Teaching

Well rounding off my week is some teaching at George Foweraker's workshop.

Generally we have four students once or twice a month who come back regularly and build upon the skills that they have been practising, or to look in more depth at any tooling, design issues, colouring, texturing etc.

It is a great day and one of the most rewarding aspects of turning. Interacting with people and passing on my knowledge is very satisfying. Especially when people go away with a smile on their face.

The day involved spindle turning, bowl and hollowing finishing etc. Each student is given the opportunity to turn what they want and to explore their own direction.

Great fun and a good day had by all.

Back to it

Although the last few days have been a resting period, I class myself as a very lucky person, I do not see what I do as work at all. In fact I enjoy it so much that I am one of the few I know that get paid to do what they love. I canlt wait to get into the work shop in the morning.

As James M Barry, Scottish dramatist and poet once wrote " Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else"

(I thought you would like that Lee) But it is true.

So while I was suppose to be relaxing I could not resist returning to a project I have been working on for some months. The lidded form with colour and texture that I pictured some time ago.

It is almost finished but due to it being a relaxation piece it has taken me a long time to decide how to finish it. Even now I am not finding the exact solution, but I will not rush as hopefully I can then get it right.

This process involving wabi-Sabi is now what I see in all work whether we know it or not. So the process for me is as organic as it can be. It is just understanding that it is in front of us all the time which is important. We may not see it but it is there.

Anyway the picture at the top is a close up of part of the project to date.

Hopefully soon I can post the finished item.

Tomorrow it is tidy the workshop, get ready for a demonstration Thursday evening in North Devon and to get stuck into the pile of wood I have to process.

Oh and the usual to get on with too.

What a weekend

Well carrying on with "a week in a life of" I have just recovered from a long weekend travelling to Surrey, Kent and Back to Dorset then to Wiltshire, three demonstrations in total.

Always an enjoyable process as I enjoy meeting new people and visiting new places, but also passing on my knowledge and picking up some along the way as well. There are generally turners present that have been making for many more years than myself so it is also a chance for me to learn from some seasoned makers.

My short career in woodturning has been achievable through the willingness of many far more skilled than myself who have been willing to share their ideas, skills and techniques.

Now I am in a position of being asked to demonstrate the way in which I make my work I feel a priveledged obligation to others to help in their journey and hopefully to ultimately help woodturning in the UK develop. This may sound like a hippy view but I feel that we all have to share and support in a productive open way and the benefits often for me far out weight the work/input involved.

First on Friday was an evening demo at Surrey Woodturners Association. With 170 members and around 120 in attendance it was the largest club I have been invited too. Despite the large number of people watching, I was made to feel most welcome and at home. A very friendly club and thank you to each and all for your time, attention and help getting tools etc to and from my vehicle.

Oh yes and thank you to the member that helped to start my aged horse which developed a flat battery.

The evening was for me a great success with my demonstrating one of my signature lidded forms and carved finial.

It was then off to a members home for the night and up early the very next day to go to Orchard woodturners in Kent.

Another wonderful day with four projects demonstrated.

Then back to sunny Dorset and up the next morning een earier to sharpen the tools and collect materials before the third and final demo at Test Valley woodturners, Wiltshire.

Again I was made very welcome with the day going well. The process of meeting other turners especially those who have not seen me work before means that they often can give me ideas in relation to ways in which to work that I had not thought of before. We are always learning no doubt about that.

Then it was a day off as to say I was fired from driving 8 hours in three days is an understatement. But I could not resist tinkering with a piece I have been working on for the last four months.

Holm Oak

Thought I would update with some wood collected after a phone call from a friend.

This is Holm Oak and was cut down due to over hanging a foot path. Largest diameter is around 14-16 inches with the smallest being 5-6 inches.

There are probably 20-30 hollow form blanks available of various sizes and or bowls. The wood cost zero, other than a cup of tea and a chat which is one of the enjoyable parts of wood harvesting. Coupled with the fact that I know that once these pieces are roughed, seasoned and in the galleries that I have had control over the whole process and my profit margin is much higher.

Next week when the demonstrations are out of the way I will process these showing how I cut the wood to maximise yield and grain orientation.

This is a fantastic way of sourcing wood. Often if you contact local tree surgeons let them now what you want often they are more than happy to help out, even if it is for a small fee which will be minute compared to seasoned prepared wood.

Also let you friends and neighbours know that you want wood. It is quite surprising how much can be collected when you have several people combing the hedge rows.

Another day

Well work is very hectic at the moment. The processing of the wood collected has taken a back seat.

On top of sourcing the wood I have been finishing and submitting another article for 'Woodturning' GMC Publications magazine, that I am currently an author for. I was very proud to have been featured on the front cover of the magazine this month.

Writing articles involves researching and designing new ideas.

Producing the project with stage by stage photographs. Scaled drawings etc.

