A little late I know, but here is wishing all a creative and productive year ahead.

May there be much love and life!

May your shavings float sweetly!

May you always have enough clamps!

May at least ONE of your dreams come true....

Ok its been a while, but thats just the point. The last year has probably been the most hectic of my life, emotionally, physically and definitely financially. But I have produced some lekker work in record time, not always enjoying the rushing thereof, nonetheless, its put food on the table and I do not have a boss! I have also had the absolute pleasure of coming across and befriending Div, an honest hardworking and inspiring guy. Thanks Div for this site too. Next year I will hopefully be heading towards making more specialised pieces and will be sure to be blogging more....so heres to another year in WOOD, wishing you all happy holidays, and hey! REST..........and enjoy your families...

I had a slack day in the shop recently whilst waiting for materials to arrive. I also had 2 almost book matching boards of Hard Pear that has been continually and persistently watching me from a corner of the shop for quite some time….

Hard Pear (Olinea ventosa) is indigenous to South Africa and grows in the Cape Province. The tree can grow to impressive proportions under the right conditions, reaching heights in excess of 25 m. Due to the uneven, wavy grain it is not an easy timber to work with but the striking grain pattern makes it worth it. Unfortunately the timber is scarce in supply.

What to make with just 2 short boards? I decided to pay tribute to George Nakashima by making a small version of his famous Minguren design. I recently read his book: The soul of a tree. The little table measures 760 long x 580 wide x 430 high, too small to be a coffee table so let’s call it a side table. Off course I had to add the well known butterfly key! Mine was done with Candlewood.

The size of the table was determined by the size of the boards and proportions happened as I went along. Again, no drawings. Don’t I ever learn? In retrospect I think the vertical piece just looks too high/square.

I promised I would post the finished piece so here it is. Thank god my woodworking is a lot faster than my blogging! The Anna bench has been finished for quite some time, delivered to one very happy client. I actually had a lot of fun building this little bench! It is so different from the normal stuff I do and as they say, a change is as good as a holiday….it is about the only holiday I will get…

I built the bench from ordinary Pine, stained it dark, then painted it white. The requirement was for a slightly distressed look, so I scratched and sanded the paint in a few places to let the dark stain show through. Unfortunately this is not really visible in the photo. The seat hinges up to reveal a large storage space underneath.

The next few days will see me building this commissioned little bench. With all its traditional curves, it is very unlike the stuff I normally do. It is a nice change and I am actually looking forward to it. I will post a photo when it is done. The comparison between my sketch and the real thing should be interesting….

Recently I had the opportunity to enter some chair designs for an art exhibition called “Chair”. Well, not very original, but it does make sense. :^) With a lot of commercial work happening in the shop, my time was somewhat limited but I managed to come up with 2 designs for the exhibition.

This one is called “Cubist Chair” and was done in Poplar, also known as Cottonwood by some. Very modern in design, it is actually very comfortable to sit on!

“Zee Chair” is a production prototype and consists of six 18mm thick plywood pieces. My idea was to upholster the back and seat panel but I ran out of time! This can still easily be added at a later stage. I think it will serve very well as a dining chair.

The most important tool for ANY project.

I have some meaningful words posted on a large sign above my workbench. It describes the only tool one really needs to accomplish any project. I want to share it:

“Nothing in the world can take the
place of persistence…

Talent will not; nothing is more common
than unsuccessful people with talent.

Genius will not; unrewarded genius is
almost a proverb.

Education will not; the world is full of
educated derelicts.

Persistence and determination alone
are omnipotent.”

Calvin Coolidge

Hi Bernard. Welcome to Talking Sawdust! Please feel free to post your projects, write a blog or ask advice.

We are still a small community but I am hoping to grow it. Please spread the word!

Re: Boekenhout, I have lots of offcuts that you can have for free! If you are looking for bigger planks, I can help with that too. You can Email me: info@woodspark.co.za for more info.