Opportunities to play with wood!

The October / November 2015 public Workshops have been arranged! Here is some info about the first few:



Tuesday 20th October

Carve a Wooden Spoon from seasoned wood.

Using seasoned wood, usually rescued from the waste stream, we will transform these pieces of wood into beautiful functional and/or decorative spoons. We will use mallets and gouges, scrapers and saws, then spokeshaves and rasps in this wonderfully creative process. By the end of the three hour workshop, we aim to each have a completed and oiled spoon.
It's a heap of fun, it's tactile and sensual.
What a delight!




Make a Spoon Carving Scraper from an old saw blade.

Curved scrapers are just the thing for cleaning out the bowls of spoons after we have carved the shape with a gouge and mallet. The steel in the sawplate of old saws is beaut for making your own scrapers - so long as the sawplate is not too pitted with rust. We make them with different radii, and straight sides. The straight sides mean the scrapers can also be used as cabinet scrapers for furniture making. A very versatile tool, and another great type of recycling!




Sharpening Planes and Chisels.
Every woodworker needs to be able to sharpen their tools. The basic cutting tools (other than saws) are a range of planes and chisels. There's nothing like using a sharp plane as it cuts whisper thin shavings with that delicious rising "FFFFSHTTT" sound - or the feel of a razor sharp plane paring material in the tuning of a joint. Yep, it's all about making your tools sharp. In this workshop we will learn to grind and hone our tools so that they are a dream to use. You can bring your own tools to work on, or we will provide you with some of ours to work on. Maybe you are new to this, or maybe you are a bit rusty and want to sharpen up your skills. Either way, come along for a fun evening!

Monday 26th October

Make a Small Picture Frame.

 We will make these the way they used to be made, using a range of wooden moulding planes to create our profiles. We will use rebate planes to create a double rebate on the back - one for the glass and one for the backing. Not sure what all that means? Come along and find out! This is a very satisfying project.


About hammers and nails.
Are you new to woodwork, or have you never really played around with hammers and nails before? This workshop will explore a range of different hammer types and nail types, so that you get to know the right nail for the job and the right tool to drive it in. What is a Warrington Cross Pein Hammer? and why is it the best type of hammer for kids to use? How do you drive in a 4 inch nail, and what type of hammer will do the best job at this?
Does it sound a bit basic? That's the whole idea! This is really going back to basics. Fantastic! Here is an opportunity to get hammered ... responsibly!

Refurbish an old tool.

Do you have some old tools of your grandad's you'd like to clean up? A flea market bargain you want to breath new life into? Then this is the workshop for you, as we will work through the process of how to clean up and restore a range of old tools. You can bring your own tools to work on, or we can provide you with some.
Learn the principles, techniques and tricks, and any old tool can be brought back to life.

A very satisfying process, for those who value the quality of old tools or their previous owners! 

More info about the coming workshops are yet to come...
See the  "upcoming workshops" link for the 2 page program info flyer. 

These workshops will be run at the Heritage Woodcraft Centre, in Canning Vale, Western Australia.