My Grandfathers Lathe: August 2009

Saturday, August 29, 2009

My GrandFathers Lathe

In the 50's long before I was born ( OK, about the same time) the Seeley family presented a unique gift to their retired father and aspiring woodworker, my grand father, George Seeley. It was a Homecraft, Delta, Rockwell wood turning lathe. It passed from family to family after his death and ended up at our house as I was growing up. During high school I took an interest in wood working, winning a couple of awards for various high school projects. The lathe remained in the basement, challenging me to try it. At the time I was not up to the task and it remained neglected and rusting. When my parents divorced in the 80's it was decision time for me with the lathe and so I began carting it around through the 80's and 90's never really using it but knowing it was important and held something of value for me.
In the late 90's my wife Carol and I settled in a small town between Concord and Manchester NH. It was time to dust off and oil the lathe and see what it had to offer. At first it was smaller bowls and the like. Around 2005 I saw the work of a local turner named Gordon. His work was different than anything I had ever seen before because it was made of many pieces of wood glued together rather than one single piece. Gordon was my introduction to segmented turning. One of the rare places where art and craft collide. Shortly after meeting Gordon I read 'The art of segmented turning' by Malcolm Tibbits. I was hooked. The possibilities and combinations were endless. Expression and discovery were easy to explore with this new form of wood medium. And not just wood. I have experimented with many different materials. Stone, Glass, Shells and Coral all can be used as an inlay into the wooden vessel on the lathe. The limits of one's imagination are the limits of what can be done on my grand fathers lathe.
This blog is an attempt to allow others to see some of that craft/art in a hope that it will inspire and give tribute in some small way to my grandfather whom I was never able to meet.
Steve