news
Its such a slog to keep up with the blog
I get in a jitter when you mention twitter
so I’m calling this news which includes some views
and anything else that might amuse
to inform and inspire you to do with the game
of woodworking and more from Woodomain
go to latest news
Jeremy Broun one time
World Woodworking
Expert no 4. Open the box
to learn more!
Summer 2011
The Alan Peters Award for Excellence
An initiative by Jason Heap organizer of the
CCD annual exhibition in Cheltenham in honour
of the late Alan Peters OBE. This award is to
encourage
new furniture designer
makers under 30 yrs
old by way of offering
exhibition space next to
leaders in the field at the Celebration of
Craftsmanship and Design exhibition 2011.
Jason Heap, Keith Newton and myself are
judges for this exciting new award.
About this Newsletter
This is the first ‘newsletter’ co-inciding
with the re-design of Woodomain and
associated websites of
Jeremy Broun. It has
been sent initially to a
broad email base.
Please give me your
feedback but most
importantly let me know
if you do not wish to
receive it in future (use
the email link above and
write ‘nomail’ in the
subject line.
The intention is to send out the same
Newslink email a few times a year. This
will connect you to a constantly updated
webpage on the Woodomain website.
Whenever there is something new to say
it will be updated. You can visit my
personal blog to read about what
makes me tick and the kind of issues that
makes me glad and sad! one thing that
makes me tick is innovation....
Innovation
Innovation is what fires me but is also
very difficult to promote in Britain. We are
essentially a traditional and conservative
nation when it comes
to furniture and
innovating can be
highly risky even if
one’s ideas are taken
up mainstream a
decade and a half later (by IKEA!) I am
hoping to exhibit some new furniture at
the Celebration of Craftsmanship and
Design exhibition in Cheltenham in
August which again is holding a chair
competition. Chairs are enormously
challenging and there is more to them
than comfort!
Furniture Today
I am working on Part Three of this
fascinating project that focuses on the
Designer Maker Revolution against a
historical context dating back to the
Magna Carta. The quality of the work of
today in Britain just gets better and there
is much to choose from.
Of course it is very time
consuming to edit but it
is hoped the project will
be completed by the
end of 2011. Features include the Hill
House Charles Rennie Macintosh
Centenary exhibition, latest work from the
Cheltenham exhibitions, an interview with
Ray Leigh at the Gordon Russell
Museum in 2010 and a critique of John
Makepeace’s work including his current
solo travelling
exhibition, extracts
from one of his
exhibition lectures
in 2011.
You Tube
I have around 90 short videos on my
Woodomain channel at You Tube. Please
take a look and if you like them do
subscribe. They are mostly to do with
woodworking and furniture
design but also about my
motorbikes, cars and
music!
Three Routing Titles Special Offer
Bath Coffee Coffee Festival 21-22 May
has been and gone and I had a stand
exhibiting a few of my
contemporary coffee tables
and wooden luminaires
A video display using my
Digital touchscreen jukebox
was included bringing the
work alive.
The Bath Coffee
Festival table made
from Westonbirt
maple was on show.
.
Three action packed DVDs
covering every aspect of
routing by the pioneer of
creative routing in the UK.
This is a special Internet
offer and you can save
around £10.
£38
Alan Peters
The Makers’ Maker
£19.95
RSA Comment
At the beginning of the year I wrote an
article for RSA Comment called ‘The
Practical Arts in Education and Society’
which you can read via this link. I am
passionate about the value
of craft in schools and
feel it is vital to encourge
young people to use their
hands as not least practical work is a
vehicle for personal development.
Manual CNC router!
In 1989 I wrote The Incredible Router
book and for it I designed a simple copy
carving jig project (below), suitable for
engraving house signs and other light relief
work. I am now developing this jig concept
using Pacific bearings, steel rod and MDF
to accommodate one a large Dewalt router
for versatile and heavy duty copy carving of
guitar bodies, sculptural forms and furniture
making components. I call it my manual
CNC router as it uses 3 axis just
like a CNC router but instead of hours of
programming for complex 3D shapes you
make a mock up to copy off and the
programming is in your head and transferred
through your muscles! One advantage is that
you actually feel
the cutter
engaging with
the wood -
perhaps what
woodworking
is about?
Watch this space.
