The week's post is from our best of the woodworking web
collection. If you are relatively new to
woodworking, visiting a timber yard to buy your wood directly can be an intimidating
experience. However this short film takes
some of the mystery out of the process and offers some really useful tips both on
terminology and choosing the right kind of wood for your project.
Much of the woodwork we see involves delicate measurements,
precision cuts, and stable, square-edged, well-seasoned timber, with a degree
of predictability about how that will behave. This week’s Master of Wood is
Dave Lucas, whose work is from the other end of the spectrum.
Dave (aka Chainsaw Dave) creates extraordinarily detailed
carvings in timber with - as his pseudonym suggests - a range of chainsaws. The
process is very creative; Dave works by adapting to the vagaries of the timber
selected for each specially-commissioned piece of work. On the day we filmed him, in a very wet
corner of Sussex, England, we were surprised to see the speed at which a form
can emerge from the timber. He created such delicate details with what is (for
many), such an aggressive and intimidating tool. In this short film Dave explains the process
from commission to production, including some interesting techniques for
colouring the finish with a blow torch.
You can see more of Dave’s work, including some terrific
time-lapse sequences, on his web pages www.lucascarvings.co.uk
and woodlandcentre.co.uk. If you would like to nominate yourself or someone
else as a Master of Wood, please leave a comment and we could be along to share
your work with the world.