Green Leaf Wood Studio

Oooo, pretty colours!

2012-02-02T11:50:00.000-05:00

I have been wanting to add some colour to my woodturning for quite some time. I've dabbled with various dyes in the past and while I have liked the results (as have my clients), my experiments were not what I wanted. There are loads of woodturners using all manner of dyes and while there are varying levels of expertise and skill involved, the end results often look very much the same (and more importantly, not what I wanted). I have seen some work being finished with milk paint (both flat-work and turned wood) and knew this was the direction I wanted to explore.

This past Christmas I put milk paint on my Santa wish-list and the jolly old elf came through. This is a photo of some of my recent work (all from 2012) and it shows some of the colouring I've been working on. The picture itself was inspired by a recent photo by Tib Shaw which was posted on The World of Woodturners website. Also, I need to give thanks to Sarah Gunn (@sarahgunnstyle on Twitter). Her recent post, Tangerine Tango over on YummyMummyClub.ca was just the kick in the pants at the perfect time to get me rolling.

Milk paint has been used as a wood finish for centuries. It is made up of milk protein, lime, earth pigments and mixed with water. The Old Fashioned Milk Paint Company developed their colour palette by matching the colours found in variousl historical buildings throughout New England and this was a good fit with what I wanted to create. The results I got from the milk paint, topcoated with walnut oil were EXACTLY what I was looking for.

Look at the depth of this blue! This wooden salad bowl was finished with 2 coats of milk paint and two coats of walnut oil and then it was buffef. I love that paint is not a 100% flat, uniform colour. There are variations of intensity (probably because I am a terrible painter) and texture of the paint, giving it a warm, slow, country feel. Perfect for my tastes and I will be creating a lot more pieces with milk paint in the future. Now, we wait and see what my customers think of it. :)

Thanks for stopping by.

This. Is. AWESOME!!!!

2012-02-01T20:40:00.001-05:00

Before Christmas I got a call from one of my arborist friends, telling me he had a cherry tree for me. The tree had been in poor health for a couple of years and this past summer, it failed to produce any leaves on 3/4 of the branches. Time for it to come down before it came down on top of the house or cars.

It took me two trips with my minivan to pick up what was available to me (the homeowner wanted some of it but I got to pick what I wanted) but it was soooo worth it. Basically I took everything that was over 12" in diameter. The result, a whole pile of bowls! This picture shows MOST of what I got from it. What you see are some bowls in the 13"-15" diameter range which I know will sell very well for me. The cool thing is all of the 10"-12" bowls which I was able to save from the middle of the big ones. THIS is why I love my coring tools. Without it, all of the medium and small bowls would have ended up as wood shavings on the floor.

I have heard some woodturners say that they do not use a bowl coring system because they have more wood than they can handle and this is such an ignorant view. We are stewards of this planet. To waste such precious material that took decades to grow is blatantly disrespectful to the tree, the people and the Earth itself. Now, if a woodturner does not make bowls or only smaller bowls (under 10"), I can forgive this approach. When I hear of woodturners who make large bowls and do not utilize as much of the log as possible, I just shake my head in disbelief.

If you are considering buying a wooden bowl for yourself or as a gift for someone, I urge you to talk to the maker. Learn about their practices, be it where the wood comes from or the makers consideration for the environment. There are plenty of makers like myself who use reclaimed, local woods and take care to use as much of the wood as possible. Seriously consider the offerings of these makers over those that would waste what they need not waste.

Thanks for stopping by.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Where'd ya learn that?

2012-01-23T17:02:00.001-05:00

I was recently asked how I learned to work wood on the lathe. Lisa T., this is for you...

I got my first wood lathe about 7 years ago. At the time, I was very interested in hand tools from the early 20th century. I went to a pile of auctions and garage sales, scoured eBay for hours, looking for new-to-me antique tools. Hand planes, saws, drills, chisels...as long as it didn't have an electric motor attached, I was interested. I ended up with a bunch of chisels that had somehow lost their handles (back when they were made of wood). They had likely been beaten up, cracked etc. I needed a way to make some handles so, I bought a small lathe. I figured I would make a few small bowls, pens and such as Christmas gifts. The lathe would pay for itself, right?

There was a small problem in all of this... Using a wood lathe is SO, MUCH, FUN!!!!!!! I got spinning a piece for the first chisel handle and before I knew it, that piece was a pile of shavings on the floor! So was the next one. And the next. And a few more after that. I was having a blast moving the tools back and forth across the spinning piece of wood, learning what they did, how they cut. It was exhilarating!

The next day, I started reading what I could. I visited the online forum on WoodCentral.com and there I found a whole bunch of crazy folks, sticking sharp pieces of metal into chunks of wood spinning at thousands of rpm's. They were having a whole heap of fun too!

In a little while, I joined the Woodturners Guild of Ontario. I will always be grateful to my pal Stephen Mushinski for kicking my ass to get me to the meeting. All of the sudden, I had access to a wealth of turners and their knowledge. I asked and listened. I screwed up a lot. I watched some instructional videos. I still screwed up, but not as much.

Through the guild, I attended a seminar by a turner of some renown, Lyle Jamieson. Man, did I scribble a lot of notes that day! By this time I had been turning for a few years. I had already won my first award and sold what I thought was a decent amount of my work. I was not a rookie. But I'll tell you something, I learned a lot in that seminar with Lyle. In fact, I paid to be part of a small hands-on class he was leading the next day. Whoa, I was going to attend my first woodturning class!

Ummm, I think that was also my last woodturning class. That is not to say that Lyle scared me off or anything. Certainly not! Lyle is a fabulous teacher and has mad woodturning skillz. Oh yeah, I used a "z" there. MAD, SKILLZ!!!! The thing is, I never had a lot of money to spend on classes and good, hands-on instruction is not cheap. Plus, I was doing pretty well by this time. No, I wasn't the faster turner around (still not) but I knew what I liked, what worked for me.

So there it is, a whole pile of trial and error, one class, a bit of courage and a dash of ignorant bliss. That's how I learned to become a woodturner. These days my principle focus is in making functional wooden bowls. This is not the sort of work that attracts the attention high-end galleries or the Collectors Of Wood Art but that's ok. I take immense satisfaction in creating pieces that get used and enjoyed everyday. I love being part of the slow-food movement and being part of people's love of making real food. That is part of the joy of being a craftsman or artisan.

Thanks for stopping by.

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I love it when...

2012-01-12T20:26:00.001-05:00

I arrived for a doctor's appointment and across the road a large sugar maple had been recently dropped. My doctor's office is in a residential neighbourhood. Because I was 20 minutes early, I went to ask the home owner about the wood.

A friendly smile greeted me and she told me her name is Judy. She proceeded to tell me how her house has 3 fireplaces (!) and that this tree was going to heat her home next winter. I explained to Judy that I am a woodturner and I how I make wooden bowls from trees just like hers. This peaked her interest and we quickly came to an arrangement whereby I would would make her bowl from her tree in exchange for a large chunk to do with what I wish.

I love it when this happens. I got to meet someone new and she, Judy, is really nice. I get to she her face when I finish her bowl, from her tree (I will never tire of this). I get to work with a 100 year old sugar maple and preserve a bit of it for future generations to enjoy.

Ya, I love it when this happens.

Thanks for stopping by.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

When Mother Nature Doesn't Cooperate

2012-01-03T19:26:00.000-05:00

There is no doubt that I prefer the cooler months of the year. Fall and winter are definitely my favoured seasons but this does not always work out so well in the life of a woodturner. Case in point, today....

I looked at my thermometer today and the reading I got was, "You are an idiot for even thinking of going outside today!". Nice. We were sitting somewhere around -30C with the windchill first thing this morning and about -16C right as of this writing. I'm sure the outdoorsy types are happy that ponds will be freezing over so they can lace up their blades and skiers can escape their sense of self-preservation and hurl down some hill with twigs strapped to their feet. Gigidy for them. I have more pressing issues to deal with.

The Christmas rush is over and this is the time of year when I should be cutting up logs and getting some bowls roughed out. I am fortunate to have built a small kiln to help speed the drying process so that takes some of the time-strain away from me but here is the problem... I have logs in my shop, ready to be cut up but it is too freakin' cold outside to fire up the chainsaw!!! Seriously, I don't feel terribly safe using it when my hands go numb. It's too bad too because other than the temperature, it would be a decent day to be cutting. The wind isn't so bad as to blow shavings around the neighbourhood and it is dry enough that cleanup would be easy too. Alas, today just isn't the day.

Of course, the other problem when it is this cold is my kiln itself. Right now I have a bunch of honey locust and cherry bowls in it. They are on the second stage of the drying process and there is a 60w bulb providing the heat. The thing is, it should be around 30-40C in there right now and it is in fact 22C. The rough outs are losing weight but not nearly as fast as I would like. Methinks I may need to add a second heat source for this time of year. Oh, and I am also on the lookout for a second defunct refrigerator or upright freezer so I have a second kiln. The reason for this is that I would like to seriously ramp up my production levels this year, get my work into a few more stores and perhaps do some wholesale work. That's the plan anyway. For now, I will work on keeping my feet from freezing, pray for bit more warmth in the coming days and get cutting the load of cherry that is currently in my way in the shop.

Thanks for stopping by.

A better Christmas "sale"

2011-11-29T11:33:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was "Cyber-Monday", the unofficial kick-off to the Christmas shopping frenzy and while everyone likes to get a bargain on something, the Cyber-Monday sales really annoy me. The reek of greed and a pile of people who seem to value their work less because of the shopping bonanza. I know some view an increase in sales volume as a trade-off for an acceptable wage but it doesn't sit well with me. Just my opinion and no offense is intended to anyone.

So, I've been thinking of some way to have a Christmas "sale" that respects my morals and what my (working) time is worth. How about this... I'm going to have a "sale" where neither the buyer or I gain anything financially. Here it is...

From now until December 25th, I am going to give 25% of the purchase to @zacksdream (Twitter handle). Don't know what @zacksdream is all about? No problem, here's the quick and dirty...

In March of this year, the Hamilton family of Richmond Hill suffered the incredible loss of one of their 3 year old twin boys, Zack. Heather (@tjzmommy on Twitter) is Zack's mom and she has been raising money to build an Elmo-themed room in his name at the York General Hospital. We are talking about a kid-friendly room for the next poor kid who needs to stay in hospital over-night. Bright, colourful, Elmo all over (Zack LOVED Elmo).

I have gotten to know Heather over the last year and this lady is one of my heroes. Courage, compassion and a general desire to make the world a better place...ya, that's Heather in a nutshell (and she gives awesome hugs!). Now, consider the idea of child needing to spend time in a hospital. Yes, it is sad. Yes, it happens all the time. We all know this. By supporting Zack's Dream Room we can all help Heather make Zack's Dream a reality.

So that's it. No financial benefit to you or me. You get something you (hopefully) were going to buy anyway. You will have and enjoy that something for years (because that's the way I make things). We will both be supporting an awesome cause that will bring some ease and comfort to a whole whack of sick kids and their parents.

There is a link to my Etsy store over there on the right side of your screen. Everything you see is fair game for this and I will be posting new items over the next couple of days (including the most excellent wine bottle stoppers you have ever seen or used. These are awesome hostess gifts). Together, let's do a good thing for someone else, okay?

Thanks for stopping by.

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The Power of.....

2011-11-28T17:01:00.001-05:00

Earlier today I was driving along a long, flat, straight section of road. I could see a long way in front of me. In no particular hurry, I was going about 45 km/hr.

Quite a ways ahead, I saw a squirrel attempt to cross the road. He (may have been a she, I never asked) actually froze in place as one car rumbled over his head. Unscathed but terrified, he darted back across towards his starting point and made it. I figure he must have wanted to cross the road REALLY badly because he repeated this twice more, and once I swear he zigzagged between the front and rear wheels of one car!

By the time I got to the centre of all this action, I think he had given up this pursuit as a lost cause because he was sitting well back of the road itself, watching me as I motored on by. Briefly, he and I locked eyes. There was pure rage in his eyes. Me? I was concerned enough to slow my pace to a crawl, expecting him to make another mad dash. Under normal circumstances, I would not have slowed down because there was a fair line of cars behind me (hey, at least I am being honest about it). But, something about this crazy-ass squirrel, made me. Was it compassion, a general desire to help a guy who looked like he was having a really bad day? I don't know the answer to that.

What I do know is that sometimes, squirrels and people do some pretty stupid things. The reasons why are often clouded in dark emotions and poor decision-making, a momentary lapse of reason (as Pink Floyd would say). The other thing I know is that I am awfully grateful when people look out for squirrels and each other when these things happen. I'm not sure if squirrels offer each other a helping hand when things get rough, but, I know good people do.

To all the good people out there, you have my warmest, heartfelt gratitude.

Thanks for stopping by.

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Thank you

2011-11-22T18:11:00.000-05:00

Thank you everyone. I am safe and relatively ok. Getting the help I need.

About The Artist, A-Z

2011-11-20T11:16:00.001-05:00

This is the part of the show where you, the reader, gets to learn a little bit about me. If you have been following along on this journey, you already know I am a woodturner, that I am married and that I have two wonderful daughters. That's basic. I find most artist statements to be rather boring affairs (mine included) so I thought I would take a different slant on things. Here you are, whether you asked for it or not, the A-Z Guide to What Steve Kubien Really Gets A Kick Out Of.

A... Apples, be they fresh off the tree, in a pie, crumble or fritter, I love apples. Apple pie is my all-time favourite food, preferably with vanilla ice cream or a slice of old cheddar. I also like apple wood. Difficult but delightful wood.

B... Birch. Lovely trees and the wood has a strong history of use in woodenware. One of my favourite woods to turn and carve.

C... Chili. Simple, stick-to-your-ribs food. I never enjoyed heat in my food just for the sake of heat so tone it down, please. Best way to eat it is with nacho chips. Use those as your spoon. It saves on dishwashing.

D... Darth Vader. Loved him when my dad took me to see Star Wars and I still do. Baddest badass of all time. Interestingly enough, my nickname at the dojo is Darth Steve.

E... Hamburgers. Ok, that doesn't start with E but I am really craving a burger right now so deal with it!

F... Ferrari. Seriously, the greatest thing ever invented by mankind. Sure, the polio vaccine and insulin were good. Putting a man on the moon, nice. But a Ferrari is the perfect synergy between art and science. It is at once yin and yang. It is all.

G... Green. My favourite colour. I love walking in the forest or down the street and seeing the different shades. For another huge reason I am drawn to green, check out letter "K"

H... See letter "E"

I... Iron Maiden, up to and including the Power Slave album. Anyone reading this remember albums?

J... Jamaican cuisine, especially their curry. There is a fab take-out place in town called Beryl's Pepper Pot and I love the place. Yes, it's on the hot side but it is hot with flavour. That's ok. See letter "C".

K... Kermit The Frog. There will always been a special place in my heart for my favourite amphibian. "It's not easy being green". "The rainbow connection". Classic tunes. The day Jim Henson died, a small part of me died with him.

L... Long division. Seriously! I was always good with basic arithmetic and as long as there were no letters attached to the numbers, I enjoyed it.

M... M*A*S*H. I grew up watching this show. I've seen every episode at least 3 times and I still cry every time I see the one where Radar goes home.

N... Naps

O... OCOS (Obsessive Compulsive, Oh Shiny!!!). Ok, I have a love-hate relationship with OCOS. I love it because I think it helps fuel my curious and creative nature. I hate it because, oh, shiny!!!.... What was I saying?

P... Perry The Platypus, from the cartoon series Phineas and Ferb. This is the most intelligent thing on tv, not that this is saying anything special.

Q... Questions. I always seem to be asking them so this only makes sense.

R... Roti. See letter "J"

S... "Soggy". I don't know why but this word makes me smile. Weird, eh?

T... Twitter. I am really growing to love Twitter, so much so that I have almost abandoned Facebook. Facebook, here is a tip...quit changing everything! I know I am not the only one but I cannot keep up with the security changes, the people whose threads I see and so on. Further to that, I have no idea which posts (by people I trust) are legitimate when it comes to these things because I have no clue which ones are garbage. The only way I can find out, is to click the myriad of links provided (and await the deluge of offers to help Nigerian diamond tycoons get their bank rolls). No thanks. Twitter is a great big cocktail party where you get out exactly as much as you put in. Actually, you often get more.

U... Ummm, I am really struggling with this one.

V... Vegetarians and vegans. These people are wonderful and the more of them there are, the more meat there will be for the rest of us.

W... World War II. Ok, I don't love this but I am fascinated by the subject, especially Hitler, his mania and his hatred. I know, it is a really dark and bizarre thing but there it is. I don't use the word "hate" very often but I really fucking hate Nazi's. Seriously!

X... Oh c'mon, what starts with X that anyone cares about? X-rays? Xylum's? Xylophnes? Maybe X-Men but that would be a stretch.

Y... YYZ, the song by Rush, not the airport code for Toronto.

Z... Zeppelin, as in Led Zeppelin. Greatest band in the history of anything. Period. Those guys from Liverpool, they were ok, but they were no Led Zeppelin. Interesting point...there is currently a British MP lobbying for the knighthood of Jimmy Page. If I had a vote, I would support this, along with Bruce Dickenson, the singer for Iron Maiden (yes, I am VERY serious about this).

So there you go, a few things you probably didn't know about me. Will you sleep better tonight? Ya, I thought so. Any of these things resonates with you? I encourage you to make your own list. It is rather therapeutic, whether you share it with someone or keep it to yourself.

Thanks for stopping by.

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Surrounded by Awesome!

2011-11-12T12:18:00.003-05:00

Have you ever had a day where you are surrounded by awesome people, doing awesome things and you are encouraged to go up to them, say hello, and chat for a bit? Like, if you don't do those things, you really should have stayed home? Yesterday was that day for me. Tweetstock-6, a day of peace, love and tweets, is in the books and for me, it was awesome!

I would say most, if not all, of the 200+ attendees were business people. I met home inspectors, designers, mompreneurs, video production folks, a mortgage broker, and a sign-language instructor. The speakers spoke mostly about how they use Twitter (and other social media platforms like Facebook, FourSquare, LinkedIn etc) in their work lives, as a connection tool, and for communicating with customers (good, bad and VERY ugly). We got a primer/revision of Search Engine Optimization from Julie Rosien (@julierosien on Twitter and yes I think you are pretty) and the power of video online via Jody Matheson (@jodster99).

The two speakers who really connected with me and my thoughts/feelings were Chris Young (@Chris_Eh_Young) and Erica Ehm (@yummymummyclub). Chris cut his presentation short because the event was a tad behind schedule. Nobody asked him to do this. He knew the situation and gave up some of his 20 minutes to help. That should tell you all you need to know about Chris. He was thinking of others and simply being a good guy. Beyond this, his message was also direct and to the point when it comes to Twitter... Simple, simple, simple. Keep what you a doing and trying to do, really basic. It doesn't need to be complicated. Man, the world needs more of Chris.

The final presentation was delivered by Erica Ehm. People my age in Canada probably recognize her name from the work she used to do on TV (some little thing called MuchMusic). Today, the Yummy Mummy Club has become a go-to online spot for everything "mom". This lady connects with people in a way I have not seen before. Her message...be real. Engage with people online, even if you do not know them (yet). Talk to them. Be a "person" online, not a company profile or a salesperson. We all have something to sell but that does NOT mean we should be selling all the time.

I guess that sums up my approach to Twitter. People know I make wooden bowls. I talk about cool pieces of wood that have found me and a bit about tools. I am often in my shop so I post pictures of things I am working on. This is not selling. This is what I am doing. I am sharing a bit of my world. I also talk a lot about my kids and my wife because they are kind of a big deal for me. Yes, I do post when I have new listings to share but I don't think I am over the top. I don't go yammering on about it because I can't stand people that do.

Craig Silva (@BigDaddyKreativ) tweeted, urging attendees to make it to the after-party of Tweetstock. I am sooooo glad I did. It was so much fun. Ya, it's a room in a nightclub with 200-ish people. People naturally gravitate into groups of folks they already know in real life (not just through social media). Well, I had never met any of these folks before this day so mine was a pretty small group. :) So, I took Erica's advice about Twitter and applied it to a real cocktail party...I went up and introduced myself.

I had a great time getting to know Craig, Stephen (@eudorafoods, "Keep calm. Curry on."), Greg McMillan (@the_green_hub), Lucas Duguid (@octopusred, Thanks for the info on the tubes!), Brenda Stonehouse(@BLStonehouse, I appreciate your opinion on branding for artists) and so many more I cannot remember.

For me, the two people I most wanted to meet in person were Heather Hamilton (@tjzmommy) and Erica (as mentioned, @yummymummyclub). Heather because this lady is so full of awesome and giving back under the most difficult of situations, that I cannot even begin to tell you. Heather, I love you and any time I can help with @zacksdream, please let me know. We will make Zacksdream a reality! Erica... C'mon, she's Erica-Freakin'-Ehm! I had to meet her and I feel blessed to have done so. Super lady and I really hope we can get to know each other better in the New Year. Perhaps we can help each other out somehow. Perhaps this is just the beginning of a good friendship. Love you and all you do!

So, here is my message to all of the woodturners reading this... You are already part of the social media world. You read and participate on the various forums and chartrooms. You read blogs like this and an insane number of you are active on Facebook. Now, get yourselves on Twitter. Engage with whoever your target market is. Find people with similar interests to you and meet them, virtually at first. Ultimately, attend events like Tweetstock and the 140 Conference. If you sell your work, be it functional like mine of some version of high-art, don't go connecting with other woodturners. Seriously. We are not your target market. People who will buy your work are your target market. Yes, you DO have time to get involved with social media. In the words of Scott Stratten (@unmarketing), you already open and read your mail and you answer the phone because it may be a customer. Why do you question the value of social media when that is where your customers are already?

Get out there, ENGAGE, meet people and have some fun.

Thank you Tweetstock. I had a lot of fun!

Thanks for stopping by.

P.S. This is Heather and Erica posing with me because they were bribed with loads of free drinks. :)

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Fostering Understanding

2011-11-11T09:20:00.001-05:00

When your daughter (age 9) gets off the school bus and the first thing she says is, "Dad, can we have a chat when we get home? You know, just the two of us?", you know it's time to square up the parenting hat and get down to business.

It seems student Q had an episode in class the other day. These episodes are usually very loud and can be on the violent side. The class has a code word and when they hear it from the teacher, they know they are to leave the room and go to a designated location. My girl was pretty shaken up by the whole thing today. Scared actually. She even asked me if she could transfer for Ms. So-and-so's class. "Ms. So-and-so doesn't have any autistic kids.", she told me. See, Q is autistic.

So, what is a parent to do? I took the opportunity to explain autism as best I can. I tried to explain that not all autistic kids are like student Q. I went on to name a couple of people she knows well...a neighbors kid, another from her old school with Aspergers Syndrome (part of the autism spectrum as I understand things). She was really, really shocked. Q had left a HUGE impression on her and she thought all autistic kids were violent and loud like him. I did my best to explain how autism affects different people in different ways and that they learn how to react to the world around them in different ways and at different times. The cool thing is, I think she understood what I was talking about. Even cooler, she felt compassion for Q because, as she put it, "it must be hard to not have things "go" the way you think they should.". Man I love my kid.

