Onegoodturn             
Woodturning in the Scottish Borders

New The Video New polelathe pictures added

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Fundamentally,  I enjoy working with wood.
 I tend to use a natural finish allowing the character of the grain to show through. Natural edges are attractive. I love wood with character, holes are fine but you can't use the bowls for soup, "flaws become features", if you want perfection then don't use a natural product like wood.

I first started woodturning using a pole-lathe deep in the depths of Wooplaw Woods, our local community woodland. I mainly use local hardwood from the Scottish Borders. It's sometimes easier to obtain a tree locally, that's if you can deal with it, than wood ready for the lathe. A lot cheaper and more personal, you know where the object you make from it came from. I can even tell you where the bees live that make my polish. You either like these individual details or else find it all a bit sad. 
(Either way, the bees live in Selkirk)

When my legs got too tired I graduated onto a small power lathe and began turning a wide variety of objects from fruit to pens to lamps. Later I bought a larger lathe and now prefer to turn bowls giving me the ability to produce shavings in industrial quantities.

I still demonstrate the pole-lathe at local events including the Hawick Reivers' day and the Border Union Show at Kelso.

Hopefully you'll find something of interest in the site. Let me know.

Bob Fleet