All content © West Suffolk Woodturning Club 2012 - 2022
We are a small and friendly club which has a variety of members with very varied skills. Many of our members travel considerable distances to meet with us and most are very active turners.
We promote our club and woodturning at various events during the year.
Members can offer advice and tips and you can learn a lot from our demonstration evening, which showcase some of the top demonstrators available as well as our own members’ talents. We use a media projector to make sure that the action is viewed from several camera angles.
There is always a table for display of your latest creation at each meeting, also the occasional item turns up for sale. As part of your membership we can offer you a free personal gallery page on this website.
We also have a number of nights where traders may show their wares and demonstrate their products.
We hold a club competition annually where we award the Club’s “Malcolm Fox Memorial Trophy” to the entry voted most popular by the members.
See the calendar page for all this years events.
About our club
Quick Links
Upcoming meetings and events:
April 16th 2022
Village Hall starting at 19:30
Demonstration by Mike Charnley
We put the welfare of our members, demonstrators and others who use the meeting facilities at the forefront of resuming meetings please see additional information below or click here for the latest covid policy.
Recently displayed
2021 Malcolm Fox Memorial Trophy winners with Chairman Tic. First place went to Ian Cameron for his candle heat powered Christmas scene.
Second place went to Mike Charnley and third to Martin Taylor.
We encourage all members to bring items to meetings for display. See more in the main Gallery
Obviously we are very keen to ensure the safety of everyone who attends our meetings and members must understand that the following conditions will apply:
Please do not attend if you do not agree with these conditions.
These rules have been created following Government guidelines and the meeting Halls current rules, click here tor a full downloadable document
Change of meeting day and meeting procedure
Please note our meeting day has changed to the third Monday of the month. This is so that our meetings do not coincide with another group that use the same venue.
Committee news
The committee is pleased to welcome Martin Taylor and Stuart Clarke to the ranks of the club committee following the November 2021 AGM. We are sure they will be great assets to help organise and help take the club forward.
The committee aims to meet several times a year to discuss new ideas, organise upcoming events and find ways to enhance the club.
We do however require further member help to achieve our events and goals, help is always appreciated at meetings to setup and clear down and at our special events.
If you have fresh ideas, organisational skills or are just enthusiastic about the club and woodturning in general then please feel free to ask any committee member for an informal chat, or better still just volunteer to join on the AGM nigh held in November.
The current Committee:
Chairman |
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Tic Challis |
Secretary |
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John Woods |
Treasurer |
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Pat Yates |
Member |
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Ian Cameron |
Member |
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Stuart Clarke |
Member |
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Martin Taylor |
Member, news & website |
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Neil Robertson |
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- has tested positive for COVID-19 within the last 14 days
- has COVID-19 symptoms
- shows signs of, or has been in contact with anyone showing signs of illness
John French is a long serving honorary member of the club and has a passion for making puzzles, he is in fact the puzzle master! Over the years we have seen is finely turned and beautiful pieces at several demonstrations and shown on the members table.
We are now very pleased to be able to publish John’s booklet on one of his most complicated pieces:
Woodturning and the 20-Ball Tetrahedral Pyramid
In Johns words:
John French special puzzle booklet now available
“
At my local Woodturning Club, I have done various demonstrations and I try not to do the obvious such as bowls, hollow forms, etc, so when asked again I suggested combining two of my passions, turning and puzzles. This was accepted, and then I had to work out what I was going to turn for the demonstration.
One of the items I decided on was the 20-ball pyramid consisting of four linear 3-ball units and two 4-ball units as being easy to turn.
This has another benefit, as it provides good practice at turning beads and good tool control. To be ready for any questions, I started to research more into the puzzle and its many possibilities, and one thing led to another!
Read this fascinating article by clicking here
Upcoming meeting - May 16th 2022
We are pleased to announce that our demonstrator for this meeting will be Mike Charnley.
Mike is a precise and careful turner, with fine attention to finish and detail.
His turnings are exceptional and varied. This should be a good demontration.
Mick demonstrated making a vase or urn with foot and finial using book-matched spalted beech.
His approach is modular and the finial and footer can fit other similar items to allow for variation of a change of appearance to suit the final product.
Meeting April 2022 - Multi turn
Ian Cameron - Jigs for sphere making, work holding and sanding
Martin Taylor - Small turned novelty characters
Mike Charnley - Box making, hollowing and decoration
Tic Challis - Pyrography techniques
Stuart Clarke - Decorating tools and their use
Read the full report later in the April newsletter here
Weird and Wonderful Wood show - Haughly park - 14th / 15th May
We urgently need tombola donations for our stand at this year's Weird and Wonderful Wood event at Haughley park on Saturday and Sunday, May 14th and 15th. Any turnings small or large would be very welcome, we are currently very short.
The club is also looking for members to help setup as well as attend the stand on the day, any member with access to a small van would be very appreciated.
Please call John Woods on 07770 226640 as soon as possible.