Chairman’s ramble – April
Our passion is to create memorable items from the wide range of both native and exotic timbers available in New Zealand, and to share our skills with others such as yourself.Grant’s Notes, April 2021.
This time last year we were about to nervously come out of Lockdown from our homes and surrounds, not sure if it was safe to meet people.
Recently I have heard of many of our members enjoying travelling and exploring NZ more than they had before. Camille and I have just got back from a good trip in the South Island. During that trip I was impressed with some of the woodcraft I saw.
We visited Hayes Engineering in the Ida Valley in central Otago. This is a historic place where farm fencing equipment, windmills and many other items were made over 100 years ago. They had a Jarrah bearing that after 7 years use, showed no wearing on the timber but the steel shaft had worn!!
We visited several historic homes. The different use of the timbers, the choice of which timber to use to enhance the work and the craftsmanship was inspiring. Of course, they had no power tools to use either.
What we make now could have a similar lasting effect to those who come after us. It maybe something that we make that is practical, has enhanced eye appeal with the timbers we use, or a piece of original art that maybe admired for a long time.
Coming Events
This Saturday we will be visiting five members’ workshops, the visit plan is posted in detail under Events.
29th May is our Demo Day with Geoff Irving, Roger Dean, Fred Irvine and Keith Lang demonstrating.
We hope you will enjoy and learn something from these events that will help you create your own legacy.
Identifying your work
If you are interested in purchasing stamps to help mark the bottom of your work when finishing it, Eddie Pettley has the contacts.
Search for new premises
Over the last several months there has been a lot of time spent meeting a range of people and organisations, to look at options for premises for our club going forward. Just recently Ross Kennedy has put in a lot of time creating an excellent written submission on our behalf to the Hamilton City Council for their 10-year review. Ross also did a 10-minute verbal report to HCC on the submission.
We hope for a positive response from these endeavours.
Regards
Grant Taylor.