MIWG Newsletter – February 10, 2018

Hello fellow woodworkers! With another General Meeting of Mid-Island Woodworkers’ Guild fast approaching, it is time to provide some updated information!

Our presenter at our last meeting, Bill Beese, provided excellent information on wood characteristics as related to species and growth environments. This presentation included some great instructional slides that he uses for Forestry students at VIU. Bill has provided a PDF of his slide presentation which is now posted on our website. Thanks to Bill for this information!

Our “First Aid for the Woodworker” training session at VIU on January 20 was thorough and well-attended with 14 people participating – including 3 new members! Eric Brand was also an excellent presenter, and generously donated his time for the event. A number of us met for a good luncheon at the Quarterway Pub after the event.

We have some very interesting events upcoming in the coming weeks and months so get your calendar out:

  1. At our next General Meeting on Valentine’s day, Steve Pelley, instructor at VIU for the Carpentry program will be showing us some woodworking projects that have been completed by some of his students. And, if semester changes at NDSS don’t create a problem, John Noble, instructor at Nanaimo District Secondary School will show some completed projects from his students.
  2. Also at the February 14 meeting, we have our “3 board feet” competition results where members will bring their finished projects created out of 3 board feet (or less) of wood. The only restrictions are that the project must have been created from milled wood not exceeding that limit, and secondly, created since the announcement of the competition. (i.e. these are intended to be NEW creations since our last meeting!)
  3. Due to a severe and prolonged flu that Bob Armstrong has been experiencing, the original plan to have a Mini-Workbench Build workshop in February must now be postponed until April. The new planned schedule for this 2 day event is for Saturday April 21 and Sunday April 21. The workshop for this event will tentatively be Tony Dobson’s.
  4. To replace the Mini-Workbench build, on Saturday, February 24, there will be a 3 hour, Hand-Sharpening Mini-course (also at Tony Dobson’s man-cave.) This will be a hands-on workshop with workbench room for up to 10. Details will be sent to all members, or prospective members who might be interested. (Reply via email, or contact info@miwg.ca if you are interested.) The workshop will focus on hand plane and bench chisel sharpening, but will include scraper and carving chisel sharpening. Although most sharpening will be done without power, standard power grinder application will also be shown.
  5. On Saturday April 14, there will be an MIWG garage sale. All members can bring tools and supplies to be sold, but sales will be to the public at large. With a double car-port, an RV tent, and a large deck covering a patio, there is lots of space to display tables of goods.
  6. Mark your calendar also for May 5. That is scheduled for our next “Shop Tour” – a very popular event.
  7. Our next intended instructional workshop will be for box-building with emphasis on joinery scheduled for Saturday, May 12.
  8. We hope to have our wrap up social event before the summer break with a barbecue in June. Stay tuned!

Just a reminder of our next meeting on Wednesday, February 14 at 6:30 at NDSS (see website for details and map). I know this date might create conflict with your special heartthrobs, so I suggest that you bring them along as guests. (No wooden hearts in our membership!) As always, we welcome guests and visitors – especially family members, and other potential members. See you there!

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