Oct 9, 2007 - Central Ohio Woodturners had a great turnout for Graeme Priddle's demonstration. We usually have our guest turners come on a Saturday for an all-day demo, but this time we had it during our regular meeting time on a Tuesday evening. About 100 members came for this event, which was great!
Graeme told me he was a bit nervous about such a large group, but he sure didn't act like he was nervous. From the start of the session until it ended, he kept the pace lively and everyone had a good time.
I was glad to see so many club members attending this demonstration. We usually have a much smaller turnout for the all-day Saturday demos and I think a lot of people really miss out on some fantastic demonstrations when they are unwilling to pay a small fee for a professional demonstrator to visit our club. We usually charge $25 for an all-day demo, which always includes a lunch. That seems like a bargain to me, but it's enough to keep many club members at home rather than having a great time with the rest of us.
You can tell Graeme lives near the ocean - he is always in flip flops. Someone asked if he ever hurts his toes while working in the shop. His response was, "never."
Graeme talked about his grinding technique and why he uses this particular grind. He can use three gouges of different sizes for just about everything he does, which means it's much easier to travel with his tools since he doesn't have to transport a lot of weight in his bags.
Graeme turned one of his small bowls for this evening's demo. He jams a blank up against the jaws of a chuck, which is a method he developed when he was doing production turning. "Time is money."
He recesses the bowl just below the wide rim and then he brands a texture into the inside of the bowl.
The branded area is covered with a thick black acrylic paint. He uses a toothbrush to apply the paint.
The smoke and paint spillover is sanded off the rim.
It just takes a few seconds to remove all the excess and put a nice surface onto the rim.
The nub is carved off with a traditional Polynesian carving knife. Graeme applies the finish to the surface before removing the bowl. He used Mahoney's walnut oil for the demo, but at home he uses a non-toxic oil finish.
This is the finished bowl. He's left it to the club for us to raffle off sometime this year.
Graeme showed his other work and explained a bit about how he makes each one. He also showed the club the small pod form I had started in the hands-on class I took with him the previous Sunday. This was turned on three axes and then carved into the final shape.
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