Phil Irons is a world-renowned woodturner recognised for his expertly crafted vessels and hollow forms, distinguished by their clear, fluid shapes and elegant flowing lines.
He employs contemporary, coloured dyes to accentuate the natural beauty and hidden grain patterns of pale woods, which he sources primarily from tree surgeons. In addition to his turned forms, Phil creates unique woodprints from the logs he selects, capturing the raw, unaltered state of the material before transformation. These prints are often displayed alongside the final vessel, offering a compelling visual narrative of the wood’s journey from its natural state to a refined artistic piece.
https://www.philironswoodturning.co.uk/
Livestream Demonstration: Kintsugi for Wood
Part of the beauty of the things I make lies in the inclusion and celebration of so called “flaws”. As a natural material wood isn’t consistent and often has within it variations such as voids, bark inclusions, drying cracks and a whole range of other “inconsistencies”. In the demo I will show how I make a feature of these inconsistencies rather than try to disguise them, before using my colouring technique to truly enhance the beauty of the this wonderful material we use.
It’s not an approach that I can claim as my own. I refer to this as “Kintsugi for Wood”.
Livestream Demonstration: HOLLOW FORMS with the KISS principle.
Creating simple forms is quite often not that simple, as with any skill it can take years of practice to make it simple.
In this demo Phil will show how he goes about creating his simple forms, sharing his knowledge gained over the past 30+ years of making hollow forms with lots of tips and advice. A few of the topics he will cover are the importance of secure chucking, his choice of tools, stance at the lathe, his process for hollowing, through to reversing the piece between centres to safely remove the chuck spigot and a whole lot more.
The KISS principle?
Keep It Simple Stupid. A phrase borrowed from the late Ray Key.
Engraving with LaserPecker 4
Laser engraving has traditionally been done on flat bed machines which has really restricted their use in woodturning but that changed with the introduction of handheld galvo lasers where the laser beam is controlled by oscillating mirrors allowing for far greater versatility. I will show some of the projects I have done from personalised key fobs to engraving shift patterns in gear knobs and how I engrave timber species, date, signature and dedications to the bases of my urns and other work. “