Woodturning – May 2020
English | 110 pages | pdf | 39.22 MB
Welcome at Woodturning Magazine May 2020 Issue
I have often commented on how fortunate we woodworkers, and especially turners and carvers, are. We can been ferreting about in timber piles looking for that next fabulous piece of timber, but we can also be seen in woodlands, parks and forests looking at the living trees about us. I took the picture of the cherry tree blossom you can see in the photo recently. I love seeing trees in their early years of growth but also their winter sleep, waiting for that burst of growth in spring, the full glory in summer then the slow withdrawal and preparation for winter and back to sleep again. Of course, as this cycle is repeated many times, the trees mature and gradually go into senescence and decay. The process is fascinating and beautiful.
I am fortunate to visit woodlands and parks near me I can enjoy, I love the sensory pleasures of what I see, hear and can feel as I walk among the trees. I am mindful of how lucky I am to work with such a wonderful material that continues to amaze me in the diversity and how it throws challenges at me.
Many, like me, do not have the space, facilities or equipment to work with a cut-down tree, dimension it into sections, dry it then work it to finished items. Most people buy pre-dimensioned blanks or sections given from cut-down trees. Many, though, buy slabs or through and through cut board and then cut sections they want.
However you obtain sections of timber there is an anticipation in seeing it. It is like a mental game of risk as you try to work out what will make best use of the timber and show it to its fullest. We study it, ponder what could be made out of it and make best use of it then
we go for it. Then, after we spent so long pondering, we make a mistake during turning and have to do something else with it. Another scenario is where someone close to us, who we cannot say no to, spies that bit of wood and we have to make something that is not of our choosing and doesn’t do justice to that timber blank. Don’t ask. It has happened many times to me and I still
wonder what my original thoughts for that piece of wood would have looked like. Oh those lost opportunities for greater success. But, then again, I could have fouled them up completely with what I wanted to make from them.
It is interesting that imagination, aspiration and skills do not always match up and come to create that perfect piece we envisaged. I have many foulups in a pile and can only imagine the monetary loss, but look at what I have gained in experience. That is priceless. Have fun and let me know what you have been making.
Mark – markb@thegmcgroup.com
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