My last Students for 2014

That's it for 2014 my last Students Jim and Chris.
Jim and Chris had both done a very small amount of turning before comming here and wanted improve on their turning.
They were a lot of fun we had a good day and they both went away a lot wiser and with very nice Spalted Beech Bowls.
Well done lads it was a lot of fun.
I am now looking forward to a well earned two weeks rest.

Birthday presant for laurence

Laurence's family all got together to by him a fiftieth Birthday present.
Laurence is a professional classical singer so this was something completely different for him.
I think he did really well and has a nice bowl to show for his day here.

There is still time

There is still time to get one of my Gift vouchers before Christmas.
The ideal gift for a friend or loved one.
The cost is £120  00 for a days one to one tuition inc lunch.
Email me at g.foweraker@sky.com

Every student takes away a beautiful bowl made by themselves

My latest toy

Husqvarna 272X and mill fitted with 24" bar and ripping chain .
It is capable of taking a 36" bar for ripping but this is enough for what I want.

All I need now is some interesting trees to cut up
A mate of mine who is a tree surgeon Giles is cutting down a Walnut tree soon and I will be trying this out.

Two productive days with Wolfgang

Wolfgang has had two days with me concentrating on refining his tooling at at the same time doing some coloring and texturing.
Two of the three bowls he created are Macrocarpa and the other is Sycamore.
Two days of hard work and good humored banter with good results what more could you ask for.
Here are a few pictures taken yesterday and today.

Very busy teaching

I have decided to give up Club Demo's and concentrate on what I enjoy most ,Teaching.
All of my slots for this month are now fully booked and most of January next year
My gift vouchers are proving popular as Christmas gifts and one for an eighteenth birthday present
If bookings carry on like this I think next year is going to be another busy year I have kept my tuition charges the same for about five years and they are at a level I am happy with so why be greedy.
When I look at what some turners want for tuition and what some company's are charging I think I give good value.
It is not too late to buy my Gift vouchers for a days one to one or two to one tuition just Email me and I will sort it out.
The only thing I do insist on if it is two to one is that both students are at the same or similar level of experience
.

Dave and his Grandson Rudi

Today one of my regular studants Dave brought his Grandson Rudi for a days woodturning.
Rudi has been here before on a number of occasions and wanted to try some texturing and coloring this time.
Here are afew pictures and if you look carefully you will see Rudi's hair became considerably shorter by the end of the day because my Grandaughter Ali who is a mobile hairdresser gave him a haircut at lunchtime.
A great improvement I think.

Nice work Rob

Today my student Rob turned a very nice Sycamore bowl.

Well done Max

Max has just had two days tuition with me on bowl turning.
Max has recently bought himself a lathe and tools and now after two days tuition on bowl turning he is ready to go.
Very well done Max.

Its that time again

Christmas is nearly on us and it is time to start thinking about that special present.
What about a days woodturning tuition I do a very nice Gift voucher.

Well done David.

I am feeling very proud of one of my recent students David, he has sent me pictures of his first bowl made on his own on his new lathe.
David has only had two days tuition one a fortnight ago and one last Monday.
The form and finish look amazing I cant wait to see it at our next club meeting.

This was David last Monday with the bowl he made in my workshop

This is the bowl that David has made this week in his own workshop I am amazed Very very well done David

 

Dave wanted a challenge.

Dave who is one of my regular students said he wanted to make something that was a bit of a challenge and he wife Lynn also wanted a waterproof flower vase and was it possible to combine the two.
I just happened to have a very nice Holly log that Mark Baker gave me about four years ago and he said he had it about ten years so it was absolutly dry.
Because it had been drying for a long time it was as hard as flint so I thought this would be ideal to satisfy both criteria.
As you can see the log has loads of knots and they are as hard as bullets.

This is what Dave started with

 A piece cut off on the bandsaw about 18" long

 Mounted on the Nova lathe it looks quite impressive

The blank is mounted in 4" gripper jaws ready to be hollowed with the Crown Revolution after drilling with a 2" forsener bit

 They end result is a very nice vase that has been waterproofed with two coats of Treetex

Because of the hardness of the wood this was far from easy for Dave and I think this is a great result

Todays Students David and Helen

Today students David and Helen made two very nice bowls Beech for David and Ash for Helen.
Very well done both of you.

David goes for Gold

Today my student David was given a choice of woods either Sycamore or Ash and he chose Ash.
David decided he would like to make a wide rimmed bowl and do some coloring on the rim time permitting.As David got on so well he had time to ebonise and gold guild the rim.
Here are a few pics to show how he got on and I think the result is something to be proud of.

A nice oliveAsh blank

 Applieng the Guilt cream after ebonising

A final buffing

Very nice David