Fred, from the Woodcraft Guild ACT, is no stranger to the club, and he didn’t disappoint with another great evening on Finishing.
 Fred demonstrating his polishing plane |
 Fred demonstrating finishing |
Members may want to check out some of the specifics of Fred’s methods similar to his presentation on Box Finishing in 2014.
Thank you Fred for another wonderful evening.
Members enjoyed a visual feast at our inaugural Large Items Photo Competition.
Entries had to have been constructed within the last 3 years, and pictures of construction, different angles and close ups were to be presented to members on the night.
Indoor Section
 Mick – Computer Desk |
 Chris – Wine Cabinet |
 John – Workshop Cabinet |
 Rohan – Family Room Cupboards |
 Peter – Tool Cabinet |
Outdoor Section
 Craig – Fence |
 Carolan – Fence |
And the winners are!
 Chris – 1st Indoor |
 Mick – 2nd Indoor |
 John – 3rd Indoor |
 Carolan – 1st Outdoor |
 Craig – 2nd Outdoor |
Don’t forget to take pictures of your current work – ready for the next competition!
Members were impressed and enthused by the presentation of guest speaker Robin Cromer on timber identification using only a magnifying lens (and years of experience!)
Robin’s extensive career included working with the CSIRO, and he made reference to the CSIRO Macro Key for Hardwood Identification. The book is out of print, but copies can be borrowed from local libraries.
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Members might also be interested in the The Australian Timber Database which gives a comprehensive list of timber species used in Australia.
Such a wide variety of beautiful woodwork from club members – amazing what you can make from a plank!
This year the dressed planks were of a pale red straight grain eucalypt of the Blue Gum family with bull nose edges – 19mm by 130mm by 2.1m/2.4m.
The principal aim of the competition is to challenge members to design and/or execute one or more items of woodwork within the limits imposed by the quantity of timber purchased.
And here are the entrants:-
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| Adirondack Chair – Craig | Medal Box – Graham | Clocks and Mirror – Gai | Shoe Rack – Antoni |
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Coffee Table – Ron | Side Table – Chris | Hall Stand – Hugh |
And the winners were!
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1st Prize – Graham’s Medal Box | 2nd Prize – Chris’ Hall Table | Highly Commended – Ron’s Coffee Table |
Many Thanks to Umpires and Ball Boys – it was a great night! Looking forward to next year!
We had a great night of demonstrations, enthusiasm and inspiration.
Thanks so much to Scott and Briony. Scott’s demonstration of the Dremel range had many of us ready to rush out and buy this versatile tool, and Briony’s scroll saw demonstration and her beautiful art works were an inspiration.
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Hugh completed a great night with a slide show of some of his great wood working projects from around the house – many thanks Hugh.
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Don’t forget the plank competition at our next meeting in May – happy woodworking!
Chris started our March meeting off with an interesting video by Paul Sellers on his technique for repeatable, large scale dovetails.
Chris then demonstrated the practical (and beautiful) Rip Fence Accessory System he made from plans purchased from Woodsmith
We also had a great discussion on creating an inventory for your workshop – very useful!
(Members can download a copy of Chris’ inventory from the Member’s page).
And we finished off a great evening with a demonstration of Peter’s new Triton TWX7 Workcentre – envy!!
We had a great evening learning from professional wood restorer Garry McLaughlin on sanding and finishing – thank you so much Garry!
In the break Garry showed us his Facebook page, which has a great video of bringing a 1885 Singer Sewing Machine back to its former glory.
Garry covered a whole range of issues, including paper types and grit, sanders, techniques, wood preparation, sealing, staining, shellac and wax.
So many practical hints – including the double two fold half sheets of sandpaper to cover all aspects of hand sanding – and protection from splinters to boot.
Garry also covered a quite a bit of the history of finishing, simple things like the different grit to use to best restore old woodwork, and the whole range of waxes that will last – including the Gilly Stephenson range.
A great start to the year – looking forward to next month!
Members had a great evening at our annual barbeque and competition – and many thanks to our chefs who coped so well without a barbeque!
There was a good selection of entries in this year’s competition –
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With many thanks to our judges, who gave some great assessments and feedback on member’s work.
And the winners were –
Workshop
1st : Peter Barton for a pair of chisels
2nd: Brian Copeland for a clamp rack
Toys
1st: Bruce McKenzie for a bulldozer
Boxes & ornamental
1st: Graham Aitchison for pair of model delivery trucks
2nd: Peter Barton for Jewellery cabinet
Indoor furniture
1st: Chris Mobbs for dresser-top valet unit
2nd: Peter Barton for chair
3rd: Hugh Hutchinson for apothecary cabinet
New Entrant
1st: Antoni Podolak for bird house
John also showed members one of the seven dolls houses which will soon be presented to Communities@Work. Many thanks to the doll’s house team, Burn & Judy for the workshop and cake!, and Moray & Agnew who very kindly sponsored the project.
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And Bruce displayed a small selection of the beautiful toys he has prepared for donations this year.
Another great year – see you all in 2017!
A fascinating evening as Dave, and Scott, from DRIVE Marine Services gave a demonstration of their great range of products – including Bote-Cote, Aquacote, Purbond and Pour on Gloss.
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As Scott said at the end of the meeting – these guys are the experts, don’t rely on the web, give them a ring!
Dave’s website has a full series of pictures on how he created his bur table.
Dave also mentioned Australian Architectural Hardwoods and their use of recycled timbers – check out their site by clicking on the picture below.
Thanks to Dave and Scott for a great evening!
Our 2016 AGM, valiantly chaired by Ron, with Carolan and Chris, showed the club to be in a good position as we head into the year of our 20th anniversary!
Many thanks to the committee who were all re-elected, and we’re all looking forward to a year of learning, friendship, contests and celebration.
Brian then gave us some hints on producing halved/lap joints with the use of a marking gauge – and demonstrated it’s use as the base on his vacuum hose stand. A halved joint is a woodworking joint in which the two members are joined by removing material from each at the point of intersection so that they overlap. The halved joint is differentiated from the lap joint in that the members are joined on edge, rather than on the flat.
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Chris finished off by demonstrating his beautiful handmade kerfmaker.
Check out this video by Shopbuilt as they demonstrate how to make something similar.