Contents Cambium Meetings & Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Michael’s Message for Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Woodcarving - getting started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 South Auckland Woodturning Symposium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Phil Irons - his staining technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Tips on Making Toys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Denis’s Turning Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Guild Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Meetings & Events 2015 3 Feb Jose Llodra, a South American furniture maker. 3 Mar Slide-show on renovating Old Government Building, Sam Hillis Nick Agar, wood-turning demonstration ..... date to be confirmed A few show and tell items ..... Joy’s platter Jack’s multi-media pot pouri Greame’s vase at Shapeshifter 7 Apr Workshops and the need for insurance 5 May AGM 2 Jun Woodworking in Turkey, Israel and Jordan, John Spittal plus Bring and Buy. 7 Jul Pataka 2015 Exhibition and Symposium. Publication of the © Guild of Woodworkers, Wellington Inc. 4 Aug CPR – M Harrison and J Armstrong. C/- John Spittal, 2 Waterford Drive, Johnsonville, Wellington www.qww.org.nz 1 Sep perhaps .... Stone carving and / or Woodcraft ISSN 0114-2461 Issue no. 177 December 2014 1 Michael’s Message for Christmas Christmas is here again –and so for my final missive of the year. It's an old comment but how on earth did I have time to work before retirement. This year for some reason has been exceptionally busy. My 'wood-related' activities have varied from the helping with boat construction, to stage set construction and, just recently, a bit of woodwork time to myself. Boat-building in wood has its own set of skills, with compound curves of the hull being particularly interesting to create using wood that usually comes in flat sheets or boards. A German boatbuilding teacher in Auckland was of the view that if it looked good it probably was, and so the idea was to make it look good. Perfect symmetry is ideal but no one person can look at two sides of a boat at the same time. Once the hull is finished, you might think that that the job is almost finished .... not so, boats take a lot of finishing. Stage sets are different. They are transient constructions that, let's be honest, in the cold light of day, are pretty crude. Under the focused coloured lighting, and the anticipation of entertainment, it's the overall effect that the audience sees, not the defects and patches. It is a skill in its own right ... to be able to erect the tall flats to create walls, to insert whole doorways that work, to create steps or staircases that will safely take the actor's weight, all done quickly and to be able to be dismantled within an afternoon. The flats are painted, as is the floor sometimes, and the screw heads are shielded from the paint by masking tape; nails and glue are never used (well rarely). It is a lot easier to remove the screws after peeling the tape than it is to insert the screwdriver into a paint-filled screw head. Creating such structures does give you the freedom to cobble together bits of wood very quickly, with a long square slotted screw and a beefy battery powered hand drill you can create a desk, a window seat, a handrail or a dais very quickly indeed. The scene painter then applies the camouflage! Thinking about our woodworking generally, of course there is the precise fine stuff that we as woodworkers do. I'm not joking - having been continuously amazed at the quality of work that our members put forward in o u r S h o w a n d Tell sessions, and at Pataka and Turnings Plus. Thank you to all the committee members, you have been a great help to me through the year, and I would also like to thank those who helped with tea duties and helped with the setting up of our annual events like Woodcraft and Turning Plus. 2015 I'm sure will be another interesting year so I hope all of you and your families have a very enjoyable Christmas and New Year. See you all again in February. Best wishes, Michael Woodcarving - getting started Sam Hillis as our wood-carving co-ordinator; has been practising this art for (I’m sure he would say) ... some time. He has kindly offered to present a few of the basics, to get beginners energised, and to remind us of things we may have forgotten. WOODCARVING: Some tips to get you started. Items needed in 2 3 no particular order of importance are: mallet, tools, ideas, wood and holding techniques. Mallet: The carving mallet is cylindrical in shape which allows for the gouge to be hit at an angle and from all directions, unlike a joiner’s mallet where the hit is a direct straight contact. The force of the strike is at a tangent and the mallet does not have to align square to the carving gouge, unlike when cutting a mortice joint, where the chisel needs to be struck square. Sketch 2 A one-piece mallet is easier and quicker to make. See sketch 1 for dimensions of the ideal mallet. Sketch 2 shows where in a tree the best wood is obtained in order to prevent flaking of the sides of the mallet head. An alternative to using wood is an acrylic compound. For delicate or detailed carving a brass head mallet with a wooden handle is best. This must be held by its head and not the handle for greater control. Weights of mallets vary: you need to be comfortable with weight and size you choose taking into consideration the time you are going to be using the mallet. Making your own helps with this as modifications can be made. Important features are size and shape of head; size of handle which will comfortably fit