The wonder of wood

Wood Turning

27 years ago last month, I had to take early retirement due to injuring my back at work. It wasn't what I would have chosen but it turned out to be a lot better than I had ever hoped. Now I don't have any trouble to speak of with it.

I decided that I was going to occupy my time by making wooden toys and this led to my introduction to wood turning. Not something that I had ever been interested in, but I thought why not? I bought myself a 'lathe' that was powered by my electric drill and after a very short time I got a small self-powered lathe.

Each and every piece I craft is unique. This is what makes woodturning so special. If I have been asked to make two or more things the same I can’t! Even if I get the form the same, the wood is different. I have also learned that each piece of wood has a mind of its own. For example, when it is put on the lathe it could be very easy to turn say a goblet from it. I then put a second piece on the lathe to do a similar piece it can be very difficult to get it to the same shape. That seems crazy, but it's what I have learned in the more than two and a half decades of doing it. It makes doing four eggcups interesting at times.

Over the years I have been asked to make some odd things, like five dozen eggs for a falconry centre - a dozen of each ranging from kestrels to golden eagles. The birds lay, the falconers remove the eggs for incubation and replace them with the wooden ones so the bird won't stress herself by trying to replace them. The eggs are hatched in an incubator and returned to the mums. Another request was five dozen serviette rings for a hotel in Nottingham. Or beer pump handles for various pubs around Stroud, where we used to live. Recently I have turned some knitting needles. Not your ordinary knitting needles. These were 50 and 60 cm long and had 3 diameters of 25, 30 and 40mm! And they are for people to knit with! I was also asked if I could turn 60 little egg trays for swift nest boxes. They are to stop the eggs rolling about in the box and I finished up making 70. It was a pleasure to help in that project.

It is wonderful when I start with a piece of wood that looks as if it would disgrace a firewood pile and out of it comes a quite spectacular candle holder. Or a small piece of wood, full of wood worm holes and once housed an ants nest that then shows as a lovely small dish that would be the centre of interest on any coffee table.

I love a challenge and wondered if I could make a Lazy Susan completely from wood? I gave it some thought and now have just what I wanted to make. The only part that isn't wood is a small amount of wood glue. 18 inch diameter and the ball race is 36 elm balls of 5/8” diameter and they have to be the same size or the top won't turn properly.

I also had the mad hat idea of making a clock! Just a pocket watch, but with a 13” diameter. The only non-wooden parts are the brass screws and the

adjuster on the pendulum. It certainly has been my biggest challenge so far, but along with all of the frustrations has been the satisfaction of seeing it grow into a lovely item. It still needs some fettling to get it to run properly, but I will get there and it will be hung on our wall. I still don't have an expensive lathe and I would never entertain what is called copy turning where you have a bit of kit that controls the cutting tool and follows the shape of a pattern. OK, I could turn out lots of things that have the same shape a lot more quickly than I can by using my eyes and hands, but where is the satisfaction for me in that? Wood and working with it has been a passion of mine for a long time now and I am still surprised when I see what something as simple as a log has hiding inside it. If you would like to see other examples of what I have created, please visit my website at https:// johnamandiers.wixsite.com/johns-w-o-w-1. John Fairbairn