Easter 2020 Rod Russell. As you will be aware, Rod passed away earlier this month. He was 87 and had been a club member for almost 30 years. He joined about the same time as Bryan Harris, who tells me that back then the club used to meet in various places such as the Brewery Arts Centre and Parish Church Hall etc. They both belonged to the same Rambling Club too! Rod always supported club activities such as Revolutions for as long as he was able. Of late he was brought by his son Phil also a member. R.I.P Rod, you will be missed Chairman’s Report for 2019 (or Roger’s Ramblings) Hello Everyone I feel this is the time for me to gather you all around. It is a trying time for all but with a concerted effort we will beat the bu..ger. I won’t use its correct name and put it on a pedestal, it just wants stamping out. No AGM this year or resignations from the committee. Big sigh from audience so the committee will stand until next AGM 2021. Last year we had some good demonstrations both professional and from club members. My thanks to the club members who gave of their time and knowledge.
participating member making either a leg or top. When all the pieces were assembled and the outcome was a total of five, yes five, plant stands. I feel this is the way forward for the club. Participation and the sharing of knowledge. The monthly “Bring & Tell” table collected a number of pieces from members which were discussed, lessons learned, good or bad, shape and form liked or not liked. It gets members joining in. This is what the club is for. Now during this crisis, you and I will all have time in our sheds, to make plenty of pieces for the Tombola table for the forthcoming Hawkshead shows. When that will be I don’t know but we will given as much notice as possible.. A chance to raise money for the club and yourself. Enjoy the “craic” and put money in your pocket, so come along and join in the fun. That’s what it should be about. For the next weeks or months please continue to send pictures and articles to Don Davies our very hardworking secretary and, at present, news editor. Roger Busfield, Chairman  Andrew Bowen sent me an email with details of boxes he has been making. Below is an extract from the email with pictures of his boxes. I’ve been doing plenty of self-isolating in my workshop recently (well, it’s only big enough for me in any case) and made time to have a go at a couple of boxes (photos attached). The first is a post box money box; lower portion in tropical hardwood Wenge, sadly I’m not sure what the body and lid are made of. The idea came from a childhood toy that I recall, although that had been made of tin. The second is a bird box. I hollowed out the body from a piece of cherry and took advantage of a knot to form the entrance. The lid is pau rosa (I think) – whatever, it was as hard as rock and as heavy as lead. The hanger was an old coat hanger shaped to fit. I put this up outside our kitchen window and it had its first visitor (a blue tit) within half an hour. Thanks Andrew. A super-deluxe stylish birdfeeder. Makes my plastic one from B&Q look a bit tatty!  Now, I thought it worth reproducing in its entirety the email below I received from Tom Dullage, a relatively new member. Not because of the kind words about the newsletter but because of what he says about the club. Thanks Tom! Hi Don, Thanks for the newsletter, I'm already looking forward to the next one! Pretty grim times at the moment, but at least we've got a roof over our heads and a garden to sit in, when the weather is nice and, of course, I've got my lathe, which takes my mind off everything! I thought I would send a few pictures of some of my recent turnings and some thoughts from a turning beginner. I was quite keen to try a lidded box, hopefully I'd manage one I felt was good enough to enter in the club competition, so I found some suitable wood and had a go. The first attempt was the mahogany box in the attached pictures I like the shape and was quite pleased, but the lid is far too loose and the inside finish was not as good as I would have liked. So it was time to try again, this time with a beech spindle blank, that's the one shown in two pictures below one with the lid off. This one was better, but the lid was a little tight and the joint a little small, still, quite a good attempt, for a second go. I had bought some Olive wood, from Olive Wood Turning in Lytham St Annes, I turned a small bud vase from one of the spindle blanks and had a small piece left, just big enough for another small box, I added a small finial, nothing too complicated and I really like that one. Finally, with another piece of the beech spindle blank, I turned another small box, to which I added a sycamore insert on the lid. I'm getting better at this, but still a lot of learning to do! Having only started turning last September, I soon realised I had a lot to learn, and wouldn't progress too far just by watching YouTube videos, although that has been very entertaining and quite informative. Looking online, I found several turning clubs within a reasonable distance and thought I would go to a meeting at each, to see whether I would fancy joining one.The first meeting I could get to was the CWA at Burneside, in November and I haven't bothered to go to any other clubs, as I was made so welcome here and had so many offers of help. I've been to all the subsequent monthly meetings and I'm really missing them at the moment! A couple of members had offered me some tuition, the first was Ian Henderson and it happens that he is also, I think, the nearest to me, so I trust the others members who offered haven't been offended by my not taking up their offers (although that doesn't mean I might not in the future). I've had one lesson with Ian, when he had me practising beads and coves in the morning and making a tea light holder in the afternoon, I came away with lots more confidence and a couple of extra gouges, as well as plenty of lessons to remember and practice. I've since been to Ian's house for coffee a couple of times and we're corresponding by email on a regular basis, swapping pictures of items we've made. Ian's constructive criticism and the knowledge he's passed on have been invaluable to me. The hands-on day at the club, turning mushrooms, was also a great way to learn and get some more experience, both from having a go myself, under the watchful eyes of several experienced turners and from watching others. To summarise, before I waffle on any further, joining the CWA has been one of my best decisions and my wood turning has progressed far faster than it would otherwise have done, so I'm looking forward to the resumption of monthly meetings in the, hopefully not too distant, future. In the meantime, newsletters and email will keep me motivated and in touch, thanks to everyone involved. Regards, Tom  Next up is Frank Rice whose email is self- explanatory A few weeks ago I was requested by my wife to make some light pulls to replace our old ones. We have seven light pulls in the house and the old ones were some of my first attempts at turning and I am sure everyone will agree they look rather gruesome. I am sending a selection of the new ones with three of the old ones in the rear as a contrast. I have given the name Big Ben to the small one in the front as it just seems to be a miniaturized version of the real thing. The height of the old ones are around 88 ml whilst the latest are around 72 ml. and were made from damson wood that came from our own garden. I would like to think that my skill level has improved since the early days. Frank ……………….except for why he felt the need to grow a tree for replacement turning blanks! Thank you Frank  The next contribution is from Ian Henderson. I find making brackets for drives and revolving tailstock and Jacobs chucks invaluable. I have just made another one. Also after making other things around my workshop I realised I should move some of them to a better, more convenient location. So I did, this has made things a lot easier. Finally, if it can be seen, the location of the brackets adjacent to the tail stock of my lathe. Also note the tools behind lathe. Anyone who has visited Ian’s workshop knows how clean and tidy he keeps it. It’s very clean and tidy. Very, very, clean and tidy. If I didn’t know better I would say he couldn’t possibly do any turning in there and keep it so tidy. But of course we know he does and with excellent results. Thank you Ian. We come to the end of this particular letter and hope that it helps keep you motivated and inclined to send me a contribution of your own. It doesn’t have to be of great length. If you have sent me stuff and can’t see it here then fear not, it is waiting in the wings. I almost have enough for the next newsletter already. Don Davies 18th April 2020 Comments are closed.
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