Hi Richard, how are you today? Can you tell me a little about yourself?
Great thanks, I live in Nova Scotia and am retired from my IT consulting practice for over 2 years now and my time is pretty much dedicated to woodworking, writing, and teaching woodworking nowadays.
What got you into woodworking? How long have you been building?
I found it a creative outlet as an alternative to the highly technical IT world and have been an active woodworker my entire adult life – over 30 years! I have built most of the furniture (covering many styles and genres) in my home as well as the homes of my two sons. I have built a number of acoustic guitars, mandolins, and an archtop guitar. I have also played with other media, including watercolour and was a professional photographer for over 10 years. Over the years I have made a number of tools for my own use and one of these tools, my Plane Hammer is sold by Lee Valley #wileplanehammer.
Do you use Roarockit products in the making of your work? How did you find out about us?
I have only recently discovered Roarockit’s veneers, I have been using the Thin Air Press for 5-6 years for my veneer jobs. I was looking to upgrade the bag system and discovered the veneers you sell and instantly knew what I was going to do with them. At 1/16” thick they can be used with conventional woodworking tools, rather than fussing with paper thin pieces of wood. This Mondrian piece has over 50 pieces of veneer and thin veneers are just too difficult to tame.
What inspires you to create your pieces?
All of my work is inspired by the world around me, the Piet Mondrian inspired piece is actually from a famous pro cycling team in the early 80’s, La Vie Claire whose entire kit featured Mondrian motifs. It took finding the Roarockit veneers to allow me to express this design in wood. I have used coloured veneers extensively as a luthier, however they were always too thin to work in this way. I frequently use contrasting woods to paint the picture I am looking to achieve in my work, the coloured veneer allows me to up my game even more.
What are your thoughts on working with our coloured veneers? Are there any tips you can give to aspiring builders out there?
The coloured veneers have many applications in my work, lamination with coloured veneers can enhance almost any project, from guitar binding to inlays to even cutting boards. The fact that the veneer is coloured all the way through makes it much easier to work and it can be planed and sanded much the same as regular wood varieties.
One aspect of working with the thicker veneer is ensuring that you are working with a jointed and square edge. Thin veneer will go together if the edge is not perfect. Due to the thickness of your veneer, if the joints of the veneers are not perfectly square and jointed, an unsightly gap will show. I use two tools to help in this regard, my jointing fixture for the Veritas shoulder plane which makes it very safe to joint the edge of thin material. In the past I have clamped my plane upside down in my face vise, however this is a much easier setup. Also my shooting plane ensures my ends are exactly 90 degrees as well as allowing me to shave very small amounts off while fitting into an exact opening for the veneer work.
If people wanted to find out more about your work, where can they see your creations and contact you?
I have blog which has an archive of much of my work from the past, this is representative of the breadth of my work. Readers can visit http://richard-wile.blogspot.com/.
Thanks again for your time Richard, any last words for the readers back home?
It is important to just create, whatever your choice of subject matter or media, continue to create and express yourself. This tray was just a study for this genre, give me a follow on Instagram @rdwile to see what I do next with this motif!
Taryn O'Grady,
Social Media Expert, Roarockit Skateboard Company