Moonlite Studios

05/06/2026

I always tell my students- an apron is appropriate PPE. It protects your clothing
(and gives you somewhere to tuck in your tie)

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