Clive once again finished his North American tour at his favourite stop – with the Nova Woodturners’ Guild at Busy Bee Tools! 😉 The ‘Sorby meeting’ has become sort of a fall tradition for us and those that have attended one in the past know that it is one of the most popular meetings of the season. It’s always a great time and tonight was no different.
Clive began with showing us the Patriot chuck and then moved through to the variety of Stebcenters available. He showed how they differed from the traditional centers that come equipped with our lathes, and its safety features. From here he showed us the Hollowmaster, how it worked as a combination spindle gouge and skew and the method for sharpening them. He turned and passed around an example of the smooth cut it can make on end grain, requiring little or no sanding when completed!
Using the Spiraling System he demonstrated how a myriad of textures can easily be achieved using the different cutters that are available. He also shared several tips on its use such as texturing the outside of a bowl before turning the inside and to sometimes ‘fishtail’ the tool handle to get the best results.
Next came an in-depth review of the many features of the abrasive belt based Pro Edge Sharpening System. Clive showed us the various assets of this system for sharpening a spectrum of turning tools including the ‘angle setter’, the tilting feature and the ease of changing the belts. He also showed how available attachments such as the skew jig, fingernail gouge profiler, honing wheels and buffing mops can further the versatility of this tool.
In addition to giving us this extensive and enjoyable review of many of these products in Sorby’s line of woodturning tools the crowning moment came when Clive demonstrated the new Sorby Sovereign System, including the Sovereign Ultima Hollowing System.
The Sovereign Ultima Hollowing System is Sorby’s recent entry into the ‘articulated’ hollower arena, and a fine entry it is. With its innovations that addresses apparent problems with other systems, specifically the cutter design that allows the shavings to clear without clogging and the micro-adjuster that allows you to easily set the cutter depth it was easy to see that this tool is a winner.
The Sovereign System itself is an aluminum and alloy handle system that features a counter-weight option and a side handle. It can fit the 3/8″, 1/2″ and 5/5″ diameter bowl gouges, spindle gouges and multi-tip hollowing that are available for this system. They also fit the Sovereign Ultima Hollowing System gouges.
What an informative and enjoyable evening it was! Kudos definitely goes out to Clive, for giving us another great presentation. As always, he kept us captivated with his display of fine tools, dexterity and wit. Thank you, Clive!
There was a short business session that included a presentation from the Events Committee Chairman for plans for the Events Committee to make the trophies for the Annual Competition.
Tonight’s meeting was also the Annual Fun Turn Wood Pickup and there was a scramble to get the choice pieces. Fortunately, all of the wood was choice pieces so there were very few black eyes and broken bones in the shuffle this year. 🙂
The evening finished with a draw for door prizes. Two people each won a $25.00 gift card from Busy Bee Tools. Congratulations!
Special thanks to Clive Brooks, Sorby Tools and Busy Bee Tools for such a great evening!
Back to the shop…