Tim Butler

Minimax “Cu 410 elite S”, universal combined woodworking machine

At Grampians Furniture (Halls Gap, Australia) a second chance...

Halls Gap is an Australian town, the capital of the Grampians National Park. A lake, Lake Bellfield, a river, Fyans Creek, surrounded by a splendid natural environment. This is the landscape where Tim Butler lives, a carpenter seduced by the landscape and by the wood of the River Red Gum (Eucalyptus Camaldulensis), a tree which finds its ideal habitat along the edge of rivers and water courses.

In his workshop, Grampians Furniture, he breathes life into pieces of furniture which are a physical expression of this land: solid wood, worked with passion using traditional methods, and finishes which highlight the beautiful colour of the material, along with a style which communicates nature, simplicity and warmth.

Butler’s mastery is widely appreciated - his reputation has surpassed the boundaries of the Grampians National Park region, and his work is known in neighbouring provinces and other states throughout Australia.

“An Italian dream machine. A combined machine which is so powerful and intelligent that it has allowed me to do many of the things I once did again”. - Tim Butler, Craftsman

But a few years ago, Tim Butler was the victim of a serious accident: during one of his rides into the magnifi cent natural landscape of Australia, along the Grampians National Road, the passionate motorcyclist came across a kangaroo.

The fall was very serious: he suffered a cerebral haemorrhage, a skull fracture, as well as a broken clavicle, scapula, four ribs, and hand, and a punctured lung... the doctors saved him, and he emerged from his coma.

But they couldn’t hide the facts from him - he would never be able to work again: the part of his brain that was damaged regulates coordination and the organisation of actions in a precise sequence - without even taking into consideration the limits imposed on his arm movement by the fracture of his clavicle and hand.

For a carpenter, this news was enough to snuff out any remaining hope.

It arrived on the 23 December, the day before Christmas Eve and Butler’s birthday - perhaps not by chance...

“The absolute precision and the automatic functions that this machine boasts have helped me enormously”, he adds.

“All I need to do is press the correct buttons to get exactly what I want, with some stunning results.
I remember that one of the first pieces I worked on with this universal combined machine was a table leg. It was like it had already been smoothed off, such was the quality of the cut.

I decided to varnish it and keep it as an example of what I could achieve with my new Minimax!”.

Tim Butler (Australia)