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The Nova is a brilliant lathe as far as I am concerned; it does everything I ask of it. It has handled far larger timber than I thought it would and given excellent results. The Axminster was purchased for taking to do demos and for producing small items such as pens, lightpulls etc. The bandsaw has replaced the table saw which now sees little use. The picture shows one corner, the rest is not for public viewing as I feel H&S let me down badly (I know it’s in there but exactly where is another matter).
When I take early retirement at the end of the month (Jan) this will be one of the projects I will have to prioritise.
My Log store at the moment takes up most of the wife’s Patio, the garden shed, a large area of the garden in which she grows plants and part of the conservatory.
The garage is attached to the house, via the conservatory. This means that I have a problem with dust getting into the house; this has to be sorted out soon by the installation of an extractor fan into the wall above the lathe.
A lot of my turning is wet or green timber which is obtained from local sources, tree surgeons and garden maintenance people. The local Parish Council also keep throwing timber over the gate, its surprising what you find.
I keep some of the timber immersed in tanks of water to avoid it drying out and thus splitting. All the wood (logs) stored outside is sealed with PVA glue, this is applied as soon as possible following delivery. Some of my timber is now dry enough to turn after being stored for 5 to 6 years and it is interesting to see the livestock that has become fond of the environment I have supplied them with. I’ve come across frogs and newts, (which were of interest to a local council official following a planning application to build in the field behind our house) mice and the odd hedgehog. At one time we had the company of a robin and her family this caused some interest at the time as we found ourselves talking to her, asking if it was ok to go into the covered area to retrieve plants and wood.
As I said earlier I am now about to embark on a new career following redundancy, turning wood to supply an income of sorts. Professionals who I’ve spoken to advise against this, why? they seem to be happy doing what they do. Their response is generally there’s no money in it lad, can’t understand why you want to do it.
I’ll keep you posted on how this works out.
Margaret is very tolerant of my hobby/living, both of us have crafts which take a lot of space and make a lot of associated mess Robin Storey, Lincolnshire Woodturning Supplies knows that if I turn up on my own he is not going to sell much but if the wife is there he rubs his hands together in the knowledge that he is going to have a good day (selling wood).
I have been turning for 7 years now and have work in galleries in Falmouth,Cornwall, Thurso in the far north of Scotland and in Whittlesey, Cambs. I now need some in Wales and I have covered the four corners of the U.K.
I owe a lot of my knowledge to members of the club, perseverance, patience and to Melvyn Firmager who taught me to think outside the box and to try the seemingly impossible. Two weeks in his company have given me the confidence to have a go, try the wood you were going to burn, turn it wet and dry it in the Microwave. If it works great, if not, keep your mouth shut and add it to your designer firewood box.
In the past I have had excellent service from Turners Retreat, Axminster Tools, Lincolnshire Woodturning Supplies and more locally Toolfix and would recommend them all.
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