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Making a Lamp - a student’s perspective
We believe this is a first.
On the weekend of Oct. 27/28, 2007 five students with varying experience embarked on an adventure in which we each turned a table lamp with wood shade under the tutelage of Peter Asselyn. Three of us had taken a hollowing course, also by Peter, and two of us had not. To quote director, Ken Keoughan, none of us students were blessed with “unbridled talent”. The Woodturning School in Damariscotta, Maine offered the course under the auspices of Ken.
Day one
 After a brief welcoming and introduction by Ken with the usual caveats related to safety, Peter Asselyn started by reviewing the syllabus for the course. The first day would be devoted to turning the shade and the second to turning the parts for the stand, putting them together, and wiring the lamp. At this point, it was not easy to figure out who was more nervous; instructor, students or director. Peter has been making the lamps for some time but had only taken his wife through the learning process as a guinea pig type test. She must have passed with flying colors as we were there and so was she; though she did not bring her lamp. She gave us knowledgeable technical and strong moral support throughout the day.
 How does the process work? The student brings nothing but her/his “unbridled talent” and the desire to learn. The school supplies everything else; lathes (Oneway 1640’s), top quality tools, finishing materials, sharpening service, lunch and refreshments and of course, a first-class instructor. The materials in this case were; a solid piece of poplar (trunk of the tree) for the shade (pre-rounded), two pieces of cherry for the base and upright, sanding materials, and electrical needs.
Now it’s time for us - Gene, Joan, Charlie, Karen and Peter (no, not that Peter - me) - to bring forth our enthusiasm and talent. With more than enough grunting and groaning the rounded pieces of Poplar are mounted between centers for the initial truing of the round and flattening the top end for the faceplate.
In short order we have mounted the faceplate and attached it to the headstock. We decide on a shape for our shade and then start turning to that shape. Bang! I am looking at a big piece of wood rolling around on the floor and a faceplate with wood covered screws turning on the lathe. Another lesson is learned; one needs to bring up the tailstock to provide stability. Onward! We soon have the outside of the shade shaped and sanded. We learn it is not easy to smooth this very wet Poplar. We also learn that we can clean the plugged sandpaper with a brass wire brush; a lesson in frugality.
Lunch arrives none too soon. We are given a short break, as we do not want the wood drying too much. We learn a little bit about each other, the learning process and the facility while enjoying the gourmet Subway sandwiches and pizza. We are all senior citizens or pushing that status. The learning process is the WTS standard: syllabus, demonstration and hands-on, with a busy instructor bouncing from student to student. The facility was previously a cabinet shop which Ken and others have transformed into a stand-alone wood turning studio.
 The fun begins in earnest after lunch with the start of the hollowing process. We use the Lyle Jamieson hollowing tool which, at least to this neophyte is some different from the usual hands-on tools. With a little hollowing from the central bore hole the whole thing seems to become a bit less intimidating; so on we go. The first inch or two go reasonably well and then Charlie looses his first couple of inches; so much for striving for perfection. He had done a beautiful job on those first few inches; as Gene said, he had a good looking clerical collar. I guess he earned the right to comment, as he was the other one who put a hole in the side.
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Those of us who strove for somewhat less perfection wound up with much thicker shades. The Poplar proved rather forgiving to those of us with less daring, as it is quite translucent at greater thicknesses. Charlie lost the next couple of inches to perfection but with a dogged determination finished a shade that had been partially prepared ahead of time. Gene did the same thing after losing to perfection late in the game on his first shade.
 To give us a short break during the process Peter Asselyn demonstrated hollowing the shade with a bowl gouge instead of the Jamieson tool. He is really good with the gouge! The work, though delicate since the tail support is not there, goes nicely. What’s the old adage about skinning a cat?
Along about mid-afternoon it was evident that fatigue was beginning to set in. Joan accepted a bit of assistance through a rough spot. I made do with less than what I would normally accept for a finish on the inside. It is not as “fuzz free” as I would like; but it is whole and the first days work is about done. Maybe if I had not been tired I would have tried the bowl gouge and wound up with a better inside. About the time I was getting the fuzzies, Karen decided it was time for her to accept a touch of help in the latter stages of her shade. Wonder of wonders all five of us finished a shade.
 The weather was even cooperative that first day as it is helpful to have a low level of light so one can trace one progress with electric light through the shade. We had a
rainy day. With the time left we picked up all the wet shavings we generated, neatened everything up and left
to wend our way home. It was nice to sit down.
And the Red Sox won game three
of the World Series!
Day two
The day dawns clear, bright and sunny. It is one of those typical Maine
days that follow the passage of a cold front. We are all raring to go.
 We start with a review of what we will be doing; form a base (a partial bowl), shape an upright (a spindle), make a finial and wire the lamp. Fear, trepidation and nervousness seem to have been left in day one; we are much more familiar with the turning techniques for this day.
One of the great things about these classes is the “fallout” we get along the way. We start today at the lathe with a rough bowl blank that we will make into a face plate with a piece of sandpaper on it to serve as the headstock end of a “between centers” mount for the piece of wood which will be the base of the lamp. We will even use it to do some sanding when necessary. I can’t count the number of ways I could have used this over the past couple of years of my short turning career.
 We mount the rough base and turn it to the shape we decide on. Mine is going to be quite plain as the wood has some imperfections in it, which I prefer to let speak for them selves. Others are going to be considerably more detailed and fancy. We drill a hole through the side of this piece for the wire and before we sand we drill a central hole in which we will mount the upright.
Next we mount the spindle blank for the upright; we are careful to have the hole which is closest to the center at the tailstock end; long drills seem to walk off center from one end to the other. Again, I choose a simple shape for mine while others are more imaginative. When we are finished this we are ready to glue the base to the upright. We then wire the lamp.
While waiting for the glue to harden we turn finials for the top of the lamp fixture. Some of us use a burning tool to add some decoration to the lamp base. I, among others, burned the rough edge of the top of the shade. Some might say that we are disguising some imperfections. The shades are united with the lamps. Pictures are taken of lamps and turners. The mess we created today is cleaned up and we are ready to take new prized possessions home.
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