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The coming round of Joy of Wood workshops I am offering in June 20-23 has been finalised. The venue will be Earthwise in Subiaco, Perth, Western Australia. As well as the usual favourites like "Carve a Wooden Spoon", "Make Kitchen Spatulas and Salad Servers"  there are a few new ones: "Make a Traditional Saw Horse" , "Make a Pencil Box with a  Sliding Lid"  and "Unlock the Mystique of the Dovetail Joint" . Then there are the workshops for kids on the weekend. Brief details of the workshops are listed below: The workshops can be divided into 3 types: 1.   Workshops for people aged 12—112.   Make a Traditional Saw Horse The best companion to every hand saw is a saw horse. Learn to cut the joints and enjoy making this wonderfully functional item. Use it as a small bench, as extra seating at a BBQ, let the kids ride it like a horse, even keep it in the lounge room if you wish — and use it as an indispensable aid to woodworking. Carve ...

I love carving wooden spoons. And I'm not even Welsh. Over the last few years, Spoon Carving would be one of the most popular of the public workshops that I run. It is a wonderfully tactile process and a lot of fun. In the Northern Hemisphere, wooden spoons are predominantly made from green wood. We don't have such a menu of suitable timbers here in Australia. So we do some things differently.  I use mostly hardwoods for wooden spoons. This requires different tools to the green wood spoon makers. Hardwood spoons are incredibly durable as kitchen utensils. As decorative items they are great to carve, take a finish well, and are pretty tough. A sample of spoons ... such fun to design and make! The sample of spoons pictured above are as follows, from the top down: The first spoon I made, 1990. WA Blackbutt. Rather mechanical in nature. Sugar spoon, WA Blackbutt.  Kauri Pine spoon, recycled from old fireplace surround. (See below...!) Cooking spo...

After many years of meaning to get around to it, I have finally become a member of the Hand Tool Preservation Society of WA . This wonderful bunch of enthusiastic collectors of old hand tools are an amazing pool of knowledge and expertise. A number of times a year, members of the Society hold a Tool Sale. The next one is to be held on Saturday 20 April. These sales are not to be missed!   It's Hand Tool heaven. No cheap and nasty modern mass produced tools here, just the good old stuff. Tools of quality, oozing with history, and made to last. The April Tool Sale will be held at the East Victoria Park Anglican Church, Washer Street, East Victoria Park in Perth Western Australia. As I recall it is an 8:00am start, until noon. If you're interested in hand tools and/or are in the market for some quality hand tools, you'd better get there quick on the day. Watch out, or I might just beat you to the bargains! 

What is Eco-Woodworking? It's a bit like the woodworking equivalent of the Slow Food Movement. It's about making consicous choices regarding the wood we use, the tools we use, and the way in which we approach the craft.  In a nutshell, it is working with wood as if the planet matters... I subscribe to several woodworking magazines from around the world, including the USA, the UK and Australia. One of my favourites would be "British Woodworking", which comes from the same stable as the wonderful "Living Woods" Magazine - both from Freshwood Publishing in the UK. The December 2012/January 2013 edition of British Woodworking magazine published an article I had written about Eco-Woodworking. First page of the published article.  The text version of the article has been re-printed below, with the kind permission of the publisher:   Eco-Woodwork Australian Greg Miller explains why approaches and tools are changing   The challenge for sustainable living on...

Today was the annual Claisebrook Carnival and Duck Derby, 24th March in East Perth. With the able assistance of Phil and Elijah Sparrow, and Rotarians Mark and Jodie, I provided the woodworking activity for the many kids at the event. The Claisebrook Carnival /Duck Derby is run by the Heirrison Rotary Club as a major fundraiser, with a range of beneficiaries including Telethon. We were provided with a 9m x9m marquee to run our activity. Amid a variety of other stalls, activities, and performances on the adjacent stage, the pounding of 30 hammers echoed through the delightful Victoria Gardens were we were situated!  Young and old, creating things together. The sawing station was always busy, with 4 tenon saws at it all day. A nice boat in the making... With 30 hammers across the 9 benches, and 4 saws at the sawing station, there were many times when there were families waiting around hoping to get hold of a hammer and a corner on a bench! For much of the day we were...

Decision made .  This year I am going to seriously improve my saw sharpening skills. I have a lot of saws. Many dozens in fact ... most awaiting cleaning up and sharpening. Sure, I do sharpen the occasional saw - but mostly I pay someone else to sharpen them for me. Saw sharpening is not what I would call one of my strengths. However that is all going to change. I have commenced my upskilling process. Q: Why bother mastering saw sharpening? A: It's the smart thing to do! It's about sustainability, self-reliance, flexibility and independence. It's also about respect. Respect for a quality saw and respect for the people who have used, owned, and valued the saw before me. Q: Why fix up old saws when it is cheaper and easier to buy new hardpoint saws for under $10? A: It's about being a responsible global citizen. Hardpoint saws are "disposable" saws of low grade steel with hardened teeth and nasty plastic handles. They cannot be sharpe...

At last, I have finally organised the March 2013 round of public workshops. The delay came about when I was unable to secure my normal venue, Earthwise in Subiaco. However I am happy to have secured an alternative venue - the PVI/CIA Workshop space in West Perth. What a great line-up of workshops! The ever-popular favourites are there, including Carve a Wooden Spoon , Make a Kitchen Chopping Board , Making Cajon Drums (Parents and kids together), and Make Kitchen Spatulas & Salad Servers . In addition to these, there are a couple of new ones: Make a Small Picture Frame and Carve a WELCOME Sign will be fantastic opportunities to push your woodworking hand skills into new territory. Make a Traditional Wooden Stool is one of two workshops being run at times which may suit people while their kids are at school - an experiment in accessibility. For those wanting to discover the wonders of planes, there is The Plane Facts: Learn to choose, use and enjoy hand planes - an exciting...