Wolfgang Shulze-Zachau (aka Fuzzy Rainbow) is from southern Germany and has spent time far and wide around the globe before settling in the West Midlands. 

His woodturning began by creating workshop tools and items for use around the home. As with many of us it led to a creative interest in shape and colour. 

Wolfgang's project for the evening was a deep hollow form with a pierced top. 

The stock was a softwood log with many branches, which caused some difficulties using a roughing gouge, so a bowl gouge with pull cuts was used to turn it to round and to form the basic shape. A tenon was formed using a shaped tool and homemade plywood 
gauges to give a perfect fit for his chuck. 

The shape was refined using push cuts with a spindle gouge. After mounting in the chuck, the outer shape was completed with a bowl gouge, truing the end and sanding with a rotational tool. Wolfgang does not recommend using a skew on very knotty timber and warned against heat marks caused 
by a gouge bevel not just gliding across the work. 

The hollowing process was started by using a spindle gouge to drill a hole to the required depth. He then used a carbide tool to begin the hollowing process. This is basically a scraping action prone to vibration as the cut gets deeper, so he then used a ring tool to remove the bulk of the material which is 
a cutting action (although somewhat violent). The internal surface was finished with some sanding. 

The top can now be shaped. This may be achieved using cutting disks in a Proxon or by hand carving knives and finished by sanding using a variety of small files and nail emery boards. He now started the piercing, 
emphasising that the finish on the part must be good and that the inside should be soaked with sanding sealer then covered with masking tape to avoid breakout. The piercing process is always started by drilling 
the largest holes, using very sharp bits, to define the visible structure of the desired pattern.

The evening was concluded with an informal Q&A session covering design, finish and colouring. 

A most interesting and entertaining demo. 

Report by Bill Clyne

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