After a 35-year career as a Press photographer, Don Scott was made redundant in 2013. Now he turns round logs into horse jumping and construction poles on an old British made lathe.
Working with wood is something Don had wanted to do for a long time. "When I was 17 I was a rotary exchange student in Casper, Wyoming and I think my love for round wood came from there."
He bought the Newbold Machine Tool Company lathe from a Mid-Canterbury sawmill and installed it in a sheep shed on his North Loburn property.
He had to convert the lathe from running off three-phase power to a six-cylinder Fordson-Major diesel engine. It took 18 months before all modifications were complete and he was able to turn his first pole.
