Lake Taupo Woodturning Jamboree 2010

Hi All,
Another great Jamboree has come and gone. We have had great feedback from quite a few participants which is great. There were forty five lathes this year, which was up on last year and it was great to see nearly all used.
I would like to thank Roger Maybe from the Hawke’s Bay club for bringing extra lathes.

It was great to see the competition tables with so many pieces on them, well up on last year. Lots of pieces made over the weekend were also added, which was great to see. Thanks to all who put pieces on the tables and to Rex Haslip for judging the tables.










On behalf of the club I would like to thank all who helped put the Jamboree on as it wouldn’t happen without your input. Setting up, organising the raffle prizes, catering and cleaning up at the end.

Looking forward to the next one and maybe I’ll get a bit more turning done!!!

See you all at the next one.
Cheers,
Robbie

"What's Eating You?"

Releaf XIII

Wood: Ancient Kauri (swamp kauri) and Jarrah
Length: 280mm (11”)
Width: 140mm (5-1/2")
Height: 90mm (3-1/2)
Finish: Rust, Haarlem oil then buffed


This is the first leaf with a couple of strips of Jarrah laminated through the piece of Kauri. I wasn't sure if it would work and line up with the grain when turned but it was very close and followed the curve of the grain. The vessel is about 3 to 4 mm thick with the top about 1.5mm where it is pierced.
The piece of Kauri had a couple of defects and decided to use them and make them look like the leaf had been eaten. I cut them out and added some rust, which worked quite well. What do you think?

C & C welcome

Yew Vessel

Three-sided Yew vessel

Height: 90mm (3-1/2")
Diam: 75mm (2-2/4")
Finish: Haarlem oil and wax

This is another three-sided piece using multi axis, three top and three bottom plus the centre for the rounded form and turning the inside.
I haven't turned much yew and found this piece beautiful to turn. The fine grain works well with this small piece, one of the smallest pieces in this series.

C & C welcome.

Cherry Vessel with leaves

Height: 210mm (8-1/4")
Diam: 130mm (5-1/8")
Finish: Haarlem oil

This was turned out of a green piece of Flowering Cherry grown in Taupo and turned to 2 - 3mm thick. It was going to have a round bottom but it was a bit unbalanced so I flattened off and added the pattern. The pattern is done with pyrography, painted with black and gold then the iridescent green and blue painted last. My wife Sue thinks I'm mad adding so much detail to the bottom, when you can't see it and thinks it should be displayed on its side.

Comments and critique welcome

Waharoa

Right picture, Delani and I.

Waharoa
Height: 9m (30 feet)
Width at base 4.5m (14 feet)
Carving: Totara
Legs: Steel

I haven't been in my workshop much lately as I have been helping with this Sculpture.
A Master carver Delani Brown, a friend of mine was commissioned to carve this piece. It is a gift to the Taupo community from Contact Energy and to celebrate 50 years of Geothermal
Power at the Wairakei Power Station.
Not a lot of turning but the plugs that cover the bolts are turned!!! I helped
design the legs and was the liaison between the architects and the steel fabricators
and Delani.
I started off making Delani a scale model to show him how his drawing
would look in 3D and work out how tall the piece was going to be when finished.
I have been working for the last three to four months on this project, cutting
out rot and replacing it with solid wood. The logs have been down for about
seventy years or so and some of the heartwood had started to rot and had to
be removed. One section we replaced was so heavy four of us couldn't lift it.
Each carving weighs a tonne, so there is total of three tonne of wood up
there. Fitting the carving to the steel work was a mission in itself, which
ended up being one of my jobs; I also did the red paintwork.
On Wednesday 10th Nov at midnight we fitted the carvings to the steel work
so the public wouldn't see it being erected. Each of the carvings was covered
in black plastic while we were fitting and once fitted the plastic was replaced
with a large black fabric cover. The sculpture wasn't to been seen by anyone
until the unveiling, which was five thirty the next Saturday morning. Nobody
had seen the finished sculpture, not even Delani until then. It's all to do
with Maori protocol and to be a surprise to the Taupo public.
It has been an amazing project and has been a privilege to work with Delani.
It's given me a greater understanding of Maori protocol and history.
Now you can see why I haven't been in my workshop lately!
Now it's up, I can get back into my workshop.
Robbie

Toru 6

Toru 6
Wood: Matai
Diam: 160 mm
Height: 45 mm
Finish: inside vessels lacquer, outside rust

It was pointed out to me that was number 6 not 5, now corrected.

This is the smallest of this multi axis series, which is only half the size of Toru 4. I decided to coat the entire outer surface with the rust this time to give some contrast to the Matai. I think it works quite well with this piece. I started this piece in February and thought it was about time to finish it.
Comments Welcome

Mutant

Woods: Rhododendron, Tawa and Jarrah
Length: 750mm
Height: 350mm

There is more carving in this piece than turning and it had it ups and downs in the design and some of the processes used in the making but I'm pretty happy in the result. I had intended to have this piece more like a mutant monster but this is how it ended up.
The vessel is turned out of green Rhododendron, which would dry and give me some distortion and look more organic. The stem is laminated Tawa, using strips just over 1mm thick and formed and clamped in a MDF pattern.
The leaf is recycled Jarrah, which once was a side of our unused waterbed and had kept to use one day. (I had forgotten how dusty Jarrah was to work and my work shop was covered in red dust) I have laminated a strip of tawa through the centre. The vessel and the stem are air brushed it using acrylic paint.
Comments welcome.