I am still not certain what my wife and I are going to do about student Q and our daughters classroom arrangement. I think it goes without saying that we will express our concerns to the school staff. Is there a real danger to our girl? I really don't think so. It is not more dangerous or harmful than the bullying that goes on in others classes and other schools. I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Please, take the time to post a comment below.

In the mean time, my girl has gained a new understanding of Q. It is a shame this is how that had to happen but I cannot control that. I cannot control her level of empathy for others either but you can be sure I will do what I can to foster it.

Thanks for stopping by.

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Something different for me

2011-11-04T21:42:00.001-04:00

For the majority of the work I do, I use solid wood. There is a branch of woodturning called "segmented woodturning" and it's just not for me. Too many measurements and jigs involved. Also, too many new tools (disc sander, tablesaw or mitresaw, planer etc etc. Did I mention the measurements? I'll pass thanks. Not for me.

This is the extent of my segmented woodturning prowess. This picture shows a bunch of maple and beech strips (3/4" x 2-1/2") glued up into one big chunk of wood. This is not the sort of work Curt Theobold or Malcom Tibbets are known for. I doubt either of these legends of the segmenting world are fearful that I am poised to knock them off the top of the heap.

Here is the finished product. This is a French-style rolling pin. I cut the blank on an angle so that the different woods could be showed off at their best. The main body is straight and is about 2" in diameter. The ends taper over 5" down to a little under an inch. Total length is just over 21" and I finished it with walnut oil.

What makes this such a great tool in the kitchen is that it is one piece. Most people are familiar with the style where the centre section rotates about handles on each end. With a French rolling pin, the entire pin rolls through your hands. The great thing about this is that you can truly feel what you are working on. The user develops a connection with the dough or pastry.

I have also made some French rolling pins in solid maple and solid birch. All are available for sale though, at this time, not on my Etsy store. My photo tent isn't large enough to take quality pictures. If you are interested in seeing more, drop me an email. Prices range from $30 to $50.

Thanks for stopping by.

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I Like Making Wooden Bowls

2011-10-29T10:15:00.001-04:00

"Hi, my name is Steve. I, ummm... Well, I like making wooden bowls."

"Hi Steve!"

There may be support groups for woodturners. I don't know. Not sure I care. See, I love being a woodturner and specifically, I love making wood bowls. Sure, I make lots of different woodturning projects but lately, my focus has been on bowls.

As I have mentioned before, I craft my bowls to be functional pieces. I do not look for pieces of wood which are destined to become "art" or display pieces. Salads, side dishes, fruit, popcorn and the like are the destiny of my work. With the Christmas shopping season fast approaching, I have been busy building my inventory levels. Here are a few recent offerings from my Etsy Store.

This is one of the last pieces of cherry I have from my stash of 2010. This serving bowl measures 9-3/4" wide by 3-1/4" deep. The rim makes it look really thick but it is steeply undercut resulting in a thinner wall and lighter weight. I have been playing with texturing some of my pieces and in this case, I added some detail to the rim. I think it caps off a really simple yet elegant form.

When one of my arborists tell me they have birch logs for me, I get really excited. This yellow birch bowl measures 11-1/2" wide by 3" deep. Like the cherry bowl, the wide rim is undercut and detailed with a wide textured band. I love this size bowl because it is so versatile: big enough to toss a salad or serve popcorn on movie night but not too big to be out of place filled with veggies or roast potatoes.

This elm bowl is also 11" x 3" but it has a slightly more generous size. I gave this one a wider base than the birch bowl. I wanted serious stability. This is a working bowl and I hope it sees use at every meal. Fill it with bread, pasta, salad, whatever you want. Serve it up and pass it around. I added no embellishments to this bowl. Simple lines, a rounded over rim. Clean. Basic. Classic.

If you are the sort who likes to toss a salad up to your elbows, this bowl will make you drool. 12"+ wide by 5-1/2" deep, load this one up and dig in.

I hope you will visit my Etsy store as you do your holiday shopping this year. If I can help you out in any way, please drop my a line. If my work is not the sort of thing you are looking for, I urge you to consider independent artisans and craftsmen. There is so much amazing work being done by these folks and they are worthy of your support. Besides, any thoughtless clod can buy a gift card....

Thanks for stopping by.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Adventures of a Stay-At-Home Dad

2011-10-24T14:19:00.001-04:00

Many people know I am a stay-at-home dad to two really awesome girls, aged 9 and 11. One of my "jobs" or "roles" in this position is that of "chef". For the most part, I am responsible for making sure my family eats and eats well. Some days I am more successful at this than others but I admit, somedays dinner comes out of the frozen entree section or we eat out.

I try to cook most nights. By "cook" I mean I try to take a pile of raw ingredients, combine and cook them together into something tasty and nutritious. (Cooking has nothing to do with the frozen food section unless you ares talking about some veggies. Let's be clear on that.). We own a number of cookbooks and among my favorites are those by British chef, author and T.V. personality, Jamie Oliver. Recently I picked up his book, "Meals In Minutes". The simple premise of this book is tasty, nutritious MEALS in 30 minutes or less.

Tonight, my family and I were craving a roast chicken. I learned how to cook a whole chicken in one of Jamie's other books and while it doesn't fall into the category of 30 minutes, it is dead easy to do and delicious. Veggies consisted of carrots roasted along with the chicken and I wanted some potatoes as well. In the new book, there is a recipe for a sort of scalloped potatoes. I looked at the ingredients and was curious that it called for anchovies. Well, Jamie has never steered me wrong before so I picked some up and had at it.

Everything came together easily and I had loads of time (due to the 1-1/2 hour roast time for the chicken). Potatoes, red onion, thyme, Parmesan cheese, cream, anchovies and some other things I can't remember all mixed together and into the oven.

When I brought it out, well, ummm, let's just say it didn't look like anything I could easily identify. It was a dead, greyish-green colour and smelled...well...not like anything I had ever encountered in the kitchen or out. It was bubbly and crispy around the edges (it's only redeeming feature). Jamie has NEVER steered me wrong before. Some are just "ok" in our family but most are "is there any more?" kinds of dishes. So, I pulled apart the chicken, spooned some carrots unto everyone's plate and followed it up with some potatoes.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

"So, ummm, how is everything?", I asked the assembled hungry mouths.

"The chicken is great and so are the carrots", they said.

"Uh huh. Have you tried the potatoes?", I asked.

"Yup.", was the only answer I got.

"And.....?"

"There ok", said my older daughter while my wife asked, "What's in them?"

"Red onion, potatoes, Parmesan, cream, thyme, nutmeg and anchovies", I answered.

Julie (my wife) asked, "You sure about that?". And THAT is when it hit me...

"Actually, I think they were sardines."

"Uh huh", she said. "I think you're right."

After dinner, while cleaning up I thought about what had gone right and wrong with dinner, as I always do. The chicken and carrots were a hit. Obviously, sardines are not an acceptable substitute anchovies. Fair enough. Well, I learned something today. In time, I will have another go at this recipe, somehow believing that Mr. Oliver truly meant anchovies when writing the book. Win some, lose some, I guess.

"Hey Jule, do you figure allspice is an ok substitute for nutmeg? I couldn't find any nutmeg while cooking the potatoes so I went with allspice."

"Ummm, no", she said.

Methinks I need to apologize to Jamie Oliver for butchering his recipe. Sorry Jamie.

We may have pizza tomorrow night.

Thanks for stopping by.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Anatomy of a blog and why I am failing anatomy

2011-09-30T23:42:00.001-04:00

If you have been around the social media scene for anything longer than 5 minutes, you will have undoubtedly seen a pile of guides promising to make you a better blogger, make more money blogging, cure athlete's foot through blogging and so on. I have read a fair number of these guides. I have attended a bunch of classes and seminars about the topic. I am really not paying a lot of attention. Maybe that is why I am failing Blog Anatomy 101.

Rule #1 about blogging: you need to be prolific and blog often. Apparently search engines like this fact and if you want your blog to rank highly on the search pages, you need to pacify the search engine gods.

If you look over to the right hand side of the screen, you can see an archive of my blog posts. Clearly, I have failed Rule #1. I do not write a lot. My urge to write comes in fits and spurts. I cannot force a post out because I need a third post for the week. Heck, lately I would be happy to get out 3 in a month!

Rule #2: you must deliver a consistent message. Ummm, yeah. Not so much. Most of my writing surrounds woodturning but even in that, I wander over a lot of different topics. Taking a log to turning blanks, processing blanks into useful objects, storage and drying of blanks, where all of the wood comes from... A vast array of topics. Heck, my last post wasn't about woodturning at all. It was about kids sports! Hey, I am a dad, first and foremost, job #1, top priority. These things creep in from time to time. Sue me (ok, no, seriously don't do that. I have no money so you would be wasting your time).

Rule #3: engage your audience. Seriously? The blog gurus want me to beg you, the reader to comment on my blog posts. This is another thing the search engine gods really like for some reason. Personally, I think they (the gods) just want to spy on everyone. I've got my tin-foil hat. How about you?

Here's the thing... I am not comfortable asking people to comment on anything I post in order to further my own needs. You the good readership are busy people and the fact that you stop by this place at all is humbling beyond belief. I figure that if someone is moved enough about something I write or show that they feel the urge to comment, that's great! If I offer up some piece of advice that can help someone be a better or more efficient woodturner, that's great! I do not necessarily need to know about it. I am a big believer in karma so if I help someone out, even if I do not know about it, it will come back to me in someway. I'm good with that.

Now, this doesn't mean that I do not care because I certainly do. I like comments as much as the next blogger but I am not going to put that kind of pressure on you.

Rule #4: include pictures and video with every post. Hmmmm, nope, not going to happen. Lately I have done away with my fountain pen and I have been typing my posts into my iPad. I love this thing! The problem with that is that few of my pictures are on my iPad and I am not sure about how to get them here. Sometimes I manage it, but not always. Sorry. Besides, I like to think that my readers are smart enough to actually READ something and that they do not need a picture book to follow along. Everything in this world does not need to be flashy and sparkly, despite the influence of Paris Hilton and the nightmare that is the Khardashians.

Rule #5:...... Really, I have no idea. I stopped following along at Rule #1 because I failed.

Here's the thing... I write when I have something to say or something to offer woodturners, parents, or anyone else who wanders by in cyberspace. I write because I enjoy it. Occasionally someone asks me to write something for them, their blog or magazine. That's cool and flattering but I am not here to make money as the next big thing in social media. I am a woodturner who makes (mostly) salad bowls. I am brutal at self-promotion because if I try to sell you something, you will spot it a mile away and you will be turned off. Every now and then I will show you something I have made. I will probably tell you where it is available. That is as hard a sell-job as I am going to offer up.

My blog is not a business of it's own. I do not write to improve my Klout score or to sell 500 salad bowls per year. I am not after speaking engagements about blogging or social media. I am not trying to turn the world on it's ear or revolutionize anything.

And that is why I fail at Blog Anatomy 101.

Thanks for stopping by.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

My kids love soccer. Me? Not so much.

2011-09-30T22:58:00.001-04:00

It is a sunny, Sunday morning and I am sitting on the sidelines of a soccer field. People who follow my Twitter feed know that this is a regular part of my life. In fact, for much of the calendar year, it IS my life.

Kidlette #1 is trying out for next years rep soccer team. For the record, "last years" season ended about 3 weeks ago. To me, this borders on insanity. These girls are 11 years old and while it is great that they have found something physical that they love, I cannot help wondering if the parents, the club and perhaps society at large pushes these kids just a little too hard.

The plus side is that both of my girls love the game. They love being part of a team and they have developed friendships through soccer that have flourished and endured. What they are mostly unaware of are the games outside the game, the games payed by the parents and the club itself.

I am not talking about the screaming heads who coach from the sidelines. We the parents all do it to one degree or another and we are idiots. Really, if we know so much about the game, we really ought to be on the other side of the field, coaching. I don't know very much about soccer. If I have something to say or offer, I will do so with the coach or my girls...after the game. When the ball is moving is not the time. That is the time to support them and enjoy their accomplishments.

Today's tryout session finds 30 girls on the field vying for a spot on one of two teams. The dreaded A and B teams. Competition. Gamesmanship. Favoritism. My kid is the best and I WILL tell you why.

Oh, you thought I was talking about the kids? Sorry.

No the biggest competition right now is about the parents. My kid is better than your kid. My kid WILL be on the A team. If she isn't, she will change clubs.

It is politics and law-of-the-jungle at it's finest (or worst, depending on your point of view).

*sigh*

What I want for my kids is to have fun, develop a love of the game and an appreciation for physical activity.
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I started this post a week ago. I am just now getting back to it. Sorry. Did you miss me?

So now it is Friday night and tomorrow morning DD#1 will be back on the field for further tryouts. The good thing is, the pressure has lessened. She will be playing on the B team and she is a very happy girl. As she told me, there would be too much pressure on the A team (smart kid) plus, she loves the coach of the B team (very smart kid).

What does this mean in the big picture? Well, it is an indicator that my child may not be talented enough to earn a scholarship to play soccer at a NCAA school. Relevance to the rest of her life?.... Zero, zip, nadda, zilch. What she will continue to develop is a love for sport, specifically team sport. This is very, very good. Truly, my kid has a good head on her shoulders.

In shocking and related news, DD#2 has announced that she does NOT even want to tryout for either of the rep teams this season. Her reasons? "There's just too much soccer and I want to be a kid for a while". Noteworthy is that she is 9 years old. During the spring and summer of this past season, her team had two practices and one game per week. This does not seem unreasonable when you is trying to develop young athletes. And, her team did develop and improve. Her team will also being practicing two times per week plus a game per week...during the winter months. DD#2 thinks this is too much and that she (and others) will get sick of it. I tend to agree with her, at least as far as she is concerned. Other players may very well thrive on this sort of schedule. I suspect there are a few who would love more work, more training. Not my kid though. She said if she misses it playing, she will play house league next summer. Another smart kid (it's my wife genes at play here).

In all of this, I seriously question the motives of rep-level sports clubs. If the sole goal is to develop the next Ronaldo or Sidney Crosby and bring glory to the club, fine and dandy. But, if the goal is to develop healthy young athletes, foster a love of the game, and perhaps identify the next great star, I think the model is broken. In the case of DD#2, the model has become an epic failure. Funny thing is, I actually think she is a pretty fair athlete. Strength, power and speed are all above average for a kid her age. Coordination may be a tad below average or on the line but it certainly isn't poor. What she does have in spades is pure courage and fearlessness. This cannot be taught and truly, I think the club has lost a positive force in its program.

Parents, where do you stand on organized sports? Specifically, how do you deal with the bad stuff that goes with them? How do you shield your kids so that they can enjoy themselves while giving it everything they've got for their teammates? Have I totally screwed up by letting DD#1 continue down this path or by letting DD#2 walk away?

Oh, and where is this covered in the Parenting For Dummies books?

Thanks for stopping by.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Drilling Wooden Pen Blanks

2011-09-13T00:11:00.001-04:00

I founded Green Leaf Wood Studio around 5 years ago when I made the decision to become a professional woodturner. Since that time, I conservatively estimate that I have made about 500 wooden pens. I tell you this to establish my experience while I proceed to debunk a commonly held opinion among woodturners...

Collective wisdom says when you go to drill out penblanks that you keep the rpm's low, in the 300-400 range. My experience leads me to believe this is wrong.

This is a picture of the control panel on my lathe. As you can see, I have it set to 1000rpm's. The blanks I was drilling were maple burl, amboyna burl and some rosewood (these were leftover blanks from who-can-remember-when-I-bought-then. Best guess, these are 2 years old). Total number of pieces I split/cracked from excessive speed or heat generated...zero.

Let me clarify a couple of things because I know some readers are saying, "Ya, but..."

I am a woodturner and therefore the material I was drilling was wood. Not acrylic. Not metal. Not some funky weird rock material. Wood.

I do not use any special drill bits. I use regular, old-tech, twist bits which came with different pen kits. These are not colt, cobalt, bullet-point, or brad-point bits. If I order a style of kit which is new to me, I order the appropriate sized bit for that kit. If the bit arrives as a brad-point or something else, fine. I will use it but generally I use twist bits (like I was tonight).

I tend to advance the bit rather quickly via my tailstock. I hear lots of folks saying that you should only advance a 1/2" at time and that you need to cool your bit with a water spray. I have seen no evidence which supports this notion. Me, I drill fairly quickly until the shavings no longer easily escape up the flutes. Then, I retract the bit and brush off impacted shavings with an old toothbrush. Come on people, this is woodturning, not brain surgery. Let's keep it on the simple side. Leave the brain surgery to the rocket scientists. Ok, maybe not them but you get the idea.

So, why do people advocate this low-speed, slow-advance approach? I really have no idea. Perhaps they have read it in a book by someone famous and accept it as gospel. Me, I'm not famous, though I have read the same books. Maybe they like drilling blanks. I hate it so I want it done and over with.

Now, just so you don't think I am in a surly, pompous frame of mind, here is a piece of advice which many penturners will offer, and which I am a recent convert to... Turn your pens between centers without the use of a mandrel. A size "A" mandrel will easily flex if it is held by too much tailstock pressure which leads to vibration which leads to all sorts of badness. I picked up a hardened non-revolving centre for about $7.00. I mount this is my headstock and my regular revolving centre in the tailstock. I also use the appropriate bushings on either end of the blank, just like I would if i was using a mandrel. Ya, you need to turn each section of your pen separately and that takes extra time. Trust me, the results are worth it. Here is a picture of my set-up...

So, how about it...what "truths" of the woodturning world have you found to be less than true? Shall I tackle the volumes that have been written on the subject of finishing next? How about the notion that more money spent makes for better tools? Ya, I could upset a pile of folks with those...

Thanks for stopping by.

P.S. Disclaimer: If you want to drill ebony, African Blackwood or other brutally brittle species, you are on your own. I do not condone the use of these species for any number of reasons including their high PITA factor.

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Last week of summer and how I survived

2011-08-29T00:05:00.001-04:00

It is the last weekend of August. That means it is back-to-school-shopping season and thus, the end of summer. I know the fall solstice is later but let's be real... When the kidlette's go back to school, summer is done. For those of you without school-age children, tough. Deal with it.

Honestly, I have no idea where this summer went. I like to believe that if time is passing without your noticing, you must be living well.

We have lived pretty well these past few months. The kids have spent loads of time in the local outdoor pool and their soccer schedules have kept us busy. They both played rep-level this year. That means a game and 2 practices each, every week. Add in tournaments and extra clinics... Well, you get the idea.

The girls are old enough that I am able to get a respectable amount of shop time in the summer.

Here we see a pair of roughed out bowls. The little rounds in the picture are going to become candle holders. The idea for them came from my Kiwi-friend, Terry Scott. They will be ready in time for the Christmas season.

The Christmas giving season is a major focus for me right now. Last year I found myself working right up to Christmas to fill last minute orders. I hope to avoid that stress this year. As it stands, I have a pile of bowls either dried or drying, soon to be finish turned. I also have roughed out and dried some blanks for rolling pins. I've made a few of these in the past and they have been well received. As I mentioned, I have some candle holders drying and I've been playing with some crotchet hooks as well. I think I have a fairly diverse range of offerings. We'll see what works and what I enjoy making.

I have also been stretching my artistic side a little. A recurring theme of "change" is coming through. I'm not sure where this will lead. Some of the work is personal while some is political. Some is both. The public may see it in a different way and that's fine too. That is what point of abstract art...to make the viewer think and feel.

Oh, one more thing... I am working on my ability to create a tremendous mess! I can only guess but I suspect I have filled 30 or so bags of woodshavings this summer. Friends and neighbours seem to enjoy the steady supply of garden mulch I am creating.

Thanks for stopping by!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Review of the Nova DVR XP Lathe

2011-08-16T17:06:00.001-04:00

About a month ago I woke up at 4:30 on a Saturday morning...on purpose. We were in the middle of one of the worst heat-waves southern Ontario had ever faced and I was driving my AC-less van (aka The Sweat Machine) to Montreal. My destination? The home, studio and shop of Andre Martel. My goal? To pick up my new lathe, a Nova DVR XP to replace my Nova 1624.

Let me tell you something... Driving from Ajax, Ontario to Montreal, Quebec is not a fun way to spend a day. To do that drive in 38 degrees Celsius with no air conditioning is a special version of hell.

I bought my lathe from Andre Martel. He had it partially set up in his studio so he could demonstrate it to clients. As such, the headstock was attached to the first section of the bed. The bed of the DVR XP (and Nova's 1624 lathe) comes in 2 pieces. I propped the bed sections up on a pair of sawhorses and connected the two ends. Alignment was dead easy with the tailstock bridging the joint. Next, I attached Nova's cast iron leg set. Again, everything lined up perfectly, just as it should.

The legs have holes at the feet so levellers can be added or the entire lathe can be bolted to the floor. I am lucky in that my shop floor is nice and flat so I have no need for leveling. There is some debate among woodturners about whether a lathe ought to be bolted to the floor. My simplified approach is this... If you NEED to bolt your lathe down because it is moving or walking around on you, YOU are doing something wrong. If the piece you are working on is too off-balance, trim it or slow down. If your lathe is too light, add a ballast box. Bolting it to the floor is going to put strain on the bearings that they are not meant to handle. I am not an engineer, but this just makes sense to me.

Ok, after getting it set up, it was time to get some wood spinning. The first thing I noticed was how smooth it was. I put my hand on the headstock and couldn't feel anything at 1000 rpm's. Since that time whether I have been rough turning a log, working on pen parts of finish turning a bowl, I have been very, very impressed. Any vibration I have encountered has been because I either had the tool overhanging the rest too far or a badly mounted workpiece. In other words, my fault.

This smoothness can be attributed to two things: quality bearings and the fact that the lathe spindle is actually part of the lathe motor. Most lathes have a motor hanging off the headtstock or slung under the bed. Power is transferred to the spindle via a series of belts and pulleys. This has lead to vibration in other lathes I have owned or used. Some are worse than others and I think the DVR is better than most.

One of the reasons I opted for this new lathe was because of my Nova 1624. I knew all the parts like the banjo and tailstock were easy to operate, locked down solid and weren't so heavy that I would need a crane to remove them. The DVR XP shares these same parts so there was a comfortable knowledge with them. Seriously, the one-handed-tailstock-removal is a sweet thing!

Oh, I also added the Nova Outrigger accessory. This will allow me to turn significantly larger than the 16" inboard swing of the lathe (29" diameter I think). I am pleasantly surprised by it. It's a heavy-duty brute, is easy to adjust and is pretty darned solid. I may find a way to add support under the arm that goes to the floor to eliminate all vibration but it is not really necessary. The thing I like to use this rig for is finish-turning of my work, especially the outside of a bowl. I have using it so that I have better access to the bottom of a bowl so I can take one continuous push-cut from base to rim. Sweeeeet!!! This really cuts down on sanding.

This lathe uses up to 80% less power than other lathes of similar size and power. I cannot explain how it does this because I do not speak "electron". It's all Greek to me, as the saying goes. Nova's website has a series of videos which explain all of this along with other features of the lathe. Check it out.