Writing about the process and collating all of the information and finally submitting within a dead line. This will then require further work once the publishers have looked at the format.

There are various skills involved in this such as, photography, writing, designing. I enjoy the process very much as keeps my grey matter working and is a way for me to pass on my knowledge so that others can benefit and develop as I have benefited and developed from others knowledge. Woodturning has given me a lot and by writing I can give back and hopefully help the craft to progress.

On top of this I have been developing my web site for the tools that I am now selling. This involves the use and knowledge of web design, graphics and other computer software.

Finally preparation is under way for three demonstrations that are scheduled this coming weekend.

Preparation of projects in a roughed out stage, materials, design notes that are given out to the audience so that they can go away and make the projects demonstrated, travel and accommodation plans, route planning, checking the horse for oil, tyres etc.

Finally accounts, stock checking, ordering of materials, tools, stationary and organising of more demonstrations and art trails that are up and coming, posting of tools and parcels, dvd's etc etc etc.

Oh and the collection of more wood due to receiving a phone call from one of my contacts that a Holm Oak tree has just been felled near to my workshop.

All this and only a few hours at the lathe.

Hopefully once all this has been completed I can get back to processing the wood that I picked up from the saw mill and show you how I go about this.

Oh I almost forgot.

While I am doing all of this I run the home, sort the children, dogs, house work, as well as building and maintain web sites for friends and a woodturning club I am a member of.

A week in the life of

When I first started woodturning I had a distant thought of one day turning full time for a living. Now turning full time I look back and realise how different it is compared to how I thought it would be. I have to say it is much more interesting and enjoyable than I had hoped..

I could never have realise the vast array of skills that would be required in just turning a piece of wood.

So I thought I would share with you a typical week showing what exactly I do from day to day.

Well I have to start somewhere so I guess the beginning is the best place.

Well I have the lathe ready so now I need some wood. For me I have always had an issue in using exotic imported wood in any large quantities. Much we can be sure is plantation grown and indeed help feed the workers that farm it. But for me the carbon footprint needed to ship it all around the world is something that I try to reduce as much as I can.

Yes I do use small amounts of exotic timber known to come from sustainable or plantation sources, but I have a passion for our native UK timbers. To me they are some of the most beautiful woods in the world. The fact that I can farm it locally, knowing it comes from a reliable source and requires only the minimum amount of carbon dioxide spewed from my vehicle to collect for me makes native timber the best option for my work.

Some years ago I was contacted by a local saw mill in relation to visiting and seeing what woods they mill.

Unfortunately there are not many small mills around these days. So I went along to Hazelbury Bryan Timber yard, Sturminster Newton, Dorset. A traditional timber yard that farms wood from local estates and woodlands. The ethos of the company is to help re-establish our UK woodlands and to provide an excellent source of wood at a reasonable price.

On top of sourcing wood from timber yards we can source from friends and people locally.

So what do we look for and how do we use it.

Firstly when attending a timber yard there are two types of wood we can source. Wood left in the round such as small trunks and wood that is milled from larger stock.

We can ask the miller to cut boards of various thickness's through the trunk or quarter sawn. Quarter sawn being the most stable but it is also provides the most interesting visible grain structure.

Through out this thread are some pictures of my visit to the timber yard showing various boards and timber in the round, how I have had some silver birch slabbed and also boards selected.

Silver birch being milled through and through.



The slab milled



How it started



A selection of pre milled boards selected.



The firewood pile can offer some quality stock, especially if you get to it before being logged. Often the cost is a few pounds for a car load.



One of the reasons I love going to the yard. You can really get in touch with nature and the very beginning of the bowl or hollow form that will be made from your find. This for me is important as it gives me great satisfaction to see the whole process from the log to the end item.



Next I will show how I process the woods to be used on the lathe.

Video of "Revolution" Hollowing system in use

Below is a video clip that I have personally produced to show the versatility of the tool.

Future videos will be coming showing specifics and how to get the most from the tool . These will be available on my web site.

Ash hollow form

This form was made from unseasoned ash and turned once to a thin wall using the Revolution system. The super ring cutter was used as was a finishing scraper.

8 Inch diameter x 4 inch deep.

Fully Modular

Well I was not expecting the response to the new hollowing system as I have had. In fact I am happy to say that it has taken over my work load at this present time with everything else being put on hold.

The system being versatile can be used for more than just hollowing and has various optional extras which are as reasonably priced as the main system.

The handle will also accept the crown bowl and spindle gouges as well as an extra foam handle and various other hollowing tools and brass clamped probe which come with two blades.

With the foam extension handle the system with probe is 107 cm/3 ft 6inches in length.

There will also soon be a 5/8th bar to add to the 1/2inch which is supplied at this time as standard.

