January Demonstration Highlights
January Monthly Demonstration
The January Demonstration started with a review of the West
Virginia Woodturner's Association's 2007 growth. From our club's inception, earlier in the 2007, up to our year
ending Christmas Party. 2007 was a tremendous success with an increasing membership, the launch of our website and start
of our club library. We also participated in the Dandelion Festival and the West Virginia State Fair.
2008 will also hold new additions to our club such as a
mentoring program and the further expansion of our clubs library. We believe these are two important items to help our
membership learn from each other and professional turners to advance our turning skills and introducing us to new types
of turning.
The meeting started with our Show and Tell and many wonderful
items were displayed. We had items from pens, hollow form vessels, natural edge bowls, wine bottle stoppers and textured
bowls. Please take some time to view the photos below and thanks to everyone who participated in this month's Show and
Tell.
Off Center Turning Demonstration
January's Demonstration featured Harry Newman showing us
how to complete Off Center Turning without the use of an eccentric chuck. He started by turning an off center lid
that would later be added to a small off center goblet. First harry chucked a block of oak into the four jaw self centering
chuck as shown in the picture below.
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| Harry chucking the peice of Oak in the four jaw chuck |
After the oak blank is placed in the chuck he proceeds
to turn the top of the peice. He starts with the wood blank centered in the chuck as you would normally center any peice
you turn.
After he turns the first portion of the lid he must sand
it before he adjust the peice to the new position in the chuck. In standard turning application the wood is placed squarely
in the chuck with the jaws gripping the wood fully on all four jaws. This allows the wood to turn true. In
off center turning the peice you are turning is adjusted in the jaws as the picture below shows.
Your four jaw chuck is numbered on each jaw 1-4.
You want to note the number of the jaw that you use each time you move the work into the off center position. As you
can see in the picture below the adjustment to make the peice off center is accomplished by moving the wood from being fully
in the jaw to about half way out of the jaw.
After the peice has been moved into the off center position
make sure the chuck is tightened down properly and that the peice clears the tool rest before starting the lathe. You
can then safely turn the next area on the peice.
Harry turns the next area of the peice and then sands
it. Remember you must sand the last area of the peice before you move to the next off center position. If your
first position was jaw #1 on the chuck you can move to any position #2-#4 and achieve the off center turning position.
If you go to the complete opposite side of the jaws to jaw #3 from Jaw #1 you will achieve greatest off center amount.
The picture above shows the next portion once the turning
has been completed. To turn the lid it must be placed fully back into the chuck. Harry now finishes turning the
lid and then parts it from the base. Be sure to complete any sanding before parting the peice from the base. Below you
can see the completed lid.
For additional photos of the Goblet that was turned to match the lid above please click here.
Please click here to go to our Resources page to learn more about lathe safety.
