Les Thorne – All day seminar

What a great day with Les. We had a very good turnout including several new members so 31 altogether. Les started with a goblet shaped lidded urn on a small stem with a reversible finial on the lid. It was made in three parts with an interference fit on the foot and a looser fit on the lid so it could be easily reversed. This demo piece was all about the correct way to use the tools and planning the work in advance so that the holding of the pieces did not become a problem. He showed how to make great use of a jam chuck for smaller pieces for finishing. Les places a great deal of emphasis on the right tool for the job. Having turned a long pointed finial, he reversed it through the chuck jaws and created a teardrop finial on the other side of the lid. He commented that it wasn’t much use for storage but nice to change the appearance easily. Sorry I didn’t get a picture of the alternative finial.

The next item was a bowl where he once again concentrated on technique with the various toots and deliberately caused catches to emphasise what causes them. Les also showed how he creates a ripple effect of continuous beads with a gouge in one rhythmic motion right up side of the bowl using alternate bevel rub cut and then scraping cut. He also spoke about design and shaping and showed an alternative rim to the bowl with beads to emphasise it. An undercut rim and a domed bottom allowed him to show further techniques and cuts.

A very entertaining day, thank you Les.