Ok, what don't I like... Well, the most obvious thing is the tool rest. I really think it is a piece of crap. Oh, it's solid enough but it is designed in such a way that shear scraping or shear slicing cuts are next to impossible. You can't drop the handle of the tools nearly far enough. Also, it is cast iron which is prone to dings and nicks which transfer to your tools and thus your work. I never even took the bubble wrap off of mine. For now I use a 1" round tool rest which a friend welded for me (but I have a Robust tool rest on the way that I am looking forward to).

I am firmly in the camp that believes the controls for a lathe ought to be at the tailstock end. This puts the operator out of the line of fire when starting the lathe and for most operations. If things go badly, there should be a kill switch where the user is standing, which more often of not, is closer to the tailstock end. I am no electronics guru but as I see it, a wiring harness would allow the controls to be mounted where they belong. Having said all of that, this fall Nova is introducing a remote control which can be placed anywhere along the lathe bed (or even on your wrist like a watch). This is a welcome development and I will be at the head of the line when it is released. As far as I know, it is a simple retrofit for all existing Nova DVR's.

More mass would be a nice thing in any lathe but that costs money in terms of materials, manufacturing and shipping. Plus, mass can be added by the user fairly easily. On mine, I added lengths of steel to the legs, forming a shelf. One this shelf I added approximately 300lbs of old bricks. The shelf is around 10-12" off the floor, bringing the added weight close to the spindle height where it belongs for maximum effect. Since adding this, the lathe hasn't budged unless I have done something stupid like use too much speed on an out of balance piece.

All right, more inboard swing would be nice, but not necessary. I see it like this... A salad bowl measuring 14" or larger is a big freakin' bowl! And, how do you pass it around the table? I know there are turners who specialize in larger turnings, bowls in the 18"-22" range but most of us do not. If you see yourself making a load of pieces in that size, the Nova DVR XP is not for you. Save your pennies and get a Vicmarc VL300 or a Robust American Beauty. For the rest of us, the Nova is just perfect and with the money you save you can outfit yourself with a vacuum chuck, coring rig, additional sanding and finishing supplies etc.

Now, if you work with green wood and turn-to-finish (I twice-turn most of my work), the Nova would work fine if you had a vacuum chuck. Swing the headstock and turn outboard. No problem.

In a nutshell, the Nova DVR XP is an excellent lathe for most woodturners. In North America, it retails for around $2000-$2200 which is in line with other lathes in this class and quite a bit nicer than the big yellow one. Honestly, I cannot imagine a smoother, quieter machine.

Thanks for stopping by.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Yes, I do occasionally make things

2011-07-07T09:27:00.001-04:00

It seems as though I blog, tweet and update Facebook a lot about all of this timber I am working with or on and yet, I cannot remember the last time I posted some new, completed work. Well fear not my faithful readers, this woodturner is going to deliver the goods. It's salad bowl time!!!

But first, a small thing... I know I have mentioned how I love my new iPad. It is so much more portable than a laptop and generates no heat so it is more comfortable to use as well. Recently I bought an application called Photo Wizard. It is a photo-editing app and so far, I really like it. I'm still learning to navigate it so bear with me. I think these pictures look really good here but please let me know how they look on your screen. You can leave comments below. Thanks. And now for your viewing pleasure...

I wrote about a pile of elm logs which I reclaimed from a local arborist (I LOVE reclaimed wood). I roughed out this wood before my 2nd carpal tunnel surgery back in April. They are all dry now and here is what this fabulous wood looks like. This salad bowl measures 12" x 4" and is finished with Mahoney's Walnut Oil. I really wanted this wood to do the talking so I did not embellish it with any beads, grooves or texturing techniques. Simple is good.

Most of the bowls I make are turned on the lathe two times. The first time is the rough out, then that gets dried and finally it gets re-turned to its nice round shape. On this piece of reclaimed Norway maple, I only turned it once, from start to finish in one long session. I did this for two reasons... #1, wood warps and twists when it dries and I was afraid this would warp beyond the physical capacity of my lathe or crack. #2, the grain patterns were simple so I had an idea of what it would look like as it twisted and bent, just not the final size. The bead was added in order to accentuate the undulating rim. This bowl measures approximately 13.5" x 6".

Another piece of the same Norway maple. A friend of mine, named Bill Neddow, turns some of the finest bowls the world has ever seen. Among his most striking pieces are ones where the opening of the bowl is considerably larger than the base. His bowls have such great lift to them. I like to think I was channeling Bill when I was making this bowl. Again, it was turned in one session and allowed to twist. The textured band was added before the twisting so it follows the rim very nicely. 13.5" x 5.5"

Oh yeah, now we're talking! Manitoba maple doing what it does best. The colour is naturally occurring. I had nothing to do with it. Several theories exist to explain the colouring including fungal or insect attack, trauma such as disease or lightning strikes and even excessive wind during the life of the tree have all been thrown out there. All I know is that it is lovely and a real treat to see the image of the bowl change as I shape the wood. In time, especially with exposure to sunlight, this red colour will fade to a yummy chocolate brown. No matter because even then, it is still gorgeous. This bowl measures 10.75" x 3.25".

So there you have it, some fresh work. I swear to you there are others as well. Some of them sold before I could get pictures so you will have to trust me on their existence. Others will have to wait for another day. These will soon be featured on a new merchant website I am currently setting up. Details to follow.

In other news, on July 16th, Green Leaf Wood Studio will be welcoming a new addition to the stable. Yes, I finally got the proverbial "green light" on a new lathe, the more intelligent brother to my current Nova 1624, the DVR XP. I will get into details of that once I have it and have been able to test-drive it.

I hope this lays to rest the ongoing rumors that I never complete anything. In many cases those rumors are blatantly true but every now and then, I do manage to make some things.

Thanks for stopping by.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

First show of the year.

2011-06-26T21:34:00.001-04:00

This past weekend, Green Leaf Wood Studio hit the road and was part of the Art Show and Sale at Momiji Centre. It was the first show of the year for me. Actually, I haven't done any shows since December and I kind of miss them.

The show at Momiji is one of my favourites. I usually sell fairly well there and I LOVE the atmosphere. It is very light and airy and the shoji-style walls seem to calm me some how. Actually, maybe it is all of the bamboo growing inside or the pond and waterfall. I suppose it could be the wood floors. Ya know, I suspect it is mostly the people. The entire neighborhood comes out for this event as well as the residents of the attached retirement home. Everybody is so friendly and the residents are always surprised when I speak to them in Japanese (using the few words and phrases I know). Even the other artists are friendly!

Sales were a little off from previous years but not too much. It was a weird mix of items which were sold though. A few smaller artsy pieces along with several large, functional salad bowls. One little boy (Andrew) was thrilled when I gave him a small cherry bowl for his morning dose of Captain Crunch. I was thrilled when his parents bought a salad bowl and set of matching individual bowls to go with it.

A piece of advice for anyone selling their work at any sort of show... NEVER pack up early. If the show runs until 4pm, do not think of lifting a finger until the last customer has left. I don't care how much packing you have to do or how long a drive you have to get home, wait. Be the last person to start tearing down. Case in point... The show ended at 4pm today. My last sale, for $250, happened at 4:20pm. I took the time to be helpful and patient for 20 minutes and earned $250 for my trouble. The folks near me who started counting the minutes with 1/2 and hour to go, were ignored by people because it was obvious they had already checked out for the day.

Now, to get ready for the next one...

Thanks for stopping by.

Summertime

2011-06-09T20:43:00.001-04:00

Summertime time has arrived in Southern Ontario...with a vengeance! Where I live, summer means temperatures in the 30's and humidity in the stupid level. Honestly, the air can get pretty thick and gross. Yesterday was the first truly brutal day of the season and it called for drastic action...

This is what I looked like yesterday morning when I woke up. Ok, this picture was taken in the winter but I hadn't shaved or trimmed my beard in months. I had a certain "Grizzly Adams" going on and it really suited me. I liked it, my wife and kids liked it, all was right with the world...except the heat and humidity. So....

This is what I looked like when I got up this morning. Ahhh, a little more ventilation equals a whole lot more comfortable. I really wanted to keep the beard but after looking in the mirror with my head clean, I realized that wouldn't have worked. So, off it came.

I do miss the beard and so do the females in my life. Oh well, I suspect it is only for the summer. Last year I stopped shaving around September or October and that may happen again. Who knows. The only thing for certain is that I am a lot happier now. That, and I really need a hat.

Oh, and I may have a bit of honey locust coming my way. Gotta love the urban forest! I left a note for the homeowners about a tree they have taken down and hopefully I can trade them a bowl for the timber. I have only worked with honey locust a couple of times but it is favorite of mine. Fingers crossed!

Thanks for stopping by.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Simple change

2011-06-08T08:49:00.000-04:00

So you may have noticed that I have changed the background here at Green Leaf Wood Studio. No worries. This is still the same place and I continue to be your intrepid woodturner and writer. But, the blog does load faster now, doesn't it?

Have a great day!

But was your heart in it?

2011-06-07T21:55:00.001-04:00

There was a discussion recently on one of the woodturning forums. The topic was, basically, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Easy concept really...one persons rubbish is another's sparkling gem. The discussion strayed a little into the idea that as makers (artists, artisans, whatever) we strive to put our best work into each piece we make. Those pieces which don't make the grade, end up in our own homes or the scrap pile. I want to take this idea a step further.

What if a piece you make is technically good, the finish is flawless and comes out exactly as you intended, but your heart was not in it?

See, I think there is a problem with such a situation. At least there is for me. I need to feel engaged in a piece in order to derive a sense of satisfaction with its completion. I need to feel an attachment, a connection to the wood I am using. It could be the grain or the colour, the texture or the intended purpose of the piece. Maybe the tree held sentimental value to the landowner and I am trying to capture some of that spirit for them. I know I am alone in this.

I know there are folks who crank out the same pieces every day. A hundred spurtles, 50 bottle stoppers, 20-30 pens. Heck there are some that can (and do!) make a dozen or more bowls in a single day. These people are machines and often the envy and awe of the woodturning world. I have tremendous respect for their tool skills and their drive and determination. To be able to support their families by doing something they love is an amazing thing. I am not one of these people.

Nope, I get bored doing the same thing over and over again, even if someone is paying me for it. I suffer from a condition I refer to as O.C.O.S., Obsessive Compulsive, Oh...Shiny! I get distracted and disinterested pretty quickly. Staying on task is an effort for me. This is a big part of why I do not produce a pile of replica items like those mentioned above. I will leave that work to those who thrive on the challenge. For me, I will embrace the endless variations that wooden bowls offer. I still take joy from making the odd set of candlesticks and rolling pin too. Just don't expect to find dozens to choose from.

Thanks for stopping by.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad.

When will we learn?

2011-05-18T22:10:00.001-04:00

A while back I posted about how irresponsible it was for woodturners to use exotic timbers. I talked about endangered species, the cost to the environment in terms of deforestation plus the fossil fuels needed to bring those timbers to market. There is the loss of habitat issue in many areas. The list goes on.

I caught a lot of flack for that post, especially from certain importers of exotic timber. You know what, I really couldn't give a damn because I know I am right. Case in point, Sumatran tigers are an endangered species and now a good chunk of their habitat is slated for clear-cutting for timber and paper pulp production. This sort of thing infuriates me especially as so many in North America are blind to the plight of our planet and yet we can get in an uproar because some golfer cheated on his wife.

Sad state of things.

When will we learn?

Be safe everybody

2011-05-18T11:22:00.001-04:00

I am very sad to pass along the news that Joan Kelly, a member of the mid-south woodturners guild in Memphis has passed away. She died as a result of trauma caused by a bowl she was working on blew apart and struck her in the head. This event occurred over a week ago and Mrs Kelly had been unconscious since that time. My sympathies go out to her husband and family at this sad time.

This comes on the heels of the death of Yale student Michelle Dufault back on April 13th. Ms Dufault had been fabricating a part (also on a lathe) for an experiment she was working on when she died.

Folks, the lathe can be an amazing tool and great things can be done with it. Great joy can come from its use. But, it can also be a very dangerous tool and when accidents happen, they happen very quickly. If you need to question if a procedure is safe, it probably isn't. Get quality guidance from the AAW Forums or the folks over at WoodCentral and ask for help.

Let's all try to be safe.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Friends are Vital

2011-05-09T14:16:00.002-04:00

It doesn't matter how old you are or what stage of life's journey you are in, friends are vital, especially when you yourself are under the weather. So while your faithful woodturner (that would be me) is recovering from hand surgery, one if my friends has stepped up to the plate in a big way.

This is my friend and wildlife photographer beyond compare, Gary Blake. I took this quick picture this morning not far from my home in Ajax, Ontario. The tree is a Norway Maple which had developed a pair of nasty splits. It was a danger to the nearby art gallery (A Gift Of Art) and was felled late last week. The trunk is being reclaimed by me for use as salad bowls and whatever else I decide to make from it. With my hand all bandaged up and totally useless, Gary offered to cut up the trunk to as per my instructions.

In this picture, Gary is cutting the log into lengths I will be able to manage in a few weeks. The log was around 24"-28" in diameter and 8 feet long. Later this week we will meet up again and he will cut it into turning blanks for me.

You should visit Gary Blake's personal website to see his truly amazing work. Gary also has an Etsy Store where his art photography is for sale. Gary can make prints of his photographs in virtually any size and he also offers calendars featuring his work. Please do pay his a visit.

Thank you Gary for all of your work. To the rest of you reading this, thanks for stopping by.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Rest and Recuperation

2011-05-08T19:00:00.001-04:00

The tools and machines at Green Leaf Wood Studio have been temporarily silenced. This woodturner has had the second of two surgeries last week and it will be a little while before I can get back at things.

For those that aren't aware, I used to suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome. Back in February I had my right hand taken care of and the left has now been done as well. Prior to the surgery I spent a lot of time roughing out some bowl blanks and filling my homemade drying kiln. The good news is that in a few weeks I will have a pile of elm salad bowl blanks which will be ready to finish.

I'm the mean time, I am going to take a page from my cats book and take the art of relaxing to staggering new heights.

Be well and thanks for stopping by.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Which Tools Do I Use?

2011-05-02T07:28:00.000-04:00

I often get asked which tools I use in my shop. People want to know about the finishes I use, the type of lathe I have and so forth. Here I will break down the tools and finishes that have found a home in my shop and a little about why I use them.

DISCLAIMER: Green Leaf Wood Studio is not sponsored by any of these companies. I, Steve Kubien do not receive any form of payment, financial or otherwise from them. I have used these products and continue to do so because they flat out perform.

I suppose the heart of my shop is my lathe. I turn on a Nova 1624-44 wood lathe, made by Teknatool International. When I was looking a replacement for my old mini lathe, a 3 month old Nova became available to me about 15 minutes from my house. It had the capacity to fill my needs at the time (16" swing, 24" length), came with a few extras and would cost me slightly less than if I bought it new. For the money (around $1000), I seriously believe this is the finest lathe available today.

The banjo and tailstock lock down nice a firmly. The headstock swivels so larger pieces can be swung or you can avoid leaning over the bed. That is not a big deal for me because the stand allows me to stand really close.

My one complaint about the 1624 is that it doesn't like large out-of-balance pieces. I believe this is due to the way the headstock casting is made. The bearings supporting the spindle are close together near the front end. Adding another bearing on the other end would accomplish two things... First, better support for the spindle and secondly, it would necessitate a more rigid headstock casting. Still, for 95% of woodturners the 1624 is a very fine machine.

Once you have wood on the lathe you need a way to cut it. Doug Thompson of Thompson Lathe Tools makes truly remarkable tools and his commitment to quality and service is second to none. He utilizes some sort of powdered metal than is beyond my understanding. What I know is that these hold their edge for a good long time. I hate sharpening so this is an important factor in my shop. Another thing I love about my Thompson's is the price. Doug's pricing is very competitive and is without equal when you factor in edge retention and quality. These tools come un-handled so when it comes time to replace a tool, you are not stuck paying for another handle. Reuse the one you have. Better for your pocketbook and better for the environment. I should note that one of my bowl gouges is not from Doug. It was made by Crown I think. Not sure but I know it excels at shear-scraping cuts. Shame it does hold an edge very well. I also have an el-cheapo parting tool and a huge P&N skew chisel. The skew is very nice, granted, but when the time comes I will replace it with one of Doug's because Doug has earned my repeat business.

Once you have made the wood round your are going to need to sand it. For goodness sakes, don't use cheap, crappy sandpaper. More importantly, don't overuse it! Use sandpaper as though someone else is paying for. For the past couple of years I have been using the blue discs from Vince's Wood n Wonders. These discs cut so well that it is tough to explain. They are fairly priced, especially when you buy packages of 50. Oh, don't forget the interface pads. Seriously, I cannot describe these well enough to do them justice but they really help prolong the life of your sanding mandrels. Drop Vince an email. You will be amazed at how helpful he is.

Alright, we are in the homestretch. Your piece is round and it has been sanded. Now it is time to put a finish on it. For all of my utility pieces and many of my ornamental ones, I use Mahoney's Utility Finish Oil from Mike Mahoney. This is a walnut oil which is perfectly safe for food contact. It penetrates the wood and hardens inside resulting in a durable finish which will never flake off, crack or wear away. This is far superior to mineral oil or beeswax finishes which never cure/harden and are washed away in the sink (or in your food. Gross!). When I need a little more colour or gloss than the walnut oil will provide I use Watco's Danish oil or Tung Oil from Lee Valley Tools. Occasionally I will shoot lacquer on items needing a high shine and I need to build many, fast drying coats.

So that's the bulk of it. I have a couple of other things which are necessary including a few things from Oneway Manufacturing and a no-name grinder and drill for sharpening and sanding respectively. But make no mistake, these are the core tools in my shop. I see no reason why they shouldn't have a place in yours too.

Thanks for stopping by.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A Boy Named Zack

2011-04-28T17:31:00.000-04:00

On March 10, 2011, the Hamilton family lost their youngest member Zack. He was 3½ years old and had been in and out of hospital for his whole, far too short life.

The family, along with a pile of friends and caring folks are trying to raise $25,000 in order to build a room at York Central Hospital for kids in Zack's memory. The theme, Elmo, who Zack loved very much. I have donated a wooden salad bowl to their online auction in an effort to contribute to this wonderful cause.

I ask you to please visit SoConnected and help out in any way you can.

Additionally, between now and May 7th, I am donating 20% of every sale made through my Etsy store to Zack's Dream (@ZacksDream on Twitter). I will be adding more items over the next few days.

Thank you for stopping by and taking part in this amazing event.

Save time, save wood, and save money in your woodturning shop

2011-04-25T22:57:00.001-04:00

You may be thinking that from the title I am giving away the ultimate secret in woodturning. I'm not sure we should go that far but what I am talking about will save you time in the shop, it will save you wood and it will in turn save you a ton of money. Let's talking coring tools...

Save Time:
Imagine you have a 14" bowl blank on your lathe. If you are a competent turner with a decent lathe you can shape the outside in around 30 minutes (safely from a chainsawn log). The inside will take, what, another 30 minutes? That's reasonable for the average, non-production turner. With my coring rig by Oneway Manufacturing, I can take a core out of that blank in around 3 minutes (and I am a novice with this tool). 30 minutes into 3 minutes. Nice.

This is what the Oneway Easy-Core system looks like installed and just starting to cut.

Save Wood:
Remember that core I removed in 3 minutes? That's another bowl-in-waiting. Without a coring tool of some sort, that bowl-in-waiting is a pile of shavings on the floor. It seems to me that the more wood you can save in this manner, the less chainsaw work you need to do both in the field of in your driveway. If you buy your wood, this saving of wood leads you to...

Save Money:
It seems obvious but if you buy a lot of your wood for bowls (as rounded blanks or in log form, it only makes sense to make finical investment go as far as you can. A coring system allows that. Simple.

Also, if you work under the premise that time is money, a coring system will make better use of your time-related dollars.

Ok, let's take this all just a little further and go back to your 14" turning blank... With both the 9" and 11" knives for the Oneway system, you can easily remove two cores from your blank. That means you have the 14" large salad bowl, an 11" or so salad or serving bowl plus a smaller personal-sized bowl, around 9" in diameter. Oh, with those two knives, you also so not have to adjust the base if the unit relative to the lathe. Just swap the knives (which takes about 5 seconds).

Initial layout for this system with two knives is around $450. Its not cheap but once you sell 3 or 4 of those cores, it is paid for. 3 bowls in under an hour. That is saving you time, wood and money.

This is the result of my time and effort this weekend. These elm salad bowls were in log form when I started. They were "rounded" on my piece of garbage bandsaw, shaped and cored. I have about 12 hours invested in all which is pretty good since I work slower than many of you. (I was also using the tool for the first time so a bit of trial and error was involved). This coring rig may be the best investment I have ever made in my woodturning equipment.

Thanks for stopping by.

Time to catch up

2011-04-11T11:20:00.001-04:00

It is time for me to catch up on a pile of wood that found it's way to me prior to my hand surgery and during my recovery period. I would say my hand is about 95% now (I would like the skin to toughen up a bit more but that will come). On April 28th, I will go back under knife for the same carpal tunnel release surgery but on my (dominant) left hand.

One of the arborists I work with was tasked with removing a dangerously overhanging Manitoba maple in my town. He called me to come and get the burled wood, if I wanted it. I was out the door in a flash, bandaged hand and all.

The above picture is one of the dozen or so I collected. This is quite a prize for me as burled wood is not exactly common. Too often trees are harvested BECAUSE of their burls but this one was leaning over a home, endangering the structure.

A picture of a couple of pieces I sectioned off the log.

Now mounted between centers and ready to turn. NOTE: When mounting wood with a spur drive, always drill through the bark into solid wood first. This will give the driver better purchase and reduce the chance of a premature and dangerous dismount.

Here the bowl has been turned, including the inside. The wood is still green (wet) but sanded it as best I could anyway. As it dries it will bend and twist making power-sanding next to impossible so I got the process started while it was still round. Once dry, I will sand the rest by hand and the finish it.

I am also expecting a load of black walnut bowl stock to enter my shop this week. There ought to be some marvelous salad bowls in there so I will be busy before the next surgery.

Stay well everyone and thanks for stopping by.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

What do you get out of blogs? What do you want?

2011-04-04T15:41:00.001-04:00

What do you get out of reading blogs? Why are you/we here, wandering through the blogosphere? Are you looking to learn something new? Do you wish to share with like-minded individuals. If you are a woodturner, wood artist or handmade zealot like myself, what draws you to a particular blog? What keeps you coming back?

I started blogging for two principle reasons: I like to write and I wanted an online vehicle to show the world the wooden bowls I so love to create and use. This second reason also had to be easier to maintain than a traditional website.

I find that I do not get much creative satisfaction when I write to showcase recent work. The satisfaction comes in the creation of the piece itself, whether it is a wooden salad bowl or a pair of candlesticks. On the other hand, I do enjoy writing about my weekend, sharing details of my homemade drying kiln, advocating for the use of locally reclaimed woods and such. Unfortunately, that sort of thing rarely leads to sales.

