Words from the Chair

With our November meeting coming up, on the 17th, we are reminded that toys for children who will be in hospital over Christmas are due to be handed in to Ted who is coordinating the arrangements. We know these small items can bring endless pleasure to the children who are separated from their families over Christmas.

Last month we were entertained by Tic Challis, we were treated to the insights of colouring using an air brush. We were a small gathering, 16 of us; same as last month but some different faces including first time visitors. Tic loves sharing her skills with others and delivered her presentation in a very light hearted way welcoming our questions and involvement. There was no doubting our enjoyment of the evening.

John Wood of Woodarts, set up his stall and we were able to purchase his products.

This month Darren Breeze will be demonstrating on the lathe. Many of us have watched Darren demonstrate in the past and can vouch for this being an evening not to miss.

We have been following the conditions for use of the hall and will continue to do so due to the continuing uncertainty of the Covid situation, this way we will hopefully avoid a repetition of the lockdowns. And we get to have a cuppa at the interval!

Newsletter

Our second month back with an event by Tic Challis who showed a fantastic display of her airbrushing skills.

You can read about the full article and write up which will now be a regular monthly feature.

Barry welcomed two new prospective club members Don and Lee.

Our next event is on 17th November 2021 at our usual venue of the Methodist Hall. Tell your friends!

Preparing your blanks

It’s now the time of year where green wood starts to become more plentiful from the pollarding and felling of trees. You may want to consider volunteering at a local nature reserve or with the council, where you help with their green spaces. As part of that, you come in to a large amount of green wood. It’s a win win - You help the local community and you get free wood!

I volunteer at two such places - Marconi Ponds Nature Reserve in Chelmsford, and Mill Meadows Nature Reserve in Billericay. Each year in autumn and winter, my stocks start to fill with logs that I have collected from the tasks within the planned management of the reserve. I then chop up the logs for spring and summer for the following year. So far this year, I’ve had sycamore and oak; I’ve also been given the trunk of an apple tree, part of which is now my chopping block (on the left).

Wood dries at different speeds due to a number of factors such as time of year and by local climate (humidity and temperature) with some other smaller factors in the equation too. There is a fantastic section on this in the book ‘Turning Green Wood’ by Michael O’Donnell - 2nd edition, which goes into great detail about the stages of drying and how wood can warp when drying etc.

In short, you can use a general rule of thumb of 1 inch of thickness per year to be dry; you can rough turn the bowl when it’s very green to an average thickness of an 1 inch and then re-turn once the wood is drier, which will dry quicker as there is less wood to dry out. You can speed this up dramatically by forcing moisture to leave the wood by microwaving the wood for 30 seconds at a time, recording the weight at specific intervals and repeating. Do make sure that the manager(ess) is on board with the idea, else the wood won’t be the only thing losing moisture (of a different sort!).

You can see a good video on the process below, maybe that will help convince the other half?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0X5xyq2ikzY

Kyle McGill

Woodturning Zoom - https://woodturningzoom.com/

Don’t forget to have a look and let us know what you think. It might just trigger a thought that you want to share about how we can do things to interest you.

If you decide to get involved, let us know your experience! - info@chelmerwood.co.uk

Chairman@chelmerwood.co.uk - Barry Tucker-Vincent

Secretary@chelmerwood.co.uk - Steve Crouchman

Treasurer@chelmerwood.co.uk - Ted Higgs

Events@chelmerwood.co.uk - Louise Biggs

Comments, suggestions or feedback?

Please send your thoughts to info@chelmerwood.co.uk.

Alternatively, contact our Chairman, Barry Tucker-Vincent at chairman@chelmerwood.co.uk