sutton046

A few months ago, my nice neighbours over the road were cutting back a whopping big Cape Lilac Tree in their backyard.  Brad and Aimee offered me as much of the tree as I wanted. I took a big heap of log sections home, just in time for the Green Woodworking workshops I ran in July.  Breaking down a chunk of Cape Lilac. It cleaves apart quite nicely. At the time, I told myself I would make something for them as a thanks, and thought it might be nice to make their daughter Annabelle a three legged stool.   Meanwhile, I have been messing around with a Spring Pole Lathe I have made - based on the machine brought back into existence by legendary US woodworker Roy Underhill, who adapted his model from a 17th century German technical encyclopedia.  My trusty Spring Pole Lathe. First of the three turned legs. I have been wood turning on powered lathes since I was 12 years old - but it takes a bit of getting used to the techniques required for these pre-...

We did a lot of school incursions last Term. Taking the Joy of Wood to kids in primary schools around Perth, Western Australia, we have mostly been working with Kindergarten, Pre-Primary and Year 1 students - kids aged 4 -7, and they love to be creative and make things with their hands. Sadly, working with tools is not something many kids get to do these days. I reckon that is why kids find it so empowering to use hammers, nails and saws - which is what we do so well.  Sawing is an empowering thing! It is fantastic how quickly the kids take to the sawing, in order to modify the size and shape of pieces they are assembling as they make their creations.  The sawing station is always very busy. Funnily enough, in every class, there is at least one kid who spends most of their time sawing wood rather than nailing things together! It is always fun to see which one it will be. Sometimes this title will be shared by a couple of kids. There is no gender divide here. Th...