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Origin – A Makers’ Co-operative
Origin, a maker’s co-operative in Carmarthen, is a shop I am very involved with as many of you who have “liked” my Facebook page will know. Origin is a wonderful shop and I am so pleased and proud to be part of it. And it is such a really nice bunch of people. When I first joined Origin last year I spent time looking at all the work of the other makers, trying to memorize the products to help customers. I felt humbled by the wealth of talent. And then I thought about the hours of work and the years of experience, designing, altering, developing of skills and styles that…
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Wood Turning -Setting Up My Workshop 1
My Wood Turning Workshop Starts to Take Shape Some months ago I was visiting Roni and, as usual, could not wait to do a bit more wood turning. There I was turning a rather nice, if I do say so myself, mushroom when Roni asked why I did not set up my own workshop at home? I had thought about it before and dismissed it on a couple of grounds. Firstly there was the cost. Wood turning is not a cheap thing to set up. There is a lot of necessary kit. A lathe for a start, have you seen how much those things cost!? Then there is extraction…
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I Try My Hand at Wood Carving!
I have mentioned my friend Paul Clarke, the sculptor. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to go on a day wood carving workshop he was holding. I was not about to lose this chance to try my hand at wood carving. I loved it. It was wonderful working with wood but in a different discipline. I decided not to try a three dimensional piece, but a relief. I felt that this would give me the opportunity to use a number of different wood carving tools. I also felt that if I could get to grips with this discipline there also seemed more chance I would do something again with…
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Lathe Safety
As someone who has worked on lathes for many years thinking about lathe safety is second nature to me. I know I’ll be off work for a long time with a broken finger and I’d never be so good with only one eye. Also, I heard of a young woman who was killed when her hair got caught in a lathe. You can read the full story here . It was interesting introducing the lathe safety to someone and verbalising what I instinctively practice. So, when I was showing Phil how to turn his first bowls I made sure that he was aware of the basic lathe safety rules. For anyone…
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Wood Turning -My First Experience
Guest Blog I had a happy few days visiting Roni a couple of weeks ago in beautiful West Wales. We have been friends for years. Rather rashly, she offered to show me wood turning and so how to make a bowl. I say rashly because I am not a practical sort of person. DIY is a form of torture to me and making something from scratch is a concept I have never understood, let alone embraced! The first thing that Roni said was that lathe safety is paramount when wood turning. The lathe turns the blank at a 800 revolutions per minute (0r more!) and the wood is taken off…
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Wood Turning – Phil’s First Wooden Bowls
A friend came to stay for a few days recently and expressed an interest in trying his hand at wood turning and making some wooden bowls. I was absolutely delighted. I am passionate about my work and if I can turn someone else on to the wonders of wood in general and making wooden bowls by wood turning in particular I am not going to pass up on the opportunity! It is a chance to have a captive audience and to bore someone to tears… I warned Phil that I am a terribly bad teacher. I have had very little practice at it which does not help and I do…
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Plant Cuttings and Calan Gaeaf
When I decided to convert my little field into a wildlife haven I knew I had my work cut out for me. Planting up three quarters of an acre is no mean feat. It was also going to involve a lot of plants. I knew I had to learn about taking plant cuttings to propagate them. Obviously they take longer than buying plants but this is a long term project anyway. Also if a friend happens to have a plant that you like and a couple of spare branches that need pruning…. My mother has always taken plant cuttings but since her stroke I was unable to ask her advice.…
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A Spring in my Step
A spring in my step is the best way to describe how I’m feeling today but before I say why I need to give a little background to the story. One day totally out of the blue someone I hardly knew turned up. He is a mechanic by trade but was helping clear a totally neglected field of overgrown gorse bushes. The back of his pick-up was full of gorse – the biggest I’ve ever seen. I have plenty of what I consider to be overgrown gorse in the hedge in my field. The largest stems are a bit over an inch, maybe 30mm. These ones were up to 4…
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Laburnum Tea Lights
Had a lovely morning in the workshop turning a couple of branches of Laburnum into Tea lights. Christmas is coming. I know, autumn is only just here but in business one needs to think ahead! This Laburnum came from trimming around the electricity wires. Keeping them clear is essential work. They are only branches so the trees will still be growing. I’ve had them for years so they are very dry which is important for the tea-lights because a large bulk of wood is still left. If it was turned green/fresh it could crack or shrink badly. The sapwood has a little spalting in it. Spalting is where fungus has…
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Using the Way a Tree Grows in My Work
Using the way a tree grows enables me to get the most out of the wood I have. Some wood is reliable and reasonably predictable in its behaviour but some wood is “wild” and very unpredictable. Some wood turners prefer to just stick to the predictable. The wild wood can make a bowl warp – something I prefer to celebrate when it happens. It is exactly what I would mean by “using the way a tree grows in my work”. Or in other words “letting the wood have the last say”. The normal way for a tree to grow is evenly around the pith. This ash tree shows the way…