The picture above shows the most of the optional extras however there is also a shear scraper and extender which is used for finishing and has been design so that the cutting area around its radius is in the trailing mode. This means that when blind turning/hollowing the chance of an unsupported edge/dig in occurring is almost totally removed.

Picture to come shorty.

The system will also accept the new crown texturing tool pictured below.

More tools and updates will be available from my web site soon for UK distribution and I will keep the updates going here as well.

New Opportunities

Recently I was approached by "Crown tools of Sheffield" to try out their new "Revolution" hollowing system. I have used it for some time now putting it through its paces in many variations from deep closed forms to hollow forms with small entrance holes with combined steep under cuts.

Since my initial use of the tool I am now proud to say that Crown Tools are Sponsoring me and have asked for me to demonstrate the hollowing system and other tools at shows through-out the country.

So I hear you say " well you would say what you are about to now that you are being sponsored by them".

Well I can only say I would naturally understand peoples scepticism and this is good. People should hold marketing by manufacturers for what it is and should have the statements made by companies quantified.

For this reason I was pleased to put my name to this tool and proud to be associated with "Crown tools" as I have used their HSS tools since starting out in turning eleven years ago.

Further more I am happy to quantify the quality of this tool and stand by my statements based on my knowledge having used a wide variety of hollowing systems and tools over the years.

There are many good systems out there and I have no desire to put my name to or to use this tool now as my preferred hollowing system if it could not perform to the high expectation that I have as a professional turner specialising in hollowing.

Crown Tools have always been my preferred manufacturer with me owning few other makes within my standard range of turning tools. This is down to the quality and affordable price and any of you that have been to one of my demo's will have seen that my main tools are crown. I have never seen the need for me to spend more money on tools when I personally see no benefit over what I am using. So I have always stayed with Crown as the quality is not compromised in any way.

The "Revolution" tool is exceptionally well made/engineered. I am so impressed with it that I will now be selling the tool from my website and will in the future be stocking other Crown Turning and woodworking tools.

The cutting tips include the new "Super Ring" pictured below. This is a ring type cutter with a brass limiter which reduces the amount of cutting edge exposed. The benefit of this is being that the issues of a standard (unshielded) ring type tool and the catches that can occur are greatly if not totally removed as the limiter prevents this from happening. The cutter will also never clog due to having an open face/cutter, however it still produces the fine surface finish and shavings as with a ring tool.

The system is supplied with a high density foam encased handle which is very comfortable during use especially over long periods. The handle itself is well weighted to reduce vibration but not too heavy so to remove sensitivity during fine cuts. So you can really feel what you are doing inside of a form without the need to see the cutting tip.

Into the handle fits a brass collet. This is simply tightened via two allen screws on the side.

The length of tool shaft protruding from the handle can be indipendantly altered via allen screws in the collet itself.

The handle is multi use and will fit various collets of differing sizes. In turn these take various diameter tools from bowl/spindle gouges to texturing tools and larger diameter hollowing shafts. Again this can be seen in a picture below.

The cutting tip and scraping tips supplied of which there are five different types including two super ring cutters. All fit easily into the articulation links at the end of the shaft and again are moved/articulated and tightened with ease with allen screws.

The small cross section of the cutters and articulation of the tool gives the system is great versatility without limitations other than the small 16mm diameter hole that it can be placed through. Other than this it has in my opinion no limitations within the sphere of hollowing and hollow form turning.

This when people are spending their hard earned is very important. It is no good investing in a system that will not work exceptionally well across a wide variety of work. Even when you first invest in a system you may only want to make deep closed forms through a large opening, but later may progress into hollow forms with undercuts etc. This system allows you the versatility to achieve this.

With the tool I can easily produce deep hollowed closed form to hollow forms with a steep under cut through a hole as small as 16mm.

The articulation is such that I am able to cut backwards towards myself with minimum torque on the cutting tip due to being able to alter the amount of cutting edge protruding thus lowering the forces on the tool tip if so required. Or when producing fine cuts to a thin wall thickness easily and quickly with a single allen screw at the centre of the cutter.

The key type scrapping cutters also supplied and shown below have a very small surface area at the cutting tip and with the versatile articulation can be used to cut into sharp corners again with control.

The scraping tips being heart shaped and pear shaped can be altered to follow various profiles and by tilting the tool anticlockwise all of the cutting and scraping tips can be using in the shear mode, thus producing a finer cut.

Currently I am producing a short video showing the tool in use. As I say the proof is in the pudding and I am excited to get the message out about this system as it is very good indeed and should be seriously investigated by any one wanting an excellent system that will not break the bank.

All the pictures in this blog entry with regards to any Crown tools and the "Revolution" name and symbols are shown with kind permission by Crown Tools of Sheffield. All copyright remains that of Crown tools for these pictures and symbols.

The first picture below shows the system as it is purchased and the items included. Other items shown are optional extras for the system. For any further info you can visit my web site.