WOODWORK FOR DUMMIES

Gayle sculpts a stunning bowl under the watchful eye of woodworker Jim Brown – and then has a bash at pyrography with Gail Duncan

As I step out of the cold into Jim Brown and Gail Duncan’s farm workshop, I’m enveloped in the glorious warmth emitting from a huge woodburning stove. It’s here, at Kincaple Farm near St Andrews, that serious amounts of magic happen. Woodworker Jim makes beautiful pieces from kiln-dried native hardwoods, while Gail practices pyrography – a form of decorative drawing using flame.

The two work collaboratively, with both using the natural grain and features found in wood to guide and inspire their art.

Jim’s creations include stools, mirrors, bookshelves, boxes and bowls, while Gail’s illustrations, seared on to wood with a pyrography pen, show scenes of nature and landscapes, whether a deer crouched in the grass, an owl in flight, a rabbit gazing at the moon or a loch backed by hills.

I’m here for taster sessions of both crafts, and the first hour is spent turning a spalted beech bowl on the lathe with Jim.

“Spalting is caused when fungi colonises wood and extracts nutrients from it, leaving dark, dotted and lined patterns,” he explains.

My first lesson is to cut a 90-degree angle on a piece of wood, and I do this with a terrifyingly sharp knife.

“All woodworking issues stem from not getting 90 degrees at the start,” explains Jim. “Get it right, and everything else flows. It’s about finesse.”

When it comes to creating my bowl, Jim produces a cube of wood he’s made into a circle shape in advance.

He’s cut out a “recess” in the back and shows me how to fix this on to the “chuck” (a clamp on the lathe). Then it’s up to me to curve and hollow the wood into a unique bowl shape using a chisel. At first I’m terrified I’ll lose a finger in the lathe, which seems to be full of lethal, moving parts and sharp, spinning edges. Wood chippings and sawdust fly into my face and spray on to my clothes, but it’s fab fun (even though I find some in my underwear later!).

It’s up to me how thick or thin I want the walls of my bowl to be, but I play it safe, fearing I’ll massacre the thing if I cut away too much wood. It’s an exciting, indulgent process, and every stroke you make is immediate.

“If you push the chisel in, you’ll get a mark,” says Jim. “But it’s a very forgiving process.”

The final few cuts require a more controlled stroke; it’s more about “feeling” the wood. But with Jim’s help, my finished bowl is absolutely gorgeous.

“The great thing is, you walked in here not knowing much about woodwork and within a few minutes you had a chisel in your hand and were turning wood!” he beams. “And you’ve done a great job!”

My bowl is quite basic, but the only limit here is your imagination. Indeed, Jim has had groups of folk of all ages coming along to make tables, chests, ottomans, mirrors and more. While he does work with some big machines, Jim’s a fan of traditional hand tools.

“I love their accuracy,” he says. “I make sure I keep in touch with my hand skills all the time. It’s a case of use it or lose it.”

Jim was in the paper and marketing industries before he turned to a full-time career in woodworking.

“I’d always had an interest in making things with my hands. I’ve a love of natural

BURNING AMBITION: From left, woodworker Jim Brown, Gayle Ritchie with her bowl and plaque and pyrographer Gail Duncan at the studio in Kincaple, St Andrews.