July 2024 Newsletter
Cheril Barber
Our Open Day at the end of last month was a ROARING success with over 100 people calling in to check us out, say hello and watch some demos. It was great to see so many people showing enthusiasm and interest in what we do here, and of course the ever-entertaining steam bending demonstration always goes down a treat. Thank you to everyone who made the day such a success.
Weekend Workshops coming soon.......
We have some great bite-sized chunks of learning opportunities on offer over the next few months - weekend workshops are going to be a more frequently occurrence in our programme as we know this works well for lots of people - check these out :-
Safe Machine Practices 10th & 11th August
Intro to Machine Maintenance 12th & 13th August
Introduction to Carving 17th & 18th August
Introduction to Spoon Carving 19th & 20th August
Sharpening Techniques 28th & 29th September
Router Techniques 5th / 6th October
Shaker Boxes 9th/10th November
Between now and the end of the year we have a whole host of short courses coming up :-
Woodworking Basics - 6th-9th September
Iconic Hoop Stool - 30th September-11th October
Introduction to Laminating & Coopering - 14th-19th October
Introduction to Chair Making - 14th - 25th October
Beginners Intensive Programme - 21st October - 13th December
Korean Bath Stool - more details to come very soon - 29th October -1st November
Useful Jigs for the workshop - more details very soon - 4th-6th November
Benchmaking (rescheduled) 9th - 16th December
Please get in touch if you would like to enrol or require any further info
In the last newsletter we shared the links to the two great videos that Scott Brown created about his life as a student on our recent two week Intro to Chair Making course and shared on his very popular YouTube channel ScottBrownCarpentry.
Scott had a great time under the guidance of tutor Stuart Faulkner and created a lovely chair to take home. Scott then made us our very own short video for us to put up on our own social media - here it is if you haven't seen it already.
Our intermediate level Introduction to Chair Making is running again 14th - 25th October and we have spaces available with Stuart again at the helm guiding his students through the satisfying complexities of chair making. This course is a great next step and particularly for those who are thinking about making a set of dining chairs .......get in touch if you would like to enrol.
Australian Wood Review - Maker of the Year
Entries close 4th September 2024
We highly encourage you to enter this competition if you have made a piece of work either whilst you have been here with us on a course or if you have created something at home - if you enter please give us a mention in your profile details!
The image above of this glorious cabinet has been entered in the competition by our fantastic technician Valentin Botcazou - an absolutely stunning piece of work both visually and technically. Check out the entries so far and you will see other work from our talented team - Ben Grant and Alice Knight
Valentin is about to leave us and continue his travels to South America - he has been with us for almost 10 months both as an intern and more recently as our technician, and has become vital part of our team and we will miss him massively. We tried to marry him off to a Kiwi so he could stay on but that plan didn't work out!! Who knows what might happen but we will try to entice him back here again in the future.
Bon Voyage Valentin and all the very best
For Sale
Triton Dual Mode Precision Router
Model TRA001 -2400W
Custom router table / box of spare parts /
Kreg insert plate / Wired in start/stop buttons and dust extraction
Must be collected
$800
Hitachi C12LCH Compound Mitre Saw
Great condition. Fully serviced January 2024
Comes with manual and spare blade
Must be collected
$800
We were very sad to hear last week of the passing of Norm Hewitt - Norm was one of our students way back in 2012 when he attended the 2-week Introduction to Fine Woodworking under the guidance of tutor and dearly departed friend Thorkild Hansen.
Norm was a great student - focussed and determined to do the very best he could in learning a new skill. He was kind and funny - a story I have told to quite a few people was the one where I jokingly told him off for parking in my spot here in the workshop car park, and when I arrived at work the next day he had made me a wooden sign and pegged it into my parking space that said "Keep Off - Only Helen can Park here" !
Without asking, Norm generously organised to be interviewed by Matt Philps who wrote an article for North & South about Norm's time here with us. He did this purely to help raise the profile of the school and did it off his own back to help us.
Our aroha and thoughts are with Norm's whanau
2025 RESIDENCY PROGRAMME
An Exploration of Curves with
Yuri Kobayashi & David Haig
We are offering an exciting and unique opportunity to work alongside two absolute world class experts in the field of bending wood – Yuri Kobayashi & David Haig.
This residency offers six uninterrupted weeks developing skills and techniques in relation to designs incorporating elements of curvature.
This is a rare opportunity to work alongside and learn from two absolute experts in the field of bending wood who are both highly esteemed makers and educators. Their differing techniques and approaches to bending most definitely complement each other, whilst offering participants a unique and exciting opportunity to immerse themselves and develop their design awareness and skill level.
We are absolutely thrilled to bits to finally get Yuri & Dave working together here !!
Full details of how to apply are on our website here.
