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Thanks to all our readers around the world! Even though the blog has been a little neglected of late, I have been informed that  The Joy of Wood has been selected by Feedspot as one of the Top 50 Wood Carving Blogs on the web. You can check out the list here: https://blog.feedspot.com/wood_carving_blogs/   I count it an honour to be listed alongside many of my woodworking heroes!  If you are seeking some inspiration and information, dig through this list! Kind regards, Greg Miller, Perth, Western Australia. https://blog.feedspot.com/wood_carving_blogs/ " title="Wood Carving blogs"> https://blog.feedspot.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/wood_carving_216px.png?x58886 " >

Moving my teaching space has been a huge task, however it is just about completed. We are very excited about the set up of my Heritage Woodcraft Centre. Located at the rear of the new Timbecon  shop, 31 Canvale Road, Canning Vale, I am looking forward to running lots of Public Workshops and Private Tuition in the wonderful teaching workshop I have created. Here is a link to the short Tour. I specialise in teaching traditional woodworking hand skills and techniques, to people of all ages. You will notice lots of lovely hand tools lining the walls - and we use all of them. When completed, these walls will hold a lot more beautiful tools. Delicious! If you are in Western Australia, I hope we will see you at a Public Workshop sometime, or ask to me about doing some Private Tuition. If you come into the Timbecon store, please feel free to come out the back to the Heritage Woodcraft Centre and say "Gidday!" Ah, the Joy of Wood!...

This is a story which is still being written. It starts with a few logs, fresh from a tree. Please join me as the story unfolds. My neighbours recently decided to have a Silky Oak (Grevillea robusta) tree removed from their back yard. The top of the tree was dying, and the termites had moved in. When the arborists were cutting down the tree, they also found there was a bee hive inside it.    The last piece is cut from the tree.  It was a tragedy to see almost all of this tree going into the chipper. However, the Arborists let me take as much as I wanted, so I picked a few pieces I wanted, and wheeled them back home on my fridge trolley. After sealing the ends, I stacked the pieces under the Mulberry Tree in my front yard. The bunch of logs sections, waiting for me under the weeping mulberry in my front yard.   To help preserve the logs, the ends are sealed, to slow down the rate of drying.  I normally seal the ends with my favourite glue, Tit...

Browsing through the pallets and packing crate materials on the verge of a local import business, I spied a pallet which sparked my interest. This company imports machinery from the USA, so the wood is all US and Canadian in origin. However, this grotty looking pallet was not the usual lovely northern hemispherical softwoods I like to recycle. This one looked like it was made from American White Ash. I only know Ash after having made a Staircase from American White Ash, back in 2010. The blog post about the build is here: http://gregdmiller.blogspot.com.au/2010/07/building-staircase.html That was the first time I had worked with Ash, so I was able to spot it in the pallet. I chucked the pallet in the back of my ute, and drove away with it wondering what it would be like. The American White Ash pallet... so much potential... These pallet timbers are thin (about 1/2") and around 3 - 5" wide. Many are cupped, so when planed down and flattened you end up with a finish thickne...

The Shaving Horse. It is a fantastic device, which appears through the centuries in pictures, documents and woodcuts. Used by Coopers making barrels, Wheelwrights making wooden wheels, Bodgers making chairs, and green woodworkers making everything from brooms and rakes to hurdles and axe handles - the Shaving Horse rules supreme with its versatility and the shear joy of using it. The best companion for a Shaving horse is the Drawknife -  and of course the Spokeshave too. It is essentially a foot operated vice, which comes in various forms and styles. On Saturday 26th November 2016, I am offering a public workshop "Make a Shaving Horse". We will use predominantly recycled wood, sourced from building salvage to packing crates, to build our trusty steeds. The charge is $200 and all the materials are included. The workshop is being run in Canning Vale, Western Australia. Bookings essential, via email. Places are limited, so don't m...

Better late than never! The September workshop program is finalised, with a few adult workshops and lots of kids workshops taking place in the first week of the Sept/Oct school holidays. Check them out! you will find them under the Upcoming Workshops link. A new workshop for kids aged 8-14.  Knifework. Remember when kids all had pocket knives and loved to use them, shaping the end of a stick? WHAT WENT WRONG? How come we took the knives away and wrapped our kids in cotton wool? All the fun was taken out of public playgrounds too, as we somehow got all risk-averse and incredibly boring. It's taken more than 20 years, but at last there is some sense returning. Have you noticed the high climbing frames and big swinging stuff returning to the public playgrounds. Hooray! It is well understood that kids need to learn through taking risks, through physical challenges, and through engaging in nature. If kids in earlier generations could learn to safely use pocket knives, there...