Ian Murray West

In the early stages of Ian's woodworking hobby, he concentrated on bespoke cabinet making but over the past 30 years has moved almost exclusively to woodturning.  He is a semi-professional woodworker/ woodturner and runs his own business called The Treen Workshop, along with his daughter Ellie.  He attends two or three Farmers Markets/ Food Fairs per week, throughout the year - where he offers for sale; bowls, chopping/ serving boards, kitchen utensils, sundry household items and various decorative pieces.  Ian is delighted to undertake special commissions and offers half-day tuition - starter sessions for new woodturners.  He usually has small amounts of wood blanks and planks for sale and can offer a cutting service for a nominal charge.
See Ian's website at:  www.thetreenworkshop.co.uk for further details of his work.

		This bowl was a commission - very specific about the size, shape and colour - which is quite unusual.  The timber was from a wind blown tree given to Clive Alabaster and myself in Pewsey. Lidded bowl in Walnut - 8" diameter by 4" high
Large salad bowl in spalted burr Ash - 13" diameter by 6" high - from a wonderful log I found in a farm gateway at Ballards Ash.  It was 8 feet long by 5 feet in diameter and hollow up through the middle, leaving only a skin of 4 to 8 inches thick.  The tree itself was incredibly burred, knobly in all directions and heavily spalted.
		Burr Ash- natural edge bowl - another piece of the hollow log from Ballards Ash showing the exterior features of the wood.
A large salad/  fruit bowl in Burr Oak - 10 1/2" diameter by 4" high
		One of a number of pestles and mortars - most commonly made from Apple for the bowl and Pear for the pestle.  This one was an exception: A pestle and mortar in Apple and Walnut
Two large platters and a small bowl in Ash - typical of a whole range of turned treen
		Platters and bowls in Yew, Walnut, Ash and May (White thorn or Haw thorn) - intended for use as tableware and are finished accordingly.
This 'chip and dip' was turned from green wood a few days after the tree was taken down in early June.  The tree was so full of sap that it sprayed the ceiling of the workshop!  It was left 'over thick' to dry indoors for 6-months and then re-turned.  It had dried so out of shape that the left hand side in the photo is around 1 1/4" lower than the right. A large serving bowl with raised centre section for dips or sauces in Pear - 15" diameter by 6" high
		A hinged lid box to hold A6 cards - made as a commission in Oak.  Very plain glued joints with brass hinges and copper rivets.
Hinged, deep lip, lidded chest 24" by 13 1/2" by 13 1/2", in 1/2" thick Cider Apple, from Kenn in South Devon - with solid brass fittings. Made as a commission - a Christening present to a God Daughter enscribed by pyrography with her initials.  Made in the form of a traditional 'tuck box' to keep her most precious possessions - it has a secret false bottom. I enjoyed making such a personal item immensely.
		21" diameter x 2 ½" Wedding Cheese Board made in an end grain slice of Sweet Chestnut from Cambden Lane, Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire as a commission. It has a heptagonal inlay on the front face of the board and a rectangular inlay on the back face also in Sweet Chestnut. The inlays are made from the long grain and therefore show as a paler colour. There is a serious as well as decorative purpose to these inlays - they are required to stabilise a relatively thin slice of end grain tree trunk, which would otherwise crack and fall to pieces.  the board could also be used for traditional wedding cakes or other special occasions. Finish: yacht varnish on the exterior waney edge and polyurethane plus wax applied to the top and bottom faces.
A large 10 Knife Block made in Walnut from Atkyns House, South Cerney, in Gloucestershire.  This unique knife block has a waney edge top and a partly waney base.  Knife blocks are generally made out of more than one piece of wood or as in this case one piece cut into three to make the cuts and then glued back together. This was one of a number of knife blocks made as commissions in this style. Each one to suit a particular set of client's knives
		An example of 'treen' - a meat tenderiser in Yew
A decorative item made from a section of burr Elm - drilled to hold six tea light candles
		A serving board made of Oak with an off-centre 'dips' recess. This piece shook the old Graduate lathe a bit - even with counter balance weights!
A large chopping/ serving board made in cross grain Leylandii - approx. 14" diameter by 1 1/2" thick Leylandii has a peculiar property - shared by few other woods - that of quite often NOT cracking when in a complete round.
		A large serving/ chopping board made in spalted Sycamore - approx. 12" diameter by 1 1/4" thick This board got around the cracking problem by being only half of a slice cut down the diameter - allowing the board to shrink back freely.
A selection of serving/ chopping boards - various sizes - all made in Ash - some of which are dished for serving wetter items of food
		A selection of Treen items - to include door stops, meat tenderisers, rolling pins, large jam spoons, honey dippers, napkin rings, bottle stoppers, a lazy susan (turntable), a scoop and a number of small bowls down to individual cruet size.  These are routine/ standard items produced for the Treen Workshop.
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