The Selwyn Street Projects

The Pergola

The backyard in Selwyn Street was very unkempt when we moved in. The grass was not grass but a carpet of the world's most determined weeds and we had plans to either turf the yard, put in a pool. convert to garden with meandering pathways or build another house and rent it out. We didn't think of a pergola until Steve Nutt said he was pulling one down from an investment property he was revamping. So I pulled the pergola down and, after some reflection erected this in the backyard which looks nothing like its old self. I basically made it bigger and added the trim (cornices, sunrise in the eves-very federation style, finials and the small rail around the top plate).

 

Kitchen Stools

Made from Camphor Laurell

 

Clothes Hamper

Radiata Pine stained Walnut with a wax finish. This design was influenced by the Indian cupboard we bought that is also in the bathroom.

 

 

 Chevall Mirror

This mirror is a year 11 Industrial Tech project that made so I new what I was teaching. It is Radiata Pine with a Golden Oak stain. You will notice the use of Golden Oak in my other pieces. The finish is shellac but I might practice some french polish. It is currently sitting on the chest of drawers in our bedroom which we will be replacing with some tall boys, my current project soon to appear in this blog.

Some Early Works

Coffee Table

 

Basically my first project. This was a 2nd or 3rd year Uni project where I had to design and make an item of furniture. My first introduction to design. It was made from some lovely pieces of Tasmanian Blackwood that the Uni workshop assistant had stashed away. Unfortunately I invented my own joints for the rails (best description is a stub mortise & tenon with no shoulders or a double bareface M&T with both faces bare) a bit of a disaster really as it did loosen up over the years. I have recently restored this now antique item. It is over 30 years old after all. I cut the legs down a bit too.

Jewellery Box

 

Another Uni project. This jewellery box was made from Meranti. It was lovingly carved on the sides and top by yours truly. The carvings at the top is a scotch thistle motif and had been stained with food dyes which have since faded.

 

Small Trinket Box

This little fella came about simply because I was playing around with some Camphor Laural and I wanted to show some students what this timber was like. I grabbed this bit of timber and left the bark on. A bit of fun.

  

Yellow Box Burl Bowl

This burl was cut from a yellow box tree from the Corowa district. I found it when I was out cutting firewood for winter. It is an unfinished idea as it still has bark on it which I would like to remove and I also want to make the sides thinner and more uniform and give it more of an organic look. The top is too flat.

Round Side Table

Another experiment from the Corowa or maybe Bulahdelah days. This table is Radiata Pine with a Golden Oak stain. I must have been obsessed with this stain as I have used it on other furniture. It is far too yellow for my liking now. The top was turned on the lathe using a left hand threaded faceplate so I could attach it to the outside of the headstock (the lathe bed prohibits large turning as most lathes have a throat allowing about 250mm radius). Can't remember what I used for a tool rest.

Chess Board

 

This chess board is made using Tiger Myrtle and Huon Pine. Not clever or patient enough to make the pieces but if you are a chess player you may recognise the placement of the pieces.

Restored treasures from the past

Since I have started this blog I thought I would also include all of the antique furniture that I have acquired and restored over time. The list starts way back in the Corowa days in the 80's and thanks to a well respected furniture restorer who ran some restoration classes, the tip and garage sales I have a small collection of old treasures. Enjoy.

Hall Stand

Bought this at a garage sale in Corowa. The Commonwealth Bank was selling all the furniture in the managers residence and this was an item. I think I got it for $20. It is made from American Oak. I stripped back the old shellac and gave it a few new coats, a new bevelled edge mirror and some Florentine bronze hooks.

Lounge Chair

Another garage sale in Corowa. Got this for $2. It did not look like this. It was painted, had no rattan cane, and a vinyl seat cover. It needed complete restoration. I pulled it apart, stripped back the paint which revealed different timbers for various parts. Sassafras for the arm rests. apparently it could have been the furniture makers apprentice who made this using whatever timer was available in the workshop. it was heavily stained to disguise the different timbers. I restained it with a dark stain, a few coats of shellac, reglued the joints, restuffed the seat and a new cover in keeping with the chair-not vinyl.

 

Chest of Drawers

 

Picked this chest of drawers up from the tip, again in Corowa. It had 4 different layers of paint on it, it was nailed together as the animal glue had come away, and it was held together at the back by a sheet if tin. Stripping back the paint revealed cedar! I had to buy some handles, remove all the nails, reglue all the joints including secret dovetails in the drawers and make an extra leg. All the legs were turned, but a different style. You can see remains of the paint.

 

Teacher's Desk

Another gem from Corowa. This is a teachers desk that came from the old Corowa High School when the school was where the TAFE building now is. It is a 1930's design and had been left to rot and gather wear and tear as a paint table in the woodwork room. I won't go into the story of its possession but will say that when a student(s) started gouging marks in it with a chisel I thought it was time to rescue it before it was destroyed. Original shellac finish was revealed after stripping back the polyurethane that was spilled on it. A sand and new coats of shellac brought it back like new.

 

Side Table

 

This side table was given to Phill Bradley and sat in his shed for some time before Jenny spotted it and convinced Phill that I could bring it back to its former glory.