Let it burn.

When we opened the door to our business late last year, we realised even then that a very large part of our time would be spent not only making the stock for our store, but also, for want of a better word, gently 'educating' our customers as to why they should purchase what we and other local artisans made. What set our products apart, made them special.

Some ( most ) days it's really quite easy, people just get it,. On other occasions it can be like watching a dog listening to the radio. It's really not surprising when you consider that we have been conditioned for years to look for the lowest price we can. A bit of human nature.

We scour the internet not looking for the best, but the cheapest. Hardware catalogues spruiking circular saws for $49, mega Euro furniture stores advertising household furniture items for a tenth of what they might have ordinarily cost. To each their own as they say, but some days I do dismay at the level of landfill we are contributing to. The waste and senseless use of materials, often the wrong materials too.

So where am I going with this? I guess what I'm saying is that we cant expect to the greater community to be any better informed, unless they are informed. 

On Friday, for the first time in my life I bought firewood. It's Winter and having the open fire burning in the bar on Friday and Saturday night, churns through a fair bit of wood. More than I can keep up to from workshop scrap. So I ordered a cubic metre of Redgum and it was delivered shortly afterwards and dumped in the back yard. 

And there it was, a big pile of fiddleback Redgum. Fiddleback as good as it gets. Cut up for firewood. Worse still, given what I had to pay for the stuff and the way its chopped up, I've got not much choice but to burn it! ( Ok, I've squirrelled away a half a dozen bits to make chisel handles! )

I couldn't resist running it over the jointer and rubbing in a bit of oil. Nice firewood eh?

In the U.S. this stuff would be milled and sold to furniture makers as highly figured lumber. It reflects their appreciation of fine furniture too. Here in good 'ol Oz, we burn it, shove it under railway tracks or make fence posts out of it. 

What can you expect though if people don't know any better? If they cant distinguish highly figured timber from......firewood. Please don't take it as anti Australian sentiment, it's expressed more from a sense of disappointment than anything else. 

Anyway, enough of me on the soapbox, I've got a fire to light.

The next leg of the journey.

I had the Daniel and Adam in the workshop over the weekend making a Perch each. They both turned out great chairs ( sorry, but I just don't enjoy calling them stools. You get the picture.... ) and I was especially pleased that they each chose to shape their seats differently. 

Adam chose the shape that I first started to carve when Pete Galbert showed me how to make them. Whereas Daniel chose a shape that I have since gravitated to, where the back bevel of the seat tapers to a slender point at the side , leaving the actual seat of the Perch slightly flatter. 

Both looked great. Daniel chose to spokeshave facets onto the legs after turning them, giving them a very natural and earthy effect. Nice.

Another pleasant aspect of the new workshop is the wood heater. Very comfortable in Winter  if I do say so myself.

During my time away and whilst teaching this last class I've been thinking more about some of the designs I have drawn over the past year and have yet to experiment with. I enjoy making continuous arm chairs, crested rockers, perches and the like but I find myself leaning more and more towards exploring other designs and more importantly, designs of my own. I think I will always be influenced by the people who have taught me to make chairs, but that's natural. Just like I'm sure Curtis Buchanan was heavily influenced by Dave Sawyer who taught him to make Windsors and so on.

So the first point of call on Tuesday morning was to reinvent a four legged bar stool ( errr )  that I had roughed in well over 12 months ago, but was disappointed with. 

I was happy with the Elm seat shape but the original legs were slightly steam bent, which just didn't sit right and had too large a footprint on the floor. Secondly the front stretcher which doubled as the footrest was a typical 5/8" round mortise and tenon and I had reservations that eventually the racking force on the rest would eventually force the foot rest to pivot and become loose.

I started with a new set of four straight legs from some of the 40mm stock of English Oak I had from the Treasury Gardens tree. Next was the racking issue. So a chopped a 12 x 25mm  (1/2" x 1" ) rectangular mortise in the front legs then shaped a new aerofoil inspired rest to fit. This was followed with a standard box stretcher setup for the rest of the legs. 

When dry assembled this stretcher setup was rock solid. I even stood on the leading edge of the foot rest to make sure. It didn't so much as even creak under the pressure. There's some fine tuning of the seat, but in it's roughed in state, I have to say I'm fairly happy with it.

This weekend we have George Smithwick from Beveridge Coopers at the workshop again for our Coopered Bucket Course. It promises to be a great day. So plenty of inspiration to come...

