Nice to have had the break also nice to be back and do some turning.

A lidded Box with Finial tower like or Lighthouse wood is Sequioa for the box with Jarra finial.






Another lidded box uncertain as to the timber used very spallted and wonderful colour, finial and a foot both are Queensland Beach finished with a Bee's wax.



An update of photo's to try show some of the colour of this vessel. Still no idea what the wood is.

Rib Warmers

A matching pair of Rib Warmers for Meri & Jiya

A Week a way

After a few busy months with a Wedding, Christening’s and birthday’s we finally got away. Took the road north to Coff’s Harbour NSW mid way between Sydney and Brisbane about 540k’s.

A wet start which followed us all the way, but the remaining week was warm sunny day’s. First day down at the Jetty we bumped into some friend’s we had hoped to visit while up there.

Plenty of photography as I had some rolls of 35mm film for the Canon  EOS SLR 100 yes shameful I know I still haven’t gone digital myself. Sue’s little A430 worked over time as well.

Sunset at the Jetty.

Skin’s basking in the sun.








Combra bridge.













Dorigo looking south, Edor Fall’s.

Some Past Works

A further look into some other things we have done and enjoy doing

Both of us have photos of earlier times Sue's can be found here many of her own early designs and creations.

My two can be located as follows

This is my photography and Bus & Coach page, while this is early woodworking

Woolen Socks

Socks for myself at last, after all the wedding preparation's knitting socks for Ray I got these 2 pair done for myself. Only to have daughter snap up the mustard coloured pair. So a 3rd set was made a green pair she won't pinch them doesn't like green. Photo's to come later of those.

Snow is all Gone

My last two pieces of Snow Gum from Dave for the main body, a bit of QLD Beech from Noel for the stem and finial. An interesting challenge from the Woodwork Forum where I spend a bit of time and a lot of inspiration from many web sites I have visited.
I took my time turning this and enjoyed it more no rushing much time for thought about shape but able to change with a few small mishaps along the way.

Spring Makes You Feel Good

It so nice to be able to do some turning again and not be almost frozen. So I set about getting my system in tune and created a few play bowls. The larger bowl is Swamp Mahogany or Iron Bark a rush to save the log from splitting, its heavy great to turn slightly wet.

Macadamia from a friend Dave about a year ago the spalting was the attraction unfortunately one didn't make it the wood rot had gone right through.

The other also from Dave is Snow Gum.

All finished with Macadamia Nut Oil.

Hall Table Completed & TV Hutch

Well the wedding of our daughter is over and with fine weather and warmer days I finally got to complete her Hall Table. I routed the legs for a more aesthetic look, as well as the top using a Roman Ogy bit. A few coats of Rustin's Danish Oil sanding down to 1200 grit. Not without problems a sudden drop in temp and a small amount of moisture around saw the wood become fuzzy again so another sand and coat.

Daughter had an urgent need for a TV Hutch she had picked up some nice veneered MDF even helped cut and assemble it.

John's Birthday Present

Our future son-in-law turns 40 and will be needing this when they go on their honeymoon in August. Made from hand spun wool. A bit of a rush job since I was given only a few weeks notice that John didn't have any warm woollen jumpers to take away on their honeymoon. Even with lots of things still in the pipeline, I couldn't restrain from volunteering to make one for him. Its nothing fancy, just plain knitting. Just as well, I like knitting without the constraints of a pattern to follow as I hate having to work to someone else's ideas. I find it much easier to work out the needles and yarn then make up a swatch from which to get my gauge. It makes figuring out the rows and stitches a breeze instead of juggling needle sizes and tension to achieve the "correct gauge".Since the sleeves are picked up along either side from the shoulder seam, it took only a few key strokes on the calculator to work out the decreases for the sleeve length and width. With only the two side seams to sew up the jumper was finished except for a quick wash and press.
I hope you get lots of wear out of it John.

Spring is around the corner

To cold to spend time in doing wood work or even in doors without a heater going mornings have been down to 1C. Once the sun rises over the roof its warm enough to venture outside and soak up its warmth, by this time its 19C+. So with Sue's Canon A430 I sat taking these few photo's






Lavender has been attracting the bee's wish we knew where the hive was so we could taste this sweet nectar.

Kangaroo Paw is looking good also

Workshop Pencil For a Friend

I was asked to make a Pencil from Acrylic the kit was supplied by Dave it came from 043 Turning , the kit is a Workshop Pencil and has a 2.5mm lead.

This was my first try at Acrylic not as bad to turn as I had thought, having worked with resin's and fibreglass in the past.

In thanks Dave presented me with a tool box he made at TAFE Dave is an excellent Carver producing both small and large works. Having trained in New Zealand he has some traditional skills.

Sock's for Ray

Two Pairs of socks for Ray. Well, it should have been one pair for me and one for Ray but when it came to trying them on, I found that even the small size I made was a bit big so Ray got both pairs. Fortunately he got the second pair in time to wear to the wood working show which turned out to very cold and wet.

Christina's Shawl

The start of a new Shawl for my daughter's Matron Of Honour, Christina. I wanted to make this black with a little blue in it to give it some sparkle but still be a versatile piece for her wardrobe in the future. The black two ply wool was a good start. To add the sparkle I spun up a thin two ply silk and dyed it with cerrulean blue silk dye but then added some more silk dyed with a black ink to give a silver grey so that the blue would not dominate. Setting up always takes ages and without planning the silk warp thread placements it seemed to take even longer. The weaving was a standard twill but with a tabby binder every other pict. I tried to keep the tension fairly loose but found that by the time I got to just over half way, the warp was showing sings of wear and I was hoping that I would have no major dramas like a silk warp thread breaking. Something like that is fairly difficult to correct. Finally I cut the piece off the loom and spent the next two days tying the overhand knots in the ends to give the decorative finish I wanted. Next came the fulling in the washing machine on a gentle wool cycle and a very short spin then drying outside in the sun. Shrinkage was minimal which was just as well as there was really not much margin for shrinkage in the length of the warp.

A quick press under a cloth with a steam iron and it was ready for delivery. I hope Christina likes it.


The finished Shawl