1st May 2019
Report by: Judith Langley

This was a brilliant presentation from a very well recognised woodturner. Peter had travelled down from Kerikeri and met up with his old colleague Ian Fish to present to the South Auckland Woodturners Guild. The many members in attendance must surely have reflected on a great deal of the experiences and words of caution outlined by Peter in their own woodturning ventures. Peter opened his presentation by sharing his own introduction to woodturning and was once a member of our Guild.

The most problem once you start to turn wood it that it is:

• Addictive
• Exciting
• Competative
• Interactive
• and introduces friends for life.

Wood

Where do you find it?
A Chainsaw really makes life easy, but it’s a dangerous tool.
Aspects of Safety where discussed – a wonderful log support frame was on display for members, this would handle most log sizes used by members. A couple of fence battens and a half round post cut in half is all that was needed to build this jig. A must have.

The chainsaw settings: Teeth at 30 degrees for cross cut, and along grain cutting.
Teeth need to be set at 90 degrees for end grain.
Obviously a selection of chains would be required to accommodate both methods of cutting.
Peter produced his favourite Makita electric chainsaw, noting that his wish list was for a battery powered model. Bantering from Dick Veitch on the pros and cons of battery powered saws, suggesting that Peter should settle for nothing less than the latest Stihl.

Green or dry timber?

There’s an unlimited supply of green wood. The size of bowls is not limited by standard stock sizes available from a wood yard, but only limited by the time available to go wood hunting. Collecting is exciting as you never know what you will find. Turning green wood is easier than dry. Pururi or gum is a nightmare to turn dry.

Transporting: You need to cut your bounty into manageable sizes. Probably 4ft lengths will fit across most trailers, without too much effort in loading. A great explanation and diagram showed members how to load large logs onto a trailer. The system was based on leverage with a long rope fixed at the front of the trailer and trailed to the back, slid underneath the log and back around the tow bar. Two 4×2 boards were used as a ramp. The rope was then attached to another vehicle which pulled very slowly while the log was rolled up onto the trailer deck. A very descriptive explanation of the trip home had members in awe of such a successful wood hunt. We were reminded to seal the ends of the logs to control moisture loss. Peter’s theory of cutting 4 foot long logs was that there was usually some good non split wood in the middle.

How to form the blank: Depending on log size, this will dictate on whether the log is just split or slabbed.
It’s easier to start off with a basically round shape before you put it on the lathe. Peter demonstrated the safe way of holding and cutting wood on the band saw, and the importance of stability of the log being cut. Peter explained that he always used disk templates from 125mm to 400mm in diameter. A blank that had been cut to a handy template size was tabled as an exhibit, along with the waste wood.
A thin disk of wood was presented showing where to take various bowl blanks from in order to avoid the pith. The pith is the soft centre of the log. After all it’s the pith that pithes you off!!

The easiest bowls to cut are from side grain. Green timber is usually sought for making bowl blanks.

Points to remember were

• Turn as soon as you can after collecting the wood.
• Seal inside and out with a wax rich medium as soon as the bowl blank is formed.
• Record the date, species, collection location and most importantly the weight.
• Store the blanks stacked somewhere cool and out of the sun to allow for slow even drying. Every 2 to 3 months reweigh and record as the blank loses moisture. Once the weight no longer reduces the blank is dry enough to finish.
• Sometimes a moisture meter is used in conjunction with weighing.
• Drying can be accelerated using a kiln or a closed box with a dehumidifier for finishing later when dry enough.
• Could be wrapped in 1 sheet of newspaper.
• Dry timber can be mounted straight on the lathe and worked to a finished bowl.

Considerations>Bowl shape: Peter explained the Catenary curve – using a string of beads or a light chain he demonstrated the various curves than can be created – curves that were pleasing to the eye!
However, it was important to establish designs and features that defined the turner and ultimately created work that is unique. There always had to be a connection between the bowl and the foot, and this aspect could not be ignored. The foot should always be in balance with the piece.