So let me ask you... What would you like to see here on the pages of Green Leaf Wood Studio? More of my work because you like it or are inspired by it or more of my life and opinions because I am such a fascinating individual and you all want to be just like me? :). How about how-to's on how I do what I do? Let me know you thoughts.

Thanks for stopping by!

P.S. The picture I added up above is the first large piece o have worked since my hand surgery. I still need to sand it and part it off but feels good to make shavings again. April 28th sees me back under the knife so I can get my left hand repaired. Lots to do before then!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Calling Tech Support

2011-03-26T23:34:00.001-04:00

I cannot fathom what woodturners of years ago when they ran into problems. How did they learn what tool could do what or even what array of tools were available? Here in the 21st century, woodturning help is available all over the place. You just have to know how to call Tech Support.

For me, the single best place to get the help I need is the Woodturning forum on WoodCentral. It doesn't matter if I have tooling issues or questions about a wood species I have never worked with, the warm, generous folks on WoodCentral are willing and able to help me out. One of the best things about these people is that if you ask for an opinion or critique on a new piece you are working on, you will get honest answers. If the curve of a hollowform is a little flat coming into the base, they will tell you. If the piece rocks but your photography skills could use some polish, they will tell you AND they will tell you how correct the shortcomings. This is critical if you want to grow and improve as an artist and a woodturner.

The World of Woodturning (WoW) is another fabulous place, for the same reasons. Many of the finest woodturners in the world frequent this invitation-only site. You can learn sooooo much just by looking at the photo galleries. Also, the archives on WoW are full of information and articles. A lot of these writers are folks you have never heard of. They are woodturners like you and me who want to share what they know (gotta love that about woodturners!)

Another version of Tech Support we all have is our circle of friends. Never, seriously NEVER underestimate these people. Just tonight we were over at friends for dinner (went with a Caribbean-theme). The matriarch of the household, Belle (@MsBookish on Twitter. Follow her if you like books and writing) hooked me up with an app for my iPhone called BlogPress. This little $2.99 app allows me to easily write my blog posts on my phone, from anywhere, at anytime! No more lugging my laptop around! WooHoo!!! In fact, I am writing this while flat on my back in bed. I think I love this thing. Thanks Belle!

Now let's see if I can figure out how to publish this post from here...

Thanks for stopping by!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Eco-Friendly Woodturning

2011-03-21T20:32:00.000-04:00

Fire. One of the greatest and most feared things on the planet. Capable of warming a cold night, or helping cook the perfect meal. Also able to wipe out a family home or even an entire forest. Picture this…

A forest fire rages. Hundreds of great old trees are consumed by the fires insatiable hunger. Young saplings never growing to their potential. Birds and animals scream in terror as they rush to escape the noise and heat.

A hummingbird flies quickly to the river where he dips his head to take a drop of water. He flies back to the blaze and drops his precious load on the flames and once done, returns to the river again. Back and forth he flies. The great bear sees this and says to the hummingbird, "What do you think you are doing? That won't make a difference!"

To which the hummingbird replies, "I am doing what I can."

I would like woodturners (professional and amateur) to really start to think on a global scale. When it comes to our world, everything affects everything else. In terms of the destruction of the world’s rainforests, woodturners may only play a small part. A few boards of bubinga, various rosewoods, ebonies and blackwood’s may not make a huge difference to deforestation of some far away land. Really, it's only a couple of boards, one or two decent sized trees. No big deal. The number of trees needed to bring those few boards to market is quite negligible, until you consider all of the users of these timbers, around the world. Now we are talking about a LOT of trees.

When we think of the trees "needed" to fulfill the desires of a few woodturners we must also consider the fossil fuels needed to down those trees, process them into useable boards and ship them around the world. I wonder how many barrels of oil are needed to produce enough gasoline and diesel fuel to move one tree from, let's say West Africa, to the North American market? Seriously, I have no idea. What I do know is that it is a lot more than it takes me to reclaim a log from the local dump or redirect a tree from one of the arborists who tend to the urban forests near my home.

The point is quite simple... Most of us in North America have access to thousands of board feet of urban timber. These trees are pruned and removed everyday by tree services, local utilities and homeowners and in most cases, are free for the asking. At different times I have reclaimed entire cherry, elm and maple trees from these people. They are often happy to see me because they know I can use the wood they will otherwise take to landfill. From them I get a constant flow of fresh timber in a huge array of species. Some of it is interesting crotch wood. Occasionally I get really lucky and find some burled wood. Most often the wood I receive is rather plain which it perfect for most woodturning projects. Seriously. Burled woods are not suitable for any sort of functional bowl or plate. Another great thing about these plain-grained woods is that it forces the woodturner to think more carefully about shape and form.

So, are you the bear, blindly believing that your own personal impact on the world’s rainforests is so small as to hardly be worth noting? Or, are you the hummingbird, doing what you can to make our profession/hobby/artistic-pursuit a little more eco-friendly and responsible?

Be the hummingbird.

Thanks for stopping by.

P.S. Here at Green Leaf Wood Studio, I stopped buying "exotic" woods a couple of years ago. The wood I use comes from the urban forest and is the result of storm damage, regular pruning and removal by homeowners and arborists. I still have a few bits of "exotics" kicking around in my shop from the old days, mostly in the form of pen blanks. I still haven't figured out what to do with them. Perhaps I will make some pens and donate the proceeds to the World Wildlife Fund. If you have a suggestion, please leave a comment and let me know.

Lending A Helping Hand

2011-03-11T12:46:00.000-05:00

This post will short, but not terribly sweet in its origins. This post is about lending a helping hand.

By now, most know about the magnitude 8.9 earthquake which hit Tokyo on March 11th and the resulting tsunami's hitting various locations around the Pacific Rim, including northern Japan and Hawaii. Those that really know me (or have been reading this little piece of the internet for any length of time) know that I have a keen interest in Japanese art, culture and particularly its martial arts. Like thousands of others, I have friends in Japan (some like to swing swords at my head and those are the BEST friends!) and I cannot imagine the suffering thet are going through or the work ahead of them.

I have decided to do what I can to help. Until further notice I am donating 25% of sales through my Etsy store to the Canadian Red Cross efforts to help the people of Japan and those affected by the tsunami's. Please visit my shop, browse and do what you can to help me in my efforts.

Thanks for your help.

Building and Using A Homemade Wood Kiln

2011-03-05T22:26:00.000-05:00

The topic of building and using a homemade wood kiln is a common thing on the internet forums and woodworking magazines, especially those geared towards woodturning. The problem with many of these articles and discussions is that you need to be an electrician to hook them up and the methods of monitoring your progress are tedious at best. Around here, I like to keep things simple. To that end, here is my wood drying kiln. It's simple. It works.

The first you need is a refridgerator. Now guys, before you empty the one in the kitchen, stop and think. Are you single? Would you like to be? No, then don't use THAT one! Keep your eyes open on garbage day for one that your neighbour is replacing or go to the scrap yard and pick one up cheap. It does not have to be in working order but you do need the doors and the seals should be in decent shape. Shelves are good too but you could always add some wire ones if you had to. Other items you will need are a light fixture, a small desk fan, a 1/2" drill bit that can go through sheet metal and a few light bulbs. Later you will need a scale, a pen and paper.

The first thing to do is make sure the unit is not plugged in. Loop the cord around the grid on the back or cut it off entirely. Next, pop a few 1/2" holes near the top of the main compartment of the fridge. These will allow air and moisture to escape. Try to line these up close to the height of your fan, which will sit on the top shelf of the fridge. I put four holes in mine, all fairly close together and I haven't had a reason to add anymore.

Are you tired and exhausted yet? We are in the home stretch. Seriously.

Next, take your light fixture and throw in a 40w bulb. Put the fixture on the bottom on the fridge. Run the cord through the door seal on the hinge side so it reaches an electrical outlet. Run the cord of the fan, which is sitting on the top shelf, in a similar fashion to the outlet. Turn both the fan and the light on. Your kiln is now operational. Here are pictures of my FHS (Fancy Heat Source or "light fixture") and my DACD (Deluxe Air Circulation Device, aka "the fan").

Yes, it really is this simple. No wiring involved (handy for those of us who do not speak "electrical"). No scrounging for old computer electrical fans and power supply units. No thermostats. Simple. Geez, why don't people go the simple route anymore? Ok, now for the good part...how to put this contraption to work in your workshop.

The first stage in my process occurs after I have roughed out a sufficient quantity of bowls, hollowforms and or spindle blanks (usually a mixture of all of these). First, I seal all of the end grain with Anchorseal. I have mentioned this stuff before and many of you are familiar with it. For the Anchorseal virgins in the audience, it is a wax emulsion used in the forest industry to seal wet or green wood. For our purposes, it helps to slow moisture loss from the end grain so it more closely matches the rate in which moisture leaves from the flat or side grain. In this way, the whole piece dries at roughly the same rate which eases the stress on the wood and helps reduces cracks and checks. Ask around at your next guild meeting for s source local to you. For folks in the Toronto area, John at Woodchuckers carries it. Give him a call.

Ok, you've sealed the end grain and the Anchorseal has dried so that it is no longer white and milky. Great. Now you need your scale and log book. Number each piece and weigh it, being sure to record the date. Here is my log book...

The numbers across the top match the marks on each blank and the weights are in grams. At the risk of offending my American friends, use the metric system! It is far more accurate and easier to see percentage of weight lost (what even is the next lower measurement unit after ounces anyway?) Ok, pro-Canadian rant switched to off... Do this for each piece you are going to load up.

Load up your kiln being sure that there is space for air to flow into and around the pieces. Take a look at this picture...

Notice how the bowls are sort of standing on edge and not sitting inside one another? That's what you are after. Also, take a look at the very bottom, beside the FHS (light). That is a small tub of water I add for the first round of the drying process. What you want right now is to get the humidity up high and keep the heat on the low side (that's why we are using a 40w bulb). It is not uncommon for my pieces to GAIN moisture at in the first few days. Don't worry about it. Relax. In a couple of days, take each piece out of the kiln, get your handy log book and scale and weigh each piece. Record what you find (and the date) even if it is only a few grams difference. Put everything back in the kiln. Wait another couple of days and do this again and repeat until you notice the weight loss slowing down. I usually find this happens in a week or two. When that happens, move on the the next stage...

Remove the tub of water (it may well be empty) and change the light bulb on your FHS to a 60 or 75 watt bulb (allow the 40 watt bulb to cool first. C'mon, lets use our heads). Wait a day or so and repeat the weigh and log process. Wait another couple of days and do it again. Are you seeing a pattern here? Again, when it looks like weight-loss is slowing considerably, ( a week or two) switch to a 100w bulb.

You are now in the penultimate stage of this exciting adventure. Go through the weigh and log procedure for a week or two. The loses will start to really slow but I usually keep the kiln going for two weeks at this point. Once you feel you have reached the limits of the 100w bulb you move to the final stage... Unplug the FHS and the DACD and remove your pieces. Stack them on a wire shelf in your shop, not too cold, not too warm. Let them sit there for a week or two to get acclimated to your environment. Then, they are ready to go back on the lathe and be finished.

So, in around 4-8 weeks you have gone from a pile of roughed out bowls which are months, if not years, away from being ready to finish to a pile of blanks ready to finish turn and enjoy. I suppose you could further speed the process with additional fans or lights, higher wattage bulbs, etc etc. But really, why bother? Seriously? Relax. While they kiln is running rough out a fresh pile of logs or finish turn the pieces you took out last time and never got around to. If you are so fast in your turning and your work sells quick enough that this system is not up to your speed, add a second kiln. I certainly hope to need one some day.

It should be noted that there are a couple of other options besides an old refridgerator to use as a kiln. Lots of folks are happy using old dishwashers as the top can become a storage shelf or finishing bench. An upright freezer would be awesome because it could hold more pieces. That might be a reason to add another light or fan. I know I would think about it but for now, my old fridge works great.

I want to briefly discuss moisture content in wood. I have a pretty simple view of the matter and that is that is doesn't matter. Really. Once the pieces in your kiln stop losing weight (moisture), they are dry enough to finish turn. That is the bottom line. End of story. If they will not give up any moisture under the pressure of a 100w bulb in a small enclosed box where the temperature can reach 60 degrees Celsius, then they aren't going to. I am talking about bowls and hollowforms here. I have limited success drying 3" and 4" diameter spindle blanks for peppermills, rolling pins and candlesticks but that is because the wood is so thick. A roughed out bowl may be between 3/4" and 1-1/2" thick and that is a huge difference. I have no idea if the bowl blanks exiting my kiln are at 20% moisture content, 12% or 8%. For all I know they are at zero. I have had bowls come out and gain moisture from the environment clearly indicating that they were too dry.

In my opinion, any woodturner who is cramped for space and cannot store a lot of wood or a woodturner who does a few shows each year and needs to be able to dry wood quicker than Mother Nature will do on her own should seriously look into a refridgerator kiln. I have tried the liquid dish soap approach and while I lost no bowls to checks or cracks, it was no faster than Mother Nature. I briefly played with the denatured alcohol method of drying and it was quick but not overly faster than the fridge. Plus, who wants to add another chemical to their shop? Seriously, that stuff is nasty and an accident waiting to happen. Get an old refridgerator and keep it from hitting the landfill. Re-use it as a kiln and give it a second life.

If you have questions or comments about all of this, please let me know. I am no scientist working on a PhD or seasoned veteran of the lumber industry but I know what works for me.

Thanks for stopping by.

Time To Heal

2011-02-28T12:45:00.000-05:00

Had I previously mentioned that I was having surgery to deal with my carpal tunnel syndrome? Well, the surgery was done on February 24th and I am on day 4 of my recovery. Time to think. Time to dream. Time to fret about what I would rather be doing than sitting around. Time to heal.

My wrists and hands and have been giving me trouble for some time. My right hand developed carpal tunnel syndrome around 10 years ago (long before I discovered woodturning). I managed it by wearing a brace at night and mostly, it helped. Some things in my life were not easy due to the condition but I got by. In the past year or two, things got worse. Driving for more than 20 minutes became uncormfortable at best and painful at worst. I have been having trouble holding on to my weapons while in the dojo (not cool!!!!) and using my chainsaw meant a useless, achy hand for 3 or 4 days afterwards. During this time, I have also developed CTS in my left hand as well and I knew it was time to get something done about it.

So, I sit here now with my right hand wrapped up like a mummy and sore. I am banished from my shop for a few weeks and I am getting cranky. -sigh- Usually I am a pretty good patient. Leave me alone and I'll be fine. Right now, all I want to do is get into my shop and work on some ideas I have plus a few projects that have pseudo-deadlines attached to them. But I cannot do these things and I am not happy about it.

Before the surgery, I spent some time roughing out some new bowls. The logs were in my shop and I feared they would check and split if I didn't get to them before my surgically-demanded hiatus. So I roughed, cored and sealed. Yesterday I hauled the rough-outs into the kiln so they ought to be fully dry and ready to finish-turn once my hands are healed. Yes, I said "hands" because I am having the left one operated on as soon as the right is ready for action. In all, I should be out of the shop for 6-8 weeks between the two hands. I suspect I will get a week in the middle of that where I am well enough to turn before the second surgery. If I don't...well...I just don't want to think about the idea.

Thanks for stopping by.

The Week That Was And The Dirty Burger

2011-02-18T23:50:00.001-05:00

This week has been a departure from the norm for me. To start with, I didn't start the week at home.

My wife had to travel to Boston for business. She was leaving on Sunday the 13th and staying the whole week. She had a great idea that I should join her and we could spend Valentines Day with each other. "Umm, honey, I know you are really smart and cute and everything but have you forgotten that we have two little girls (ages 8 and 10)? We cannot duct tape them to the basement walls and leave them for a couple of days (again)."

"See if your Mom can look after them", says She of Mighty Brain-Power.

So, grandma to the rescue and we are off to Boston! We got there Sunday and played tourist in Salem, site of the infamous witch-trials of 1692. Cool place and somewhere I think I could live, being of pagan leanings myself. Dinner was at a pub near our hotel. I had something they call a Dirty Burger. Basically it is a 10oz (!) patty, cheese, a bunch of bacon and a fried egg on top, served with Dirty Water, a dipping sauce which will melt your fillings. Awesome. A heart-attack on a plate, but awesome.

Monday found me on my own for the day as SWMBO was working. In a nutshell, I went for a walk around Boston Common, reading plaques and people watching. My wanderings took me towards a place called the Old Corner Bookstore, established back in the time of Moses or something. Really old place apparently. Hae you seen the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan movie, You've Got Mail? It's the one about the small bookstore getting swallowed by the mega-bookstore. Well, it looks like that is what happened here because the Old Corner Bookstore is no more and Borders was across the road. Too bad because I like small independant businesses. Especially bad after hearing the Borders is going bankrupt and the Old Corner Bookstore will still be out of business. I had a spot of lunch and went back to the hotel for a nap (hey, I was on holiday! Holidays are for naps!).

We had a lovely Valentines dinner at a place called The Blue Room in Cambridge (across the river from Boston proper). Look, here's the deal... If you are going to Boston and would like a very nice restaurant, with sensational food and service, book a reservation at The Blue Room. Seriously. One of the best meals I have ever had and hands-down the best service. Figure on $50-60 per person. Not a cheap meal but worth every penny.

I got home Tuesday in time to pick the girls up from school. My wife is still in Boston and getting home tomorrow so I've been a single-parent this week. Soccer practices, swimming excursions with school, homework etc etc... All the usual stuff.

Hey, I did get a little woodturning done. I finish-turned a few smaller bowls and processed a couple of logs into bowl-blanks. One of those blanks is now on the lathe and I am off to rough it out now. Shouldn't take too long with my coring rig.

Have a great weekend everybody and thanks for stopping by.

Pay Attention and Inspiration May Reach Up and Grab You

2011-02-08T12:44:00.001-05:00

Inspiration and sources of it are popular subjects among artists. Volumes have been written about where to find inspiration, how to recognize and harness it's powers in our work (Hmmm, I just lumped myself in with the "artist" crowd. I don't even feel weird about it. I am making progress Dr. S.!!!). Please allow me to discuss an epiphany I had while in the shop the other day...

Ok, here we go. Ready for it?
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Here it is... "Slow down".
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Thank you ladies and gentlemen! I will be here all week, pontificating and sharing my views on the universe. Try the veal and don't forget to tip your waiter!

Oh, you expected (dare I say, hoped for) more? All right. Here's the genesis of this idea.

I was working on this block of ash. Its size dictated its future as a nice wooden salad bowl. I had it mounted on a faceplate and was shaping the outside in steps ala Lyle Jamieson. See the picture below.....

As I worked from the bottom towards the rim, smoothing out the steps, it because apparent that the last couple of steps might make an attractive rim for the bowl. I continued to work it, refining the shape until I had to deepen and clean up the last steps. I knew I was on to something good here so I took my time. I SLOWED DOWN. And here is the result...

Which translated well into the completed bowl...

So, I urge you, slow down. Open your eyes and take in what you see. If I had blazed a path towards my previous conception of what this bowl ought to look like, I would have never seen the simple beauty in those steps. I know for a lot of people the old adage, "time is money" is the ultimate truth in their world. I feel sorry for those people...but they probably sell and lot more product and earn more money than I do. -sigh- Sucks to be them.

Thanks for stopping by.

Clean-Up and Reorganization

2011-01-24T12:38:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday evening I went for a walk...in my shop! Remarkable as it may sound, there is enough floor space for a little stroll. Maybe I will change the name to Green Leaf Wood Studio and Fitness Park! I can walk around while I ponder an ongoing piece which has me stumped. When I am standing at my lathe, I am not restricted to turning in a tight little circle in order to reach behind me to retrieve a needed gouge or pencil. I can WALK over to the tool chest to do so, extracting the tool in question from a shavings-free drawer.

Someone of you may be thinking, "C'mon, your shop couldn't have been that messy." -clears throat- I present to you, Exhibit A...

Exhibit B...

And finally, Exhibit C...

This last shot was taken a few weeks ago, just prior to my clean-up. The reason this wood was stacked right at the door of my shop was because I could not get further inside to find it a home! Yes folks, my shop was a bonafide health-hazard.

As of this weekend, I have shovelled 12-1/2 bags of shavings into the paper yard waste bags (an over/under pool won by my little brother), made 7 trips to the dump, and delivered approx. 3/4 of a face-cord of firewood to various friends. I have freed myself of some old iron which I was never able to find a good home for, various bits of steel which I will probably find a use for next week, a bunch of old tools which were far past their prime, broken or simply useful for parts (again, couldn't find a local home for any of them), and oodles of pieces of construction lumber (small stuff) which was too good to throw away (but now have). From the mess-that-was I extracted a few odds and ends which I had been missing but I am now thankful I have found including my splitting wedges, 2ft level and a pile of pipe clamps. As a woodturner, I don't know what I will use the pipe clamps for but I cannot part with them. I may have a need for them someday.

My lathe has found a new home, out of the centre of the and closer to one wall. This does a few important things... It gives me more room to work on my side of the lathe without feeling trapped behind it, and the wall contains a large volume of shavings from the rest of the shop, especially when hollowing bowls.

That section of wall already has a tool board on it which holds my most-often-reached-for turning tools, calipers and dividers and my drawknife (because it has to go somewhere and be accessible). There is still a section of wall free for future use.

I moved my tool cabinet closer to the lathe and thought my sharpening rig would fit nicely on top.

There is a small dental cart beside it which houses all sort of bits and bobs including, well, bits and bobs! It needs to be purged. The large cabinet has been purged and now holds only things I use with any regularity or that would get lost anywhere else. Behind the cabinet, on the floor is my portable toolbox. Just a regular tool box found in any home (though perhaps a tad larger than some). It holds things which are hardly ever used or needed but essential called upon. It is completely out of the way which is very cool. I'm not sure I like the sharpening rig up top. Seems too high for me but I will live with it for a while before doing anything drastic.

Some wire shelves for holding roughed-out bowls and urns, my handsaws which I use, my captured hollowing bar and some blanks. Oh, my garden hose, extension cords and a big-ass sword are also stored here. Well, where would you keep your sword?!?!?!?

Opposite the wire shelves is some more crude shelving for storing various turning blanks and my compressor hoses. The fridge kiln is out of the picture to the right. To the left is my bandsaw which is kind of homeless right now. I need to replace its drive-belt and until I do (later this week) I am not moving it. The space around it is clear and it will likely wind up very close to the red tool cabinet.

Now, before you start with the smart-ass questions let me clear up a few things... No, I did not find Jimmy Hoffa. Go to Giants Stadium. Elvis was not hiding out in my shop. He is still hanging in Tweed working late nights at the burger joint. There were NO nests of any sort. No mice, birds, or reptiles and no evidence of their ever having been there. -sigh- You people....

Bottom line... Is it pristine? No, it's a workshop. It will never be pristine. Is it organized? For my needs and tastes, yup. Can I find everything? Well no, but that is only because I have put things away and cannot remember which cabinet or drawer they may be in. Can I work safely? Absolutely! Can I store wood more safely and still get at it? Absolutely! In fact, I can acquire more wood, rough it out and store it while it dries than ever before!!! How cool is that? Have I learned anything from this exercise? Yes... Do not let you spouse get involved in woodturning. It may start off as a few pens here and there plus some small bowls but it will grow. I know guys who have had to build seperate, detached buildings to house their turning related stuff. Get your spouse involved with needlepoint, reading or cooking. With these activities, they do not take a lot of room or money (the first two) and/or they taste good (the cooking, not the needlepoint).

