Review: Emma Cook – Sunday 19th May, 2024

We were delighted to welcome back Emma Cook to give a full day’s demonstration. Emma demonstrated a decorative air-brushed square-edge platter, a square-edge lidded box, an LED table lamp, a centrifugally decorated platter/bowl and a pendant; there was definitely something for everyone.

Air-Brushed Square-Edge Platter

Emma used a 6” x 1.5” ash bowl blank, but a 1” blank would be better to avoid wastage. Use a light coloured wood if you intend to decorate the finished platter. The blank is held between Steb centres. Masking tape is applied to the tool rest to indicate the blank’s corner position. The surface is flattened and a tenon is created.

Hold the blank in a chuck using the tenon. Clean the face using pull cuts with a bowl gouge to avoid tear out on the corners. This will become the bottom of the platter. Create a second tenon with a flat shoulder. Remove material to create a shallow convex slope towards the corners. Try to get as good a finish as possible as sanding will be trickier than usual. Sand using an inertia sander. (Keep your fingers away from the corners! Don’t sand the tenon shoulder.)

Reverse mount in the chuck using the second tenon. Start by removing wood on the outer edge and work towards the centre. Try to achieve the desired thickness at the edge before removing wood from the centre. Gradually remove the remaining waste material, little by little, maintaining an even thickness across the platter.

Mask the platter with waste paper and tape to reveal a 1” band of wood going in the direction of the grain. Use good quality tape to prevent the wood stains from bleeding. The dish is decorated using an air-brush and stencils. Emma used Hampshire Sheen’s oak leaf stencils (which are taped down) and a battery powered Oasser compressor with inexpensive air-brush guns. The dish was air-brushed using Chestnut spirit stains, but Hampshire Sheen Intrinsic stains will work, as will acrylics diluted with flow medium. Note that water based dyes will need time to dry.

First, add coats of yellow stain, spraying lightly, and gradually building up depth of colour. Then apply orange stain. Spray from beyond the edge of the leaf and move towards the centre of the leaf keeping a careful eye on the build up of colour as the orange blends with the yellow. Finally, apply green stain to the leaf stem area.

Gently remove the stencils as they can be reused if they are kept clean. Cover the coloured areas with the “inner” leaf and acorn stencils. Air-brush with a blue stain to create a background to the leaves. Create a shadow using a light spray of black stain around the leaves and acorns. Use a knife to peel away the stencils. Remove the masking tape. Leave to dry before applying a finish. Waxes, oil or lacquer can be applied. Beware that solvent based products may make the colours run.

To remove the tenon, mount a waste bowl blank and shape it to match the curvature of the platter. Support the platter with a cone drive in the tailstock. Remove as much of the tenon as possible, and then sand away the remaining nub of wood.

Square-Edge Lidded Box

Emma used a 3″ wide spindle blank, 4-5” long. Apologies from Emma as she had no idea that the blank was wormy and she didn’t have an alternative blank to use. Emma rounded the tailstock side of the blank, but left a sufficient amount of the blank square in order to form the lid. Tenons are then created at both ends. The blank is then mounted in a chuck at the square (lid) end and the round (box) portion is parted off.

Clean the surface of the wood using a spindle gouge. Then create a tenon for the lid to fit into the box; the tenon is also used to mount the lid in a chuck so create a size that will fit the jaws you intend to use. Shape the lid to curve towards the corners. Hollow out the area inside the tenon.

Reverse mount the lid using the tenon. Shape the lid in a similar manner to the platter above: establish the thickness of the lid leaving the bulk of material in the centre and then gradually remove material maintaining an even thickness to the lid. Shape the central part of lid into a dome that is offset from the edge and leave sufficient material for a finial.

Create the finial to complete the lid. Sand and finish. Next mount the wood for the box. Clean the surface of the wood and rough shape the outside of the box leaving enough material to create a beaded lip. Create the recess for the lid removing wood a little at a time and testing the fit with the lid tenon. Stop when it almost fits.

Hollow using a Hope 8mm carbide or a similar tool. Undercut the inside of the box. Adjust the recess to get a proper fit for the lid. Refine the outer shape and create the beaded lip.

Sand, finish and part off. Remove the nub using a sanding pad. The final box is shown below with a natural worm-formed decoration.

Led Table Lamp

Emma used a 5” x 2” bowl blank for the base and a 2” x 4” spindle blank for the stem. The globe and lights can be obtained from Emma’s online shop. Round the stem and base. Create a tenon on the base and stem.

The stem and base need a hole to be drilled for the flex to go through. Emma used a 8mm bit.

Next mount the stem and create the opening to fit the globe. Next shape the stem creating a tenon to fit into the base.

Emma coloured the beads with a Jo Sonja black base. Then she applied gilding size and chameleon flakes. Make sure the glue is dry before parting off to avoid getting dust on the decoration. Part off.

Mount the base using the tenon. Undercut the base so it will sit on its rim. Shape the base in the form of an ogee and create a bead on the outer edge (which could be decorated to match the stem). Create a recess for the stem (and to use for reverse mounting). Sand and finish. Reverse mount the base in the chuck. Remove the tenon. Feed the led lights thought the base and stem holes and into the globe. Glue the globe to the stem and the stem to the base. (Emma used Soudal Fix All Crystal Super Clear in a tube.)

Centrifugally Decorated Platter/Bowl

Shape the platter/bowl so that there is a central bowl bordered by a bead and a wide convex shaped rim. Sand to 240 grit. Apply sanding sealer and then Chestnut (or similar) acrylic black lacquer. To decorate, Emma used Jo Sonja pearlescent paints. (The iridescent paints are also good.) Emma used a deep blue paint mixed with a good amount of flow medium. Apply the paint generously onto the central bead using a brush.

Mount in a chuck and spin at 2000rpm. Emma used a large cake box lid to catch flying paint and the cake box base to protect the lathe bed. Allow the paint to dry. Further colours can be applied in the same manner.

Apply undiluted size in the same way as the paint. Spin as before. Apply chameleon flakes near the central bead and mica powders elsewhere. Apply acrylic gloss lacquer.

When dry, finish turning the central bowl (you don’t see the colours when it is spinning). Cut two decorative grooves using a point tool or parting tool to reveal the natural wood: one groove next to the bead and one about a centimetre in from the outer edge.

Pendant using a Resin Blank

Emma also demonstrated a pendant, using one of her resin blanks, to illustrate the process to members who had bought the blanks from her pop-up shop. The method can be found in the review of her previous demonstration at the club in September 2022.