The Paul Hannaby Demonstration at the Kennet and Avon Woodturners

Thursday 14th September 2023

Last night saw the welcome return of Paul Hannaby to the club. Paul started his demonstration by turning a piece of Ash into a weed pot. He explained his choice of chisel and for the benefit of those turners with less experience he showed how to start a cut without the tool “skitting” across the surface. He showed us his way of setting out the design so that the final shape is actually the shape you desired. He then spent some time demonstrating the abrading techniques that ensure you end up with the best (scratch free) finish that is required when you start on the colouring side of turning. He brought with him a selection of stains and colouring mediums and spoke briefly about them as well as talking about the different waxes. He also brought with him a small air compressor and air brushes and showed us how using them in certain ways can give different results. For his second piece he again turned a weed pot and coloured it but this time he added a black wax which gave a striking accent to the finished piece. The third piece was the outside of a bowl. Made from Oak he showed how using the tools with the bevel rubbing and taking a slicing cut gives you a better finish straight off the tool before abrading starts. He then applied a vinegar solution that had wire wool added to it. This stained the piece black and once the finish was applied again it was a striking piece. The final demonstration of the evening was a Burr (I think it was Chestnut) but the grain on it was incredible to begin with. Paul used two different Blue tones to colour the piece rubbing the first one back almost to bare wood before applying the second coat. Once again this gave a very nice effect with the chattoyance changing between each colour. Paul gave us a very entertaining evening that all the members enjoyed and we look forward to inviting him back in the future. John Aitken-Bowen - Vice Chairman