Rethymno Woodturning Club
The club meeting was attended by most members, some were unable
to come due to other commitments. Manolis brought along two vases he had
turned, with some carving added, from cedar wood. He also showed his plexiglass
system for doing offcentre work. Nikos showed the members how to make a
hat from fresh olive wood and also revised hollowing techniques with a small
oak vase.
Next meeting in April.
Nikos at work making a small hat from olive wood
The completed hat and a vase he made from spalted oak
Guy has a go on the lathe
Club Meeting 11 November 2013
Nikos demonstrating his Hamlet Big Brother hollowing tool
Guy trying out the tool
Christoferos also tried out the tool
The club had a special meeting on 11 November to take part in filming a
documentary on woodturning on Crete which will hopefully be presented at
the Thessaloniki Film Festival in February 2013. Nikos focussed on techniques
of hollow turning on a poplar wood bowl. Several members also tried out
the tool. Not all members could attend due to the short notice of the meeting
but new member Takis came for a brief visit before going on to another event.
Club Meeting 14 October 2012
Nikos demonstrating
The completed 38cm goblet
Refreshments on the balcony
The club met for probably the last meeting of 2012 and Nikos demonstrated
a long-stemmed goblet, it came out at just under 38cm when it was finished.
Two new members, Polydoros and Ragnar, were present. Then there was a convivial
lunch on the balcony for members and partners. Check here and on Facebook
for details of the next meeting when Guy will be demonstrating.
Club Meeting 29 April 2012
John Back demonstrating a small box
John's completed box
Goblet, sphere and small vase demonstrated by Nikos
John Back gave an interesting demonstration of an olive wood box and was
followed by Nikos who made an off-centre goblet, a sphere and a small vase.
Members also looked at some books on design to help with creating balanced
shapes. The meeting was followed by refreshments on the balcony. New member
Michael Alawi was present and we hope he will be able to visit again on
his next trip to Crete in the Autumn. Due to members’ commitments
over the summer the next meeting will be held in the Autumn
March 2012 Meeting
Nikos makes a goblet and Nikos demonstrates his hollowing tool on a hollow
form
The completed goblet and refreshments
at the end of the meeting
The club met on 4 March for a demonstration by Nikos of a goblet with a twisted stem from olive wood, Nikos showed the item from start to finish. Then he gave a brief demonstration of his new deep hollowing tool, made a few weeks ago for a particularly deep vase (it was cedar wood, about 600mm by 220mm), showing how it can be used on a smaller hollow form. Finally he finished off with something simple by making an egg from olive wood. The meeting ended with the usual refreshments and general conversation. Unforturnately, Christoferos was unable to attend as, due to a few days of good weather, he had to attend to his olives.
A short video was taken of parts of the goblet demonstration
in March and we show you this below, it is a first attempt and later videos
will be better we hope!
Click on the links below to see various stages of the making of the twisted
stem for the goblet:
Movie 1 (11 Mb) - Movie 2 (7 Mb) - Movie 3 (8,6 Mb)
29 January meeting
Nikos hollows out a tall vase, watched by the other club members
Enjoying refreshments and celebrating the inaugural meeting
of the first woodturning club in Greece
It’s not all bad news coming out of Greece at the moment. On 29 January this year Nikos Siragas, based on the island of Crete, opened the first meeting of the Rethymno Woodturning Club by giving a demonstration of hollow form turning. The meeting took place in Nikos’ spacious workshop at his house in the hills above Rethymno. This was followed by the traditional cutting of the New Year cake, ‘Vassilopita’, and an agreement by the new members to meet monthly to share ideas, demonstrate and socialize. The new members had travelled from various parts of the island, one of them travelling 3 hours, in order to share their woodturning passion. The membership reflects the mix of nationalities on the island as one member is French (www.woodartcrete.com), another is English (www.johnback.net) and the rest are Greek (www.afousa.wordpress.com).
Nikos hopes that the club will gradually grow as more hobby turners on the island learn about the club. Also, members from other parts of Greece or elsewhere are welcome - although they may not be able to attend the monthly meeting, due to the distance, it is hoped they will be able to attend the annual seminar that will take place in the summer of 2013. If you would like to join the club you can find details of both the club and courses with Nikos at www.siragas.gr, or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/nikos.siragas).