Rethymno Woodturning Club

The club meeting was attended by most members, some were unable to come due to other commitments. Manolis brought along two vases he had turned, with some carving added, from cedar wood. He also showed his plexiglass system for doing offcentre work. Nikos showed the members how to make a hat from fresh olive wood and also revised hollowing techniques with a small oak vase.
Next meeting in April.

Nikos at work making a small hat from olive wood

The completed hat and a vase he made from spalted oak

Guy has a go on the lathe

Club Meeting 11 November 2013


Nikos demonstrating his Hamlet Big Brother hollowing tool

Guy trying out the tool

Christoferos also tried out the tool

The club had a special meeting on 11 November to take part in filming a documentary on woodturning on Crete which will hopefully be presented at the Thessaloniki Film Festival in February 2013. Nikos focussed on techniques of hollow turning on a poplar wood bowl. Several members also tried out the tool. Not all members could attend due to the short notice of the meeting but new member Takis came for a brief visit before going on to another event.

Club Meeting 14 October 2012


Nikos demonstrating

The completed 38cm goblet

Refreshments on the balcony

The club met for probably the last meeting of 2012 and Nikos demonstrated a long-stemmed goblet, it came out at just under 38cm when it was finished. Two new members, Polydoros and Ragnar, were present. Then there was a convivial lunch on the balcony for members and partners. Check here and on Facebook for details of the next meeting when Guy will be demonstrating.

Club Meeting 29 April 2012


John Back demonstrating a small box

John's completed box

Goblet, sphere and small vase demonstrated by Nikos

John Back gave an interesting demonstration of an olive wood box and was followed by Nikos who made an off-centre goblet, a sphere and a small vase. Members also looked at some books on design to help with creating balanced shapes. The meeting was followed by refreshments on the balcony. New member Michael Alawi was present and we hope he will be able to visit again on his next trip to Crete in the Autumn. Due to members’ commitments over the summer the next meeting will be held in the Autumn

March 2012 Meeting

Nikos makes a goblet and Nikos demonstrates his hollowing tool on a hollow form

The completed goblet and refreshments at the end of the meeting

The club met on 4 March for a demonstration by Nikos of a goblet with a twisted stem from olive wood, Nikos showed the item from start to finish. Then he gave a brief demonstration of his new deep hollowing tool, made a few weeks ago for a particularly deep vase (it was cedar wood, about 600mm by 220mm), showing how it can be used on a smaller hollow form. Finally he finished off with something simple by making an egg from olive wood. The meeting ended with the usual refreshments and general conversation. Unforturnately, Christoferos was unable to attend as, due to a few days of good weather, he had to attend to his olives.

A short video was taken of parts of the goblet demonstration in March and we show you this below, it is a first attempt and later videos will be better we hope!
Click on the links below to see various stages of the making of the twisted stem for the goblet:

Movie 1 (11 Mb) - Movie 2 (7 Mb) - Movie 3 (8,6 Mb)

29 January meeting

Nikos hollows out a tall vase, watched by the other club members

Enjoying refreshments and celebrating the inaugural meeting
of the first woodturning club in Greece

It’s not all bad news coming out of Greece at the moment. On 29 January this year Nikos Siragas, based on the island of Crete, opened the first meeting of the Rethymno Woodturning Club by giving a demonstration of hollow form turning. The meeting took place in Nikos’ spacious workshop at his house in the hills above Rethymno. This was followed by the traditional cutting of the New Year cake, ‘Vassilopita’, and an agreement by the new members to meet monthly to share ideas, demonstrate and socialize. The new members had travelled from various parts of the island, one of them travelling 3 hours, in order to share their woodturning passion. The membership reflects the mix of nationalities on the island as one member is French (www.woodartcrete.com), another is English (www.johnback.net) and the rest are Greek (www.afousa.wordpress.com).

Nikos hopes that the club will gradually grow as more hobby turners on the island learn about the club. Also, members from other parts of Greece or elsewhere are welcome - although they may not be able to attend the monthly meeting, due to the distance, it is hoped they will be able to attend the annual seminar that will take place in the summer of 2013. If you would like to join the club you can find details of both the club and courses with Nikos at www.siragas.gr, or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/nikos.siragas).