2024 Short Course Programme (& Coming Soon the 2025 short course programme)
Long gone are the days when the annual short course programme would be set months ahead and that was that job ticked off the list. Times are different now and since having to rapidly pivot our plans when Covid hit, it seems that being able to think quickly and smartly and change plans if necessary is the current name of the game.
The short course programme seems to be an ever evolving situation responding to the changing times - border closures, no visiting tutors, floods, and now we are faced with one of the worst economic climates experienced in decades. Courses have had to be moved, postponed and shifted around to meet the market demand (or lack of demand). Travel and accommodation costs have increased along with everything else and we are all feeling it.
Interestingly, some of our courses are full so far in advance and some just aren't gaining enough interest to run them. However as always our dogged determination continues.........here is the latest (& hopefully last) updated 2024 short course programme and the 2025 short course programme will be ready to roll out very soon.
Thank you to everyone who has been understanding with all this shuffling around, and especially for those of you who have been disappointed when we have had to postpone dates.
If you have been thinking about coming here to do a course then we very much look forward to seeing you here in the workshop some time soon.
Beginners' Intensive Programme
Our 8-week Beginners Intensive Programme is an amazing kick start to your woodworking journey. This course runs annually and is taught by Lou Fuller with the next course starting in mid-October and participants create four set projects - a mallet, an interlocking puzzle, a wall hanging shelf with drawer and a chair. You cover a lot of ground in a short space of time - we have space available on this year's programme so get in touch if you are interested in enrolling.
If you are under 25 and live in the Top of the South then you could be eligible to apply for the Thorkild Hansen Scholarship which covers the course fees for this programme. Alternatively, if you know of any young person you think could be a contender, then please strongly encourage them to apply.
STEAM BENDING WITH YURI KOBAYASHI
3RD - 14TH MARCH 2025
Join us for a hands-on, two-week workshop where you will delve into the art of steam bending to design and create functional objects.
This course will explore steam bending techniques to incorporate curved elements into everyday items. Yuri will also introduce her playful approach to bending, including a fascinating and friendly method to steam-bend wood without a steam box.
Places are strictly limited and we expect this course to fill very quickly.
Full details are here
Moving on........
So, the Centre for Fine Woodworking will turn 18 this year – definitely a time to celebrate this amazing place, and what has been created by a fairly small but mighty group of passionate people who have made this place such a roaring success. We will celebrate in style our coming of age with an 18th Birthday Exhibition at the end of the year.
With that said, I share with you the news that I have resigned from my position as Trust Manager and will be leaving soon once a new manager has been recruited and a short period of handover has taken place. I am moving over to a part-time position elsewhere in an attempt to have a better work / life balance.
It’s unfathomable to believe that I have worked here for over 14 years ! I have met so many interesting and passionate people, made some life-long friends and feel very proud of what I have contributed to the school’s fantastic international reputation.
Over the years we have built an extended whanau of woodworkers and what a joy to know how we have enabled so many people to invest their time in a skill that derives them so much pleasure (whether that be for personal or professional practice). There is so much beautiful furniture out there that has either been created here or inspired by us and made in home workshops – proud and loved heirlooms of the future.
Participating in something creative is so good for the soul, self-confidence, well-being and we know that many of our regular students refer to our workshop as “their happy place”. I too am happy that this is how the Centre for Fine Woodworking makes so many people feel.
My happy place is with my family, my friends and my garden - all who could say they have been somewhat neglected over the years, so it is time for me to redress that balance.
All the very best!
Helen
Here is a message from our Chair of the Trust, Peter Kempthorne from the Board of Trustees
As you will read in this Newsletter, after over 14 years of helping create and run the finest of fine woodworking schools, Helen is leaving. The Centre for Fine Woodworking is 18 years old, so Helen has been part of it for nearly all its life.
It was her unflagging commitment and energy that allowed the school to keep its doors open through some difficult years and she has maintained the school’s welcoming atmosphere and professional level of course delivery, through thick and thin. Helen is a very important part of the school and has been described in woodworking parlance as ‘the glue that holds the place together’. She has built up, developed and maintained an unrivalled network of former students and tutors, so her departure will be felt not only in New Zealand but also in North America, Australia and the UK. She has built a relationship with Creative New Zealand such that we are looked on generously when it comes time to decide who gets the grants. Never afraid of getting down and dirty when need arose, stacking wood, emptying dust bags or filling the skip…if it needed doing, and labour was scarce, Helen was there.
I have only recently been asked to Chair the Board of Trustees, but I am sure I can speak for all the Trustees who have gone before in thanking Helen for being the constant, the one who month after month and year after year runs the finances, the courses, the students and all the other little things that many do not see.
There will be a thank you and farewell celebration for Helen at a date to be announced later.
So, from the current Trustees and all the others you have served so well I wish you well Helen and thank you for all you have done over the years.
All the best
Peter Kempthorne
Chair, Board of Trustees.