Be well everyone. Have a fabulous day. Me, I am staying inside because it is too darned cold to be outside in my nice clean shop!

Thanks for stopping by.

Keep It Simple

2011-01-17T23:50:00.000-05:00

Here at Green Leaf Wood Studio I believe in the K.I.S.S. principle (Keep It Simple Stupid, in case you've been living under a rock) and yet it is often overlooked in this day an age. Tweet this, CCS feed that, microwaved food (?), rush to one event and hurry to the next. We analyze things to death and break down our days into seconds. We really need to relax and sloooooooow down people.

Woodworking is no different. Today we have saws which will cut veneers 1/64" thick, we measure how long it takes a given board to be cut by different tablesaws in 1/100ths of a second and the fences and jigs on our tools can be adjusted by 1/1000th of an inch. Nonsense. It's just wood folks. Take a look at Toshio Odate as he brings this point home...

Clockwise, a hammer. Counter-clockwise, same hammer, different place. As simple as it gets.

I will say it again... It is just wood folks. K.I.S.(S.) You do not need to measure everything to death. Listen to the wood and your tools. When the sound changes you are getting close to where you want to be. Use your hands to guage thickness, to feel the the curve of your next bowl. The wood does not know or care whether you have an exact 1/4" wall thickness throughout. It wants to be balanced, like it was when it was still standing. You can let it continue to live, but not if you turn making a bowl into an engineering exercise. Relax and enjoy.

In other news and developments, I am continuing to try and clean/re-organize my shop. I have hauled away a lot of timber which has become firewood due to neglect and that is painful. I had not sealed much of this wood before I squirrled it away and as it has dried, it has cracked and checked. Much of it was destoned for the landfill before I reclaimed it but at least it will not go there now. I have several friends who heat their homes with wood so it will serve some benefit to them. I am happy to get it out of my way and they are happy to be warm.

Today while I was at the dump, I happened past the area where people bring their yard waste. This can be lawn trimmings (in the summer months), pruned branches and today, entire logs. -insert smiley face here- I came out of there with more volume of "stuff" than I took in! It is beautiful curly poplar and a wee bit of elm so I am not complaining. There are several nice salad bowls in that timber. With all of that said, I have changed the terminology of this "clean-up/re-organization" to simply a "swap-of-my-old-crap-for-a-bunch-of-new-crap." That's kind of like progress, isn't it?

Thanks for stopping by.

Day # 14,504

2011-01-14T11:25:00.000-05:00

There is no holiday or special celebration on the 14,504th day of someones life. No band is playing. I certainly haven't been notified about a pending parade or fireworks display later this evening. Nope. Nadda. Zilch.
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-sigh-
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Depsite this non-event status, I feel like celebrating my 14,504th day on this planet. My household tasks for the day are done. Dinner is planned and ready to go at a moments notice. I am going to slide by my Sensei's house today (that is always an enjoyable time). I will put some time into my shop clean-up, even though my feet will be cold and uncomfortable in about 20 minutes. These are all good things. These are little victories worth celebrating so here at Green Leaf Wood Studio, I am doing my proverbial Snoopy dance.

Hey, you don't have to live large. Tis better to live well. Sunshine and happiness everybody!

Thanks for stopping by.

January 9th.

2011-01-09T09:39:00.000-05:00

Woodworkers are often asked what got us started down this path. For me, it was my dad. I remember building Kub Kars with dad when I was very young (it was when he bought me my first set of chisels, yellow-handled Fullers, which I still have). We built fences, a shed, a deck and who knows how many small projects along the way.

I do not know what my dad would think of the path I now find my life travelling along. I do know that he would be happy that I'm still working with wood and doing something with my hands. Today is the 11th anniversary of my fathers passing. I still think about him every day, even if it is something small and seemingly insignificant. He was a great guy. The Polish Prince.

Miss you

So This Is 2011

2011-01-08T22:16:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the first post of 2011. I know lot of other blogs have already written several thousand words, posted dozens of pictures and issued a few gigs worth of video. Sorry, but that's not the way Green Leaf Wood Studio (or I, Steve Kubien) roll. Geez, look at me using the kids lingo. I feel so cool....Quite frankly, I haven't had a lot to say or show.

See, I have not been spending much time in my shop in the past two or three weeks. I took an extended break over the Christmas holidays. I needed it. I was suffering from shop-burn-out. Now that my girls are back at school, routine has been restored and I have my fill of reading, I feel refreshed. I am jazzed to get back to making wood round and generally making a mess of shavings.

Earlier this week I paid a visit to an arborist friend of mine. We spoke in the dying days of 2010 and he said he had some wood I may be interested in. I picked up a bunch of Manitoba maple, a bit of pear wood and a couple of short honey locust logs. Lots of good turning blanks. The maple is gorgeous with a bunch of deep red colouring. Unfortunately, it also has a lot or ring shake so I won't be able to get any big bowl stock. All is not lost as there are plenty of candle sticks, spoons and a few urns in there. The pear was full of rot and dormant carpenter ants (ick!). There are a few bowls in the honey locust and that will be fun as I have never worked with it before.

Over the next week or so, I am planning on a shop overhaul. I desperately need to get more organized. I will post a few pics as things progress. Hopefully when I write next, I will have news of a new addition to the shop.

Thanks for stopping by.

Satisfaction

2010-12-30T16:57:00.000-05:00

All of us take satisfaction from different things. Some let out a sigh of contentment when they've finished cleaning a room. Others are satisfied at the end of a strenuous workout. Helping out a friend in need, watching a loved one succeed at something, attempting a new woodturning technique, completing a long, arduous task like renovations...

Take a look at this video. Take a look at the face of Imaru-san at the end as he enjoys then fruits of his labour. I hope each and every one of you know this feeling and put yourself in a position to feel this every day in 2011.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2010-12-26T19:38:00.000-05:00

I just realized that I have only written one blog post this month. One, lousy posting. Look, it's not because I don't love you all because I do. The fact of it all is that there has been a collision of the busy season, the last of my show schedule, packing and shipping last-minute Christmas orders, last-minute Christmas shopping and my general laziness. Yup, it has been a hectic time here at Green Leaf Wood Studio but it is all over now.

Christmas has come and gone and this year, I am glad. Oh, don't get me wrong. It's great to see family and friends and I love watching my girls faces on Christmas morning (but not as much at 7am. What's a dad to do?). I love the latest addition to my tool-arsenal, a Gransfor Burks Swedish Carving Axe, to aid me in my spooncarving endeavours. The girls are very happy with their digital cameras and video equipment. All is right with the world. But you know what? I'm tired. Really tired. I would like to sleep for a month. Or two.

I did want to wish each and every one of you the best of this season. Happy New Year to you all and may all of your dreams come true in 2011.

See you then.

Breathing a sigh of relief

2010-12-06T20:18:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was the Art Noel show, put on by the Durham West Art Council. It was my last show of the year and now I can relax a little. The pressure is off and I can create what I want to create. With that in mind, allow me to show you a few of my latest works...

Peppermills in curly maple and cherry with some burning to bring it to life plus some really cool candlesticks. The sticks are heavily influenced by the work of Rude Osolnik. During his career, Rude made hundreds of sets of candlesticks (maybe thousands) and his design was so simple yet so wonderful. Truly, this is my favourite style I have ever seen. I dressed my version up with some Indian ink to blacken them and added a pair of textured bands to each one. I hope Rude would be pleased.

So, from now until Christmas I will work on a few more mills. I have recently had discussions with a friend in Hawaii about the process of making these and he gave me a couple of ideas about how to mount the pieces on my lathe. These ideas greatly speed the process and make it a lot more enjoyable for me as a woodturner. I've also got another set of candlesticks in the works which I can now finish. That set is going to have some serious, colour! I'll be sure post pictures once they are done.

I think I'll go play now (in the shop).

Thanks for stopping by.

May I have a glass of milk, please?

2010-11-29T11:17:00.001-05:00

I am going to stray from my usual path of woodturning, spooncarving and such today. I feel the need to write about my most recent life experience as a stay-at-home-dad.

Those that know me know that I am not the most health-conscious guy on the planet. Sure, that's an understatement of significant proportions but even I occasionally crave something on the wholesome, good-for-you side of the menu. I wanted a glass of milk. Simple. I even know the recipe: procure glass, retrieve milk from refridgerator, pour milk into glass, return milk to refridgerator and consume milk now residing in aforementioned glass. Easy-peasy right? But what if you get stumped on the first phase of this operation? Serioulsy folks, there was not one clean glass in the house, unless I went to the china cabinet and broke out the crystal. That's not happening.

So, I went hunting. I unloaded the dishwasher (had been running overnight). Success! I had 4 glasses from which to choose. Still, we own lots more than that. We are not some well-to-do family with a royal pedigree but we are affluent enough to own more than 4 glasses. The hunt continued.

I admit that I am terrible at leaving glasses and other dishes around the house. My wife knows it. My kids know it. Even my cat keeps giving my disapproving looks. I was nto surprised to find two empty glasses near "my chair" in the living room. Not satisfied with my collection, I continued through the house. Kids rooms, our bedroom, the play room, the bathroom (?!?!?!?!). I felt like I was part of the Amazing Race! I braved piles of laundry, herds of marrauding dust-bunnies and even the disapproving glare from my cat and in the end I filled the entire top rack of the dishwasher with glasses. I'm not sure but there had to be 412 of the buggers! Geez, maybe there is royal blood down the line somewhere 'cause that's a whack 'o glasses!

The glasses are now being washed, rinsed and dried, along with enough other stuff to fill the bottom rack. Life is good and perhaps the entire neighbourhood will come over later for a glass of milk. In the mean time, I'm off to get another load of laundry done. Seriously, I live in an estrogen-filled abode with my lovely wife and 2 great daughters and I am convinced that at least the girls where clothes in 5 minute intervals. 5 minutes is up and it's time to change! Woohoo!

So there you have it, a glimpse into my reality. Nothing here is going to change the world and I know that. I doubt your own lives will be forever altered by my rambling and I'm ok with that. However, I would like to encourage all of you to finish your own glass of milk, rinse it out and put in the dishwasher (or sink if you are kickin' dish-duty old school). Please do not follow my path. It's bumpy, has lots of hairpin curves and I am lost.

Thanks for stopping by!

Black Friday?

2010-11-26T12:39:00.001-05:00

I'm not sure where the term "Black Friday" comes from. I'm not even sure I care. What I do know is that a lot of Americans and cross-border-shopping Canadians are getting first-person experience with hand-to-hand combat at stores and shopping malls across the United States today. Well you know what, it sucks to be them!

Perssonally, I don't line up for very much. A 10 minute wait at a restaurant? Ok. Rollercoaster rides at the amusement park? Ok, within reason. Shopping for some mega-deal that I may not even get to first and fighting with the crowds to do so? Let me tell you, Egypt will win the Olympic gold medal for Men's and Women's Ice Hockey before that happens.

Still, as someone who tries to sell his work, it is tough to ignore the hype and mania surrounding Black Friday. There are lots of places, online and brick-n-mortar stores having huge sales this weekend, trying to lure your business. I wonder how many purchases will be made for goods manufactured within, say a 50 mile radius of the store? 100 miles? 200 miles? 1000 miles? My goodness folks, do yourself, your economy and the environment some good this year and buy from local makers of things! Seriously, whoever you are buying for will be thrilled to know that the maker of their handmade gift lives in the same town or same province/state.

Ok, let's say you have found the perfect gift for someone on your list. It is handmade from locally sourced, green, eco-friendly materials. Life is good, except it is on the other side of the continent. Hey, in my opinion, that is still a good thing when compared to mass-produced thing from some far-off land where the workers are kids making pennies a day in conditions that would make you throw-up. Is the message getting through yet? Buy handmade, preferably locally handmade. It is better for you, your economy, environment and the artisan who is trying to make a living outside of the mass-produced.

Right, I'll get off my soapbox now.

In celebration of handmade, locally produced eco-friendly goods, here is a recent piece I've finished. It is available for sale through my Etsy store and ready for shippment. Heck if you live close by, let's arrange to meet over coffee and I'll bring your purchases with me. How relaxing would that be? A fresh cuppa, a bagel and getting some Christmas shopping done at the same time. Hmmm, we may be on to something here.... Click the pictures to get to my store. Thanks.

Thanks for stopping by!

Art: I don't get it, but I love it!

2010-11-22T17:47:00.000-05:00

There are few pieces of artwork which I would LOVE to see in person but this is one of them! I have to thank Robin Wood for posting the link to this.

Here we have the work of Ai Weiwei. Watch the video.

100 million handmade, hand-painted sunflower seeds. I don't know what Mr. Weiwei is trying to say or express with this. I'm not sure it matters to me. It makes me feel...warm. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Thanks for stopping by.

Upcoming Events and Shows

2010-11-17T21:47:00.002-05:00

Scott, this one's for you...

'Tis the Season to get stressed out,

Fa la la la la, la la la la....

Yup, Christmas is around the corner and for this woodturner, that means it show time. Now, please understand that I am happily married and would like to stay that way. As such, I am only doing 3 shows this holiday season. The first, Make It Indie, is this coming Sunday, November 21st in Cobourg, Ontario. Here are the deets.....

Lion's Community Centre

157 Elgin Street East,Cobourg

The Lions Community Centre is located 60 miles east of Toronto in Cobourg, ½ mile south off exit 474 from highway 401. The Lions Centre is wheelchair accessible, has large washroom facilities, is non-smoking and is located all on one main floor. You won't even have to leave to have lunch! The Lion's canteen will be open all day offering hot food, sandwiches, salads, drinks & treats.

View the facilities online at@ www.cobourglionscommunitycentre.com

Adults:$2.00,Kids under 18 years are free

The next event I am going to be part of will be the following weekend, Friday Nov 26th and Saturday Nov 27th. This is the Something Unique Show at Orono Town Hall, Main St. Orono. Friday is from 4pm until 8pm and Saturday will be from 9am until 5pm.

Last but certainly not least, is the Art Noel Project, December 4th from 10am until 5pm. This is being put on by the Durham West Art Council and will be held at the Kinsmen Heritage Centre. CLICK HERE for directions and details along with information on some of the amazing artists who will also be there.

Ok, I think that is all from me for now. Things have been pretty chaotic here at Green Leaf Wood Studio as I get ready for these shows and of course, the on going event that is online sales. It is 9:45pm as I type this and I am on my way back out to the shop to see about some bowls.

I hope to see you at one of more of these events! Thanks for stopping by.

Lest We Forget

2010-11-11T08:30:00.000-05:00

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Lest We Forget

A Few Moments of Peace

2010-10-30T19:41:00.000-04:00

One of my girls is having dinner at her buddy's house and my wife and other daughter are out setting up tables and chairs at some function. Me? I'm enjoying a large hot-chocolate at the base of Pickering Beach Rd. and working on a spoonatula (too wide and flat to be a wooden spoon but with scooped sides so it's not a spatula either).

Thanks for stopping by.

Woodturning Tip: Texturing Your Work

2010-10-24T00:53:00.000-04:00

There has been a lot of interest on the forums lately about texturing woodturnings. In particular, folks are talking about the use of spiralling tools like those made by Robert Sorby and Gladstone Tools. I picked up the Gladstone Micro Spiralling Tool Set about a month ago. I like it and for around $50, it's tough to beat.

A couple of nights ago I finish turned a dried, roughed out wooden bowl. I sanded both the inside and outside but I had to set it aside until the next day. When I got back to it I found it had warped a tiny bit. Getting an even textured pattern was not easy but I think it came out well.

Tonight I started on another dried rough-out. I tried and finish turned the outside only and sanded it down to 400 grit (more than adequate for a salad bowl). I didn't touch the inside. Once the sanding was done, I grabbed the texturing/spiralling tool and had at it. It worked sooo much better! The wood hadn't had a chance to move and it was super easy to keep the pattern even.

So there's your tip: Texture the outside before turning and sanding the inside. Your results will be more consistent and you will be a happier woodturner.

That's it from me. Good night everyone.

Thanks for stopping by.

Green Woodworking

2010-10-21T11:42:00.000-04:00

This what I meant, previously, about portable woodworking. It doesn't get much better than this... Sitting by the shores of Lake Ontario in my town of Ajax with virtually all of my spoon carving gear, amazingly enough, carving a spoon. The only tool I don't have with me is an axe( it's in the van, just in case). THIS is green woodworking. Heck, even my tool kit is eco-friendly. It's an old basmati rice bag. It's green and "green". HeHeHe

I've got about an hour invested in this spoon so far. There might be another half to go. I'm not fast (yet) but this sure beats reality tv. Oh, and the reclaimed wood came from a neighbours firewood pile. Yup, this is a better use for it.

On another note... Rant on.

Did you hear the the British government is slashing 24% of its funding to the arts in a bid to deal with the recession? Lovely. I wonder if they are going to do something about funding to the millions of people who are on the dole yet still find money to go to soccer matches, get drunk and cause riots? Remember folks, without the arts our children will no longer have anything to read or write about.

Rant off.

Thanks for stopping by.

Portable Woodworking

2010-10-18T17:05:00.000-04:00

Most of you know that I make wooden bowls. A lot of my bowls are meant to be used as salad bowls or for serving food. People often ask me if I offer arcing spoons and salad tongs as well and in the past, my answer has been "Sorry but no, I don't.". I cam make them on the lathe and sand them with a belt sander but I don't enjoy the process (belt sanders are REALLY LOUD and messy.)

A while ago I came across an amazing artist and craftsman named Robin Wood from the U.K. Among other things, Robin carves tradtional wooden spoons. His tools are simply an axe for bulk removal and a series of carving knives for shaping, refinement and finishing the surface. Further research led me to various Youtube videos and other websites. This is how I ran into Del Stubbs at Pinewood Forge and I am soooo happy I did. Del makes carving knives, specifically spoon carving hook knives and sloyd knives . His tools are fantastic and he is a great guy to deal with.

So, now I have a couple of carving knives and I am learning to carve spoons. I hope to have some ready for the art shows I am participating in this year before Christmas. The cool thing about carving spoons is that you can do it anywhere. Really. Today I am working at A Gift Of Art and I brought my two knives and a chunk of birch and I sat in the corner, carving away happliy. There is a small pile of wood chips on the floor but that will take 10 seconds to sweep up. I've been known to sit on the sidelines at my kids soccer practises and carve, leaving behind a bit of shavings which becomes mulch. I can carry what I need in my jacket pockets: Portable Woodworking!

I suppose my message is this... If you are looking for a hobbie which doesn't cost much (under $150 to get all the gear you need to start and last for a loooooong time), visit Del's website, order up a spoon carving package, a honing strop plus compound, pick up a hatchet somewhere, gather up some small branches, find a comfory place to sit and go carve some spoons. Handmade wooden spoons! How cool is that?!?!? Plus, it is amazingly relaxing.

25% Off Sale

2010-10-06T22:11:00.001-04:00

Hey everybody,

I just want to let you know that all of the pens and peppermills in my Etsy Shop are now on sale for 25% off. All of the prices have already been adjusted so there is no nonsense to worry about like credits through paypal or anything. I'm really not sure how long this sale will last. Maybe a week. Maybe longer. Not sure. It just felt like a nice thing to do especially since folks are already started their Christmas shopping.

Green Leaf Wood Studio on Etsy

BTW, this sale is for items currently in stock and does not apply to custom orders.

Thanks for stopping by.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...Christmas? In October?

2010-10-05T21:08:00.000-04:00

Ya know, I can almost understand why department stores bring out their Christmas decorations and products in late September and early October. I was in such a store this past weekend and great displays of ribbons, garlands and bows greeted me. You see, Christmas is make-or-break time for many retailers and they get as early a jump on it as they can.

For me, as an independant artist, well, I am in full Christmas-production-mode right now. I need to have adequate stock roughed out and drying NOW so I can have it ready in time for the busy season. The good news is that I am almost there. I have already taken a good-sized load of wooden bowl stock out of my fridge kiln and it is ready to be finish turned. Here is one of my latest pieces...

Cherry Bowl #10081, 11½" x 3½"

It is astounding to me that 6 weeks ago, this tree was still growning. It was felled by an arborist at the request of his client and I was able to get my hands on a substantial quantity of this timber.

Anyway, I have a fresh load of roughed out bowls and platters which are almost ready to go in the kiln. I want the kiln as full as possible because I only get one most chance at this before I need my Christmas materials dry and ready to finish. In a future blog post, I will discuss my refridgerator-now-kiln and how I use it in more detail. As this last load is drying over the course of 4 or 5 weeks, I will finish-turn what I have and work on a few things to supplement my larger work... Candlesticks, peppermills, pens, magic wands, etc are all things I can handle with stock I have on hand plus the little bit that I need to go out an buy.

For the artisan, this time of the year is hectic. So, I will apologize in advance for the lack of blogging I will do in the coming weeks...and for the lack of blogging I have done over the past several weeks. Who knows, writing may be just the break I need.

Woodturning Tools You Need to Consider

2010-09-15T11:45:00.001-04:00

Woodturners are tool junkies. Ok, maybe that's over-stating things a wee bit. LOTS of woodturners are tool junkies. The woodturning magazines and internet forums are constantly buzzing with news of the latest tool or gizmo which will ensure a quick climb to Mount Woodturning Glory. Carbide tipped tools, new hollowing tools, space-aged materials... The list never stops.

I do not fall into the "tool-junkie" category and it is not because I've reached some point of enlightenment. I am not a tool junkie because I cannot afford it. Simply put, I have limited financial resources. Besides, I'm pretty cautious about buying new tools I've never used before because I do not want them sitting, gathering dust. So with that in mind, I want to let you know about a product-line that I am really happy to have found and that I do support, use and advocate.

Thompson Lathe Tools (http://www.thompsonlathetools.com/). Doug Thompson manufactures a great range of bowl and spindle gouges, skew chisels, scraper blanks and spindle roughing gouges. The tools are made of something called CPM 10V steel (some sort of powdered metal that is beyond my thought processes). I cannot tell you a lot about the steel except to say that it takes an exceptionally keen edge and holds it for a long time. A REALLY long time. This means fewer trips to the grinder and results in longer tool life. That's very cool. Contact Doug or read about this steel on his website for educational purposes.

The second thing I like about Thompson Lathe Tools is that they are sold unhandled. This may sound like a pain but what it allows/forces you to do is create or find a handle that feels good to YOU. Most tools available today come with tiny little, short handles which do not provide a lot of control to the user. Also, they are small in diameter which results in the user gripping the handle too tight just to hang on. Making a handle of your own is easy and Doug even provides an article on his website to walk you through the process. If you want to purchase a handle, Doug has started making a line of aluminum, shot-filled handles. I received my first about a month ago (16" long for a ½" bowl gouge) that this thing is SWEET! Great solid feel and enough mass to balance itself beautifully. As time goes by I will replace my old handles with more from Thompson Lathe Tools.

