sutton046

It was a beautiful sunny Sunday, and many hundreds of people moved between the numerous stalls and activities at the Community Science & Sustainability Expo, at the Kent Street Weir on the Canning River in Wilson, here in Perth Western Australia.  Part of National Science Week, this event was based around the Canning River Eco Education Centre. Tragically, we have a Federal Government made up of climate change deniers, who do not believe in science, who de-fund scientific research and who are committed to dismantling anything related to renewable energy! However, despite this tragedy, it is great to know that out there in the community there are hoards of people like you and me who do value science and  are committed to reducing our footprint on the planet! It was a joy to be at the Expo today for all that it stood for.  Busy busy. People galore. Mind you, I didn't get to see a lot of the exhibits, as I was absolutely flat out with the woodworking act...

Recently we did a woodworking incursion at St Mark's Anglican Community School, in Hillarys, here in Perth, Western Australia. This is the third year I have gone to the school to work with the Pre-primary students. We had two classes of 30 kids - 5 year olds - and they had a ball! It was great to see the amazing things they created. It was our normal set-up for "Free Creative Play" in a school context. Across the 14 small benches we had 30 cross-pein hammers. On each of the benches were a pair of pincers, pencils, and nail containers with assorted nail sizes. The Sawing Station was set up with 8 assorted tenon/carcass saws at various heights appropriate to the size of the kids. There was a big pile of softwood pieces in various shapes and sizes for the kids to use, which we kept topping up. After a briefing/demonstration about safe and efficient tool use, the kids get to make whatever they like from the material available. One of the two tables of completed creations. It ...

At the end of June, I had the pleasure of running another Green Woodworking workshop. This time we used the Vic Park Arts Centre as the venue. On a nice sunny day, it was great to be able to work out in the garden and on the verandah.  Front side of the info flyer for the June workshop. Calling it "A Taste of Green Woodworking", the ten participants had a choice of either bowl carving or spoon carving. The wood we had to play with was Cape Lilac and Camphor Laurel. Here are a few pics from the day:  That's me doing a demo on cleaving some Cape Lilac with froe and beetle. Another lovely spoon taking shape. Doing a demo on hollowing out the bowl shape with an adze. A Camphor Laurel Bowl in the making. The Shaving Horse is a joy to use! The small bowl carving adze is a beauty. A moment of contemplation... Working on the verandah. There were an assortment of hatchets and adzes to try out. Shaping the outside of a Camphor Laurel bowl with a hatchet. Using a Hook Knife to h...

Taking the Joy of Wood to primary schools is always a delight. Sure, it is very busy, very noisy, and hard work for us - but for the kids it is a fantastic opportunity to have a go at creating with their hands. For many kids it is the first time they have used hand tools.  Block planes are great for kids and adults alike. Over 3 days, we would be working with 5 classes of Yr 6 & 7 students, each of about 28 kids. The classes had previously agreed on the projects they would be making, from the menu I had offered. Four of the classes would be making small stools, and one class would be making small framed whiteboards. It takes about 1.5 - 2 hours to set up the gear for a gig like this. We set up in the undercover area at the school. Lunchtime - however quite a few kids came in, keen to work on their stools. All the wood we were using had been rescued from the waste stream, with most of it coming from packing crates from the northern hemisphere. Some teaching of ...

While traditionally a shaving horse would be made from green wood gathered from a forest or wood somewhere, not all of us city dwellers have easy access to the right kind and size of trees for this purpose. However, we do have access to wonderful seasoned timbers from all around the world which arrive in our cities in the form of packing crates, dunnage, and pallets. What a resource to work with!  Packing for the picking. Off the verge and into the back of the ute. Nice pine from the USA. Earlier this year, I was needing to make up a few shaving horses for running workshops. So I started out by using some of the packing crate material I had collected which was in my timber racks. Two models: the English Bodger style and the fabricated Dumb Head style. There are many variations on shaving horses, though the most common styles would be the "Dumb Head" style, which has been around since at least the 14th century,  and the English Bodger's style which is a m...