WEEK COMMENCING 9 JUNE 2019

Hi

I hope you’re well; you might recall that last week I was heading down to Gloucester to demonstrate at the local branch (woodwork clubs having branches, that always makes me chuckle) of the British Woodcarvers Association. I had a whale of a time there, it was the first time demonstrating to a carving club and they made me feel very much at home, thank you. The club members enjoyed the morning too, I hope they found something useful to take away from it.

So one of the questions I was asked was about NyWeb, and how strong it is. Carvers have a need to cut the pads into thin strips, about 10mm wide, to thread through carved holes and then pull it backwards and forwards to smooth the inside. I’ve never been asked that one before, and didn’t know the answer…so I’ve been experimenting! The answer is that if you pull hard enough you can pull a strip of NyWeb apart – it isn’t woven after all. But it does have a lot of resistance so I’d say it’d be fit for purpose in this instance and whilst it won’t last as long as in a sheet, it should last more than long enough to do the job several times.

Talking of NyWeb, I was asked by someone recently about the order in which to use them. I think he was thinking of traffic lights and had convinced himself the acronym was STOP – which is difficult to make from the first letters of Green, Red, Orange and White! The word to remember is GROW (Green, Red, Orange, White) which is what trees do until they’re cut down and turned, carved or whatever your particular fancy is. The actual grits are:

  • Green – 400 grit
  • Red – 600 grit
  • Orange – 1000 grit
  • White – no grit
Finally for this week someone asked me about a finish for a floor. It’s not something we’re big into, but some of our finishes are okay to use on wooden flooring.
WoodWax 22 is good in areas of low traffic and is easy to repair if needed. Finishing Oil will also do the job very well and requires less elbow grease than WoodWax 22, but our new favourite for this job is the Hard Wax Oil. It’s clearer, quicker drying, and builds to a deeper, brighter finish with fewer coats. Always cut back gently between coats for the best finish.

And once again we’ve come to the end of the Newsletter. In my seemingly never ending travels I’m off to Andover next Monday, for my third visit to Test Valley Turners; my first was in 2012 and I was there again three years ago, it’s always nice to be asked back to clubs, shows I must be doing something right! Then on Thursday I’m visiting the Chestnut Woodturning Club in Hadleigh, Suffolk. I’ve sneaked that one in as it’s very local, they’re very nice people (but then all the clubs I go to are) and with that name I could hardly say no.
Before that though I’m going back into the studio to record some more films for YouTube, I’ll be telling you more about them in the coming months. They’re a great cure for insomnia.

I know I’ll be meeting some Chestnuteers at both of these clubs and will hopefully sign up a few more readers too. I know that lots of you encourage your turning friends to subscribe, thank you. I don’t think you can ever have too much information.

All the best

Terry