We waited for this one for a while, and its a two parter ! First the demonstration by Emma the Tiny Turner at the local woodturning club was eagerly anticipated and was worth the wait.
Emma did a full day demonstration at the club in Castle Douglas and managed to pack in quite a lot, the day began with a very nice Christmas ornament made from a glass bauble of the type easily purchase via the Internet...pick your own source!
A finial was turned from Zebrano to hang from the bauble with the remainder of the blank being used to turn a cap with a hole through which was threaded a string of LED lights (again you can pick them up from the Internet).
Not being a big spindle turner it was nice to have a demonstrator who made it interesting and took a bit of time to explain what they were doing and why they were doing it.
They day moved on with a turned box which was then carved so that it looked exactly like a cupcake - two styles were covered for carving the top part of the box (the icing), the crystals and glitter are optional but on the whole they do seem to set off the finished boxes very well.
Emma rounded off the day with a turned carving mallet, pointing out the importance of the correct use of grain direction to ensure the mallet would be strong and durable - with a nice tip about the direction of the wedge to help orient the mallet when in use.
All in all a really good day!
Oh and of course Errol the dragon was there so really what more could you want....well, see next weeks article for even more with the tiny turner!
