Hand made from wood, fibre, clay, porcelain, glass, wool, leather, metals.....

avondale87 wrote in post #18989988
Tasmanian Leatherwood
This tree is endemic to Tasmania and beautiful Leatherwood honey is produced from the equally beautiful white flowers
It is magnificent wood to work, but not as stable as some others, but I've a small table with a drawer that hasn't moved in 20 years.
I wouldn't use it for very large pieces.

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Nice work.

Canonuser123 wrote in post #19221788
Nice work.

Thank you. Much appreciated

I posted a favourite tree in another thread.
A very large White Gum that had succumbed to heat and drought.
They were never favoured as timber trees with other gums (Eucalypts) with more redeeming qualities.
However it's now on endangered list due to clearing and die back.
Many years ago I had a large tree milled and other day dressed some pieces of 150 X 50 mm for a door frame.

This isn't best quality, a phone grab this evening.

John it's a dense hard timber, light colour, straight grain. Reasonably stable but subject to checks. (cracks that appear in drying process)

Anyway its gone into the new doorway now and probably end up painting and covering up the beautiful straight grain.

Photo from avondale87's gallery.
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Blimey Richard, that really is straight grained! And the couriering is very subtle with the pink tinge.

Wood fascinates me. It is so surprising. I was re-doing some skittles balls for a local pub, lignum vitae, and when I came to sand the wood the sanding dust was a bright green. The wood shavings were just an ordinary brownish colour, as was the wood, but green sanding dust! I still have some abrasive with the green on it.

26 or so years of wood turning and still learning every day! That's how it should be.

Bourbon love.

Apart from making a large mess in my workshop I have been doing a couple of commissions plus a bit more.

I was asked to make a pair of my inside out heart candle sticks. They have to be a light colour to match with the need of the shop owner, so they are oak

Another view of the ash bowl

Jonzjob wrote in post #19257755
Apart from making a large mess in my workshop I have been doing a couple of commissions plus a bit more.

I was asked to make a pair of my inside out heart candle sticks. They have to be a light colour to match with the need of the shop owner, so they are oak

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A nice dish (well I think so) in ash

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It's a touch heavier than I usually like to do but I was concerned about the knots in one side.

The candlestick holders are AMAZING!!

Thank you Charles. I just hope that the shop owner likes them too.

I have made about 6 or 7 of them now and it fascinates me how they form.

First I cut the piece wood in 1/2 and reverse the halves and glue them together with a bit of card between. They have to be split again later and the card makes it easier.

Then the inside shape is turned using a thin board template of 1/2 a heart. Comme ça

The outer shape is turned on both and the top and bottom are rough turned with a socket in the base and a pin in the heart shape. Then mounted on the lathe the heart and the base can be turned to match.

Jonzjob wrote in post #19257776
The outer shape is turned on both and the top and bottom are rough turned with a socket in the base and a pin in the heart shape. Then mounted on the lathe the heart and the base can be turned to match.

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Then the tops are turned the same way and the 3 bits are glued together and the joins are furkled to make them as near a perfect fit as I can. they are sanded using 120, 240, 320 and finally 400 grit abrasive and sealed with Hard wax oil and polished with microcrystaline wax, which is a hard wearing wax we use.

Oh, and this was something else I did on the same sort of theme

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I have turned a lot of single stem vases before, but thought that this would look rather nice. The glass insert just lifts out for cleaning.

I think that I am really very lucky to be able to play like this and after 25 years of doing just so I am still just as surprised to see the result of stopping the lathe. When it going wizzy wizzy weer weer you can see the form but not the real beauty of the wood

Again AMAZING to see how this comes together..... except for the actual heart shape. I have used lathes in my past machining career, from what I know it would ne impossible to do the heart in a MANUAL lathe, not sure about the newer CNC lathes.

How do you machine the heart shapes?

If you look at the first photo Charles, it looks a bit like a square topped mushroom. That's where the wooden block has been cut in two and turned inside out. The heart shape is turned purely by hand and eye. I don't have, or want, any kind of CNC or copying devices. I work purely by eye. Otherwise, where is the fun and enjoyment in it?

As I said, I make a half of a heart shaped former out of some hardboard and use that to estimate the internal shape. I, for one, couldn't gauge the shape without it and was quite surprised the first time that it actually turned out as it did. But that is only using 2 parts.

I had a mad fit when we were in France and decided that a 3 part was not that much of a challenge

This was how the 8 bit jobbie looked after the inside was turned and it was put back together for the outside. It didn't go back the same way as it wouldn't have worked

Very interesting and extremely well executed work John.
Ash is beautiful timber.

My woodworking lately has been dressing timber and making door frames, surrounds. All to be painted.
I've a bench top to join up that won't be painted.

You are a VERY TALENTED man John! Keep doing this and more!!!!!