Look what I just bought

ebay is a trap.

But I really have wanted an electric bike for a while, so one day I put in a bid not expecting to win. But I did.
It's great. Even a fat old bloke can ride for a long way, limited only by how sore his bum gets.

A Bowl for the Newly Weds

and another photo so you can see what it looks like when it's put together.

A Bowl for the Newly Weds

My darling wife has cousins, nieces and nephews just like the rest of us.

And they sometimes get married. Recently we were invited to a city far, far away for the wedding of one of her very lovely nieces. As it is to be in a city far, far away, I decided not to go, but offered to make something as a wedding present.

After much dithering and several false starts I acquired a lump of African mahogany (khaya senelganesis). Despite the foreign sounding name the tree from which it came grew right here in Darwin ( or close thereto).

The African mahogany is a naturalised Territorian. I have two very sturdy examples in my own backyard.

But despite being on terms of some familiarity with the tree I had not previously used it as for turning, although I had seem some examples of work by others, and knew it could produce very worthwhile results.

So here it is: a lidded bowl, approx 21cm diameter. the lid is formed to take dips, biscuits, cheese etc in two separate sections.

I made a somewhat similar bowl for aforementioned wife, in pine. I assume she did not dislike it too much, as she suggested the design for the wedding bowl.

So here it is: the wedding bowl, African mahogany, orange oil finish (hence the satiny finish), and note the colour of the timber. NO, I did not spill beetroot on the wood!

Clock setting - olive wood

Like most things in life woodturning is more fun when shared with someone else.

This clock setting, done in double harness with Tom while on holiday. His lathe, his wood (olive wood - beautiful stuff), but I claim the idea.

Not a bad result from a piece of wood languishing in a box of bts and pieces.
z

A Lute - at last

Finally, I justify the name of the blog.

This is a lute.

Go on, look it up in your dictionary. It is, by definition, a lute. Sure it doesn't look much like the picture from medieval England of the King's lute-player, with a multi-stringed instument, with a weird bent-back peg-board.

It's more in the historical line of middle Eastern or even Chinese lutes, which pre-date the Pommie version by quite a few centuries.But I can't really claim it's that either, it's just a thing that grew out of the wood, like a wood-turned mushroom.

technically: 4 stringed, (bronze wire), strung to zither pins at both ends, sound chamber is a turned bowl of pinus radiata, rod is glue laminated jarrah/cypress pine.

It is non-fretted.

One night I was worrying about how to fix the fret-board, when a voice boomed out of the night sky, and said "Dooooon't fret!"

So I didn't.


But I'm thinking the voice may have misled me, because the lute would be more useful as a musical instrument if it was fretted, so I'm thinking about fitting a fret-board.

Or perhaps make another lute next year, fixing all the mistakes that I currently pass off as design features, and make that one a proper fretted lute.
We will see.

All the best from vsquared

Rest in peace. Scott

An old mate died recently. Because one tends to feel pretty useless at times like that I offered to make an Urn for his ashes.

It ended in 3 urns, not one. The lower photo is the main one.

I'm not entirely happy about any of them, but I did my best.

New guinea rosewood, finished with Rustins plastic.

All three made from the one rather umipressive branch, so at least it was a good use of resources.

Bowls - not bad actually

Top picture - black wattle bowl - very simple but timber is beautiful Nice colour and grain, hey.

Pictures 2 and 3 - bowl - domesticus robusticus - also known as hard timber I found lying around at home.

Colourful pens

Pen blanks from man made material can make interesting pens.

Certainly people seem to like them.

But it'll never replace wood, as far as enjoying the process of turning goes.

The reddish brown one, all by itself, is red gum.

Bowls - different shapes, sizes, timbers

Three new bowls, none of them quite finished.

I'm in the throes of re-inventing the lute, (or one of its many forms), and each of these bowls started out as a sound-bowl or part of a sound chamber for the lutes (there are to be two).

In the photo with three bowls, the one on front left. New Guinea Rosewood, was to be a sound-bowl, i.e no lid, but it has gradually lost favour and will probably end up just a bowl, for peanuts and popcorn perhaps.

The dark one at the back, Darwin black wattle, was to be the bottom of the sound chamber for lute no. 2, but it also is probably not going to get the job.

The one on the right, pinus radiata, is now favourite to be the open sound bowl, and the sound chamber will probably also be in pinus. I have two blanks prepared for the sound chamber, and with luck will turn them this coming weekend.

Why all the changes? Probably I'm not good at planning, and projects get made up as we go along. Change is inevitable. Sometimes, change is good. Sometimes, its just easier to change than to finish what we started.

The lonely photo in the left corner is the black wattle. We have been fighting for two weeks now, as it really did not want to become a bowl, and declared it was willing to self-destruct at 2500rpm if necessary.

