Ernie Hunt - from The Eildon And District Woodworkers Guild

Ernie Hunt

Ernie (in the middle)

     Ernie Hunt used to be a cabinet maker. He trained many apprentices and handed over his business to one of them. He and George, who works at the local timber mill, heard I was setting up my garage and starting to learn woodturning. They quietly started to make thick planks and legs for a workbench and delivered it to my door one day. These older men with such energy! Ernie, usually with a trenchant but kind humour, always challenges us to try and challenge ourselves and not take the easy way out. He patiently taught all the skills needed to make a good bowl and was rightly disappointed when I chickened out and made one with hardly any curve!

    Some of the things he makes are really fantastic 3-dimensional challenges that will puzzle any student of mathematics and engineering, and make them wonder how to make the darned thing! For many, the tools used must themselves be made first and take longer than the final item. When you hold a stunning multi-level nested thing one within the other, all done to fine detail, it’s easy to get lost in the beauty of it and forget the mechanical and personal skill challenge that it poses. I have seen modern wooden versions of old Indian carvings, award winning miniatures and more. Students of woodworking, math and engineering should meet Ernie and get him to set them a task.