Maker of the Week - Daniel Keith - News

Monday 23 April 2012

Daniel has many memories of his childhood with my father in his woodshop. His favourite place to play was down below the wood lathe surrounded by wood blocks and sawdust: "I learned to work with wood from him, mostly by watching and getting in his way. After this informal training, going into the woodworking business just seemed natural,"he says.

After 18 years as a full-time cabinetmaker, Daniel felt the call to do something more artistic, so he diverted away from the linear/square world of cabinetry to pursue the more sinuous world of woodturning. There is a great feeling of freedom in creating based on form rather than function.

Since the first time he saw the huge sphere 'Spaceship earth' at Disney's Epcot center, he has been intrigued with the geometry of the geodesic sphere: "As a woodworker I saw the geodesic sphere as a unique challenge. The challenge in these vessels has been finding the balance between the ideal mathematical formula and the real world imperfections of wood."

These spheres are a collaboration of mathematics and art, two disciplines that are normally thought of as opposite. Maths is about strict formulas and rules, and art is free and unique. I also contrast natural and manmade materials in some pieces: "I like to use ordinary, or underappreciated species of wood. I look at it as giving these common boards a chance to be appreciated as art."

The vessels are made up of 180 triangles. The triangles are assembled into 12 pentagons and 20 hexagons. These shapes are then glued together to form a 180-sided hollow ball. Because of the construction, the ball is nearly round already. Only about 1/4" of wood is taken off to form a true smooth sphere.

This process has been a lot of trial and error over a three-year span. Armed with the formula and a pile of wood, Daniel thought he would have finished pieces by the end of the weekend. However, his first few attempts at this process were total disasters. After about 6 tries he had one that fit together OK, but it wasn't pretty. The 12th one was good enough to show other people.

Daniel had completed rough spheres before he even had a way to turn them: "I turn these on a lathe that I built just for this purpose. It is 0-60 rpm and can spin a 36in diameter sphere. For me the process of building the tools and developing the techniques needed to make the process more efficient has been as enjoyable as the turning itself".