Ready to make your bowl
How to use a gouge – Your tools must be sharp.
Theories on gouge sharpening, bevel angles, jigs to assist with maintaining the correct angles, along with an overview of the wide variety of gouge bevels used nationwide. Northland use a 55degree bowl gouge with swept back wings at 35degrees, whereas South Auckland mainly prefer the 35 degree gouge for general turning and a 55 degree gouge for refining the inside of bowls. Preference is something that comes with experience.

RUB THE BEVEL:
The same old same old !! rub the bevel!!!

Once the gouge is sharpened it can be used for any one of four things.

• Push
• Pull
• Tilt
• Twist

When using gouges and doing the push and pull cuts, most catches come from allowing the gouge to cut while not being supported by the bevel. Without bevel support, the cut will dig in violently in a split second. Big chunks of wood are ripped away. The bevel prevents the gouge from cutting too aggressively—it is a controlling factor. Peter guided the gouge tip with his thumb when entering a starting cut on the inside of a bowl.

Attaching the wood to the lathe: another moment of interjection – this time from Bruce Wood who was determined to show Pete his method of fitting the screw chuck in the Nova chuck. However persistent Bruce was, Pete reverted to his presentation plan. This was a period of light hearted banter and laughter.

The faceplate was the preferred option for most mounting over 150mm.
Grain – an excellent example of grain direction and the cutting process was presented with the following diagram being most helpful to newer members

Turning:
Mounting the round– bring up the tail stock whenever possible.
Form the outside of the bowl first
Let the grain govern the direction of the cut.
Feet positioning: Place your left foot first in the finishing position then the right foot at the start of the cut.
Swing from the hips, which is not so easy when on the inside of the bowl.

Roughing: start from the tailstock centre and work the shape. Can use either a push cut or a pull cut.
Always rub (kiss) the bevel using a push cut. This steadies the gouge. Because you are pushing the tools and it wants to buckle, it can’t so it either digs in or scoots away.

Finishing a bowl blank after it has been dried:
The blank will probably be out of round after drying. So mount the bowl so that the chuck bite can be trued up by positioning the foot towards the tailstock.

There are a number of ways you can hold the bowl in this position. Cole Jaws chucks are easy to use, but keep the speed down and bring up the tail stock before starting the lathe. Similarly, if you are using a vacuum chuck, check for cracks in the wood, anywhere air can escape or OUCH – your bowl takes off into orbit. It is important to see that the bowl is seated properly too. If you don’t have access to this equipment, use a compression chuck. You can make one yourself – a simple rounded jig not unlike a darning mushroom, costs nothing and is very useful. Use a piece of thin rubberised matting (probably a bit in the cutlery drawer) over the compression chuck and fit carefully into the bowl. Centre with your tail stock (having marked the spot during roughing out).

Remount the blank and turn to finished shape. Starting with the chuck bite, make cuts slowly and shape the outside. Finish the outside first then reverse the bowl, hold in the chuck, and finish the outside. You may have to retouch the outside near the rim of the bowl to get an even thickness of the rim.

Once the bowl is turned to your satisfaction, sand through all the grits using a power sanding system. This will leave you with an amazing surface. Now it’s time to apply the finish and see your creation come to life.

Peter was very particular with his sealing and waxing, leaving the product to dry before wiping the excess off and rubbing the compound into the grain. Peter used toilet paper as his preferred application material.

Other clothes were not recommended because they left lint which often caught on the cut grain.

This was an excellent presentation by a world class wood turner, and we as a club are very privileged
to have shared in Peter’s life-long learning experiences.

Having written this review, I must thank Peter for sending me his notes, because the majority of this report is taken from the raw material provided.

Important – Don’t forget to have a cuppa at and during each stage!!

Date: 10th April 2019
Report Author: Emma James-Ries

This demonstration by John was complimentary to Richard Johnstons’ demo on wet turning earlier this year. John started by giving us an over view of why one might want to turn wet wood and the different qualities it possesses.

