Friday, April 28, 2006

Stuart and Linda Mortimer travel from Knysna to Stellenbosch ...

Today we left Knysna and travelled to the Association of Woodturners of South Africa Conference in Stellenbosch about, 50km from Cape Town

We first stopped at Dolphin Point outside the coastal village of Wilderness. A really picture postcard vantage point. Here are Stuart and Linda with the railway bridge over the Kaaimans River in the background.



















Our second stop was at the George Wood Museum. Here are Stuart and Linda examining a crossection of a Yellowwood (Podocarpus latifolius) tree with key historical dates relating to SA marked on the appropriate seasonal ring.


















It was here at the wood museum that Stuart sadly bade farewell to his old girl


















... and struck up a twisted relationship with the local woodcutter's daughter!



















That done he turned to examine an old lathe on display



















There was also an interesting lathe that was used to turn the yokes for oxen used for pulling oxwaggons. It was powered by a hand-driven flywheel through a flat belt.



















When we arrived in Stellenbosch Stuart unpacked his pieces in the instant gallery















The registration was followed by an informal buffet at the 'Bloukamer' restaurant in the top floor of the Students Centre of the University. From left to right, Perrie and Peggy Bullock, Linda Mortimer, Andree Heslop and Stuart Mortimer.














And not least our good friend from a previous seminar Phil Irons chatting to (left to right) Wally Rossini, Mike Richards, Philip Antrobus and Dave Stephenson

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Stuart and Linda Mortimer visit Knysna ...

The Knysna heads at the entrance to the Knysna Estuary where we started the day










Stuart and Linda at Knysna Heads where we went for a walk and examined the rock pools before breakfast on the deck of the heads restaurant















Stuart and Linda at a pool in the river at Jubilee Creek in the Knysna forest















Stuart and Linda visiting the Bendigo Gold Mine at Millwood in the Knysna forest where gold was first discovered and mined in South Africa



















Where we found a bat (or is it two? - answers on a postcard etc) hanging from the roof of one of the mine shafts. Note the flecks of gold in the white quartz rock




















And we ended up the day on the deck of the restaurant overlooking the beach at Buffalo bay

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

With Stuart Mortimer in Knysna ...

Stuart and I are sitting in Izak Cronje's cottage in Knysna.

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

AWSA Programme and maps now available ...

The 2006 AWSA Conference Programme is now available at http://www.lando.co.za/dlaidler/WTDownloads/AWSA 2006 Programme.pdf

You can also upload annotated maps of Stellenbosch and the University at
http://www.lando.co.za/dlaidler/WTDownloads/Annotated Maps.pdf

Monday, April 17, 2006

More pieces for AWSA - Big Leaf Maple Burl, Red Ivory and African Blackwood

Below are three more pieces which I could display at AWSA.
Decisions, decisions, decisions. We can only display 3 pieces. Which three is the question?

Andi the first piece below (Vessel 1) is made from the blank that you brought me on your last trip. I think it may have been Spalted Maple. If you see this please let me know by comment if you can recall the type of wood. Thanks Andi, apparently the wood is big leaf maple burl.

The second and third pieces are red ivory (Berchemia zeyheri). All the finials are African Blackwood (ebony - Dalbergia melanoxylon). I've had great fun turning these pieces. Most satisfying.

The Conference Gallery will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday 28 and 29 April (and the morning of 1 May). Visit between 10h00 and 16h00. The venue is the University of Stellenbosch's Natural Sciences (Natuurwtenskape) Building, off Merriman Avenue, Stellenbosch.

Many of the turnings will be on sale. Hope to see you there!

Vessel 1. Spalted Big Leaf Maple Burl and African Blackwood



















Vessel 2. Red Ivory and African Blackwood



















Vessel 3. Red Ivory and African Blackwood

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Camphor Vessel for AWSA Conference

This is a 300mm diameter turned and carved camphor vessel that I will probably display at the AWSA Woodturning Conference at the end of April.

The Conference Gallery will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday 28 and 29 April (and the morning of 1 May). Visit between 10h00 and 16h00. The venue is the University of Stellenbosch's Natural Sciences (Natuurwtenskape) Building, off Merriman Avenue, Stellenbosch.

Many of the turnings will be on sale. Hope to see you there!

Silky Oak Bowl

Here is a 450mm diameter Silky Oak (Grevilia robusta) bowl that I turned recently.
Grevilia is not actually an 'Oak' at all. In fact it is a tree of the Protea family and grows naturally in Australia. Grevilias are commonly grown here in Cape Town and elsewhere in South Africa as street and garden trees.
The bowl is on display at Waterfront Woodturners at the Cape Town Waterfront's Red Shed Craft Workshop. (see the links at the top right of this page)

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

January 2006 fire in Cape Town

Here are three pics of the fire we had above the city bowl in Cape Town at the end of January 2006

Table Mountain



























Signal Hill - looking like a volcano!

Big Araucaria vase for the AWSA Conference

This is a big Araucaria excelsa vase that I am preparing for the AWSA Conference at the end of April 2006.
I turned about six of these during my Christmas break.









Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Chris anticipates some dramatic multi-centre turning ....

In the March 2006 edition of "Woodturning" Gregory Morton explained how to turn something and ordinary as a fencepost into a piece of wood art.

That turned my mind to those six large old yellowwood beams that have been occupuying good workshop space for the last couple of years!

Here is what I decided to do with them using my large Stubby 1000 lathe.

Chris was somewhat sceptical at this stage!


















I made up a jig as described in Gregory's article, bound the whole lot up with two separate lengths of rope just to make sure.

With some trepidation I engaged the lathe and "let her fly".














I'll post a pic of the completed piece soon. It came out rather well but still needs to be finished and photographed.

Cape Town Waterfront










A night time view of the Cape Town Waterfront