Australian Wood Review December 2020

Maker of the Year 2020 Observing the difficult task of judging the 306 entries submitted for our first Maker of the Year awards tells me why I love what the world of woodworking gives us. We are all so radically different and yet this medium binds us. We may not agree on what ‘looks good’ or even what is ‘well made’, but boy does it gets our aesthetic and intellectual juices flowing. Over the last (unbelievably) six months I’ve been metering out the entries on our social media so we can savour each piece and appreciate the intent of its maker. In some ways to me this is the best part. No, they’re not all of equal merit – but as mentioned opinions differ and as makers we’re all on the same…

Full size plunge routers and trimmer routers are used every day in our very busy workshop. With so many power tool brands offering more and more cordless options over the past few years, I wasn’t at all interested in replacing our trusty 240 volt corded trimmer routers with any of the new breed of cordless offerings. I was pretty sure they couldn’t perform as well as our trusty 240v trimmers. That thinking was turned on its head when Peter Mabbs from Milwaukee Tools asked us to test and appraise their M18FTR-0 prior to its release last year. Within the first few uses, I was an absolute convert. I had to have one! As I had already started replacing all of our cordless drills with DeWalt drills, I couldn’t resist picking up…

For the last 14 years I have been operating as a designer maker of lighting and furniture in Hobart, Tasmania. I have less than 5% vision concentrated around the periphery, meaning I am legally blind. This does create a range of challenges as a practitioner and means I often do things in a different way utilising more jigs or other pieces of assistive technology. This article will discuss a few ways I set things up for some more basic operations and also look how my tablesaw and thickness planer now have a ‘talking’ digital read out system. First things first To start with, the key thing I do when I approach a machine is to make sure it is isolated from the power and use an off-cut or push stick to make sure…

The sector is a very old mathematical instrument that has become relevant again as an aid to design, but up until now it was very difficult to find one. The arrival of this Acer-Ferrous Toolworks sector from Red Rose Reproductions satisfies that need. So, what can a sector do? The sector can be used, in conjunction with a set of dividers, to find proportions (including Golden Ratios); find the radius, diameter or circumference of circles; find the length of the side of any polygon (up to 12 sides) to fit a given circle; set out given angles, or measure given angles (from 6–90°). Finally, for chairmakers, it can calculate resultant and sightline angles from any given rake and splay angles. This greatly simplifies the drilling of any compound angle hole, such as…

New Series Hammer With the machines collectively known as Series 2, Hammer’s goal is to offer a new entry-level machine class. Enter the N2-35, the first of this series. The price point is lower but the features are there, including a solid, tilting cast iron machine table that has a 15mm groove to the left of the blade. Cut height is 235mm via a gear rack and handwheel. A swing-away rip fence positions either side of the blade and stands high or flat. Other features and options make it worth considering. www.felder-group.com/en-au Amana in Oz A select range of Amana Tools premium quality specialty tooling is now available in Australia. In particular the focus is on CNC machine users, including cutters suiting carbon fibre, plastics, non-ferrous metal, solid timber, manmade composites, engraving and more.…

Inclusive of full membership with the Victorian Woodworkers Association Inc 1st Sept 2020 to 1st Sept 2021 Public and Product LiabilityInsurance to $10 – $20m cover: For professional and amateur craftspeople working or teaching from home, or undertaking markets or craft demonstrations in public. (Arranged through City Rural Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd and AAI Limited ABN 48 005 297 807 trading as Vero Insurance) $225 for $10 million cover, and we also offer an option of $245 for $20 million cover. Additional Insurances offered to VWA members by City Rural Insurance Brokers: 1. Home & Contents; 2. Home Workshop, equipment and contents; 3. Personal Accident and Illness Insurance; 4. Commercial Studio or Workshop Business Package: To cover those Members who operate a business away from their residence. Contact Meg Allan, VWA Membership Secretary 2650 Mansfield – Whitfield Rd, TOLMIE VIC 3723 Tel…