But I was too clever for it, and although it is now 20% glue, we have declared an honourable draw, and it is a bowl.

(NB It is not yet finished, and if you look closely it is still in the chuck, destined to go back on the lathe within a couple of days. Hara-kiri is still possible. I will report further. For those who are interested in detail, the finish is olive oil, and looks great. I'll keep up the oiling until saturation is reached.)

all the best

vsquared

A very small piece of Penola redgum meets its fate

The previous post features a sizeable lump of Penola redgum.

I left most of it in Aldinga, but smuggled a sliver home in my hand luggage. (Photo)

I then cut it in half, and the result is a clock insert, as you can see.

What is interesting from a woodturning point of view is that the timber, which had not been neatly cut but just rough-split, could not, due to the rough and broken surface, be turned down to a nice, neat item.

I turned it to a round, more or less, but retained much of the broken, split, damaged surface.

Whether it is a successful piece I'm not sure. But it is interesting, and I had fun with it.

I have another little piece, which might get a similar treatment. Not sure yet.

The photos aren't terrific, but if you douoble click and enlarge them you'll get a better view of what I've described.

All the best

vsquared.

Acquiring timber, honestly

Recently we went holidaying, and drove many miles. First stop was Penola, and pretty and friendly town with an unfortunate climate.

But its climate, wet and cold, makes for beautiful timber.

We did the touristy thing, looking through some old and historic cottages, built of timber slabs, plus whatever else they had to hand. It was genuinely interesting.

Stacked, ready for burning in the open fire, was a collection of local timber. I confessed to the kind lady who who had opened the cottage that I had a shameful habit, i.e. reducing perfectly good timber to shavings, and please ma'am could I have a piece of your firewood.

"Poor doddering old fool" she thought. But what she said was, "Sure, help yourself".

So I did, to a big lump of Penola redgum. Most of which now resides in a shed in Aldinga, waiting for a fellow wood butcher to have 'a nidea'. A little bit followed me home to Darwin, and I'll post a photo soon that will reveal its fate.

Little things finished recently

A few new masterpieces.

Well, at least they're relatively new and finished.

They are a lidded box (perhaps jewellery box), with a clock insert inside the lid. The idea seemed good at the time, and it worked OK, but I'm not sure how practical it is.

A sort of pocket watch - a prototype - which worked OK, an d I'll make a modified version later to make it more compact: a spinning top: a plain lidded bowl with contrasting timbers: and a music box in black wattle. The music movement is in the lid, and makes the lid too heavy to be practical. But the black wattle is pretty.

Come to think of it, no masterpieces among them at all. But enough progress to make me relatively satisfied.

all the best,

vsquared

Woodcraft and capitalism

A few weeks ago one of my correspondents, whilst on a tour of the winery's of the Adelaide southern vineyards, come across some woodturned pens, offered as a souvenir by a vintner, for $30.00. She was of course scandalised, knowing the modest price I put on my creations.

The price tag of $30 does provide a very substantial profit, and brought to mind a poor, grey-bearded, shortsighted woodturner, slaving over his lathe until late into the night, and getting but a pittance for his work, with the profit being picked up by the large winemaking corporation.

But that is the way capitalism works.

More recently still, I came across an ad for pens, made using jarrah (sorry, Jarrah) from a Perth WA cathedral, currently being refurbished. These pens are top of the line, a veritable Rolls Royce of pens. Each kit (i.e. the works of the pen) costs upward of $80. To that add the very little bit of historic jarrah, some work, some skill, some sandpaper and wood-finish, and Lo -
you have a pen worth >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>$495.00.

Christianity hasn't survived for 2,000 years without learning a thing or two!

Singer treadle to computer desk

My dear old mum had a singer treadle sewing machine.

It was a beautiful machine (and mum was a beautiful mum).

Some time ago I acquired a singer treadly thing, minus the sewing machine and have had the intention to "do something" with it for a long, long time.

The time has come. I have a plan. I know what to do, how to do it, and what it will look like at the end.

This is the INCEPTION PHASE of a project.

The inception phase is marked by complete confidence, a certainty that this time things will go according to plan.

The next phase is the COMMENCEMENT PHASE. I've already entered this, as I have some of the basis materials to hand - see photo for treadle and some planks of cypress pine, which will be used in the construction. So far so good.

Further phases of the project are:
BASIC CONSTRUCTION- usually notable for finding there is a need for more timber, and for the discovery the timber is no longer available. A small loss of confidence sometimes occurs about this time.

CONNECTING THE COMPONENTS - often a small error in measuring or cutting or glueing up is discovered at this point. Timber can be cut to shorten it, but it is very difficult to stretch, so luck can play a big part in compensating for this minor error. Emotions ranging from minor iritation to despair are not uncommon.

