Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2021 i Australian Wood Review

Wood and art Two of the makers featured this issue have an unusually strong connection to the arts. It’s a connection that translates through to the way they work. Over the years I’ve met and learned of so many woodworkers who are truly multi-talented with not only other skills, but who have significant expertise in other professions. Malcolm Gladwell’s oft-quoted measure of mastery is 10,000 hours of practice, but for an Australian Ballet soloist and a conservatorium trained musician 20 years experience as a luthier as well, the hours spent would far exceed that. Not all skills are transferable, and learning new skills can take a person back to absolute beginner status, but having developed the discipline and understanding of how to learn must certainly help. They’re at different stages…

Craftsman: Samuel Ryrie Material: Tasmanian oak Dimensions: 400 x 403 x 650mm Finish: oil applied with a roller after 180 grit orbital sanding Hardware: Blum Movento Timber and veneer board: $500 Hardware: $199 CNC outsourcing for jigs: $25 Carcases time tally: 25 hours Drawer time (includes fitting runners and false fronts): 5.75 hours each Overall time tally: 48 hours Louvre bedside cabinets represent the ‘bread and butter’ skilled cabinetmaking practised daily by the team. Crisp mitred joints and chamfer profiles show careful planning, precision machining and thoughtful glue-up operations. Finger jointed drawers run on commercial runners which allow quick and easy soft-close operation. This style of work is intended to be heirloom quality: durable, serviceable and easy to live with: furniture that is used multiple times a day while on…

What’s your favourite hand tool? My Lie-Nielsen block plane is my go-to for a lot of things. Your favourite machine? There’s nothing quite like freshly dimensioned flat and square timber, so I really enjoy using the thicknesser and planer. Favourite process? Isn’t most people’s favourite process putting on that first coat of oil? To be honest, handcut joinery and finishing are the things I most enjoy doing. Not every design allows for detailed joinery, but when it does and I can pick up my hand tools, I will! Is there anything about woodworking that drives you nuts? I know from working with epoxy resin that it’s not the easiest thing to work with so I like to steer away from it. Worst thing about woodworking? You know I’ve ruined so…

Diary listings are free. Email to: linda@woodreview.com.au Note: Listings are correct at time of publication but may be subject to change. Itis advisable to check details with the organiser before visiting. For more events and news sign up to AWR fortnightly newsletters at: www.woodreview.com.au 8 JUNE Annual Open Day Gippsland Woodcraft Group 843 Maffra / Rosedale Road Nambrok, Vic Email: bluey@internode.net.au, phone 0437510950 13–15 AUGUST WA Wood Show 2021 & WA Craft Show Claremont Showgrounds, Perth, WA www.wawoodshow.com.au 27–29 AUGUST Melbourne Timber, Tools & Artisan Show Melbourne Showgrounds www.timbertoolsartisan.com.au SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER Indian Ocean Craft Triennial Makers, artists and crafted works from countries around the Indian Ocean Rim www.indianoceancrafttriennial.com 5 SEPTEMBER Maker of the Year 2021 Deadline for entries www.woodreview.com.au/moty2021 18–20 SEPTEMBER Annual Exhibition featuring Golden Gouge Woodcraft Competition Toowoomba & District…

Is instrument making an art or science? If it’s a science you could just buy a factory made one. Handmade is the difference. Is it about precision, or feel? Some things have to be as precise as possible, like the fingerboard, which is important for playability, as well as the shape of the neck and the set-up of the fingerboard. Smooth and shiny is an art. The arching of the top needs to be precise, but it’s a feel. Your favourite wood? Birdseye maple. Why is varnishing your favourite process? It’s like dressing the violin, you see it in its own beauty and the varnish determines the sound as well, more than you would think. And it’s very challenging as well. Your favourite tool? My finger planes. What percentage of…

Large 350 to 400mm wide planers have been coming out of Taiwan for years now, and in fact many, many thousands would have been made. In my opinion, and I might be wrong, this machine is based around one such machine, given the basic design and positioning of various components. That’s not a bad thing as these are good machines. To my eye however, Laguna have fully modernised the older design and added many refinements. Heavy at 230kg, this is a large and obviously well made machine. The attention to detail is very good. The quality seems as good as any other machine I have reviewed. It is quite large but much of this is due the to fully enclosed cabinet. The top is hinged for opening to access the…

This ruler is a new take on the traditional folding wood rule. The folding wood rule was a mainstay in my workshop 35 years ago, everyone from cabinetmakers to carpenters had one. You can get the modern Stanley version of this as a plastic one today and it works pretty well, if not a little plain looking. Like the original, this new rule, designed by builder and maker Regan Low in New Zealand, is really good. Folded it is a compact 150mm long, or fully opened it extends to 600mm. It is very well made from 5mm thick ABS plastic with brass pin and protractor head. It’s available in black or a fluoro green. The bright green is arguably better for site or workshop use as it is harder to…

