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Ten years ago a neighbour had to have their ancient yew tree felled but had the foresight to have it sliced into boards and stored, drying nicely, ready to be used someday.
10 years pass and by coincidence I meet the neighbour, strike up a conversation and they tell me all about their tree.
A deal is struck.... They would like me to have the tree but in return would I make them a piece of furniture out of some of the wood so they could always remember their beautiful tree.
The perfect transaction.
The top is in one piece. Rare, I think, to get such a wide, clear board with yew and the colour is incredible, already starting to mellow as I've been working on it.
Fabulous, love the proportions of it, the leg taper and curvy ‘stretchers’ work so well together.
 
Thought I'd have a 2nd go on the lathe with what was a nice piece of spalted silver birch, once rounded off I thought it looked like it wanted to be a goblet of some form, it however had different ideas and wanted to be a jigsaw puzzle.
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I've recovered all the parts so could put it back together with glue or resin and try again. ( this was totally my fault, I'm struggling to use my bowl gouge without catching on the high point, thinking a swept back going might suit me better.)
Keep at it, after a while the catches do stop happening plus you seem to develop a third sense that one is just about to happen. That's quite advanced I certainly haven't tried a goblet yet. I made a lamp stand following a video by Richard Findley and that really helped develop tool control. Mainly sticking to simply shaped bowls, boxes. mushrooms, tables....What you have left would make a nice little box.
 
Ten years ago a neighbour had to have their ancient yew tree felled but had the foresight to have it sliced into boards and stored, drying nicely, ready to be used someday.
10 years pass and by coincidence I meet the neighbour, strike up a conversation and they tell me all about their tree.
A deal is struck.... They would like me to have the tree but in return would I make them a piece of furniture out of some of the wood so they could always remember their beautiful tree.
The perfect transaction.
The top is in one piece. Rare, I think, to get such a wide, clear board with yew and the colour is incredible, already starting to mellow as I've been working on it.

Really like that, think your ex-neighbour got a really good deal as well as you lol, I've got some quite wide Yew boards but they are nowhere near as long as yours look to be. The Sister in Laws Brother had a tree taken down a couple of years ago, it was taken down by a tree surgery company & I don't think using the wood was part of their plan, apparently they normally just chip the trees they takedown.
 
Box made from London Plane and Ebonized walnut. Started off a bit of a test piece but took on a life of its own.

As some of my projects do lol, Great looking project, I didn't know what London Plane was when I first came across a couple of slices at my Local Sawmill, had to have some although at the time had no idea what for. Not really used it yet although I did make a couple of pens which I really like.
 
Keep at it, after a while the catches do stop happening plus you seem to develop a third sense that one is just about to happen. That's quite advanced I certainly haven't tried a goblet yet. I made a lamp stand following a video by Richard Findley and that really helped develop tool control. Mainly sticking to simply shaped bowls, boxes. mushrooms, tables....What you have left would make a nice little box.
There's about 3/4 of an inch taken up by the faceplate screws so not as much as it looks, I'm really considering a repair as I have all the parts, the explosion was spectacular, the gouge is also not as sharp as it should be due to only having a whetstone at the minute, hoping to get a bench grinder in the next week or so.
 
Ten years ago a neighbour had to have their ancient yew tree felled but had the foresight to have it sliced into boards and stored, drying nicely, ready to be used someday.
10 years pass and by coincidence I meet the neighbour, strike up a conversation and they tell me all about their tree.
A deal is struck.... They would like me to have the tree but in return would I make them a piece of furniture out of some of the wood so they could always remember their beautiful tree.
The perfect transaction.
The top is in one piece. Rare, I think, to get such a wide, clear board with yew and the colour is incredible, already starting to mellow as I've been working on it.

Did you have to steam the stretchers or did they bend naturally? I really like the combination with the legs. Did you fit drawers to the table? I ask because something similar is my next job.
 
Hello Peter, the stretchers are a nod to when yew was used for longbows. They're laminated although I'm sure such a small section could be successfully steamed.

