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View Full Version : G'day from sunny Canberra















Putty
12th March 2017, 06:25 PM
G'day guys and girls,

I'm a new forum member, 31 years old, male from Canberra. As my profile suggests I'm a 13 year veteran in the IT industry and the closest I've been to woodworking was making a clock in year 7 at high school. I enjoyed it well enough, but never trained in it or pursued it from there. A couple of years ago my girlfriend and I bought a house in Canberra and part of the outdoor makeover was removing a 35 square block of pavers and replacing them with a Jarrah deck which I did myself over a few weeks. Needless to say I really enjoyed it, and when I had a few metres leftover instead of chucking them in the fire I started tinkering with chopping boards, then tinkering some more, and now here we are.

Our cars have been kicked out of the garage, and the space converted to a small workshop where I've put together a Triton 2000 workcentre, Triton router table, bandsaw, router sled for planing, a few home made workbenches and a clamping table. A lot of what I have has either been picked up second hand, handed down from friends/family or built myself, which I take a lot of satisfaction in, but also gives me a lot of time to improve often glaringly obvious deficiencies in my original design. I'm definitely not too proud to admit I am still learning what many woodworkers would even call basic tips and tricks, like I say in my profile a year ago I knew nothing at all, now I know a tiny bit.

I'm here because I want to be able to learn from others, and from time to time offer suggestions on things that have worked for me that others might be struggling with. I want to be part of a community.

I run a small business selling mainly chopping boards but also various timber knick-knacks to help keep my workshop running, and can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/primecutsboards if anyone is interested in seeing any of my work :)

Cheers,

Anthony

crowie
12th March 2017, 09:03 PM
G'Day & Welcome to a top forum "Anthony".
There are quite a few members in Canberra and around the Southern Highlands with a stack of members in Sydney area plus the rest of the country.....
You'll find a heap of helpful & knowledgeable blokes & ladies on the forum and for most very willing to assist.
Make sure you show off your handiwork as everyone loves a photo, especially WIP [Work In Progress] photos with build notes.
Enjoy the forum.
Enjoy your woodwork......
Cheers crowie

PS - There also a very good active Triton Club in the ACT; it's be worth chasing up... TOCACT (http://www.tocact.org.au/)

old1955
13th March 2017, 03:44 PM
Welcome to the forum Anthony.

lovetoride
13th March 2017, 04:08 PM
Hi Anthony. There are a few forumites here in Canberra. Have you considered contacting/joining the ACT Woodcraft Guild (http://www.woodcraftguild.org.au/)? Their shed is in Kambah and they have all tools and machinery available for members' use. It is a very active and helpful group being open at least 3-4 days a week and also many evenings. They also run regular special interest groups eg introduction to woodworking, furniture making, turning etc. Check them out.

I am also just starting out with woodworking after being in the IT industry for close to 40 years (OMG that sounds soooo long!). Must be something to do with being 'detail' people. I am gradually building up skills, tools and machinery and just head over to the Guild when I want to use something that I have not yet acquired :B or is bigger than what I have at home.

Jane

Putty
13th March 2017, 04:39 PM
Thank you everyone for warm welcomes, and Jane I will definitely look at the Woodcraft Guild.

As for works in progress I'm currently making a slab coffee table and a bookshelf which I will start a thread on very shortly for people to critique and give any suggestions they might have on :-)

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

LennyJ
23rd March 2017, 10:43 PM
[QUOTE=Putty;2011957]G'day guys and girls,

I'm a new forum member, 31 years old, male from Canberra. As my profile suggests I'm a 13 year veteran in the IT industry and the closest I've been to woodworking was making a clock in year 7 at high school. I enjoyed it well enough, but never trained in it or pursued it from there. A couple of years ago my girlfriend and I bought a house in Canberra and part of the outdoor makeover was removing a 35 square block of pavers and replacing them with a Jarrah deck which I did myself over a few weeks. Needless to say I really enjoyed it, and when I had a few metres leftover instead of chucking them in the fire I started tinkering with chopping boards, then tinkering some more, and now here we are.

Our cars have been kicked out of the garage, and the space converted to a small workshop where I've put together a Triton 2000 workcentre, Triton router table, bandsaw, router sled for planing, a few home made workbenches and a clamping table. A lot of what I have has either been picked up second hand, handed down from friends/family or built myself, which I take a lot of satisfaction in, but also gives me a lot of time to improve often glaringly obvious deficiencies in my original design. I'm definitely not too proud to admit I am still learning what many woodworkers would even call basic tips and tricks, like I say in my profile a year ago I knew nothing at all, now I know a tiny bit.

I'm here because I want to be able to learn from others, and from time to time offer suggestions on things that have worked for me that others might be struggling with. I want to be part of a community.

I run a small business selling mainly chopping boards but also various timber knick-knacks to help keep my workshop running, and can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/primecutsboards if anyone is interested in seeing any of my work :)

Cheers,

LennyJ
23rd March 2017, 10:51 PM
Well mate - I left Canberra after nearly 40 years there, retired and moved to an island called Koh Samui - Thailand, to take up a lifelong dream - building boats again. My Dad taught me a helluva lot, the hard way. No power tools mate! Different story here - getting my collection of high quality machines together and right next door - in Myanmar - beautiful TEAK ! and cheap, compared to Aussie prices. I've only just joined the forum, had a quick look through the boat section and intend to contribute a lot! :U

JJF
25th March 2017, 08:12 AM
Welcome to a top forum