Marvellous Melbourne!

A good friend sent this to me a while back and I've been meaning to post it on the blog for some time. It has to be one of the most incredible films of Melbourne in it's heyday, circa 1910. It runs for a while, but for all of those Melbourne-ites out there ( and visitors to Melbourne ), it's  great to pick the various city icons and see just how much our wonderful city has transformed and conversely, remained unchanged. I hope you enjoy it!

Marvellous Melbourne

Recognition

Last night Lisa and I went out for dinner at the Kyneton Town Hall.....with another 100 or so local business owners and operators from the Macedon Ranges.

We had been nominated, by person/s unknown, for the Excellence in New Business Award and I'm very proud to say we won.

As per usual neither Lisa or I had prepared a speech.......so we just thanked everyone. It's a welcome pat on the back and validation for our small business which is still in relative infancy, given we've only been up and running for 6 months. 

There's still a lot to do before Rundell & Rundell reaches our full expectations. A small part being the opening of our new front room at the shop. It's a dedicated Winter lounge, with an open fire, leather lounges and arm chairs and even an original English Hood Skittles table for people to enjoy a game or two over a beer, cider or perhaps a glass of Lisa's mulled wine.

I'll post a few photos of the new room tomorrow, when it has one or two people enjoying the space. If you're in the neighbourhood, be sure to drop in. Cheers!

Things of Stone and Wood

Inspiration for me takes many forms. Working at my own workbench, seeing the work of other crafts-people, learning new techniques and other crafts all together.

Inspiration for me this week is by means of relaxing on holiday with Lisa and Tom. We've taken a break from the near freezing weather of Kyneton and have jumped a plane to sunny ( albeit overcast today ) Bali.

The view from our room in Ubud

It's not our first time to this island but it's our first holiday for a few years. And after a whirlwind 18 months of setting up a new business, workshop, renovating a cottage, starting school ( Tom not me ) and moving all and sundry to the country, we were all certainly ready for one.

I can imagine that you might be asking how being on a tropical island might inspire someone who practices traditional western style wood work? The climate, architecture, lifestyle - in fact everything in Bali is far removed from home.  It is virtually the parallel opposite. But their craftsmanship in all manner of mediums is something to behold. If you can see past the 'tat,' the 'plait your hair ' purveyors, the plastic rubbish and fake watch brigade you can find some amazing workmanship. 

Rice paddies at speed from the mini van!

Stone temple carvers amongst the rice paddies of Ubud. Locals all over the island carving the most intricate designs in everything from Coconut wood to bone. Massive mortise and tenoned framed structures. It's all around you and it's very hard not to be inspired and a little in awe. 

Tom ( with fan ), me & an elephant and his mate

Yesterday while we meandered through the jungle on the back of a Sumatran Elephant, the Pachyderm's handler reached out and picked a palm frond whilst astride it's neck. In about 2 minutes he had fashioned it into a woven, revolving fan on a stalk and handed back to Tom, all whilst controlling the Elephant with his feet! Tom held it towards the wind and smiled as it spun around freely. "We didn't have toys and made our own fun like this," he explained as we plodded along.  Again it was hard not to be impressed. 

When we got back to the hotel that afternoon I noticed the acanthus leaf carving above the entrance to the foyer. It would be admired for the execution of the form if it were in any building, in any country. Surrounded by craftsmanship.

As amazing as this all is my greatest inspiration is seeing Lisa relaxed and Tom having the time of his life. It's inspiration to work hard when I get home,  produce for our shop, to fill the orders I have waiting and to inspire the next person that comes to my workshop to learn something from me. Inspiration comes in many forms but sometimes you need to step away for a while to see that it's right before your eyes.

Interesting paths.

Met a great couple on the weekend. Larry and Carol came to the workshop and made a couple of perches and celebrated their 1st wedding anniversary at the same time. Nice one. 

This wasn't the first chair that Carol had made though and it showed. You see Carol spent 5 or so years in the Newstead workshop of Dickie Blackman, a very well known and respected maker of cottage style furniture. Blackman was well known for his traditional English style furniture, which exuded integrity, simplicity and strength. Hand woven natural rush seats were a feature of his work.

Above is an example of his work that is now held in the Craft Australia National Historical Collection. 

