sutton046

Last week I had the pleasure of conducting a woodworking activity at All Saints College, at Bull Creek here in suburban Perth, Western Australia. I had two groups of 24 pre-school children, each for an hour. For this activity, it was an opportunity for free creative play. I supplied a great heap of low kid-sized benches (enough for 24 children), two dozen hammers, a range of nails on each bench, and a huge pile of timber pieces for the kids to use. It helps to have the right kind and size of hammers. I have a post about  hammers for kids on my other blog, which may be helpful to some readers wanting to encourage kids to get woodworking. The timber pieces I supply for these activities I bring pre-cut into smaller pieces of a wide range of sizes and shapes, made up mostly of pieces of pine, plywood, thin MDF and some dowelling. This is the resource the kids use to create their amazing objects. I also have a separate "sawing station" set up, where kids can use saws to cut piece...

A customer has being doing a big renovation to her house, which dates from the end of the Art-Deco era. Tragically, too often these days the timbers removed from these older houses are disposed of, going into landfill - a terrible waste. This is Western Australia, so the timber in these older houses is almost all jarrah (Eucalytpus marginata). Fortunately, my customer Norelle had the sense and foresight to tell the builder she wanted to keep the timbers, in order to use them for other projects around the home. I count it a privilege to have been entrusted with the job of using these timbers to create a big break-fronted Art-Deco style book case for the new living room in the old house.  Nice. Planning the job. Having met with Norelle, and checked out the huge pile of timber under plastic in her front yard, we discussed ideas for the design and other important matters, like the dimensions and how to make the piece of furniture fit in with the rest of the house. I went...

They say variety is the spice of life... so my work load is pretty spicy! I am currently making a big Break-Fronted Art-Deco Style Bookcase from recycled timber. My customer Norelle has been doing a big renovation on her house, which was built during the Art-Deco era here in Perth, Western Australia. The timbers removed from the house were fortunately saved, as Norelle was keen to have them recycled into furniture rather than going into landfill which is tragically too often what happens around here. This piece of furniture is going to be a stunning feature in the living room. At 3.3m long (about 11 feet) and 2.8m high (over 9 feet) it will take up a big piece of wall. It will be made up of three sections each 1.1m wide, sitting on a plinth, and topped with a crown mould which echos a detail in the neighbouring architraves' tops. The nice curves on the face edges of the end panels and the break-front panels will help give it that art-deco feel. These will a...

I like to think I can make just about anything from wood. As a professional woodworker I am fortunate to get lots of opportunities to test myself against the diverse and interesting range of jobs to do for my customers. One of these customers is a very talented Milliner who creates amazing ladies hats for her international clientele. Julie Anne Lucas Millinery produces around 200 ladies hats each year - and of course no two hats are the same! While Julie lives and practices her art here in Perth, the majority of her hats are made for clients attending the three prime events on the international horse racing calendar: the Melbourne Cup, the Dubai World Cup, and Royal Ascot. I have just made my 5th hat block for Julie, and it was the most challenging yet. Heart Shaped Block. The previous time I'd made a hat block, Julie had presented me with a plaster cast of the shape for the wooden block she wanted me to make.  The plaster cast (damaged) and the completed wooden h...