not exceed 35° off square to the wood being drilled. Too much angle would mean that the holes would need to be drilled much deeper and you risk not being able to clean up the inlays on the inside of the bowl.
Use parallel plug cutters to make the inlays, not tapered ones.
Cut test plugs (inlays) and test holes in scrap to make sure the inlay fits the hole properly.
Cut the inlays down the grain, not across, for strength
Use a drill press to drive the plug cutter.
Jon’s next exhibits (Exhibits 2 & 3) showed inlays inserted vertically from the top rim, as opposed to horizontally through the side of the bowl.
Mapping out the locations to drill the holes is the first important step. This depends on the diameter of the bowl and what size inlays you are using. Jon’s rule of thumb is that the inlays should be spaced 3 or 4 times the diameter of the inlay apart. So 8mm inlays should be space between 24 to 32mm apart on centre. This is marked out on the bowl then a suitable indexing pattern needs to be found that will match, or will be close to these markings. In this example 3 indexing positions of the lathe’s built in indexing system matched the markings. This will produce 8 equally spaced holes.
Alignment of the drill is achieved by lining the drill bit up parallel with the banjo and using a rafter square to position the banjo at right angles to the lathe bed. The hole depth is set on the jig, the spindle is locked with the in-built indexing system, and the first hole is drilled. Release the spindle lock, turn the spindle 3 indexing notches, and lock and drill. Rinse and repeat until finished. Glue and carefully knock in the inlay plugs with a hammer. It is recommended to bring up the tailstock while installing the inlays so the bowl doesn’t get knocked out of alignment in the chuck. Leave overnight until the glue has fully dried.
Exhibit 4 was a bowl with 36 inlays of 3 different woods. The indexing plate in the lathe does not have enough indexing positions to manage this many holes, so Jon used his own custom built indexing plate, which incidentally Jon claims has over 1000 locator holes, each painstakingly drilled over 2 – 3 days. Jon described how he chose the positions and drilled the indexing holes using a rotary table, but I have to say it flew over everyone’s head except Reinhart’s, who said, or pretended, that he understood. The second part of Jon’s indexing system is a movable, 2 strut locking arm fitted to the bed of the lathe. This holds the indexing disc solidly in position. Have a look at Jon’s video for a full description (link pasted earlier in report).
Jon’s next two exhibits (Exhibits 5 & 6) showed more complex indexing. The first a bowl with multi different sized inlays in a cluster configuration, requiring locations to be drilled on more than one circumference. The final exhibit was a bowl with inlays within inlays. Obviously his custom indexing system was used to make these bowls.
The process of making the inlay bowls takes a minimum of two days, so could not be achieved during the time available for the demo. But Jon gave us practical demonstrations of some of the key steps in the process. First he drilled holes in the outside of a blank, and glued and knocked in the inlays. It looks better if the grain of the inlays lined up with the grain of the bowl. Then on a bowl that previously had inlays glued in, he used a multi tool to cut off the unwanted length of the inlays. You need to be careful not to abrase the bowl with the multi tool. Next with a bowl gouge he turned the last millimetre or two so the inlays were flush with the outside of the bowl. Then it is pretty much following the conventional steps to finish the bowl – hollow out the inside, sand the bowl and add a finish.
The last exhibit (Exhibit 7) was a spalted ash bowl with square inlays, turned and fitted at 45° to look like a diamond pattern. To make the square holes Jon used an 8mm mortise cutter in his drilling jig. He fabricated an adapter for the mortise cutters that bolts onto the drilling jig drill. The drilling jig can then be used to cut square holes.
Later in the year there will be an open day for ornamental turners, and anyone interested is invited to attend. And don’t forget there are regular meetings for ornamental turners on the last Monday of every month. Contact John Whitmore for more details.
After the demonstration Jon informed the Judge that his case was complete and asked the Court to rise.
