Hi all,
I know I've said it before but this should become a
regular item now that things have settled down a bit. I have moved the
business during the year and built the new workshop, it will be a work
in progress as I know better where I want to put tool racks and shelves
etc, but because it is a 55mm thick log cabin it's easy to move things
without having to resort to masonry drills and all the hassle that goes
with fixing anything to brickwork. The workshop has an area of 48 square
metres, 4.8m x 10m with a loo and kitchen, a clean gallery area to sit
down in in the winter for coffee and a lovely paved area for table and
chairs outside when the weather permits. The lathes are lined up down
one wall with extraction at each lathe, a PVC tiled floor so that any
dropped tools don't get damaged and it's also comfortable to stand on, a
shavings burner to keep it warm and get rid of the waste. There's even
views of the stream that I occasionally see a Kingfisher perched on a
branch looking for a feed.
The big plus point for me is that it is at home so I am making
again which I have sorely missed.
Courses:
The new workshop is now finished and ready to start running courses, I will be posting course dates soon. It's quite a job juggling dates for courses, demo's and shows. The courses on offer will be: Hollow forms from green wood (2 days), Colour, carve and texture(3 days), Wearable wooden hats (3 days) and a new course on turning the dns Twister pens that I have recently become the agent for.
I have asked Richard Raffan to do some courses in early September next year after he has been on the Norwegian Woodturning cruise. The dates are yet to be finalized as are the topics but they will probably be on his standard themes of boxes and bowls. There will be a maximum of 5 people per course so you will get lots of attention and they will be 2-3 days duration, it will all depend on the demand for places so if you are interested please let me know. As soon as I know the costings I will be posting them in this newsletter and on the main website.
New products:
I never thought I would become a pen turner due to the fact I don't like framing somebody else's work, it just didn't appeal to me being bound by the constraints of the mechanisms. But that has changed with the arrival of these kits from my friend Martin Weinbrecht in Germany. Martin only does quality so these kits have to be seen to realise the quality of the mechanisms and the way they write. They are made by the same company (Schmidt Technologies) that makes and supplies pen mechanisms for the worlds leading pen manufacturers. Now I had never made a pen in all the 20 or so years that I have been turning but I have had a lot of fun and some frustration making a dozen of these pens after I got back from my week of teaching for Martin and the results are not too bad. The reason I like them so much is the fact that there is no limit to the design, yes you are limited by the common sense dimensions of a pen but within that critera the only obstacle is your imagination. There are some pictures of them on the Twister pen pages on the site. My biggest critic when it comes to my work bagged one of them for herself that she won't even let me borrow.
For salt and pepper mill turners Woodcut have introduced the "Mill Drill", a tailstock mounted mandrel that drills the double step needed for CrushGrind® mechanisms in one pass to the correct depth. It also has the facility hold a 25mm saw tooth bit needed to drill the main hole up the middle of the body provided the bit has a 25mm shank. I have to photograph it and get it onto the site but that won't take long.
I will keep you posted with any updates on Richard's course dates and costs.
Best regards
Phil