Computer users like other things have cliques. PC or MAC, IOS 7 or Windows 20xx etc. In the early days there was a subculture of Amstrad PC8256 owners. I had one of these great machines that had built in word processing software and a dedicated printer, but sadly proprietary software that ended up like dozens of other non Microsoft/apple products.
Luckily I could see the writing on the wall and sold it to a bloke who used to be a mate and finally bought a real Dos based XT computer.
The point of the story....
I am learning about woodturning and have been amazed to discover the woodturners equivalent of Linux (but probably not Amstrad) - pen turning.
Yes - I had seen the odd bit of wood turned into something nice in souvenir shops and the like, but it is much more than that. I recently went to the Working with Wood Show in Melbourne and had a very interesting time, but what struck me the most was the amount of interest and products supporting the turning of wood and acrylic pens.
This is a huge subset of woodturning that has just amazed me - there are thousands of pen turners out there doing some amazingly beautiful work.
If you don't know anything about this then do a quick google search and check it out. I bought some of the basic tools required but I am not sure I want to get into this myself (my first turning was 600mm across) as it could be one of those crack type orgasm hobbies - you know - once you start you can't stop!
But the supply of timber blanks got me interested. I have made a few tentative inquiries and pleased to report that I have been sending wooden pen blanks all over the countryside by the box full.
I have Fijian Mahogany and Beefwood blanks ready to go.
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| Fijian Mahogany |
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| Beefwood |
Give us a call if you are interested in them, they are also for sale on ebay and I will be on the lookout for more interesting featured timber to cut into blanks.
One of my customers has a great set of videos on the whole process of pen turning and can supply everything you need to get started.
I have been using computers and the internet since the early days. People used to point at me in awe because I had a 20mb hard drive on my brand new XT PC (sadly could not afford hard drive and a colour screen).
My first modem was dial up 28k/hr and real slow, but it at least allowed me to see the early days and some of the wonderful advances in web stuff.
I work part time for the disaster reduction program of a regional organisation called SOPAC which is part of the Secretariat for Pacific Communities. Computer and internet allow me to work between trips, mainly by email with disaster managers and fire and emergency service chiefs all over the Pacific helping to build capacity and capability.
We have been working on building a new alliance of disaster managers, fire and emergency services and police chiefs in the Pacific called PIEMA (Pacific Islands Emergency Management Alliance) and of course we needed a logo.
To be anything fair dinkum in the Pacific you must have a good logo, big banners, t-shirts and a great morning tea for people to start taking you seriously
I was tasked with organising the logo. I used a mob called DesignCrowd which I think is Australian inspired and based. It is a focal point for designers from all over the world and for people, like me, who have NFI (no idea) about design to meet graphic designers and solve each others problems (money = design).
Apart from being a terrific and highly successful idea it worked a treat and before long I had over 20 designers from all over the world submitting designs of various quality for selection and competing for my miserly $200 (+ listing, management fees).
What I really liked about it was that the winning designer Zanu Zawa (ZZ to his/her mates) is a young person who lives on a small island in outback Indonesia who was more than happy to work for my money and I was really happy for him/her to have it. I am sure AUD$200 will be of greater value at his/her place than my place.
btw - here is the winning design:
Now for the morning tea.....
