Don Coutts
I live in Whangarei and have been here for many years. My woodturning experience began back in 2004 when my family pooled funds and bought me a second hand lathe for my birthday. I’d talked about wanting to learn turning for ages, so this got me going.
After trying myself for a while and making lots of mistakes I had some lessons. Then I joined the Northland Woodturners and Woodworkers Club in Whangarei which made all the difference in learning the necessary skills. My opinion is that any woodturner, whatever experience, should join one of the 39 Clubs in New Zealand. The experience that’s shared willingly by members, and the demonstrations you’ll see will help you no end!
Since those days I graduated to another second hand lathe, a N.Z. made Teknatool T3000 6 speed, manual change model. Excellent to learn on, but nothing beats the new variable speed Saturn lathe (also Teknatool) I got last year. It’s a dream, makes everything so easy ….
But one still needs to learn the necessary skills! I also do other woodwork (what I call ‘flat work’), i.e. not on a lathe, such as chopping boards and the like. We are so lucky to live in this country with some amazing native (and exotic) trees to make use of. Living in Northland, swamp Kauri is quite readily available; its various colours have been created by the thousands of years spent underground. But there are so many other fine native trees, among them Matai, Taraire, Puriri, etc. Apart from our native trees many like to work with Macrocarpa, or my real favourites , when I can find it, is Peruvian Pepper Tree which has many fissures within the wood making for some interesting results. Our native Red Beech I enjoy working with for the same reason. Natural imperfections often add to the final finished product.
In recent years, through our Club, I’ve tutored many Club members to get them going and up to speed, to a point where they know enough to continue. There is no cost for my time helping a Club member. For others I can also help and recommend they join up. It’s a great past time, very rewarding.
My contact details for all sales enquiries for products listed in this page:
gillanddon1@gmail.com
027-436-1200
Prices on this page include delivery charges.
After trying myself for a while and making lots of mistakes I had some lessons. Then I joined the Northland Woodturners and Woodworkers Club in Whangarei which made all the difference in learning the necessary skills. My opinion is that any woodturner, whatever experience, should join one of the 39 Clubs in New Zealand. The experience that’s shared willingly by members, and the demonstrations you’ll see will help you no end!
Since those days I graduated to another second hand lathe, a N.Z. made Teknatool T3000 6 speed, manual change model. Excellent to learn on, but nothing beats the new variable speed Saturn lathe (also Teknatool) I got last year. It’s a dream, makes everything so easy ….
But one still needs to learn the necessary skills! I also do other woodwork (what I call ‘flat work’), i.e. not on a lathe, such as chopping boards and the like. We are so lucky to live in this country with some amazing native (and exotic) trees to make use of. Living in Northland, swamp Kauri is quite readily available; its various colours have been created by the thousands of years spent underground. But there are so many other fine native trees, among them Matai, Taraire, Puriri, etc. Apart from our native trees many like to work with Macrocarpa, or my real favourites , when I can find it, is Peruvian Pepper Tree which has many fissures within the wood making for some interesting results. Our native Red Beech I enjoy working with for the same reason. Natural imperfections often add to the final finished product.
In recent years, through our Club, I’ve tutored many Club members to get them going and up to speed, to a point where they know enough to continue. There is no cost for my time helping a Club member. For others I can also help and recommend they join up. It’s a great past time, very rewarding.
My contact details for all sales enquiries for products listed in this page:
gillanddon1@gmail.com
027-436-1200
Prices on this page include delivery charges.
