Jarrah Miniatures
I was first introduced to miniatures when mum and dad said they had joined a new group doing minis – but I have no interest in railways was my answer. No, its not that, just come along. When I did, one of the members brought along their vignette and I sat there mesmerised with the whole process. I was hooked.
One weekend, some 15 years ago, I was thoroughly pleased with my effort of carving a cabriole leg from balsa wood and showed dad. He said that if I was going to go to all that effort (it had taken all weekend to do one leg), I should make proper furniture out of proper wood, which being an avid woodworker meant Jarrah to him.
Jarrah is a very hard wood uniquely found in Western Australia and ranges in colour from pale salmon to sunburnt honey to ebony depending on the age of the tree.
So began my love of working in Jarrah. Spending time with dad in his shed trying to absorb his knowledge of woodworking is still one of my happiest memories and he remains my biggest supporter (and critic).
All of my equipment is full sized, and it needed re-housing after the parents downsized in their retirement years. My eldest son did the internal fit out of a workshop and this is now my happy place. With room for my thicknesser, lathe, drum sander, two bandsaws, routers, spray room and a wonderful working room, I spend all the evenings and weekends here.
As I work full time, my mini furniture is a wonderful hobby. When I find a piece of furniture that I like the look of, I will research the sizes and dimensions (or better yet, find one that I can measure – as was the case of the piano found in a local shop) then scale it down to 1/12th. From this I create the patterns to make the prototype.
After milling the timber down to 2mm and 1mm thick, I sand and cut into the required sizes and set about constructing the item. A lot of sanding to get the finish right, then the item is sprayed with lacquer to protect the wood. Another light sanding and then polished – as you would any piece of furniture. I prefer to let the natural beauty of the Jarrah shine through and do not use any stains or paints on my furniture, although someone did ask if she could paint it lilac! Each to their own……
If the item has drawers they will open and be lined, the rolltop desk rolls open and the handles are brass. I try to make everything as a proper piece of furniture (dad).
Each piece takes around 20 hours of work and is definitely a labour of love.
The longer that I am in the hobby the more people I find to admire – my friend Kim Murdock being at the top of this list. However, the furniture maker I most admire would have to be Ferd Sobol who I had the pleasure of meeting in Chicago – a most humble and extraordinarily talented man. If I could achieve even 1% of his ability, I would count myself a success.
I look forward to showing you my furniture at the show and hope you like it.
