Keeping busy

Well I have been trying to get time to update my blog with some new work. I have the designs in mind and have started working on the first one but at this stage I do not have pictures to post.

The rest of my time has been taken up with teaching, demonstrating and a few other projects including starting to write a book on woodturning, plus a few more articles all of which have deadlines. Deadlines for me are a good thing as I try not to take life too seriously and can drift into a rather laid back approach to what I do.

More details of the book at a later stage.

So for this entry due to getting less and less time at the lathe I have imalgamated what would have been several entries.

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of weeks the first being from a demonstration at Stuart Mortimer's woodturning club. Click on the link to view Stuart's work.

On arriving at Stuart's I was met with the below sight. Two very large lathes with 17 foot lengths of wood being being shaped for a project he is involved in. You should have seen the size of the skew chisel. :-)




The club members who gave me a warm welcome and a very enjoyable evening, with some good banter. Mostly amongst the members themselves.



Turning the outside of a lidded form.







Turning outside of an offset lidded from, the second project of the evening.




Turning out the inside/making a recess for the lid.

The finished offset lidded form.



The pictures below are from several lessons through out the week.

I always find teaching very enjoyable and rewarding. Passing on what knowldge I have is something I endevour to do, especially as people can go away and put into practice what they have learnt during the day and keep the craft moving forward.

The first is from a "turn a bowl course", with the student finishing the base of a bowl followed by buffing to finish.


Here is another lady who has come back for a second lesson with me to make a lidded form.





The picture at the top is the latest article project for Wodturning magazine. A small sycamore bowl stained with blue spirit stain with an aged gold leaf band.

The golf leaf once applied is rubbed with wire wool to give it an aged look. If you areinterested in the project the get the latest issue 230.