your own hand with a thicker diameter at its distal end to prevent your hand from slipping off. See picture above, for various mallet types and sizes. Handles with neck near the head, gives a comfortable fit to the crook of the hand. The brass headed mallet (1 kg), is held with the head held in the hand, for fine and close chiselling work. Other items that could be covered in future Cambiums issues, are tools, ideas, wood and holding techniques. Sam Hillis South Auckland Woodturning Symposium The mallet must be held firmly but not too tight. I turn the mallet in my grip between blows which helps when working for a long time. Mallets come in various forms: one-piece (handle and head from one piece of wood), or two-piece with handle and head from different woods of close-grain timber e.g. lignum vitae head and a beech handle inserted right through the head. The advantage of the two-piece mallet, is that it helps to stop jarring being transferred to your hand and arm. Sketch 1 4 This was the second Symposium that the South Auckland Guild has brought together and follows the very successful 2012 venture. Arranging a Symposium of this standing is no mean feat and the organisers generally, and Terry Scott and Dick Veitch, in particular, must be congratulated for once again producing a very successful and very enjoyable woodturning experience. Approximately 150 participants gathered at Wesley College, Paerata, on Thursday 3 October for the start of the 3 day event. We had all poured over the demonstration schedule and decided who we would be able to fit into a very full 3 days. I was very keen to see Cynthia Gibson who has made a name for herself decorating by delicate and precise pyrography, teapots and other vessels made by her husband Michael, My list also included Jamie Donaldson, a turner from the USA, Phil Irons, from the UK, who is renowned for his beautifully turned and stained hollow forms, Cindy Drozda who does exquisite finial boxes, our own Robbie Graham, Vaughan Richmond from Australia, and if I could fit it in , a session on rim decoration by Shane Hewitt. The difficulty was that there were only 30 chairs in each room and 5 standing was not going to be permitted so getting to the demonstration room early was a high priority and some very cunning schemes were devised to ensure a seat was acquired. By luck and I guess by good management I was able to attend all the sessions I had planned to attend and by the end of the 3 days I had pretty much filled the knowledge basket I had taken with me. Cindy Drozda and Phil Irons were inspirational but all demonstrators had considerable skills, knowledge and information to share and I hope to pass that knowledge on to those I teach. But attending Symposia such as this is not just a great opportunity to learn. It is also an opportunity to socialise with new friends, meet up with old friends again, to see what new toys are being touted as “Must Haves” and to purchase wood that you just cannot do without. The Wellington Guild was very well represented with 10 members making the trip. As can be seen from the accompanying photo some lovely red wine was also enjoyed before and during the evening meal. Another satisfying feature of the South Auckland Symposia is that because of its relatively small size (1500 attended the last AAW Symposium) and its campus setting participants are able to meet the demonstrators outside the classroom and all of the overseas demonstrators were keen to make us aware how much they had enjoyed being here in New Zealand. HDM Part of the Wellington contingent enjoying pre-dinner drinks 6 Phil Irons - his staining technique In this demonstration Phil turned a medium sized macrocarpa hollow form between centres and left a fairly deep spigot which he would part off at the end. This appeared to be a fairly nondescript piece of macrocarpa with no obvious grain pattern. Careful tooling and sanding with 100 grit has achieved a good starting point. Some time has been taken to ensure an elegant curve leading down to the intended parting off point. Phil now applied the first stain, black, then dried the stain off then sanded the piece with 180 grit. He uses Transtint dyes which he purchases from the USA. (I attempted to procure some from two different places and was informed that this product could not be shipped out of the USA.) Yellow was chosen for the second stain. A colour chart is a handy item to have to check pairing of colours as several combinations will just produce grey. The dye is mixed with clear methylated spirits and then liberally brushed on to the piece. In this photo the parting off mark can be seen and the significant grain of the piece is becoming apparent. On the left the yellow 7 has been applied and the piece sanded with 240 grit revealing even more of the grain pattern. Red was the third colour and after each stain is applied Phil has a rather unusual but quick way to dry off the stain. A flick with a lighter and the spirit base is dry. Again the piece is sanded, now with 400grit ,and sealer is applied by brush and worked into the wood and then cut back with steel wool. The piece is then wiped down with a tack cloth to remove all dust and then sprayed with satin acrylic lacquer. Phil applies 3 coats with the lathe spinning slowly and rubs the piece down between coats and the beautiful grain pattern is fully revealed. Phil will now paint the inside of the form black and then go over the outside of the piece carefully applying a kind of finishing compound. This final process may take 2-3 hours but the finish is superb. (Google the ‘Daniel Collection’ to see a range of his finished pieces). A reminder! Colouring/staining