Thirdly, price. Thompson Lathe Tools are a bargain in my opinion. A ½" bowl gouge lists for $55. If you opt to make your own handle and do it with found wood, you have no more costs to consider. If you buy one of Doug's new handles, add $50 for a 16" model for a total of $105. Now that may seem expensive until you look at the competition. A Crown PM ½" bowl gouge of similar quality will hit you for around $95. Now, consider what happens when you need to replace your gouge... That Crown will be another $95 but a new Thompson will only be $55 because you still use the same handle. How cool is that?

Lastly, the man himself. Doug Thompson is a pure gentleman and a delight to deal with. He manufactures all of the products he sells and each tool and handle passes his eyes before it gets shipped. I love supporting the independant toolmaker. I think they ought to be rewarded with my business for having the guts to start their own.

Just in case you are wondering, Doug does not know I am writing this blog. There is no kick-back, you-scratch-my-back-I'll-scratch-yours kind of nonsense going on. I simply love these tools. I own 4 different bowl gouges and as soon as my 5/8" (not a Thompson) is used up and needs replacing, I will replace it with a Thompson. Each of my 3 different spindle gouges are Thompsons as is one of my skew chisels (my other skew was a gift). I use these tools everyday. I cannot think of any reason you would not love them as well. Visit Doug at Thompson Lathe Tools and see what I'm talking about.

Thanks for stopping by.

The Only Constant is Change

2010-09-14T19:06:00.000-04:00

In the past 2½ weeks my world has changed a lot. Oh yeah...

There's been back-to-school shopping (why do my girls "need" new backpacks when there is nothing wrong with the ones from last year?). I remember being a kid and b-t-s shopping involved "what still fits from last year and what no longer fits your brother that you can wear?" Although every year did include a new set of Laurentian pencil crayons (the 24pcs of course). With my girls there are backpacks, lunch bags, markers, scissors, pencils, a couple of binders, shoes and clothes. Oh the clothes......

Right before school started we had a camping trip to prepare for. More shopping. Food mostly but also a new air mattress (lost plug for old one) and a big tarp for a rain shelter (weatherman said we would need it. He was right). Hey, when did tarps get so expensive? I seem to remember paying around $20 for our 20' x 30' (about 4 years ago) and now they want $65. Rotters. Anyway, camping was good. We got a little wet but the tent was dry and it was cool at night for sleeping so that's fine with me.

This picture was taken on the second night of our journey. It was a 14" x 7" roughed out maple bowl-to-be. Alas, it cracked during drying in a way I could not repair. Oh well, it looks cool in a fire pit.

That's it for now. I'll have some woodturning projects to update you on.

BTW, the picture looked correct in my editing software. I have no idea why blogger laid it on its side.

Thanks for stopping by.

Handmade Wooden Cremation Urns

2010-08-25T22:32:00.000-04:00

I take great pride in making wooden cremation urns. It is a great honour to be asked to create a final resting place for someone's loved one, be it a family member or a pet. Wood is a great medium for this work. Being a woodturner I am able to work with wood which other woodworkers would not dream of. Different species offer a myriad of colours and textures. Each handmade urn is unique and one of a kind.

A few weeks ago I wrote about David Ellsworth and his book. You can read my post here. In it I wrote about a dazzling urn I had jsut finished, thanks to Mr. Ellsworth's written guidance. Here it is...

It is made from maple and measures 8" tall (with the lid) and 7" wide. The dark lines you see are spalting lines. These lines are an indicator of rot within the wood. This particular piece was badly decayed. In fact, the only truly solid wood in the piece are the areas of dark brown. All of the rest was rotted to varying degrees.

This was an immensely challenging piece to work on and finish. Spalted wood is fragile and brittle. I managed to finish turn this piece ot 1/8" thickness. It was nerve racking to say the least. More than a few times I feared it would shatter. Thankfully, it did not.

I did not make this wooden urn for any specific individual. It is part of my inventory of urns I offer for sale. I hope that it will help bring comfort to a family in their time of loss.

Thanks for stopping by.

I Gotta A Feeling

2010-08-21T23:52:00.000-04:00

"That tonight's gonna be a good, good night..." - Black Eyed Peas

Ok, "tonight" actually started a couple of days ago. I was bringing my girls home from camp, checked both ways at a 4-way stop and spotted this....

A splendid scene, fresh cut black cherry. A bunch of fresh cut black cherry, neatly stacked on someones driveway. Cherry is great for bowls so I knocked on the door. No answer. I left a note explaining who I am (Steve Kubien) and what I do (I'm a woodturner). I explained further that if they were just going to use this wood for firewood, I would be happy to trade them some drier maple logs which I have for some of the cherry. A little while later I received a call from "Sean". Sean is the owner of a local tree service and he is the one who cut down the tree. So, this is reclaimed wood which makes me even happier. The home it is in front of is a neighbour of his, not his client, and she just wanted some firewood. The neighbour (Wendy) was happy to help me out and asked Sean to arrange it with me.

So, after dinner I loaded a bunch of maple logs into my van and headed over. This is really great for me because the maple I have/had had been left too long and a lot of cracking and checking going on. I could have processed it into small spindle stock but that's a lot of work. Plus, I need bowl stock. Plus, the new wood is cherry! I love cherry and so do my customers. Oh, and both Wendy and Sean will each get a nice salad bowl for their help. Well, Sean's girlfriend will get a salad bowl. Sean will get salad!

Bottom line, I got my hands on 7 cherry logs, all between 14" and 18" in diameter and just as long. They will become 14-20 good sized salad bowls plus whatever I core out. I ought to get a couple of sets of 6-8 individual serving-sized bowls. One of the logs has already been cut up, roughed out and cored with my Woodcut Centre Saver. They are sealed and waiting their turn in the kiln. Over the course of this coming week I will process the rest of it. One must work quickly with cherry because it starts to check and split fast. The Anchorseal I used to seal it will buy me enough time.

One other bonus of this exercise... When I was gathering dry logs to trade I uncovered a few decent pieces of elm and maple in my shop. I cut what I could into bowl and platter blanks and all of the off-cuts went to Wendy for firewood. I got more space, more fresh stock and found a great outlet for my off-cuts.

So ya, it's beena good night/week.

Thanks for stopping by.

The Timing of Inspiration

2010-08-19T01:08:00.000-04:00

At what time are you most creative? When does the creative spirit hit you? When does the artist in you come out to play? Are you a night-owl working until the wee-hours of tomorrow, seeing too many sunrises from the wrong side? Do you wake up bright and early, buzzing with ideas and gumption to go out and create a new masterpiece?

It is 12:53am here right now and I have spent the last half hour sitting in my van, in my driveway, sketching ideas for future work. Right now, all I want to do is grab my chainsaw, fire it up, cut out a fresh blank and get it on the lathe to see if what I have envisioned "works" as an actual piece. However, seeing as it is almost 1 in the morning and I actually like most of my neighbours (not to mention I am happily married and would like to stay that way), I am resisting this urge. Damnit, why can't the world keep to my schedule?!?!?!

Ok, so I've sketched some ideas. That's wonderful but here is my reality... Tomorrow I will have forgotten all about them. Gone, right out of my head. Heck, knowing me as I think I do, I'll probably lose the notebook I used and then no record of this evening's creative wave will ever exist. -sigh- I call this Million-Dollar-Body, Two-Cent-Brain Syndrome and I suffer from it on a daily basis. Oh alright, "million-dollar-body" is a huge stretch for me but ya gotta admit, it's a cool line.

No, tomorrow will see me getting the kid-units off to camp in the morning and then me cutting some cherry logs I acquired today. Actually, I will be doing a bunch of chainsawing tomorrow and hopefully processing some timber I already have stashed in the shop. It's going to be a messy, noisy morning. My Sensei will be pleased because this means I will be producing a pile of shavings which he likes to use to mulch his gardens. Works for me. A happy Sensei means and living student. :)

So how about it, when do find yourself brimming with creative possibilities? How do record your ideas and do you ever actually act on them? Hit the "comment" button down below and let me know. Any and all ideas are welcome.

Thanks for stopping by.

Note to self

2010-08-11T10:41:00.000-04:00

Hello me, it's me again. I'm going to give me a suggestion....

Because I have so many different sets of jaws for different chucks, and some take a straight tenon and some a dovetailed tenon, I need to pay more attention to which I am using. A straight tenon on green wood held by a chuck with dovetail jaws can easily fly loose, especially when coring wet maple. Next time, make a dovetail tenon and maybe I/we can avoid the excitement of flying cores.

Ok me, that's all for now.

-sigh-

A New Kind of Woodturner

2010-08-04T23:00:00.000-04:00

Some place, at some time in the past I wrote something to the effect of, “My name is Steve Kubien. I am a woodturner and my company’s name is Green Leaf Wood Studio.” At the time this was all 100% true and, in fact, still is. Do not worry Dear Reader, my goal is not to upset your galactic apple-cart . I’m still me, I am what I am and this is still where I tell you about it. Actually, “I am what I am” is not 100% accurate. I am a rejuvenated, reborn, reinvigorated woodturner.

Over the past week or two I have been reading…a lot. I’ve spent too much time reading a certain internet forum, not enough time of forums I relax in front of, and I’ve finally gotten off my sorry behind and started to read the Chronicles of Narnia (which I actually do while parked on my sorry behind but you know what I mean). At the same time I have also found a way to read through a book by a woodturner of some renown by the name of David Ellsworth.

The book is entitled Ellsworth On Woodturning. This is not another book full of how-to-get-started exercises (though those sorts are essential reading for beginning turners and offer a good refresher for those of us who sometimes forget which end of a gouge to hold). Ellsworth’s book takes the relationship between the wood and the turner, examines it in depth plus he offers a few personal views and tips which are meant to make us, the readers, better turners.

Ellsworth works with a lot of spalted wood and his approach to this troublesome material is very refreshing. I do not have the book in front of me at this time but I do not recall a prescription for filling in or sanding through this soft and sometimes crumbly material. Too often on internet chatrooms we read of folks trying to achieve perfect mirror-like surfaces and finishes in this stuff. While there are number of ways of doing this, Ellsworth seems to prefer to leave torn, broken spalted fibres visible for all to see. They offer an interesting contrast to more solid wood, especially if it exists in the same piece. Also, they tell something of the story of particular tree.

It has been my good fortune to have a roughed out hollowform which has dried and is ready to return to the lathe available to me shortly after reading this book. The results, I think, I pretty dazzling. Lesson learned, Mr. Ellsworth, and not soon forgotten by this woodturner.

Of more practical use to the average turner are Ellsworth approach to sharpening and how to stand at the lathe. First sharpening…

Let’s assume you’ve got a decent grinder and you’ve learned about different kinds of wheels. Let us go a step further and assume you have and use one of a multitude of jigs designed to make your trips to the grinder easier and quicker. All right, you’ve set your bowl gouge in the jig (I use a Vari Grind as part of Oneway’s Wolverine system), turned your grinder on and now what? What first touches the wheel? Prior to reading this book I always ground and sharpened the tip of the gouge and then rolled it left and right to get at the wings. Seems pretty simple to me and I had been shown this by other turners before as well.

Ellsworth goes through the same set up as the rest of us but he grinds the WINGS first and lifts the handle up to take care of the tip last (he then repeats for the other side). The reasons for doing it in this order are many… You can be extra careful not to over-grind the wings and make them concave (they’re useless if you do), the tip does not get over-ground nearly as easily and lastly, it is much easier to control the movement of the tool as you lift it versus dropping it. Try this yourself the next time you are in the shop and see if you experience an “ah-ha!” moment like I did. So simple. So much difference and ease. And, no one over told me this before!

Looking at the pictures of Mr. Ellsworth standing at the lathe one gets a sense of connectedness between him, the tool in his hands, the lathe and of course the workpiece itself. His stance is dynamic. It flows. We have all heard how we ought to move our bodies as we round a bowl or shift our weight somewhat as we turn a bead or cove. This is all very true but Ellsworth takes to an extreme which works for him and likely many others. Check it out.

I am not here to tell you that David Ellsworth is the be-all, end-all to woodturning. His approach to the art and craft is different than a lot of others but there is great similarity as well. What I am trying to say is that there is something here for a turner who has progressed beyond the basics and is ready to broaden their horizons. This book came my way at just the right time for me to appreciate it and learn from it. Is it the best book I have ever read on the subject? No, but it has opened my eyes as much as any other has, perhaps more so. I highly recommend it.

For woodturners, this is IMPORTANT

2010-07-28T12:40:00.000-04:00

Hey folks,

If you are a woodturner reading this, you may already know of the stressing issues our organization, the AAW, is currently facing. If you do not, and you are a member of the AAW, it is my opinion that you should educate yourself as to the current goings-on.

In the interest of full-disclosure, I support the Board of Directors in their decision and in their efforts to bring the AAW forward into the future. I am not a member of the board. In fact, I have only met one board member face-to-face (and I really like Kurt Hertzog. Great guy and a fantastic teacher!). I have hold no malice or ill-intent for any of the players in this saga. I want what is best for the AAW and I feel that comes through supporting the duly elected members of the board and assisting them in reshaping our by-laws and helping to grow the world of woodturning. Do not take my word alone in this. Read the thoughts and passion of David Ellsworth in his letter to the AAW membership.

Ok, enough of me and my thoughts. Read on!.....
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A special membership meeting has been announced by the AAW. There has been quite a controversy over the firing of the Association's executive director. As a result of this action, a small splinter group has formed with the intent to gather enough proxy votes to remove the current board and to change the bylaws for unknown objectives. The intent of this group is not totally clear and has been changing almost daily in response to feedback on the AAW forum.

I support the AAW and I do not want to see this organization split for political reasons. The AAW board is now gathering proxies. If you support the AAW and do not want to see the organization torn apart at the seams, please add your name to the proxy list in support of the AAW board of directors.

The website address for submitting proxies is: http://www.supporttheaaw.com/

Online proxies can be submitted here: https://www.jotform.com/form/2075832105

There is also a printable pdf of the proxy that can be mailed in. Proxies need to be received by August 28, 2010, which is the date of the meeting.

My thanks to Andi Wolfe for spearheading an effort to inform the membership of these events. You rock Doc!

Papas Got A Brand New Bag!

2010-07-26T01:03:00.000-04:00

Ok, I suppose in my case that should be Papa Needs A Brand New Bag! What do you think, time for get a fresh one for the shavings? Hey, I couldn't help it. Things were working great. Sharp tools. The cuts were clean and I discovered that what I thought were a bunch of basswood/linden logs are actually maple. I tell you, the bark looked like basswood to me! Obviously, I was wrong. That's fine because I can make a pile of every-day-use stuff out of the maple. Basswood would have been for decoration only. No worries. It is all reclaimed from the local log-dump so at least it won't become mulch or landfill.

In fact, I roughed out a couple of personal bowls which will be part of a set or 4 or 6. I also got into a groove and green-turned a bowl out of the maple. It is sitting around 1/8" thick and maybe 1/4" at the bottom. I could put it in the microwave to dry it but I decided to let it go slowly by packing in a paper bag with some wet shavings. I'm in no hurry so it can sit for a few weeks.

Somewhere under this mess is my Woodcut Bowl Saver and my tailstock. -sigh- I suppose I ought to clean up tomorrow. It's almost 1am now so far too late for that.

I'm not stressed because I needed to make shavings and relax. There's been a pile of crappola going on within an organization I belong to and it doesn't seem to be working itself out nicely. Both sides of the mess are pretty intrenched in their belief that they are right and their position is justified. So, in the battle that is looming it comes down to who do you believe and can they lead us forward. At this point, I only partially believe each side because much of what they are saying contradicts the other. Well, it's gonna be votin' time soon so I guess I need to figure it all out. One thing is for sure, woodturning and making shavings is very good for the soul. I hope both sides remember that when this is all over.

Thanks for stopping by.

It's A Start

2010-07-17T16:29:00.000-04:00

Got a wee piece of time for woodturning today. Here is the first of the Norway Maple I've got cut up and sealed for pet cremation urns. This little piece will be for a small dog or VERY large cat. It is roughed out and ought to be dry in a month or so. It will join the bowls I did last night in the kiln, once the contents are dry and the kiln is empty. Until then, I've sealed it and recorded its weight. It should keep indefinately like this. And now, I'm off to a BBQ will my martial arts family! Happy weekend everyone!

Thanks for stopping by.

A New Discovery For Me

2010-07-17T00:16:00.000-04:00

Warning! Really simple woodturning instructions are at hand. You have been warned.

Last night I started roughing out a decent sized slab of crotch Norway Maple. This reclaimed wood came from a home on Clements Rd. here in Ajax. It was insanely humid and hot and generally rather gross. I was not having fun. Bark chips were flying at my face and all over my arms. It was in my hair (such that it is), down my back and in my shoes. As I progressed I made the decision to turn this wood into a functional bowl. There was potential for an artsy piece with bark inclusions and voids and such but darn it, I like wooden salad bowls and so do my clients.. So, a little more care was taken to make sure all I had left was solid wood and no bark.

Did I mention the heat and humidity? Nasty. By the time I shaped the outside I had had enough and I was shutting down the shop for the evening. Many woodturners know that if you are dealing with wet or "green" wood, you have to treat it or seal it so it does not crack as it dries. Even sitting out overnight can have disastrous consequences. I decided to try something new (for me anyway)...

For some reason which escapes me, I have a roll of polyethylene film. This is the stuff commonly used for wrapping pallets of loose goods for shipping. Don't ask me why I have it because I have no idea. Judging by the amount of sawdust which had accumulated over it, I have been in possession of this roll for a very long time. Anyway, I wrapped the blank in the film, covering all surfaces. My thinking was the no moisture would evaporate from the surface of the wood and no cracks or checks would form. Seemed logical to me.

I returned to the shop/studio/disaster-area tonight with the intention to finish roughing out the blank. I must say I was very pleased to discover not a single crack or check on the surface of the blank. It looked liked I had just been working it. I shouldn't have been surprised by this because turners often use plastic bags to cover work-in-progress in order to minimize checking. I didn't had a large enough bag on hand. Also, the film fit much closer and tighter than a bag ever would which means less air trapped and less chance of moisture evaporating.

I am sure there are folks who do this on a regular basis but I have never heard of it. Maybe I just haven't been paying attention. Hopefully there are some newer woodturners reading this who will find it helpful.

One last thing... Here are the results of my efforts. The larger blank measures about 13" across and 4" deep while the smaller is approximately 10" x 2½" (I cored these with my Woodcut Bowl Saver. Man, I love that tool!). I could have gotten another small blank out but it would have been too shallow to be of much good. These are now both covered in Anchorseal, awaiting their turn to go into the drying kiln. Look at that colour! I can't wait to get these dry so I can finish turn them.

Thanks for stopping by.

It's Summer Time!

2010-07-14T00:27:00.000-04:00

I think I have mentioned this before but I am a stay-at-home dad to two wonderful girls, aged 10 and 8. As we find ourselves smack dab in the thick of July. Summer vacation! That means they are finished school for the year. THAT means considerably less shop time for yours truly.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love my girls with everything I've got. Still, wood turning keeps me sane. It is what I do. Occasionally I even make money at it. Summer vacation sees me ferrying them to and fro, here and there (and once over THERE!). Trips to the store. Trips to friends. Friends over here. Trips to the library. So, I get shop time when I can.

Last week the girls were at horseback riding camp during the day. I was able to finally get the back of the van unloaded and chainsaw some wood. Most of it is Norway Maple from a home around the corner from me on Clements Road. The tree was leaning and had to have a major pruning to clear it from the hydro lines and the homeowners decided to have it removed before it fell on their house. I got a bit of it.

This is a small bit of the booty. The arborist cut the trunk into pieces he and his crew could easily manage and that resulted in sections being only wound 8" long but 18" across. No salad bowls would be coming from these logs so I cut them up into small bits to become cremation urns and regular hollow forms. In this picture they are all treated with Anchorseal to keep them from checking until I can get at them. There a few more pieces like this plus a pair of logs which ought to make decent bowl stock. I'll get to them later this week or early next.

The balance of the week was spent in show prep. This past weekend I was in an art/craft show. Sales were OK I suppose. Nothing to write home about but I did alright. I had fun meeting new people.

Now, I am show-free for a while. WooHoo! Still, there is little shop time during summer vacation. In fact, it is pretty much limited to evenings. Last night I roughed out a pair of urns from the Norway Maple and tonight I worked on a salad bowl commission. I hope to get some time for sanding the bowl during daylight tomorrow. I am hopeful, but not overly so. -sigh-

The good news is that I have a bit more indoor time to focus on internet sales and marketing plus being more frequent in my blogging endeavours. OK, I am also getting some quality time for reading. I think I am on my 18th novel of 2010 which is an insane amount of reading for me. I was on a written-for-teens vampire bender for a while but right now I am finally reading the Chronicles of Narnia. Heck, it's only been published for about 60 years and I didn't want to rush into it.

So there you have it, an update from Green Leaf Wood Studios. I really hope to be a more frequent host but I promise nothing. Soon I will show you some new work that has recently been completed (before summer vacation started) so stay tuned.

Thanks for stopping by.
Steve

A Fresh Week and Thank Goodness For That!

2010-06-28T10:32:00.000-04:00

You know what? I am really glad that is Monday. Seriously. Last week was a turbulent time on my little world with emotions running the full gamut from pure joy and happiness for people in my life to frustration, anger and rage at other events. By the time Saturday rolled around, I was spent and a wreck.

I made the mistake in getting caught up in some nasty mud-slinging in the woodturning world I belong to. I felt drawn to the lynch-mob and their quest for blood and rolling heads. Regrettably, I sent a scathing email to the folks at the forefront of this. It was pretty damning and totally inexcusable on my part. I doubt I would have said those things if I had been face-to-face with them and if I had, I would have deserved the boot-to-the-head that would have resulted. Since I sent it, I have calmed down immensely and sent a second email to those same people. It was the most heartfelt apology I could muster. I only hope that the BOD (and you know who you are) can find it in their hearts to forgive me.

I also had the sad and humbling task of creating a wooden cremation urn for a family in Rhode Island. Cremation urns can be difficult to make, especially when it is made for someone specific. I've done a few for pets which were to be put down due to illness and I could feel the pain of the owners through the phone or computer screen. However, that pales in comparison to a request for a special urn for a baby boy. Deep sorrow for the family at their loss which I cannot imagine. Profound honour at being asked to take up this task. Many tears were spilled in creating and urn for baby Sterling. I only hope that it helps bring some closure for the family.

As the week moved on I found out a friend from elementary and high school and her husband are pregnant with their first babies. Yes, I said babies. Twins! Now, I've always liked babies but ever since my wife and I had our girls, I have been a complete mush ball. A very serious suck. I love holding them, snuggling with them, making them laugh and seeing their confused looks as they question my sanity. "Who's the big furry guy Mommy and why is he talking to me like I am an idiot?" Yup, that's me. So Claudette, if you are reading this, congratulations. This is going to be the coolest ride you've ever been on. Now, what am I going to make for the family to help mark this amazing event? Hmmm....

I would also like to share with you a purchase I made on Etsy. My Jizo arrived this week!

I saw Jizo on the front page of Etsy (or in some treasury, I cannot remember) and I had to have him. It is my understanding that for Zen Buddhists, Jizo is a guardian of women, children and travellers. Perfect since my wife travels for her job and my children are both girls. He also fosters courage, optimism and benevolence, all of which I needed this week and in weeks ot come. I love my little Jizo and he sits beside me as I write this. Please visit Jizo and check them out.

