Terry Gordon
Tom Beattie
As a child Terry Gordon always enjoyed woodwork. He found it easy to learn and felt very pleased when he made things out of wood, always believing that he was destined to be involved with working with wood. When he was married he needed furniture, so he decided to make his own. This is where he learned the basics of making furniture, using books and what he had learnt at school.
During his fifteen years in the RAAF, he managed to make all the furniture for his home and as a result, the quality slowly improved. During a 3 year posting in Malaysia, he learned how to wood carve and how to use wooden planes with a local cabinet maker. These skills took his woodwork to another level and started his career in tool making. In essence, he discovered that the planes that this particular Chinese cabinet maker was using were superior to the Western planes. Therefore, he had decided to make his own. Other people appreciated them and the rest is history.
Over the 20 years of making planes, he has also incorporated their use in the furniture he makes for his family. In particular the use of Joinery planes and Hollows and Rounds. These planes that he now makes, has added another aspect and level of quality to his furniture. During his last three years in the RAAF, he was teaching navigation and these skills have come in handy in recent years, as teaching opportunities have come his way. He feels fortunate to have acquired some unique woodworking skills and is very pleased to be able to share them through teaching at the Melbourne Guild of Fine Woodworking.