WSWT Newsletter – February 2007
Monthly Meeting held on Sunday February 4th
Another riotous looking meeting which at 09.15 looked more like the floor of the New York Stock Exchange! Chairman Ted Hickford quelled the mob by 09.30 and announced that the lidded box made by Jimmy Clewes at the December meeting will be the star attraction at the coffee break raffle. Is he, I wonder, keeping the Clewes Top Hat back for his next sartorial outing?? He reported a Spring Market to be held by the Arundel Museum and Heritage Centre on 31st March in a marquee in Arundel Meadows. £30 for a stall and the event runs from 12 noon till 17.30. Ted also said that Bill Whittaker has an extraction unit to give away – Bill is still recovering from the ensuing scrum.
Tony Matthews asked for a volunteer to address a local over-50's club on the subject of wood turning; contact him if you wish to perform. Also a Croquet Club wants someone to turn a plinth for their presentation Cup, again, talk to Tony. Finally he has received a nice thank you letter from staff at Chichester Hospital for the materials provided by Club members, mainly through Tony Tribe, for their fund raising work.
Jim Young has been badgering Wakehurst for info on their Fair dates. These are now fixed at 12th-13th May and 26th-28th August; October dates yet to be confirmed. Anyone interested please contact Jim. He is also seeking an expert on equity release (times must be hard!)
The turning of boxes – Denys Dollin
Long time member Denys started his presentation by attempting a definition of the term "box" and after some intellectual gymnastics came to the conclusion that a box could be anything as long as it had a lid and a flat base! There was a deal of ribald discussion among members as to whether the internal bottom should be rounded or flat and Denys left this to our own personal inclinations. He passed round some delightful little boxes, one of which he had made 13 years ago at his introductory course on wood turning at West Dean and it remains a perfect fitted lid. This led him to discuss the effect of temperature on the stability of boxes and he recommended strict temperature control during drying and storage. On being asked if he had tried microwave drying he said that he had once but the smell (and angry wife) had driven him from the kitchen. Denys then turned a square box to demonstrate the best sequence of actions and also illustrated some of the catastrophies that quite often plague us all. Events supremo Don Pollard then thanked Denys on behalf of the Club for the effort and energy he had put into his presentation.
Miscellany
David Parfoot distributed the new boxed DVDs by Jimmy Clewes to those who had
prepaid. If you have paid and not collected then contact David.
Don Pollard brought to our attention a beautifully made model of a farm cart
produced by John Woolgar. Not strictly wood turning but a shining example of the
modellers art. The Chairman went into raptures about a KITY Saw Spindle 8609 pretty well
new and on sale for £1000 which is less than a third of the cost price new. Any
takers please contact Mr Jo Price on 01273 738271. Said to be low mileage and doesn't need
feeding very often! Only about one third of membership appear to have an email address
according to the members list. If your email address is not on the list and you wish to
have this newsletter sent electronically, which we prefer, please send an email to
the editor.
Next Meeting
On March 4th: an Open Competition; subject: "a lidded box". Rules to be made up by the judges during the judging and will depend on the quality of their breakfasts!! Also during the judging Hugh Douglas will be along to talk about bandsaw techniques.