sutton046

My cousin works for a Local Government Authority in the western suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. For risk management reasons, this tree was required to be removed from a well established public garden. Peter contacted me and asked if I was interested. He sent me a picture of the tree, and I said I would like the bottom section of the tree, where the pith would more likely be in the centre of the log. The large lower branches meant the best timber would be below this in the lower trunk.  I was unable to be there on the day the Arborists removed the tree, but I turned up the following day with the aim of splitting the log section down into quarters with my wedges in order to make the log  more manageable for me to remove it from the site. The log section awaiting me, and my box of wedges next to it. the rest of the huge tree had been chipped and totally removed from the site.  London Plane, Plantanus x acerifolia, is understood to be a hybrid between the ...

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...

The Perth Wood Show is always a big weekend, 3 hectic days of it - the culmination of several days of preparation before the event and still more afterwards. This was the third year that I have been there doing woodwork with mobs of kids. Why are there so many kids at the Wood Show? -  it is because the WA Craft Fair is now combined with it in one whoppa event. Here's the promo: Friday 01 August - Sunday 03 August WA Craft Show & WA Wood Show Two great Western Australian events for the price of one! Come along to the WA Craft Show and WA Wood Show this August to discover what is new, fashionable and trending in each industry. The WA Craft Show will include craft excellence and expertise in scrapbooking, patchwork, quilting, cardmaking, paper crafts, machine embroidery and much more. The WA Wood Show features tools, machinery, exciting new products, displays, demonstrations, leading suppliers and tools for all the trades expo. Venue: Claremont Showground, Exhibition Centre ...

It was a beautiful sunny Sunday, and many hundreds of people moved between the numerous stalls and activities at the Community Science & Sustainability Expo, at the Kent Street Weir on the Canning River in Wilson, here in Perth Western Australia.  Part of National Science Week, this event was based around the Canning River Eco Education Centre. Tragically, we have a Federal Government made up of climate change deniers, who do not believe in science, who de-fund scientific research and who are committed to dismantling anything related to renewable energy! However, despite this tragedy, it is great to know that out there in the community there are hoards of people like you and me who do value science and  are committed to reducing our footprint on the planet! It was a joy to be at the Expo today for all that it stood for.  Busy busy. People galore. Mind you, I didn't get to see a lot of the exhibits, as I was absolutely flat out with the woodworking act...

Recently we did a woodworking incursion at St Mark's Anglican Community School, in Hillarys, here in Perth, Western Australia. This is the third year I have gone to the school to work with the Pre-primary students. We had two classes of 30 kids - 5 year olds - and they had a ball! It was great to see the amazing things they created. It was our normal set-up for "Free Creative Play" in a school context. Across the 14 small benches we had 30 cross-pein hammers. On each of the benches were a pair of pincers, pencils, and nail containers with assorted nail sizes. The Sawing Station was set up with 8 assorted tenon/carcass saws at various heights appropriate to the size of the kids. There was a big pile of softwood pieces in various shapes and sizes for the kids to use, which we kept topping up. After a briefing/demonstration about safe and efficient tool use, the kids get to make whatever they like from the material available. One of the two tables of completed creations. It ...

At the end of June, I had the pleasure of running another Green Woodworking workshop. This time we used the Vic Park Arts Centre as the venue. On a nice sunny day, it was great to be able to work out in the garden and on the verandah.  Front side of the info flyer for the June workshop. Calling it "A Taste of Green Woodworking", the ten participants had a choice of either bowl carving or spoon carving. The wood we had to play with was Cape Lilac and Camphor Laurel. Here are a few pics from the day:  That's me doing a demo on cleaving some Cape Lilac with froe and beetle. Another lovely spoon taking shape. Doing a demo on hollowing out the bowl shape with an adze. A Camphor Laurel Bowl in the making. The Shaving Horse is a joy to use! The small bowl carving adze is a beauty. A moment of contemplation... Working on the verandah. There were an assortment of hatchets and adzes to try out. Shaping the outside of a Camphor Laurel bowl with a hatchet. Using a Hook Knife to h...