Hi, thanks for accepting me as a member. I live in New Zealand at Papamoa Beach. I have been woodturning for nearly fifty years. I first used a lathe just before I left school some fifty-eight years ago. Fifty years ago I bought my first lathe which was made in the Taiwan school of engineering it had a bed of 1100mm and changed speed by belt change I thrashed this lathe for forty years then I bought a lathe made in NZ called a BLine it was a great lathe but had a very small swing over the bed. The lathe that I have now is a variable speed with a short bed.
When I started turning there were no clubs in New Zealand there was only one person that I knew of that did it as a hobby and sold blanks etc, there were a few professional turners.
I managed to get hold of a gouge but made the rest of my tools from old files and old sawmill blades to the shape that I wanted.
There was plenty of heartaches and near misses but I still enjoyed the challenge. Today my main tool is the skew chisel and a scraper the only time that I use a gouge is when turning a bowl I have three skews that I made from old files and one from a piece of 1/4 inch square steel that I hardened this is my main tool.
My main interest in turning is varied from bowls, goblets, and ringed toys to Chinese balls also puzzles that have a secret to pull them apart I also make bushes for gearboxes for our workshop on my lathe. My current interest is turning a ball on a stand supported by a 2mm stalk out of one piece of wood with no join This has taken me a while to perfect as it is very delicate.
Sorry that I have no pictures to put up but will in the future take some to display but will need my wife's help.
Anyway, that's about it I am looking forward to seeing what other members have turned up and different ways of turning objects. once again thanks for accepting me.
Cheers,
Mike Harman
When I started turning there were no clubs in New Zealand there was only one person that I knew of that did it as a hobby and sold blanks etc, there were a few professional turners.
I managed to get hold of a gouge but made the rest of my tools from old files and old sawmill blades to the shape that I wanted.
There was plenty of heartaches and near misses but I still enjoyed the challenge. Today my main tool is the skew chisel and a scraper the only time that I use a gouge is when turning a bowl I have three skews that I made from old files and one from a piece of 1/4 inch square steel that I hardened this is my main tool.
My main interest in turning is varied from bowls, goblets, and ringed toys to Chinese balls also puzzles that have a secret to pull them apart I also make bushes for gearboxes for our workshop on my lathe. My current interest is turning a ball on a stand supported by a 2mm stalk out of one piece of wood with no join This has taken me a while to perfect as it is very delicate.
Sorry that I have no pictures to put up but will in the future take some to display but will need my wife's help.
Anyway, that's about it I am looking forward to seeing what other members have turned up and different ways of turning objects. once again thanks for accepting me.
Cheers,
Mike Harman
