Hello - Newbie from Scotland

[PMP]

Hi all,

My name is Rick and i hail from the north east of Scotland (moving house in 1.5 months to Elgin )

I have recently started my own business doing commission painting of wargaming figures and accessories, and as part of that business i am designing and making my own plinths and display boards etc.

To that end i am looking at learning basic woodturning skills to produce designs for my business, working around the 60mm - 30mm diameter area.

As a total newbie i have read that i should get Keith Rowley's book on the subject, which i have ordered, and try and learn as much as i can with videos and if possible local tuition\open days of any clubs.

I stumbled upon this website and thought it might be a good place to meet some people and learn some turning help.

All i have at the moment is a basic lathe my dad bought me as help towards the business and my xmas present (i am 35, but as soon as he thought he could go to machine mart he was all over it, and it became like i was 10 again going to toys R us )

Anyway, the lathe is a Clarke CWL325V, now i realise this may make many recoil in horror, but it seemed a decent little lathe for the price and will get me started as i am not aiming to do any heavy duty turning for the foreseeable future.

As funds are very low just now and with house move, i havent looked at sharpening equipment or tools, but i want to get decent stuff, as i expect cheap tools will be a hiding to nothing.

Main hurdle will be learning how to sharpen properly, but hopefully i can get it through practice and starting slowly.

Anyway, nice to meet you all, and looking forward to developing this part of my business.

Rick (my username is the initials of my business name)

 

[skipdiver]

Welcome Rick, plenty of knowledge and advise on this here forum. Turning not my forte but there are plenty of turners hereabouts.

 

[dickm]

Welcome to this particular madhouse! One thing you might find very useful is to join a woodturning club. I'm a bit further south (Formartine) so can't advise about the North Coast, but there is probably a club somewhere along there. There are a couple in the Huntly- Inverurie area, but they'd be a bit far on a winter's night!

 

[kevinlightfoot]

You should get in touch with Mick Odonnell I am sure he can put you on the right track ,he lives on Dunnet head a lovely part of the world and not too far from you.

 

[scotstony]

You should get in touch with Mick Odonnell I am sure he can put you on the right track ,he lives on Dunnet head a lovely part of the world and not too far from you.

Might as well be a million miles, Dunnet Head is on the edge of the world
I think there may be a mens shed organisation near to Elgin, im in Inverness and there is one here. If you can get to a local craft fair, there is always someone there who is selling turned stuff.

 

[PMP]

Hi folks,

Thanks for the replies. As we don't move to Elgin until the end of January I'll be a stranger in a strange land for a while until I find all the local places but hopefully be something relatively local but I don't mind the odd schlep .

Hopefully my woodturning book turns up tomorrow and I can have a good read. Next issue is working out where to turn as new house has a shed but it's just a standard garden shed which I plan to build in a work desk but will still have usual shed items in it.

Bu it's not like buying first house is stressful at all......

 

[scotstony]

Hi folks,

Thanks for the replies. As we don't move to Elgin until the end of January I'll be a stranger in a strange land for a while until I find all the local places but hopefully be something relatively local but I don't mind the odd schlep .

Hopefully my woodturning book turns up tomorrow and I can have a good read. Next issue is working out where to turn as new house has a shed but it's just a standard garden shed which I plan to build in a work desk but will still have usual shed items in it.

Bu it's not like buying first house is stressful at all......

your going to need a bigger shed

 

[SteveF]

welcome to the forum
my brother paints figures for a living
turns out some fantastic stuff
never asked me for any plinths which I always find strange
his parting gift as he moved to cornwall was to paint an old chess set for me
I just have to make a chess board now

ramble over

Syeve

 

[SVB]

Welcome.

Grab a glass of wine and put an evening aside for a trawl with the search facility on here as it is very good and there is much info here.

Tools wise, any of the name brands are good (Henry Taylor, Sorby, hamlet, crown) and Axminster do some very nice own brand tools that are made in the same place as one of the name brands above!

Sharpening, a grinder with a white wheel, jigs make it easier and there are some good posts on homemade jigs that will serve you well if cash is tight etc.

