Sixteen people in attendance — fourteen members and two visitors — at the Wheatly shop.
Club Business
Lathe Shield: The club’s new lathe shield was on display and in use during the demonstration. Members were invited to comment on the visibility of the hardware cloth used to protect the audience.
Video System Upgrade: Mike Vernon reported on progress with the club’s web page and described ongoing modifications to the video projection and recording system. The project is in progress and on budget as approved at the February meeting. Several members have made donations toward the upgrade, which are welcomed as work continues.
Heritage Farms Inquiry: The club received a request from Heritage Farms in Moncks Corner, SC regarding interest in teaching turning classes to seniors and home schoolers. Mike Vernon and Gene Dixon met with a Heritage Farms representative at Dixon’s s’hanger for a turning demo and a wide-ranging discussion on facilities, tooling, and power requirements. The representative indicated that Heritage Farms is currently in the ideation stage, with plans to evolve over time. The club agreed to meet again as the farm works on infrastructure and site development.
April Demonstrator: John Shearouse discussed the events calendar and announced that Peggy Schmid will provide the April demonstration.
John then introduced March demonstrator Richard Cale from Columbia and the Palmetto Woodturners. Richard noted that Mark Silay has stored materials (wood) that he would like to get into the hands of woodturners.
Demonstration: Two-Handled Sugar Bowl from Green Cherry
Richard demonstrated the turning of a two-handled sugar bowl from a green cherry log section approximately 18" × 12" diameter.
Forming the Sphere
Richard began by turning a sphere using both right- and left-handed techniques with the log captured between centers and driven by a spur. As the sphere took shape, he added a tenon for the next stage of the demonstration.
Hollowing the Bowl
With the billet mounted by the tenon in a chuck, Richard removed waste material and began hollowing. He started with a Forstner bit mounted in a drill chuck in the tailstock, widened the bore with a carbide Hunter tool, and created a dovetail at the mouth using a gouge and skew.
Forming the Handles
Richard remounted the bowl 90 degrees from the hollowed center and perpendicular to the previous grain orientation. In this position he squared off the top parallel to the lathe bed ways, marked the tool rest for handle width locations, and used a parting tool to begin cutting the handle forms. A bowl gouge was then used to waste excess material working outside to in, with handle widths adjusted for appealing proportions.
Finishing
The bowl was re-chucked with the grain parallel to the lathe bed to clean up the outside diameter and finish hollowing. To remove the tenon, Richard chucked the bowl using the dovetail at the mouth — and demonstrated that when a dovetail is too small, a jam chuck can be improvised from materials on hand.
Show ’n Tell
Members brought a variety of recent work to share.
Mark your calendars — April 18th at the Wheatly shop. Peggy Schmid demonstrates. Happy Turning!
