Jimmy Clewes did an all day demonstration yesterday at our turning club. He started with his Chinese Lidded Box (first pic at the top of the second column of pics).
He'd warned the folks sitting four feet from the front of the lathe, and in line with the plane of rotation - before he cranked up the lathe. They didn't move - after he described what he was going to do and warned them. But they DID lean away quite a bit when the wood came up to speed. I was 15 feet away and not in the direct line of fire - and I moved out of the way some more.
Over the next two plus hours he turned off about 85% of what he started with and the roar of the spinning wood (and it did ROAR) subsided more and more as things progressed - all the while he was making the cuts look so easy, explaining what he was doing and why, stopping periodically to show the tool, go over the cut and noting anything specific he wanted us to know. And in between important stuff he talked about his life, his education, and how he got into turning and doing traveling turning demonstrations all over England.
One of the subjects he coverer in his background talk while turning was angles and anal retentativeness. He noted that it wasn't that important whether a bevel angle was EXACTLY 45 - or 44 or 46 degrees or even
48 or 42 degrees. What was important for most gouges was consistency when sharpening the gouge. Consistency lets muscle memory develop and THAT makes riding the bevel - and thus controling the cut- easier.
In addition to turning a tricky shape which required some "interesting / challenging" cuts and tool control, he spent a fair amount of time on lid fit and some things that make getting a nice fit easier.
Rather than turning the lid "lip" with straight sides the "Vs" it. +-------------- | / \ | + + | | | | | | + + \ / | | +--------------
This does a several things
- it lets you get the top of the "lip" to fit the opening in the top of the "box" while leaving you some "meat" behind the front edge to tune the fit
- because there is less wood at the contact points the wood there can be compressed a little so you can see where you're tight - the wood there will be shiny
- when you arrive at a snug fit you won't have the the whole face of the lip in contact with it's mating part of the "box", but merely a narrow ring around the lid lip. That means a pop fit without the need for a crowbar to get the lid off.
Jimmy Clewes is a down to earth guy, with a great sense of humour, a very good design sense (he got his degree in 3D art - think Industrial Arts in the U.S.), has a good command of turning, turning tools and sharpening and a true teachers approach to things. By a True Teacher's Approach I mean that he sees his job as doing everything he can to have his students get "it" - "it" being what he's teaching - but also what his students want to know. He makes a point several times in his demonstrations that students should feel free to ask questions at any time
- and shout them out if that's what it takes to be heard over The Roar (see spinning a 4x5x10 block of walnut at 3,000 rpms described above).
What I particularly like about him as a teacher is that he has no "secrets", ("which - If you buy my DVDset - and my ' special tools - AND my special sharpening jig -AND my book, I'll reveal to you - for a mere $99.99!"). He's there to teach, not sell his products. He NEVER mentioned that he even had a DVD out - though I think he has at least three on the market and by now probably four. And he didn't pitch the fact that he does small classes and even individual classes other than in a humorous story about some of his turning experiences with students. He did mention the upcoming Norwegian Turning Cruise - mainly cause it's an unusual setting for turners and turning teachers.
With the exception of some basic safety rules, he also avoids DOGMA - YOU MUST _____ or THE ONLY WAY To ___ IS MY WAY. In fact, he stresses that what he's going to do, and the tools and how he'll uses them work for HIM. He encourages finding what works for YOU.
Jimmy Clewes is a turning teacher - that's his job. He supports his family teaching turning. He doesn't consider himself a Turning Artist and doesn't earn his living by selling his ART. He's a teacher - and a pretty good one.
If you have the opportunity to attend one of his classes I think it'd be time and money well spent. You'll learn a great deal, get some laughs, and meet a really nice guy.
charlie belden