Texturing and a Herb Planter

First lesson of a new term at wood turning last night. I had mentioned to Chris (my tutor) that I wanted to do a textured finish on a little bowl I had made, so he brought in the tools to allow me to do this. After a quick demo I decided I was best to try it out on a scrap piece of wood first(some horrible Sapele).

The texturing was quite light and you couldn't really see it, that was until we got the blow torch out! Burning the area I had run the tool over really changed it, with a quick tidy up around the chard zone it really stood out. I'll have to try this on a proper project sometime soon I've seen some peoples work done like this and I always think its stunning.

Today I decided that as the rest of the country were having the day off I would as to (well I spent it working in the workshop!). One project I've been putting off is a herb planter I promised to make my sisters boyfriend who made some excellent logos for me last year. I'd put it off because I wasn't sure how to joint it for the hexagonal planter he wanted, but last weekend I brought the solution at a car boot sale - a biscuit jointer (another tool to the collection)!

I used an Iroko decking board, cutting all the side peices to 30 degrees before plunging the biscuit jointer in and then clamping it up with a couple of ratchet straps. The base was made from marine ply with holes drilled for drainage.

Planted up with Oregano, Sage and Mint it looks quite nice (I hope he likes it as I'd like a logo for my carpentry business!).