台灣木器車床工藝協會的部落格

台灣之光 

介紹拼花車床工藝大師-陳仲新先生

陳仲新先生原是生長在台灣,1970年赴美進修,1979年因工作關係移往德克薩斯州,早年高中時代陳先生就已對木作極有興趣,在他移居美國後在製作自己的傢具時方有涉獵一點車床技巧,1992年陳先生開始認真地在拼花車床工藝領域研究,此時因所擁有的車床屬於輕型車床,只能處理一些小型與近乎平衡的物件,直到1998陳先生買入重型車床(heavy-duty lathe)後才發展多型式車床車製技巧,此時技藝發展不限於在木材上發展,進而發展至以Corian®.為材料,但他最大的興趣還是在拼花車藝.

自1992年起陳先生從事木車藝品工作已20年﹐近十年打出知名度﹐常應邀前往各地木車藝的示範。

德克薩斯州每年有木車藝品研討會,在名義上是區域性的,但今年有來自全美23個州共814人參與此研討會,過去十年陳先生大約示範了八次﹐兩年前和今年十月下旬﹐陳先生也曾在拼花車藝研討會(segmented turning symposium)示範,2009年曾在AAW全國年展會示範,所以見過不少陣仗亦算是大師級人物。

陳先生的網站http://andyscustomcraft.artistgalleryonline.com/index.php,可以看到他的代表作。陳先生在1998年在德州住地成立了一個木車藝品會(Brazos Valley Turners, Bryan/College Station, Texas)至今已有15年歷史﹐目前約有45成員﹐每月開會一次﹐到會會員通常在25到30人。該協會也有另一個網站﹐bvturners.com﹐那裡也有些陳先生的作品照片(http://www.bvturners.com/html/andy_chen.html)。還有﹐陳先生也是休斯頓木車藝品會(Gulf Coast Woodturners Association, http://www.gulfcoastwoodturners.org/)的會員,網站也常有陳先生的作品http://www.gulfcoastwoodturners.org/GALLERIES/GULFCOASTGOLD/AndyChen/index.html

The Master of segmented woodturner

Mr. Anday Chen

Andy Chen has been interested in woodworking as early as in high school using only hand tools at that time. Woodworking became his obsession when he moved to Texas in 1979. He dabbled in woodturning a little for a few years while building furniture. He began turning seriously in 1992, initially the segmented variety, because at the time he only had a multi-purpose tool, which was too light and was only able to handle constructed blanks that were already balanced. Since the acquisition of a heavy-duty lathe in the spring of 1998, he has been enjoying many forms of turning. He also enjoys turning materials other than wood, a favorite being Corian®. His greatest interest in turning still lies in segmented vessels. In addition to woodworking and turning, Andy enjoys designing and modifying tools. His elliptical platters are turned with the help of an oscillating attachment that he designed. Andy is a recognized turner, having demonstrated at numerous regional and national woodturning symposia and local woodturning clubs. His segmented work has been shown in galleries in Kerrville, TX (Kerr Arts and Cultural Center), Houston, TX (Houston Center for Contemporary Craft) and they were represented by Whistle Pik Galleries in Fredericksburg, TX. His work has also been included in the photo gallery of Ron Hampton’s book: Segmented Turning: A Complete Guide. He is the founder and de facto president of the Brazos Valley Turners in the Bryan/College Station area of Texas since 1998.

Andy say ”I have been turning wood since 1992. For me, woodturning is to enhance the beauty of the nature. However, as pretty as most wood, stunning beauty such as that in a burl is hard to come by. In addition, when one hollows out a burl, >95% of the natural beauty ends up in the trash as shavings or dust. Therefore, my preferred style of turning is segmented in which I cut wood into small pieces and glue them together to a rough form. When I turn this rough form into the final shape, minimal amount of wood is removed, thus preserving a lot of nature’s creation. In addition, I mix wood from different species of trees with distinct colors to create attractive patterns so that I do not have to totally rely upon the nature for the beauty. One more way to enhance the natural beauty of the wood is through pyrograhy – burning the wood, which I have just started doing. I also like to explore alternative turning materials, the favorite one being Corian®. One can create beautiful patterns in turnings with Corian and a great advantage of Corian® over wood is that it is stable and will not shrink or expand with ambient moisture. Corian® is also amenable to inlaying and I can use my Corian® turning as a canvas on which to put my artistic creation.”