meeting
was at the workshop of Mike Palmer on his farm Strowan.
Mike spoke about the restoration of furniture containing drawers
 The view from Mike Palmer's workshop door |
 Inside the picturesque workshop |
 More tools |
 Mike and a chest-of-drawers |
 Repacing the runners |
 The drawer ready to fit |
Mike recommended the following books:
Care & Repair of Furniture by Albert Jackson & David Day (ISBN
1-56158-096-1)
Repairing and Restoring Antique Furniture by John Rodd (ISBN 0-7153-0684-7)
Good Wood Finishes by Albert Jackson & David Day (ISBN 1-55870-440-X)
The Wood Finisher by Bruce Johnson (ISBN 0-345-37297-2)
Refinishing Old Furniture by George Wagoner (ISBN 0-8306-3496-7)
Upholstery Basics - Tafelberg - (ISBN 0-624-03775-4)
Cape Antique Furniture by Michael Baraitser & Anton Oberholzer (ISBN
1-86872-939-7)
Cape Country Furniture by same authors (ISBN 0-86977-109-4)
Cottage Furniture in South Africa. Text: John Kench, Restoration consultant:
Ralph Mothes (ISBN 0-86977-351-8)
The May meeting was hosted by
D & A TIMBERS at their premises in Bathurst Street. A large turnout of members saw
demonstrations of the latest products by Ryobi and by Torkcraft.
 A large and expectant turnout |
 Spray painting by Torkcraft |
 Torkcraft router lathe |
 A selection of the range of Ryobi power tools |
Visit the Ryobi website.
Visit the Torkcraft website.
The meeting in JUNE was a "Show and Tell"
session. The photos below (mainly by Andy Hatting) can only give a
hint of the information provided and the discussions that followed.
Chris Terry spoke on his round table, made from imbuia decorated with maple.
 The base |
 The pedestal |
 Many jigs were made and used |
 The top |
Koekoe Jonker demonstrated some of the techniques used
in making miniature furniture.
 Koekoe Jonker |
 The board on which furniture is assembled |
 Marking out a chair leg |
 Turned headboard for a bed |
 Part of his range of 1/12th scale furniture |
 A magnificent chest-of-drawers |
For more examples of Koekoe's work see the GALLERY and the article on miniature furniture.
Steve Craigie spoke on lathe accessories and ball-turning
 Steve Craigie |
 The modified tail stock |
 Ball turning device |
 Turned ends to a brass rod |
Joe Marr spoke on dowelling jigs and roused a lot of
discussion of the merits of dowelling compared to biscuit jointing.
 Joe Marr |
 The jig |
 Another view |
 End-to-end joining |
Andrew Stevens spoke on pepper mills referring to Piet
Smith's visit (see Highlights of 2010) and the mechanisms supplied through him.
 Andrew Stevens |
 Some pepper mills |
Rob Moss spoke on avoiding snipe on your planer/jointer.
The secret lies in adjusting the height of the outfeed table so that the
rotation of the cutters does not "throw" the timber more than 2 mm forward.
The diagrams below are from Fine Woodworking May/June 1997, page 50.
Mike Brown spoke on marking gauges and suggested replacing
the pin on an inexpensive gauge with a pencil.
 Mike Brown |
 A selection of marking gauges |
Tuesday AUGUST 9th was a public holiday (Women's Day), so the
meeting was moved to WEDNESDAY 10th AUGUST.
The topic was "Using Computers to add to your Woodwork".
James Fourie demonstrated the use of Google Sketchup software (free download) for
design of projects;
Chris Terry desribed the resources that the Group has in the form of DVDs of Fine Woodworking and American Woodworker articles
and Taunton Press woodworking books;
Mike Brown did a guided tour through our website (www.ru.ac.za/woodwork)
and asked members to provide additional input.
The SEPTEMBER meeting was a visit to the workshop of African Musical Instruments
off Cobden Street, where Chris Carver gave members and visitors a fascinating talk on
on the various woods and techniques used in making a variety of musical instruments.
We then moved through to their vast workshop and saw demonstrations of the coopering
and turning of wooden drums before being treated to a demonstration of their
computer-controlled router system. Chris has generously invited members who have projects
that might be assisted by use of this state-of-the-art equipment to contact him.
The machine reverses the
often quoted ratio of perspiration to inspiration!
 African Musical Instruments |
 Part of the Showroom |
 A selection of drums |
 Chris Carver |
 Some of the woods used |
 Coopering a drum |
 Turning the drum on a router lathe |
 The finished drum |
 The computer-controlled router system |
 The router |
 Some of the products |
The OCTOBER meeting was a visit to the workshop of the Department of Drama at Rhodes University,
where Willie Coombs gave a very interesting talk on the many challenges that his job as Stage Manager
and Set Builder presents. He has to be able to convert ideas into appearances of reality using materials of all kinds
and relies particularly on his woodworking skills. He displayed a large variety of stage props from previous
productions and one of his students, Melanie, described the construction of a prop for her Masters project on
drinking water.
 The starting point - a set model |
 Show posters from the past |
 Willie Coombs and a stage piano |
 A prop stove |
 Melanie and her water project |
 Front view of the "skull" |
 Side view |
 Puppet head |
 A dress of paper |
 Stage rifles |
 General smaller props and Willie's creations |
 More views |
 More views |
 A novel spice rack |
The final meeting of the year and the AGM were held on TUESDAY NOVEMBER 8 at Rob Moss's
farm. Twenty-one members attended with several guests.
At the AGM, the following committee members were elected:
Rob Moss, Chris Terry, Andrew Stevens, Billy de Klerk, Patty Zipp, Peter Breetzke, Wouter Holleman and Mike Brown.
Andy Hatting had asked to step down from the committee and was thanked for his contributions and for providing access
to the Rhodes Maintenance Workshop as a meeting venue. Members provided some suggestions for the 2012 Programme.
Suggestions are needed for purchase of shared equipment.
After the AGM, David Barker spoke briefly about Hospice and thanked the Group for its contributions (toys, books,
clothing and cash). The local Hospice branches care for over 300 critically ill patients. Please visit the Hospice Shop in Bathurst Street, opposite Pennypinchers, which is a wonderful
source of second-hand books and other goods.
There was then a lucky draw for some "early Christmas gifts" for contributors organised by Patty Zipp, plus some
sneezewood poles donated by Rob Moss.
For those needing their regular "sawdust fix", Andrew Stevens demonstrated the turning of a large platter on Rob's new Jet lathe.
The meeting ended with a braai and many thanks to the Moss family for their hospitality.
 The Moss farm venue |
 Toys for Hospice |
 Books for Hospice |
 Andrew Stevens on the Jet lathe |
 Braai scenes |
 Braai scenes |
 Braai scenes |
 Braai scenes |
The Toys for Hospice project brought much joy to recipients. David Barker wrote thanking those who had contributed