been posting a bit. but now a bit about me

[gary foxton]

i live in kent, aand i work in london as a maintenance manager.
love wood turning but lacking inspiration at the moment. i also make original pieces of furniture on commission and work with metal also. i love motorbikes too.
I love to work with fresh timber , turn it to a finnish and let it dry , it moves and cos it was a living thing it has the last say in the shape it will be. you must try it as i see by most of the pics on here u r usiny bought timber, timber is out there for free and we do have some great woods in the uk. Laburnam, yew, burrs etc , I have held exhibitions in london and have done a few craft fairs, i have work in a private collection.
I would love to open a gallery just to showcase and sell turned wood items as turning is not recognised as art in uk like it is in america. at the gallery i would also like to have a workshop where i could teach kids how to do turning and other crafts and arts, as they dont get this at school anymore and these skills will die out. i am a steeplejack by trade so i am used to working with my hands. it would be nice to allow the young generation freedom to explore there creativity. think i am getting my inspiration back now. so if anyone wants to chat about anything lets go , u can get me at msn too [email protected]. maybe i can get some timbers for u ,i know loads of tree surgeons .

 

[Paul.J]

Gary foxton wrote

by most of the pics on here u r usiny bought timber

All the pieces i've turned so far have been from wood given to me or i have sourced from a local tree surgeon.
I have bought one blank,Indian Rosewood,which is still in the shop unturned.
It gives me great satisfaction getting my own wood this way,prepping it all,and seeing the finished turned piece.
Trouble is now i have run out of storage space and am now starting to put it in the garden :roll:

 

[gary foxton]

mee too

 

[Bodrighy]

I also use many found wood. I have bought bits from scrap bins but generally my wood is self sourced. As you say there is always the hidden surprise as you can never be totally sure of waht is going to happen unless you are a real expert and can read the wood.

Pete

 

[shedhead]

Most of my wood is wood found on beach, or given to me by people that have cut down small stuff in their gardens. I have also been known to see a tree being cut down, when driving past and stop to ask " Geeza bit mister" :lol:

 

[cornucopia]

you must try it as i see by most of the pics on here u r usiny bought timber,

no not really,maybe look around some more :-s
90% of my wood is from tree surgeons

 

[gary foxton]

glad to hear that a lot of u recycle timber rather than buy

 

[tekno.mage]

I'm a newbie to woodturning, but everything I've made so far (tool handles, knobs and a few bowls) has been from logs found in the firewood pile, logs given to me by friends, or greenwood my partner & I have cut ourselves.

My preference is for turning local wood & native timbers. I did buy a couple of bowl blanks of native elm & walnut at a show as we have neither growing nearby (but I'm keeping those "good" until my turning improves!)

I know that newbie turners are usually advised to start off with "easy" wood, but the things I have most enjoyed making so far were from more challenging woods like gnarly hawthorn or very rotten spalted sycamore & beech - and yes I had a few disasters along the way - the beautiful yew handle made for a large skew chisel - which split neatly apart when the blade was inserted. Should have drilled a bigger hole :-( Or the lovely spalted bowl that cracked in half when I tighted it in the chuck :-(

I'm lucky though, my partner & I rent a farmhouse and have access to small areas of woodland on the farm in exchange for helping with the woodland management. It must be far more difficult for turners in urban areas to access found wood, and of course you also need to tools and skills to process it.

I think your idea of teaching youngsters is brilliant. Where I live (Mid Wales) there are Forest Schools open to youngsters in the summer holidays where they go out into the woods to have fun and the opportunity to learn a bit of woodland management, green woodworking (including pole lathe turning), & other woodland crafts.


tekno.mage

 

[gary foxton]

glad to hear they are getting the kids educated ad seeing as u have a supply of wood try turning the trickiest bits u get great satisfaction and the most interesting pieces. and u learn by making mistakes