I used spalted beech for the mill and started the demonstration by holding the piece between centres and turning spigots on both ends of the piece. Next I drilled a 25 mm hole through the piece. I roughed down the piece and marked out the piece using the detailed Creative woodturning diagram as I went. I parted off the top of the mill and glued in a piece of oak which was to act as a pivot for the top of the mill later. I made sure the oak pivot was a snug fit into the 25 mm hole that was drilled straight through the bottom of the mill. I then fitted the bottom and top back together again and remounted them back into the chuck and completed my final shape. Then it was time to start fitting the mill kit. By using the dimensions on the drawing it only took very little adjustments to the piece to get the mill to fit and work correctly. During the demonstration I talked through the use of the using some Personal Protective Equipment (P.P.E.)

       The March competition piece was a birdhouse and the pieces where exceptional. Peter Dunne came away with first place with a fantastic staved Walnut and beech Birdhouse. Well done to Peter and all the members that put in such an effort into their pieces.

He started off by showing us how quickly a spindle spoke could be made. Danny been a master of the skew made it look so easy and turned the spindle with such ease. Danny’s second exercise was the spindle split hub. He drilled the axial hole then used the hole as them datum this made sure that the hub was concentric with the axial hole. Danny turned some beads and ogees to add some detail to the hub. He then went on and showed how to accurately lay out the holes for the spindles (spokes) Danny’s third and final exercise was the main wheel itself. It was made from eight separate rectangular pieces approximately 8 x 3.5 x 2.25 inches with a 22.5 degree angle cut on both ends of all eight pieces. Danny as usual went the extra mile and fitted two loose tongues in each joint face before glue up. Danny had a full size mock up board that he offered the pieces to while he was prepping. Danny had the eight pieces all glued up and ready for turning on the night. He mounted the glued up ring (wheel) on to a home made very large faceplate and his clamping method was very clever. He had drilled and countersunk holes it points outside the outer diameter on the wheel that later would be turned away. Danny trued up the face of the wheel and added some decoration to the face then turned the inside of the wheel. Next Danny fitted clamping blocks onto the face plate that where fitted to the inside of the wheel and this allowed the countersunk screws to be removed and the outside rim of the spinning wheel to be turned.

The competition piece for February was a cheese board and it was great to see the number of pieces in for the competition. The quality level was extremely high. I took first place with a cheese board made from beech sections and a bog oak splice with a piece of spalted beech with holes and a elm mouse added for decoration, I had a beech wood with a bog oak splice handled cheese knife. Well done to everyone for putting in a competition pieces. The March competition piece is a birdhouse.

The March Chapter meeting is going to be held in my own workshop. Thanks Danny for your hospitality and excellent demonstration.

         When we had all finished our lovely meal it was time for the partners of all our members to judge the wood turner pieces that where on display. Colm Breenan won first place with his fantastic seven-foot tall-segmented grandfather clock. John Ryhnne won second place with a beautiful and elegant pierced light and Chris Fahey won third place on the night with has stunning bur elm skeleton clock. The second competition was our point’s competition and the winner was Philip Mahoon. This competition was ran over the past twelve months and the winner for each months competition was given a handy cap going into the next month. This competition added some excitement to the competition, as the best turner in the Guild would not necessarily win the competition. The person that had the most amounts of first places during the year won our third competition, this competition went right down to the wire with Chris Fahey, John Ryhnne and Colm Breenan all holding two monthly wins each. So the over all winner came down to which ever wood turner received the highest amount of points on the night for their pieces. And this year the winner was Colm Brennan who tipped Chris Fahey at the post by seven points. Colm received the competition’s fantastic trophy that was made by Danny Mc Geever in 2009. A detailed view of the price can be seen in the competitions page of this website.  Colm is a well-deserved winner and his segmented grandfather clock is a piece that won first place at the National Irish Woodturning Guild’s Seminar. Well done to all members that won on the night and to all the members that put in pieces throughout the year.

             The Sligo Woodturning Chapter would also like to thank Stanley Raite for his sponcership again this year.  We also had the official announcement from chairman Colm Breenan that The Sligo Chapter are to host the 2013 and 2014 National Woodturning Seminar.

Colm also had his award winning fantastic segmented clock on show in his workshop. The time and dedication to create such a piece was clear to see. Well done again Colm from all the Sligo Woodturning Chapter for winning first place in the segmented section at the IWG Woodturning chapter seminar.

Colm had a band-sawed blank of popular app 16 inches in diameter already on a faceplate. He began by turning an internal spigot, which was going to be the base of the cheese board. He added some detail on the inside of the spigot then turned the base of the board. When Colm was happy with the form and finish of the base, he then held it in the chuck by the internal spigot and started to turn the face of the board and the recess for the 6-inch tile insert. Colm left space around the insert to accommodate for any movement of the wood. He then went on to sand and finish the piece.

The competition piece was a hollow form and we had a good number of entree’s and excellent quality to the pieces. The winner of the January competition is to be announced at our Annual social night, which is to be held on 28th of January. Well done to all members that entered pieces in the competition. The next month’s competition piece is a cheese board.

We also had you’re A.G.M. which went really well. Numerous topics came up for discussion. Tommy Mc Fadden stepped down as chairman and Colm Breenan stepped in. Tommy over the past 2 years has done a brilliant job and the entire Chapter will agree with me in saying so. Tommy added a lovely light heartedness to our meetings as been Chairman.

Thanks to Tommy for all his hard work over the past 2 years and best wishes to Colm in his new roll and thanks also for hosting the meeting and for a very good demonstration.