Friday, September 04, 2009

Westonbirt 2009




HI Folks
I'm safely back in the workshop following the Westonbirt show. Five days is a long time to be stood in a field.........;)
The show was great fun, and there were huge amounts of people milling about the place. There is so much to see, all tree related, and its such an inspiring place to hold a woodwork event.
It was great to meet so many people who read this blog - thanks for coming up and saying "Hi", it made my day. And I thought only my Mum read this blog........

I came home with two six foot lengths of Boxwood, saved from the firewood pile. I've broken it down into suitably sized billets and it should make some lovely planes in a few years.

There were plenty of woodworking superstars on hand - Rob Cosman, David Charlesworth, David Lloyd and many more. I particularly enjoyed watching carver Pascal (sorry I forget his full name) making piece after piece - he worked fast but made such beautifully detailed pieces. Very inspiring! And it was very interesting to watch Dovetail King Rob Cosman at work - he's changed his dovetail demo so that he cuts the complete joint in five minutes. Impressive to see him working so fast, while still making killer joints!

One of the most enjoyable aspects of this event is that the majority of the exhibitors camp together on-site. The organiser (a big thank you to Mike Hancock of Classic Hand Tools) arranges for a chef to come cater for the crew. Its a wonderful communal experience to eat, work and relax together. Although I would happily do without the rain next time ;)

So, I'm almost recovered fromt he show - it's incredible how drained you find yourself on returning home. I'm back in the workshop working on a jointer with a norris adjuster - pics soon.

Cheers

Philly

2 comments:

Shannon said...

Philly,

Are you going to make it across the pond for Woodworking in America again? I was playing with Ron Brese's iron miter plane at the design conference and I told him I have one of your skew miters and he expressed great fondness for your stuff. Could be an opportunity for a little head to head action.

Anonymous said...

It was good to see you again, Phil, and to handle your latest planes - very nice indeed.

Cheers ;-)

Paul Chapman