Australian Woodsmith

It was a delight to be invited to the opening of “Beyond Ordinary” at the Sturt Gallery in Mittagong and to hear the introductions delivered by the Head of Sturt, Kristie Phelan and Lucy Turnbull AO. Both spoke eloquently about elevating the profile of women makers in wood and the non-linear paths that we follow these days. Most of the makers whose work was on exhibition had morphed themselves from one profession to another. Looking back, I can count on one hand the makers I know who had direct paths to becoming professional woodworkers and toolmakers. Most of us make a living and dive into woodwork as a release for our creative drives. Evan Dunstone was a pilot before he put his flying gloves in the drawer and took up…

SQUEEZEOUT-FREE GLUING I’ve always struggled with cleaning up the squeezeout from gluing mitre joints. When I was working on a mitred box recently though, I was struck with an idea. Once I was ready to make the mitre cuts, I took some painters tape and laid it on the edges of my workpeices, overhanging where I was going to make the cut. After making the mitres on the table saw, I had a perfect “zero-clearance” tape right up to the edge of that board. To keep the squeezeout off all of your pieces, make sure you do this for all edges that are going to be glued. I did the glue-up as normal and clamped everything in place. I came back once the glue had dried and peeled the tape off…

COUNTRY WOODCRAFT: THEN AND NOW The “Then” in the title of this encyclopaedic tome on green woodworking refers to 1977 when Drew Langsner authored the original Country Woodcraft. Drew spent a summer in 1972 studying Swiss cooperage un-der the masterful eye of Ruedi Kohler. When Drew returned to the US, he and his wife Louise settled into an old farmhouse in North Carolina and started sharing their insights into traditional woodworking by running classes out of their old farmhouse. These classes introduced spoon carving and other European traditions to a whole new audience. Drew and Louise ran these “Country Workshops” for 40 years until 2017. The “Now” in the title is the distillation of 40 years of experience and continued insights on behalf of Drew and Louise. The old black and white photos…

You don't need an anvil and forge to make bespoke knives. Stu Dennis is a self-taught knifemaker (lots of YouTube watching) who has been building knives on his balcony for years. As you can see, instead of a BBQ and a couple of chairs, Stu has a bench equipped with a couple of vices, an 84 Engineering belt sander and an extensive tool trolley (hidden from view). The Australian-made Tempus oven is stored in the laundry most of the time and gets rolled out when it is needed to heat treat blade stock. When it comes to the materials needed to make knives, companies like Nordic Edge and Gameco supply knife steel in billets cut to convenient length, that can be ground to shape with simple tools. The most important machine on…

After two years of lockdowns and cancellations TTTG managed to run a very successful tool sale at the Brickpit Stadium in Thornleigh during February. I arrived half an hour before the doors opened so I could take photos of the tools on offer. It was a delight to see familiar faces for the first time in years and to hear about family and friends. Four rectangular islands of tables were set up on the basketball court in such a way that the vendors were inside each island, making space for buyers to wander around without crowding. IVORY SECTOR RULE I noticed that Fred Murrel was not at his table and suspected he was making the most of the moments before opening time to look for treasures himself. After the doors opened and the first…

Dale Dryden and Ruth Thompson deserve high praise for the fabulous exhibition they curated at Sturt Gallery in Mittagong this year. Dale and Ruth are aware that female makers are underrepresented in gallery exhibitions, hence an all-female tour de force of creativity and cooperation, inspiring younger women to break free of gender stereotypes and follow their own creative star. It is appropriate that Sturt Gallery hosted the exhibition. In the opening address Head of Sturt Kristie Phelan praised the vision of the founder of Sturt in 1941, Winifred West, and went on to detail how the school has evolved over time to become a place of excellence in design and the art of making. Lucy Turnbull AO was then introduced and spoke about how we live in non-linear times and how we…