Full Report - Welcome Mat, Midge's 4000th post, The big day OUT!!

[bitingmidge]

Since this is actually my 4000th post, I thought I wouldn't waste it on anything flippant.

Then I thought: why change now?

Here indeed is the first photo off the press, to mark the opening of a thread which may go on a while, and may well have many more photos before the night is out!

It seems a good time was had by all, except for ONE.

One particular guest arrived looking for none other than Zed himself, when she realised he wasn't coming, sat in a corner and didn't say a word all day, before succumbing to strong liquor before the sun went down.

Some may say that it was the XXXX, and of course I've seen the effect it has on Canadians, so could not disagree.

Stay tuned!!

Cheers,

P
:D :D :D

[ozwinner]

Poor Zed missed out big time......


Al :D

[Grunt]

Ah well Zed, if you still want a bit, you know where to come.

:D

[dan_tom]

Some photos from the day at the home of Biting Midge - many thanks to Peter and Jo for putting on such a generous spread at their gorgeous house. It was great to meet people from the forum that we hadn't seen before and to see some old faces again.

The pics are of the failed attempts to break the joint that Rocker did - even after 4 blokes had stood on the joint and bounced, it still held on! That was pretty amazing. We all had a sit on Rocker's chair too - it was very comfy and looked superb.

The group photo was taken by Mrs Major Panic (Daphne). Now I hope I get the names right... L to R... Matthew A (the Canadian sharpening genius!), Biting Midge (Peter), Teejay (Trevor and son), Wizened of Oz (Brian), Rocker (David - the joint master!), Tom and Dan (Dan_Tom - yes we are two people, not a gay couple!), Major Panic, Ruffly Rustic (Wendy), Caliban (Jim), Soundman (Joe), Krunchy (Ben), Keith53 (Keith) and Bob Wilson.

David L and Barnsey missed out on the photo shoot!

Biting Midge, you have a very clean workspace!

Cheers
Dan and Tom

[bitingmidge]

Did I mention the post above was my 4,000th post??

Maybe I need another hobby... a few of the people who came today are into woodwork, might give that a go!

Oh, Alright then here's a bit of a summary of the day:- (half of you are probably watching football anyway!)

The day dawned bright and sunny as it usually does at the Home of the Biting Midge, and yours truly had a LOT of cleaning up to do before the mob arrived!

Mrs Midge, being a bit (OK a LOT) more organised had spent yesterday doing what she does very well: catering for a bunch of people.

And what a lovely bunch we had too!! Thanks ever so much, particularly all who travelled so far.

Furthest to travel were the Calibans (Mr & Mrs) from Kempsey, which was not a bad effort!

Next furthest, Ruffly Rustic, a mere 3 hours away, and Barnsey who wasn't much closer.

Then in no particular order the Brissos: dan_tom (Dan &Tom), Krunchy, Soundman, Major & Mrs Panic, Bob & Mrs Willson (remember him?), Teejay and family.

Finally the Sunny Coasters: Rocker, DavidL, PhilMcCrackin, Kieth53 & Mrs53, Wizened of Oz, and of course, MathewA (and MrsA) and the Midges.

First to arrive were dan_tom & Krunchy, who must have been up earlier than yours truly, then Rocker complete with ZChair, jigs and all sorts of other gadgets, after that, well there weren't any minutes kept.

Apart from the usual hanging round, eating, drinking and yakking, we had sharpening demos (thanks Mat), Rocker's jig demo, Teejays fabulous "test-Rocker's-joint-to-destruction-Jig" demo, Ruffly's newest photo albums, Teejay's incredible redgum burl give-away, and of course the door prizes:

The wonderful Major Panic marker gauge was won by none other than Major Panic, who immediately donated it back for another draw, which was won by a delighted Bob Willson!

The Rocker Mortice jig (and everyone needs one of these!) was won by Krunchy, who was equally delighted.

Of course in the background, I saw a few Rocker CD's going to new homes, and a rubber mat and Soundman bits changing hands.

It is safe to say that if we were a different sort of person, copies of well known BandSaw and other DVD's would have been reproduced, right there and then. Maybe if we were the sort of people we are, and had some blank DVD's that might have happened too, but we didn't, so we'll never know!

Suffice to say, we are now home, tired but happy! I know that there are a few others with photos to share, so hopefully this thread will grow a bit overnight or later in the week!

I'll get to them shortly!

Cheers,

P

[bitingmidge]

Did I forget to mention....yes!!

I also gave a short speech, well actually I formally presented Mat with his Muji courtesy of CraigB, and read a message which I was asked to pass on. I'm sure the author wouldn't mind making it public now!

So here it is in the public interest!!


“Dear Matthew,

First of all welcome to Australia – the most beautiful country on earth. You are now eligible for unemployment benefit and disability pension. So drink plenty and take your time to find a job that really suits you.

