Midlands Chapter - March 2023
The Midlands Chapter meeting was held on the 13th March 2023 with an attendance of 28 people. Tom Sheehy was our demonstrator and he demonstrated how to turn a baby’s rattle with captive rings from sycamore. He interacted with the members, discussed and passed around the tools he used to create the captive rings. One of his useful tips was to use masking tape to hold the rings in place while working on the remainder of the piece. The toy rattle made a lovely sound when it was shaken which would bring great joy to any child. Also on display was Tom’s beautiful ash candlesticks. Well done and thank you Tom for an excellent demonstration.
We were delighted to have Noel Fay give a talk on wood finishes. Noel of the Carpentry Store in Naas displayed some products stocked in the store. Noel’s advice is to ‘finish before the finish’ so ensure to sand well beforehand with good quality sandpaper. He feels a cloth back is superior to standard paper backed sandpaper. He discussed stains, wax, oils, lacquers, storage, food safe products and toy vs. food safe products which are two different certifications. There was plenty of time during his presentation for questions and answers. Thank you, Noel, for a very informative talk on finishes.
Our March competition to make a bowl or vessel from a 6” cube took place on the night and was organised by Majella Smith. There were some beautiful pieces on show. The winners of the Novice category were, Michael Kelly who made a beech bowl and Paddy Holohan who made an ash bowl. Highly commended in the experienced category was Martin McNamara who made a spalted beech bowl with a coloured ash lid. Well done, Majella, to the winners and to everyone who entered the competition.
A wood turning course in conjunction with KWETB Community Education and tutored by Emmet Kane has commenced this month and will run for ten weeks at St. Conleth’s Community College, Newbridge, Co Kildare. This is a great opportunity for those who attend to increase their woodturning skills. We look forward to hearing how they get on when the course is completed.
The first quarter of this year has been very productive and we look forward to continued camaraderie, learning and achievements in the coming months.
