A year ago, looking back to 2013..

Well..

It's been an interesting year. I managed to get myself a workshop within The Ruskin Glass Center part of the Ruskin Mill Trust set-up..

I spent a little while getting things set up.. Benches and tables to be made, some organising of the workshop space and getting to chat to some of the visitors to the center. With just a few jobs to do for people, the work started to come in, with a few of my college pieces on show and other jobs on the go, I'ts easy for visitors to see what I can do. With more work going on my blog, then came work from all over the UK..and my work started to go oversees too..wow

I'm still in my first year, but I have made an impact on the center and with others on the internet, and through Interior designers and stylists..

I restore, re-make, re-build, re-use, recycle.. re ..all of it.. I just make things using wood and any other medium..and I love doing it. If I keep doing what I have been doing, and keep going in the direction that I want to go in, then I believe I will make a very successful little workshop, where I will be happy to work and people will be happy to visit and trust me with their pieces.

I really look forward to 2014, It will be one of more interesting commissions, more projects that I have on my todo list, and more one-off pieces that go into peoples homes, catalogs and magazines..

Here's a few of my favourites..

Thanks for looking

All the best

Jamie

Glass makers paddles..

Just a quick one..

Every now and then, I get to walk around the centre in search of someone or something..

This one day there was a guy hiring the blowing studio..doing some great pieces with Ian Bamforth assisting him...after introductions, Graeme Hawes told me he had a lump of Cherry in his shed that he wanted to be made into paddles for flattening the bottom of items as they were being blown. His was uneven and had a hole in it !!  So he used another part of the paddle..

A few weeks later Graeme dropped off the log, no splits or shakes, just hard, very hard, much harder than some of the American Cherry I have, and this piece was from low down in the trunk..

This is normally where you find the paddles

In a bucket of water..

Here, Vic Bamforth is using a paddle to flatten the base of a vessel..

each Glass worker has the tool made to suit them or the timber they get..then it's part of their tool kit.

I had left cutting out the paddles until my bandsaw blade was on it's way out, the size of my blades are small really...16" Bandsaw blades are only around 140" long so they don't get re-sharpened, they get thrown away.!

 ..Now, the only problem with using other peoples timber is that it may have nails or staples somewhere inside..and it did. So the bandsaw blade was ruined, and I just carried on until the log was cut into four paddles..you can see 2nd piece from the right were the last two cuts..

And yes, I did use a metal detector beforehand..but nothing

Anyhow, paddles, made to the glass makers pattern, corners knocked off

Ready for Graeme to prepare for use..

Probably 60 years worth of work in these paddles..

I'll see what process Graeme goes through to condition these tools, and put it on here.

All the best

Jamie

16th March 2015

Just thought I'd add that these paddles were done for Graeme, not for cash but barter; an exchange of services or goods.. I liked Graemes glass work, so he was going to bring a piece in for me..

Hey I'm still here Graeme.. haha.. A valuable lesson learned. Hey it's only been 14 months.

Cheers

Jamie

The new workshop...

Finally, after quite a few weeks of waiting, I now have the keys to the new workshop.

I will be based at the Ruskin Glass Centre, Unit 1. A brilliant place for me to be set up and I hope to bring another audience to the centre. Based in old factory workshop buildings, bringing life back into this corner of an old site, in Stourbridge.

Here you can watch glass blowing, cutting, copper wheel engraving to name just a couple of the things going all the time, it's just the best, most creative atmosphere that I have seen in a long time.

I'll be putting more on here from now on, as I start to set up a comfortable, varied and productive little workshop. And make, repair and recycle (or up-cycle) all sorts of wooden items.


Hope you can stop by, there's a great coffee shop too.

All the best

Jamie