And here is a chair that Carol made with Blackman in his workshop. The rush seat is terrific and very comfortable. It was woven by Carol. Below is a child's chair made in the same style, next to my arm chair to give a  sense of scale. It's a real little gem.

Lastly a little three legged oak table started by Blackman and finished by Carol. The top is hand adzed and draw-knifed. The legs turned off centre then gently shaped by hand with a drawknife and spoke shave. The legs are wedged into the top. So simple and very beautiful.

Blackman's mark lays near one of the legs.

Thanks Carol for the insight into a very talented craftsman and your time spent with him. Thanks to you both for a fun 3 days too. Cheers.

Different chairs, same result.

This evening I had the reason why I teach others to make chairs re-iterated to me.

Mike finished his Perch today. Great guy and a fine result. Mike took to every technique like a duck to water.

Friday morning Woody came and finished off his Continuous Arm Chair that he started a few weeks back. He couldn't attend the seventh and final day of the course as he went off to see some bloke called "The Boss" or Bruce Something, who was apparently singing a few tunes in a paddock near Hanging Rock. Woody's chair too, is a credit to him.

Both guys really enjoyed their respective chair making experiences. Both guys I believe will go on to continue making chairs in the future. That has to be the greatest compliment any person who I've taught in my workshop can give me. That they are inspired to continue their own chair making odyssey. It's how 'we' ensure that traditional woodworking is kept alive and thriving long after 'we' have departed.

Cheers Guys.

ANZAC day, Kyneton 2013.

                                     Lest We Forget

Off the grid.......for a while.

Life is great in Kyneton, but everyone needs a break. Lisa, Tom and I had not been away together for over 18 months. So Friday we packed the car and got out of town. Joining us were friends Sam and Michaela and their two kids Poppy and Gus.

    McMillans Lookout, overlooking the town of Benambra, with The Brothers mountains in the           

                                                                        background.

We headed down the Princes Hwy to Bruthen turned up the Omeo Hwy to Omeo then headed to my parents high country farm at Uplands, about 12k's North of Benambra. The farm is about 150 acres on the Morass Creek and was the original location of the Uplands Post Office, which stood on the property until the 2003 bushfires, which razed it to the ground. 

          Uplands Post Office site, just to the left of the Pines in the distance, post 2003 fires.

Before that, the farm which had once been one of the best kept parcels of land in the district had been let go for decades and was in a horrible state, covered in blackberries, thistles and all manner of other noxious weeds. There were parts of the creek bank where you couldn't get to within 10 metres of the water. Now thanks to years of Dad's hard work it has been returned to it's former glory and is in fine shape.

Just as pleasant as the views across the paddocks of lucern and along the creek line are, there is another special quality that the property holds. Lack of phone coverage! Yep, mobiles are pretty much reduced to paper weights and that's a great thing for a day or two. So with the phone off and internet out of action, we settled into more important tasks, like lighting the fire and cleaning the camp oven.

                                                   Kennedy's Hut on the Mitta Mitta

Saturday. After a relaxing light bush walk along the Mitta Mitta River to Kennedy's Hut we slow roasted a piece of pork belly with homegrown tomato and eggplant salad for dinner.

Camp oven on the coals.

                                                    A few well deserved ales later...........

                                                      The view from Hotham Heights 

On Sunday we took the kids to Mount Hotham for lunch and for a play in what was left of an early sprinkling of snow. 

With the requisite snowman constructed then 'decommissioned,' snowballs hurled in all directions and boots wet through, we headed back to the farm, collected firewood for the fire that night and settled in for more good food and company. The kids ate their body weight in roasted marshmallows. Later that night everyone piled into the ute for a quick whip around the fence line on the lookout for wildlife. A dozen good sized eastern grey kangaroos, four wild deer and a hare hopping through the lucern paddock made their collective eyes pop and drew the odd excited squeal.

Monday morning we headed further North along the Corryong Rd to a spot on the Gibbo River where we knew of half a dozen magnificent Chestnut trees. 

These trees would have been planted around gold rush times and just as in years past, they did not disappoint with literally thousands of Chestnuts covering the ground under their huge canopies.

Anyone who has ever tackled a Chestnut pod will know that it is one well protected little fortress. Those spikes are better than needle sharp and I'm still feeling the remnants of them in my fingers as I type. 

But the nuts inside are well worth the fight and after an hour or so we had collected our fill just before the rain sent us back to our cars. The amazing thing was we didn't even get close to collecting the nuts from even one tree!

