bellebouche
New member
- Joined
- 3 Mar 2009
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 0
Longtime listener, first time caller!
I've been lurking and watching this forum for a while... and as I've finally started to turn some wood now it was high time I registered and said hello.
I've long held a fascination for turned wood - but until recently it's been constrained to buying pieces of turned art at shows and the like. Even simple bowls are just great to hold. My fave has to be pieces of turned fruit and we have a tidy little collection of these that we've bought over the last 15 years or so.
I've always longed to 'have-a-go' and to that end my wife bought me a lathe and some tools a couple of years ago and I've just been waiting for some downtime to get it all set up and have a go.
We've no central heating so if we want to get warm in the winter you've got to light a fire. I've lost count of the times I've pulled a log, split it to find an amazing tiger-stripe figure in some sycamore or some eerie spalting in a piece of birch and then just lobbed it in the barrow to ultimately be chucked on the fire that night. A little heartbreaking I know as there's only a little guilt and the moment passes. I've pulled some of the better bits aside over the years and have a stack of dried, concrete hard split, cracked firewood that might have made a beautiful object if I'd known what I was doing.
Fast forward to this winter and a fresh delivery of mostly Oak and stood amongst the pile before I set to sorting and stacking it and I decided to finally pull my finger out.
I've read a fair amount online. Bought some tutorial books. Watched a DVD. Seen countless youtube clips... it doesn't look too hard - time to have a go.
Not quite as easy as it looks.
So now, a few days in and I've turned half a dozen bits - made a ton of mistakes, made lots of shavings and dust, had one minor accident but finally last night had a bit of a revelation and was able to turn and badly matched pair of finials (from a softwood pallet scrap!) with a little form and grace to it. I couldn't be happier. I'll be back along to ask questions and post pics of whatever I manage to create.
Adrian
I've been lurking and watching this forum for a while... and as I've finally started to turn some wood now it was high time I registered and said hello.
I've long held a fascination for turned wood - but until recently it's been constrained to buying pieces of turned art at shows and the like. Even simple bowls are just great to hold. My fave has to be pieces of turned fruit and we have a tidy little collection of these that we've bought over the last 15 years or so.
I've always longed to 'have-a-go' and to that end my wife bought me a lathe and some tools a couple of years ago and I've just been waiting for some downtime to get it all set up and have a go.
We've no central heating so if we want to get warm in the winter you've got to light a fire. I've lost count of the times I've pulled a log, split it to find an amazing tiger-stripe figure in some sycamore or some eerie spalting in a piece of birch and then just lobbed it in the barrow to ultimately be chucked on the fire that night. A little heartbreaking I know as there's only a little guilt and the moment passes. I've pulled some of the better bits aside over the years and have a stack of dried, concrete hard split, cracked firewood that might have made a beautiful object if I'd known what I was doing.
Fast forward to this winter and a fresh delivery of mostly Oak and stood amongst the pile before I set to sorting and stacking it and I decided to finally pull my finger out.
I've read a fair amount online. Bought some tutorial books. Watched a DVD. Seen countless youtube clips... it doesn't look too hard - time to have a go.
Not quite as easy as it looks.
So now, a few days in and I've turned half a dozen bits - made a ton of mistakes, made lots of shavings and dust, had one minor accident but finally last night had a bit of a revelation and was able to turn and badly matched pair of finials (from a softwood pallet scrap!) with a little form and grace to it. I couldn't be happier. I'll be back along to ask questions and post pics of whatever I manage to create.
Adrian
