Turn-fest 2009

Arrived on the Gold Coast at seven thirty on lovely sunny morning and jumped on the next shuttle to the Radisson Resort, which I must say was a pretty impressive place to hold Turn-fest. We checked in and got driven to our room in a buggy and our bags were delivered to our room, a lovely room with a great view as you can see by the photo.


As we had arrived so early Sue thought it would be a good idea to hire a car and drive up to Lamington National Park, which was about an hour and a half a way. We didn't have a heap of time so we decided that the treetop walk would be the best walk to do in the time we had. It was great to walk through the canopy and see the epiphytes and other plants that grow up there, which you wouldn't normally see from the ground.

We arrived back at the Radisson in time to set up my workstation. I was to share with Neil Scobie and I had arranged with Neil to bring along tools that I was unable to bring with me. I had a bit of prep to do before my demo, which was mid morning the next day. After finishing my prep it was time to get cleaned up and meet some of the other demonstrators before dinner. Great line up of demonstrators consisting of; Bonnie Klein, Brendon Stemp, Brian McEvoy, Cindy Drozda, Glenn Roberts, Ken Rraight, Lois Green, Neil and Liz Scobie, Robert Mckee, Terry Martin and Theo Haralampou, who unfortunately was unwell and unable to demonstrate.


I did six rotations of one and a half hours each. My first two I used to demo my leaf form hollow vessel. The second and third I made twisted lidded boxes and the last two I demonstrated one of my toru series which involved a fair bit of multi axis turning. I must admit I showed my audience what not to do when making one of these pieces but managed to resurrect it (with a fair bit of CA glue) enough to continue with the demo. My audience had a bit of a laugh to see one of the demonstrators have a mishap. We can't be perfect all the time!!! LoL



It was a fantastic event, wonderful venue and food. It was great to catch with some of the demonstrators whom I had met over the years and to meet some new ones. David Dresher and a small group of helpers put on the event and I take my hat off to him for putting on such a large event.
I had an awesome time as I'm sure every one else did and hope to get back there some time in the future.

Turning Tools Open Day

Hi All,
I was invited to demonstrate at the Turning Tools Open Day last weekend hosted by the South Auckland Woodturners Guild and put on by Ian Fish. I must say it was very well run, I think from memory there were about eighty five attendees or more, which was pretty impressive. The club rooms are very well set up and can handle that number if not a few more all in tiered seating.
The day started off with Dick Vietch opening the day then handing it over to Ian who gave us the program for the day.

Ian had organised for me to demonstrate from 10.15 and finish at 12 for lunch. During lunch there was plenty of time to purchase woodturning tools and equipment from Turning Tools and Treeworkx, also to look around the instant gallery and silent auction table made up of used tools and appliances. Shane Hewitt was demonstrating from 1.30 till 3.
For my demo I decided to do a small version of my “Toru” series, which involves mostly multi axis turning all on a MDF face plate. I used two eight mm gouges and a parting tool to achieve this form and showed how to reach in tight spots using different grinds on a gouge.




Shane showed us how to save part of the bowl blank by turning it off and adding it to the top of the bowl, making it taller. He also showed how to make a top for a hollow vessel using a different wood to add character to the piece and add height to the vessel.

The day was finished up with the countdown to the silent auction, with every one trying to get their last bids on before the cut-off time.
I had a great day. Thanks to Ian Fish and the South Auckland Woodturners Guild!
Robbie

Turnfest 2009

Hi all, I'm off to the Gold Coast (OZ) for Turnfest an annual woodturning event held March 27 - 29. It is my first time at this event and I will be demonstrating some of my latest designs, for e.g. Leaf form hollow vessels and Toru series (multi axis work). If you are interested in multi axis work it will be worth coming along.(similar to the piece below but smaller)

I am also going up to the Turning Tools Open Day at the South Auckland Woodturning club rooms next weekend(Feb 28) and will be demonstrating multi axis turning. It will be a bit of a trial run for Turnfest, don't miss it if you aren't going to turnfest.
Cheers,
Robbie

New Piece

"Ripples" (Toru V)

Wood: Spalted Tawa
Diameter: 320mm (12 -1/2")
Height: 85mm (3 - 3/8")

I started this pieces a the Tauranga Woodcrafters Show in October last year and have been working on it off and on over the last couple of months to get it finished for an exhibition, which opens this weekend.
Sue my wife named this piece, as I couldn't come up with a name. The finish on the vessels is rust and I think it works quite well on this piece, what do you think?
I decided to carve the centre on this one and have no pyrography, a first for this series!
This a link showing the process I used to make this piece Click here
Comments welcome

Busy time with woodturning events

Feilding Collaboration

I'm off to a five day woodturning collaboration this week which is hosted by Jim Manley down in Feilding. This will be my third time at this event but I didn't make it to last year's due to the timing, too many other things on at the same time!

I find collaborations great for inspiration and usually come back with heaps of new ideas, so I'm very much looking forward to it.

Pinargan Studios Exhibition

I have been invited to exhibit at Pinargan Studios with setup Friday week, so I am definitely going to busy for the next couple of weeks. I am at present finishing a piece for the exhibition and will add a picture soon.
The other exhibitors are
Michael O'Donnell - Clayworker, vessel maker, sculptor

Adele Mitchell - Painter and Host

James Sutherland - Painter

And Myself - Woodturner / Artist

Saturday Jan 17th 2009
309 Waite Road, Te Pahu
RD5 Hamilton

The Gallery will continue to be open from Sunday 18th Jan to Sunday 25th Jan
from 10am till 4pm

Pinargan Studios / Gallery
Contact Adele Mitchell
0212267155
www.pinargan.co.nz

Twisted lidded boxes

Boxes: Blackwood, Spalted Tawa and Eucalyptus
Lids: Six are black Maire and the other two I am unsure of the wood, might be ash but it seems too yellow!
Height: 120mm - 135mm
Diam: 90mm - 95mm

I have been making a few boxes, this time with no texture on the lids as the client wanted them plane but with different woods.

Five of these boxes are for an order for a gallery in Nelson so I thought I might as well make eight. I have the other three in my gallery. I finally made some jaws out of black maire for my chuck so I can grip inside the top of the box to return the bases. The way I used to do it was, turn a jam-chuck but it was time consuming to alter it for each box, the jaws make the job much easier. The profile of the jaws matches the top of the box so they don't damage the box.
Comments welcome

My latest woodturning

Iwa
Wood: Tasmanian Blackwood (NZ grown)
Diameter: 370mm (14-1/2")

I started this piece at Participation (put on by South Auckland Woodturners Guild) in September and finally finished it today. The leaves are about 2-3mm thick and the bowl is 10mm so the piece is very light. I had planed to colour the leaves but decided against it. I like the black as it works well with the reddish colour of the wood. Quite a few hours doing the pyrography and sanding on this piece but you get that or should I say, I make pieces that require lots of hand finishing. lol

Comments welcome