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Yesterday evening I went to a Club night at the E.Herts Woodturners. Various techniques were being demonstrated such as goblet making, lidded boxes and one guy was showing how to use a Stebcentre for quickly turning items such as light pulls and honey drizzlers. He heard I was a pole lathe turner and asked if I made honey drizzlers. When I said yes he replied "Watch this you'll eat your heart out" and produced the object at top in the photo in about 2 minutes and gave it to me. Personally I think it looks more like a sex-toy . . . !
My take on a honey drizzler is the objet at bottom made from Cherry wood in about half an hour. Which do you prefer ? On the whole and speaking as the keeper of a few bees I think they're pretty ridiculous things - you need really runny honey - what's wrong with a spoon ? At least you can lick it clean ! We do sell quite a few though and they are quite fun to make.The picture of the old woodworkers shop appeared in the June 2008 edition of the Dalesman lent to me by my Dad. It's by an artist called David Hoyle who has painted many pictures of old crafts (the whole site is very interesting).
For me the painting is very evocative of going with my grandad, Charlie Fawcett, to visit Greensmiths shop where he worked - in fact he could be the guy just below centre with the plane. I really like the depiction of the miserable looking old git at the back, right - probably the gaffer and the ladder at back, left.
Charlie's shop was very exciting because there was an engine in the corner which drove a line-shaft which ran the whole length. Each machine - planer, saw, sander etc - had a belt which was connected to this and when you pulled a lever across the thing lurched into action. The Health & Safety people would have a field day with that type of thing today !
We'll be demonstrating at Blenheim Palace Craft Show over the bank holiday weekend so Oxfordshire here we come . . .
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1 comment:
I must say I prefer the old-fashioned drizzler. The new one looks . . . questionable. And useless. But never mind that.
I will speak up for the usefulness of drizzlers, tho--when practiced, it is much easier to drizzle an even stream of honey/molasses from a drizzler than a spoon, and it holds more than a spoon. Takes a bit of practice, though!
I was at a workshop up in England a week or so ago and managed to visit the other Robin at his workshop--I must say yours is a lovely country. I'm incredibly jealous of how very green it is--here in the mediterranean it is all very brown already, and still dusty and hot--so refreshing to be in the green and cool. I wonder what a difference it would make to turn green wood in this climate rather than England's?
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