Anyways, welcome aboard and look forward to seeing some of your work!

Simon

 

[donwatson]

Hi Rick, Welcome to the forum.
Have a look at the SMSA website, (join if you wish, its free), they have a list of the Men's Sheds in Scotland. I am sure there are about 14 starting/started in your neck of the woods.

take care
Don W
SMSA = Scottish Men's Sheds Association

 

[lurker]

You should get in touch with Mick Odonnell I am sure he can put you on the right track ,he lives on Dunnet head a lovely part of the world and not too far from you.

I have a home in Loughborough but worked for several years near Thurso (not far from Micheal who I know quite well) and had a house up there.
Doorstep to doorstep was 600 miles
The northerly 200 miles took longer than the southerly 400 miles.
Best I ever managed was 10 hours.

I'd guess Elgin to Dunnett 3.5 hours.

 

[TFrench]

Any pictures of you model painting work? I used to be into WH40k but cars, women and houses became more interesting. Something I definately would like to come back to!

 

[lurker]

Getting bored with women Tom?

 

[Morten]

Welcome Rick

 

[TFrench]

Getting bored with women Tom?

:lol: got to do something when the bake offs on!

 

[PMP]

@tfrench

I can't post pics on forum yet but if you have a look at pictishminiaturepainting on google (my page) you can see some of my stuff in the gallery .

Looking forward to learning more with my woodturning book over Christmas

 

[PMP]

Hi again folks.

Been a while sinc3 I first posted but movex house and got all sorted out in Elgin.

I haven't got my shed setup yet but fo7nd a local supplier of turning tools, Robert Sorby brand. Quite expensive but good quality.

I've seen Henry Taylor stuff online in a trade magazine but tbh don't know what what is good or bad.

Looking at a grinder and jig first but that's simpler to sort out.

Hopefully turn my first practice pieces in the late spring

 

[PMP]

Hi again folks, long time no posting.

However I have moved forward with the turning setup.

Over the last year i put £2 and £1 coins in a terramundi pot, and asked for any birthday\xmas gifts to just be any small donation to the pot towards getting my shed kitted out. In the end got together over £400

I was able to get the Robert Sorby 6 piece turning set, an 8" grinder, 80grit ruby sharpening wheel, a sharpening jig (Unbranded one made by a uk engineer) and some other hand tools\ measuring stuff etc.

Got power to the shed and started sharpening after watching many videos and reading a few books, and so far its gone okay, haven't buggered my fancy tools and was able to re profile the bowl gauge closer to the irish grind style (not tried a bowl yet).

So far i have turned some practice pieces on spare pine i had and on some fence posts that are a bit thicker to work away on just getting used to the tools. So far I find the spindle gouge easiest to work with, but i am having an issue sharpening the skew chisel as my jig is off centre by a couple of mm so not horizontally true, so need to fix that first.

I will get a few pictures up once i have posted a few more times and passed the posting limits

Enjoying the process and find it very therapeutic, though finding a few errors in my work, mainly the odd light catch or tearing the wood, but that's why i am using cheap wood to train

 

[Stanleymonkey]

Don't remember seeing your original posts - so I'll say welcome. Quite nice to read the condensed version and see you are still sticking to your plan. All the best, hope your house move went well. Had a look at your website. Your artwork looks amazing - wish I had that level of skill and patience.

Good luck

 

[PMP]

I can now post images, so a couple from the shed setup (grinder wasnt attached at this point, it is on the right at the front before the lathe now.

The other imag is my 3 test pieces so far, left most is the first go with tools that were new but not sharpened on grinder yet, second one was after first sharpening, and the larger 3rd one was from a cut square block to test coving etc.

Still getting some catches and i am sure i am using the spindle gouge incorrectly but getting better and just taking it slowly.

Main issue is the lathe vibrates a tiny bit if bigger piece is in the lathe and as a result it creeps along the bench. Plan is to screw small plywood blocks against the base of the lathe to prevent creep. The lathe is quite stout and its more if a piece is unbalanced.

20190713_161518 by Richard Rose, on Flickr

20190810_182724 by Richard Rose, on Flickr