7/8/2007
Business
Turning point in life leads to new venture John Sherwood at his wood turning machine. by Rebecca Magill
SITTING happily at his wood turning machine in his picturesque barn in Normandy, John Sherwood looks like he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
John creates beautiful objects at the barn and sells them at farmers’ markets around the county.
Items piled up around him among the sawdust include salad dishes up to half a metre wide, ornate candlesticks and bowls, all in various stages of completion.
John used to farm the land at his home on West Wyke Farm but retired in 1996. It wasn’t until 2000, however, that he discovered a new passion for woodturning, after his wife (Clare) and daughter bought him a machine for Christmas.
“It was quite intuitive of them actually. I had always made other toys and games for the children and being a farmer you have to be quite good with your hands, so it was great to have another piece of equipment to play with,” said John, 61.
“With the present came a course to learn the basics — what to do and not to do and how not to chop your fingers off,” he said.
But what started as a hobby gradually turned into a business.
“You run out of people to give things to, so if you want to keep going — and it’s quite addictive — you have to start selling it,” he said.
He started up the business properly in 2004 and looked for places to sell his work.
“It can be quite difficult to find a place to sell, as many of the established wood turners have been doing it for years,” he said.
“So I decided to go to the farmers’ markets. I was familiar with them because of my background and it was an untapped market.”
But launching the business venture certainly wasn’t plain sailing.
“It was such a learning curve,” he said. “I had no idea what people wanted to buy. One day you could sell 16 light pulls and then the next all people want is bowls.
“This is the thing about turning a hobby into a business. You need to start thinking about what is going to sell and then make accord-ingly.”
Three years later, John has established a steady stream of commissions and regular clients.
He goes to farmers’ markets in Farnham, Ripley and Guildford every month as well as attending craft fairs.
“I get a lot of people buying gifts,” he said.
“Alternatively, they come in with their own pieces of wood — maybe a tree from their garden that they’ve had chopped down.
“Sometimes they know what they want to do with it or I can come up with some good suggestions.”
Pieces of elm, cherry, oak and ash litter the out-buildings attached to his farm — there is even some eucalyptus. All of his wood comes from nearby tree surgeons.
He piles it up until it is time to use it.
“If a tree surgeon knows there is a piece of wood I might like, they will give me a call,” he said.
Preparing the wood for turning is a surprisingly long process.
It has to sit for a few months before it’s dry enough. As it dries out, cracks appear, which will then dictate the shape of the bowl or dish.
In the first part of the process John ‘roughs out’ or cuts the edges of the wood so it becomes a rough circle.
Then he can put it on the lathe and start turning. He makes a whole range of beautiful objects.
As well as bowls and dishes, there are practical items such as light pulls and earring holders.
If the wood splits when drying he inlays it with brass, giving beautiful metal streaks running through the wood.
John’s mainstay is bowls and dishes, but every so often he gets his creative hat on, mapping out what he is going to make on paper.
“In a certain way the piece of wood dictates what you are going to make,” he said.
“I have to say I am not one of those people who are dictated by the grain of the wood though. If you only thought about the grain, you’d never make anything,”
John obviously has good attention to detail and with his beautiful bowls and dishes flying off the shelves, he is sure to have many more years of success.
For more information contact John directly on 01252 315793 or catch him at Farnham, Ripley or Guildford farmers’ market. vbnvgnjvghjvghjh First printed in:
The News and Mail Series
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