Richard Bichono

Club night Thursday 10th July 2025

The demo was to make a toy cannon and gun mount. He used a spindle blank of Kingwood which cut very easily and gave a very smooth finish straight from the tool.

Measuring was important to preserve the overall look of the cannon with the beads in the correct places along the barrel.

Richard started by drilling the bore and then shaping the muzzle at the tailstock end. He then showed how he turns beads using a three point tool, gradually shaping and beading along the barrel length.

To mount the barrel he drilled the holes using a vertical post template after locking the drive spindle with the indexer lock being very careful not to penetrate the barrel.

For the gun carriage he had pre-made the main block but showed how he made the brackets with a simple jig to form a semi-circle in aluminium strip to mount the barrel axles and finished it off with with turned wooden wheels.

Plenty of scope to add some embellishments.