Workshop Foundation Excavation.

Tree roots have been removed and trenches dug for the footings.


The trenches had to be deepened for the footings but this picture gives an idea of what the excavation looked like.

Clay soil!

Lumbering - Urban Style

From the 5 spruce trees here I made approximately 950 board feet of lumber shown below. (That is an apple tree in the foreground which was also removed.) This picture was taken while the house roof was being replaced with steel roof tiles.

Here is the lumber with a few boards missing, used already in the new shop construction. Total cost of getting the wood to the mill and the cost of milling was $550. Thus my per board foot cost was about 60c. This does not include the costs of felling the trees which I did mostly myself but whic could be pricey if the trees could not be easily felled due to building proximities etc.

Building a Woodturning Studio

When I returned from my trip to the UK I had to tidy up the remains of the lumbering operations which had made quite a mess of the yard. I had felled 5 large spruce trees which had been taken to the mill and sawn into construction lumber. 2 X 6's mainly. As it turned out I am not allowed to use this lumber as it has not been stamped approved for construction. It may have been usable in the country out of sight of building inspectors but my home is in the city of Kingston. So I will end up using the lumber for interior walls and shelving.


The digger moves in. The foundation hole was dug to a depth of 3 feet to get below the frost line. I will add another foot of fill around the wall to get to the 4 feet below grade which is called for.

My Uncle Id - Trip to the UK.

Uncle Id. Less than two years from his hundredth year. I snapped many copies of his/my family photos including a picture of my grandmother who had died quite young. And thanks to my cousin Pete I also now have family trees to help tie some of the pictures to.


Took this picture of an English Robin in my uncle's back yard. His nick name was Robin.

But I had to get back to start on my new workshop. Photos of the building process will follow.

Recent UK trip

Before the problems with the volcanic ash from Iceland I managed a brief trip to the UK. I visited my cousin in Oxford and she had this turned wood item hanging in her kitchen all the way from BC. The picture is a Haida representation of the beaver. This is a commercial tourist product but still very nice. Little chewed around the edges by my cousin's two parrots.

Oxford is so full of wonderful architecture and I am sure this picture has been snapped many times. I think this may be part of the library but will be happy to be corrected.

Also went to Jamie Oliver's restaurant where I had an excellent lunch.

And of course one gets around on the "tube" in London. Thankfully I had an Ipod to help navigate my way to various stations.

More on segmented work

John just took such a good picture I had to put him back in. But here follow the rest of the steps to glueing up a piece for turning.


This picture shows the simple clamp that John has made from threaded rod and some scraps of wood.


John glues up the two halves first then he ensures that the mating surfaces are completely flat by running them through a table saw on a home built sled with a built in clamp. All very simple but ingenious.

Segmented turning demo at the Kingston Woodturners meeting

John Downs posing with one of his segmented pieces


Segments are clamped with string and knots. OK you sailors.



Glued wood is rubbed together to ensure good coverage and penetration.


Good demo John. I could not get into the Kingston Woodturners blog as I do not seem to have the password. Thats what you get for having too many blogs...
Oh well.