Summer 16 Challenge Entries Here Please.

[Grahamshed]

My apologies for the lateness of this post. I guess I got to wrapped up in the EU stuff.

The Summer Challenge was for a single object made from at least 2 different woods. Richard Findley has kindly agreed to judge this quarter’s Challenge,


Challenge Requirements:

The Summer 16 rules were:-

1. The Challenge is open to anyone and everyone.
2. Entries must be new and made specifically for the Challenge.
3. Entries must be a single object made of at least two different woods and must be turned on a lathe using woodturning tools.
4. The entry can be any size or shape but must come together as a single item ( ie, one black chess piece and one white chess piece would not be a single item )
5. Segmented turning, piercing, carving, colouring, pyrography and texturing are allowed for this challenge. However, the judge must be able to see your turning skills!

Please post three images of your work together with details of the woods used, the tools and methods used to make it and any key dimensions.

1 showing a general view of your entry .
1 top view of your entry
1 view of the bottom of your entry
A fourth picture may be added (but is not compulsory) if needed to show any other interesting details of your entry.

Image size - please use image size 640 x 480 0.3mp, as in previous challenges

Please upload your pictures and description to the ‘Entries Thread’ between 5pm on Saturday the 25th June and 10pm on Monday the 27th June.

Please also send me a PM giving me your own opinions of 1st, 2nd and 3rd places amongst the entries (other than your own) between 10pm on 27th June and 10pm on 29th June (for me to compile the entrants’ scoring).

Good luck to all.

 

[dennisk]

A platter in Huon pine(a freind gave a board when in Oz this past spring) and black walnut. I had a short board of BW and so cut it into 4 pieces and then glued them together alternating grain by 90 each time , as I did with the little winter challenge vase. I find this adds interest even with boring woods. Turned a spigot on one end for gripping in medium jaws, then turned to size, and drilled it out approx 1 1/2" by 1 1/4" so i could put lead tire weights in there, then turned a pine button to cap that up. The pine was a board with an inclusion in the one end, as seen in bottom view so couldnt use all of it, however. Hot glued it to a wooden faceplate to turn most of the bottom and turn a rebate to fit into the BW base. Took it off , remounted with jaws in rebate, and turned the top. Sanded to 280, lacquer on the pine and DO on the BW, done with the lathe turning, about 4 coats and then buffed, the BW only.Its 12" by 3 3/4" and with the base filled with weights it has a nice feel and is very stable.thx

 

[Castanea]

My entry is in three pieces - an Oak base with an Ash lid and a Hawthorn finial.

As the competition was to produce a piece made of more than one wood I thought it would be interesting to use woods which had a relationship to each other or told a story. Years ago I read Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill where at the end of each story Puck uses leaves of Oak, Ash and Thorn to cast his magic on the children so they don't remember the stories Weland Smith, and all the other historical characters they meet have told them. For years I've thought of Oak, Ash and Thorn as being especially English and magical on account of Kipling so I thought it would be nice to bring them together in one piece.

It's a mad shape, the finial's p'raps a bit heavy (A bit? you're probably saying!) but I like it and that does for me.

The wood's all harvested from Northamptonshire and was turned with spindle gouges, skews, a curved scraper to finish the inside and a parting tool or two. The Oak and Ash were sealed with sanding sealer then finished with microcrystaline wax. The Hawthorn was so dense that sanding sealer seemed un-necessary so I just waxed it.

I ran out of courage when it came to reverse chucking the base so I parted it off carefully then finished the bottom by hand-sanding and waxing.
I'll be heading out to get some more hawthorn soon - I've not turned much and this piece was absolutely lovely to turn - heading towards box in texture and density. A pleasure to work!

Forgot to say it's 210mm in height and 70mm in diameter at its widest point!

All the best

Ian

 

[Bubba]

My entry for the Summer Challenge is a split turned decorative vase made out of Wenge and Figured Maple. I began by milling 4 identical sized pieces of lumber 1.5" x 1.5" x 10" long. They were glued up initially with newsprint between the glue joints. I measured in from each end 2.25" and proceeded to shape the interior profile using a roughing gouge, 3/8" spindle gouge and round nosed scraper. I then sanded this portion to 800 grit. I then split the assembly apart using a hammer and chisel and rotated all pieces 180 degrees and re-glued (not using newsprint this time). I then shaped the exterior of the vase using a roughing gouge, 3/8" spindle gouge and round nosed scraper. Once completed, I bored a hole in the top of the vase starting with a 1/8" drill bit and progressively getting bigger until I was at 1/2". The vase was then sanded to 800 grit. I parted the vase off using my narrow parting tool and sanded the bottom using a 2" foam sanding pad starting at 80 grit and ending at 320. The project was then finished with 2 coats of a mixture of Beeswax, mineral oil and Carnuba wax. The vase measure 8" tall, 2 3/4" wide at the mid point, 1 3/8" wide at the top of the mouth and 2" wide at the bottom.

 

[Stiggy]

My entry was meant to be an urn, but due to excessive cracking at one end, I had to change design and so I decided to make a tree pot.

This is 115mm tall including the finial and 60mm at widest point.

The main body is spalted ash that Rob gave me, the lid is from a mahogany offcut I got from the joinery workshop shop next door and the finial is a piece of purple heart - again, that Rob gave me!

