Bit of a break. PICS added

[bigbob]

Heading O/s in the morning early so won't be around for another 10 days.Look forward to rejoining the forum when we get back.See you at the hinterland shoot.

[little arrows]

Have a great and safe trip Bob.
Tell us all about it when you get home.

cheers
sue

[Gringa Bows]

Have a good time mate,

[Ronster]

Ditto to all the good wishes Bob. Look forward to catching up at Hinterland.

Ronster

[bigbob]

Thanks fellas , I hope it will be memorable, and will see some of you at least at hinterland.

[Roadie]

Have a great time and don't get into to much trouble. Cheers Roadie.

[Stickbow Hunter]

Have a great trip Bob.

Jeff

[rodlonq]

Safe travels Bob.

Cheers..... Rod

[jcm]

Have a Safe and Enjoyable trip
Regards

John

[bigbob]

Thanks guys, for better or worse I'm back in the country!. Had a very hectic and enjoyable 10 days, never ate so much food in my life[!] [ Damn their hospitality ]and this from a third world country. Bought a pair of chinese 'knock off' 10 x 80 x 90 'Bushnell' zoom binoculars for $30! Optics seem quite good for the price, unfortunately genuine binos were in general as dear or dearer, as here.Got some stickers and T shirts made as well. Typhoon passed by us while there without drama. Ready to get back to 'work'[ sort of ]

[jcm]

Welcome back Big Fella.
Sounds like you had a Good Break.
Look forward to some new creations now you had some "time off"
Regards

John

[bigbob]

thanks John! We spent a day at the home of one of the Philippines premier wood carver and high end furniture maker. He is world ranked and a friend of a friend , sort of. He have me a tour through his work shop and wood stock. holy toledo!!! He has slabs there some of which are over a metre wide and easily 4m long and really premier wood.One piece he had was philippines ebony, which he assures me was superior to african ebony, and given his obvious expertise would have no reason to doubt. It would have been about 2.5m long and about 8'' square!!! Narra was everywhere, and some I had difficulty identifying due to the local name used.He has made a BAMBOO bicycle utilising the bamboo as one would carbon fibre, and told me he had chanced on a timber he believes has huge potential as it was even stronger. It turns out it was the very same wood I used on my last bow. [ Ring a bell LBRod?] He did offer me some strips but I didn't want the hassle with customs so declined. He will be coming back to Australia around Xmas and declared he would bring me some timber as he knows the process to use with customs. I will post some photos of his work later. He also breeds massive Koi. some of which are easily a metre long and valued at around $2000-- $3000 each. He has dozens! His house would conservatively be furnished with $ 100,0000's of his creation. The doors, inner and outer are made of solid timber mostly Narra [ premium timber so expensive a lot is just used to make wooden beads to utilize any scraps] and are joined traditional method using ebony dowels as nails.This allow expansion and contraction with changing seasons, as the woods follow suit unlike metal nails which remain unchanged allowing joints to loosen.I left there enlightened to some extent but very envious, both of his talent, and his furniture and of course his wood stock, most of which now is all recycled. Some is 200 year old and he prefers to use this recycled wood in any case as it is far more stable.

[Roadie]

Welcome Home Bob, great to see you had a great time. Cheers Roadie.

[bigbob]

Thanks Roadie. Here's the shots of the stair case where we stayed ., all Narra a premium timber

[bigbob]

Here's a few shots of the house of the master wood carver and furniture maker. Pity my camera battery was running flat.The dresser was extremely intricate with wave like front and the drawer runners were carved from single pieces of wood.
the Koi are just visable in second shot, some about a metre long!

[Roadie]

Ay Bob lost count of the number of Stair cases I have put in, mostly Oregeon or Meranti Timbers, used Kwilla in Papaua /New guinea. Quite interested in the Colonial Door and surrounds, Same timber. Just love working with Timber. Cheers Roadie.

[Ronster]

Welcome Back Bigbob, great to see you back, safe and sound.
I have no doubt we will get to hear all the goss at Hinterland.
Don't forget to bring the pics.

Ronster

[bigbob]

That house had quite a bit of timber work in it. I once made a kitchen bench tops from Kwilla [ merbau] and the doors from silky oak. Yep timber turns me on too.
Thanks Ronster, didn't get too many pics as my camera battery went flat after it turned on in my pocket and it doesn't have the replaceable type AND I left the charging cord back here!

[Gringa Bows]

Welcome back mate,i bet there was a bit of drooling going on that day I know I would have been

[bigbob]

There are some really beautiful woods endemic to the Philippines Rod and most are a dense hardwood with beautiful grain structures. Their ebony had me frothing at the mouth! So I hopemyr new found friend and wood carver really does manage to bring me a few pieces when he comes. It also was very interesting what he had to say about the palm. There was a major development some where in the area and it was covered with very mature palms. He was able to purchase the lot very cheaply.

[Stickbow Hunter]

Welcome back Bob. I'm sure it was great seeing all that wood and the fellas craftsmanship. It's a shame you left your camera battery charger at home mate.

Jeff

[dan76]

What did the ebony look like Bob, thought ebony from there was Macassar ebony by another name, Was it black or striped?

Dan

[bigbob]

It was hard to tell Dan as it was just in a billet form and covered with dust, and the only other pieces I saw were the 'nails' in the doors and such. They were a very dense dark colour.