Plum Shelves

I had some plum cut at the sawmill, it was too large for my little bandsaw and would have been too wasteful trying. These are the 1st of 3 sets of shelves built from it. The 3rd set just needs sanding so will be along soon :)

Square Cherry Wood Bowls

This is the largest of the square bowls yet (and almost the last after I caught 3 fingers while spinning it at 750rpm, very sore knuckles for a week!) Really lovely grain and colour, it sold to one of the very 1st people to see it!

Large blank ready for turning.

1st side turned, the inside is always harder, trying to copy the curve of the outside.

Knee deep in shavings just after the 1st side...

Waist high shavings after turning the inside!!

Rough finished prior to sanding & polishing...

After sanding & polishing...

The best pictures I could get....

..taken at the church that the event was being held at.

& a 2nd bowl

Slightly richer colour than the last but with the same timber

Walnut & Ash Side Tables/ Sofa End Tables

A pair of sofa end tables made from bookmatched planks of English Blackheart Walnut with turned Ash legs. I made these after making the little Yew table a while ago. Really nice result with a very slender & elegant form.

Square Oak Bowl

A square bowl, commissioned by a client with his own timber - very highly figured and characterful.

Square blank, cut & marked for screwing the faceplate on which holds it to the lathe.

The early stages of turning are were the shape and grain start to be revealed.

Very hazardous, at 750rpm the corners are just blurs, what you think is the corner is actually 2 inches from the edge. You need to stay focused- with a round bowl you'd normally run your fingers along the edge to check the shape and thickness, forget it's not round and you can find a finger pointing the wrong way!

After shaping the outside and sanding smooth you need to turn the bowl around and try to get the inside following the same curves with an even thickness, this is 'make or break' time for a nice bowl.

The last few cuts have to be smooth and sharp or you'll spend more time sanding than you did turning.

Hand polishing the bowl wih Shellac really bring out the most of the grain.

This was the 1st square bowl I've made for years and by far the biggest, I'm quite happy with it although my next will be a little deeper.

Foodie Theme

There's been a bit of a food theme recently, many people suggest it's due to one of the top chefs (who I won't mention, as an ex-chef I hate him with a passion) using wooden-ware on TV creating a new trend - I prefer to think of it as people returning to old values....
 Spoons, bowls, rolling pins and platters have all been commissioned...

Starting with the smallest; Spurtels (honey drizzlers) and spice/salt spoons, just a few inches long are a lot of fun to turn and will find a place in any home...

This Beech rolling pin is rather plain but was made with the clients choice of wood. The picture doesn't really give any indication of just how large & heavy this is but, believe me - you wouldn't want to make this baker angry when she has this in her hand!

 This very large chopping board was made for a local chef, at over 2 foot long & 15 inches across it weighs a whopping 4 kilos and is made from Ash & Sapele. Picture was taken before the final sanding - hence the discolouration to the surface.

This platter was one of 25 commissioned for a wedding party, the happy couple wanted to save on washing up at the end of the day so served all their food on platters. Rather than wash them up they let their guests take them home - with one platter per table I'm not sure how they decided who got to keep them, as long as they didn't split them up (sorry, couldn't resist the cheesy pun)...

 They weren't actually served oranges and salad, this was just my photoshoot so they could see what they would look like...

These next platters are much larger and have been made for Lodge Catering of London who are the official caterers for the National Geographic Society as well as catering at weddings & film premieres (I won't name drop but James Bond may soon be served from one of my platters :) 

At 16.5" wide they had to be made from 2 halves to prevent warping or splitting. Sapele was again chosen to re-inforce the ends due to it's longevity and durability.

To order or enquire about any of these items contact me at benjaminsbarn@hotmail.co.uk or visit my Etsy shop; BenjaminsBarn

Small Yew 'sofa end' Table

Would like to share a little table commissioned by a lady, designed to sit next to the arm of her sofa, just big enough for a drink and book to be in easy reach :) Yew was chosen by the client after looking at some of my stools shown further down this blog, one of my favourite woods with a very striking colour and grain.

After slicing a small log into planks, 2 adjacent pieces were chosen (the wrong side up in this picture)...

These 2 pieces were then jointed together, with a piece of tropical Sapele hardwood in the ends to relieve any stress from the glue joint

Round mortice holes were then drilled to take the tenons turned on the legs...

The legs were turned from this shabby looking log, fairly rotten on the outside but good solid wood underneath...

a quick rough turning to remove the soft outer rings reveals the good wood....

 

 which turned and polished up beautifully. 

a split wedge is then knocked in, the wedge on these is more decorative than structural so much thinner than used for stools, tables or chairs.

And after sanding and a couple of coats of wax buffed up, the beautiful colours and striking grain is revealed.

Yellow, oranges, reds and even purples are often found in yew like this. Now you see why it's one of my favourites?