December 2023

Australian Wood Review

Australia’s premier woodworking and woodcraft magazine.

Australian Wood Review2 min read
Editor’s Letter
Money may not be your motivation as a maker but when people pay for your work it is a validation of its worth. However, knowing what price to put on your work can open a Pandora’s box of considerations. You can crunch the numbers on what you spend in
Australian Wood Review1 min read
Australian Wood Review
Linda Nathan linda@woodreview.com.au Raf Nathan, Robert HowardRichard Vaughan, Neil Erasmus James Brook, Damion Fauser, David Luckensmeyer, Jugo Ilic, Charles Mak, Terry Martin, Darren Oates, Andrew Potocnik, Carol Russell, Graham Sands, Peter Young
Australian Wood Review3 min read
Metabo LF724S Surface Paint Remover
Anyone who has ever had to strip paint or damaged clear coats from a sizeable surface area will immediately see the utility of this tool. With an 80mm diameter rotating cutterhead set inside one end of an overall base surface area of 190 x 80mm, this
Australian Wood Review4 min read
Measure for Measure
What is accurate? Often we use our tools and machines and assume they are accurate and set correctly. You assume your ruler is correct and that your tape measure reads the same measurements as your ruler, which is usually not the case. If you use the
Australian Wood Review1 min read
END OF YEAR SALE SUBSCRIBE & SAVE 40%!
● ONLY $30 for 4 issues (print + digital)● SAVE 40% off the subscription price!● FREE delivery to your door● NEVER miss an issue! ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER? Simply extend your subscription to take advantage of this offer. NORMALLY $50 (PRINT + DIGITAL) 1
Australian Wood Review9 min read
Making the Toni Stool
This stool is named for my mum who loved classic woven furniture and the fabric designs of Marimekko. The design has a Scandinavian feel to it and the finished stool works in many applications, and has the benefit of being super light. I’ve made the
Australian Wood Review3 min read
High-Impact Eye Protection
Have you ever taken a trip to the Emergency Department with something in your eye? Well I have and it is not fun. Actually, it was downright scary to have foreign material lodged in one eye, with the eye scratched, red and swollen, while waiting for
Australian Wood Review3 min read
Festool CT-VA-20 Cyclone System
What is the most used power tool in my and maybe your workshop? Actually it’s the portable dust extractor – used whenever I am on any other power tool like the drop saw, sander or router. So this makes it a real workhorse and a critical tool – and it
Australian Wood Review2 min read
Maker Of The Year 2023
We’re excited to present the award winners and finalists for Maker of the Year, presented by Carbitool! Every year our judges face the seemingly impossible task of evaluating a range of furniture and objects that vary widely. All things are not equal
Australian Wood Review3 min read
Meet Wei Wu Overall Winner, Maker of the Year 2023
You left your woodwork studio in Beijing and moved with your family to Australia a year ago. What was your profession prior to woodworking, and why did you make the change? I majored in product design. Before starting my own furniture brand, I worked
Australian Wood Review1 min read
CHESTS, CABINETS & BOXES: TOP 15
A successful combination of understated elegance delivered with appropriate construction and good craftsmanship, free of ostentatious detail. Proportions are balanced, the finish is striking and the appearance attractive. A well deserved winner. Aled
Australian Wood Review1 min read
Tables, Chairs And Desks: Top 15
Proportionally this is spot on. It looks ‘simple’ but until you’ve worked on a table of that scale you would have no understanding of what it takes to achieve that amazing and consistent level of finish on such a large scale – it is incredibly diffic
Australian Wood Review2 min read
World: Top 25
A chair/chaise is a difficult piece to design and needs to be designed from the ground up to support weight and be comfortable. I love how the kumiko ornament fades. To couple that intricacy with ergonomics is an ambitious project. There aren’t too m
Australian Wood Review2 min read
RECYCLED & RESCUED: TOP 15
David Laird champions the use of hyper-local, end-of-life and windfallen trees seasoned in his solar kiln not only in this winning work, but across his woodworking practice. The table reveals a developed personal style that is at once gestural, organ
Australian Wood Review1 min read
ART & OBJECTS: TOP 10
A crisp abstract form which invites touch. I can imagine the intuitive carving process involved, prioritising tactility over the aesthetics. The form and base work harmoniously, casting own shadow and anchoring the piece. A lovely exercise in soft mi
Australian Wood Review2 min read
Student: Top 20
Melbourne Polytechnic Mid-Century design continues to inspire generations of makers. The Laika Sideboard has a nod to Mid-Century but has taken good design a lot further with storage options to suit a contemporary lifestyle. Lisa Cahill A meticulousl
Australian Wood Review2 min read
Wood Diary
For more events and news sign up to AWR fortnightly newsletters at: www.woodreview.com.au/page/newsletter-sign-up Diary listings are free. Email to: linda@woodreview.com.au Note: Listings are current at time of printing but may be subject to change.
Australian Wood Review6 min read
Counting the Costs
I’m a numbers guy, and what I love about numbers is they simply don’t lie. Keep this in mind and you’ll be on your way to successfully and appropriately pricing your work, whether it be for one-off custom pieces or production work, small in scale or
Australian Wood Review5 min read
The Value of Your Work
Our decades long journey in this industry has taught us that adding value from the buyer’s perspective is so much more than being able to produce beautiful, skilful work. Of course that is absolutely necessary, but it’s as much about you as a person,
Australian Wood Review6 min read
Why We Make
When I was asked to write ‘an article about hand-making and why we still persevere with it’, my first thought was that I’m probably not qualified, given I’ve only been ‘persevering’ in this craft for approximately five minutes. On the other hand, que
Australian Wood Review2 min read
‘Waste’ Redesigned
In May 2023, three friends, Angharad Summers, Maryam Moghadam and Carl Broesen, organised and showed work in a furniture exhibition called Pop ‘round: one person’s junk is another person’s chair. The exhibition was displayed at Dark Horse Experiment
Australian Wood Review2 min read
Q&A with Angharad Summers, Maryam Moghadam and Carl Broesen
What was the reaction of visitors to the exhibition? Many of our visitors didn’t realise that all the pieces were made of waste material, which was the response we were hoping for. We wanted to surprise people by showing the potential of waste materi
Australian Wood Review3 min read
Intarsia with Wood
Intarsia is a form of woodworking in which pieces of different woods are fitted together to create a design or pattern. The word ‘intarsia’ comes from the Italian word for ‘inlay.’ This type of woodworking dates back to the 13th century and was popul
Australian Wood Review2 min read
Ancient Arts and Times
I have waited all my life to work up the courage to paint one of my woodcarvings. I was so lucky to be at art school when the 60s turned into the 70s and received fine, classical training from skilled teachers in drawing, painting, colour and design.

Australian Wood Review

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