Cars for the Ukraine . . .

Today, all of our club members were invited to go to the workshop to join in with a session of making small cars. The club was asked to make these cars to add to a container that is being filled with medical aids etc. to be shipped to the Ukraine. For me personally, I love the opportunity to make something for children. 

In preparation for the day, I had cut out car numbers for the cars and visors for the helmets on my Cricut. To do this I had to visit my son as the Cricut connection needed updating and my computer skills are sorely lacking lol. 

I was very disappointed to find only 5 club members plus our tutor had turned out for this session workshop session. We set to work sanding car bodies, turning wheels and heads. I turned a few sets of wheels, but I always find sanding Rimu tricky, so I moved on to turning the heads. This was so much easier and relatively quick to do. We didn't get them all made so a couple of us are going to finish them next Wednesday night. Our tutor is going to spray paint all of the car bodies and then we can attach the numbers and visors to the heads.

#Woodturning #WoodenCars #TurnedRaceCars #ToysfortheUkraine

29th June 2024

 Orange Juice . . .

Our orange tree is groaning with fruit. While I picked a basketful of oranges, Bruce picked us some mandarins to snack on, looking at them I think he was also pruning the tree. Like the earlier mandarin tree, this one is also laden with fruit. Thank goodness they fruit at different times, or we would have no chance of getting through them all.

After washing the oranges, I peeled the zest off ten of them and simmered these in a litre of water to add this extra flavour to my juice. While this simmered it made the house feel cosy and clean such a wonderful aroma. While I enjoyed the aroma of the citrus, I juiced all of the oranges. Feeling lazy, I got out the electric juicer and this made the job so easy and quick. I was thrilled at the vibrant colour of the juice and couldn't wait to drink it. As our oranges are so naturally sweet, I didn't need to add any sugar to the juice. My basketful of oranges gave me 3 litres of finished juice.

#Oranges #Mandarins #OrangeJuice

29th June 2024

 Monthly Club Meeting . . .

Last night I attended our monthly club meeting. I am always in awe of the talents of our club members when I see the amazing items that are put on the show table. First place was given to Andrew's fantastic wig stand. He has such an amazing talent for designing and turning these stands. This month he excelled again with his bird house scene. The cancer patient that receives this stand will simply adore it. I'm sure it will help to take away some of the heartbreak of having to wear a wig after cancer treatment.

There were two entries that took second place. These photos don't really do justice to the high standard of these pieces.

I was very surprised to come third on the show table. It is humbling to think other club members consider your turning to be worthy of their votes. Each person gets just one vote per night, this is always a very hard to decision to make when there are so many worthy pieces. 

I have already described how I made the lantern. The hanging ornament I made yesterday, following a similar process to the lantern. This time two holes were drilled on each side of the blank to allow for a longer space for the tree to be inserted.  After shaping the main body of the ornament. I drilled a small hole in the bottom so I could attach both the tree and the finial. I turned the small tree using a contrasting timber, this enabled it to stand out and then glued it in place. Finally, I turned the finial. This I had to do twice as the first one looked too heavy for the size of the ornament. This is the first finial I have made, so I know I need a lot more practice to make them look light and decorative. My turning journey continues with these challenges. I finished my turning session by making some snowmen from the offcuts of timber that I had left over from my ornament.

#ChristchurchWoodturnersAssociation #WigStand #DecorativeWigStand #TurnedWigStand #TurnedBurl #LargeTurnedBowl #ChristmasDecorations #ChristmasTree #TurnedSnowmen

26th June 2024

Going Crackers . . .

Bruce and I enjoy having a variety of crackers to munch on with cheese and pickles and also for our antipasto platters. Today I needed to replenish our cracker supply.

My cracker recipe is so very easy to make and requires just four ingredients. I started by weighing out the flour and adding the salt. Then I mixed the oil into the water and poured it into the well I had made in the flour. I stirred to bring it together and then used my hands to form the dough. Cutting the dough into four pieces, I worked with one piece and covered the rest with a piece of clingwrap to stop it drying out. 

I dusted the baking paper and rolling pin with flour and rolled the dough straight onto the paper that I was going to cook it on. Roll the dough 1-2 mm thick. You can trim the edges if you want the crackers to be nice even shapes, but I don't worry with these niceties.  For plain crackers, prick the dough all over with a fork and cut into squares or rectangles making sure not to cut the paper. You don't have to cut the dough all the way through as they will easily break apart when cooked. Lift the baking paper onto a tray and put into a preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. While they cook, take another quarter of the dough and repeat. Today I added four different flavours. I put sesame seeds on the first quarter, grated cheese on the next, then crushed garlic and parsley, finally I sprinkled smoked paprika on the last piece. These toppings I lightly rolled into the dough before cutting and cooking the crackers. The last ones I forgot to prick with a fork, so did this after I had cut them. Works just as well even if it is a bit slower. Once they were cooked, I cooled them on racks before putting them into an airtight container. These crackers will stay crisp and fresh for 3-4 weeks, if they last that long.

Cracker Recipe . . .

350 grams plain flour

1 tsp salt

60 ml olive oil

200 ml water

Preheat the oven to 200c and prepare the dough as above.

Cook for 10-12 minutes, crackers at the edge of the tray may cook quicker so remove these and continue cooking the rest.

#CrackerRecipe #HomemadeCrackers #SesameCrackers #CheeseCrackers #GarlicCrackers #PaprikaCrackers #HerbCrackers

25th June 2024

Turning Lanterns  . . .

Today I spent time at the lathe making lanterns. These I will add to my inventory for the upcoming craft fair.

After drilling a hole on each side of the block, I turned it round then added two beads at the bottom of the lantern. I framed these with a burnt line, I did this by holding a piece of Formica against the wood until the line was dark enough. Next, using a Forstner bit, I drilled a hole at the bottom to take the candle. Finally, I shaped the top and removed it from the lathe.

Three out of four worked really well, unfortunately, one of them was drilled slightly off centre and when I turned it round one of the posts between the holes was quite thin. I tried to finish it, but it became quite unstable and finally broke apart. It is now designer firewood lol. I finished my turning session by making some more buttons to sell. I practised making different patterns on the top of them.

#Woodturning #WoodturningLanterns #WoodturningButtons #ChristmasLantern

24th June 2024

Special Wood Turning Class . . .

Today I attended a class for making a pull-along bee. We can't call it a 'Buzzy Bee' as this is a trademark for the iconic bee that nearly every child in New Zealand has been given to play with over the decades. Peter demonstrated this bee at the recent NAW Expo, and today it was our turn.

Unfortunately, not one of us managed to finish the class with a completed bee. I guess we will all be doing that on Thursday. There were numerous parts to be turned to make this bee. We started with a rectangle piece of wood that had a slot on the bottom made with a router, to turn the bee's body and head. Before we removed the bee from the lathe, we used a jig to enable the correct placement of the holes for the antennae. The bee was parted from the lathe, and we were given the pieces required to make the arm and wing. Before we did this, Peter demonstrated what we needed to do.

Then it was our turn again. Using the long piece, I turned and then drilled a hole in the arm part that will be attached to the wing shape. That was definitely the easiest part. Then came time to turn the wing. After drilling a hole in the side of it, it was placed between the friction drive, and I turned it into circle. This is what Peter was doing in the video - a truly nerve wrecking process. Once I had shaped it on both sides, it was time to place it in the round jewellery chuck to round and shape the wing profile. This was as far as I got. On Thursday I will need to make the second wing, wheels, nose, the pull for the end of the string and the gear that makes the buzzing sound. It is going to be another very busy day!

#WoodTurnedBee

22nd June 2024