Some positive reasons to wet turn: For Woodturners it can be a feast or famine situation when it comes to acquiring timber and we’re more likely to be offered green wood. Wet wood gives the opportunity to turn very thin work, allowing it to distort and create interesting shapes. Green wood often come with the bark still attached, granting occasion for a natural edge bowl. Additionally cutting of wet wood creates very little dust, it is easier on your tools and creates very little dust. Drying of a green cut bowl will only take a year to dry, as opposed to a raw lump needing several years to properly dry. John reminded us of the very important point of striving for domestic bliss, as turned wet wood creates less storage and clutter within the household.

Some negatives to recognise would be that some timber can distort badly, particularly fruit trees. John told us of an incredible situation where a turned wet bowl of apricot had completely turned inside out whilst drying! Other points would be the possibility of wood going mouldy and to always be aware of irritant or toxic sap when turning wet, best to keep forearms covered.

John went on to demonstrate how one would mount and turn a conventional wet half log. He covered briefly how to cut bowl blanks to get different grain patterns within the bowl, butterfly or oval rings etc. John then used a faceplate to attach his large Rewarewa log to the lathe. He prefers to use passivated Tek screws over galvanised, as they are less likely to shear and they come in a great size range.

John then engaged the tailstock for security and to find the live centre. When turning a wet log into a rough cut bowl, a rule of thumb would be to keep a wall thickness of 20-25mm. The base is to be similar, however the spigot will determine this, as an internal spigot or dovetail recess is suggested to allow for remounting options once dried. John reminded us that we would need to guess the amount of distortion with the wood type, to allow enough timber to re-cut both sides of the bowl.

When moving onto the actual cutting process of the wood, John talked about different tool options. Until recently he used a Texas style Hamlet bowl gauge. However when turning rough, out of balance wood, it creates a bad thumping on the bevel. John found to alleviate this irritation somewhat, he uses large Easy Wood tools with carbide tips, tucked underarm for extra leverage and support.

John also recommends using a Chainsaw helmet for this type of turning as it reduces fogging and allows for ear protection. He went on to demonstrate the impressive carbide tools, cutting on centre.

John then let us imagine a scenario where the faceplate had been jammed on to the lathe by the huge amount of torque created when rough turning. While some people use leather washers to alleviate this problem, most do not and they are hard to find.

John showed us his spanner range that he would use to first undo the Tek screws holding the faceplate and remove the wood. He recommends the Gear Spanner from Trade Tools in Ellerslie. Once the wood has been removed, one can then find an appropriate leverage option (in Johns’ case this was a lump of metal acquired from a concrete power pole!) to lever the faceplate from the lathe.

Next John moved on to show us how to mount a rough block, with no practical flat face, to the lathe. His choice of wood was a 10kg uneven lump of Feijoa. He mounted the block between the centres to adjust the balance on the Steb centre. The problem with such a large unruly piece of timber, is that using a Steb or Spur to drive the wood will result in it boring into the green wood. This will also be the case with a screw chuck. The weight of the timber also rules out boring for a small faceplate or expanding jaws.

Johns solution to this was to create a large custom faceplate, with multiple holes that direct long screws angularly into the wood. This faceplate was a personal development of an earlier prototype that he passed around, very clever. One could either pilot drill or use a guide to direct the screws in if the wood is hard. John then demonstrated making some cuts, once the faceplate had been mounted. He proved that his mount ran true, as there was no evidence of a wobble in the live centre once the tailstock was removed.

To wrap up the demonstration, John let anyone who was interested in trying out his carbide tools, tackle the Feijoa. An offer that Richard Johnston took up eagerly! A very knowledgeable and interesting demo, thank you John.

Report by: Janet McDonald
Club Meeting: 3rd April 2019

Dick Veitch gave us a demo on making threaded box lids. After volunteering to write this report I did a double take when he pulled out gadgets and jigs a plenty… but in Dick’s style he soon had everything step by step and slowly everything unfolded in front of us.

