Hello All,
I am sure there are certain members of each club that seems to be responsible for the ideas for club night. I know this happens in my club.
How about listing things that you have seen demonstrated and things that have been done on hands on night? This could then be a reference for other clubs and groups (and individuals like me) who are running out of ideas.
Because it's my thread I get to choose the easy ones first 
Bowls and stair spindles.
Regards
John BHT
Yes it is that perennial question that we all have to ask, and I gues the aim is to try and please all the people, all the time; if that is possible!
My prime criteria in demonstrations is to show something that the majority of club members could attempt without 'special' tools, but should still be interesting. But to answer John's original request, these are some of the club demos I have done for our club.
One I titled 'No exskewses' with only skew chisels used to produce a carvers mallet, a spatula and a candlestick but obviously no bowls! This was to try and get past the 'Oh no, not the skew' that seems prevalent with many turners.
A whole evening looking at finishes, including many 'traditional' and 'home made' options. Believe it or not, that could easily run into a 'second chapter' as we only covered a few finishes and techniques
A 'hands on' evening looking at processing logs into blanks, with a serious look at safety, especially with regard to using chain saws and the importance of proper training and PPE. But also using froes, splitting wedges and hand saws to achieve the same results, albeit a bit slower.
A three piece copy of a stemmed, glass, sugar bowl but done without using a modern chuck, instead a faceplate and jam chucks were used. The primary aim wasn't so much the item, more to prove to members that you don't have to buy all the modern paraphernalia to carry out quite complex projects.
A table lamp, using long hole boring tools. Yes, I admit that's a 'special' tool, but one of the members wanted to use a spindle he had turned as a lamp stem, so that became a club's evening demo.
An evening on grinding and sharpening, using various types of systems and looking at the pros and cons of them. And of course a good look at the various grinds and angles that have become popular over the years.
And next week, for part of the 'hands on' evening, we are looking at scroll chuck use maintenance.
I hope those might stir up some ideas, but I too, will be watching this thread for other suggestions to use.
One last, rather sideways thought, is to ask other turners/clubs what they have tried for 'fun' evenings. We occasionally have a fun practical evening where everyone is invited to turn something as quickly as possible. In the past we have had egg cups and spinning tops, with points for the quickest turned, but also the best looking, and in the case of the spinning tops, the one that 'span' the longest. Does anyone have other suggestions for slightly 'frivolous' turning?
