Ryedale Woodturners

Joey Richardson

Thursday 1 September 2022

Snainton Village Hall

Joey returned to the club for the first time after the lockdown - her last visit was in 2019. She brought along some of her exhibition work, and did, in her words, "a little of everything" from her wide array of skills and techniques. 33 members and guests gathered to watch the demonstration, and a further 5 via Zoom.

Joey is currently president of the Association of Woodturners of Great Britain, so duly did her bit to advertise the organisation. Only £18 per year for individual membership, and a Seminar coming up 7 - 9 October in Staffordshire, when demonstrators from all over the world will be visiting. Our club is an associate member, and receives half a dozen quarterly magazines for members to read - please take and return for others, or join yourself and get your own copy. The AWGB has helped us with grants for equipment over the years.

Joey started where most of her work starts, turning a thin cup shaped bowl from wet wood - having a go at horse chestnut tonight, which is not quite as smooth as sycamore (a " woolly " finish). She likes sycamore: it is something of a weed, not highly prized as timber generally, it has even tight grain, and is readily available. She stores it freshly cut in a freezer to preserve the properties of green wood that aid her thin-walled designs.

To achieve very thin walls, a small, high intensity LED light was used to shine through the wood. Placed on the outside, the inside is hollowed away until there is an even orange hue across the walls of the vessel. Placed on the inside, the outside can be shaped in the same way. Both lights can be sourced from John at Woodart Products A Simon Hope square section hollowing bar was used.

Pieces are usually oriented as spindle turning, the grain running up through the wood giving greater strength. The cup was sanded to as good a finish as possible with horse chestnut - it is not as smooth as sycamore, but this was a demonstration piece. By the time it has been sanded the walls will be dry. The thicker base is a potential problem for cracks, as it will dry more slowly. You can soak the pith with thin CA& glue, or put the piece in a microwave for 20 seconds or so to remove moisture.

Joey moved to her decorating table, starting with piercing. She uses a NSK Presto drill powered by an air compressor, the sort used by dentists (with the accompanying high pitched whining noise). Capable of running at 340,000 rpm, at least 10 times faster than a Dremel type machine. Dremel will do the same job, just more slowly. Piercing bits are available from Woodart or other suppliers (even dental supplies are possible online).

There are three guiding principles when piercing wood: 1 Keep the tool perpendicular; 2 Start and finish in a corner; 3 Cut clockwise. In essence you are using a mini-router, so the same cutting principles apply.

For pyrography Joey now uses a Razertip machine (she used a Burnmaster in 2019). She has some pens that have fixed tips, but also has a range of nibs that will fit into a pen that has two screw terminals to attach different nibs. Full pens are around £25 - £30, nibs about £5. Those most commonly used are a small ball tip for writing or similar strokes, and a fine blade for cutting and burning thin lines. Work at low temperatures and keep moving. Use a leather strop to keep the nibs clean.

To transfer an image from paper to wood, Joey uses a photocopy, cuts out the image, tapes it to the wood, then brushes it with cellulose thinner, acetone or xylene. She takes the nib out of an empty board marker and fills it with thinner, to make it easier to store and apply. This will not work with inkjet printing, it has to be laser print or photocopy. Use a simple line drawing without textured filled areas. There are lots available on the internet.

Areas can be textured using either a rotary tool, or a pyrography pen, or both. The ball tip is very good for this kind of work. Using a ball-shaped burr in the rotary tool will often result in burning as well as texturing.

Joey told us about the staff she had been asked to make for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, on which the procession cross was held during the procession at St Paul's cathedral. Made from oak, she bleached a spiral area and then pyrographed the four flowers of the British nations - rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock. Two samplers for the staff were passed around. There is more information on Joey's website

During the interval Joey invited people to have a go with any of the equipment she had brought. This offer was taken up by a number of members, and others took the opportunity for a closer look at her work. The break proved a very useful part of the demonstration. The photo is of Darren trying out the piercing tool.

After the interval Joey showed us some airbrushing techniques. A couple of drops of paint is all that is required at a time. She uses Golden transparent paints, which are ready to use from the bottle, and Iwata brushes. The brush runs off a compressor attached to a regulator providing 25 psi.

When creating a stencil or mask, apply masking tape first and then cut with a scalpel to create the edge required, don't try and line up the edge of the tape. For small stencils use Friskit, a brand of transparent masking sheet. In preparation sand to no more than 320 grit: you want the wood to retain some bite, not be polished. Joey built up a butterfly mosaic using layers of colour and a small stencil, cleaning the stencil regularly to avoid paint running.