Artistic Woodturner Robbie Graham

shop tests the new Rotomount for designer Ken Port.

When Ken Port approached me to shop test his new carving stand I was excited to see what it could do to improve my work for me.
I have known Ken for some time from his days with Woodcut tools and I have used many of his previous products so I expected this new tool to be good. Carving and detailing takes up the majority of time spent on my artistic pieces, so if I could save time and make the job easier then the Rotomount had to be a plus for me.
I turned two pieces in advance, The first piece was a Pittosporum seed pod out of Kauri to be carved using a dremel and mini Arbortech. The second a bowl out of Black Maire which is one of our hardest woods so it was a good test for the Rotomount. I would be carving that with my Arbortech.
Project One: Kohuhu the Kauri Pod:
Most of what I do comes from natural shapes that I see around. The Pod is made from NZ native Kauri, which is one of the most famous of our trees. I  made a scale drawing of the pod then turned the outside shape to match, then hollowed the inside to suit so I was ready when Ken arrived with his new Rotomount and his photography equipment. I chose to bolt the Rotomount to my lathe bed because it is solid and is at a comfortable height to work. Ken had discussed mounting the Rotomount in the tool post but the extra height would make carving almost impossible. The first job was to open up the Pod’s mouth with my Arbortech mini carver. I had no trouble setting the Rotomount to the correct angle, which made access to the opening easy.  I was impressed with the rigidity and could feel no vibration at all, I proceeded to open up all three leaves without any problem. For the finer detailing I switched to my dremel. I have this hanging from the ceiling above my lathe for ease of reach and I find this works well for me. It took time to shape each leaf but being able to revolve the work to exactly where I wanted it speeded things up tremendously.  As you can see from the photos each setting is different from the last. Well that was the morning over, time for a well-deserved lunch and espresso coffee before we move on to the second project.

My seed pod “Kohuhu” finished 

About the Artist:

Robbie started woodturning in Western Australia where he registered a business
(“AnyTurn”) in 1983, doing mostly production work, turning verandah posts to drawer knobs.
He decided to move back to N.Z in 1995 to open his own gallery with his artist wife Sue. The WildWood Gallery is on the shore of beutiful lake Taupo in the North Island of New Zealand. Robbie’s woodturned art pieces are distinctive in style, showing
meticulous attention to the finish. Many of my pieces have been enhanced with subtle touches of acrylic paint, inks, texturing or carving, giving unique surface effects.

He enjoys the great outdoors fly-fishing, bush-walking and native orchid photography. That constantly inspires his ever-evolving style. He likes to promote woodturning as an art form by being involved in the NZ woodturning scene through competing,
tutoring and demonstrating eg; South Pacific Symposium in Christchurch 2000 and an eight day demonstrating tour of the South Island 2003, for the National Association of Woodskills. This year Robbie will be a guest demonstrator at “Sympososium 2007” in Hastings New Zealand. 

Project two Flambé Black Mairie 

This project was important to me both as a test for the Rotomount’s rigidity and as an experiment to try out a new concept I had been thinking about for some time.
The bowl was a plain shape, 400mm (16”) in diameter and 120mm (5”) deep from one of our hardest woods Black Maire. A feature of this piece was the completely round base with no foot. Because of this design I had to glue a temporary foot to the round bottom of the bowl. Hot melt glue did the job nicely. I then turned a foot to suit my chuck so it could be held in the Rotomount for carving as illustrated.  This time it was a job for my larger Arbortech with the Tungsten cutters to do the work.  I find this cutting blade much easier to control than the chainsaw type blade. I started to texture the inside and found the Rotomount worked very well, giving me every angle I needed which I wouldn’t have been able to do on the lathe.
No vibration or movement and in no time the shavings were flying and deep textures were appearing inside the surface of the bowl.  Little time was wasted as I re-positioned the bowl for each angle and in no time at all the inside was finished and ready for the next stage. To do the bottom I had to once again glue a block for a foot but this time on the inside.  Because hot melt can be loosened with solvent I can remove the block later and no sign of it will be visible. I put the bowl back on the lathe and brought the tailstock up for safety, then turned a foot inside to suit my long nose jaws. The reason for long nose is to lift the bowl above the chuck.  I then used the new spigot to remove the foot from the bottom of the bowl.  I was ready to mount the bowl upside down onto the Rotomount and commence work on the base.  Carving the base was certainly made easier with the Rotomount. I don’t think I would have attempted a project like this if I hadn’t been asked to trial this new lathe accessory. Being able to swivel the piece at most angles makes projects like this much easier.
Robbie Graham