Ryedale Woodturners

This website is being updated from August 2022. This is an archive page.

Steve Heeley

Thursday 4 May 2017

Snainton Village Hall

Steve made a four-hour journey up from Cannock Chase
(Birmingham) to demonstrate for us. His subject was a plant holder. More information and lots of woodturning pictures are on his website at www.steveheeley.co.uk

Plant stand

Steve started by explaining his need to wear a mask - and not just the standard patter about safety. Steve had been a joiner before becoming a full time woodturner. Too much wood dust has caused problems, and he narrowly escaped a nose cancer diagnosis.

Normally Steve now wears a respirator mask all the time in his workshop, but for demonstration purposes, to allow his voice to be heard, he uses a fabric mask - expensive but effective. Look up the Dust Be Gone Mask from Turners Retreat (an American import, £30).

The plant stand was to be in three parts - base, stem and top. Base and top in tulip wood, stem in contrasting oak. The base was shaped mainly with a swept back bowl gouge. It needed to lose quite a lot of volume - not ideal, but these were the blanks that were available for tonight's demonstration.

A reasonably tight fit between base and spindle was careflly achieved, and then both were worked on together, one end in the chuck and the other supported by the tailstock - with a ring centre to reduce the risk of splitting.

The spindle was turned with great care and attention to minute detail - Steve believes that shape and form is everything. Spindle turning is essentially coves. beads and fillets, and each was demonstrated and described.

Steve has been trying cryogenically treated tools recently, and is well pleased with their effect.

The finished spindle shows good proportion and just enough detailing. Subtle rather than over-done.

Steve talking to John Whiteley at the tea-break. John has recently joined the Association of Woodturners of Great Britain, and has had one of his pieces accepted for a forthcoming touring AWGB exhibition.

Moving on to the top of the stand, Steve once again had an oversized blank to take down to width. He showed how to use a thin parting tool to cut a ring before taking away the waste - this could then be used in another project, for example a mirror frame.

The top was to have a flat surface, which Steve worked on with a scraper. He has nothing against scrapers, and finds then the best tool for levelling a surface, before sanding and after lots of pull cuts with a fingernail bowl gouge.