A late drive home last night and back into the workshop today putting the finishing touches to one of a number of rocking chairs I have on order. It's great to be home and refreshed for another couple of weeks of chair making, courses and.......... roasted Chestnuts.

A great pair.

Last week I had the pleasure of having Geoff and Peter in the workshop making a continuous arm chair each.

I enjoy the watching the week unfold. There's a familiar theme. A few days in the 'saddle' of the shave horse first. While not back breaking work, the first two days are long, especially when using tools which are unfamiliar to most, such as a drawknife. You can sense that in the back of their minds they are wondering if there's going to be enough time to get this chair made. I often get asked, "are we making good progress" or are we up to speed.

But in the days that follow, leg holes are drilled and reamed, the seat carved, legs and stretchers fitted and the crest rail that they carved by hand and steam bent on the second day, comes out of it's form and finds its way on to the arm posts.

Suddenly the chair begins to take shape. The seat with four legs now starts to resemble the chair that captured their attention when they first saw it.

Lastly, with spindles shaved to fine tolerances and 15 hand split wedges at the ready, glue is warmed and the crest rail is glued and wedged into place. A wave of relief washes over them, a smile appears  and finally they get to see the fruits of a roller coaster week of new and interesting techniques that has culminated in a fine Windsor chair.

Peter and Geoff both made a great chair and it was a pleasure to have them in the workshop for the week. Even better to see the satisfaction on their faces as they loaded their chairs and patterns into their cars for the trip home. Well done guys.

An eventful week

The past three days I've spent up the road at Keith's farm milling an ever increasing pile of logs. It's one of those 'things' that have been on my list of 'things to do' for some time, but ironically, time is the issue.

So when I noticed a small opening in between a couple of Continuous Arm Chair courses I raced down to Dad's farm, collected the sawmill and readied myself to mill as much as I could in four days.

The first couple of days started with a bang. I had the mill set up by late morning and managed to have half a dozen good sized English Oak logs milled by the days end.

The second day started with another English Oak, followed by two of the best Poplar logs I've come across.

Almost dead centre heart and as straight as a gun barrel. I know there are purest furniture makers out there who dismiss poplar as a secondary wood in comparison to even pine, but having used it for over seven years now I can absolutely vouch for its stability, ease of hand planing, sawing, dovetailing and all round usability.

Thirty minutes later the above log had been squared and reduced to a dozen perfect boards.

 
                                       Straight grained , nice figure and absolutely clear Poplar.

Not every log in the pile was as straight forward as the Poplar. Just last week I was fortunate enough to score an Algerian Oak from Riddells Creek. Not the best saw log by a long stretch, but then how often do you come across such a mature specimen of Algerian Oak? Ummm, not often.

It took a while to get the whole thing squared up and the big branch inclusions made the blades distort a little, but I think the end result was worth it. Some of the best ray fleck I've seen in Oak of any species.

             I ended up with three of these 60mm thick boards with matching ray fleck. Pretty nice.

                                Even when rift sawn the figure in this Algerian Oak is stunning.

But as I've discovered countless times before milling logs, you have to take the good with the bad. The bad came in the form of this Pin Oak which had been growing along side an historic old home in Woodend.

Before I even got it on the mill I dug out this square section tube, chain and roofing nails which had been there for so long that the tree had grown about 60mm over the lot. I should have left it at that, but the thought of some straight Pin Oak boards made me persist.

When you hit a nail with a bandsaw, there is a distinctive 'zip' noise, followed often by the cut quality dropping.

This picture repeated itself about a dozen times. There were more zips than a zipper factory! I lost count of the nails I dug out of the log until in the end I gave up on it. One things for sure, the Pin Oak wasn't suffering from an iron deficiency!

But on the good side again, I finished up with some Elm from the trees that fell down near the Campaspe River. I had to rip the log down the middle just to get it on the mill! Here's a couple of the boards from just one half of the log. Over half a metre wide, 60mm thick and all together stunning!

I've got a full day today in the workshop, preparing for our next chair course which starts on Sunday and a visit from the Furniture History Society members on Saturday. But tomorrow morning two mates, Tim and Bern will be on the doorstep bright and early for another full days milling. We are going to tackle some of the biggest logs I've ever come across. From English Oak to more massive Elms. There's a bit of Chestnut there too and even Holly. I've got a feeling it's going to be a good day!