Becoming a new Australian can be an interesting experience. However, if by any chance, they tell you that it is a tradition to run around naked and shout ‘You bloody beauty’ then don’t do it. It will make you look like a complete idiot. I don’t want you to make the same mistake like I did.

I am sorry I cannot be there to greet you in person. Have a great party and enjoy the friendship there.

Cheers

Wongo”

It must be great coming to a new country and knowing who your mates are!

Cheers,

P

:D :D :D

[Rocker]

Midge,

I have a dreadful confession to make; I am afraid I am the Sunshine Coast's Uri Geller; it suddenly struck me on the way home that my joint test was rigged; the screws holding the joint to its test rig would have helped support the joint, so the joint might after all have failed when four people climbed onto that plank. My only excuse is that I wasn't watching that Teejay closely enough. You can't trust these structural engineers :)

Rocker

[bitingmidge]

Rocker,
I think you are wrong! I've got the photos, and I'll post them in a while (I have to go and find Mrs Midge!)

In the meantime an assortment from today:

1) Did I tell you the above was my 4,000th post?
2)
Biting Midge, you have a very clean workspace! Well you weren't here yesterday!
3) Some of the Aftermath!!
4) Rocker's Jig Demo (Clockwise!): Rocker, Soundman, Krunchy, MathewA, Major Panic, Keith53, dan_tom, Caliban, dan_tom, and DavidL's head!
5) Rocker's Jig Demo (Clockwise!):Major Panic's head, Kieth53's back,dan_tom, Caliban, dan_tom, DavidL, RufflyRustic and Rocker!

Cheers,

P
:D :D :D

[MathewA]

Thankyou very much craigb for the muji. Haven't had much chance to use it yet but my tools should be arriving late this month. Wongo what can I say... You didn't fall for the drop bears also did ya?!?!

[Caliban]

Rubbish
The jig was screwed below the joint. All that strength was real, I've got several photos to prove it, I hope,see when they're developed and I learn how to post them.
Thanks to P. and Mrs Midge for a great day, even if Zed was missing.

[bitingmidge]

Oh Keith, I counted them before I put them on the table!

:D :D :D

P

[bitingmidge]

TeeJay's test rig.

I'll post these on the joint thread when I find it!

Note the screw Rocker was concerned about! Nope, if anything they take the deflection out of the "verticle" member, putting even greater stress on the joint.

In the next post, I'll show the loading procedure!

cheers,

P :D

[bitingmidge]

Rocker's Joint/TeeJay's test underway!

(Note to Southern readers: The blue stuff in the background is sky.)

Photos here are as follows:-

1) Rig with no load. Understandably, there is no deflection.

2) Now with two headless persons on board. (I suspect that they left their heads somewhere safe, due to an absence of appropriate headwear at the Home of the Biting Midge).

3) Deflection clearly visible with two headless persons on board, but no sign of any movement in the joint.

4) Four headless persons on board. Ruffly Rustic becomes concerned about what they may be thinking. Bitingmidge has seen a similar trick recently in China involving thirteen girls and a bicycle.

5) Failure!!! Well actually not quite, but we did hear a cracking sound and damaged the joint.

With four people (grown men) suspended on the joint, the plank was quite unstable, and considerable racking was induced. Note the outer parts of the joints only have cracked, and in my view a different glue would/should have survived longer than the timber. This is speculation, as the end grain joint is difficult to glue, and it may be on separating them that the timber did fail, but it looks suspiciously as though the glue failed.

Conclusion:

a) Balancing on a plank can be fun!

b) The Z chair joints each carry at best half the load each, so it would take eight headless people rocking sideways in unison to induce sufficient load to even cause damage to the joint.

c) Rocker is a nasty fellow because he didn't leave the chair behind, and it's a BEAUTY!! Much nicer in the flesh, and very comfortable. The Z configuration gives a nice amount of spring: very cool!

Cheers,

P :D

[Rocker]

Midge,

What a relief! I thought I was a fraud. Now I can sleep easy tomight:)

Rocker

[ozwinner]

Umm.

Midge, I think you forgot something?
Al :confused:

[bitingmidge]

Umm.

Midge, I think you forgot something?
Al :confused:

How long does it take to get the hang of posting pics???

