South Wales club.....?

[VikingAl]

Hi all,
Names Al & I live in a little place called Neath, just outside of Swansea. Quite often people will find me wielding my trusty chainsaws around & carrying out various aspects of tree work which leads me onto my questions for you guys which I hope someone may possibly be able to help me out with???.
I have access to a bit of timber on a daily basis, various species, various sizes. Quite often it just gets turned into firewood which I think in some cases is a terrible waste and want to learn the dark art of wood turning!.
I think I've read so much on here already that I feel like I know everything already & I haven't even touched a lathe yet!. So, does any body know of any clubs or perhaps an individual that may be in/around the Swansea area that I could perhaps visit so that I could get a feel of it, watch it being done & generally ask questions, maybe even somebody will let me have a go?.
As I said, I don't have a lathe but am searching the Internet, looking at this site, checking free ads etc etc & comparing & so far losing out on bids on eBay ( the long haired general has set me a budget of £150 but I'm sure some flowers could extend that!! ). I'll keep on looking until I find one that is relatively closer to me than Essex or Scotland as I think the cost of diesel to collect could perhaps outweigh the cost of the lathe!!!!.
I can see by looking at these forums that it can turn into a fairly expensive hobby but I figure that I don't need to go crazy initially, I just need the lathe & basic tools initially to get started.
Well I'm sorry I've waffled on, I have a mountain of questions to ask but I'll keep it to the one I've asked already for the moment!.
Thanks for reading and I appreciate any help/pointers/info that you may be able to give me,
Cheers all....

 

[EnErY]

Hi im in South wales Email sent to you
regards
Bill

 

[nev]

Hi Al,
Welcome.
There is a club in Tycroes near Ammanford (about 5 mins from Pont Abram services at the end of the M4) if thats not too far for you. They meet at 7pm each Friday in the scout hall . I did hear mention of a club in Llanelli too but I don't know the particulars.
I went along to Tycroes a couple of times, they're a friendly bunch and you can have a go at hands on if and when you feel the need, but me being a unsociable, miserable old so and so, didn't find it was right for me, but well worth a visit to see if it is the type of thing you're looking for.
One of the forum members, Adam, also recently started a woodturning course somewhere in or near Swansea, maybe he'll be along to give you the particulars?
HTH
nev

 

[henton49er]

Hi Al,

Welcome to the forum

Always good to have another member from Wales!!

 

[=Adam=]

Hi al!

I'm from Swansea (well almost llanelli)! Nice to get some more locals on here!

There aren't many clubs around from what I have gathered, there is one in Llanelli however I'm not sure if it is still running. I am actually doing a course in Llanelli college for basic wood turning and I highly recommend it as the lecturers are great and the show you how to use the equipment efficiently and safely!

Turning is very satisfying when you get into it however it can be a bit disheartening to start as it looks easier than it is.

With regards to a lathe, your best bet is to look on eBay to see what comes up. I have a record power cl1 36 and it is a good starter lathe, I may be looking to part with it in the near future but I'm not sure what I will upgrade to.

 

[Groggs]

I live in Neath Al, well Rhos.
If you've got too much timber I'll help you out lol

 

[VikingAl]

Hi fellas, thanks for the replies, really appreciate it. I had a little peruse of Swansea evening post earlier, 2 lathes up for sale in it with tools etc, may enquire I think. Hey Groggs, I'm in Longford and go thru rhos quite often, be careful, you may find me on your doorstep!. Seriously though, thanks for the replies, hopefully we will all keep in touch via the forum, who knows, maybe we should start a welsh club!!!. Enery, I'm just trying to figure out how to pm you but definitely interested.

 

[Mark Hancock]

There is also the South and West Wales Woodturning Club based at Pontardawe near Swansea

 

[VikingAl]

Pontardawe?, 5 minutes from me!, do you have any more details?.

 

[Mark Hancock]

Pontardawe?, 5 minutes from me!, do you have any more details?.

PM sent

 

[Retire2004]

Yes Al, as Mark says there is a club in Pontardawe. We meet every Monday at 7.00 PM. in the old Alltwen School. You can come along for a trial run and ask some questions. If you like it, membership is £15/yr (I think) and 50p each visit. We have members from Neath and Port Talbot as well as Swansea Valley etc. Sometimes there are lathes etc. advertised on our notice board. I will send you a PM with contact details.
Regards,
Tudor

 

[VikingAl]

Hi fellas, well pm sent to you Tudor, hopefully I'm going to embark on a very slippery slope on Monday evening when I visit the club in Pontardawe!. Many thanks for the info everyone, really amazed with all the info & offers from you all. From what I've seen this is a fantastic site with an amazing wealth of knowledge & info, as the big man says, I'll be back!.

Cheers all....!!!

 

[Gwilym68]

Hi all,
I'm a newbie on this site to who enjoys all types of woodwork, i have a lathe but to be honest not really using it to its full potential, looking for local clubs etc

 

[=Adam=]

Hi Gwilym,

I am from gorseinon too! how funny is that haha!

I go to the college in llanelli and take part in the wood turning course there! I cannot reccomend it enough! It runs from september each year for 35 weeks and costs £93, it is worth it, trust me!

I am pretty sure that there is a turning club in llanelli too however I am not too sure where! There are a few local turners that I have only come to know recently, we are a friendly bunch haha!

Out of interest, what lathe do you have?

Kind regards

Adam

 

[EnErY]

There More taffs Ere than In The National staduim
Regards
Bill

 

[spinks]

Heres another one....bit further west than you lot though....Pembroke Dock to be exact....does haverfordwest college do woodturning courses??

 

[paul johnson]

Hi Spinks, are you a member of pembokeshire woodturners.

 

[tekno.mage]

Hi there - we are probably to far away to be useful, but Mid Wales Woodturners meeting monthly on (usually) 3rd Sunday of the mopnth in Carno (near Newtown). If you want to PM me your email address I'll send you our latest newsletter and programme.

 

[spinks]

Hi Spinks, are you a member of pembokeshire woodturners.

Hi Paul.....I have not joined the club yet but am thinking of going to foundry house on one of their meets just to get the lay of the land....are you a member??

 

[graduate_owner]

Hi Viking Al,
Yet another Welshman on the forum - Pob hwyl i chi i gyd.
I mentioned in an earlier posting that I went on a 2-day course at the Botanic Gardens recently and I really enjoyed it. It cost £75 for the 2 days, tea/coffee included. The course tutor was Les Bryan from Picus crafts (take a look at his web site http://www.picuscrafts.co.uk/). I think Adam's comments make the Llanelli college course look like good value, and he seems pretty impressed with the tuition there. To my mind, for a beginner there's no better way to build up confidence than to attend a course. I also think the beginner's worst enemy is poorly sharpened tools - you end up blaming yourself when it's not your fault. I know the Tycroes club have 3 lathes, plus a Sorby pro edge sharpener and a bench grinder, so if you have bought some second hand kit you could benefit from taking your gouges etc to one of their meetings.
Don't struggle away on your own - there's help available not too far away, and then you can really enjoy woodturning instead of working hard and getting nowhere fast. I did that for too long.

K