G'day from West Chester, Pennsylvania

[Fred West]

I am a professional woodworker from Pennsylvania who has over the last few years started to use more and more hand tools. This is not to say that I have gotten rid of my big iron or my Festools which I swear by. However, I am finding as I get older (53) that I am enjoying the closeness to the wood using my planes and chisels. Not too mention the fact that the noise level is substantially lower as is the dust level. The reason,I ended up over here on your forum is that I have become a Harold & Saxon junkie. :2tsup::D I have two full sets and waiting for my third.Trent Powrie is a treasure and Australia is lucky to have him. His wife Mandy is also wonderful.

I also just picked up a beautiful piece of five board feet of 8/4 myrtle. What is myrtle primarily used for in Australia? I also enjoy carving though mostly in relief on some of the furniture that my partner and I build. I have attached a picture of one of our pieces. It is a mahogany corner cupboard and we actually built two of them for this particular client. I also attached a picture of the flame finial, swan neck and fret work. The flame finial was hand carved on both as was the gadroon molding and the shell. This client had two styles of Victorian furniture in her dining room and wanted them tied together.

The heirloom quality work is what we love to do but only amounts to approx. 30 percent while the other 70 percent are built-ins. I also attached a couple of those.

Thank you for looking and take care,

Fred

[munruben]

Great work Fred, welcome aboard:2tsup:

[artme]

G´day Fred and welcome to the show.:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:
Very nice looking pieces you have shown us.

Myrtle is used for fine furniture and box making. Sadly it is becoming less available, and much of the Myrtle in Aistralia for furniture making is sourced from Chile.

[paul k]

Welcome to the forum Fred , Nice work , with age comes experiance , and the tendancy to pursue things you would not have attempted when you where younger .
Enjoy and it would be nice to see more of your work in time .

paul , k :2tsup:

[Christos]

Welcome to the forum. I am sure you will some great stuff here. Very nice work.

[Fred West]

guys, I appreciate the warm welcome and look forward to wandering around your forum.:D It is very amazing how the older I get the more willing I am to try new things. Either I am extremely weird, very, very possible, or the idea that as you get older your thoughts and actions become more codified may not be all that accurate. :2tsup: Thank you again.

Fred

[Honorary Bloke]

Welcome Fred. Always good to see another Yank. :D Nice looking corner cupboard, BTW.

[Fred West]

Welcome Fred. Always good to see another Yank. :D Nice looking corner cupboard, BTW.

Bob,

Thank you very much. I guess based upon your quote things have not gone well? :U Where are you from? Thank you for the compliment.

Fred

[joe greiner]

Welcome aboard, Fred. Very fine work you've done.

A slightly imperfect guess about Bob's quote. We've all become quite civilised [sic] in the past couple years. Australians are fond of needling furriners, especially Americans, and each other too. It's only a game.:D

Cheers,
Joe

[Fred West]

Welcome aboard, Fred. Very fine work you've done.

A slightly imperfect guess about Bob's quote. We've all become quite civilised [sic] in the past couple years. Australians are fond of needling furriners, especially Americans, and each other too. It's only a game.:D

Cheers,
Joe

Joe,

I hope that you realized that my comment was made in jest. :D In fact if you were to come here and be the furriner we might needle you as well. :o Nobody I know would do that of course but I am thinking that there may possible be one or two people that would. It is of course a despicable act done strictly by those of low level like me, I mean like others.:doh:

Thank you for the compliment.

Fred

[Billy]

Hi and welcome,:)
nice work in your photos.:D
Don't worry too much about the fellow inmates on the forum, our heads are clogged with sawdust and although though though though it hasn't affected me me me yet some of us are a little karrayzee.:doh:

look forward to seeing more of your work. :2tsup:
ps, I had an Aunt Myrtle, can't remember what she was used for but pretty sure it wasn't boxing.:boxing:

Cheers, Billy:fireman:

[woodturner777]

Wecome to the forum Fred, Tasmanian Myrtle.Nothofagus Cunninghamii.
Is used in Fine furniture, Wood turning, Carving and is used for building musical instruments, I do not know where Paul K, gets his information from that most myrtle comes from Chile as there is no shortage of myrtle in Tasmania.
Regards Bob

[Fred West]

Hi and welcome,:)
nice work in your photos.:D
Don't worry too much about the fellow inmates on the forum, our heads are clogged with sawdust and although though though though it hasn't affected me me me yet some of us are a little karrayzee.:doh:

look forward to seeing more of your work. :2tsup:
ps, I had an Aunt Myrtle, can't remember what she was used for but pretty sure it wasn't boxing.:boxing:

Cheers, Billy:fireman:

Billy,

I am quite happy to have fallen in with you inmates. :roll: As far as being a little karrayzee, those of us that are of course the best of the best.:2tsup: Come to think of it I too had an Aunt Myrtle and as far as being used for boxing, no also but as I recall she was about as pink as the myrtle slab I have.:U

Fred

[Fred West]

Wecome to the forum Fred, Tasmanian Myrtle.Nothofagus Cunninghamii.
Is used in Fine furniture, Wood turning, Carving and is used for building musical instruments, I do not know where Paul K, gets his information from that most myrtle comes from Chile as there is no shortage of myrtle in Tasmania.
Regards Bob

Bob,

Thank you very much for the information on the Myrtle. I need to look up both Nothofagus and Cunninghamii as I have never heard of either.

Fred

[woodturner777]

G'Day Fred from Tasmanian Island state of Australia.
Check my webite link attached click Tasmanian Timbers this will show you the Tasmanian species then click on Myrtle this will give you the information you require.
Best regards Bob
http://www.tasmaniantimbers.com.au



Bob,

Thank you very much for the information on the Myrtle. I need to look up both Nothofagus and Cunninghamii as I have never heard of either.

Fred

[Fencepost2]

Welcome Fred, and a very nice display of your fine skills. It is great to hear of folk such as you who can actually make a living at woodwork - I know there are quite a few on this forum. But for many of us it would be a bit daunting to try to earn a living at it. Look forward to hearing more about your work and experimentation with new methods and styles.

[Fred West]

Welcome Fred, and a very nice display of your fine skills. It is great to hear of folk such as you who can actually make a living at woodwork - I know there are quite a few on this forum. But for many of us it would be a bit daunting to try to earn a living at it. Look forward to hearing more about your work and experimentation with new methods and styles.

I just came into woodworking about eight years ago and turned it from a hobby to a profession after my first year. However, it was sheer luck that this happened as I ran into my now business partner in a local Starbucks. See the cost of the coffee was well worth it. Anyway, we just hit it off and visited each other's shops and went from there. We have no website, no cards and do no advertising. The last three months have been the first time in seven years w have not had work and luckily that just changed.:2tsup: I feel incredibly lucky in that I love what I do to such an extent that it never feels like work. Thank you for the very nice compliments and let me just say that you can start slowly if you have another job and work your way into it.

Fred