On top of all of this my chainsaw was sick but now it is better. I managed to cut up some Norway maple from Clements Road here in Ajax. Thanks to Brenda and Dennis for letting me have some of their tree (which had to come down because of the power lines and the way it was leaning). There will be something special on your doorstep in a month or so, once it is finished. Also, my youngest had her birthday party this week. 8 years old and a pile of kids doing some indoor rock-climbing to celebrate. They had a blast.

So now we are at a fresh Monday. I have managed to skive off for a good chunk of the morning but I am posting this so I suppose it is not a total loss. I'm off to the shop now to finish a fruit bowl in walnut and start roughing out some of that Norway Maple. May your week have more ups than downs!

Thanks for stopping by!

I just have to share this.

2010-06-23T23:16:00.001-04:00

Some of you may know that today southern Ontario was hit with an earthquake. Here are some of the best quotes, tweets and other comments about the quake...

"Quebec is finally seperating!" by philippec

"Dear California, You do THAT regularly? Dude!" by melle

"Blame BP" by unbrelievable

"FACT: Magnitude of earthquake was 5.7. Would have been at least 9.7 if not for $1 billion in G20 security" by keithmcarthur

"Widespread disappointment across Toronto at news that it was not the epicentre of the erathquake" by ivortossel.

"The earthquake triggered a tsunami in the G20 fake lake" by Andrewfstewart.

All of this is brought to you by Erin Bury. Thanks Erin!

The Only Constant Is Change

2010-06-11T02:11:00.000-04:00

So, obviously, I've given the place another facelift. What I want to know is, Why?
What is it that causes me to change things around so often? This is my 4th or 5th format change since I started the Green Leaf Wood Studio Blog last year. Do I suffer from blog-inspired-OCD? Have I not found the right theme yet? Do I just like pushing buttons and having some creative control (kind of like finally being able to paint your room any colour you want when you're a kid)? Do I bore that easily? Do other bloggers do this as well?

Hmmm, perhaps it is simply work-avoidance.

Anyway, here is a fresh bowl made from a piece of cherry. It measures 11" wide x 3" deep. The wood was kind of bland so I chose to add some burned-in frames and did some carving of the resulting panels. I think it works. I know some others do too because this bowl was chosen to be the cover page inamge for June 10th on WoW, World of Woodturning. WoW is an amazing site featuring the best of the best in woodturning around the world. Needless to say, I am thrilled my piece got chosen for the cover on this date.

Thanks for stopping by.

Upcoming show this weekend

2010-06-09T17:39:00.001-04:00

I have spent the past few days working on items for a show this weekend. I managed to put the finishing touches on some bowls, pendant necklaces, and tonight (hopefully), some new pens.

This weekend I will be at the Momiji Centre. It is located at Kingston Rd., just east of Markham Rd. in Scarborough. I believe this is my third year at Momiji and I have to tell you, I look forward to this show more than any other throughout the year. Ok, I do tend to sell pretty well there but that is not the big reason.

I love walking into Momiji Centre! There is a light air about the place. I am instantly in a good mood when I step inside. Everyone is very friendly and helpful (especially Maxine, the organizer for the show). Oh, I cannot forget the décor... Very Japanese with large stands of bamboo and other plants growing all over inside, shoji-style windows, wooden floors, natural cut stone... Ah, it's like I've died and gone to heaven. Simply put, I enjoy myself when I am at this show. The entire community surrounding Momiji Centre comes out to support the event and it is great to talk to everyone who passes by.

Come on out this weekend if you are in the area. If you are not, come anyway. Directions and times can be found.......HERE!

Onward and Upward

2010-06-04T01:16:00.000-04:00

Ok, this post is about two weeks late because that is when the Sei Do Kai Spring Sword seminar was. This post may also be very disjointed, with plenty of spelling and grammatical errors because it is 1am, I am very tired and if I don't write this now, who knows when I will. Let us forge ahead....

First of all, the seminar was a great success and a wonderful experience for me. It is always great seeing old faces and catching up with them. The really cool thing was that Furkawa Sensei and Arai Sensei remembered me from previous years when they made the journey from Japan to Canada. These two gentlemen are great. They do not speak English and I do not speak Japanese but we get along very well because we understand the language of our art, jodo. We can communicate through it, expressing frustration, giving encouragement or sharing a laugh.

The other thing that made the seminar so great for me was that I graded for my sandan and passed! For those who may not be familiar, "sandan" means 3rd dan or 3rd degree black belt. Ok, technically it means 3rd step but that is all a black belt is, a step. So, for those of you who think having a black belt means knowing all kinds of really cool, kick-ass stuff, I am sorry to disappoint. All it means is that you've got a pretty decent handle on the basics of the art and now you are ready to really begin learning. Anyway, I'm pretty pleased with my sandan and looking forward to learning lots more in the coming years.

Father's Day is approaching and I figured it would be in my best interest to get something made for folks looking for unique, handmade gifts for the father in their life.

I thought these would make a nice gift for the guy who takes his grooming very seriously and likes to pamper himself. The brushes are badger hair, long acknowledged as the superior hair for this sort of brush. The razors take Gilette Mach 3 heads. The cool thing about this style of razor is the mass behind it. These are a substantial bit of kit. The ends are chrome-plated brass and the diameter of the handle is larger for a more, well, manly, feel. I am selling these through my Etsy store. Feel free to stop by and take a look.

Ok, that's it for now. I'll post more new work when I can keep my eyes open.

Thanks for stopping by. Good night.

I Have Been Working

2010-05-20T13:02:00.000-04:00

The purpose of this post to to offer proof that I have been getting some woodturning done lately.

This is the piece I am donating to the Sei Do Kai Spring Seminar this coming weekend. There is a fundraising dinner and auction on Saturday night which is always good fun. Hopefully this piece will fetch a few dollars to help the cause.

Influenced by Tolkien, these Dwarvish runes read, "Trust in Sensei, and Unka Kim's Bloggie Thingie". Kim Taylor, aka Unka Kim is the head of Sei Do Kai. A wonderful teacher and a better human being.

An apology

2010-05-17T08:50:00.000-04:00

I have not been very good at updating the blog for the past few weeks. Sure, I've posted a couple of things but not as frequently as I would like. Sorry about that.

Things have been kind of hectic for a while. I have a couple of shows coming up (more details to follow) which I have been trying to get ready for, a few custom orders which have gone out the door plus regular turning to restock the galleries I am part of. Whew! It's been a busy time.

Oh, add to all of that next weekend, Vitcoria Day weekend, I will be in Guelph for the umpteenth annual Sei Do Kai Spring Seminar. Previously I have mentioned that I study jodo, a weapons-based Japanese martial art. Well, this seminar is all about that. Plus, I am grading this year. I'm a stress-ball. I'll be better by next week, even if walking will be troublesome.

Thanks everyone. Talk to you soon.

Snatching Victory From the Jaws of Defeat

2010-05-06T13:53:00.001-04:00

So I was working with a piece of wet ash. My intention was to do something similar to the blue cremation urn from this prior post. I was happily working away, the outside was shaped and the inside was coming along nicely. Then, bad things started to happen.

The sound of the tool cutting into the wood became much higher. "Ok", I though to myself, "I must be getting to finished thickness in this area."

I stopped the lathe and shone a light into the opening. The light coming through the sides was certainly brighter in one area telling me not to go any thinner. I hollowed some more, careful not to touch this area again and started sanding the outside. It took about, I don't know, 10 seconds, for a dark patch to appear in the spinning wood. Drat! I stopped the lathe to find I had sanded through the side of the urn. Double drat!!

Instead of relegating this piece to the firewood pile, I cut the rest of the top off and considered my options. I really was quite pleased with the overall shape and I didn't want to give up on it. I went back to work on the inside, evening things out, making them smooth and sanding. I refined the outside a touch to narrow the base and give it some lift. The wood itself was rather bland so I decided to add some colour.

If you recall, the blue cremation urn I did previously was treated with some white wax to help highlight the grain. I also have a tin of black wax. "Hmmmm", I said to myself as I sipped my coffee.

Once the dye was dry, I slathered on the black wax. Then, I buffed it off knowing that it would remain in the deep pores of the ash wood.

And here is the result. Because of the wax, the feel of this piece is almost sensual. This is a form and series of techniques which I will certainly be exploring more in the future.

So, to my fellow woodturners, the next time to mess up a piece, sit back and look at what you've got left. Really look at it. You might be surprised that there is a gem waiting to be snatched from the jaws of defeat.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cremation Urns...I've Been Busy!

2010-04-25T20:09:00.000-04:00

I love making wooden cremation urns! They offer a huge challenge for me in that after I make the body or vessel, I have to come up with some sort of lid or finial which not only fits the opening I created, but also fits the shape and style of the piece. I admit, I rarely have that vision of the final product in my head when I start out.

The other thing about cremation urns is the immense sense of pride I have when I am asked to make one for someone special. Mostly this involves someones pet because, quite frankly, most of the commercially available pet urns are terrible to look at. I am humbled that somebody would entrust me to create a pet cremation urn as it is the final resting place for their buddy and often times, best friend.

On the left is an ash urn for pets, dyed twice, measuring about 5" x 3" without the finial/lid.
In front is a gorgeously simple curly, birdseye maple pet urn, also measuring 5" x 3".
The urn at the back of the picture measures 8" x 5" without the finial. The vessel is birch and the finial is walnut.

All of these are described in more detail at the top of the blog, under the tab "Wooden Cremation Urns". I will be updating that page as new works are completed and available. If you have recently lost a pet or loved one and this post has upset you, I sincerely apologize. If you are in the unfortunate position to be in need of my services, please click the "Contact" link up above. Again, you have my sympathies.

Thanks for stopping by.

Everything Is Burning!!!!! aka Another Post About Pyrography

2010-04-10T20:37:00.000-04:00

I wonder why it is that artistic and creative people become obsessive about things, especially their/our work?

I was communicating with another artist/wood turner recently and he got himself into a rhythm of doing a particular shape of hollowform. Before he knew what had happened, he had a pile of very similar pieces scattered around his shop. In fact, I know several folks who experience the same type of thing. That "thing" (form, finish, material, idea, emotion) becomes an obsession, a compulsion. It's an obsessive compulsion which ought to make some therapists very wealthy. Hi. My name is Steve Kubien and I have become a pyrography-junkie.

For the past couple of weeks, all I have been able to think of is burning patterns into wood. I make a box, I want to burn it. A vase or urn, I burn it. I pick up a scrap piece in the studio, I start burning it with different ides and shapes! I am browsing tool catalogues looking at all the different tips I can use on my Burnmaster Eagle. I sketch patterns and ideas on every piece of paper that has the misfortune of falling within my grasp. This is bordering on out-of-control! I do not know if there is a cure or even if I should seek one. I am pretty happy with the work I am putting out and I have received some very encouraging feedback as well so maybe I'll just go with it for now. Who knows, this obsession may even prove to be financially successful and that would be grand indeed.

Soon I will take pictures of my setup so you can get an idea of how this is done.

Thanks for stopping by!

New Work and Possibly a New Direction

2010-04-09T14:32:00.001-04:00

About a month ago I tell you how I had built a pryography unit (wood burner) out of a car battery. Well, it is sick and I am not sure why. I know nothing about electrical stuff other than flip the switch, the light goes on. If it doesn't, change the bulb. If that doesn't help, move. Anyway, my lovely and much better half got me an early birthday present and I am now the proud owner of a BurnMaster Eagle, woodburning system.

This thing is SWEET! It allows me much better control of the temperature I am burning at. I can go low-temp if I want to (couldn't do that with the homemade one) and I can vaporize wood in a flash with high-temps if needed. I picked up a single burning tip which is sort of knife shaped (Razertip 1L skew if you really want to know) and will use my homemade brands as well. So, here is the first piece done with the new unit.

Many of you know I have an interest in all things Japanese and with this cremation urn I wanted to go for the look of a Japanese ginger jar. Once I got the shape done and hollowed, I realized that this piece of wood (Norway Maple btw) was really rather bland. Out came the pryography kit! Since the shape is themed in the orient, I figured a bamboo pattern would work nicely.

In all, it measures approximately 5½" tall by 4" wide. It will hold 625ml of ashes which means around 40lbs of pre-cremation weight. I love working on urns. It is very gratifying work knowing that a piece will be the final resting place for a beloved family member in someone's home. At this point I can say that I would rather make these than anything else I do. There is nothing more rewarding.

This particular piece is available on my Etsy page.

Thanks for stopping by.

What would you be?

2010-04-06T16:45:00.000-04:00

My friend Gillian posted this on her blog a little while ago. It is a great little exercise in knowing thy self and letting the world know a bit more about you. Fair enough. I haven't got any great secrets to hide (court-ordered suppression notwithstanding) so here we go....

If I were a month, I'd be October...

If I were a day, I’d be Tuesday, after the Norse god Tyr, god of war and law...
If I were a time of day, I’d be 9pm...
If I were a font, I’d be Hobbiton Brush Hand
If I were a sea animal, I’d be a walrus, coocookatchoo....
If I were a direction, I’d be north...
If I were a piece of furniture, I would be a sideboard, on the outside of the room, looking over everything...
If I were a liquid, I'd be water...
If I were a gemstone, I'd be amber...
If I were a tree, I'd be a swamp kauri...
If I were a tool, I'd be a samurai sword...
If I were a flower, I'd be a bleeding heart
If I were an element of weather, I'd be a tunderstorm...
If I were a musical instrument, I'd be a timpani (loudest voice in the orchestra)
If I were a colour, I'd be GREEN
If I were an emotion, I'd be happy.
If I were a fruit, I'd be a mandarin orange (a little bit of sunshine in every bite)
If I were a sound, I'd be the crack of a whip
If I were an element, I'd be iron.
If I were a car, I'd be a Bentley
If I were a food, I'd be lasanga
If I were a place, I'd be a Rivendell
If I were a material, I'd be silk
If I were a taste, I'd be sour
If I were a scent, I'd be cedar
If I were a body part, I'd be the soul.
If I were a song, I'd be THIS
If I were a bird, I'd be a phoenix.
If I were a gift, I'd be a wooden salad bowl
If I were a city, I'd be London, England
If I were a door, I would be open
If I were a pair of shoes, I'd be black and white wing-tips
If I were a poem, I'd be...There once was man from Nantucket....

Thanks for stopping by.

Turned Boxes Are Soooo Cool!

2010-03-29T21:12:00.002-04:00

I've tried making boxes before but you may notice that I've never posted pictures of them...because the were UGLY! Well, that plus the lids didn't fit, the proportions were off and they were UGLY! Times change and I'm a better turner than I once was. With that, I am rather pleased to show you this little guy...

I have had this chunk of ash in my shop for about 4 years. The tree was removed from Newing Court here in Ajax, about a 2 minute walk from my home. It was one of the first pieces of wood I ever scrounged! Anyway, it measures approximately 3"x3". I followed the directions given in Richard Raffan's book, Turning Boxes, which I found in my shop not long after I blogged how I had lost the book again. -sigh- I am very happy I found it. Mr. Raffan is a great writer (and a scratch turner as well!) and I cannot recommend more highly any of his books or dvd's. Someday I hope to sit in on one his classes.

These little guys are not easy to make! Fractions of fractions of an inch can be the difference between a lid that is too tight and one that blows off in the slightest breeze! On this one I managed a good fit which produces just a tiny "pop" when you remove the lid...just what I was after.
If there is something specific you would like to me to address in the realms of woodturning, drop me a line via the "comments" button. I will do what I can. Thanks for being here. I'll see you soon.

Sunshine and Happiness!

An Artist's Mind

2010-03-23T10:09:00.000-04:00

I've read and been told countless times that most artist's exist in a cluttered state. Their studio, their home, their life...it all looks like a giant garage sale. Now I realize that this is a stereotype and not true in all cases but, for me, it is the stone-cold truth.

I can often be heard commenting that I have a million dollar body and a 2 cent brain. The body-comment is an exaggeration but the brain part is not. Here is my current dilemma...

I bought a second-hand off of one of the woodturning forums I belong to from a fellow woodturner. Two weeks later I had lost it. Off and on over the next 6 months or so I looked for it. I emptied the shelves, cleaned the studio (no, really), I found the floor of my van. I looked under furniture, in furniture and behind furniture. Nada. Zip. Zilch. No book. I finally went out and bought a brand new copy of this book. I looked at it off and on for the next couple of months hoping to be inspired (I was) and finally motivated enough to try some of the techniques and projects. I gathered appropriate blocks of wood and dried them carefully.

So we find ourselves at Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 and I am ready to rock on with this stuff. One problem... The book has gone missing and I cannot remember the steps I need to follow or even most basic notions of proper design for these items. I am lost. I am stone-walled. I am frustrated beyond believe and, really, I just want to crawl bck in bed and pretend this morning isn't happening. I hate this.

So, if anyone knows where I put one of my copies of Richard Raffan's "Turning Boxes", I would appreciate it if you would enlighten me. I think I'll go make some pens. At least I know how to do that.

A Great Day

2010-03-20T19:46:00.000-04:00

What an awesome day. Goalie clinic with the short one followed by my first class at the new dojo (and just the right number of new bruises, thank you very much). After the amount of time I've missed lately, it is amazing I remember which end of the sword is the dangerous end. Oh, and we were practising with live blades, my partner would be missing an arm right now. THAT is a good feeling! Had a fabulous lunch, ran a few errands and managed a fantastic nap.

We have a semi-tradition around here. Tonight we had a Piccadilly Dinner. I do not know where the name came from (I blame the 9 year old). This involves finger foods and filling your plate with what you want. Cheese, crackers, veggies, dip and keilbasa (not the fabled Beech Rd. keilbasa but not too bad either). Fantastic and very low on the dirty-dish scale.

What's that you say? You are not familiar with Beech Rd. keilbasa? Heathens! Evil-doers and vermin! Ok, that may be a bit strong but you if you tend to enjoy keilbasa, you owe it to yourself to get yourself to a Zarky's Deli. Go to the meat counter and tell them you want x-grams of the Beech Rd. They'll know what you mean. They may try to give you the Zarky's Special but don't go there, even if it is on sale. Spend the bucks and get the real deal. To borrow a line from a song, "It will be worth it. If not for the sake of the keilbasa, then for your own piece of mind." Of course, if you do not tend to enjoy keilbasa, well, there may be no help for you.

Tonight, I may even manage to get some shop time.

Thanks for following along.

The Ugliest Bowl Ever Made

2010-03-14T12:18:00.000-04:00

In my last post I showed pictures of my experiments in pryography (woodburning) as a way to enhance my art. Those experiments were performed on an ash bowl from my “Oops” pile. All woodturners have such a pile. This is where ideas are formed, played with, and manipulated. To make it onto the pile, a piece must somehow fail in design or execution. Often the concepts are nourished and grow to become successful pieces in new wood but not always. Sometimes they find new life in my own home. Here is just such a piece….

This bowl was made from a wonderful piece of silver maple about 3 years ago. I had been playing with the outside shape and wanted to bring something special to this piece of wood. For many reasons, it did not work out. Through artist’s-error, it become shorter than I wanted, the inward curve did not fit this size of piece and the proportions were off. Simply put, this was an ugly bowl and I was not willing to put my name on it. I will only sign a piece if I am truly proud of it. For me to put my name on a piece, it needs to be the best work I can produce. There must also be something about it that will encourage a customer to buy it, cherish it, and love it in their own home. This bowl didn’t make the grade.

It sat in my shop for a while, atop the pile. I never sanded it. I never put a finish on it. I never signed it. I suppose I kept it close at hand as a reminder of what not to do to a helpless piece of unsuspecting timber.

One day I brought it into my home with the idea that I would beat it up and see how much punishment a wooden bowl could take. Again, with no finish on it of any kind, I put it to work at my dining room table. As I recall, it was taco-night at our house and so I put the meat with all its hot, juicy, goodness in the bowl to bring to the table. After dinner, I soaked it in the sink for a few hours. This ought to destroy it…but it didn’t. The wood was stained because it had never been sealed and protected but it was still solid. The oily, greasy wonderfulness of the meat and sauce had not leached through the bottom. It looked, well, used.

Time moves on and this ugly little bowl was called into duty time and time again. One thing I have come to love about this bowl is that ugly shape. Yes it is indeed hideous to behold but it fits the hand SO WELL that it is perfect for passing across the table. Amazing. It feels really nice to, now that it has been scraped, washing, scrubbed (with an S.O.S. pad no less), bashed and banged so often. It feels, I don’t know…lived in.

Nowadays, this is everyone’s favourite bowl in our home. It looks like h*ll. It has warped quite badly and is severely dinged up but it is the first thing reached for when food needs to be served. Roasted potatoes, home-made French fries, small salads, nachos, oily foods, dry foods, runny foods… They’ve all been served up and it just keeps coming back for more. It has become a bit of an heirloom around here.

So, if you ever see me at an art or craft fair and you see a really ugly bowl, please pick it up. It is there because I think it is a great tool for your home. You’ll come to love using it, even it is the ugliest thing you’ve ever seen.

Thanks for stopping by.

Pyrography, aka, The Art Of "How Cool Is That?!?!?"

2010-03-11T22:07:00.001-05:00

Pyrography is, in layman's terms, woodburning. Take a hot piece of steel and hold it against a piece of wood to create a dark, charred image. I have wanted to add these techniques to my woodturning for some time. Countless others have gone down this road including Molly Winton, Graeme Priddle, Jennifer Shirley and Terry Scott and their work has inspired me for ages. Recent discussions on the forums finally urged me to get off my butt and make some smoke. I only wish I had done this sooner!

Graeme Priddle of New Zealand is a wood artist. He figures that 10% of his work is done on the lathe while the other 90% is done through carving and burning. His burning techniques are harsh and demand sustained, high levels of heat. Graeme figured out a way to take a car battery charger and turn it into a unit to meet his needs. The great thing about this is that it is much cheaper than buying a commercial pyrography system. All that is needed is a manual battery charger, a dimmer switch, some lamp cord, nichrome wire (for the brand itself) and some basic electrical parts. He calls it a 'wood vapourizer' (go ahead and google it because I cannot tell you how to build one. I've done it but there is no way I could tell you how).

A friend of mine provided me with a charger which he procured while dumpster diving at the industrial plaza where his shop is located. Heck, he even wired up the dimmer because I am inept where electrons are concerned. Molly Winton has produced a booklet on how to make the handpieces and the brands for the type of work she does. If you are interested in going down this path, email her and order a copy. It is brilliant and Molly is about the nicest person you could ever hope to come across. I followed her instructions and made a couple of handpieces and a few brands to play around with.

This bowl is an "oops" piece in my shop and as such, I use it to test techniques. The basket-weave pattern on the left was made with directions from Molly Winton's booklet. The circles on the right are just something I came up with.

The whole point of this exercise is to see what I can come up with and find out how pyrography can be used to enhance my wood turnings. I have not yet completed a piece using these techniques and tools but just from playing around for a few minutes, I can see great potential. My Night Series will benefit in a significant way and I can see some amazing possibilities for my bowls and hollowforms. Be sure to check back soon as I will post my first completed pieces soon.

