I have lived in FL since
1979 and have worked with wood almost all of my life. As a child, I
would make things and tinker in my father’s workshop. This is where my
passion for woodworking began. I graduated from Winter Park High
School, FL in 1980. After high school, I started working carpentry
construction and soon started my own business of contract framing.
After 15 years of working in the Florida sun, I decided to start
working indoors.
I began doing custom interior trim, cabinets, furniture, and casework.
I
discovered wood turning in the spring of 2005 when a particular job
required some custom turnings. A small, cheap lathe was bought for the
job. After turning my first piece, I was hooked! Turning soon became an
obsession. I started turning any piece of wood I could get my hands on.
Downed trees, befriending tree workers, and even going to the dump!
After finding out how laborious it was to cut down and prep wood, or
how expensive it was to buy it, I soon became intrigued with the art of
segmented turnings. Here I can use small pieces (which I had plenty
of). The combinations of exotic and domestic woods, along with endless
possibility of patterns and designs, can create quite a stunning piece.
The pieces of wood are cut at precise angles and lengths to produce the
basic shapes. Then they are glued together, and mounted on the lathe
for turning. Many pieces are done in sections and stacked on a
previously turned section. A segmented piece can take anywhere from a
couple days to several months to complete. I love to use colorful and
contrasting woods in my turnings. The fact I can make any shape or size
piece that I want, helps me to combine the shapes and different woods
in a way that they compliment each other.
Recently I was
fortunate enough to be chosen as an Artist of the Month by the Orlando
Museum of Art through an event they have every first Thursday of the
month where the museum displays art from local artists. I had the honor
of displaying my pieces in the Founders Gallery for the month of August
08 and the privilege of selling them. I continue to display and sell
pieces in the museum gift shop.
I hope you enjoy my pieces as much as I did creating them.
Equipment
My
first lathe was a small variable speed mini that I promptly burnt up
trying to turn a soaking wet Pecky Cypress 8x8. My next lathe was a
good one, a Harbor Freight 1236…. I used and abused that lathe for over
a year, until I got my Jet. I currently use Jet 1442 VS, 5 or 6
faceplates, 2 chucks, 3 tool rests, many plywood or MDF jigs, and all
of about 4 cutting tools. My main tool is the Elsworth bowl gouge,
angled skew (for scraping), 1/16 Parting tool, and a curved skew (for
scraping). After final shape of a piece, I will often use a cabinet
scraper to smooth out any tool marks before sanding.
I do
all my cutting on my Ridgid table saw with miter sled. I use a flat
bottom cutting blade from Forrest (Woodworker II) that cuts an
incredibly smooth cut. I also use a neat little tool call the TS
aligner that uses a dial caliper to calculate exact angles.
I also
have a Delta 12” planer used to mill wood and a Preformax 16-32 drum
sander to help on flattening some pieces. Another sander used quite
often is my Jet 12” disc sander.
These are just some of my most frequently used tools.
There are many other tools and jigs used.
Jeff Matter
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Atomic Firework
, Many Woods
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Black Palm, Maple, Marabola
Marblewood, Ipe
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Bloodwood and Maple Ribbon
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Bloodwood,
Maple, Marblewood,
Walnut, Mahogany
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Bolivian
Rosewood, Marblewood,
Bloodwood, and Magnolia
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Bowl from a
Board
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Brazilian Cherry, Maple
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Carousel
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Cherry, Bloodwood, Maple, Yellowheart
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Lacewood, Bloodwood, Marblewood,Jatoba
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Lacewood, Maple, and Bloodwood |
Lives in the Balance
Walnut and Maple |
Manzanita Bowl |
Maple and Walnut |
Marblewood, Lacewood, Bloodwood, Walnut |
Purpleheart,Maple, Bloodwood ,
Bowl from a Board |
Ribbons and Balls |
Small Manzanita Box |
Wormy chestnut and Teak |
Zebrawood,Magnolia,Cumaro,and Bloodwood |
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