Black Wattle - a gift to woodturners

This is the first thing I've made from black wattle, which is pretty much the Smith or Jones of woodturning timber in Darwin, i..e. everyone uses it because there's plenty available.

It's also a very fine timber for the purpose, and is probably the best local turning timber, taking into account colour, grain, ease of turning, and quality of finish possible.

Which is pretty funny really, because whenever a householder finds a seedling black wattle in their garden, they say "Another bloody black wattle. rip it our before it takes the place over".

The cup, chalice, call it what you will, falls a bit short of perfection. This is normal for me.

I think the holes in the base might have been a mistake, but the idea seemed good at the time.

all the best

vsquared

A lump is still a lump

This is the lump of wood formerly known as a lump of wood.

It now has a shape.

But what does this shape mean?!?

What will the lump become?!?

These and other gripping questions will (or may be) answered in the next and further episodes of "The Lump".

all the best

vsquared.

A new lathe - a new project

The new lathe mentioned in the title is, in reality, a second-hand lathe.

I was about to buy a new lathe, when a used lathe of the same type was offered, including an extension bed, stand, an armful of chisels and gouges, a chuck, and some other goodies.

For good or ill, I bought the used one. So far, so good.

In fact, so far, very good.

You see above my Jet mini-lathe, loaded with a lump of timber, which is already turned down to almost round. It started very lumpy and bumpy, but the little Jet handled it beautifully.

The lump is my latest project. I intend to take photos as I work through it, and at the end, tara-tara - it will be revealed as a..............................?

alternatively, you may note in a few weeks, no further mention of the lump. You may then assume I stuffed it up. Barbecue timber is useful too, you know!

all the best, from vsquared.

The art of the Christmas Present

Some people spend days in department stores;

And some shop until their credit cards melt;

Some grow ill from the stress and worry;

And some slaughter the mink for his pelt.

But I did all my Chtristmas shopping at my lathe. And I don't really care whether people liked what they were given, because I had fun making it!

And here are some photos of a few of the outcomes.

Two angles of a New Guinea rosewood

cake stand. I look forward to a sponge-cake from it. Thanks to SkyW for the photos - a good job.

A camphor laurel bowl. I hope Pat enjoys it.

There was a cyclone

African mahogany, victim of the chainsaw gang, and alas, too big for my modest abilities.
Inspecting a paperbark, some of which is now added to my stock.

Darwin, the city in which I live, work and destroy lumps of timber, is in the tropics, and so subject to cyclones - you know, big winds, lots of rain, trees and houses fall down, ships sink.

We had a smallish cyclone a few weeks ago. No houses fell down, no ships sank, but some trees did fail to survive. Fallen trees = wood available for the taking.

So a number of evenings recently have seen me on the roadside, saw in hand, making merry of natures abundance.

I am now rich! I have big mobs of black wattle (delicious), some nameless timber from the verge that might or might not be useful, and tonight I liberated some paperbark from the parklands down the street.

But, as every fisherman knows, the one that got away is the biggest. The photo is of the remains of an African mahogany, felled by a cruel woodsman's chainsaw - just because it was big! I wanted to bring it home, but my teenage son wasn't willing to even try to lift it. What's the modern generation coming too?

It will be some time before I can produce anything from this windfall (nudge, nudge - windfall - get it??), as the wood is so green the sap is literally running out of it. But I'll record some results on this site when they happen.

All the best, vsquared.

The Tale of a Lump of Wood

Small bowl - Raintree.

A small clock, inset into Raintree. Thanks to Tom for the photo.

Vase - Raintree timber.

Some time ago a little old man was walking through a forest - well a city park with some trees in it. He saw, lying on the ground, a lump of wood.

It was not a really small lump of wood, which would not have been any good for anything; it wasn't a really big lump of wood, which would have been too heavy to pick up; it was a medium size lump, just right to pick up, carry back to his car, and take home.

It was a piece of Raintree, and had been lopped from a tree by city Council workers that very day. The little old man saved it from the dreaded woodchipping gang.

And the little old man had a woodturning lathe. And the photos show what he did with the lump of wood:

It also provided the timber for another clock insert, smaller than the one in the photo, and for a couple of pens.

I'm sure my piece of Raintree must be very happy I saved it from the dreaded wood-chipping gang.

I'm getting famous

In the blog world this must be fame, or at the least the beginning of fame.

My humble blog has been linked by a brilliant young art student, with literary obsessions.

I'll have to watch my sppeling and garammer if real book people are going to read it.

Not that it matters, me and my lathe will keep working away, and just occasionally launch a few random thoughts into the blogosphere.

We've been busy, me and my lathe, and 3 darts, marked with country of origin, will be post-hasting in the direction of the Athens of the South tomorrow.

All the best to all.
vsquared.