John was born in 1930 at Chelsea which was then a seaside holiday village 20 miles south of Melbourne. The third of four boys, their father died when he was 10 and his mother helped the boys to become apprenticed to various trades. He served six years as a turner and fitter / toolmaker at McPherson's Machine Tools making metal lathes, drills, mills etc.
Over the last 25 years before he retired in 1988, he designed pneumatic controls for various machines ranging from railway point control in the Melbourne Underground, material handling in mines, auto body assembly, food processing etc.
He married in 1955 when it was almost impossible to get building materials. He and Kath built their own house at Mt Eliza, 30 miles south of Melbourne on 3/4 acre of bush with the kangaroos, koalas and many native birds.
Kath died in 1979 and in 1981 He married her sister Sheila.
A few years earlier he inherited from his grandmother quite a lot of old and dilapidated furniture so he got books on restoration and upholstery and started to repair it. When it came to knobs for a davenport he was unable to find anything to suit so he purchased a small lathe and turned them . Twelve years later, he is still turning wood and enjoying the hobby and the people involved.
About 30 years ago, Kath felt he should have a hobby so instead of house building she gave him a book on fruit wine making. He joined a small group in Frankston and was elected President, a position he was stuck with for the next 26 years. The group enters wines in competitions all over Australia. Elderberry and Chocolate. Damson and Mulberry, Lemon "champagne", Walnut Liqueur and Mulberry dry sherry to name a few. It's great fun and wonderful people
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Three sided Lidded Container. Made with a 3-lobed cam on a wooden Rose Engine using Murray Pine (callistris collumalaris). |
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Table Lamp with turned "shade". |
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Ornamentally turned bowl, 6" diam., from Tasmanian Native Olive. Drilled using a 120 index plateand cross slide vice. The base is decorated using the same index and an eccentric cutter. |
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Aladin's Lamp, to be used in the local gaming room for lucky numbers. It is made from laminated MDF (custom board) and is approx. 500mm long. |
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Dried Flower Vase. The handle is dowelled into the body. Made from Black heart Sassafras. (Atherosperma Moschatum) |
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Ice Cream Cone The wafer is Leather Wood (Eucryphia ) . It is chip carved and was used to fill a crack, the ice cream is Lagurania Paterrsonia and the base is Myrtle Beech (Northa fagus Cunningham) decorated with OT basket weave and an OT horizontal cutting frame. |
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Cellar Clock. John has been a fruit wine maker for the last 30 years! The clock is made from NZ Kaurie (Agathia Australis), the glasses are Huon Pine (Dacrydium Franklinii) and the wine and grapes are made from Queensland Red Cedar (Cedrellatoena. Australis) 11.5" diameter. |
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"Oval" Bowl made from Blackheart Sassafras (Atherosperma moschatum) and rushes. |
