Highland Woodturners set June meeting with guest demonstrator Andy Walters

Highland Woodturners is showing how a local club can keep members engaged without losing sight of risk management. Its June programme pairs a guest demonstration from Andy Walters with an open day meeting, a board session and a recent safety night that put workshop discipline front and center.

Its next meeting is set for 11 June 2026, with doors opening at 6 p.m. and the demonstration starting at 6:45 p.m. Walters will present Making a pair, a title that should appeal to turners who like the challenge of repeatability as much as one-off pieces. The June calendar also includes an open day meeting on 4 June and a board meeting on 18 June, giving the month a full club rhythm rather than a single showcase night.

Highland Woodturners identifies itself as Scottish Charity SC053651, promoting the art and craft of woodturning in the Scottish Highlands. The club says it was conceived in 2005 and formally started in the summer of 2006, with founding members Sandy Henderson, Bob Macabe, Mark Sutton, Brian Edmanson and Bill Munro. It also received AWGB affiliation on 10 April 2006. Members have access to library books, tutorials, competitions, posts, gallery images, club minutes and membership resources, which gives the chapter a practical backbone beyond meeting night.

Walters brings the kind of professional background that fits that brief. Highland Woodturners describes him as a professional woodturner and the proprietor of Black Isle Woodturning, while the business says it was created in 2010. Black Isle Woodturning lists services that range from bespoke design work and commissions to architectural restoration and reproduction, precision small-batch production, bespoke furniture manufacture and restoration, and ecclesiastical work. That mix of production and bespoke experience should make his demo relevant to turners who want both efficiency and finish quality.

The club’s safety work is just as visible. Its 28 May meeting focused on a new health and safety handbook and safe working in both workshop and home workshop settings, with pre-use checks for lathes, fire response, risk assessments and a spot-the-danger exercise. The documents page now carries a 2026 revision of the Health and Safety Handbook, along with workshop safety rules, visitor rules, bandsaw rules, emergency stop system guidance, lathe safe use and grinding wheel risk information.

That approach fits the wider craft landscape as well. The AWGB has updated its handbook to version 10.4, and its safety guidance calls for a safety visor or goggles, solid shoes, secure clothing and safe lathe speeds. The Health and Safety Executive’s woodworking guidance adds risk assessment, training, supervision, machinery hazards, slips and trips, fire and explosion, dust, noise and hazardous substances to the list of essentials.

Highland Woodturners’ June run makes the club’s model plain: a named demonstrator, regular meetings, active learning and safety built into the routine. That is what keeps a chapter welcoming, useful and busy long after the lathe is switched off.