A Mortar and Pestle used all the time by my Son in Law who is forever grateful. This piece did actually win Third Place in our local Club Show in 2023. The wood came from flooring timber that was left over at the local Bunnings Store. Hardwood Jarrah and needs a constantly resharpened chisel to work it. The Pestle was from what I thought was a piece of Gum Tree. It splintered easily as I was turning it and the chisel had to be super sharp to get the finish. Both pieces were finished with 3 coats of sanding sealer then 3 coats of friction polish.The wonderful colours of Silky Oak. I experimented a little with this vase making my own mixture of finish using 50% Marine Grade Varnish, 25% low odour Turpentine and 25% Light Coloured Linseed Oil. This allowed me to make up small quantities in 50ml bottles to avoid the wastage currently happening with the large containers of Danish Oil going off.Don’t know what this timber is. Best guess is a Gum Tree although that is a very generic class. My bicycle riding mate and I spotted it on the side of the road around April 2023 and it turned out better than I could have hoped for. Lots of sanding including using Yorkshire Grit, then finish with Friction Polish. There was enough timber to make two pieces.This was the second piece turned from that unknown Gum Tree timber log in May 2023 and it also showed off the unusual grain pattern. I hollowed this one out and it actually won First Place in the Mudgeeraba Show in 2023.A Sugar Bowl with it’s own wooden spoon. Making Spoons is no easy task and I’m not sure this one was fully functional.This was one of my early pieces learning the craft of Woodturning and it started out as a lidded Jar. I was then given this Dutch Coin so I inserted it into the lid and turned my Lidded Jar into a Money Box.Camphor Laurel Platter about the size of a plate. This timber has the most wonderful grain patterns. Made in February 2023 and finished with Danish Oil.This bowl was cut from Mango Wood in January 2023. You can just see the faint tinge of green. The finish is from Danish Oil that dries to a food safe and water resistant finish.A Chess Set turned from Silky Oak showing the lovely Red Streaks through the white pieces. The board is made from pieces of MDF glued onto a base plate. My Chess Buddy beat me on our first ever game with this set, then demanded a trophy for his achievement.A Biscuit Barrel made from Merbau in November 2022. A very hard wood but finished beautifully with Aussie Oil Friction Polish. This came as a waste piece of timber from a structural beam that my neighbour offered me, and I was able to return it to him as a finished Biscuit Barrel.A nicely shaped Vase from Australian Red Cedar. A light wood that is easy to turn but difficult to get a good finish. I used Cabots semi gloss clear varnish. Lots of sandpapering. This Vase won First Place in our local Club Show in 2023.An interesting piece with the base still featuring the original bark from the branch around the edges, the Sphere is from Red Cedar and was supposed to be larger but the more I tried to perfect it, the smaller it got, and the bird is also from Red Cedar but I stained it darker. Then I turned it into an Incense Burner, the ash falling nicely into the base plate.This piece was turned from an old piece of flooring timber and I’ve only shown the base. This was one of my first attempts to insert a scroll saw pattern into the base. This Sea Horse design is made from Oregon.A couple of Spinning Tops made from Hard Wood. My very first attempt at these and they kept us occupied for quite a while learning how to get them to spin.A Silky Oak Bud Vase with a 22mm glass tube inserted so you can carefully fill it with a liitle water and keep the flower alive a little longer.The Dip Bowl is from Cherry Wood supplied by a good mate at Woodturners, and the insert comes from an inlaid factory in Italy.An old fashioned Telephone (Not Working) mostly made from Camphor Laurel, with a clock inserted for a bit of usefullness. These were known as Candlestick Phones common around the 1890’s onwards. It took 3 weeks to finish this project and was mostly all turned on the lathe.This vase is from Silky Oak. The timber was dried off in the microwave for three weeks which removed about 700ml of liquid. The log was put into the microwave for 1 minute on high then rested for an hour before repeating. It was still a little moist in the centre but good enough to turn into a vase. The colour was too good to ignore and it polished up beautifully.Practicing in designing a couple of Candle Sticks. I drew up the designs on a sketchup program first and used marine grade polyurethane as a finish. The tall one is made from Red Cedar and it actually won Third Place at the Mudgeeraba Show in 2023. The smaller one is cut from Oregon Timber.
Woodworking in Retirement 