Moonlite Studios

24/05/2026

I’ve been polishing this little piece of ancient red gum - sawn from a larger piece that came from and . It is the most extraordinary material, part wood and part stone - or more correctly partially mineralised wood. It’s somewhere between 5000 and 10000 years old. Let that sink in - a tree well on the way to being stone after say 5000 years. That’s between a fifth and a tenth of the time that Indigenous peoples are conservatively estimated to have been on country. …. A tree turns to rock in a shorter time than people have been caring for this country.

18/05/2026

Don’t try this at home - more things you probably shouldn’t do with your bandsaw

15/05/2026

Today in class - we’ve been cutting mortise and tenon joints by hand - some of my favourite ways to assess and tune the fit of the tenon.

13/05/2026

Learning to use a marking gauge as part of the process of marking out and dimensioning timber using hand tools.

12/05/2026

Anyone experienced sticky drawers, or doors and windows that are loose sometimes and too tight at other times of the year? The students are taking a deep dive here … We need to Understand wood as a hygroscopic material - timber absorbs or releases moisture unti it reaches equilibrium moisture content - which is specific to a given location. Different types of wood respond to changing moisture content in different ways - how much they shrink or swell in response to changes in moisture content relative to the way they have been cut varies by species. Measuring moisture content involves taking a reading with a meter- then using a conversion chart to arrive at the species specific moisture content.

12/05/2026

Instructions- relax, pay more attention to the sound of the saw and the the free movement of your elbow and less to the line and getting through the cut.

11/05/2026

Sharpening - it’s a gateway drug to fine woodworking!

11/05/2026

16/04/2026

Early morning tool maintenance - a bit of action - using a CBN wheel and watching the daylight arrive

31/03/2026

What first aid kit or gear do you have in your workshop or studio?
I’ve got a workplace compliant modulator kit - but ive also added a major bleed kit - it contains an olaes bandage, 2 tourniquets and an emergency blanket - the things you never ever want to use but can save a life if there is arterial bleeding. Ive got eyewash bottles strategically placed in the benchroom and machine room. Ive got the what three words location of my studio on my kits - its a good way to convey a location to emergency services in a high stress situation.