Bowl Forms Ready for Finishing
It was raining too much to go to Sunday market today in Port Douglas. Roads around the vicinity are inundated and even my driveway was flooded at one stage by one of the dams overflowing on the property. Cancelling a market appearance is sometimes a difficult call to make, but today, there was no question about it ... it just wasn't pretty out there.
Faced with the prospect of either having a day off or making use of an extra creative day, I decided to invest some time into some bowl making. I usually don't get the opportunity to shape out a big batch of forms, because I'm usually bound to a pre-determined task list when making market stock.
So, with torrential rain bucketing down around me most of the afternoon in my open-sided shaping area, I rough shaped a total of 13 small bowl forms. Considering the ugliness of the day, 13 seemed like a pretty appropriate number to finish on.
Stack of 13 rough shaped bowls ready for sanding. Picture by Bob Gilmour.
I churned through a few loose ends of Queensland Black Walnut, Northern Silky Oak, Radiata Pine, Tasmanian Blackwood and Queensland maple. The bowls are now ready for the first of 3 rough surface grinds followed by 7 sanding stages. Admittedly, the shaping stage is definitely the least time-consuming part of the whole process here ... but it is the actual 'creative' part of the task.
Some of these forms will find their way to the market stall in the coming weeks. However, some are destined to go to Platform72 in Sydney, and a couple are earmarked for inclusion as stock in a new shop opening soon in Cape Tribulation, Far North Queensland.
Comments (0) March 18, 2012
The Finishing Bench
The finishing bench ... the light at the end of the tunnel in the creative process.
Making things for a living is a bit of a journey for me that has several aspects. Of course, there's planning and contemplation, drinking coffee and actually making work ... but, one of the really satisfying aspects is witnessing the transformation from "work in progress" to "finished".
My finishing bench may look a little short of austere but it has witnessed the evolution of many functional and fine art forms over the years. It is here that my creative works change from dusty wannabes to shining debutants waiting to head out into the world.
The finishing bench. Platter forms, salad servers and cooking stirrers by Bob Gilmour.
The finishing bench is home to an assortment of chemicals and mysterious liquids. Some have been procured off-the-shelf while others are a self-made alchemy of ingredients that sometimes don't fit together ... And, in many cases, the identities have long been forgotten.
These days my finishing toolkit numbers only about three basic techniques. Over the years, I have experimented with dozens of products and methods of application. Sometimes I've followed the directions ... more often than not, I've made up my own rules.
The finishes I use now have been arrived at with the view to producing the exact look, feel and degree of protection that I desire or require. Some of my finishing methods are a bit labour-intensive, but my principal goal is to create a finish ... look and feel ... which will make people go 'wow'.
Comments (0) March 17, 2012
Workshop Build - Standing up the frames
I made heavy brackets from 3 x 2 inch x quarter angle steel to attach the portal frames to. Additionally, I modified the apex cleats that were supplied with the shed to bold the mirror halves of the frames together with. I cut these in half and used them as bolting points to attach to the fabricated brackets ... although I added a couple more holes in each case.
Initially, I only tacked the brackets to the container sides in case I needed to change the spacing. Once in place, I used ropes and props to manhandle the bolted-together portal frames into place. At this stage, I hadn't figured what to do about the foundation end, other than pack the colums up temporarily until I could get some frame of reference to level everything up against.
Since the block is sloping and I've not done any site survey, I'm relying mostly on 'sight' and spirit level readings to get everything close to plumb and level ... which is really as good as it needs to be. I have the house nearby to 'sight' against and also the existing shed for verticals.
The next stage is to prop up the portal colums and secure everything just enough so I can take off the ropes and props ... and then start trueing the whole lot up. I've only put enough bolts and fastenings in to hold everything together ... the structure needs to be fairly 'flexible' at this stage so I can pull it all into square. Once I've got things closer to the final position, I'll also put heavier welds on the brackets and spray/seal them etc.
Comments (0) May 29, 2010
Relocateable Shipping Container Workshop - early build stages
I currently have a 6 x 8 meter steel shed as my main workshop studio. However, closed stuctures are really terrible for doing the sort of dust and chip-producing work that I do during the roughing out and sanding stages. An open air ... or semi-open ... space works much better.
In preparation for my recent move, I purchased 2 x 20 foot (6m) shipping containers in OK'ish condition. Cost was a factor, so I didn't go for refurbished boxes, knowing that it would be highly likely that I wouldn't treat them too well ... or would modify them in some way. Well ... here comes the first round of mods.
