Random Orbital Bob
Established Member
The more experienced turners here have often talked about the benefits of joining a turning club when advising new turners about how to acquire knowledge and experience. I thought it worth just expanding on that to give some insight as to what happens at a typical club in any given calendar year so new turners, like the chaps I met at the weekend have a better understanding of what to expect so they can decide if it's for them.
I'm a member of Berkshire Woodturners Association (BWA) and we meet 3rd Wednesday of each month in Bracknell. The membership is around 70 with 30-50 typically attending the regular events. A typical evening starts at 7 with greetings all round and folk laying out the work they've produced for the competition. Each month there is a competition with two themes: a specific project which is deliberately different to expand knowledge and experience and an open category where anything you've turned you just bring along. Prizes exist for both at the end of the year. The project specific category is usually planned to dovetail such that the previous months meet had the pro turner demonstrate how its done so you've seen it live. Naturally there is no requirement to enter, it's for fun.
Soon after we meet the pro turner starts. We have pretty sophisticated AV with a gantry above the lathe and multiple camera's zooming into the various angles being displayed on two huge monitors so folk can really see the close up on the tools and techniques. The pro is also audio mic'd for sound.
At half time we'll stop for tea/coffee/biscuits and either our own team or the pro turner will judge the competition work. The comments are constructive and helpful because your piece gets an individual blow by blow from master woodturners which is an immensely useful means by which your skill evolves. The attention to detail is incredible and the standards of wood turners is waaaaaaaay higher than the general public when critiquing work. Valuable from a learning point of view. Incidentally, when I say pro turners doing demo's I'm talking about the top names in the industry, folk who are regularly published in woodturning magazine and produce commercial books/DVD's and are all registered professional turners. The pro will then finish the demo for the next hour or so and then after clearing up there may, possibly, perhaps be a tendency to go for a swiftie in the pub which is nearly 100 yards from the community centre where we meet
At Christmas we do a fun night where we bring all the club lathes to the meet and all have a go at turning something seasonal for a laugh amid mince pies etc. In the summer one of the greatest assets of BWA takes place, the auction. BWA is very lucky in that one of its principle members runs a wood related business and is the proud owner of a woodmiser industrial strength, trailable bandsaw. The gentlemen concerned has access to crown estate forestry where he works professionally but where there is far more wood than needed by the business and so the club gets access to all manner of the most fabulous English hardwoods imaginable. To put that in perspective, last auction we had walnut, laburnum, spalted beech, oak, olive ash, hornbeam, robinia, birch (massive slabs), oak, sycamore, yew. I think I spent £20 and the boot of my estate car with the seats down was literally choc a bloc. The cost of that wood to buy from any supplier would have been several hundred. Needless to say, the auction is an event we all look forward to!
Once a year we also have a kind of open day where we invite folk to just bring their problems to the table, we sharpen tools, do little talks on this that and the other, demonstrate techniques live on the lathes. We have the local toolshop have a stand and they discount all their Sorby range...that's a buying frenzy if ever I've seen one, Sorby chisels going for half price as well as Chestnut finishes.
We also run practical sessions where we setup about 7 lathes and turn specific projects just to learn and gain access to mentoring from the more experienced folks. We'll do this at members houses (incl mine), the club premises all depending on who's available at the time. These are usually run on a Saturday or Sunday.
The club is legally called an association and is a not for profit entity. Funds provided are entirely for the benefit of the membership and any surplus at the end of the year gets spent on more DVD's or upgrading lathes or the AV equipment. Membership costs £20 per year and on the days when a pro turner is demoing there's a £4 charge on the door. That's it. So for basically chicken feed you have access to a wealth of resources, knowledge and experience to help you celebrate this delightful craft and accelerate your evolution through it. To be honest, just one tip from a more experienced turner about tool choices will save you the cost of membership and if we want to wax lyrical about the economic benefits then the wood auction is in a league of its own!
We're having a free taster session this March 2nd for people to come along and literally put the tool to the wood with supervision to see if it's something they want to consider getting involved with. Here's the club website. By all means PM me if you want to come on the 2nd.
http://www.berkshirewoodturners.org.uk/
Here's a link to the flyer we're posting in pubs, village halls etc to publicise the taster session on March 2nd
http://www.berkshirewoodturners.org.uk/ ... _Flyer.pdf
If BWA is too far for you to travel I urge new turners to seriously consider joining one closer to them, you will never regret it. On that note I also encourage other clubs to follow what I've done here.