Craftsman: Nathan Cummins Material: American white oak timber and commercially veneered MDF Dimensions: 451 x 394 x 621mm Hardware: Hafele Matrix Box Slim Finish: Black lacquer finish Timber and board: $333 Hardware: $142 CNC outsourcing for jigs: $25 Spraying: $360 Carcases time tally: 24 hours Drawer time (including the custom handled false fronts, fitting runners and box assembly): 3hrs each R&D time: 6 hours Overall time tally: 42 hours Pulse bedside cabinets in American white oak with black lacquer make a point of celebrating form and function. The subtly expressed wood grain can be seen through the black finish and draws attention to the timber elements. The finger pull detail was designed as the hero element, with a striking endgrain cross section visible when the drawers are opened. The Hafele…

The bandsaw is undoubtedly one of the most versatile machines in the workshop, but getting the best out of it requires choosing the most appropriate blade for the task at hand. Blades vary in three primary ways – tooth type, tooth pitch and band width. The following factors will greatly influence the choice of blade in one or more of these variables. Material to be cut Bandsaws can be used to cut materials other than wood and this is a prime factor in selecting a blade for the task. They are commonly used to cut non-ferrous metals (such as brass, copper, aluminium), acrylic and other rigid plastics, frozen flesh and carcasses, and even ice (my local tackle store has a small bandsaw). Wood is a little more forgiving in blade…

It would be unusual not to find the humble card scraper and burnisher always at hand in most woodworking shops. In mine, a scraper is often to be found in my apron pocket. This simple tool is arguably the most versatile of all, especially when an understanding and skill is developed to make full use of it. However its simplicity belies the complexity and skill required to sharpen and use it properly. Tool anatomy Typically, a card scraper measures 150 x 70mm and varies in thickness between 0.4 and 1.0mm. In fig.1 the ‘face corners’ are the four corners you see when the face of the scraper faces you, while the ‘edge corners’ are adjacent to the edge of the tool. Like any product, some are better than others, so…

A drill press needs to drill holes precisely in a variety of materials. That means it requires: an accurately calibrated quill or spindle that can indicate hole depths, a solid moveable table, the ability to change speeds, and next to no run-out. Most drill presses on the market, more or less, have these features. But very few presses actually tick all the boxes. I bought a Parken drill press in 2014, and these are my thoughts on the purchase. Parken Engineering has been open for business since 1945, as a partnership between ‘Pardy’ Haussegger and Ken Pizzey, with the name ‘Parken’ derived from a combination of their names. Michael and Karl Haussegger (brothers) took over the business in 1972 and have been working out of the original factory site in…

As a furniture designer and maker, I’m constantly challenging myself and being challenged to create new and different pieces that deliver both functionality and style. A maker at heart I’m drawn towards traditional design elements, and techniques that have stood the test of time with inspiration coming from many sources. On the flip side I understand the benefits that modern machinery and clean lines can bring to a piece, so with a lot of my work I aim to strike a balance between the two. Synthesising styles My latest piece stemmed from my appreciation for the work of the New England, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island cabinetmakers at the end of the 18th century. Elegant and well-proportioned pieces with beautiful carved sections and elaborate mouldings were their speciality. The highboys and…

Craftsman: Rolf Barfoed Dimensions: 380 x 380 x 500mm high Material: Tasmanian blackwood, silver ash Finish: three coats of Danish oil Hardware purchased: None Timber: $766 CNC outsourcing: $150 Carcases time tally: 29 hours Drawers time (including runners): 9.25 hours each Recessed handle time: 2.5 hours each Overall time tally: 114 hours Exo bedside cabinets are an extension of the Exo series I’ve been working on since 2017 and are the most technical of the three pieces. Exo’s design is rooted in my understanding of designing for timber. Its key aesthetic details include the corner rebate ‘waterfall’ from one component to the next and the clean intersection this produces at the top of each leg. This pair of Exo bedside cabinets exhibits peak craftsmanship, including hand cut dovetail joinery, traditional…

Fourteen years with the Australian Ballet might seem an unlikely training ground for a fine woodworker, and yet, creating furniture for a small but growing clientele is now the daily practice routine for Vivienne Wong. ‘When I left (the ballet)’, said Vivienne, 38, ‘I knew I wanted to do something creative and physical. I’ve always liked making things and working with my hands so I did a short course in furniture making at Melbourne Polytechnic. After that finished I wanted to pursue it further but didn’t know how, so I reached out to a lot of people just to get an understanding of the industry, what was involved, and how to start to learn.’ After that, around four years ago, Vivienne enrolled in a course at Handsome & Co, and…

The names of Italian violin makers form a glorious lineage – Stradivari, Guarneri, Amati, Ruggieri, Seraphin are synonymous with beautiful music. Today that tradition lives on in the Vettori family workshop in Florence. Three generations ago, Dario Vettori was a talented musician who passed his instrument making skills on to his son Paolo, who in turn taught his sons Dario and Lapo, and his daughter Sofia who now lives in Indianapolis, USA. ‘Woods that make music, isn’t it the beauty we are living for?’, says Sofia Vettori, 39 who has a ‘a love for music and a passion for playing’. Take a wander through her social media you will learn that not only is she a maker of stringed orchestral instruments, but also a children’s book author, a film maker…