I decided that I would use the containers as the basis for a portable workshop set-up. One of the boxes will continue to store (and ultimately relocate) my wood pile, and the other will serve as general storage and provision of some work space - given that I have a reasonable amount of much more comfortable work space inside the existing shed.
I also own a 6 x 6 meter steel shed with 3 walls in kit form which I purchased several years ago and have never errected ... which travelled packed inside one of the containers. My plan was to errect the roof of the kit shed between the two containers (which would be dropped 6 meters apart) and build a raised floor/deck to work on.
As it turned out, entry to the site was difficult at the time that I moved (wet season) and I wasn't able to get the boxes into the right position easily, so a compromise was struck utilising the neighbour's 4 wheel drive tractor ... although the containers ended up only about 4 m apart ... not enough to accommodate my 'Plan A'.
'Plan B' emerged as what will most likely be much more practical, having a 8 x 3 meter work deck and roof built off the side of one of the containers and a temporary soft (tarpaulin) roof between the containers providing basic shade when required. This configuration also allows me to take in the wonderful view looking out from the site ... instead of staring at the side of a steel box while I'm working.
I spent some time levelling up the first container and setting it up on solid concrete blocks and hardwood packers. The site is sloping and grassed and is solid clay underneath. I'm not too sure how many years I have here and don't really want to disturb the site any more than I have to ... minimal footprint impact, so to speak ... so, decided against excavations and concrete footings. Besides, the plan really is to set this structure up so that it's portable and can be dismantled with some amount of inconvenience and relocated when required. I intend to use 'ground screws' (self-tapping foundation anchors) to wind-proof the container and also to anchor the portal columns of the side roof structure and support the floor/deck.
The main part of the side roof has 3 portal frames approximately 2.7 meters apart with about 300mm of overhang at the two ends. I plan to extend another bay of about 1.8 meters at the northern end ... giving me nearly 8 meters x 3 under roof. I will also errect a flat section of roof above the container doors at the northern end.
The kit shed which I am butchering to build this new structure is fully engineered and certified (in it's original 6 x 6 configuration), and I'm pretty much using the existing plan as a guide in this construction ... except, of course, for my use of ground screws instead of concrete footings. The ground screws are pretty impressive. The ones I'm using are 800 mm long ... so, there is about 600 mm of screw down in the clay of the hillside ... I wound one in as a trial, and it sure took some doing to get it in all the way.
At this stage, I am assuming that I will keep all 3 sides of the work platform open ... although may end up sheeting the southern wall if the approaching winter weather proves too uncomfortable. The western sun beats in pretty relentlessly along the 6m side, so I will errect a shade cloth as required when I get to that stage.
The first stage to get started is to assemble the portal frames and fabricate some steel brackets with which to anchor them to the container wall.
Comments (0) May 27, 2010
Studio and Home Relocation
Late last year (2009), the cards all fell indicating that it was time to move. I've been based in Mount Molloy (North Queensland, Australia) for the last 4 years or so but circumstances there changed. The opportunity arose to move onto a small farm in Julatten amid pretty much idyllic conditions ... so, I took it.
I did the main part of the move through late January and February. I bought two shipping containers ... one for the wood pile and the other for workshop benches, machines and general gear. There were also, of course, numerous trips back and forth with a trailer.
The new place is a 100 year old timber house which was relocated into a cow paddock 5 or 6 years ago. The house was built nearby and is pretty rustic. I have 360 degree views of rolling hills and farmland ... and, the most neighbours I can actually see (in all 360 degrees) is 5.
It has taken a couple months to get back into some sort of productive work. My workshop at present consists of a 6 x 8m steel shed ... which, I preferably wish to keep for 'clean' work ... and finishing. I'm building a 'dirty' work space as a shed off the side of one of my containers. This will have a raised work-deck floor and be fairly open. I'll probably cut the side out of the container also to give me a total outdoor workspace of about 5 x 6m.
The second shipping container is presently still full of wood ... around 6 tons. At some stage, I plan to partially unload it enough to build some sort of shelving system or rolling racks ... or something ... to enable access to the wood.
The advantage of setting up the shipping containers in this way is portability ... when the time comes to move again, it's a (relatively) simple case of ringing up the truck driver and relocating the boxes. Obviously, I have to disassemble the side roof and floor etc, but all of this will pack into the containers. Once at a new site, I will be theoretically able to function without the long down-time ... or, so is the plan.
Comments (0) May 26, 2010