TREEN TOPICS. October 2011

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1 TREEN TOPICS October Shoalhaven Woodcraft Society Inc. Meetings: 3rd Wednesday of each month at 7.30pm Nowra Technology High School. Moss St. Nowra Secretary: Peter Jackson P. O. Box 2163 Bomaderry 2541

2 September Meeting TREEN TOPICS OCTOBER 2011 Gordon brought his Rose Engine along for his talk on what it does and how he made it. At first glance it looks a rather complicated machine but when it is explained and you see it working then it is easily understood. One of it s principal components is the index wheel which ensures the accuracy and therefore the success of the work produced by the engine. While you can make an index wheel if you have good machinery, the best option is to buy one which is what Gordon did. The purpose of the engine is to decorate turned objects which are held in a chuck and gradually rotated while a headstock holding a cutting tool is rocked back and forth. Gordon uses a router for this purpose and the variety of bit shapes provides an almost endless combination of decorative patterns. It is the ability of the machine to cut flower or rose shapes that give it the name. The making of this machine and the attractive work he produces with it is a good illustration of Gordon s woodworking ability and versatility. Gordon had a number of photos of very cleverly turned articles. On a recent trip to Lismore he met a man called Gordon Meldrum with whom he worked many years ago. This man specialises in laminating contrasting coloured wood and then turning things from them. By varying the thickness of the coloured timber used, an amazing variety of geometric patterns evolve as the turning is done. Peter Farrell brought a jig that he made for shaping curved table legs. The edges of the plywood base act as the guide for the router bit bearing with a concave shape on one side and a convex one on the other side. A fence on the base has one straight face while the other side has a convex face. The space between the convex fence and the base edge is tapered. The top of the fence accommodates three toggle clamps which hold the work piece in place. One of our long term members, Graeme Wiseman, is facing very serious health problems and the thoughts of the members are with Graeme and his family through this difficult period.

3 Annual Subscriptions These were due in July and there are still quite a few who have not paid them. They are $25 so if you are one of the offenders please bring your money this meeting. The committee has decided that those who have still not paid by November will not receive the Treen Topics. Tuesday Night Workshop Projects Most of the participants in these workshops have finished their coffee tables and some very nice ones were seen at the exhibition. It is proposed that the next challenge will be a bow front chest for small tools or jewellery (if your wife has enough of it!!). The chest has five drawers and overall dimensions are approximately 400 x 275 x 260 high. These chests should turn out very nicely and will involve drawer making on a small scale which is a good introduction to this facet of woodworking for anyone who has not made one before. Bunnings Barbeque The last of these for 2011 will be on Saturday 10 th December. Volunteers will be needed so please help if you can. These are an excellent source of revenue for the club and allow us to buy things that we could only dream of otherwise. Christmas Barbeque Believe it or not this is on in less than two months!! Like last year it will be held at the Huskisson Girl Guide Hall and people intending to go will need to indicate that soon. Check your diary so you know whether you can go. There will be more detail on time etc next month.

4 Marquetry Weekend with Silas Kopf A weekend workshop on th March 2012 will focus on the techniques for making marquetry pictures. The focus will be instruction in the technique of double bevel sawing. Silas will demonstrate the double bevel technique by sawing a series of examples. Participants will then have the opportunity to practice cutting using hand fretsaws with Silas s supervision. Silas will also discuss the following topics: basic inlay, parquetry, banding, Boulle technique, and using marquetry as decoration on furniture (and how it has been used historically). There will also be opportunity to ask questions about individual projects. Silas Kopf is one of the leading practitioners of marquetry in the United States. He has been making furniture for over 35 years. He apprenticed with Wendell Castle and studied traditional marquetry technique at the École Boulle in Paris. He is the author of A Marquetry Odyssey and produced the DVD, The Master Techniques of Marquetry. Examples of his work can be found at: The location and final cost (it will be reasonable) is to be be advised. The workshop is available for 15 participants only, there have already been a number of enquires and expressions of keen interest so: 'first in best dressed'. Please let Gordon Joseph at secretary@woodworkersnsw.org.au or of your interest in attending. October Workshop As everyone is aware these are normally held on the Saturday following our monthly meeting. Due to other commitments Jim has had to put it back a week so it is now on Saturday 29 th at Jim s shed. For anyone who has not attended one of these it is well worth your while going. You will know a lot more about sharpening and plane tuning by the time you leave.

