|
|
Wood
2020/04/07 status and update:
I began woodworking at the relatively early age of 7 or 8. My grandfather was remodeling a house in western Washington
and thought it fun to teach me how he worked. As he was an old-school craftsman, I leaned techniques that
were no longer used with the proiferation of pre-made cabinets and such. He built cabines to fit the room,
so even if the dimensions of the room weren't on standard sizes, or the room was out of square, it always
looked great when he was done. He taught by the classic method of showing me how he did a procedure, then
watching me perform the same process. Each element learned was part of something real, not merely an academic exercise.
Once in High School, I took 4 years of wood shop and two of metal shop as part of the curriculum. They were
the only classes I scored straight As the entire time. I learned more about cabinetry, and built a series
of dressers, coffee tables, and furniture along with the requisite projects such as wastebaskets, signs and toys.
I turned my first bowls in a sophomore wood shop class, though the tools that were available then weren't nearly
as easy to use in making smooth bowl shapes. Fast forward to today, with a greater variety of tools that help
make the process easier.
My wood shop has the standard tools of a typical full service shop, such as Planer, Cabinet Saw, Bandsaw,
Drill Press, stationary belt sander/abrasive planer, and most portable power and hand tools you'd expect.
In addition, I've two wood lathes. One was purpose built for my shop and can swing a 42" diameter log
(if it were perfectly round). The bed is 5 feet long and I'm configured for deep hollowing if needed. The
second lathe is a Grizzly 14" x 32", but has been modified with a 3-horsepower 3-phase inverter drive that
allows variable spindle speed control from about 100 to 3500 RPM. The big lathe has a similar drive and
runs from 36 to 960 RPM, plenty fast enough for large diameter logs.
Typical setup of my booth at the Hilo Farmer's Market
A batch of Poi Pounders made from Koa.
Expect to see examples of my currently available art, along with sub-pages as needed for historical purposes and/or online instruction.
I expect to have a GoFundMe (or similar crowdfunding site) page up soon that will be used to upgrade equipment so I can provide quality instruction on a new lathe.
The premiums offered will allow funding the shop upgrades while providing artwork at below-gallery prices.
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
