Jimmy Clewes Woodturning

I had a great class last week teaching at Marc Adams school of woodworking and time honored crafts.
There were four octogenarians in the class, with some really interesting life stories.
I had an excellent assistant for the week called Jennifer Shirley and she shared some of her work with our students. In the pics below.
She works with metal clays and teaches a class at the school. Her work is beautiful and well worth taking a class with her.
The potential for this medium is endless and you will have a great class.
Marc’s school has the ability to print class T-Shirts to any design thanks to Markee Murrin. The students and Jennifer came up with different designs. The class voted and Jennifer’s design won.
I do live in Las Vegas, I do tend to turn faster than the average turner and my wife had a vintage Dodge Charger!
I also have two very special little friends at the school.

I am pleased to introduce a new product.
This Jimmy Clewes Deluxe 5/8 Stainless Steel Quick release unit is precision machined to a fine tolerance.
Stainless Steel is significantly more wear resistant than Aluminum, offering up to 5 times higher surface hardness and is far superior for resisting wear. Due to the above features,the machining of these units takes significantly longer than aluminum.
The advantage of the QR system is that you only need one tool handle! as with the 5/8 aluminum QRs, a 5/8 gouge will fit straight into the unit, but if used with either the 3/8th or 1/2 bushing most of the commonly used tool will fit into one handle.
The added extra weight at the front of the handle gives the tool more integrity and with a quick twist if the wrist in either direction, tools can be inserted or released for a quick change or sharpening.
For more information and prices on the Jimmy Clewes Deluxe 5/8th Stainless Steel Quick release units and other products, please visit WWW.jimmyclewes.com

This piece is made from Masur Birch and the lid is Gidgee.
The foot has a Mokume and copper .999 silver etched ring.
The domed detail in the lid is .999 silver.
One of my favorite woods to turn and finish.

I was really pleased to receive a small book in the mail from W***y Van Houtte.
He owned and ran a thriving Woodturning, carving and exotic wood business in Belgium
I attended many of his in house shows over the years and for those who attended or remember them will agree W***y had many well know Woodturners over the years and was one of if not the most popular in house show in Europe.
Some unfortunately not with us , Nick Agar and Mark Baker to name a couple.
W***y and Chris became very good friends over the years.
The book is a reminder of very happy memories earlier in my career as you will see from the pics !
Monika and Ericka were a big part of the family business.
Brugge is one of my favorite city’s in the world.
Thank you W***y, Chris Monika and Erika for the great memories.

This lidded form is turned from Field Maple which has beautiful but subtle grain and an accent of Ziracote towards the top to frame the silver ring.
It has a 999 silver ring on the foot.
The silver ring joint on the lid was cast turned and beaded.
There is a story behind the 999 silver, exquisitely rose engined turned and enameled lid.
Many years ago a very good friend Gorst Duplesis and I were chatting at a symposium and I was telling him about my background in 3D Design and silversmithing.
His own rose engine work in Woodturning was amazing!!!
We agreed that if I raised, formed and polished the silver dome, he would take it home and use one of his several rose engine lathes ( one being a Holtzapffel !) to turn a design and have it enameled.
I have kept this piece for over 15 years until I had the time to justify rose engine work.

I really enjoy private classes especially when the students are all friends, the camaraderie and humor is amazing.
It was also one of the students Birthday so of course Mary surprised him with a freshly made strawberry jam sponge cake.

Another great class with some great projects turned.
One of the lunches is always a favorite with the students, Mozzarella Caprese with fresh basil to start, with pasta and meat sauce, and toasted garlic bread. Grated Parmesan to garnish.

The Calbash bowl is either carved from a gourd or a piece of turned or carved wood.
It’s one of my favorite curves on a bowl. A very simple but beautiful curve and if executed just right the bowl generally sits pretty much upright. Harder to execute than many think.
The .999 silver braiding is very dominant feature and therefore the turning needed a simple curve.
My first combination of woodturning and precious metal.
I have so many more ideas to explore!

When studying for my BA(Hon’s) degree in 3 D design at Manchester university my main subject was furniture design with my subsidiary subject being metal work (silversmithing).
I am working on combing both silver work along with Woodturning but first I have to remember and practice my silversmithing.
This is a braided solid silver bangle I have just finished for my wife Mary, from smelting the silver, casting a bar, using a rolling mill, making my own wire , braiding it and then working out the different soldering steps in construction. There is room for improvement but I am quite happy with the end result.

It was so nice to have Anne in the class again, she is a long time friend and a repeat student.
Paul, basically a beginner made some lovely pieces.
Jon , a local guy was a delight and teaches at the local Woodcraft store here in Las Vegas.

As my Woodturning classes here in Vegas are finished this year I am enjoying continuing to explore the versatility and use of different metals and textures to incorporate with Woodturning’s.