Page 9 – TOCACT

AGM, Halved/Lap Joints and Kerfmaker – 5th Oct 2016

Nov 042016

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.

Chris finished off by demonstrating his beautiful handmade kerfmaker.

Check out this video by Shopbuilt as they demonstrate how to make something similar.

Wood Moisture Meters – 7th Sep 2016

Sep 102016

Chris gave us a fascinating talk on moisture meters and their importance for the woodworker.

These are the videos he presented in case you missed them.

Chris also sent this link to Highland Woodworking’s informative article on predicting wood movement.

Members may also be interested in the tables at the end of the following publication by the National Association of Forest Industries, which contains the percentage dimensional change for each 1% moisture content change for all the major Australian wood species.

Click on the Title Page above to open the document

We also had some very special visitors – The club was pleased to present seven rocking horses to Ruth from Communities@Work, and John from Moray & Agnew who very kindly sponsored the project.

Seven Dolls Houses coming up!

Window Modifications & Lock Mitre Joints – 3rd Aug 2016

Aug 282016

Carolan gave us a great presentation on her modifications to her windows – plus a whole range of her other great home projects to boot!

Then, following this year’s theme, Chris finished off the evening with a demonstration of the Lock Mitre Joint.

Timbercom have a good range of Lock Mitre bits and jigs on offer.

Member’s might also be interested in the further explanations of the joint in this video.

St John Ambulance – 6th Jul 2016

Aug 282016

A very informative evening with a presentation on First Aid by Greg from St John Ambulance, especially tailored for our members.

Many thanks to Greg – it was a great evening!

Meanwhile, the doll house group has been having a great time at Burn’s workshop – thank you Burn.

Routers & Vacuum Veneering – 1st Jun 2016

Jun 082016

At our June meeting, Brian demonstrated using the Triton router on the Workcentre, with both the overhead router plate (AJA150) and the router table top (RTA300).

Check out Triton’s promo videos for a closer look.

Chris finished off the evening with a demonstration of vacuum veneering using his own hardwood veneers.

For those interested, the Australian Woodsmith had an article covering Chris’ process in it’s April 2009 (No. 68) issue – see Brian at the next meeting to borrow the club’s copy.

A very inspiring evening!

Joints Part 2 – 4th May 2016

May 082016

May’s meeting covered end and sliding miter joints using the Triton router table.

Chris started the meeting with a review of a selection of end joining bits provided by CARB-I-TOOL

Click on the image to view the catalog

Brian then demonstrated tongue and groove and the related spline joint on the router table.

After the drawing of our major raffle (a lovely set of chisels) and an enjoyable tea break, Brian finished off with the sliding miter joint and edging with a melamine veneer.

A two sided veneer trimmer, similar to the one demonstrated by Brian, can be found at Carbatec

Steam Bending – 6th Apr 2016

Apr 242016

At our April meeting, club members were treated to a fascinating evening on steam bending, kindly presented by Fred Buckley from the Woodcraft Guild.

Fred also covered shaping, kerfing and laminating – including the pros and cons of each method – with the example of his beautiful Eleanor Roosevelt chair.

Chair by Fred Buckley

For those who wish to pursue this fascinating area of steam bending, Lee Valley in North America have a full range of equipment and a downloadable version of the Veritas Steam Bending Instruction Booklet

Click on first page of booklet to download

Joints Part 1 – 2nd Mar 2016

Mar 132016

Brian started our first ‘joints’ meeting with a quick session on the importance of keeping our circular saw blades clean by wire brush, Dremel attachment, or a cleaning fluid such as CMT Blade and Bit Cleaner

Chris then gave us some important safety tips when buying a new blade. The Triton Workcentre’s riving knife is 2mm, and many blades currently on the market have kerfs too thin to work safely with the knife. Chris kindly provided a current list of blades with kerfs over 2.5mm which would be suitable for the Workcentre.

Brian then demonstrated basic butt and miter joints, and how these may be strengthened by housing the joint, splines and the mitered halving (or lap) joint.

Chris and Brian finished up by showing members their jigs for extending the basic ripping fence on the Workcentre to accommodate longer pieces of wood, including the use of a dry lubricant such as Ezy-Glide to allow the jig to slide smoothly along the fence.

The evening finished with a farewell to a dear friend and longstanding member of the club, Dave Veness.

The club wishes Dave and his wife many happy years to come – and he will always be welcome back if he’s in town (or needs the use of a Workcentre!)

Plank Competition – 3rd Feb 2016

Feb 222016

We had some marvelous entries at this year’s Plank Competition – a credit to all participants, and hopefully an inspiration for new entrants in next year’s competition!

The planks sourced were of Indonesian maple 2m long, 310mm wide and 25mm thick. The wood was quite variable, some with joints, some with woodworm – so planks were allocated by lottery. A great challenge.

Entrants were free to make whatever they liked from their plank, however a majority of the plank had to be consumed. Non-plank material for drawer bottoms and backs and fixtures such as knobs etc was acceptable, but the dominant external material presented to the viewer had to be plank material.