Derek Jones

16 May 2013

Thursday already and the countdown to the weekend has started. At least it has in my head.

I took a trip up to Manchester on Tuesday to attend the private view of the Makers exhibition at the Cube Gallery in Portland Street where the Northern Contemporary Furniture Makers have taken over the entire ground floor gallery space. This is the only contemporary design craft exhibition in the North that is dedicated to the highest quality items for interiors. It is welcomed by design-orientated thinkers who will now be able to access design of the highest calibre on their own turf. Not only is the Cube Gallery an excellent venue the work on display is some of the finest I’ve seen for a long time and should not be missed. We're going to give a full report of the event in F&C208 but for now check out the link below and if you can plan your weekend around this you wont be disappointed.

http://www.contemporarymakers.com/

Back at the workshop it’s been my turn to give the F&C corner a bit of a makeover. It’s come a good time as the screen on my laptop has decided to give up the ghost meaning I’ve got a few spare hours to fill. Subject to a few new wall sockets, a coat of paint or two, some shelves and a tool cabinet we should be up and running by the end of next week. As for the laptop, that’s anyone’s guess. Three cheers for the smart phone that’s what I say.

Derek Jones

03 May 2013

Finally it looks like we’re going to get some decent weather over the weekend with the possibility of it lasting into the bank holiday. The list of jobs has been stacking up and I’m looking forward to spending some time out in the workshop with the doors open, ankle deep in shavings with the radio on. I wont have it all my on way mind, as the lawn needs attention as do the boarders.

Having some down time is a great opportunity to work through some of the things that get put on the back burner while the everyday stuff takes over. For me that can mean working on designs that may or may not make it to the bench as finished items and part of the process involves making models. Sometimes they’re quite crude sometimes they get a coat of polish. Either way they help to cement the idea in 3D so that I can come back to it months later and pick up where I left off.

The process can be just as exiting as making the real thing requiring the same intense concentration to detail and finish if you are to capture precisely what you have in your mind in the physical object. And do you know what? It’s a whole lot more fun than 3D modelling on screen and you will already have at your disposal the necessary skills.

Derek Jones

23 April 2013

The Festool European Roadshow rolled into Brighton yesterday and set up camp at Brighton Tools & Fixings on the last leg of its UK tour, which is scheduled to reach Paulton in Somerset on 27 April. With a specially built truck kitted out with Festool equipment a team of demonstrators are visiting dealers to give tradesmen the opportunity to get up close and personal with the full range of kit and experience for themselves some of the unique features that frequently make Festool a market leader.

The 24 stops over 32 days began in Dunfermline after completing a similarly gruelling schedule in Norway and Sweden and will take in France, Belgium and Germany before finally parking up. It’s a bold decision that means the green and blue livery will be absent from some of the regular tool shows this year, but a logical one that will put the tools in the hands of the end users where they can be found in their natural habitat. There’s still a few sites to go including a two-day event at the Westpoint Arena in Exeter so why not check out the Festool website and make it a date.

(PHOTOGRAPHS BY GMC/DEREK JONES)

Derek Jones

19 April 2013

Didn’t get to spend as much time in the workshop this week as I was hoping as we’ve had a fair bit of running around to do in the last few days. A quick trip down to Bosch’s UK HQ yesterday to be presented with some new products in their blue professional corded range to include some very neat additions to their choice of router equipment; plunge base, guide rail platform and trammel bar attachments. These are all well thought out and worth investigating if you’re about to upgrade your routing capability. Also on the list and not to be ignored are the new range of Bosch portable vacuum dust extractors. The boys in blue might be a little late to join the ‘system integrated’ party but prepare yourself for quite an entry. We’ll bring you news of all these and more in greater detail when we can.

The quiet of the office has been shattered and with it the chance to think straight so that’s it from me. I’m off to the workshop for some piece and quiet, a cuppa and to pour over the first set of colour proofs for the next issue.

Have a good weekend. Derek

Derek Jones

12 April 2013

Here we are at the end of another busy week and at last the promise of some sunshine, and as I don't have any extra work planned this weekend it could turn out to be fun, although let's be honest my jobs list is never quite the same as my partner's. The main focus of my attention recently has been spent transforming a rusty old Stanley No. 5 into something more respectable. It's not been easy but then anything worth having comes at a price. If you want to see the complete makeover and learn how it was done get down to your news agent for F&C205 for the first of two articles on the subject. There's a few other tips and tricks in there as well and a report on last month's 21st Century Furniture 4 exhibition. All in all something for everyone. There's just the last few pages of F&C206 to put to bed today before heading for the coast so I'll not keep you. Have a good weekend.