:o :o :o

P

[Rocker]

Midge,

I realize you had to shoulder the onerous task of finishing up all the bottles that were not consumed, but you forgot to post the photos you are describing:)

Rocker

[MajorPanic]

As an aside;

Bob Wilson is under serious internal investigation after claims of graft, corruption & bribery. Compelling evidence was overheard during the draw of the door prises!! http://www.ubeaut.biz/scared2.gif http://www.ubeaut.biz/scared2.gif
It would appear that insefficent cash was offered as a bribe so the investigation WILL proceed!! http://www.ubeaut.biz/toothless.gif http://www.ubeaut.biz/toothless.gif http://www.ubeaut.biz/toothless.gif This is to spite the fact he won the secondary door prize fair & square! :p

Wendy (RufflyRustic) ended up with the second marking gauge door prize for the best up & comer award! :cool: :D

Rockers "Z" Chair was an overwhelming hit among the attendees & due praise was heaped upon the maker! http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/images/icons/icon14.gif

I can safely say an excellent time was had by all & Mrs Midge outdid herself catering for the decending hoards.
A big thank you to Mr & Mrs Midge for having us to their wonderful home! :cool: :D :D :D

[Krunchy]

Thanks again to Midge and Mrs Midge for their hospitality and to MathewA for a very interesting sharpening discussion.

Thanks to Rocker for putting up his morticing jig as a prize ... my wife was very surprised to see me arrive home which such a large lump of jig under my arm. The new router has definately been bumped to the top of the wish list for Christmas :D And yes Midge, I'm still delighted ;)

All in all I reckon a great time was had by all.

Krunchy.

[bitingmidge]

Just heard a scream from the kitchen!!!

:eek: :eek: :eek:

Mrs M has just found the food she didn't put out, plus a bunch of cakes and tarts and stuff that some of you guys obviously spent a good deal of love and care on!! :o :o

Send us your addresses and we'll mail them back!

:D :D :D

P

[ozwinner]

Send em to Zed to make up for lost love.


Al :)

[doug the slug]

Sounds like a great day was had by all. real sorry that jools and i couldnt make it. next time something like this is planned, please, please, please make it a saturday and we have a far better chance of making it. sounds like everyone had a ballhttp://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/images/icons/icon7.gif

[craigb]

What a terrific host you are Midge, to put up with all those parasites :D

Looks like you had a great day.

Matt, your Muji was only half from me, the other half was from a certain Biting Midge. Perhaps he didn't tell you that. :)

It looks to me that you have now been well and truely welcomed Oz, so go and pay some taxes o.k. ;)

BTW

Joints are for smoking, not standing on until you break them.

Seriously, looks like a fabbo time was had by all, wish I was there.

PS
Congrats on your 4000th post Midge.

, how many is that per day?


Cheers
Craig

[Rocker]

Midge,

Thanks very much to yourself and Mrs Midge for the effort you put in to make it such an enjoyable day. It was great to meet Mat and Mrs Mat, as well as so many other familiar names. I am also very grateful to Teejay for goint to the trouble of making up a test rig for my mitre joint. Sorry, Teejay, that, owing to incipient Alzheimer's, I thought for a time that the methodology of the test might have been flawed. Please accept my apologies :)

Rocker

[bitingmidge]

, how many is that per day?

:p :p :p :p :p :p

[craigb]

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/attachment.php?attachmentid=13711

OMG Midge,

That is not a shed, it's an operating theatre. :eek:

I'm just off to have a cold shower. :D :D

(Bloody architects, hurrumph :p )

[soundman]

What a great day.
plenty of food.
lots of things to talk about.
lots of stuff to look at and something to break.
hell the only thing missing is doing this stuff for a living, but we can't all be myth busters or tim the tool man. :D

Midge has done a good job on the house too. He has turned a three bedroom brown thing into a very nice upmarket seaside dwelling.
I like the feature that allows in feed from the garage thru whatever machine & out thru the living room, overthe balcony & out onto the beach. I recon it would not be unreasonable to thichness a 20m plank if the loovers in the garage were opened. :D

This day was diferent from others in that quite a few non wodworking wives attended & seemed quite content to amuse themselves & had a good time too.

Cheers all and when is the next? :D

[Wongo]

Great party and I think we need one in Sydney. :)

[Zed]

why me in particular ? am I that in/famous ? Im a happily married chimp.... Jane would be most distressed... then again she'd probably be amused...

however I am flattered...

[craigb]

why me in particular ? am I that in/famous ? Im a happily married chimp.... Jane would be most distressed... then again she'd probably be amused...

however I am flattered...

Mate, you brought it on yourself.

Because you are out there .

Don't whinge.

[bitingmidge]

why me in particular ?

Zed,

I think we need to talk.

Just you and me.

You know: Chick Magnet to Chick Magnet.


P
;)

[ryanarcher]

and Rocker should also be praised for his uncommon fashion sense. :D sounds like a great time :) I'm jealous.
-Ryan

[bitingmidge]

In addition to cakes and other consumables, we now find ourselves in possession of a RECTANGULAR GREEN PLASTIC LID.

Would the owner of the lid please make arrangements to send us the container that matches it so we can make use of it?

Alternatively, we could post the lid to you, but we don't know who you are!

