Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2021 i Australian Wood Review

The journey forward We live in a world of ironies – we may be grateful that 2020 is over, but the pandemic is still with us. Small-scale woodworking has proved to be an ideal isolation pursuit. Keeping their distance, makers have learnt to connect through a variety on online platforms, forums and workshops. While some industries have been hit hard, I’ve heard several reports of suppliers experiencing best ever sales figures. Resilience, persistence and perhaps above all, adaptability, are qualities that seem to carry some individuals and industries through. This applies in no small measure to the maker featured on our cover. Fifteen years ago Nathan Day wrote an article for this magazine about his experiences as a trainee in the UK Edward Barnsley workshop. He had just returned home…

I’ve owned one of these machines for nearly three years and I absolutely love it. This standalone, floor-standing thicknesser from the Felder stable is a seriously capable machine that adds significant productivity to my business. With a cutting width of 630mm, I use the full capacity of this machine for processing whole workbench tops and dining tabletop halves, greatly speeding up production. The available cutting height is 3.0–300mm. The ability to cut down to 3mm without a supplementary sled or table base is a significant advantage over many other thicknessers on the market. The maximum height of 300mm means I’m able to dress the edges of wide boards for tabletops through this machine with astounding accuracy and resulting in glue-ready edges straight out of the machine. Fitted standard with a…

There’s a place in north-west Italy, where the mountains meet the sea – a little city called Chiavari. Located in the Liguria region, it is home to one of the pinnacles of Italian design, the Chiavarina chair. Born at the beginning of the 1800s, and kept alive by the skilled hands of passionate artisans, it is today the protagonist of a small family based business by the name of Fratelli Levaggi that was founded some 60 years ago. I had the opportunity to visit recently and want to tell you about them. ‘Them’ because Fratelli Levaggi literally means the Levaggi brothers. A real life legend For quite some time now I have really wanted to see one of their chairs up close. The beautiful photos and videos you can find…

There is a sense of kinship among woodworkers that is a mix of respect for hard-won skills and an understanding that it isn’t necessarily an easy life. For thirty years I have been writing about such people because, as a woodworker myself, I wonder why they have embraced this sometimes unpredictable life. I recently moved to the Queensland city of Ipswich and there I heard a compelling story, rich in mystery and local history, and I soon realised that I wanted more woodworkers to hear it. One of the first places I visited was the Ipswich Art Gallery and as soon as I entered my attention was caught by a glass-fronted display case containing carved wooden boxes, picture frames and architectural features. My first impression was that it was very…

There are bigger, heavier and more powerful hollow chisel mortisers around, most of which hail from the heyday of post WW2 British woodworking machinery excellence, but for the fine furniture maker, the Taiwan-made Hafco machine doesn’t disappoint. The last statement is a rare one coming from me, as I have always been suspicious of the quality of any woodworking machine not designed and built in Europe. This machine is a little gem. It’s a smallish, robust machine that has been around for many years and comes with well-engineered, separate dovetail-guided XY tables and plunging head. The castings and machining of all its components appear to be substantial enough, done with care, and work flawlessly. It comes complete on a stand that serves as a convenient storage cupboard and also has…

I became aware of Olivia Faire a couple of years ago when one of her fans in the UK sent me a photograph of an example of her work, a marquetry bird. It was striking in every way; the design, selection of materials and masterful execution. Olivia was raised in a creative household, her mother a couturier and her father an architect. She completed a BA in Fashion Womenswear at Central St Martins in London before she took up her interest in marquetry in earnest. Olivia works from her studio in the UK, from where she talked to me by telephone. When were you bitten by the marquetry bug, and how did that come about? I became aware of marquetry during my childhood, being willingly dragged around many museums and…

Machined mortises, or deep slots, can be made square or round-ended. The latter are made with rotating cutters fitted either to hand-held routers or dedicated, oscillating slot-mortise machines. These slots are created very quickly through multiple, shallow plunges while simultaneously traversing, with depth and end-to-end stops adjusted to the dimensions required. Traditional, square-ended mortises are either cut by hand or by machine, using either a chain or hollow chisel mortiser (HCM) (photos 1, 2). The plunging head of the HCM consists of a hollow, square chisel into which a special drill bit called an auger is fitted (photo 3). It holds the fixed chisel in place and also a motor-driven chuck that houses the auger. The length of the auger is smaller in diameter than its nominal size so it…

In my efforts to become a better finisher I found a barrier to improvement that started with just how unapproachable and confusing some finishes can be. Many are industrially produced in ways most of us have never seen, and there are lots of rumours and anecdotes around finishes that are hard to know when to trust. ‘Varnishes’ never appealed to me originally in the way that shellac, oils, and waxes did, partly because of how easy those other materials are to understand. Varnishes seemed an old fashioned and potentially a dated material. This isn’t true however. What is a varnish? While the term ‘varnish’ has lost its prominence, the concept is still relevant and useful. Varnish describes any finish containing a resin. Resin is a pretty broad term. It encompasses…

Cyclone Power Laguna dust extractors are now available in Australia from Carbatec and the features on these heavy-duty, premium build machines made in Taiwan make them worth considering. Offering the cleanest air of all, the P-Flux3 cyclone dust extractor is powerful at 3hp (2200w) 15 amp and 2250cfm. HEPA filtration is 100% of one micron particles and 94% of particles down to 0.4 micron. There’s on/off remote control, three dust ports and the unit conveniently sits on castors. www.carbatec.com.au Meet the Ambassador New on the scene, the Harvey C200-30 tablesaw is an entry level cabinet tablesaw with an up-to-date design. Features include a 27” x 40” cast iron table, cabinet-mounted cast iron trunnion, plug-in quick-release blade guard, riving knife system, rip Master T-square fence with high-low aluminium fence plate, cast…

Not many of us have the luxury of unlimited space or money, so the majority of us have to think carefully about the machines we bring into the shop. As efficient as a machine can make certain operations, the reality is they take up valuable square metres and it’s not just the machine that takes up the room. The real space hogs are the in- and out-feed areas the machines require for processing timber. Since not every woodworker has the space or money to buy every machine, it pays to be judicious about it. For years I’ve referred to my machines as my apprentices because they are valuable and help to complete the tasks that I don’t necessarily want to spend my time doing. While I know how to flatten…

Diary listings are free. Email to: linda@woodreview.com.au Note: Listings are current at time of printing but may be subject to change, especially with regard to active COVID-19 restrictions. Always check details with organisers before planning to visit For more events and news sign up to AWR fortnightly newsletters at: www.woodreview.com.au 14 FEBRUARY–4 APRIL The Millennials Contemporary furniture by Rolf Barfoed, Elliot Bastianon, Andrew Carvolth Sturt Gallery, Mittagong, NSW www.sturt.nsw.edu.au 15 FEBRUARY Maker of the Year 2021 Awards Wood Review’s online and print showcase for fine woodworking presented by Carbatec. Entries open, information and entry via: www.woodreview.com.au/moty2021 14 FEBRUARY–17 MAY Cascade: Furniture by Duncan Young with Global Arts Projects Sofitel on Collins Hotel, Melbourne www.youngfurniturestudio.net 21–24 FEBRUARY Making It Craft Symposium Online presentations and discussions by Craft Victoria www.craft.org.au/makingit Until MARCH…