The Sam Morris Demonstration at the Kennet and Avon Woodturners

Thursday 11th May 2023

In the immortal words of “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”…. “And now for something completely different”

The club were treated to a demonstration by one of our members, Sam Morris. Not only was this his first turning demonstration in front of an audience, but it was also something our members had never seen made before; A Scrying Mirror. The Wikipedia entry describes it as: Scrying, aslo known by various names such as “seeing” or “peeping”, is the practice of looking into a suitable medium in the hope of detecting significant messages or visions
The Scrying Mirror by Sam Morris
I’ve produced and sold over 55 Scrying Mirrors to various countries around the globe. The mirrors are used for meditation and scrying and I’ve received very positive feedback from my customers. The majority of my mirrors are made from Ash as it’s a very easy wood to work with, it take colour/stains well and importantly doesn’t warp, trapping the lip on the base. The mirrors are essentially a lidded pot, but shaped to hold a mirror. After cutting the tenons for the base and lid, I work on the base cutting out the space for the mirror to sit. I use a square- edge carbide tool for this, as I can plunge cut as well as carve side-ways. After the mirror space, I create a lip around the mirror for the lid to fit and finally reduce the size of the base near the chuck to help decide the outer shape later. Next I hollow-out the inside of the lid, taking care to make it fit the lip of the base. I then ‘dome’ the inside of the lid and use a spiralling tool to create spiral patterns. I use a pencil to mark where the spirals start and finish, then use a skew to carve borders to the spirals. A little sand to 240grit smooths the spirals and makes the design look great. I then place 1 sheet of blue roll on the face of the lid, place the base into place and lock it in place with the tail stock. The blue roll prevents the blanks marking each other, plus it helps me see where the pieces meet. I can now use a bowl gouge to shape the two blanks at the same time ensuring the lid and base join perfectly and the outer shape of the mirror case is defined. I use a bowl sander to smooth both pieces to 320grit, then use a spindle gouge to remove the tenon/spigot holding the base to the tail stock, remove the base from the lathe and do the same for lid. After a final hand-sand to 500 grit, the mirror case is ready for colour, wax or polish or lacquer. The mirror is glued in with Impact Adhesive and it’s ready for another happy customer. CLICK ON ANY PHOTOGRAPH TO ENLARGE IT

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