2023 Projects and visits
Posted 21 April 2023 Four small pots, 2 in oak, 2 in spalted beech. Suitable as holders for pens, pencils, toothpicks, skewers, more or less anything longer than 4 inches. A small oak dish for rings, jewellery, coins, keys - any small items you need to keep handy. And a stand for a wine bottle. These items are for sale.
Posted 30 April 2023 At Easter we visited a very quiet Hutton in the Forest, near Penrith. As well as an enjoyable guided tour around the house, it has an excellent woodland walk, with significant trees numbered and an A4 leaflet listing 70 of them. If only more properties would label their trees. Four pages of photos and information have been added to the Trees section of this site.
Posted 4 May 2023 A trophy commissioned by Pat in memory of her father, Alan Wellman, who recently died. To be presented by Northleach Primary School to a Year 6 student for service to the school or community, in recognition of Alan's sixty years service to the Town Council, twelve of those as mayor, and as recognition of his award of Freeman of the Town.
The trophy is in oak, with pyrographed inscriptions and school badge. Have a look at other trophies, and similar disc trophies in particular.
Posted 4 May 2023 A money box commissioned by Valerie in Poynton for her new granddaughter, Sophia Grace. The box is made from rippled sycamore, with pyrographed inscription noting Sophia's date of birth.
Have a look at more boxes, and similar money boxes in particular.
Posted 4 May 2023 A large house trophy commissioned by Joanna for Wakefield Girls' High School. The trophy is based on the Yorkshire Rose, and is pyrographed with inscriptions, school badge and dates,then bands have been painted with the four house names and colours: Lee, Clayton, Blakey and Mackie. A band will be coloured each year to denote the winning house - at least until 2050.
Have a look at other trophies, and house trophies in particular.
Posted 26 May 2023 Some more wooden eggs turned to add to my growing timber collection, now standing at 122. These include wild mango, obeche, opepe, monkey puzzle, accoya, chakte viga, knob thorn, bocote, massasa, rowan, bog oak, hawthorn, black cherry plum, tanga tanga, balsa, W. balsam, pau santo, massaranduba, sheoak pyinkado, idigbo, goat willow, field maple, black limba, cedar of Lebanon, lodgepole pine, Indian ebony, gorse, curupay, river red gum, amboyna, umbilo, sjambok pod, Newtonia, milk pear, red heart, whitebeam, sumach, blackthorn, elder, giant redwood, ivy, thuya burr, laurel, almond, rhododendron. It's time to make a rack for them all!
Posted 6 June 2023 A trophy made from a single block of sycamore, for the John Street Invitational competition in Bristol. The trophy is pyrographed with an inscription, and an image of the Clifton Suspension Bridge was requested to be pyrographed on the cup. It was turned from a single block, about 6 inches in diameter, 7 inches tall.
Have a look at more trophies, and trophy cups in particular.
Posted 6 June 2023 This golf trophy was requested by Sophie at ClubAZ in Macclesfield. It is for the winners of a golf tournament organised in aid of Silklife Foodbank charity.
The club is a full-sized version of a Dunlop Number 1 driver - with a slighty shorter handle than usual! The wood used is teak, oak and African blackwood, resting on an oak plinth. The full-sized ball is made from bhera.
Have a look at more trophies, and sports trophies in particular.
Posted 6 June 2023 A commemorative trophy requested by Dave in Wath, in memory of an inspirational primary school headmistress, Clare Miller. The books and open book were requested as features, as were the inscriptions, including the words Determined, Supportive, Respected, Intelligent, Empathetic and Passionate. The open book reads: In recognition of outstanding dedication and skill in supporting children's learning and development.The books were carved from opepe, oak, and sycamore (the open book), the plinth is mahogany, as is the lectern.
Have a look at more trophies, and trophy cups in particular.
Posted 18 June 2023 5 pages of over 100 photos of trees from a recent visit to the Isles of Scilly have been added to the Tree Gallery section of this site. Many unusual trees for the UK, growing in the mild but windy and wet climate of the gulf-stream aided Scillies, both cultivated in the Abbey Gardens on Tresco, and wild escapes around the islands.
Posted 18 June 2023 A set of 20 trophies commissioned by a primary school in Bishop's Stortford, to be awarded to individual students. A repeat order from a satisfied customer in previous years. The school logo has an oak tree as its theme, so naturally the trophies are all made from oak.
More about these trophies, and disc trophies generally.
Posted 25 June 2023 Fiona requested a PHSE trophy (Personal Social Health and Economics) in the shape of an egg. We decided on making this from a single piece of oak, with the plinth integral to the egg.
More trophies , and a selection of eggs.
Posted 25 June 2023 Linda in Leicestershire asked for a Cup of Kindness, and a simple, large wooden crucifix for Fleckney Primary School. We made these out of oak, which seemed the right choice of wood for these important items. The crucifix is designed to hang on a wall. We applied the requested inscriptions and logo using pyrography.
More church items , and cup trophies.
Posted 26 June 2023 Emma in York requested two Design Technology trophies for Creativity and Excellence, one with chisel, mallet, try square and tenon saw, the other with a tree. The first is quite delicate and intricate with thin carved pieces. Made in spalted beech.
More trophies , and technology trophies in particular.
Posted 6 July 2023 Some experiments with pyrography texturing using variations on an off-centre grass pot design. These are made from sapele offcuts, with one in spalted beech (not textured as the spalting was interesting anyway).
More goblets, bud vases and grass pots .
Posted 6 July 2023 Ann in Cambridge requested a geography trophy to be presented in her name, based on our globe design but larger than the standard "individual" trophies we do. This one is 12 inches tall, made from walnut, oak and spalted beech.
More trophies , and geography trophies in particular.
Posted 18 July 2023 Gavin in Malden requested some replacement knobs for the gearstick in his car. He provided a spalted tamarind blank for one, and requested another in spalted beech. An existing plastic version and detailed drawings were provided to work from.
More unusual requests , and gear stick knobs in particular.
Posted 18 July 2023 A plinth made to repurpose a fine silver rose bowl, accepting a plaque for a women's football trophy. This was made from an old, beautiful exotic timber called mopane, which I happened to have in stock. It will be very much a one-off, as this timber is very difficult to source, particularly in this kind of size. Other timbers (such as oak) may be available, though this kind of depth is increasingly difficult to source.
More plinths and trophies on plinths .
Posted 21 July 2023 Andy in Brynamman, Camarthenshire, requested an oak plinth on which he could mount an armillary sphere. This is an indoor object, so the plinth was sealed and finished with three coats of wax, the final coat being hard wearing carnauba. The plinth is 11 inches diameter, so the sphere must be around 20 inches wide or more. (Thanks to Andy for the photo). Armillary spheres are used to represent the motion of the stars around the earth. They can be Ptolemaic or Copernican depending on whether the earth or the sun is at the centre.
Have a look at more items on plinths.
Posted 23 July 2023 More tree photos from my travels added to the Tree Gallery. This time from Nostell Priory near Wakefield. I think multi-stemmed, heavily burred tree is an ash, growing at the side of the middle lake. The photo was taken in 2016, I am not sure if the tree is still standing. If not, it would have made some very interesting woodturning!
Posted 26 July 2023 Two items turned for a former colleague of mine at Malton School. Jon Steel retired after 21 years of service to the school as a member of the senior staff. In oak and burr oak, with pyrography and an enamel school badge. The caption around the bowl reads: Everything is possible, but not always at the same time, referring to Jon's work on the school timetable since I passed the job onto him in 2012. More disc trophies and bowls
