FORUM

Hi folks, I am a little out of 66, but it looks like an interesting forum so I thought I would join in. We have lived her in France for 8 1/2 years now and in our village for almost 8 of those. The first 8 months were spent in Villemoustassou, just north of Carcassone, while we looked around for our dream. We found it!

I am a retired IBM hardware service eng ans worked mostly on medium/large mainframes for 18 years. I loved the work, but I much prefer retirement and my main hobby of wood turning and making wooden toys. OH is a retired local governement officer and now spends most of her time in our lovey, large, garden.

I hope that I can both learn from and contribute to the forum.

Glad to hear you on the forum. In any case, you're not too far from where we live.

I'm interested with the wooden turning as a good pastime. Sounds more funny than just work.

Again, happy that you posted.

Blackduff

John
Have you ever driven up to Villefranche, which is on the way to the skiing area in PO. Villefrance is a pretty nice tourist village. In one of the stores, it's just full of wooden toys. There's a sign in the door "Children here can touch all of them". Maybe the wording is wrong but the kids are very welcome to play inside.

If you haven't visited there, it's worth the time for a wood turner. You'll get some good ideas.

Blackduff

Hi from the Aude to you too!
Whereabouts are you? We're just south of Montreal now.
Welcome to the Forum.
It has it's critics but I've always found it great for helpful advice-and superquick replies at that!!

I liked the forum so much that I have remained a member since I first joined when I lived in Roquefort de Sault, Aude, about ten years ago. I have lived in the Dordogne, Haute Garonne, Lot, Pyrennees Orientales and now in Haute Savoie, in a lovely little ski resort but I am still a member of this friendly and helpful forum.
I am glad you have found us!

Thank you for your welcome and it's good to see you on here Carol. You really do have wandering feet don't you??

Montreal is a lovely little town and it reputably has the best church organ in France. We love the church too. We are just a few Km north of Trebes in a lovely and tranquile little village. The villagers have accepted us totally and I have been a member of the village Association Anciens Combattants for about 4 years now. The first ever and only Englishman and I am very proud to have been invited.

I don't think that there is a forum in existance that doesn't have it's critics. Remember the old saying.

"You can please some of the people some of the time.
You can please all of the all of the time
But you can never please some of the all any of the time"

Must be time for me tablets?

Turning is a boat load of fun and one of the things I love about it is that you never really know what you have until you stop the lathe. Spinning and you can see the shape, but stopped and you have the complete picture with the grain of the wood as well. I can start off with a log of the firewood pile and finish up with a lovely toy. It's a good feeling!

I love the smell of freshly cut wood - what a lovely hobby.
Yes, I had to sell my house when my daughter needed money after a botched operation so I rented in various departments until her claim against the surgeon was settled. It enabled me to find my ideal location. I knew it had to be in mountains, and much as I love the Pyrenees I wanted to be more central to explore the rest of Europe. My next move will be the big one - my daughter and son-in-law want to sponsor me to live close to them in New Zealand in about four years. I intend to visit as much of Europe as possible before then - but once I am settled 'down under' I will be exploring the countries of the Pacific rim.
Oddly enough, the couple who bought my house in Aude run cultural tours of Cambodia, so that will certainly be on my list! My passion is snorkeling on coral, so I will be visiting some of the South Pacific Islands such as Fiji and The Cook Islands.
After all, I am only 72 and several years of taking very steep, very long walks nearly every day have made me very fit and active!

It is true that you get some odd people on all forums - I was bullied off one expat forum by the dog lobby, for saying that I didn't think dogs had a place in a restaurant kitchen. Another time, I reported an odd experience I had in Vernet les Bains, when I saw a woman standing stark naked under the cold water tap in the public wash-house. I told the Estate Agent that I had been visiting and she called the local police. It was obvious the woman was ill and I was most concerned about her safety. You would be amazed at the vicious private messages I got, accusing me of being an interfering busybody! I have learnt to ignore the people who hate me because I am a left-wing atheist!

Wow John. Some amazing carving on your site. You are soooooo talented. Do you exhibit? Absolutely superb.

Thank you Kate.

At the moment I don't exibit anything, but a friend and local mine producer has reciently opened a new large Chai and his wife has asked me if I would like to display a few things in the visitors room. At the moment they are sat on the dining table ready to go.

Not much being done in my workshop at the mo, too bloomin cold! I do so love turning though and I've been doing it for about 18 years now, since I had to take early retirement. We, OH and I, used to do a few craft fairs in and around Stroud before we moved over and all of the tools, and the odd few pints, were bought with what I sold. I was allowed to earn a small amount on top of my invalidity allowance.

Almost all of the differeny woods have a different smell. Black walnut smells just like chocolate. Cherry has a lovely smell that I can't describe and cedar has the most wonderful cedar smell. Some others, iroko is one, unless I really have to use it I don't, because if I'm not very careful and wear my positive pressure face/dust mask and protect my hands they get very itchy very quickly. Very good wood and similar to teak, but I don't like it..

Am in Trebes but probably only for 3 months each year and dont have a shed but do have a large Attic. Would like to get into woodturning but European (eg Leboncoin) lathes seem expensive and UK ones difficult to ship. Any suggestions for purchasing one suitable for an amateur with room to grow
Steve

Hi Steve. It depends very much on your budget? You can get lathes here but the ones that I have seen I wouldn't touch. There are good ones but they have been much more expensive than the U.K.

I have used http://www.axminster.co.uk for over 20 years now. They are a company that give superb service and if you have a look it their site you could probably decide what you want/need. If you give them a call they would be able to tell you what they can ship and the cost.

Or this doesn't look bad http://www.leboncoin.fr/bricolage/555147195.htm?ca=13_s

It's a shop in the Herault, Bédarlieux. about 1 1/2 hours away. It has a cast iron bed. If you go to their site http://www.leboncoin.fr/bricolage/555147195.htm?ca=13_s there's more info.

If you want/need any info on turning then PM me and perhaps you could come over and see me?

Edit : - I had meant to say that I have never used the shop here so I have no idea what it is like??