Abstract
IN Museum No. 1 in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, a temporary exhibit of articles turned from Empire hardwoods by the skilled hands of Mr. A. L. Hetherington, assistant secretary in the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, has been arranged. While indulging his hobby of turnery, Mr. Hetherington also carried on important research, for he worked upon some eighty different kinds of Empire woods, many of which are new to the turner, the results of his work being demonstrated by excellently carved boxes, chalices, tazzas, goblets, dishes, ash trays, and other articles. Particularly beautiful are a chalice made from sapodilla wood (Achras Sapota), two tazzas made of African blackwood (Dalbergia melanoxylon), a goblet of bulletwood (Mimusops lit-toralis), a string box of puriri (Vitex littoralis), and two match stands of gidgee (Acacia Cambagei). Mr. Hetherington has added to the value of his demonstrative work by writing an aqcount of the various kinds of wood used, with particulars of their peculiar working properties. This book has recently been published by the Empire Marketing Board under the title “British Empire Hardwoods from the Point of View of Turnery.” After discussing the properties of eighty kinds of wood, he goes into further particulars about those he considers of greatest importance for ornamental turning. All who are interested in wood turnery should make an effort to visit Kew within the next few weeks and inspect this interesting collection.
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British Empire Hardwoods and Turnery. Nature 129, 19 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/129019b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/129019b0