Thanks for stopping by.

First Friday Art Walk on Etsy!

2010-03-04T23:43:00.004-05:00

Visit AWEteam

It is March 5th (in 16 minutes) and this is the first Friday of the month. That means it is time for First-Friday-Art-Walk on Etsy!

To find shops which are participating, enter "firstfridayartwalk" in the search box or go to the AWEteam page on Etsy for a list of members.

Different shops do different things during this event. At my shop, I am offering FREE SHIPPING in North America. Details are on my shop's front page.

So get out there and support HANDMADE!

Thanks for stopping by.

Smaller pieces continued...

2010-03-02T23:18:00.004-05:00

A few posts back I was telling you about my recent work with an enjoyment of working on some smaller pieces. Here are 3 hollowforms which I have finally put finish on.

From left to right:

-Ash, 3" x 3", painted black as part of my Night Series. It may end up getting a coat of wax. Maybe it won't. Not sure yet. Hmmm...

-Curly silver maple, approximately 2½" tall x 3" wide. This little guy was dyed 3 times with different colours, sanded in between each and finally topped with 3 coats of polyurethan. It was turned green and allowed to warp and distort as it dried, resulting in a very organic feel to it,

-Ash, 4½" tall x 2½" wide. This piece presented a bit of trouble as it is deeper than my hollowing tools wanted to go with vibrating terribly. No problem... I built a new tools and bought another! It's a really neat piece with contrast heartwood and sapwood and a little bit of curly grain in the sapwood. This one is already up on my Etsy page and the other two will be shortly, once I get decent pictures of them individually.

As always, thanks for stopping by.

And now back to your regularly scheduled blog

2010-02-28T21:29:00.001-05:00

So, now that the Games are over (and finished with Gold for our hockey team, naturally), maybe I'll actually get some work done and post some new creations. I have managed to get some woodturning accomplished lately (details to follow). Also, I have a pyrography tool which needs burning tips to be made and a bowl-drying kiln to build. Stay tuned for fresh creations and thank you for your patience.

Smaller Pieces

2010-02-21T12:57:00.010-05:00

I have had a lot of fun in the woodshop over the past couple of weeks. I am a very lucky woodturner because a local arborist brought me a bunch of ash and some soft maple logs which he thought I could use and enjoy. He was right! Most of this timber is smaller than I would normally look for. The largest finished piece will end up being around 10” wide (small salad bowl). The cool thing about this is that I’ve been forced to focus on smaller forms and shapes…and it has been a blast!

These little guys demand that the artist focus on nice shapes and pleasing forms. A piece which is 3” tall and 3” wide will never be a success, no matter how beautiful the wood is, if the curves, flow and proportion are out of balance. This could be said of any piece of any size but it is especially true here. If you “miss” the curve or have a catch on a 14” salad bowl it is easy to adjust the form. Do that on a small hollowform, and you will probably have a nice chunk of decorative firewood on your hands. Oh, and sharp tools are always important but they are critical when the walls of your form are only and eighth or sixteenth thick. There’s not much room for sanding in those cases.

One last thing that is truly wonderful about working on this smaller scale… The log you start out with only weighs a couple of pounds, not 50 or 60. It is nice to work without sweat!

So, go to your firewood pile and look for a solid piece or 2 with no major splits or checks. Cut it in half or thirds and get it on your lathe. Have fun and strive for pure excellence. Remember, if you manage to really mess it up it can always go back to being firewood.

Thanks for stopping by.

P.S. The last picture doesn't reflect the actual size of these pieces very well (the ones in front look bigger than they really are). To give you an idea, the ash vases at the back left is 4½" tall and about 2½" wide, the black one in the middle row is roughly 3" x 3" and the little apple burl piece in front and on the right is around 2¼" wide and 1½" high.

We may not be perfect but....

2010-02-19T09:59:00.003-05:00

I realize that this is a blog about woodturning. Yes, I am Canadian and will continue to be long after I hang up my gouges. I am damned proud to be Canadian and it does not take medals to make me so. In fact, hosting a money-sucking event like the Olympics does nothing for my national pride. However, there has been a lot of criticism for this great land by media from other places and I think it is time to set the record straight....

Sure one arm of the torch didn't rise, but when Katirna hit New Orleans and the earthquake struck Haiti, Canadians raised their hands to say…”we’ll help”.

And yah, there is a fence around the torch but you can walk right up and shake hands with our prime minister and most famous Canadians

We put Gretzky in the back of a pick up, in the rain, not surrounded by police…and he was okay. And by the way... the Great One is Canadian…and HE wasn’t complaining!

We do have security at the games, of course, but most people don't even have a gun they have to leave at home.

It has been pointed out that some buses broke down last week... But, let’s not overlook the fact that our banking system didn't.

We didn't get the "green ice maker" right this time….but we will, eventually just like we did when we invented the zamboni.

So big deal…one out of four torch arms didn't rise. But remember, the Canadarm works every time…in outerspace! And, insulin turned out to be okay.

We don't have the tax base of the US or the power of the Chinese but, per capita, we ponied up for some pretty kick-ass venues in the worst global recession ever.

Sure, some folks couldn't afford tickets but our health care is universal and nobody has to mortgage their home when they get sick.

We have shown the world that we can raise our voices in celebration and song but moments later stand in silence to respect a tragic event...together..spontaneously…and unrehearsed.

What's more, we don't need permission from anyone to have a slam poet, fiddlers with piercings and a lesbian singer tell our story to the world while our multilingual, female, haitian- born, black head of state shares a box with her first nations equals.

So take your cheap shots Guardian newspaper and cynics of the world. We're bigger and better than that.

I AM CANADIAN!!!

Night Series

2010-02-14T11:48:00.005-05:00

Woodturning can be somewhat noisy, especially when roughing out fresh wood, rounding blanks on the bandsaw or using the chainsaw. As such, many woodturning-related activities are best suited to daylight hours. For some strange reason, I like working at night.

I have never considered myself a night-owl though reflection on recent habits is forcing me to rethink this. Over the past year or two I often find myself in my shop/studio past midnight and getting some really good work done at that time. Ideas seem to flow better when the rest of the world is asleep and there is a certain calm in knowing I will not be interrupted by the phone, neighbours, children or a myriad of other distractions.

Lately I have also been rather obsessed by the colour black (debate all you want whether black is a colour or not. For this conversation, let’s just assume that it is). I have seen works by others in which black has been the dominant colour. Black comes in the form of dyes, inks, scorching, burning and waxing and I have seen other woodturners use all of these and more. My first foray “into the black” came with this bowl. I was inspired by the work of fellow-woodturners Jennifer Shirley and Molly Winton and this bowl was my humble homage to them and their influence. I used black gesso over the entire outside of the bowl and then went back and carved through the black to reveal the wood underneath.

More recently I have been making a lot of wood black. Really black. India ink and gesso have been my main weapons in this pursuit. In fact, I have taken a pile of wet, green wood and been so intent of getting to the point where I can begin to colour it that I have forgotten a few basic principles of good design. A few recent pieces have been left too thick and have split while drying. Others are too thin and, as a result, very fragile. One success is this little bowl/pot. The curves and beads remind me of pottery from the southwest. At about 3” tall and 3” wide, it looks and feels happy in the hands. Liming wax help to make the grain a bit more prominent while also helping it feel soft and smooth. I am really pleased with how it worked out.

I have a pile of freshly cut ash logs in my driveway that I am slowly making my way through. A good amount of this wood is going to be used in my pursuit of black and night in general. Perhaps some purple, red and orange from a deep sunset will find its way into this series. I am not sure. I intend to have fun with it and I hope you will join me as I explore this idea. Hmmm, I hope I don’t wake the neighbours.

A Fresh Coat Of Paint

2010-02-09T21:42:00.004-05:00

Welcome to the new-look Green Leaf Wood Studio blog, site, thingamabob. I felt a change was needed for a few reasons. I haven’t been satisfied with the layout or look of this blog since day 1. It was too dark and I really wanted the blog-post section in the middle, between a pair of columns. Plus, I have been inspired by my friend Belle to take part in the Blog-Improvement-Project. So, the walls have been moved around and painted.

It is funny but you would think a guy with a blog, active Twitter (@stevekubien) and Facebook accounts, a website and an online store would be pretty computer savvy. You would think wrong. I stumble my way through the online world like a bull in a china shop. I bump into walls. I mess things up. Occasionally I break things. Bad words are spoken. Renovating my blog has cost 2 weeks of my life and countless lost hours of sleep.

I have looked into different platforms (Wordpress, Typepad, etc) trying to find the format and look I wanted. I have pestered friends with questions and badgered then for information. Heck, one friend is even renovating her home (much to the chagrin of of her husband) just so she can have me over and teach me these things (ok, that’s overstating things but Belle, it is my twisted view of the world).

During a quiet moment yesterday I entered “blog templates” into my search engine of choice. One of the first sites that came up boasted “Blogger” templates so I took a look. Wow! There seemed like hundreds of options and most of them were customizable to one degree or another. 2 columns. 3 or 4 columns. Lighter and darker, granite and parchment backgrounds, butterflies and floral patterns. I settled on “Extreme Georgia” and I am pretty happy.

So here we are, settling into fresh digs. Over on the right is all the info you expect to see… People who are following my blog, blogs I follow, lists of previous posts and places where you can see my work in person. To the left, some work which is currently available (all of which link to my Etsy page where you can make purchases).

I am still not happy with the orange headings or the colour of the blog title. I poked around in the html code and tried to make changes but to no avail. I also want a slideshow of current work instead of static pictures and the Blogger software is not playing very nicely. I would like the reader to be able to smell the wood as I work but I suspect that is beyond the realms of possibility. These are NOT things which will cause me to lose sleep. In fact, I slept very well last night.

Let me know what you think of this set-up vs the old. If you know how to change font colours or set-up a slideshow in Blogger, drop me a line.

Thanks for being here.

The Saints Go Marching In...

2010-02-07T22:51:00.004-05:00

Ok, I admit it...I have aged. At the ripe old age of 38, I tried to sit down and watch the Super Bowl tonight. I made it through 3 minutes. I didn't even see the Colts kick the field goal to take a 3-0 lead.

Instead, I had a Super Bowl Party of my own, in my shop. I put the finishing touches on a bowl for a silent auction which is coming in 3 weeks plus I did a turned-green-to-finish natural edge bowl in a piece of fresh cut ash. I usually twice-turn my bowls. This involves rough-turning the wood to a close shape but kept thick. No finishing cuts here. Then the rough-out gets set aside to dry over a period of a few months.

A natural edge bowl typically has the bark as the rim of the bowl and I have had zero success in keeping the bark on following my usual practises. It always comes off during the drying. So, I decided to turn this one from a log to a finished bowl all in one session. It will warp as it dries but as it is an ornamental bowl and not terribly functional, I hope that will add to its charm. I threw a coat of walnut oil on it to help slow the drying a little bit and hopefully it won't crack. I fear I left it too thick and its future may lie in the burn-pile. Time will tell and I will be sure to post pics as soon as the oil is dry enough to do so.

So, how did you spend the evening? Super Bowl Party or super BOWL party?

Thanks for stopping by.

Sticks and Stones

2010-02-01T11:21:00.010-05:00

"Sticks and stones may break my bones but swords will never hurt me." - ancient Canadian proverb, originally said by me. :)

Somewhere around the time I started this little blog-oh-mine I mentioned that I am a student of the martial arts. Specifically, I study an obscure Japanese art called jodo. This is not to be confused with judo which sees a lot of people throwing other people around while trying to dislocate various joints and rearrange the body parts of their opponent (all of this while wearing a uniform which reminds westerners of pyjamas). No, I study jodo which sees a lot of people swinging sticks and swords at each other while trying to rearrange the body parts of their opponents (while wearing a uniform which reminds westerners of a long black dress). Ok, there is actually more to it than this. Lots more. Read on…

Note: That's me on the right in 2007 with my dearly departed swordsman and great friend, Bob, affectionately known as Darth Bob to those who trained with him or saw him train. Miss you buddy.

Jodo in its earliest form showed up around 1600 in feudal Japan. The jo (a 4ft straight staff and principal weapon) was devised to counter the fabled samurai sword. There is a wonderful story surrounding this development, which is steeped in a lot of non-verifiable history, some facet of spirituality and legend. None of that is important right now. What is significant is that this simple, 4ft long broom handle, in capable hands, could be used to defeat that most famous of warriors, the samurai.

Today, jodo is practised with wooden swords (bokuto) for reasons of safety and economy. A typical session where I train and learn (Renseikan)has us practising a series of 12 movements on our own. These are the kihon and everything else we do builds of these 12 movements. We will likely do some partnered work with these 12 movements as well (sotai). Next, we work through the kata of the art. Kata are a pre-arranged series of postures, attacks and counter-attacks designed to develop a practical understanding of the kihon and the relationship between the sword and the jo. It is through these kata and the spirit and energy that you put into them that makes jodo so amazing to the modern samurai-wannabe.

Before I go any further let me make something 100% clear… There is no free-sparring in jodo. It is just too dangerous (even the top-level practitioners do not do it). You can have such classes in other arts where the rules will be something like, no head-shots, no kicks above the waist and no choke-holds. In jodo, the head and the middle of the chest are the typical targets so these sort of rules would make free-sparring pretty silly.

Most kata go something like this… Sword-wielding-guy approaches stick-wielding-guy and figures him to be an easy target (he’s only holding a stick and I have a razor-sharp sword in my hands, right?). The swordsman attacks. The jo-side withdraws slightly or blocks the attack. The sword attacks again. The jo blocks again and launches a quick attack of his own and either kills the swordsman or makes him rethink this whole engagement. They walk away from each other. They all go like this although sometimes the jo attacks first, but rarely. The jo always wins. Sounds simple, right?

On the surface, jodo is about the easiest martial art around. Tai chi looks pretty easy except for the huge number of movements. Jodo only has 12 movements. Heck, if we do not stop to analyze things or receive corrections from Sensei, the class I train with can run through the entire jodo syllabus in about 25 minutes (12 kihon, 12 sotai or paired movements and 12 kata). So why devote a lifetime to the study of this seemingly simple art form?

I earned my shodan (1st degree blackbelt) about 3 years ago and my nidan (2nd degree blackbelt) 2 years ago. I know the kihon, sotai and kata. I have learned them from the top-level instructors from Japan. Let me tell you, I have learned more last May in 2 days than I had in the previous 5 or so years. Why? Because I already knew the basics and one of the Sensei’s from Japan (who spoke no English and I no Japanese, btw) started to teach me and my partner the language of jodo: The sword speaking to the jo and the jo answering.

There is a conversation going on, back and forth and back again. There is tension in the air as one strikes and one blocks. The timing is always changing so while you know the sword is going to try to cut you through the top of your skull, you do not know in what exact moment he is going to do that. Don’t move away too soon or you might as well turn your back and run like hell! As the swordsman, you know the jo is going to thrust to your solar plexus but you cannot run away from it. If you move too soon, you are just dancing. If you want to dance, go to a dance studio. Move swiftly, but at the last possible moment. Swordsman, cut with the intent to make physical contact with your partner/opponent. If they do not move, well, they will next time.

Click here for a short video showing Namitome Sensei with the staff and Otofuji Sensei (Namitome-sans teacher, actually) performing tachi otoshi, the 8th kata

You work the kata as though your life depends on it. There is no other feeling like it and you learn a great deal about what makes up your heart and soul when you train like this. Sweat pours off your body after 5 minutes. In that moment, when the sword is coming at your head and you need to react or get clobbered, you are alive. You are released from the physical world of concrete and deadlines, of car payments and laundry. In that moment, everything else falls away and you are completely in the moment.

That is why I study of the seemingly simple art form…to be alive.

Razor How-To

2010-01-24T19:01:00.042-05:00

One of the things about being a creative person is that you are always on the lookout for new projects and materials to play with. I got pretty excited when one of my suppliers introduced razor heads to their line-up, which I could use to make something beyond the standard, blah store-bought razor.

These are a cool project because they do not take hours to complete. If you do not like the results, you can toss the part you made before permanently attaching the razor head (you are only out the cost of the blank you worked with). They also make a fantastic gift for the special man in your life. The only downside of these heads is that they do not come with any sort of instructions or “how-to”. Here is how I went about completing this project.

I started with an ordinary acrylic pen blank measuring approximately ¾” x ¾” x 6” long. Mount it in your 4-jaw chuck with pin or #1 jaws and bring up the tailstock to offered support.

Rough it round using your tool of choice (spindle gouge, roughing gouge, whatever). I was lucky because this blank was dead square and the chuck grabbed it nicely. In the future, I will create a small shoulder and tenon at the headstock end. It would offer a more secure grip on the blank by the chuck, especially when blanks at not perfectly square (they rarely are). Once you’re got it round, crank up the speed as fast as you are comfortable with.

Work from the tailstock end and begin to shape the handle. This will be the end where you eventually attach the head. Get the shape on the end close to the profile you want. Turn off the lathe and back off the tailstock.

Grab an appropriate sized drill bit on a set of vise-grips or a drill chuck mounted in the tailstock (I used the pilot bit for a #12 wood screw, whatever size that is. Use something close.) Drill the hold and check the fit with the head. If you are not satisfied with the profile, bring up the tailstock and get back to work. Repeat this fit-check-adjust sequence until you are happy.

Once you are happy, bring up the tailstock and shape the rest of the handle, working back towards the headstock. When you are happy start sanding. Work through the grits, removing all the scratches from the previous grit until you are satisfied. I am working up to 4000 grit and then using a polish to kick up the shine an extra notch.

The tough part is sanding the end left at the headstock. Make your life simple and part it off. Mount a drill chuck on your headstock with a very soft sanding pad and work through the grit like before.

The head comes with a threaded post to join the head to the handle. I dropped a wee bit of medium cyanoacrylate in the head to help secure the post (better safe than sorry). Next, I used 5 minute epoxy to secure the head assembly into the handle. The epoxy will hold up to the high-moisture content of an environment like the bathroom.

This all seems kind of wordy but this really is a simple project. These heads are designed to take Gillette Mach 3 blades and will also take the Gillette Venus blades. Now, get out in your shop and build some for yourself. If you are not so equipped or inclined, you can always stop by my Etsy shop and see what is currently available.

Thanks for stopping by.
Steve

P.S. Right now, I am really hating blogger and I am seriously considering moving the entire kit and the kaboodle over to a Wordpress blog. My goodness it is a pain in the a** to get pictures to line up correctly. If they look out of place on your screen, I apologize. I finally got things to look right on my screen and that, I'm afraid, is the best I can do.

P.P.S. I also apolgize for the quality of these images. That is not bloggers fault though I would like to figure a way to blame them. Image quality comes from me trying to shoot pictures in my shop.

Housekeeping Notes

2010-01-13T15:18:00.005-05:00

This is not to be confused with "Notes on Housekeeping." THAT is an art in which I lack skill. No, this post is to update a couple of things....

I have been running a promotion through Facebook for Fans of Green Leaf Wood Studio. This has been running for a couple of days so I feel good about opening it up to readers of my blog as well. Here are the basics of it... Any pen of peppermill you see on my Etsy Page is 30% off regular price. The prices you see on my Etsy page are the regular price. Send me a convo through Etsy after you place your order, using "Blog Fan" as the title, and I will refund you the 30% through paypal. Real simple.

For my fellow-turners, I want to give a warm recommendation to Vince at http://www.vinceswoodnwonders.com/. I ordered a couple of starter packages of his blue and gold sanding discs in the 2" x the 3" sizes. These discs are the BEST I have ever used. I will write a more formal and detailed review another time but if you are getting to the point where you need to order some discs, these are the ones you should thinking about.

One of favourite blogs has moved. Muse In The Kitchen has moved and transformed itself into Sensei Cooks. Over time there has been a shift of influence and style over in the kitchen (when Belle stopped writing and Ward started. It only made sense since he is the one doing the cooking) and the new blog is evidence of that. Personally, I like the change. It is VERY difficult for me to think of this blogger as "Ward". I know that is what is says on his drivers license but for me, he has always been and always will be, Sensei. No matter the situation. That is just how it is in the martial arts.

Ok, I think that is everything for now. I will be posting some new bowls and peppermills on my Etsy page in a day or two. Follow me on Twitter, @stevekubien and/or become a Fan on Facebook (see link above) for immediate updates.

See you soon!

Putting It Into Words

2010-01-06T10:41:00.003-05:00

Those that know me will never believe this but I often have trouble putting my thoughts into words. I become paralysed and unable to express my thoughts and emotions (ok, I’m a guy so expressing my emotions is not genetically realistic). Many are the times when I read or hear something and think, “Hey, that’s me! Why can’t I say/write that?” This is especially true when I am asked about my work. I get comments like, “Wow, how did you DO that?” And, I get referred to as an “artist.”

(By the way, I am very uncomfortable being called an artist. I have stereotypical images of dark creatures wearing berets and Birkenstocks, sipping froufrou coffees and being full of contempt, self-loathing and pretentiousness all at the same time. I know that is not fair or accurate in 99% of cases but that is what sticks in my mind. I like to think of myself as a craftsman (dare I say, fine-craftsman?). I’m just a guy who sticks sharp bits of steel into moving chunks of wood.)

Now, where was I? Oh yeah…..

Last week I picked up the Winter 2010 edition of Woodwork: A Magazine For All Woodworkers because it had an article in it about David Ellsworth, a world-renowned turner from Pennsylvania. Mr. Ellsworth took the idea of a hollow vessel and made it in wood and, further more, made it into a field of woodturning of its own. Turners worldwide have been inspired by his work and his methods, myself included. I am rambling. Let me get to the point.

The article in the magazine that really struck me was on page 14 and had nothing to do with turning, but it had a lot to do with my work and me. Yuri Kobayashi is a young lady originally from Japan now living in Maine. She studied and worked as an architect and not being satisfied, later enrolled in a course at a school focused on “wood culture.” She studied production, forestry and environmental aspects of wood working. They planted trees, cultivated rice, and spent a lot of time learning and using woodworking machines and hand tools.

In the article by Patrick Downes, Kobayashi-san is quoted as saying, “It felt good to use my hands, get them dirty,” when talking about her time at the “wood” school. I love this connection to the earth and nature. For me, I too get great satisfaction in using my hands and creating things, especially things which can be used. I want my work to end up in people’s hands, being used and enjoyed daily, be it a bowl or a pen.

“I’m more a maker than an artist, “ says Kobayashi-san. Ditto. It doesn’t get much simpler than that.

I have no great aspirations to become the next Ellsworth or Picasso. I simply want to create simple things. Why do so many people want to push me into some other class or category? Can’t I just be “Steve The Wood Guy?”

I really have no idea why I felt to compelled to write this and share it. Somehow I felt a connection to Yuri Kobayshi and her work (which is rather sculptural. How ironic.). Maybe I just wanted to share her work. Maybe I am simply avoiding doing any work of my own. Afterall, it is cold in the shop this morning.

Thanks,
Steve

P.S. Have you become a Fan of Green Leaf Wood Studio on Facebook? You should as I will be running a promotion next week for Fans only. Stay tuned.