Spinning around
The last couple of weeks has been filled with spinning things! Every year The Climbing Works hosts the Beastmaker Indoor Footless Festival (or BIFF as its become known). Every year I try and dream up a challenge for the final - its an opportunity for me to dream up some stupid machine, and then try to build it. Past BIFF finals have included swinging trapezes, rotating beams, an adjustable horizontal crack machine - it's basically a chance for me to dream up some bizarre tort
Wooden truffles
So Kirk at Exotic Hardwoods over in Staffordshire often points me at interesting bits of wood to turn, and last time I was over to see him he gave me a Briar burr. This is a horrible looking lump of root, dug out of the ground and covered in mud - like a fossilised elephant poo according to my children! It has been sitting under the lathe for months now, waiting for the moment when I felt brave enough to try and mount the awkwardly shaped lump on the machine. Well, the moment
Bowls
While the weather is cold, I've decided to try stay in the warm and try to make a dent in the large pile of 'interesting' lumps of wood that have been accumulating under my lathe. First lumps I came across was a section of red oak that came from somebodies back garden in Whirlow about 18 months ago, and I also unearthed a big knobbly bump from the side of a stem of yew that came from Broomhill. I also found a stash of Laburnum logs that I'd forgotten about, but are probably n
