Thread: Lara Woodworkers - Half Year Project

Nice to share the results with us.

As a matter of interest, how many members do you have?

We, at Northern Woodturners Club, (you might recall we re-located
in the Scout Hall in Kingsbury after 15 years in the Salvation Army
Hall in Thornbury), have grown considerably in recent times.

Moving to our new premises with 25 members we now have a
total of 36. Many are newcomers to turning and their results are
outstanding.

Good to see you are willing to try out innovative ideas to stimulate
the interests of members. Well done!

Allan

Hi Allan .... membership is steady at high teens. It is always a battle to attract and maintain new members but as long as the club is keeping its head above water that is all that matters. The club is very relaxed and whilst we encourage members to bring in work to show there is no pressure and we don't try and push things onto members who don't want to do it.

It is quite interesting .... we use the local high school woodwork rooms and have unlimited access to their workshop which includes a huge thicknesser and jointer ..... we should really be knocking new members back given what we have access to.

I would be interested in what you think your club has managed to do to attract these new members. It is certainly a difficult task to keep coming up with new ideas to keep members interested given that most have been around long enough to see it all.

Yes ,The Ararat Woodies had a similar project some time back.
Every one was given the same size piece of timber and had to make a project
of their choice. The timber was Paulownia 150 x70x70.
The project I made was a Band saw box ,there was many and varied projects.
Picture of my project attached
Regards
David

Looks good David ..... do you have any other ideas for projects that perhaps your club may have done in the past that may be new to our guys?

I have a few questions about your project using paulownia. I like to know how woodies feel about the timber when using it for different purposes. I don't like selling it to customers who will not be happy with the timber for their particular application.
So
Was it easy to work with?
Did members have any problems with the timber?
How did they feel about the finishing of the timber?

John

Originally Posted by Sir Stinkalot

Looks good David ..... do you have any other ideas for projects that perhaps your club may have done in the past that may be new to our guys?

We have a project for each month of the year,last month's project was a sugar bowl, this months project is a clock.
A picture of last month's work attached as you will see not all sugar bowls.
I think most of the project would not be new to your members
Regards
David

Originally Posted by whitewood

I have a few questions about your project using paulownia. I like to know how woodies feel about the timber when using it for different purposes. I don't like selling it to customers who will not be happy with the timber for their particular application.
So
Was it easy to work with?
Did members have any problems with the timber?
How did they feel about the finishing of the timber?

John

Yes,it was easy to work,but the timber is very light and soft.I think it would be a too soft for furniture making,what we have anyway
I believe there may be different types of Paulownia
The timber we used was cut down in someones back yard ,we milled and dried
it before use.I don't think members had any problems,but we don't have a large supply of this timber and this project was an experiment
I took pictures of the other members work ,but lost them when my computer crashed
Finish ,sands easy ,but I can not remember what I used on my project
I hope this answers your questions
Regards
David

Originally Posted by Sir Stinkalot

Hi Allan .... membership is steady at high teens. It is always a battle to attract and maintain new members but as long as the club is keeping its head above water that is all that matters. The club is very relaxed and whilst we encourage members to bring in work to show there is no pressure and we don't try and push things onto members who don't want to do it.

It is quite interesting .... we use the local high school woodwork rooms and have unlimited access to their workshop which includes a huge thicknesser and jointer ..... we should really be knocking new members back given what we have access to.

I would be interested in what you think your club has managed to do to attract these new members. It is certainly a difficult task to keep coming up with new ideas to keep members interested given that most have been around long enough to see it all.

A few ideas which may assist:
* Potential members invited to attend to see your activities
... no pressure applied to join.
* Ensure newcomers are introduced to every member present.
* Those who do attend are not permitted to use machinery
until they are financial members and have been given suitable
training in the use of the machines. (Insurance purposes).
* "One on one" supervision given to newcomers in correct use
of chisels etc.
* Extend generosity to newcomers e.g. free pen blanks or any
surplus wood suitable for turning.
* Invite newcomers to attend meeting days (not just workshop)
particularly if a guest speaker is there for the day.
* Ensure you have at least a small library of books, DVDs etc.
available for loan to newcomers.
* Make photocopies of basic designs, laminate them and loan
them for beginners to take home and try to make.
* Encourage newcomers to submit their work for "show and tell"
and endeavour to provide positive and helpful tips on their work.
* Have the occasional day when a selected member does a
"show and tell" of their own work, or a "Man Behind the Badge"
segment where the member gives a talk on their background,
how he developed an interest in woodturning and any other
hobbies he has. This often leads to other members with
similar interests developing a closer bond/friendship.
* Make time to have a cup of tea/coffee where everyone turns
off their lathe/machine and enjoy each others' company.

Hope this helps.

Allan