Didcot and District Woodturners Club

Didcot and District Woodturners Club draws members from South Oxfordshire and West Berkshire

Interested in Woodturning ?

Didcot & District Woodturners is an informal and friendly club with monthly meetings in Harwell Village Hall, Didcot, Oxfordshire. OX11 0EX

If you have an interest in Woodturning it is the perfect place to come and find out more. You will be able to see what woodturning is all about and give woodturning a try under supervision by an experienced woodturner.

If you want to take things further, get advice on the equipment necessary, the types of wood which are ideal for turning and in particular, how to turn safely, then this is the best way to meet and tap into many years of useful experience.

Want to meet others and learn more ?

Our members ( male and female, young and old ) range from beginners who had never touched a lathe before, through the keen 'intermediate' hobbyists who probably make up the bulk of the membership, to highly skilled masters of the craft.

Generally we will have at least four lathes dotted around the hall. One or two of these will be demonstrating a technique or turning a themed item (see the Event List for that month's theme)

The remaining lathes are available for use by all comers. For those new to turning please make sure you have a more experienced turner to act as a mentor.

Next Meeting - Wednesday May 22nd 2024

This meeting is a practical evening

'Hands On' - Beginners project; A Hollow Form

The Competition piece will be "Platter (>10:1 width to height ratio)".

Last Meeting - Wednesday April 24th 2024

The 'Hands-On' project was a platter in preparation for May's competition..

The Competition piece was "A Decorated Easter Egg". With only six entries across the skill categories, perhaps a decorated egg was a step too far.

Coming Soon - Wednesday June 26th 2024

This will be a demonstration night - our demonstrator will be Les Thorn

The Competition piece will be "A Hollow Form with a narrow inlet".

Come and see what we have to offer.

Please feel free to turn up at any of our meetings, no need to book just come and spend an evening with us. Chat with the members, have a go on one of the lathes.

Beginners usually leave with a little something they have made. Your first couple of evenings will be free and we will even provide the tea & biccies.

When do we meet?

The club meets on the 4th Wednesday of every month. The hall opens at 7pm so we can get the equipment etc ready for a 7.30pm start. Activities finish around 10pm so we can get cleared up and leave by 10.30pm.

Extra hands during the set up and break down times are always welcome.

So what happens on a club night?

Didcot Woodturners Club Nights are heavily based on practical exercises on the lathe.

On three evenings a year we arrange demonstrations from well known professional turners, some working architectural turners, some art turners, both of which are always popular.

June Club Night
Our June Club Night will be a demonstrator night.

Our demonstrator will be Les Thorne, a professional turner with many years of experience and an excellent demonstrator.
Les now works closely with Martin Saban-Smith at their workshop in Four Mark, Hampshire

Les will use his signature multi-purpose tool. It’s a multi-faceted tool that can be used as a beading tool, skew, a sizing tool or a negative rake scraper.

The Competition piece will be "A Hollow Form with a narrow inlet".

April 2024 Club Night

Another great night; lots going on, including an excellent 'hand's on' pyrography sessions from Bert Butterfield, one of the clubs founder members.
Several people had a go and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
Hopefull we will see some examples on the competition table.
Many thanks to Bert. We will try and get him to come back later in the year.

Several lathes turning and lots of new guests most of whom had a go on a lathe thanks to our mentors.

A slightly disappointing competition table with only six entries. We try to push our members by selecting competition themes which are slightly outside most peoples 'comfort zone'. Perhaps an Easter Egg was a step too far.

May Club Night

The 'Hands-On' project will be "A Hollow Form".

Demonstrating turning a hollow form is generally quite 'boring'. The main purpose will to demonstrate different tools and techniques that might be used.

The picture shows some examples. Note perfume bottle (top right) shows how you can cheat. It is made of five separate pieces. Two pierced 'dishes', the centre ring , the collar and a foot.

The group of hollow forms is by Phil Irons. A cheerful chap who turns funeral urns, but he is an absolute master of the hollow form.

The Competition Theme will be "A platter (>10:1 width:height ratio)". We will not be measuring the actual dimensions but we will expect the platters to be roughly in those proportions.

We should have a Robert Sorby Sharpening System available for members to use to sharpen some tools.

Tools For Sale

Kim lives in Watlington. The lathe was her husband’s.

I don’t think he was ever a member of Didcot Woodturners.

While quite an old lathe, Myford lathes were well built and much loved by those who used them. They were also used extensively in schools.

The ML8A version comes with a bowl turning extension on the rear side of the head stock with an articulated banjo which allowed larger bowls to be turned. This lathe also comes with the full sized metal cabinet and appears to be in good condition.