Overview:

Jimmy comes to us from the UK. At age 16, after leaving school, he attained an apprenticeship in engineering and decided to further his studies by attending Manchester Polytechnic. There he received a 2:1 Honours Degree with special emphasis on learning 3-Dimensional Design. With that focus, he began to specialize in designing and making furniture which was influenced by Japanese tools and design.

While in college Jimmy’s interest in woodturning was rekindled. The combination of his college education, his limitless imagination and his professional skills was a perfect fit for him to pursue his creative abilities as a woodturner and to take that ability to the next level. When asked what drives him, he shares, “My energy come from those around me. When I can stir the creativity of one’s mind, that, for me is very satisfying. As with any art form, expression is only limited as one’s mind and I want to ‘raise the bar’ and create an awareness of the art form that has been virtually unknown to most people.”

Jimmy is not an ordinary woodturner. Upon a first meeting one might likely think of him as a renegade, a free thinker and not within the stereotypical image of a woodturner. His charming British style, unending wit, creative mind and magnetic personality are only some of the attributes that make him popular in the woodturning demonstration circuit. He is on the Register of Professional Woodturners in the United Kingdom and a member of the American Association of Woodturners. He has over 20 years of experience in woodturning and woodworking. The demand for his services as a freelance demonstrator takes him across the UK, Europe, the USA, Canada and New Zealand.

Although Jimmy feels personal tutelage is the best way to learn he realizes it is not always possible so in 2003 he produced the popular DVD Turnaround with Jimmy Clewes. A 3-box DVD set Turn it on with Jimmy Clewes was released in 2005 and his most recent 3-disc set Turn it Up was produced in 2006. All have been very well received.

Morning Session:

Jimmy began his demonstration stating that what he shows is his way and not the way. One should strive mainly for fun and satisfaction and the way to arrive there is really not that important. In addition, one should be opened-minded even if not liking it.

First was the turning of an oriental winged lidded box. The base was 10x4x2.5 inches. Jimmy uses a long grind bowl gouge and a parting tool for much of his work. He grinds using a jig and he says grinding only by hand is “rubbish.” He prefers the Wolverine Vari-Grind sharpening jig. It gives him rapidity and ease of grinding but, most important, reproducibility.

The piece was mounted on a One-Way screw chuck. First Jimmy slightly hollowed the front of the piece and then put a tenon on it. At home he uses a Vicmarc 100 chuck, which permits making a smaller tenon. This chuck has dovetail jaws with no serrations. A pull cut or draw cut was used and Jimmy’s fingers were on the tool very close to the rest giving him more control. The speed was set mostly by the sound produced by the revolving piece. Once the piece was hollowed the tenon was formed with the parting tool. The base of the box was then formed. The corner between the box body and the wings was formed by turning inward on the wings and up from the bottom of the box. When finished the box will sit on the wing tips. The wing tips were slightly rounded. The undersides of the wings were sanded with a disc sander with the lathe going at the same speed as when turning. Additional sanding was done with a Velcro foam pad with the lathe turned off. This permits sanding to be done safely on the outer areas of the wing undersides. A swept-back spindle gouge was used to clean up a small area of tear-out. When sanding, the first grit used is the most important. All subsequent grits just make smaller scratches.

The piece was removed from the screw chuck and the tenon placed in the jaws. Jimmy marked both the piece and the jaws so that the piece can be accurately replaced in the jaws later on. Bulk was then removed from the piece at the wing ends in preparation for thinning the wings to an edge of about one-eighths inch thick. A draw cut was used to thin the wings. The extreme tip of the wing is the most difficult cut. The push cut cannot be used because the wings will flex. Once the wing edges were defined the undersides of the wings were formed with step-by-step draw cuts. Jimmy also used a back cut with the flute in the same position as for the draw cut. The back cut puts less pressure on the wood and gives better support to the fibers. He honed the gouge to give the final finishing cut. With this cut there is no bevel rubbing. It is a pure shear cut.

Jimmy then formed where the top of the box would be. A parting tool was used to define the opening of the box. A small step or shoulder was left that would be used later on. The box was hollowed. A bowl gouge with a secondary micro-bevel was used to clean up the interior of the box. Next the interior was sanded, the wings were hand sanded with the grain and the edges of the wings were hand sanded. This completed the base of the box.

A similar piece of walnut to form the box lid was then placed between centers. A steb center was used. A tenon was turned on the piece with the bowl gouge and finished with the parting tool. The piece was then removed from between centers and placed in the chuck. Jimmy began turning the top of the lid so that it would appear to wrap around the base. The opening in the base was measured with dividers and a small amount added to it. This dimension was then scribed on the bottom of the lid. A slight tapered ridge was cut on this line to accept the base of the box. This ridge was then slowly reduced to snugly accept the base. Because the ridge was formed with a tapered cut and not a right-angled one the lid will be able to be better fitted to the base. The lid was then further shaped so that the flare of the lid matched that of the base. Bulk was removed and the area of the lid handle was left to be turned later when the lid would be removed from the chuck. The undersurface of the lid was partially hollowed to decrease weight. The lid was removed from the chuck with a parting tool leaving enough wood to shape the lid’s handle.

