Gathering wood in Devon

A couple of weeks ago Myself ,Adam Cornish, Mark Sanger and my Son Mark spent an enjoyable day gathering wood on a private property in Devon.The trees had been cut down by a Professional tree Surgeon and we were harvesting suitable wood for turning from them.There was some really nice wood inc
Cedar of Leanon (Cedrus Labani )
Holm Oak (Quercue Ilex )
Turkey Oak (Quercus Cerris )
Yew (Taxus Baccata)
The Holm Oak had been cut down about three years ago and is heavily spalted.

Chainsaws used.
Husqvarna 372XP for the large wood with ripping chains and cross cut chains.
Husqvarna 135 for smaller branch wood.
Two super Chainsaws.

Some pictures taken throuught the day by Mark Sanger.



 The end of a very productive and enjoyable day.

How lucky are we to spend the day here

                                  The big saw goes through this Oak like hot butter

                                                         Adam giving orders LOL

Ripping 

 Lunch time Curry and rice

 Mark carrying wood up steep slope

 Mark doing what he does best posing

 Some lovely Yew

 Quite a carry thankfully not for me I was the Chainsaw Guy

Now I have to prosses this lot and that is not a five minute job.

All cut into rounds now ready to rough out .

Sizes from 12" x 3" to 18" x 6"

 That is not supposed to happen

 Spalted Holm Oak

That is my share roughed out and as soon as the outer surface is dry they will be end sealed and put away for the future.Roughly sixty the largest approx18"

A birthday present for Nigel

My Student today was Nigel who's day here was a Birthday present from his Wife Linda.
This was Nigels first go at Woodturning and it was made harder for him because he turned a lovely textured and coloured Bowl from Oak.
I do not normally let first time Students use Oak for several reasons it is more expensive for me to buy it is harder to turn and I don't always have any of a suitable size for a Student to turn.
I recently put a picture up on Face book of some Oak I had bought and Nigel commented is some of that some for me so I thought why not.
I Had turned some nice oak Bowls recently that were scorched and coloured with Martin Saban Smiths coloured wax's.Nigel said he liked them and would like to make the same so that is what he did and turned out a very respectable bowl.
It is coloured with green Wax because Nigel said that is Linda's favourite colour.
Very well done Nigel

Farmer Colin

My Student yesterday was Colin a Farmer from the Blackdown hills near Taunton.
Colin's day here was a Birthday present from his family and I am sure they will be pleased with the Sycamore bowl he made.
Farmers are always very good with their hand because they look after their buildings and machinery and Colin was no exception.
very well done Colin.

Tom and Naomi

An easy day today with Tom and Naomi they were very easy too teach and great company.
Tom and Naomi turned two very nice Sycamore bowls.
Very well done both of you.

Margaret and Helen

Two lovely Lady Students today and I get paid for it what could be better than that.They were great company a lot of fun and they they were easy to teach.They both did well making lovely Sycamore bowls Margarets was plain wood and helens had a textured and coloured rim.

Jax is back

My Student today was Jax who was here for the 5Th time this year and she is improving all the time.Jax does not have a lathe of her own so her only experience is when she comes here.Considering she gets no practise between visits she soon settles back into her turning and this time because she has made such improvement she had time to make two very nice bowls.One is turned from Walnut about 11" x 5" the other is Oak about 8" x 2".She likes making bowls and up to now she has given every one away as presents but she is coming back next month to make one for herself.