reveals poor tooling and sanding. The surface needs to be virtually fault free. I thought this was an excellent demonstration and I will never look at a piece of macrocarpa in the same way again. The wood was truly transformed. This is another piece of macrocarpa, turned by Dick Veitch and stained and finished by Phil . HDM 8 Tips on Making Toys With this being the Xmas issue of Cambium, when Guild members donate their skills & efforts by making toys that are persented to the ‘Sallies’ - it seems appropriate to include some comment on Toy Making; hence we asked Alan Robson for some of his thoughts. At one of our Guild meetings early 2005, Hugh Mill made a plea for members to form groups of 5 to manufacture toys for presentation to the Salvation Army at our last meeting of the year in December. There wasn’t an immediate response but at a later date at one of he Saturday workshop sessions when Hugh issued the request again I said I wouldn’t be interested in the 5 member group but would be willing to help with the project. Jim Pardoe said he was also willing to help in the same way. Jim lived only a couple of streets away from me. Jim and I got together and decided to make some toys ourselves and drew up plans for a small Jeep & Trailer or Caravan, which could be handled by small hands. 9 We then set out to make the various toys and ended up with 400 plus. For the final assembly (fixing of wheels to the toys) we were helped by Bryan Hawkins. These Toys, together with other member’s contributions, were presented to the Salvation Army at our Final Meeting December 2005. Our Cambium magazine of February 2006 carried a report on our Christmas Function and the toys presented. The Salvation Army personnel were as the reported as being “Blown Away” as there were 400 to 450 families in the Wellington Region where they would try to place 1000 presents. That was the start of the Guild’s Toy’s at Christmas for needy children, and my Alan’s sketch plans of tractor interest in toy-making. Other members have had toy making projects for the annual presentation to the Salvation Army. Hugh Mill and Ross Hardy made a number of helicopters, John Spittal made model trucks, and other members too numerous to mention have responded well to the Annual presentation. More recently, the Menz Shed Naenae have made many toys and joined us at our end of 10 year meeting and presentation. From Hugh’s initial idea, Guild members have responded well to the annual Christmas presentation. Issues whenToy making The main difficulty I have found in the making of toys is obtaining ideas and plans. To aid my toymaking, I have purchased a few books on the subject :1. Making Heirloom Toys ................. by Jim Mackowicki 2. Marvelous Transformer Toys ........ by Jim Mackowicki 3. Tremendous Toy Trucks ............... by Les Neufeld 4. Turning Toys ................................ by Richard Raffan For the materials, most sort of off-cuts are able to be used, even “Pine”, so long as it has aged, and not the ‘recent tree’ often found at the shops. It is often a good idea to make up template pattern out of 4 to 6 mm MDF. The wheel are easily cut to rough size with a hole saw, and then turned on the lathe to finish off. It is good to remember that these items are for small children, and all the edges need to be rounded of and smooth, being friendly for little hands. There should be no loose small components, especially those that can come off - which would be a choking hazard. The wheels are screwed on, with the ‘hub’ set in a recess. Acrylic has been used as a simple form for the propellers, and a blurred image can be painted on to represent movement. The toys are mostly painted in bricht colours, as they tend to sell more readily - occasionally we get a request for finished timber. Alan Robson Denis’s Turning Tips When using a vacuum chuck, to finish turning the base of a bowl, remember to mark the centre. You can then bring up the tail-stock to centre the piece of work. Cambium issue in e-mail form A few people have expressed a desire to receive Cambium in electronic format (PDF). If you would like this instead of a paper copy, please let us know NC 11 Guild Contacts SUB-GROUPS CARVERS Coordinator: Sam Hillis, 529 7105 Meeting at Naenae Mens’ Shed - (3rd Tuesday 7-9pm) HUTT TURNERS - Coordinator: Denis Newton 977 5650 Meet Naenae Mens’ Shed, 1st Saturday after Guild meeting 10am –12 noon GREEN WOODWORKERS - Coordinator: Eric Cairns 526 7929 FURNITURE GROUP - Coordinator: Lew Skinner 475 7613 Remember that these groups are for you and are open to anyone in the Guild. They provide you with an opportunity for more fellowship and a chance to further develop the skills that you already possess. And its free! Why don’t you check with the co-ordinators about group activity? Guild Committee President Vice President Secretary Membership Sec Treasurer Cambium Editor Library Webmaster Michael Harrison 479 9302 Jim Armstrong 562 8554 John Spittal 478 3164 Terry Driskel 9387212 Peter Johnston 476 7942 Nick Crocker 479 0404 Lew Skinner 475 7613 Bob Yellowlees 972 5330 Hugh Mill 569 2236 Ross Hardie 565 1947 Brian Cropp 938 8020 Terry Driskel 938 7212 also e-mail broad-casts [email protected] Graham Weir 569 2635 Life Members : Denis Newton, Neil Gandy, Ken Cox, John Spittal, Hugh Mill, Archie Kerr, George Brown Address for Editorial Correspondence :Nick Crocker, 34a Govind Grove, Ngaio, Wellington. [email protected] Articles even covered by legal ‘Copyright’ may be used by other woodworkers’ Guilds, Clubs or groups, but please acknowledge the source. © Guild of Woodworkers, Wellington Inc. 12
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