From the Wood to the Workshop

I was contacted just over a week ago by the Secretary of the Matlock Canoe Slalom Club in Derbyshire, as they had seen what I had done for the club my cousin belongs to, and was asked if I could do them some Coasters of an upcoming Competition that they will be holding soon… 57 Coasters of there design that will get a Sanding Sealer and a Waterproof Wax to seal them, and then sent off to there new home… Hope you like…

The dragon 🐉 that I laser engraved on to a scrap piece of Oak Burr with Metallic Grey Resin, then proceeded to Dremel carve out.. but decided to add a bit of colour to it, has all been sanded down and Waxed using Mircocrystalline Wax from Chestnut Products and buffed up… oh and logo’d up too!
Hope you like the end result…

Part 2… of what I’ve been up today and am still in the workshop!!
Used my late father fret saw to cut out the resin, now just to sand them all down… and been dremel carving out the dragon.. and added a bit of colour just going to let it dry out over night before I finish it off…

Put the laser engraver to work this morning cutting out some veneer to make some templates up as going to make use of some resin left over from the last pour, and also engraved a dragon 🐉 out on some oak burr, will trim it all down and then see where it all takes me… the dragon I burnt into the veneer took some cutting out !!

All hand cut using a coping saw… now the interesting bit carving them into shape, a couple broke bits off but glued them back up …

When my cousin Matt, took a yr out and went travelling several yrs back now, he sent me a Māori fishing hook design necklace.. so went in the workshop and felt like doing something a bit different so went online to look for some Māori inspired jewellery and found some fishing hook designs… laser engraved them onto some pieces of Yew (Taxus Baccata) that I cut down in thickness on the bandsaw, and now got to cut them out by hand, carve and shape up….

So a couple months ago I was given a couple knuckles off a tree by a tree surgeon friend and we think it is either Field Maple or Sycamore, anyways I decided I would try to turn it up on the lathe and here is the end result… it has only been finished with a Sanding Sealer coat and buffed up a bit…
Everything I make is for Sale so if you see something you like or would like making just drop me a message, and I will see what I can do for you…

I was asked by a family member if I could do some Coasters for the Canoe club they belong too, I said yes ok.. they needed them for the beginning of July 24 no problem and to do them 90 Coasters of which I did an extra four for them.. I got notified this morning that everyone loved them and will possibly get some more work generated from it … the Coasters were all sealed with a Sanding Sealer Coat 1st and then a Waterproof Wax as a finish coat… and sent them off to there new home up in Yorkshire..

So been busy in my workshop making a base up for the piece I’ve been making on my last 3 wks of the beginners course the base is Walnut and the writing has been laser engraved into a piece of Beech, and have cut a slot for the piece to sit into.. just got to add the finishing touches in class this wk..

As I didn’t go to the museum today as I had messed my back up at work on Friday, I sat down in my workshop and created a Sterling Silver band punched on the inside and stuck 2 veneers on the outside one being Walnut and the outer one being Oak veneer and then laser engraved a logo on the outside, sanding sealed and put a hard wearing waterproof wax over the top .. not bad for a 1st attempt..

Well I have set up the new laser engraver… had quite a bit of head scratching as to why I couldn’t get the roller to work with the laser, but I think it’s to do with one setting 🤷🏼‍♂️ but will keep trying! Been trying out a few bits on it but it take a bit of time to get used to it.. it does sooooo much more than the LP1 Pro I’ve got… I burnt my logo onto a piece of coated aluminium… WOW oh WOWSERS that is soooo impressive and it burns sooo much quicker than the other one … and it puts sooo much more detail into what it burns ….

