Vern's woodworking hatches 800 eggs in Emerald

The eggs serve as a kind of sampler to remind him of the particular grains and colours of timbers from all around Australia and the world.

HOBBYIST: Vern Bunn with some of his 800-plus timber eggs in Emerald.

Vern Bunn has been collecting eggs for 15 years... with no chickens in sight.

The retired Emerald grandfather of five makes his ovoid sculptures from the timbers of every kind of tree he can get his hands on.

As of February this year, there were more than 800 eggs suspended in custom wall brackets.

His online gallery, 'Turning Trees into Toothpicks' is testament to his prowess in carving elegant pieces ranging in size and detail.

A jewellery box made of hoop pine, red cedar, hairy oak, camphor laurel and poplar by Vern Bunn

His smaller pieces include bowls and boxes, vases and salt-and-pepper shakers, but he also makes pieces as large as a queens-sized bed with 'knock down' brackets.

"The last of the kids left home 15 years ago but, five years ago, the wife and I moved to a new house with a big shed," he said.

"Most the furniture goes to the family or I sell it on commission through the website."

The eggs serve as a kind of sampler to remind him of the particular grains and colours of timbers from all around Australia and the world.

Some of Vern Bunn's timber eggs in a custom cabinet

"I was helping the Emerald woodworking group with their IT when I got introduced to the international wood collectors' society," he said.

"Some of my bucket list timbers I sourced from a trader who works in the remote parts of Siberia."

He has also traded with other collectors from the US, Britain, Moscow, Australia and the Netherlands.

Mr Bunn lists among his favourite timbers the black and white ebony, cocobolo, and the South American snakewood.

Vern Bunn made this queen-size bed out of sally wattle and klinki pine

"Even a lot of the local scrubby-looking shrubs people overlook can have the most beautiful timber," he said.

"The purple bush pea, for example, has glints of gold similar to red cedar."

Mr Bunn is working on a few pieces he hopes to enter into the Emerald Show and council art competitions next year, and he encourages local youngsters to take an interest in his craft.

"I taught a young girl in Emerald many years ago who wasn't allowed to study woodwork at school because she was a girl," he said.

"She's gone to become an engineer and she has her own lathe at home."

Originally published as Vern's woodworking hatches 800 eggs in Emerald