Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2022 i Australian Wood Review

There was a time when the laminate trimmer was nothing more than that, destined for a life of trimming kitchen benchtops. Over the last decade or so, these small hand held routers have become indispensable for a huge variety of tasks in the modern workshop, from running a quick consistent chamfer to cleaning out dovetails and roughing out waste on relief carvings. Having relied on a trusted Porter Cable trimmer for longer than I can remember, I was particularly eager to test the M18-FTR-0 trim router from Milwaukee for two reasons. First, the integrated LED lighting on modern tools like these is something my ageing eyesight was keen to explore and second, moving to cordless would see an end to the occasional trapped power cord which had an annoying knack…

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After making a mid-century style dining table some years ago (AWR #105), I searched with little success for a chair design that would match the splayed leg feature of the table. While re-reading the third volume of Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking, I came to realise that Frid had built his three-legged stools in three different seat heights of 13", 19" and 22". This discovery essentially ended my search, as I decided to build a set of chairs based on his middle, or chair height, version. The three-legged chair I followed Frid’s design, including the short backrest that, in conjunction with the T-shaped seat, prevents the tipping over of the chair. I made only a few minor cosmetic changes to the chair: a personalised finger slot on the backrest, less curvature…

‘Flow: a state of complete absorption with the activity at hand, a highly focused mental state conducive to productivity.’ The term ‘flow’ was coined by Hungarian-American psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and aptly conveys the intensity and focus of the year’s learning for the twelve students at the Sturt School for Wood in 2021. Late last year the motley cohort – coming from a variety of backgrounds and places – pulled together their major pieces from the year for the graduate exhibition, Flow, at Sturt Gallery in Mittagong, NSW. This was the culmination and celebration of the group’s learning as designer makers of fine furniture under the expert guidance of world-class tutors Roy Schack, David Upfill-Brown and Peter Young, with visiting tutors Darren Oates and Paul Nicholson. As Richard Leplastrier AO, renowned…

The previous Veritas Mark II honing guide suffered from two problems (see my review in AWR#90). Because it clamped the blade above and below, it was not good at holding narrow blades. A side clamping addition fixed this problem, but it did add considerably to the price. The most common side-clamping honing guide is the Eclipse type. The new Veritas side clamping guide is a much-improved version. The body is made from die-cast zinc alloy with precision machined brass and stainless steel parts. Chisels and plane blades fit into either upper or lower ways. Veritas recommend using the upper ways for low-angle blades to give as much forward extension of the blade as possible, while the lower ways should be used for thicker blades to give more secure clamping. The…

There is a lot to tell about this project. In essence, it was a huge sculpture job centred around a very well known and much loved 150-year-old oak tree at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. On December 27, 2019 there was a catastrophic collapse of the entire tree. This sort of collapse is extremely rare and was exacerbated somewhat by the cabling so often done around the world to support big trees in unnatural environments. The RBGV now has a newer system called dynamic cabling which allows the big branches to move more naturally. The White Oak Project is the brainchild of the Gardens’ dynamic Landscape Architect Andrew Laidlaw and is unique in the world. Although it was a catastrophic event, the way that the tree collapsed was ironically beautiful.…

I’ve been working with my hands for the best part of 20 years, building boats, homes, engines and machines. I love being able to produce beautiful things that bring new experiences to people but it is the rhythm of seeing these things emerge from nothing but an idea or a vision that really propels my work. It is no surprise then that music has always held a defining role in how I work; whether it is holding my focus or building my momentum, it is an element that underpins the rhythm of my projects all the way from concept to completion. From a very young age I was drawn to music, not only music but the way sound is delivered. I think I was an audiophile before I knew what…

The anatomy of a screw comes down to variations on a theme: threads, shank and head. Traditional screw designs usually feature a single thread, shallow pitch, larger diameter shank, and often a slotted head for hand driving. More often than not, such screws are limited to countersink, raised and round head types. Newer designs have single or twin threads often with a much higher pitch, a narrow shank and a drive solution that suits power tools. We can now choose from self-drilling tips and self-seating heads, to different thread and shank lengths. And specialty features abound, including asymmetric threads, reverse threads, shank ribbing, exotic coatings and materials, a plethora of head choices, and so forth. What differentiates screws for me is primarily the drive system, or the connection between the…

Karl Holtey, Holtey Planes, Scotland, UK Milling metal and routing wood are not too dissimilar. You use cutters to remove waste, whilst jigs and work-holding attachments allow repetition and accuracy. You don’t need to be a good woodworker to make great planes, but you do need to be a great metal worker to make good planes. As with woodwork, the smaller the components, the greater the need for precision, and planemaker Karl Holtey loves all this. Fine detailed metalwork which is milled in complex shapes, running batches of components or hand polishing and detailing small pieces of metal are Karl’s sweet moments in his nicely fitted out and immaculate workshop. Was there a lightbulb moment when he decided to make planes professionally? ‘My interest was to build miniature steam locomotives…

Round tables are an economical way to seat people, and another plus is that, without a ‘head of the table’, they offer equality to all in seating arrangement. The brief for this table was 1000mm diameter to seat four. Ideally I allow 650mm minimum width per person for reasonable comfort when seated at a table. In this case a 1000mm diameter gives a circumference of 3140mm, so at 650mm person it will comfortably seat four to six people. Going local Many local woodworkers these days seem to use only imported wood for their work. I can understand being part of a global community, and the delights of using some of the best woods available, however let’s not forget what wonderful local woods we have here in Australia. This table uses…

Having worked with a conventional tablesaw for 30 years, I found the transition to a sliding tablesaw (‘slider’) mentally and practically daunting. I was so unfamiliar with sliders that I knew little about their pros and cons. However, I have learned to adapt my methods of work and would never return to a conventional saw. The fundamental difference involves how material is introduced to the sawblade. No longer does the operator push timber through the cut. Instead, timber is clamped to the sliding table and the whole package – sliding table, outrigger table, and timber – is moved through the cut. This equates to significant safety and accuracy gains. Ripping On a conventional tablesaw ripping operations are usually achieved on the right side of the blade. After adjusting the rip…