The entire process is way too lengthy to give a full description in this report, but if you go to Jon’s YouTube channel there are several videos of him making the bowls which were exhibited in this demo. The Hobby Machinist NZ – YouTube
Of course if you like the videos, please like and subscribe. Cheers Jon, you can pay me later.
Club Meeting 20 August 2025 Report by Ian Connelly
Steampunk is an artform that has grown on O’Dell. It is based on the idea of punking something out with a steam theme.
It started with O’Dell looking at what was out there in the way of steampunk birds, he found a number of examples on the internet.
This lead to the development of a Tui in flight, with a steampunk theme that he is currently working on.
The Tui was carved in radiata pine, as O’Dell does not like to use native timbers for something that is going to be painted.
Once carved it was painted first with bumper black, then with lumiere paints.
The steampunk themed gears, swords…. were sourced from temu and glued on with CA glue.
The poi on the tui was white vinyl, as a feather can present problems if it gets sent to another country.
When making an artwork, you need to consider – Form, Simplicity, Dominance and Contrast.
So next O’Dell talked about the background and mounting he was going to do for this piece. It was to be mounted on a pine coffee table blank from bunnings, and there will be another layer between the background and the bird to give it more depth. The background will be coloured with guilder paste.
There was then a discussion about when to stop adding to a piece. O’Dell suggested periodically leaving the workshop for a cup of tea. When you come back look at the piece from different angles, this is when it will become apparent if you have done enough, or you still have more work. There is a risk otherwise that you are not looking at the whole piece, but only focusing on the current detail you are working on.
Progress through learning, copying and developing, on the journey of finding your “art”.
Challenge:
O’Dell’s Steampunk Butteryfly Box Competition.
Make a Butterfly Box for our Child Cancer Charity and steampunk it.
Club Meeting: 13 August 2025 Report by Ian Connelly
Emma started the evening talking about the piece she did at the NAW Demo Weekend in Upper Hutt. She also showed the decoration that she had put on a pipe turned by Glenn Cleaver and inspired by Lord of the Rings.
The she started the project of the night – a lotus flower.
A block of kahikatea approx. 200 square and 30 thick was mounted on the lathe between centres and a spigot was turned suitable for 30mm jaws .
She created a gentle curve on the bottom, turned it around into the chuck and thinned it down, It was then shaped the same as you would with a plate. Thinning the edge and tapering the thickness into the bottom to represent the petals thy were to become. The turned plate was then sanded.
Emma used the indexing on the lathe, and a marking tool on a platform to mark out even spacing and a concentric line to denote the bottom of the petals. She also drilled a shallow 10mm hole in the centre of the bowl.
A second piece of wood was then produced which was approx 160mm square and 60 thick. Mounted it on the chuck with a spigot.
The outside was turned as a layered bowl, looking like one bowl emerging from the other. It was turned around and hollowed, to the “top of the tealight”. A 1 1/2″ forstner (38mm) was used to drill a hole for the tealight.
Emma then used a woodcut flexi hollower to hollow between the bowls, sanded and marked out using the index on the lathe.
The Emma got out the NSK high speed dental drill to carve out the petals of the bowl. The speed caused th wood to burn on the edge, but running a light pass over the surface removed the burning. This NSK only works with a good compressor and runs using 70psi and a good regulator.
Then came some colour, Emma talked about dyes, lumiere metallic and pearlescent acrylics and her use of Eye Candy Mica Powder mixed with Pinata Claro Extender so that it works more like a paint.
Another great demo with lots of information, some shavings on the ground. A great night at the club, thanks Emma.
A different and fascinating approach to the term them of Nature. Based on an interest in Brian Nash, Artist, and experience with Linocuts, Jonathan demonstrated how the different parts (bark, cambium, sapwood, heartwood and pith) can produce an image when treated as a printing block.
