Tony Farrell

I have been woodturning at my workshop in Ballinora on a part time basis since 1998. Recently retired, I am now working full time at woodturning.

I make bowls and lamps from Irish grown woods, which I harvest and season myself. I am currently working on making hollow forms as an addition to my range of work.

All my timber is harvested from either dead/ storm felled trees or trees which are being felled for development or other reasons.

For woodturning I try and keep the pieces of log as large as possible as there is always some loss of length due to the seasoning process.

I typically use oak, ash, elm, sycamore, beech, apple, cherry, sweet chestnut, yew and others

Seasoning takes at least six months and can take up to two years depending on the type of wood and condition of the tree before it is harvested.

Typically a log will be air dried in the round for a few months before being cut into blanks and rough turned.

The rough turned blanks are then dried in a container, which has a dehumidifier installed to dry the air.

This process is slow but means less loss of work due to cracking.

When the rough-turned blanks are dry they are finish turned and polished in the workshop.

I finish my lamps with a final polish of wax. They can be polished with furniture polish or wax.

I finish my bowls with an oil which is based on Tung nut oil. This gives a finish which is durable and hard wearing.

Prolonged use of salad oils and vinegar will remove this finish in time.

Bowls can be refinished if needed. An alternative treatment is to rub such bowls with a good salad oil such as olive oil.

Never put one in the dishwasher. The high water temperature will ruin your bowl.