Hello Woodworkers and friends!
We are now heading into our third year of operations since incorporation, and we are pleased with the enthusiasm and participation of woodworkers in the mid-Vancouver Island area. Interest continues to grow, and the success of our February “3 Board Feet” competition is a great example of this. (See previous newsletter.)
The City of Nanaimo recently contacted us to gauge our interest in several trees that may need to be removed for developments, or safety. We opted to accept the maple and an arbutus, should the removals go ahead. We are currently looking at transporting options to get the logs eventually moved out to the Frost Road property for milling.
Also, John Noble, the woodworking teacher at Nanaimo District Secondary School asked a couple of us to assist in judging a student Regional Competition sponsored by Skills Canada. So, Steve Neil and I had a very interesting day as 6 students from mid-Island schools were handed blueprints for a tool box, and 1” pine boards about 100” by 5.5”. They had to study the plans, create a cut-list plan for themselves, mill the wood, and then create the toolbox which included a dove-tailed drawer. We were impressed with the skill levels of these students from various schools from Cowichan Valley Secondary to North Nanaimo.
Recent communications received through info@miwg.ca have announced wood for sale, as well as an occasional tool. Because there are other websites dedicated to sale of new and used items, I do not include these requests on our site. However, members may always post items for sale, or items of interest at any time. Please do so at https://miwg.ca/blog. Pierre Blanchard did point me to a website of interest that I will pass on. It is quite an amazing site for wood shaping! http://oilswoodstone.com/. I also received a suggested link from the mother of a boy scout who had found our site. She suggested that we add a link to our site, but instead, I will mention the link where I have already spent some time learning about sharpening theory. Here is the site that her son passed on to me: https://www.homeadvisor.com/r/home-woodworking-tools-projects/. Check them out!
Next on the MIWG agenda will be the General Meeting on Wednesday, March 14 at 6:30 at NDSS Meeting Room A. (See https://miwg.ca/meetings for details.) Our presenters at the meeting are Cam Russell, the retired Dean of Fine Woodworking at Camosun College, and Karen Trickett, Cam’s extremely talented woodworking wife. The two have a beautiful studio just out of Maple Bay where they both create gorgeous woodworking products. (www.coventrywoodworks.ca/). Don’t miss this presentation!
Stay tuned for further details on the garage sale planned for April. Please begin to take gather your items for sale, along with some pics. And…a reminder of the April 21/22 mini-workbench-building seminar. Please bring a $120 deposit ($100 for the course and $20 for the hardware) to one of the two upcoming General Meetings with the balance payable on the day of the seminar/workshop. The project will be built in my workshop – depending on numbers, of course.
Best wishes to all, and continue to work your wood safely!
Tony