Beginnings

As I sit at my parents house pining for my workshop I have got to thinking about my woody beginnings.  I’m not really talking my poor attempts at high school woodwork, but my first attempts at a new found hobby.

This was it, not really inspiring.  I just put a peace of scrap pine between centres, spun up the lathe and with no knowledge of what each tool did, speed changes, or what was safe.  This was it, tear outs galore, no objective shape, but about 20cm of pure joy.  I still have it hidden away in a box somewhere.
I soon wanted to investigate more.

This was my first bowl.  It was made of layers or scrap pine stuck together (pine is very under-rated).  It has thick walls where I was too scared to go too thin and lots of chips and tears.  Again it was a work of enjoyment.  Now I would be horrified to produce something, how shall I put it, rustic?  Also turning wood has made me a better photographer, these early shots are not so well composed, or even focused.

And finally my first pen.  This was a slimline made from, I don’t know what……wood.  Its turned too thin, the ends are undersized and it looks a little wrong, but I still use it today.
Of course these are all learning experiences.  With each creation comes knowledge, and enjoyment.  I am happy to look back at where I came from, and compare to the things I turn now, and it always makes me smile.  I wonder what my old woodwork teacher would think of what i am doing now?
What was the first thing you made?

A Quick Quartet

 

Having set up the new work shed today it was time to test it out.  Here was a quick quartet of acrylics.  Two Rifle Bullet pens in Australian camouflage, and green and gold Cigar and what I like to call the purple haze click. 

The purple haze was bought from a bargain bin for about $1, it was brittle and nasty to work with. Every time the tool touched the blank it seemed to chip, but a sharp tool, slow speed, some sanding and patience paid off. I think it looks great.

Christmas is coming and some of these pens are available at my etsy store, get in quick or contact me direct.

In the Beginning

In the beginning there was a yearning, a need for something creative, a need for a hobby, a need for something for me.  I had always had an interest in wood (i think I've said that before) but I needed a push.  My wife had been nagging me to get a hobby, but I had been putting it off. It was only after a trip to Tassie that I caught the bug (and it is a bug).  A trip to Strahan where I watched an experienced man turning wood and I smelt the Huon got the heart fluttering.

On return from that family holiday I scoured eBay looking for wood lathes.  Everyday I would log on and see what was new out there, but they all seemed expensive.  I didn't want to spend a lot of money, I didn't know if I would enjoy it, or be any good at it.  Then one day it was there.  It wasn't a great looking lathe.  It was a fairly common Chinese made lathe that seems to have been produced for GMC, Ryobi, Dynalink and many, many more (mine was Brook Crompton).

It was very simple.  Four speeds changed by a pulley, with a disc sander on the back of the headstock.  I loved this lathe for two reasons, it was local and came with some tools, plus it was cheap, I guess that's three things.

I paid about $150 for it which I thought was good, especially when I found it came with three Robert Sorby tools as well as a pack of cheap tools.  All I needed to learn and practise.  I bought some cheap pine to play with and I was off and running.

This was my first effort, its abstract but I just wanted to combine steel with wood and make shavings.
After a few months I had realised the limitations of the lathe without a chuck and bought one of those (I will review that later). Then it was a pen mandrel, and lots of pen parts!  But I needed to upgrade and after twelve months I did (I will review that to sometime).  This old machine went back on EBay, and sold minus a few of the tools for $100.  All in all I had found a hobby and a passion all for the bargain price of $50, I love bargain!

What was your first wood working toy?