The tools used were a 18mm roughing gouge, 9mm bowl gouge with fingernail grind, diamond parting tool, 12mm round scraper and 6mm spindle gouge.

I shaped the body using a roughing gouge mainly, using the bevel to get nice clean cuts, and the parting tool to get some straight edges, then used the spindle gouge to tidy up finer details. The bowl gouge was used next to start hollowing out the inside, once I had enough room the 12mm scraper and 6mm spindle gouge shaped the inside. The ouside was cleaned up with shear scraping with my bowl gouge and the scraper. Sanding from 120 to 600, I used sanding sealer and then Wax22 to finish.

Unfortunately the piece of mahogany was too small to put in my chuck so had to use my steb centres to get decent ends before putting the piece in a jam chuck and shaping the top and bottom. Normally it would have been shaped while inside the main body but for some reason I had already parted the body off! This was sanded from 240 to 600 as my cuts were clean.

I made the purple heart round and managed to get it in the very centre of my jaws and did most of the shaping with the tailstock and speed up. The 6mm spindle gouge was used here with a piece of white kitchen towel on the bed so I could see what I was doing. I don't feel comfortable yet using my finger to steady the fine finial which is approx 1mm diameter, so I sharpened my 6mm gouge and hoped for the best using light cuts which were almost skew like. I made a plug at one end to fit in the lid. Luckily it is very dense so it held together without too much vibration. Sanded from 240 to 600 and finished with Wax22.

The finial was glued into the lid, allowed to dry firm and then they were finished with another coat of Wax22.

I was gutted I wasn't able to use a jam chuck to clean the bottom better, so I had to hand sand instead from 120 to 400. I will make a slightly deeper throat next time - you live and learn!

(I added the extra photo as my wife said it would better show off the size of the lid)

 

[Stiggy]

When will the results be published?

 

[Grahamshed]

When will the results be published?

Normally before now stiggy

I have sent the Judge ( Richard ) the normal PM but he hasn't read it yet and hasn't been on the site for 3 weeks or so. I am guessing he is away but will try and chase him on Monday if I haven't heard from him by then.

As to the next challenge...... I am seriously debating whether it is worth continuing. 4 entries is hardly worth the bother.

 

[Stiggy]

Awwwww! I've only just built up the courage to enter!

 

[Dalboy]

When will the results be published?

Normally before now stiggy

I have sent the Judge ( Richard ) the normal PM but he hasn't read it yet and hasn't been on the site for 3 weeks or so. I am guessing he is away but will try and chase him on Monday if I haven't heard from him by then.

As to the next challenge...... I am seriously debating whether it is worth continuing. 4 entries is hardly worth the bother.

He has been down here in Kent doing a demo all day today at the club I go to. Just a shame that I had already booked a show to go to so missed him.

 

[Castanea]

It's a fair point Graham. Once it gets down to four it's hard to see what the point is. If you keep running it I'll keep entering it as often as I can but I think you've had the "how do we get more people to enter" discussion often enough that I can understand you saying "sod it" or similar!

It's worth re-iterating that those of us who have entered are grateful that you've made the effort to keep it going this far!

All the best

Ian

 

[gregmcateer]

It's a fair point Graham. Once it gets down to four it's hard to see what the point is. If you keep running it I'll keep entering it as often as I can but I think you've had the "how do we get more people to enter" discussion often enough that I can understand you saying "sod it" or similar!

It's worth re-iterating that those of us who have entered are grateful that you've made the effort to keep it going this far!

All the best

Ian

Too true. I'm in the 'keep meaning to get in the workshop, but kids, life, wife...' brigade.

I also appreciate Graham and his predecessors' efforts and have occasionally managed to get an entry ready. I too am going to try harder - in fact I have finally got into the shop in the last couple of days - spurred on by the article in WT about the 'Elementary Turning' book written in 1907. In fact I bought the book and have been SLOWLY working my way through the exercises.
tbh, I think I might actually have found something from which I'm beginning to understand how to use the skew. I've basically avoided it, (and pretty much any spindle work, since my lesson with Richard years ago - just sticking to bowls. And that's no criticism of Richard - just my inertia in getting on and practising before it falls out of my thick skull.

So, after that rather random ramble, it's my roundabout way of saying thank you Graham, for your efforts. =D>

Greg

 

[Mal]

Speaking for myself, I do enjoy seeing the work entered into the challenges, as they give me something to aim for many years down the line!

There are some stunning entries, and as a relatively new turner, I wouldn't want to embarrass myself with my meagre efforts, which would only score nul points

 

[Stiggy]

Speaking for myself, I do enjoy seeing the work entered into the challenges, as they give me something to aim for many years down the line!

There are some stunning entries, and as a relatively new turner, I wouldn't want to embarrass myself with my meagre efforts, which would only score nul points

Mal - I've only been turning since November last year - and only turned my first proper bowl this last weekend - this is because I bought a bowl gouge 6 months ago and haven't had a jig to sharpen it on until I made one recently! I had to travel from Lewes to Hampshire to get Rob to sharpen it for me which lasted about 1 day.

I've been concentrating on pots and spindle work mainly as those are the tools I CAN sharpen.

I hereby promise to enter ALL future challenges - keep em coming!

(hammer)