Alan Hazel RPT

Bobbins and Bowls

April 19th 2006

Reviewed by Richard Hoodless

Alan files the twist in a bobin

To start his demonstration, Alan turned a lace bobbin in snakewood — a rare and expensive wood — and then showed how to cut a twist and do some off-centre turning.

He explained the various parts of a bobbin — head, neck, body, weight — and the Importance of getting the proportions correct for the lace maker. He gave details of the different types of bobbins — English, Continental, mother and baby, Honiton bobbins — and showed the different ways of ornamenting them. Ways of holding the wood in the lathe to make bobbins were explained together with the importance of a high speed of 6000rpm to get a good finish.

To make the most of expensive wood he turned a dolls house bobbin and dolls house apple and pear together with a small fruit bowl. Alan sells these bobbins for an average of £1.60 depending on the wood used and showed how an expensive piece of pink ivory 2.5in square by about 12in long can be used to make a large number of bobbins together with dolls house items and get a return of 2000% on the cost of the wood.

After tea Alan showed us a bowl turned from Sterling board and his experiments with decorating the rims of bowls and platters with epoxy resin containing various substances to enhance the effect. Then he turned a natural edge winged bowl from a 4in diameter 12in long yew log. He mounted the log crosswise on the lathe using a screw chuck in the middle of the log with tailstock support.

He turned the outside of the bowl feeding the gouge in carefully to get a good even surface and formed a spigot on the bottom. Holding the piece in a chuck he removed the inside to form a smooth winged bowl.