Hands on night

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Our club has outgrown the church hall that we have met in for the last 14 years. We are moving to a new venue that is much bigger and with better acoustics. This will allow us to have lots going on during hands on nights so my question is....what do other clubs do during hands on nights? We are an active group but don't want to get stale.

[Dave Brookes]

Hi John,
At the Didcot Club we have nine hands on nights each year where there is a planned project for the evening with at least two lathes for turning the item(s).  This project is then the topic for the following month’s competition which carries points that are accumulated towards a trophy awarded at the AGM (one trophy for each category of Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced).
Three other lathes are in use for members to turn something they may be having difficulty in mastering or a technique not tried before which an accomplished member will demonstrate and they can then try it.

Dave

[Paul Hannaby]

I hope the new venue isn't too far away from the chip shop! I would hate to miss out next time I come to demo!

At one of the clubs I attend, we do occasional hands on nights and ask the members what they want to include. Even doing that, many still seem reluctant to have a go but we still keep trying!

Some of the things we have included in the past are skew chisel, ring tool, thread chasing, spindle gouge, pyrography, decorating/texturing tools. I think it would be a good idea to include tools/techniques that appeal to the novice turners and some for those more proficient/experienced and possibly one or two off the wall things too!

[John Peachey]

Paul's rely covers most things.

However at our last hands on, also had a sharpening station so people could try things like Tormek Pro edge, and CBN wheels etc. There was also some one on hand to help people correct tool shape, so make a spindle gouge wing straight/convex, rather than concave.

Someone else was doing a bit on holding work on the lathe, using bluetack to hold cuff link tops whilst turning amongst other things.

John

[Valkrider]

For my clubs hands on nights (one a month other than January) we have 5 lathes set up. @ are for mini demos by club members the other 3 are true hands on for novices with instructors on each of the lathes. We also have a sharpening station for those with trouble sharpening their tools. We often have additional mini demos of other turning equipment such as ornamental turning, miniature turning etc. Also the club shop and wood sales are available too.

Our club has around 150 members and we have two rooms available to us at our village hall. We also have another night 2 weeks later each month with an external demonstrator.

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

I hope the new venue isn't too far away from the chip shop! I would hate to miss out next time I come to demo!

It is about 10 minutes from that particular chip shop Paul (probably the best one in town) but when you come again I will give you directions to another one which is not too bad. But just wait until you see the new venue!!