Smoj
11th February 2019, 04:24 PM
G'day from the Northern suburbs of Perth (Alkimos way).
I've been thinking about woodwork since they taught me how to torture and abuse pine off-cuts in high school. That was many, many years ago but who's counting?
Since then, about the only decent project I've done in wood was turning a Jarrah fence post into a bowl on a lathe, which I really enjoyed. Had a mate who was a manual arts teacher, and he just pointed me at it and let rip.
Lately I've been mucking about with resin, and decided to find some Jarrah burl to work with. I've scored a nice bit of burl, and am planning a coffee table
So I'm at the point of scaring up the right tools for the job, or at least the cheapest ones that won't ruin the job.
But I'm keen to keep going with it once I have the gear and the know-how. So I'm Googling the hell out of all things woodwork, and ended up here.
I'm currently between jobs in the mining industry, so I have time for projects just now, but no money. Hence the cheap tools.
In mining, it's all rocks, spinning metal and poison gas. Not much wood in my day to day work. I'm captivated by the grain in wood, and the imagination needed to be able to see inside the future of a chunk of tree, especially if it's a piece that would otherwise just end up as firewood or landfill. Resin opens up a stack of options for that. And I do like metal as well.
I'd love to be able to spend $20,000 on a shmicko lathe, but the fact is I'd be struggling to find a spare $200 just now. But hopefully soon.
In the meantime, I've almost got enough gear to do what I want to do with my Jarrah burl. Later today I'll head down to the cashies and look for a semi-decent planer, and maybe a finishing sander. I hope they like 5c pieces...
I'm a history fan, so I'm curious about combining model making / diorama techniques with resin and wood to make a river table with, as examples, scenes from the Battle of Milne Bay in New Guinea laid up in the resin. Or the Kokodoa track. Or Tobruk. Or 75 Squadron RAAF beating the Japs over Port Moresby and saving Australia from sushi restaurant chains. Or maybe not. Luckily, I don't mind sushi, but hold the banzai charges please.
I have no idea if this has ever been done, or even if there's a bloody good reason why it has never been done. But even if it's only ever going to be for personal use, I'm keen to give it a stab.
Even if it's a river table, with an actual river in it, and a tiny bloke in a boat doing some fishing. Got lots of ideas.
Anyway, good to be here. Obviously, I'm not shy of writing, but I'm also happy to just sit in the back of the room quietly too.
Cheers!
Smoj
I've been thinking about woodwork since they taught me how to torture and abuse pine off-cuts in high school. That was many, many years ago but who's counting?
Since then, about the only decent project I've done in wood was turning a Jarrah fence post into a bowl on a lathe, which I really enjoyed. Had a mate who was a manual arts teacher, and he just pointed me at it and let rip.
Lately I've been mucking about with resin, and decided to find some Jarrah burl to work with. I've scored a nice bit of burl, and am planning a coffee table
So I'm at the point of scaring up the right tools for the job, or at least the cheapest ones that won't ruin the job.
But I'm keen to keep going with it once I have the gear and the know-how. So I'm Googling the hell out of all things woodwork, and ended up here.
I'm currently between jobs in the mining industry, so I have time for projects just now, but no money. Hence the cheap tools.
In mining, it's all rocks, spinning metal and poison gas. Not much wood in my day to day work. I'm captivated by the grain in wood, and the imagination needed to be able to see inside the future of a chunk of tree, especially if it's a piece that would otherwise just end up as firewood or landfill. Resin opens up a stack of options for that. And I do like metal as well.
I'd love to be able to spend $20,000 on a shmicko lathe, but the fact is I'd be struggling to find a spare $200 just now. But hopefully soon.
In the meantime, I've almost got enough gear to do what I want to do with my Jarrah burl. Later today I'll head down to the cashies and look for a semi-decent planer, and maybe a finishing sander. I hope they like 5c pieces...
I'm a history fan, so I'm curious about combining model making / diorama techniques with resin and wood to make a river table with, as examples, scenes from the Battle of Milne Bay in New Guinea laid up in the resin. Or the Kokodoa track. Or Tobruk. Or 75 Squadron RAAF beating the Japs over Port Moresby and saving Australia from sushi restaurant chains. Or maybe not. Luckily, I don't mind sushi, but hold the banzai charges please.
I have no idea if this has ever been done, or even if there's a bloody good reason why it has never been done. But even if it's only ever going to be for personal use, I'm keen to give it a stab.
Even if it's a river table, with an actual river in it, and a tiny bloke in a boat doing some fishing. Got lots of ideas.
Anyway, good to be here. Obviously, I'm not shy of writing, but I'm also happy to just sit in the back of the room quietly too.
Cheers!
Smoj