FINISHING THE TIMBER - If there is one thing that woodworking gurus agree on, it is that preparation of timber is the secret to a good finish. This equates to hours of rubbing and scrubbing with sand paper, all the while discovering scratches, dents and other imperfections that were NOT there when the project started. this is also the time to try and cover up the botch that occured in the previous phase. BOREDOM prevails at this time, with frustration common. The words 'NEVER AGAIN" are sometimes heard.

FINALLY - PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER - Why, why, does it NOT look like it looked in my mind's eye at the inception phase?
A modicum of disappointment, mixed with relief are common at this stage.

I'll report on progress in due course.

Finished - at last

And it's better than it has any right to!

It started in The Guru's workshop, when I said I thought I'd turn the blank upside down and try a natural edge bowl. ( You HAVE noticed the edge isn't nice and flat and even, it's all wavey!)

The Guru said "Hmmmm. Whatever you reckon".

You need to know him to understand what that revealed of his opinion of the idea.

But I went ahead, and received the usual guidance and assistance. And all went fairly well.

At the sanding stage I took it home, intending to finish it on my newly acquired Jet mini-lathe. But I found I couldn't mount it, as the spigot on the bowl was to big for my only chuck.

Dammit!

I shelved tlhe bowl (literally) for a while, then had a brilliant idea. I drilled the base of the bowl and turned and fitted a pedestal. Wundebar. You are bnrighter than Einstein even...

Unfortunately, the pedestal wasn't quite exactly straight, or centred, or perhaps both. And when you put a slightly off balance lump on a lathe, the unbalance is magnified.

I shelved it again!!

Then, a few days ago, I plucked up my courage, gritted my teeth, put my shoulder to the wheel, my nose to the grindstone... and found it was impossible to work in that position.

So I attached the bowl to the lathe via the pedestal, and spent an uncomfortable hour or so sanding and polishing with the bowl thumping and bumping in unbalance.

And the result is OK. Not perfect - [perfection is for the gods).

But OK is OK.

Natural edge bowl on pedestal, New Guinea rosewood, finish Rustins Plastic.

all the best

vsquared47

pens, pens, pens

This is the completion of a small order for pens, which will now travel to the far side of the world, before meeting their users.

The timbers in the four pens on the left are, from the left: Cypress pine, Darwin Black Wattle, Flame Sheoak, and Northern Ti Tree.

The two pens in the photo on the right are the Flame Sheoak and the Ti Tree. All the timbers are Australian natives, the black wattle and ti tree are Northern Territory indigenous.

The sheoak and the ti tree are outstanding timbers for small turned items, being dense, close grained, with a fine finish. the sheoak has great colour and pattern, reddish brown with black streaks. Very showy, though it doesn't show up much in the photos. We'll blame the photographer, not the timber or woodturner.

I take more pride in my wood craft than photography these days. though I used to be a pretty fair clicker. In fact, the older I get the better I used to be.

The cypress and black wattle are fine general purpose timbers, for turning, flooring (the cypress), furniture work, even carving. The ti-tree and sheoak are not much good for anything except small craft items, but what they do well they do really well.

I hope the people who find themselves in possession of any of these pens will visit this site. Leave a comment, tell me how great the pens are, tell me that MissE behaved herself (ha ha) or advise me not to give up my day job - whatever - it'll be good to hear from you.

hairy oak: ugly name, beautiful timber.

The heading is a bit misleading. Only two of the items illustrated are hairy oak: the two reddish-brown pens.

The lighter coloured pen is Northern Ti-tree (or weeping ti-tree), and the lidded bowl is Darwin black wattle.

The shirt used for a back-ground displays my personal wood-turning philosophy. Thanks to shopper who found it.

But the hairy oak is a bit special. I hadn't heard of it until a few months ago, when I bought a 2nd hand lathe. The seller threw in various other items including a variety of timbers. One piece was/is an ugly grey lump, split and splintery all along it's length. It looked pretty useless, but I took it anyway - BBQs also provide a valuable service to the family. It had the words 'hairy oak' pencilled on it.

I asked my wood-turning guru if he knew it, and he advised I not throw it away. So I cut it open, and it's beautiful. Dark red/brown, with black streaks, (or, i think, black star spots if cut across the grain). It is highly prized by woodturners, though usually only for small objects (eg pens), beause it has an unfortunate habit of splitting along the grain as it dries. No good for anything but turning. What a shame.

Of course, it's not an oak really: Australia doesn't have any oaks.

It's an Australian native casurina. And if you don't like the name of hairy oak, it's also known as Flame Sheoak. Much more impressive I think, so Flame Sheoak it will be.

I'm turning a few pens at the moment, as I have an export order. Definitely flame sheoak for the international market.

all the best, from vsquared.

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.