There are no drawers but drawers could be incorporated in either or both ends. Secret drawers would work well.
 
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These photos aren't of my make, but rather from my friend, George Wilson. They're too good not to share and he no longer posts on the internet. He's fine with me sharing them.

This is a bronze cannon on a white oak base. It's not full size, but not small. The cannon is cut from a 5" round cylinder of bronze (it's not cast). George made it years ago and didn't finish it or make the base, but he's now over 80 and can't lift it, so he enlisted the help of another maker to help make the base and get the barrel polished, which is a lot of physical work (split between him and the fellow who helped).

The script on the front is a variation of something on french monarchs cannons, something like "the last resort of the king". That's paraphrased.

It is functional and will safely shoot a 1 3/8 inch steel ball bearing.

There is a video set of George on YouTube building a harpsichord and violins, but he can make or machine just about anything from cannons to jewelry dies to letter stamps.
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So a few weeks ago I bought myself a new toy. Tool! I bought myself a new tool.

Spent the last week making this stand for the new lathe. One scaffold pole and some scrap steel later and shabang!
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Must be said, I am not a metal worker! But I'm quietly pleased.

Next job to see how it works when the lathe is running and if vibration is an issue. Might upgrade it at some point to add a couple of wheels at the headstock end so it can be tilted and rolled about.
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OKAY!! So it's not a cannon!! There I was feeling good about myself!!
 
Knife presentation box in Dougie Fir. The knife in the box is for illustrative purposes only. The knife that will put in this box has a very similar pattern on the blade as the grain pattern on the front of the box.

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It comes across much darker in the pics than it is. Charred, wire brushed then dyed orange. Once that was dry I put yellow dye on top. The pics don't do it justice - there are some real subtle colour changes depending on which way the light hits it.

Was really careful with the joinery but tbh I didn't need to be. You could make a lot of mistakes and hide them in the burn.

Dithered about dyeing the beech blade rest but decided against it in case the dye bled out onto the blade which will be quite expensive.
 
Knife presentation box in Dougie Fir. The knife in the box is for illustrative purposes only. The knife that will put in this box has a very similar pattern on the blade as the grain pattern on the front of the box.

View attachment 120508

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It comes across much darker in the pics than it is. Charred, wire brushed then dyed orange. Once that was dry I put yellow dye on top. The pics don't do it justice - there are some real subtle colour changes depending on which way the light hits it.

Was really careful with the joinery but tbh I didn't need to be. You could make a lot of mistakes and hide them in the burn.

Dithered about dyeing the beech blade rest but decided against it in case the dye bled out onto the blade which will be quite expensive.
This is beautiful, any chance of a pic of the actual knife?
 
Ten years ago a neighbour had to have their ancient yew tree felled but had the foresight to have it sliced into boards and stored, drying nicely, ready to be used someday.
10 years pass and by coincidence I meet the neighbour, strike up a conversation and they tell me all about their tree.
A deal is struck.... They would like me to have the tree but in return would I make them a piece of furniture out of some of the wood so they could always remember their beautiful tree.
The perfect transaction.
The top is in one piece. Rare, I think, to get such a wide, clear board with yew and the colour is incredible, already starting to mellow as I've been working on it.
That's a lovely table @Mike.R
 
So a few weeks ago I bought myself a new toy. Tool! I bought myself a new tool.

Spent the last week making this stand for the new lathe. One scaffold pole and some scrap steel later and shabang! View attachment 120250
View attachment 120251
Must be said, I am not a metal worker! But I'm quietly pleased.

Next job to see how it works when the lathe is running and if vibration is an issue. Might upgrade it at some point to add a couple of wheels at the headstock end so it can be tilted and rolled about.
View attachment 120252View attachment 120253

OKAY!! So it's not a cannon!! There I was feeling good about myself!!
Nice job! I have a similar lathe which happened to come with a matching steel base. Based on my own experience I would recommend adding more bracing to resist racking and if possible some way to load up the base with ballast. It looks a beautifully efficient use of materials but I fear you could have trouble with vibration as it is now. HTH
G
 

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