5 Forthcoming Program Wednesday 19 th October Every Tuesday Night Saturday 29 th October Wednesday 2 nd November Wednesday 16 th November Saturday 19 th November Sunday 4 th December Wednesday 7 th December Saturday 10 th December Sunday 25 th December General Meeting - Warwick Robinson on Bandsaw Maintenance Workshop Coffee Tables / Bow Front Chest Workshop Plane Tuning at Jim Davey s Shed Committee Meeting General Meeting Leon Sadubin on Woodworking Workshop Safety Briefs and Machinery Maintenance Christmas Barbeque at Huskisson Committee Meeting Bunnings Barbeque Santa Comes

6 RAMBLINGS FROM THE PRESIDENT OCTOBER 2011 Creative Moments is up and running and the exhibition is a credit to those who organised and participated in the event. I know Gordon will be very busy sorting out all the finances and Jim and John have done a magnificent job organising the publicity and coordinating the entries. Preliminary figures to date indicate that exhibition may set new records regarding number of entries and number of people through the exhibition halls. A great job by all involved. I would like to welcome Steven Foster to the society; Stephen is our latest member and has a background in woodworking but his career has taken him down the supervisory path and away from the tools. Stephen has joined the society to reacquaint himself with the tools and to undertake a number of cabinetry and carving tasks he has planned. I was approached by Graeme Wiseman at the last meeting to see if the Society could provide him with assistance with the sale of all of his workshop equipment. For those of you who do not know Graeme has been diagnosed with Cancer and it is too far advanced for treatment. Graeme would like to sell off his equipment so that his wife Aileen will have some extra money and not burdened with the problem of cleaning out the workshop latter. I must admit I approached this task with a fair amount of trepidation as it is a difficult task to price what is often a lifetime of commitment to the craft. I asked Peter if he would help with the task and he was happy to do so. Peter and I arrived at Graeme s place to be greeted by Graeme and Aileen and they were glad to see us. It is always difficult to price second hand items as you may have spent several hundred dollars buying the item and it may have had a limited amount of use but when it comes to garage sales or clearance sales in general you never receive the full value for the item. The first thing to do in these circumstances is to determine exactly what the person wants to do and what their expectations for the sale are; I should not have worried as Graeme wished to price the equipment so that he could place a fair price on the items that were being sold to one of his son's. For Graeme this is a good outcome since he has put a lot of effort and skill into mounting, setting up and modifying his equipment.

7 The precision and skill Graeme has used to manufacture jigs and attachments for his machines is significant and a pleasure to see. Under normal circumstances all that effort and skill would not amount to much in the way of dollars but since this was being passed to Graeme's son, his son will benefit from Graeme's skill and expertise. After we had finished with the pricing Peter and I were invited into the house for morning tea; after having a conversation with Graeme and Aileen it became apparent that friends and family were rallying around to support Graeme and Aileen during this crisis; some of the relatives are travelling all the way for WA; it is obvious that Graeme and Aileen are well respected in the community. I have passed on the Societies best wishes in this difficult time and I have offered to provide additional assistance where appropriate. One of the reasons I was apprehensive about this task is I have just returned from Brisbane where I had to clean out my Uncles house after he had passed away; I always find it this to be a difficult task as you are sorting out what is effectively a person s life time of possession s. We managed to recover a significant amount of family photographs and family history that we would not off known about if we had not undertaken the task. We ended up by recovering a full trailer load of photos and reference books. Greg Clark

8 Highlights From Creative Moments 2011

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11 More pictures on the website. For Sale Camphor Laurel in boards and slabs. Air dried for 10 years, end sealed, dressed. Wide range of sizes. Phone Heinz Koblenz Woodturning Tools for Sale A set of seven little used P&N turning chisels in an attractive carry case. These are quality HSS Australian made tools. $220 ONO. A Uni-Jig 5 sharpening device complete with instruction manual. Favoured by wood turners and made in Australia. $100 ONO. Book Turning Wood with Richard Raffan 2001 Edition. $30 Contact Peter Farrell

12 Shoalhaven Woodcraft Society Inc. The Shoalhaven Woodcraft Society Inc. was formed in 1987 and is Comprised of persons interested in understanding woodcraft and developing skills in its many and diverse forms. The aims of the Society are to: Foster a understanding and appreciation of woodcraft Provide mutual advice, help and a problem solving forum. Collaborate with other craft groups in the Shoalhaven. Involve the families of woodies in social activities. Your Committee President: Greg Clark Vice President Warwick Robinson Secretary: Peter Jackson Treasurer: Gordon Elford Editor: Peter Farrell Committee: Bob Turnbull Daryl Roth Jim Davey Men s Shed Rep: Don Parkinson Next Committee Meeting: Bomaderry Bowling Club 7.30pm Wednesday 2nd November 2011