A unique and fascinating documentary DVD
by Jeremy Broun about one of the greatest
furniture designer makers of our time. Jeremy
was inspired by Alan Peters while still at
school and he became his hero then
professional friend.
Alan Peters has influenced countless
woodworkers worldwide and this 47 minute
film is a personal tribute to this great man.
Sadly Alan Peters died in 2009 just one month
after this project was completed. His legacy in
particular is his total integrity in working wood
and respect for tradition yet not being
hampered by it.
Sports car re-build
My Raffo Belva sports
car is off the road for
major works including
2 litre turbo diesel
engine implant - 70mpg
and 130mph+? Better
than the Ford Zetec
lump. Major body
re-modelling and interior re-design by me. More to
report on this major summer project in the next
newsletter. I may even use some antique buhr
veneer I have for the custom made dashboard - not
the usual boring buhr walnut! This is one of eight
built.
Summer 2012
Furniture Today 3
At last the project is completed and a bonus
is that it received a retrospective award from
The Furniture Makers Company in June:
‘In recognition of the
achievement and as a
note of our thanks for
your efforts on behalf
of the industry’.
Jonny Westbrooke (Clerk)
Well, it took over 1,000 hours singled
handed since October 2011 to produce this
DVD in two versions - a Standard Edtion for
private use and an Extended Edition for
colleges, architects etc. This is probably my
equivalent of a PHD, not that I ever went to
university. Ray Leigh who is featured in the
70 minute main film and who was part of the
Gordon Russell success story says ‘the
film is an absolute must for anyone
interested in modern furniture’. The Film
Premiere at Bath University was well
attended and included makers such as
Rachel Hutchinson, Fred Baier, Tony Portus,
Barnaby Scott and Johnny Hawkes who
chaired a discussion afterwards. Full details
of the DVDs are at the
Furniture Today
website and can be
purchased here. You
can watch short You
Tube clips on trailers
of the DVD and how
the film was made.
‘An astoundingly good film’ furniture patron
Full details and purchase options
updated June 2012
Travelling electro acoustic guitar
In 2012 I am spending more time on my
music and guitar building. I have just
converted a Hofner shorty electric guitar
into an electro acoustic guitar and am
embarking on a new electro acoustic JKB
design.
The new guitar will include an array of
discreetly embedded features such as
vocal pickup, digital backing track player,
wireless jack, and pickups for a Roland
GR20 guitar synthesizer allowing it to
authentically produce the sounds of a
piano, saxophone, harmonica
and more. I hope to complete it
for my performance on 1 June
at the Bath International Music Festival
Party in the City’.
Router Copy carving jig
Because the Furniture Today film
project took up so much of my time,
progress has been slow to develop this
jig but I hope to complete by end 2012.
I have just acquired 250 sq ft storage and
workshop to work on the car and my bikes.
Have you noticed the endless
episodes of Antiques Roadshow
on British television? They are
even milking the future now. Unbelievable!
Which woodworking glue?
After decades of woodworking and
trying out different glues I now only
use two glues for wood-to-wood
bonding: Titebond for interior and
Cascamite for exterior use.
Celebration of Craftsmanship and
Design 2012
I am giving the Cheltenham exhitibition a miss
this year as I haven’t had time to create any new
designs but I shall be involved again as a judge
for the Alan Peters Award For Excellence.
Raffo Belva project
My rare and pretty car is still being rebuilt with
assistance from a local garage as we had some
wiring problems with the engine management
and chassis welding. Hopefully sometime later
in the year I can get on with bodywork and
interior trim - making the inside like an aircraft
cockpit.
Keep posted for latest news
click on
images
to enlarge
I’ve recently been working 14 hour
days on various woodworking
related projects but I do try to take
at least one day a week off to regain
my sanity.
Every Wednesday I take a leisurely
drive to my nearest B & Q store
and roam around like a punch drunk
zombie.
Its a great source of innovative
ideas looking at different materials,
fixings etc and how I can use them.
In the pipeline: a ‘Jeremy Broun Hands
and Minds Woodworking Award’ with a
power tool sponsor already onboard.
Possibly a biennial award aimed at schools.
Please give me some feedback to develop the
idea? Co-sponsors/collaborators? Email
C 2012 Jeremy Broun sitemap Privacy & Terms and conditions
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