Using a cross section of a tree (branch or small tree) as the starting point for the “printing block”; in the demo a young cross section of a Kauri was used; the surface was cleared of chainsaw marks. The options to “face off” were sanding, router in a sledge or mounted on the lathe (against a face plate using double sided tape, glue or pressure from the tailstock) and once smooth the surface is burnt using a gas torch. The charred surface is carefully using a Japanese wood brush, Uzukuri. Jonathan had one such brush and had made his own. The brush is firm but soft ensuring only the burnt carbon is removed and the surface is not marked. The “homemade” brushes used cordage wrapped in masking, duct tape to achieve a stiff handle.
The next step was to apply a coat lacquer to stop the absorption of the Block Printing Ink. They are either water based or oil bases. Water based are easier for cleaning up. The ink comes in a range of colours and depending on the colour of the paper being used is the choice of ink colour. Samples printed on white and black paper clearly showed the benefit of choosing the right colour paper. The ink colour, of choice, is extruded onto a tray and spread out with a Brayer, a 20mm roller made of a hard rubber. The ink was roller many times to ensure consistency.
The ink is then rolled onto the surface of the wood you have prepared. The open time is around 20minutes. The paper is carefully laid down in the wood, working from one end. The paper is pressed onto the wood using a baren to ensure that an inked design is transferred to a paper surface evenly and clearly without the need for a printing press. Traditional barens were often bamboo-sheathed flat pads of wood or hardened paper pulp whilst modern ones can be plastic with a more ergonomic handle.
The pad is used to smoothly apply pressure to the back of the paper with a gentle circular motion to increase the contact between the surface and the inked design so that a good, clean print is achieved. You can carefully peel the paper back and if needed more ink can be added.
The quality of the paper affects the result. Paper for block printing, ds on whether you’re printing a final piece or practicing. For practice, lightweight papers like computer paper or newsprint are suitable. For final prints, consider archival papers like those used for fine art prints, with a weight of 170-200gsm for a good balance of durability and print quality.
Club Meeting: 23 July 2025 Report by: Graeme Mackay
Dick started with an outline of production turning for an approaching conference. In this case, some 400 pens as conference gifts for a specialist pest removal project gathering. Description was provided for the starting of the process and its relationship to the history of the conference.
The explanation quietly introduced the numbers required. Also , indicating the type of wood to be used for the pens: the sourcing of dated, several thousand-year-old swamp kauri remains from Ahipara.
Also, that became evident that the production of this mass of pens, some 400 in number required planning of both the individual unit production methods and that required to handle larger numbers. While the single unit production for the same for each, there was an additional layer required for the numbers. Quietly, along with the individual step descriptions, there are a number of modified tools and specific jigs that were required.
The batch totals for production were defined by the size and jig type and through some magic calculation, a total of 30 units per production section was arrived at. Slipping under this calculation was the great Woodturners method for individual time units. The overview had timings for every stage, process, workings, and the overall calculation of time per batch of 30 units.
It was easy to succumb to calculations until one thought of each 30 unit sections and posted time numbers covering the 400 pens required. Noting that the target was 400 identical items which included the internal workings, refill, and presentation package chasing. At each point in the demonstration, Dick quietly introduced the size and frequency of the time numbers required for each section, i.e. However, he added a very casual and clear direction that still kept in the open the detailing and production required for each mass production step.
Hidden in this quietness, it was a regular application of very detailed and precise planning and sequencing. The numbering of each individual pen as part of the production batch process. The importance of unit or batch sequencing was not denied or hidden, rather opened up to the audience giving a clear view of the difference between individual one-off and mass batch production.
In a tidy and easy to follow outlines in the SAWG project section. Each step had options available and choice of methods to follow e.g. preparing and dressing the timber. Benefits such as gluing choice options and their advantages are shown. Again, at each step production detail was covered and clearly outlined. A useful tip was that there are no process shortcuts. Each step is required, the choice of action at any step is your own. Dick acknowledged the additional steps to use for working in swamp Kauri. The extra timber work slips back into time calculations. There is no magic wand.
The accompanying presentation cases required to same attention to detail and planning: including wood choice, colour, glue type and surface finishing.
In all, and introduction to pen making, and the covering of the move from one-off to multiples.
