G'day from WA.

**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

**rod1949** · 11th February 2019, 10:14 PM

Yer ya do go on a bit but thats ok. Welcome to the forum.

**Smoj** · 11th February 2019, 10:46 PM

Originally Posted by rod1949

Yer ya do go on a bit but thats ok. Welcome to the forum.

Ha ha... Fair enough.
Didn't want to just drop in the "I like wood, but know bugger all about it" and leave it there. I get caught up in telling stories sometimes when I get fired up after a few coffees. I like reading other people's tips and advice even more. Cheers.

**dusteater** · 11th February 2019, 10:52 PM

It`s called enthusiasm , welcome.

**JJF** · 12th February 2019, 01:03 AM

Welcome to the forum

**Boringgeoff** · 12th February 2019, 09:01 AM

Hi Smoj,
Swap meet at Northam this Sunday, you'll probably find some cheap woodies tools there.
Cheers,
Geoff.

**Smoj** · 12th February 2019, 12:59 PM

Cheers for that Geoff! I'll see if I can make it, definitely worth a look. Much appreciated.

**old1955** · 12th February 2019, 03:31 PM

Welcome to the forum.

**Euge** · 12th February 2019, 03:51 PM

Hi smoj,

I like someone who has something to say or a story to tell. Welcome to the forum.
Lots of skilled and diverse wood people here you will learn a lot from and enjoy the journey too.

Cheers

**Smoj** · 12th February 2019, 10:32 PM

Cheers Euge. I've got plenty of stories... But I'm here to learn.

Cheers for all the welcomes. Good to be here.

**KeithP** · 16th February 2019, 10:08 PM

Welcome to the forum.

Regards
Keith

**crowie** · 11th March 2019, 07:35 PM

G'Day & Welcome to a top forum "Smoj".
There are quite a stack members around Perth and cross South West plus the rest of the country.....
You'll find a heap of helpful & knowledgeable blokes & ladies on the forum and for most very willing to assist.
Make sure you show off your handiwork as everyone loves a photo, especially WIP [Work In Progress] photos with build notes.
Enjoy the forum.
Enjoy your woodwork......
Cheers crowie

**Smoj** · 12th March 2019, 01:42 PM

G'day Crowie,

Cheers for the welcome. I've been lurking around, and already picked up a stack of good info. But despite all the good advice on here to wait and save my money until I can afford better gear, I've ended up with the cheapest tools I could find... Too keen to just get started...

But I've knocked out two and a half bowls on the lathe, and am pulling pallets apart to get the wood I need to build a workbench.

You suggested I post photos and build notes, so here they are. Not sure if this is the thread where they should go...

I bought a treated pine sleeper (Siena) from Bunnings, I figured it'd be good enough to practice on. I don't think I'll be able to eat off the bowls I make (maybe I'm wrong).

Here's my first bowl. I'm happy enough with it, although the finish is ordinary, and the morticed foot needs a bit of rework (my original tenon cracked apart and I had to carve past it). A step up the learning curve at least.

No photos of the second bowl.

IMG_20190217_183507.jpg

Lathe: ELU DB180 with a Nova G3 chuck.
Tool: The Hare and Forbes carbide handle with the interchangeable heads (not like the usual carbide tools that have replaceable/indexable cutting blades). Not completely sold on this tool, but will get a better set when I can.
Finish: Some random decking stuff I had lying around.

This next one keeps getting sidetracked by other things going on. Hopefully I'll get a chance to get further into it today, but I'm also building my workbench.

IMG_20190301_164641.jpg

I cut some channels out with my $99 2000W Ozito table saw, and it didn't explode in my face. So far so good. Each channel is offset against the center line, staggered. In hindsight, I would have cut the channels a little deeper in towards the center of the piece.

I masked the channels with tape and PVA, and hot glue for luck so I could pour resin into them without it all coming out the bottom.

I poured around 6 layers. Each layer had a slightly different colour, transitioning from blue at the bottom, to purple, then red, then clear with gold leaf. The colours in the resin came from acrylic paint (only a small amount so the water in it wouldn't affect the curing of the resin), cheap Chinese powder mica pigments (12 colours for under $3), even some food dye gel and glitter from Coles. I wanted to keep some transparency, but I may have overloaded the colours.

Each layer was poured more or less when the previous layer started to thicken up, then I poked and prodded with a skewer to blend the layers a little, so there'll hopefully not be any transition lines between layers.

The last couple of layers I had to wait until the layer got tacky so the gold leaf wouldn't just sink to the bottom. Might get some bubbles here.

IMG_20190301_164722.jpg

Some of the gear I used in this photo. I mixed up the resin in a big cup, added the colours, then split it all into four smaller cups and poured it into the channels.

IMG_20190301_183035.jpg

The resin finished, still masked, waiting for it to cure. The gold leaf was a real hassle. Stuck to everything except what I wanted it to.
IMG_20190304_144117.jpg IMG_20190304_144142.jpg

The last photos I took. Too early to tell how the resin is going to come out, but I'm hopeful it'll be pretty speccy.

So far, the blank has a bit of a wobble... I think it's down to the hole I drilled for the worm screw not being square. But I've carved out a mortice, and will bang it onto the chuck with that and see if it can't get a bit more stable.

I've already carved out a bit of an ogee (don't even know if that's how you spell it), but I'm torn between getting the shape right, and fitting everything in around the resin to show it off. I should have cut the resin channels deeper, but didn't know how close I could get to my mortice.

Cheers in advance for any constructive criticism...

**crowie** · 12th March 2019, 02:58 PM

Your work deserves it's own new thread in the general or woodturning section were more people will see it sir...

On the tools, watch out for older ones at clearance sales, deceased estates or farm clearance as often the older tools are better than the new cheap stuff....

**Smoj** · 12th March 2019, 03:51 PM

Cheers mate. I did manage to pick up a few bits and pieces off Gumtree, but I'm still learning how to sharpen them... And then learn how to use them.

I'll finish this one with the tool I started with, and then learn the others with scrap wood.

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