How quickly Christmas comes around now, I remember as a boy waiting for Santa and it seemed to take forever, now I think it comes twice a year, must be getting old. For our December meeting we had Joe O’ Neill as our Santa Claus demonstrator, though this time behatted with a fez. Joe, in keeping with the festive season, showed us his take on a candelabra to grace any Christmas dinner table. This was made up in ten pieces, base, stem or pillar, four arms and four candle holders at the end of each arm, the pillar holds a fifth candle. Using a piece of iroko Joe first turned the pillar, which was about 500mm long and 40mm square. This was adorned with beads and coves up the length and here Joe made the point of drilling the holes to take the arms while its in the square, makes sense of course, also predrill the hole to take the top candle holder. Next step was to turn the arms, four off, these too were decorated similar to the pillar with beads and coves.
About now we took a break to feast on the festive fare laid on by Shay Clarke, our resident chef, mince pies etc, and then our Christmas raffle, some very good liquid prizes, and some members went home happy having scored a few times.
After the break Joe Picked up where he left off, turning the four candle holders, these too are pre-drilled to fit the candle cups, and are shaped like the bowl of a pipe. The last part is the base, a circular piece of around 150mm in diameter and 25mm thick, a weighty base is needed to stabilize the whole piece. A nice job Joe, along with your commentary and jokes we had an entertaining afternoon, thank you.
Pat Gannon
During the break the result of the monthly competition were announced, with first place going to Cecil Barron, 2nd Jim Hynes and 3rd Chris Hayes. In the novice section the first place was taken by Cathal Ryan 2nd Shay Clark 3rd Jim Cassin, and the woodturner of the year for 2018, Pat Gannon.
That’s it for this year, a good one for the chapter with some very skilled new members and some very instructive and entertaining demonstrations, looking forward to seeing you all in the new year. Wishing all a happy and peaceful Christmas.
Pat.
