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We had a beautiful sunny day for milling logs at Frost Fields. Some Black Locust, Cherry and Maple logs were cut on the Wood-Mizer, labelled and stacked under cover to begin air drying. Some of the Black Locust planks are shown here. Thanks to all the members who came out to help! #miwg #woodworking #vancouverislandwoodworking
Thanks to everyone that made it to our monthly general meeting last night in person or on zoom. It was an interesting session starting off with Anna Hargreaves, a Red Seal Carpenter and Instructor for Vancouver Island University (VIU) Women In Trades (WIT) sampler programs at VIU. Anna gave a great presentation on what VIU is doing to bring under represented people into various industries here in Nanaimo and through their other campuses across Vancouver Island. This is a uniquely structured program that goes a long way to support learners wanting to explore various trades. Check it out at https://tradesappliedtech.viu.ca/women-trades-training/ and https://tradesappliedtech.viu.ca/indigenous-peoples-trades for more information.
We also had three show and tells during the meeting. Gord S and the chair he and his wife made together to access those high cabinets in their new kitchen, Ed T’s LED light stand made from alder, some plexiglass and a lots of creativity and Chris M’s “Emerging Bowls” made using cherry wood from his property. Each bowl takes at least five hours to make but the jig you use to make the bowl takes at least a day to build. Hard work but what a result!
#miwg#woodworking#vancouverislandwoodworking#viuwomenintrades#viuindigenous#nanaimowoodworking#emergingbowl
Thanks to all of our members, new and old, that made Saturday such a success at Frost Fields. There were a lot of new faces checking out the club activity with at least three joining the club, so a big welcome to them! Lots of wood was purchased, some significant timber milling was done and everyone had something to nosh on along with a hot coffee thanks to our volunteers Helgi and Charles. Also, a big thank you to Deanna for taking the pics during the event. Looking forward to seeing what everyone does with all that wood they bought!
MIWG had their Christmas Brunch at Frost Fields last weekend. It was a great opportunity to socialize and enjoy some very tasty food. It also gave us a chance to thank Tony D. for his leadership as president, he`s done an excellent job, and to Larry S. who is taking up the reins. Thanks to everyone that put the event together! Also, a big thank you to Peter H. for making it all possible at Frost Fields. Looking forward to another exciting year in 2023! #woodworking#nanaimo#woodcraft#Vancouver Island#woodworking community
Today we had an expert overview on chainsaw safety, given by Roger de B a member of MIWG and long time timber faller. Eight of us joined Roger at Frost Fields to go through a presentation and discussion on chain saw safety and operation. We then had a hands on session on how to sharpen your chainsaw and to carry out other maintenance tasks to keep your saw working the best it can. Roger then took us outside where we had the opportunity to operate a chainsaw and get some top tips on how to do it safely.
Thank you Roger, the course was excellent and gave us all a good grounding in the ins and outs of chainsaw operation. Thank you also Peter H for hosting us at Frost Fields and having the shop wood heater fired up and ready to go!
#MIWG#Woodworking#chainsawsafety#VancouverIsland#chainsaw#woodartisan#Nanaimo
The Fall MIWG Barbecue and wood sale at Frost Fields today had lots to celebrate! The weather was perfect, the food was great and everyone enjoyed just getting together socially and meeting new members. There was lots to see with a bowl turning demonstration hosted by Tom H, Roger D demonstrated some great chainsaw skills and Ed T was helping all those people interested in picking up some wood for their next project. Special thanks go out to Charles B and Helgi J who made sure the BBQ was ready to go with some great hotdogs and hamburgers and to Peter H for hosting us at the beautiful Frost fields. And finally, thanks to everyone that took the time to join in on the event. Happy woodworking everyone! #woodworking#woodworker#woodartisan#vancouverisland#
Yesterday MIWG members picked up a load of Black Locust wood donated by the City of Nanaimo. A big Thank You to MIWG members Ed Tremblay, Mike Ewanciw, Chris Mannal and Peter Cooke for their assistance, and Mike and Peter Hentze for the use of their truck and trailer. They were able to use the winch and hand load a majority of the pieces. Also a big thank you to the City of Nanaimo excavator operator who loaded the two biggest pieces for them after his project was complete.
As Ed said “I look forward to milling these up, as Black Locust is one of my favourite species to make projects from.” Can’t wait! #Cityofnanaimo #Nanaimo #woodwork #woodcraft#woodartisan
Here are Roger, Mike and Ed from MIWG harvesting some very nice cherry and maple logs. The City of Nanaimo gave MIWG access to them as part of their tree management activities. Our goal is to see the milled wood make it into local school woodworking programs and made into some great woodworking projects by our members. Thank you City of Nanaimo! #nanaimo#woodworking# Vancouver island#woodartisan
Here are some of the Mid Island Woodworker’s Guild executive and members who attended today’s planning session at Frost Fields. We had a great day getting together to explore ways to make the MIWG experience even better. Watch for some interesting changes coming up this fall! If you are a woodworker or interested in woodworking and live in mid Vancouver Island area visit our website at MIWG.ca/ for more information on how to join this dynamic group. #woodworking#nanaimo#miwg#woodart#woodartisan#vancouverisland
MIWG Member, Paul McCuish, is participating in the “In The Annex Art Show”, which is being held in the Portals Gallery in Duncan. Paul’s furniture is very impressive and the show is well worth attending. The show is running till July 29, so please try to attend, you won’t be disappointed!
We had another work party at Frost Fields on Saturday. Several things were happening. Roger milled some more turning blanks from some beautiful Apple, Maple, Walnut and Portuguese Laurel logs. Steve took over 100 photos of turning blanks to bring the inventory of pieces for sale on the website up to date. Ed and his crew constructed some new vertical-storage racks to hold and better organize the planks that we have for sale. These will make it much easier for people to look for that “special” piece of wood for their next project! It was a beautiful day and we got a lot accomplished and we all had a lot of fun! The TimBits were good too!
#woodworking #guild #nanaimo #ladysmith #vancouverisland
Here’s a large stump from a 200+ year old Arbutus tree which grew here on Vancouver Island. Ed is standing beside it to lend some perspective on how big this tree was. Tony is planning on carving something special from this stump.
#woodworking #guild #nanaimo #ladysmith #vancouverisland
