Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2019 i Australian Wood Review

This is quite a robust machine weighing in overall at a hefty 182kg. It comes assembled, bar attaching the fence and some knobs and levers. With its full metal box construction and heavily ribbed planing tables it runs vibration free and relatively quietly. Best of all, it has a quality 44 tooth carbide-tipped spiral cutterhead. Combined with the 5 metre/minute thicknesser speed, this cutterhead gave a superb finish on cranky blackwood and myrtle, both of which are difficult timbers to plane smoothly. At 1100mm long the planer tables are sufficient for a machine of this size. The cast iron thicknesser table is large and supported on a large centre column. Capacity is a full 250mm in planing width and 190mm in thicknessing height. The fence is aluminium and appeared flat…

Limited Edition Years of design development by Bridge City Tool Works founder and tool designer John Economaki have resulted in two highly anticipated high-end planes: the Dual Angle Smoothing Plane and Dual Angle Block Plane. Priced respectively at $1399 and $999 these new offerings are for collectors who also expect superior function. Both planes come with depth skids and two blades that give different cutting options. www.carbatec.com.au Get Square The ProSquare 4 Set-up is a 17mm thick square that sits flat on the table and is thick enough to align the fence with the fixed rail. It’s precision machined from type A bonded plywood and gives a simple and affordable solution that will speed up MFT track saw and other set-ups. At 594 x 394mm it can also be used…

ARE YOU A STUDENT WITH A PASSION FOR WOODWORK? Wood Review’s Student Awards are open to secondary school students enrolled in years 11 and 12 in 2019. Send us photos of a woodwork piece you have made for your chance to win some amazing prizes. Students may enter on their own behalf, or teachers may enter on behalf of their students. entries closing soon Overall Best • Best Design • Best Hand Skills Best Use of Native Timbers • Popular Choice Award Total prize pool $7,500+ enter here ENTRIES CLOSE: 11 DECEMBER 2019 woodreview.com.au/student-awards proudly sponsored by www.tritontools.com Triton Tool Pack including Work Centre with Clamping Module, Precision Router plus Router Table Module, SuperJaws Portable Clamping System, Contractor Saw Module and Precision Circular Saw. www.carbatec.com.au Gift card worth $2,000 www.machineryhouse.com.au…

OFFSET KEY POINT OF INTEREST From Da Vinci to Le Corbusier. From Mozart to human DNA molecules. The Golden Ratio (1 to 1.6180339887) has been referred to as anything from ‘God’s fingerprint’, to the pure mathematical formula to defining beauty. I however, have always remained staunchly in the camp that good art and design should challenge us rather than simply conform. It is therefore important to study and understand ‘rules’ such as the Golden Ratio so that we can learn how to challenge, and ultimately break free from them to create unique work. From the outset, let me make it clear that this article is not an attempt to debunk the Golden Ratio or Fibonacci sequence as being the stuff of myth, legend or pure coincidence. This piece instead reflects…

During your 45 years producing high end cabinetry and furniture you say you’ve had no press or media exposure to speak of and in fact have never sought any. You’ve also stayed out of the network so to speak. Why have you chosen to keep what some might say was a low profile? During the first thirty or so years I was responding to the needs of the market, making stuff that people needed rather than wanted. I found work in what is now called an organic way – personal connection and referrals from previous clients – so the need for other types of exposure was not there. Self-promotion is a minefield, and with the work I have been doing lately, which would benefit from greater exposure, I have preferred…

The Conservation Frames and Furniture Studio at Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) must surely rank as one of the most well equipped workshops around. Everything from a dental probe through to a suite of Martin machinery not to mention a Marunaka surface planer have a home there, and are lovingly used and maintained by the studio’s tight-knit team of three. The studio’s well appointed machine room leads into a long bench room which doubles as space for conservation and restoration treatments, traditional frame making and assembly. Further along, a glass walled office is used for administrative tasks and for housing reference books. Conservation framer, cabinetmaker and studio manager Robert Zilli came to the gallery as a volunteer in 1993. Following two year’s study in furniture restoration…

We are constantly inundated with ads for new tools and gizmos that manufacturers claim we can’t live without. It can be hard to wade through the hype and know if a tool will be truly useful. The following items have proven themselves time and time again and have become go-to tools in my studio. I use them on almost every project. And best of all, they are inexpensive! Shinto Saw Rasp I love my Shinto rasp! Most of my furniture components are highly shaped. Once I remove as much of the waste wood as possible with power tools, the first hand tool I turn to as I start refining the parts is my Shinto. It looks quite barbaric with all of its teeth bared, but it removes material quite quickly.…

Machines and even hand tools are most comfortable creating flat surfaces at right angles to one another. Blades, fences, and tables do tilt but the starting reference is always 90°. Most technical drawings used to describe an object work with the same principle, there’s a front, top and side view all at right angles to one another. When furniture and the various components are no longer at right angles and begin veering into curved or angled forms the construction certainly becomes more challenging. Formulas or computer programs for calculating compound inclines are available but I avoid them because the resulting numbers still have to be tried, often more than once, to the part or machine or hand tool surfaces. Working with wood is often a subtractive process so I like…

If you’re new to woodturning and looking for a lathe to get you started but also keep up with demands as your skills and exploration of turning develop, a ‘midi’ could be just what you’re looking for. Alternatively, you may just be looking for a back up lathe that doesn’t take up too much space but has the oomph and features of a full size lathe – in this case the midi could also be the solution. What is a ‘midi’ lathe? Nowadays the line between definitions can be blurred either by the capacity of the machine and its overall size, as well as the marketing of retailers, so here’s a summary of what my research found. A midi generally has a swing of at least 300mm, distance between centres…

You have said that you didn’t choose furniture making as a career, that it chose you. Were you already a maker? How did you discover woodworking and then decide that was your path? I had taken some art classes, but didn’t think of myself as an artist or a maker (that term wasn’t in our lexicon back then!). After high school, I attended Bowdoin College, a small liberal arts school in Maine. We were required to take classes in many different areas, regardless of major. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, but I thought it was going to be something in science because I really enjoyed those classes in high school. And then I started taking art classes. I loved making something with my own two hands,…

I find some of George Nakashima’s mid-century splayed leg table designs inspiring and decided to adopt the same line of simplicity with the new dining table I recently built. Walnut has always been one of my favourite hardwoods. It is easy to work with, and most importantly, it can, depending on the lighting, appear dark or glowing gold with its depth and wild pattern. With the proper finish, it can maintain its character and grace as it ages. While the style of the table is important, its size is crucial. I followed the standard dining table dimensions as shown in the cutting list. The tabletop is a straightforward build, but the angled rail-to-leg joinery adds complexity. In this joint, the splayed, tapered legs are also sloping while they are joined…