I'm a member of Berkshire Woodturners Association (BWA) and we meet 3rd Wednesday of each month in Bracknell. The membership is around 70 with 30-50 typically attending the regular events. A typical evening starts at 7 with greetings all round and folk laying out the work they've produced for the competition. Each month there is a competition with two themes: a specific project which is deliberately different to expand knowledge and experience and an open category where anything you've turned you just bring along. Prizes exist for both at the end of the year. The project specific category is usually planned to dovetail such that the previous months meet had the pro turner demonstrate how its done so you've seen it live. Naturally there is no requirement to enter, it's for fun.
Soon after we meet the pro turner starts. We have pretty sophisticated AV with a gantry above the lathe and multiple camera's zooming into the various angles being displayed on two huge monitors so folk can really see the close up on the tools and techniques. The pro is also audio mic'd for sound.
At half time we'll stop for tea/coffee/biscuits and either our own team or the pro turner will judge the competition work. The comments are constructive and helpful because your piece gets an individual blow by blow from master woodturners which is an immensely useful means by which your skill evolves. The attention to detail is incredible and the standards of wood turners is waaaaaaaay higher than the general public when critiquing work. Valuable from a learning point of view. Incidentally, when I say pro turners doing demo's I'm talking about the top names in the industry, folk who are regularly published in woodturning magazine and produce commercial books/DVD's and are all registered professional turners. The pro will then finish the demo for the next hour or so and then after clearing up there may, possibly, perhaps be a tendency to go for a swiftie in the pub which is nearly 100 yards from the community centre where we meet
At Christmas we do a fun night where we bring all the club lathes to the meet and all have a go at turning something seasonal for a laugh amid mince pies etc. In the summer one of the greatest assets of BWA takes place, the auction. BWA is very lucky in that one of its principle members runs a wood related business and is the proud owner of a woodmiser industrial strength, trailable bandsaw. The gentlemen concerned has access to crown estate forestry where he works professionally but where there is far more wood than needed by the business and so the club gets access to all manner of the most fabulous English hardwoods imaginable. To put that in perspective, last auction we had walnut, laburnum, spalted beech, oak, olive ash, hornbeam, robinia, birch (massive slabs), oak, sycamore, yew. I think I spent £20 and the boot of my estate car with the seats down was literally choc a bloc. The cost of that wood to buy from any supplier would have been several hundred. Needless to say, the auction is an event we all look forward to!
Once a year we also have a kind of open day where we invite folk to just bring their problems to the table, we sharpen tools, do little talks on this that and the other, demonstrate techniques live on the lathes. We have the local toolshop have a stand and they discount all their Sorby range...that's a buying frenzy if ever I've seen one, Sorby chisels going for half price as well as Chestnut finishes.
We also run practical sessions where we setup about 7 lathes and turn specific projects just to learn and gain access to mentoring from the more experienced folks. We'll do this at members houses (incl mine), the club premises all depending on who's available at the time. These are usually run on a Saturday or Sunday.
The club is legally called an association and is a not for profit entity. Funds provided are entirely for the benefit of the membership and any surplus at the end of the year gets spent on more DVD's or upgrading lathes or the AV equipment. Membership costs £20 per year and on the days when a pro turner is demoing there's a £4 charge on the door. That's it. So for basically chicken feed you have access to a wealth of resources, knowledge and experience to help you celebrate this delightful craft and accelerate your evolution through it. To be honest, just one tip from a more experienced turner about tool choices will save you the cost of membership and if we want to wax lyrical about the economic benefits then the wood auction is in a league of its own!
We're having a free taster session this March 2nd for people to come along and literally put the tool to the wood with supervision to see if it's something they want to consider getting involved with. Here's the club website. By all means PM me if you want to come on the 2nd.
http://www.berkshirewoodturners.org.uk/
Here's a link to the flyer we're posting in pubs, village halls etc to publicise the taster session on March 2nd
http://www.berkshirewoodturners.org.uk/ ... _Flyer.pdf
If BWA is too far for you to travel I urge new turners to seriously consider joining one closer to them, you will never regret it. On that note I also encourage other clubs to follow what I've done here.
