Review: Steve Gordon Demo – Sunday 20th October 2024

Steve demonstrated two items: a ring box with a novel fitted lid, and a thin-stemmed flower.

Note: Steve wore safety glasses throughout the demonstration. The pictures below show Steve wearing a watch. Although spindle turning is considered relatively safe, it is generally recommended that you do not wear jewellery when turning. You are responsible for taking the appropriate health and safety measures in your own workshop, taking into account the type of turning that you are doing.

Ring Box

The ring box is very similar to the Urchin ring box demonstrated by Neil Turner in October 2022, although there are some differences in the process.

For the ring box, Steve used a blank of burr elm. The blank was prepared before hand: the blank was held between centres, rounded, a tenon created at each end, and a 15mm hole partly drilled through one (lid) end. The blank is held in a chuck and the lid portion is parted off.

Mount the lid in the chuck. Sand the hole. Hollow out using a spindle gouge to reveal the hole, then fine finish with a negative rake scraper. Don’t forget to clean the inside flat rim leaving it very slightly undercut. Sand and finish with citrus oil.

Next mount the base in the chuck. Set a vernier calliper to the diameter of the 15mm hole. Use a parting tool to peel away waste material to create a rough finger shape. Size the end of the finger using the vernier. The aim is to get a tight fit for the lid.

Next size the base of the finger and refine the finger to give an even diameter.

Reduce the diameter of the finger until the lid gives a tight fit.

Next hollow the inside of the base using a spindle gouge and a small negative rake scraper. Blend the hollow into the finger. Sand the inside of the base but do not sand the finger. Just do the lower grits for now. Clean up the rim.

Create a bead on the outside rim; Steve used a small bead former. Attach the lid and leave a gap but ensure it is running true. Create a chamfer on the bottom edge of the lid. Next push the lid fully on and shape. Try to create a nice flow between the lid and the finger tip. The Burr had some torn grain so Steve refined the top using a scraper.

Now we can shape the base. Use a parting tool to define where the bottom of the box will be. Sand and finish with citrus oil. At this stage you would add more oil etc. to a complete finish.

Remove the lid and finish sanding the inside of the base. To get the final fit for the lid, lightly sand the finger as necessary. Then apply oil and part off.

Finally, clean up the bottom of the base. To hold the base, Steve used a home-made collet chuck turned from wood, with a 15mm hole and a cut to allow compression when tightened in the chuck jaws. Decorate the base. Lightly sand. Then apply oil.

Thin-Stemmed Flower

Steve used a wet laburnum log. It is important to use very straight limbs. Hold the log between ring centres. Avoid placing the centres in the pith area: so you are likely to be turning off centre. Create a tenon. Rough turn and mount the log in a chuck.

Hollow the flower with a spindle gouge. Finish with a small scraper and sand. Thin the flower head using a light to show the wood thickness. Start to thin down the stem near to the head. Blend the head into the stem.

Establish the stem diameter. Now support the piece with the tailstock (a live centre protect by a wooden rounded cap). Steve found that the tailstock was slipping so added a small piece of router matting between the tail centre and the flower head. Sand the outside of the flower head: be gentle.