Ginormous lime bowl

Posted on 28. November 2015 by fuzzy

I think I posted a while ago that I managed to rescue some lime from a tree that was felled in my neighborhood. It’s all nicely cut up and stacked in the garden under a tarpaulin. One of the pieces went on the lathe, because I just couldn’t wait (it’ll be at least a year before the rest is anywhere near ready for turning).

I always wanted to a big natural edge bowl. I dislike the ones where the curvature of the tree makes the bowl almost unusable. Luckily enough this lime tree had some parts where the surface has almost flat, and I picked one of these pieces. Here’s the result:

lime-bowl-top

lime-bowl-bottom

It’s been lying around the lounge for several weeks now, and would probably be dry enough to finish turn it. Except there’s one teeny weeny problem: It has shrunk. Not a problem, you might say. It’s just smaller, so what?

Weeeelll, that’s not quite how it works. If you look closely you can actually see the problem in the pictures. The bowl has become elliptical. Now, all bowls do that when they dry. This one, though, has done it to such a degree that there is no way I can finish and still have a bowl. If I put this back on the lathe and turn it back round, there won’t be any side walls left.

Dough! All I can do now is to sand it by hand and accept the shape it has. Well, it was always meant to be a rustic bowl. It’s now just a little bit more rustic. What the hell!

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Busy, busy

Posted on 23. November 2015 by fuzzy

I have been so active in my workshop over the last 2 weeks that I haven’t really found the time to post anything here. Tonight I made a deliberate decision to step away and take some photographs of recent work. Most of them will end up in the various product galleries, so have a look over there.

And then there are pieces I made which will never have a photograph. They were made specifically for several people, not quite commissions (no money involved), but more along the lines of “thank you” for being helpful and supportive. I think it’s important that we all respond in kind to our support network, as otherwise wood turning can be a very lonely affair.

Oh, and I also made the decision to try and get a stall at the next Badminton horse trials. My wife is a keen rider, and so far we have been a few times as spectators, but last time I did notice that there were also numerous craft stands, with items quite unrelated to riding. Apparently it’s quite expensive, but then the crowds are huge, and most likely not the sort who are short of money (otherwise they wouldn’t be there in the first place), so probably a better place than most craft fairs. So now the game is on: I will need a stall with signage, and display shelves and all that, brochures, business cards, etc, etc, etc. And over the winter I will have to make loads of stock.

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David and Goliath

Posted on 12. November 2015 by fuzzy

As most of my esteemed readers will know, I am a member of the AWGB (for the non-wood-turners, that’s the Association of Wood Turners of Great Britain). I haven’t sought them out to become a member, it was part and parcel of both of the clubs that I am a member of.

I have also been to their last seminar, which, as far as I am concerned, was absolutely worth the money and has given me a real boost in many, many aspects.

As it turns out, the AWGB is a bit in a pickle. There weren’t enough delegates at the seminar, and they now have to carry a shortfall of close to 10k. This was enough to make them stop and think, with a huge long thread on their forum, to generate ideas of what needed to be changed to make this more of a success.

At the very same time, there are three quite new and unknown wood turners who are trying to put together a UK and Ireland Wood Turning Symposium, with a lot of marketing hype and big fanfares.

Now let’s compare the two offerings: The AWGB offer an all-inclusive deal for 3 days, with overnight accommodation, all meals and drinks (except the bar), 12 professional demonstrators (6 from overseas), a host of trade stands and an instant gallery for a total of £275. On the other end of the scale, UKIWS offer only day tickets for £15 each, with some public demonstrations, mostly of little known turners, no accomodation, no food, no drinks, no gallery, and only a handful of trade stands. If you want to see a proper pro turning, it’s extra. You want to stay overnight, it’s extra. You want food, extra. You want coffee…, well, you get the message.

This is a little like comparing an easyjet cattle class flight ticket with a business class flight from, say, Singapore Airlines or Emirates. Just not in the same category. However: easyjet make money. Yes, they have to sell loads of tickets, but their possible market place is huge.  And their costs are low. Whereas (as amply demonstrated by the lack of uptake) the market for AWGB seminars is limited. Not everybody can afford it or want to spend the money.

Now, instead of actually listening to any of this, all the folks on the AWGB forum can think of is to heckle those posters who dare to criticise the AWGB. Clearly it hasn’t hurt bad enough. Yet.

Maybe they need some new kids on the block (UKIWS) to pull that magic rabbit out of the hat, to wake up and realize that what has worked in the past, doesn’t work any longer. I think some really hard thinking is in order here. However, the signs are not good. There is some gentle shoulder-tapping and congratulations over a job well done, but no serious questioning of ideas and practices. No doubt, I will have more to say on this as the stories unfold.

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Black poplar bowl

Posted on 5. November 2015 by fuzzy

When I got home last night, I couldn’t wait and immediately started working on the piece of black poplar I got from Mark. It turns very nicely, but does need a bit of sanding. During the sanding I noticed that the grain was actually quite open, and that gave me an idea.

A while ago I did a demo for one of my clubs, and one of my demo pieces ended up a right mess. I was trying to do a tealight holder in open grained wood, with the grain brushed out and then filled in with type of glittery guilt cream. Stupidly I had left the lemon oil at home, and my attempts of wiping the excess off with some other stuff did not work at all.

But last night, I got the result I wanted. Tata!

black-poplar-dish

Not bad for 2 hours work, if I may say so myself. The picture doesn’t even do it full justice, as the colours shimmer depending on how the light falls on them.

 

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And some more wood

Posted on 5. November 2015 by fuzzy

Last night I went to see Mark, the tree surgeon, who had promised to build a stock of promising cuts of wood. And let me tell you, he did, and in style.

He has listened to all my advice, and now has a pile of probably several tonnes of wood. Straight pieces, crotches, curly wood, odd species. All there. Let me see if I can remember all of them: Prickly pear, apple, cherry (some huuuuge pieces), monkey puzzle, cedar, redwood, sycamore, blackbeam (not sure what that is), acacia, plum, damson. And those are just the ones I can recall. There’s probably more.

And all of them are cut down the pith, end grain sealed, bark still on. The man is a treasure. Here’s what I took away from him:

boot-with-wood

From left to right: a piece of acacia, some rippled sycamore, with a small piece of cedar in the back, and some cedar (bottom) and black beam (top). What you can’t see are two more pieces I had already taken out of the boot, one of black poplar and another piece of cedar.

I’ve never had black poplar before, but it turns very nice, but more about that in a separate post.

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