The base of the box was placed back in the chuck in the position that had been marked earlier. If possible the jaws should be tightened about the same amount as they were earlier. The lid was then placed on the base and the lathe turned up to top speed. The upper surface of the box lid was further defined. It is necessary to be careful not to turn too much away because at this point it is impossible to see how much wood was previously removed from the undersurface of the lid. Draw cuts and back cuts were done to finish the lid’s upper surface. The handle was then turned with the small one-quarter inch gouge using small cuts – nothing aggressive. The spindle gouge was then used to complete the handle’s shape. It was then sanded and the edges were sanded. The base of the box was placed on the chuck with the jaws expanded into the box opening. The tenon on the box base was turned away and the entire base of the box was sanded with the disc sander. This completed the oriental box.

Afternoon Session:

Wood Coloring: Jimmy uses aniline dyes that are transparent thus permitting the grain to show. The aniline dye powder is dissolved in denatured alcohol. Jimmy began this portion of the demo using a highly figured piece of fiddle-back maple. The disc was squared off with the piece on a screw chuck. A tenon was turned and the disc reversed into the jaws. A pull cut was used to square off the surface. The edge of the disc was then surfaced. The center of the disc was marked for later reference. The diameter of the tenon was scribed and was turned with the parting tool. The undersurface of the disc was then shaped. A center line was drawn on the edge of the disc and wood turned away to that line. The back side of the disc was then sanded and sealed. It was sealed in case any of the dye got on this area so it would not be absorbed into the wood. After turning the wood fibers are pushed down. They are raised by spraying the surface with denatured alcohol. Sanding of the raised fibers was begun with 180 grit, followed by 240, 320 and 400 grits. Between grits the alcohol was used and burned off. A Velcro backed mesh (Abranet) was used to further smooth the surface. The alcohol was again used and, as before, it was burned off. 600 grit paper was then used. A shellac finish (French Polish) was used to fill the pores. It was applied with a cloth in a circular fashion to the surface of the disc’s bottom and edge. Once dry 4-0 steel wool was used to cut the surface. Watco oil was applied to the sealed surface. The piece was then removed from the screw chuck and placed back on the chuck on the previously turned tenon. The surface was trued up and then curved from the center outward to the edge. The surface was improved with a shear cut. It was sprayed with the alcohol and ignited then power sanded with 180 grit, then 240 and 320 with alcohol application between grits. Abranet was used followed by alcohol and then 600 grit paper.

Alcohol was again sprayed on the surface to open the grain so that the dye could penetrate. Jimmy applies darker color dyes first. Using a paper towel he applied blue dye going from the center downward to avoid drips. Once the entire piece was dyed the excess alcohol was burned off thus drying it. 600 grit paper was used to cut back the color to the desired shade and surface texture. Green dye was applied next. It was applied to the lighter areas of the grain by stippling, not wiping. It was also not applied in the same amount to all areas. 800 grit paper was then used with increased lathe speed. Yellow dye was applied between the blue and green areas in a somewhat sporadic fashion, again by stippling. A fine alcohol mist was applied to wet the surface while rotating the piece by hand. The alcohol mist application shows what the final surface will look like. The surface was allowed to dry for 10-15 minutes.

A parting tool was used to cut in on an angle toward the center around the screw chuck hole. This area was then hollowed to just past the depth of the hole using the micro-bevel gouge. The hollowed area was sanded with care not to touch the previously colored area. (It is important to not leave any sanding scratches or lines because they will show up through gold leaf.) Sanding was done up to 800 grit. Steel wool was used to heat up the surface of the hollowed area. A latex based glue was then applied to the hollowed-out surface area. Latex glue was used because it moves with the wood, as does the gold leaf. The chuck was removed from the headstock with the piece still in the jaws. Gold leaf flakes (multi-colored) were then dropped into the hollowed area and pushed into place with a sable paint brush being certain to cover the entire surface. A paper wad was used to further push the flakes onto the surface. Excess leaf was brushed off using the sable brush. The leaf only sticks where the glue is. The piece was placed back on the headstock and with the lathe running all excess leaf was again brushed away. No finish was used over the gold leaf because finish would dull it.

The surface of the disc (colored area) was sealed with a water based acrylic sealer. It was patted on so that the color would not be affected. This deepens the colors. The lathe was turned on to dry the sealer and then steel wool was used to lightly smooth the lines created by the sealer. A small chamfer line was cut with the spindle gouge around the edge of the opening where the gold leaf was applied. This line was colored with a black Sharpie. Then the thin edge of the disc was also colored using the Sharpie. These two small details helped to set the piece off. Watco Danish oil was applied which made the grain pop out.

The piece was removed from the chuck and jam chucked between centers in order to remove the tenon. The area was sanded and re-sealed. It was removed from between centers. The nubbin and the final finish of that area would be done at a later date.

This completed a wonderful demo. A DVD will be available in the club library in May 2007.

Bob Gunther