There are two main ways of making a thread box thread. One with a hand held tool. The way he showed us was with a setup attached to the lathe bed with a cutter and using a index system. He explained the types of wood suitable for the best results.

I will give the basic outline of what Dick showed us as I am sure this would become a booklet not a report if I detailed everything. Though don’t confuse this with it all being “too hard”, I am sure with practice we could be making threaded jars for our honey dippers in the near future.

Dick used Taraire wood and turned the basic shape of the outside of his box. Then used a forstner bit to take the box centre out. A large wooden jig was placed over the tailstock handle with its own extra large handle, to help keep a more consistent turn of 230r while drilling. A consistent turn helps for a better drilling result. He used Boelue lube on the bit to reduce the squeal.

To prepare for the actual threading, an area of wood was removed from the top outside of the box to allow for the threading depth and for the lid of the box to be threaded over later. 

He attached onto the lathe bed the main cutting jig with a thread cutting bit attached to the head stock. The main cutting jig with a 10tpi thread, which the box was attached to, was wound into the headstock to cut the thread into the wood. After a ‘once around cut’ the jig was adjusted using the jigs index plate and another cut made around to add another thread line. The index plate was adjusted 4 times for 4 cuts at 90°. In the end giving a ‘4 Start Thread’.

Then the inside of the lid on the box was prepared and the threading done on it.

On completion of the threading and the box, Dick with his router made a fluted edge around the edge of the lid to hopefully show people using the box, it was a screw lid and not a pop lid. 

Club Meeting:13 March 2019
Report: Garry Jones

Richard began by showing us all some of the wet turned bowls he had done over the last 4-5 years. He pointed out how he had left the spigots on them and also showed us the second spigot on the inside and explained that it was there in case the one on the bottom had moved too much.

He pointed out some of the reasons the wet turned bowls had cracked and had heaps of examples to show us along with a very entertaining commentary on each of the bowls

Some good questions came from the audience and Richard gave very knowledgeable answers and explanations that everyone could understand

He explained to us why wet turned bowls should be packed in their own shavings and into a paper bag rather than a plastic one that would make the wood go moldy

He also went through a quick explanation of where and how you should cut up a log to get the best quality wood for your bowl

From here he went to the blank of wet wood (liquid amber) that he had and demonstrated attaching a small face plate ready for turning

He turned the blank to shape and turned a spigot on the bottom to the required size, it was great to watch the shavings flying off the chisel and into the second row, the wood was really wet so the guys in the front row got an unwanted shower

Richard explained that you can turn the blank to the final shape if you want but that this was not necessary, again he had shavings flying off the chisel and into the audience in a well controlled demo of good tool technique, once the piece was shaped on the bottom he took it off the lathe and removed the face plate in preparation for turning the inside

Richard talked about the shape of the inside and the reasons for having a nice smooth sweeping curve, mainly for ease of sanding and finishing

He gave a good explanation of why he turns the 2 spigots, one on the bottom and one on the inside to the audience as an answer to some great questions

He demonstrated using the parting tool to make a grove on the inside so that the tool doesn’t slip when you start to hollow and also explained that the normal wall thickness for wet turning this size bowl would be a round 20-25mm

The internal spigot was then turned with about a 2-3mm recess just enough to give the chuck a hold for remounting, he also mentioned that with an internal spigot you need to have enough room for the chuck and be able to use the chuck key

Some other great options and discussions on remounting were also given from the audience

Richard then coated the outside and a small portion of the inside of the bowl with a wax solution to retard the drying process and ultimately the movement of the wood

Richard then remounted a walnut bowl that had been turned back in 2014 to demonstrate the techniques discussed in the audience. The spigot was returned to the required size using a draw cut and the bowl was ready to be returned to the desired shape

A very entertaining and informative demo by Richard that created lots of questions and discussion from the audience
Thanks Richard