Cheers,

P :D

[RufflyRustic]

I, too, must add my sincere thank you's to Pete and Jo for allowing us to invade their beautiful home, drool in Pete's workshop, gorge ourselves on the sumptuous feast, enjoy a quick paddle in the canel and have a wonderful time meeting up with old friends and making new ones. So worth the trip. I had the BEST day - Thank you!!!!

Major Panic - Thank you for the marking gauge - I'm still speechless about that!!!!

Rocker - I'll try out your chairs anytime - I'm no longer a nervous nelly:D especially after seeing the load the joint was able to take.

Again, Thank you.

cheers
Wendy

[barnsey]

Similarly I'd like to thank the Midge's for making their beautiful home open to all of us. Had a great time if albeit a little shorter than I would have liked. And SWMBO was less than impressed that the return journey took 2 1/2 times the one hour drive up there! Bloody Bruce Highway Sunday afternoon car park :mad:

I'd also like to report that Midge's workshop looks more like a kitchen. Roll formed laminated bench tops, a floor you could eat your dinner on and his penchant for jigs that look better than anything I've ever made :o

Great day and picked a great number of ideas.

Thanks again to all.

Jamie

[TEEJAY]

Biting Midge,


Thankyou for opening up your house to us it was a pleasure to be there and to meet so many interesting and cheerful people. We had a wonderful time although unfortuately shortened with afternoon commitments.

I think I do know who owns the plastic lid :rolleyes: - took the bub with us so at least we remembered the important items :) . Hope you enoy the custard pie, cheese cake and pav - all home made ;) .


Rocker - apology accepted. It was great to meet you and now I have another future project to add to my enormous list of desirable things to make - a rocker. I plan to make one using red gum but don't hold your breath, it will be some time later.

I have added here some pics of the happy crew all identified in earlier posts so whew I don't have to name you all :D .

[TEEJAY]

Just a few more pics to complete the set.


Cheers

[keith53]

Many thanks Peter & Jo for a fantastic day. It was really nice to put faces to names. The non-woodies also managed to enjoy the day as well and that was great. Both Clare and I thoroughly enjoyed the day.

Cheers,
Keith

[Gumby]

Midge, could you post some more boat pics please and give us the blurb about it. It looks grouse. (I love the water views, I'm green :( ....but then aren't I always ;) )

[Rocker]

Teejay,

I would advise against using redgum for the bent laminations of your rocker, for them you need a straight-grained wood, whereas redgum normally has a wavy grain. Perhaps straight-grained jarrah would be good for the laminations.

Rocker

[TEEJAY]

I love jarrah - so jarrah it is - thanks :) ;)

Jarrah makes a pretty good joint too huh!! :D

Cheers

[bitingmidge]

Midge, could you post some more boat pics please and give us the blurb about it. It looks grouse.

Which boat?? I guess you mean the two footer in the background: -
http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=15258&page=1&highlight=foot+skiff


If you could see under the house you'd see the Goat Island Skiff (whatever 15'6" is in metric), designed by our very own Boatmik (http://members.ozemail.com.au/~storerm/) and which is now badly in need of a bit of varnish (another excuse for not finishing anything else). Maybe I'll use painting it as an excuse to talk some more!

Cheers,

P

[Gumby]

Ok, I thought it was a different one. I thought maybe one of those flash racing remote control jobs like the Marblehead design etc.

thanks anyway, it a lovely craft and I do recall that other thread.

[Caliban]

Mrs Caliban and I had a great time mixing with you lot of weirdos.
Canadian sharpening gurus, silly architechs, generous idiots giving redgum burls away, chicks who are better woodworkers than any of us (except Major panic and rocker) and test pilots for jigs.
Wongo would have been in his element. I was. :D
Wendy even brought a stuffed simian for a certain absent sydney toff.
But I won the yo-yo but I think Silent C must have made a clandestine visit because it had been stolen. Reminds me of two muffins last year.
When will the indignities end :mad:

[MajorPanic]

Ok, I thought it was a different one. I thought maybe one of those flash racing remote control jobs like the Marblehead design etc.

thanks anyway, it a lovely craft and I do recall that other thread.

Hey Gumby,
I got a close up & personal tour of the aforementioned vessel & I gotta say it's a "wee ripper" (spoken in a broard Scotts accent :D ) Unfortunately we didn't get to take it out & test it on a broard reach, I reckon It'd have be a pocket rocket!! ;) :D :D

[Gumby]

:( I wanna go

[barnsey]

Good God - I missed all the fun!! :o

And Rocker too - unless you were hiding somewhere - I was looking forward to meeting you and those plans you offered :(

Sorry I was late - I've got a heap of oz cedar that I want to try one on - mind you if you think thats less than ideal I've got some brush box that would be more than sturdy.

Jamie