Just finished a Gnonk commission for a retirement present for a work colleague of one of my cousin’s that is travelling down from Yorkshire for the wk/end to see family and while I was busy in the workshop I did a set of 4 Coasters for my cousin…

Last night was my 2nd evening of an 8 wk beginners course at BENCH space with our Great tutor Karen learning how to do Silver Smithing, last wk we learn’t how to texture and imprint into copper, this wk we had to draw a shape or pattern on to a piece of paper and stick to a piece of copper sheet, we start off using copper as it’s cheaper than using Silver, once used to making we will move over to Silver Sheet..
I was set a challenge by Karen to drill one 1mm hole on my piece and cut around it making pieces, and I got to cut out a 2nd piece but left it attached and stood it up so to look like either 3D or relief…
Check out the page above if you’re interested in any classes I highly recommend them…
Am looking to add silver into some of my pieces in the future…

Well … I picked up some more bits from my cousins this morning on my way to work, I have been a busy bee behind the scenes in planning and scheming ideas for when I start my 8wks beginners class next week in Silver Smithing making Jewellery… anyways some of the things I picked were some silver findings to finish off some necklaces I’ve been making with lead cord and the pieces I’ve made are like the shape of sharks teeth using some off cuts of wood & resin that I had left over.. here are the photos of the finished products, if your interested ping me a message..

Just finished another commission.. was asked by Kev Cousins if I could make a sign to go up in one of there buildings at there house, I used a piece of Sapele and some Walnut Veneer, it definitely isn’t an easy task cutting out letters in veneer even if I used my laser engraver to burn out the letters individually, then to cut out each letter so I could sit the veneers in level with the surface, but here’s the end project…

Just recently was asked if I could make a sign up for Jenny Cousins to go into one of there buildings at home and also got to make one up for Kev Cousins too will be starting that one this wk/end..

This evening I finished off a commission of 6 Gnonks that Nigel Spinks of Chim Chimney asked me to make for him… hope you like…

Workshop day for me as weather isn’t supposed to be great today… will be a busy one as got an order of 6 Gnonks to make for Someone so I had better get cracking on with it …

I did a Gnonk for a friend who works for a well known Tractor brand, it may make its way into his lorry when he’s out delivering or picking up Machinery… hope you all like…

I did an Oak Burr bowl blank with resin for a couple of good friends of my parents as they both like the one I did, anyway my parents friend now struggles to turn large pieces so I got it back and said I would turn it up for them both… it was sooo hard I snapped my Roughing Gouge in half… here are the photos from start to finish and standing next to the bowl did for my folks …

Well the wait is over for all you football fans…,
I was asked by Jenny Cousins if I could make a football inspired Gnonk for her of a local team that she follows…
Apparently the colour of the hat is the home colour and the beard is for the away colour… Hope you all like…

Firstly I would like to thank Paul Schofield who very kindly designed my logo for me, very much appreciated thank you 🙏🏻…… and this morning I went to pick up 4 new signs that were made for me by a true Craftsman of his work Roger Berwick - Cabinet Maker, check out his page he does make some truly amazing pieces all from wood… Thank you both truly from the bottom of my heart ….

Been in the workshop this evening and turned up a new Gnonk, it will be off to its new home when I see the person it’s for….

Back in the workshop today … blinking rain glad I have got some bits to make for someone…

Using one of my bowls to hold sweet treats …

So I was asked by my good friend Brian Edevane if I could make a base up for a new dash mascot for his new works lorry …. The base is American Cherry, I hand cut out so the little would sit on the base without moving, Sanding Sealed the wood and then applied a coat of wax to the sides and top..

Well… I have finally finished this bowl I was making, but not by using my lathe as it was way too big to fit on.. so had to sheet up part of the workshop, I used a Turbo Plane on my mini angle grinder, to shape the outside and hollow out the inside, then sand it down using my Arbotech cutter with Sanding Discs attached, then hand Sanding using various grits of sandpaper, Sanding Sealer and finally wax coating…
Before I did any work I used about £100 worth of resin to make sure it covered all the splits… with the work in cutting it out and shaping up including Sealer and Wax the cost of this bowl will be over £200.00.. if interested in the bowl I will let you know exactly how much it is via a private message..

A couple more Coasters done with the Laser Engraver … just got to seal the Coasters

Well that’s another Gnonk done and will soon be off to it’s new forever home…..

Firstly I would like to thank my dear friend Karen Haynes for sorting this out for me and Secondly to Donna at DM Designs Digitising & Embroidery for doing an outstanding job on producing 2 embroided polo shirts with my Logo on the front and back, I love them thank you 🙏🏻 so so much ..