Club Meeting : 6 March 2019
Report by: Murray Wilton

Bruce’s subject was advertised as “Bits & Pieces”, which was meant to be “From the Kitchen”, so the topic became useful kitchen devices. The first was how to make a kitchen funnel, to be followed by two rolling pins (a Baker’s Rolling Pin and the Italian job). But time only allowed the funnel to be made at the demo and we were treated to another master class punctuated with pearls of turning wisdom. In fact, Bruce began with a discussion of various chuck options, demonstrating the advantages of the Infinity chuck which allows jaws to be replaced with a flick of a special tool. No more fiddling with screws and worn-out allen keys.

Back to the funnel. Bruce loaded a block from a large kauri post on the lathe between steb and live centres and turned it to round in a flash, slicing though the timber like butter. Then he formed a 60mm spigot 30mm deep at one end so that it could be firmly held in shark jaws. Once mounted in the jaws (tube end of funnel) he started forming the outside of the funnel, working at 2000rpm. The exterior wide end of the funnel is 100mm diameter and wall thickness 5mm. Marking these dimensions with a pencil, Bruce commented that he had glued a magnet to the pencil so he could place it on the lathe body where it was always handy. (Helpful Hint Number 2.) The triangular shape is formed to 60 degree angle at the (triangle) base. Bruce uses a 60 degree template to check the angle, forming the outside to a depth of about 80mm. (In other words, an isosceles triangle with base 100 mm wide, base angles 60 degrees and altitude 80 mm.).

Once the funnel exterior shape is achieved, Bruce proceeds to drill an 8mm hole through to the bottom of the triangle. He calculated the depth accurately by working out that each turn of the tailstock would bite 2.5 mm into the block, meaning 30 turns would get him to 80 mm. Now he hollows the funnel using a 35˚ bowl gouge, drawing it across from the centre hole in careful sweeps, rubbing the bevel (Helpful Hint Number 3), checking the angle with the template and marking high spots with his magnetic pencil. Reaching the bottom of the hole, and satisfied that the angle and thickness are correct, Bruce sands the inside using cloth-backed sandpaper which can be folded to a point to get into the interior apex of the funnel. Finally with both inside and outside sanded up to 400 grit, Bruce finishes with sanding sealer.

Now he drills the 8mm hole the rest of the way through the tube end of the funnel, taking care not to have the drill chuck scrape against the finished inside walls. To do this he had to progressively pull the drill out of the chuck until it was almost wobbling in space. A drill extender might be the answer.

The final part of the project is to form the outside of the tube end. Bruce uses a 60 degree rubber cone mounted at the tailstock and brought up firmly to the funnel end. The tube is finished to 16mm so that with the 8mm hole it leaves a 4mm wall. To ensure there are no disasters Bruce uses digital vernier calipers and constantly checks the 16 mm diameter for the whole length of the tube.

For this final phase of the project, Bruce changed to smaller jaws (easily done with the Infinity chuck), and mounted a wooden jam chuck with an 8mm “peg” and a small rubber washer to push into the end of the tube and hold it firmly for final finishing work to be done. He advises working gently at this stage to avoid the work flying off the lathe as it is not actually gripped at any point by chuck jaws. For final finishing use the skew chisel if you are brave enough. Then sand off, finish with sanding sealer and polish with wax by your favourite method. Lastly the tube is cut off at 58mm long. About to slice it off at right angles, Bruce was asked by a member whether it would be better to cut the end on an angle to assist with clean pouring, so he obliged.

In answer to a question whether the funnel could be used for liquids like wine, Bruce suggested that the funnel is better suited to fine grain foods, like salt, sugar, etc. Constant cleaning after using liquids would damage the finish. In the end, items like the wooden funnel make nice decorative additions to a kitchen, especially if exotic timbers are used and a range of sizes made.

Well done Bruce. Another consummate performance. Only wish there had been time for the rolling-pins. Maybe another demo later?