For our August meeting we welcomed Ian Ethell to give us another demonstration on multi axis turning. We had an excellent turnout, with 50 plus people in the village hall to watch Ian’s demonstration.
Ian last visited the club back in March 2024 when he demonstrated how to turn a 9 axis honey dipper. For the first half of this evenings meeting Ian showed us how to turn a multi axis bud vase.
This was a simpler form than the honey dipper and one that members could attempt if they have not had a go at multi axis turning before.
Ian started by explaining that the vase would be turned using just 3 axis to achieve the overall shape.
With the centre hole drilled, Ian proceeded to create the external shape changing the axis at either end provide different centres.
For anyone who has not tried multi axis turning before it can be quite daunting when you have a piece of wood vibrating because it is off true centre (You can see this in the video below). During his demonstration, Ian explained how to approach actually turning wood so as to achieve the result you are looking for.
Here are a few more photographs of Ian turning his multi axis bud vase:
Ian applied colour to the piece using Chestnut Spirit Stains and the tidied the lines up on each end by turning a small amount off each end. He then shaped each end before parting the finished piece. Here is the finished bud vase along with Ian’s instructions if you want a go. You can also find the instructions in the How To section of the website.
Following the break Ian showed us how to turn a multi axis chair or stool leg so as to create a curved finish. Again, he made this look relatively straight forward and indeed Ian used this type of leg for the three leg stool he turned at Woodworks at Daventry this year.
It was another excellent demonstration and we are grateful that I an agreed to come along to share his skills. Hopefully members will have a go at the techniques Ian used to enhance their own turning. We will wait with interest to see what turns up for the Chairmans Challenge in September.