John Leeder was on hand the Friday prior to the 2009 NSWCAA Carving Competition for a couple of woodcarving related workshops. I was able to attend his afternoon workshop on ‘Making Feet For Birds’.

This was a workshop for those that wanted to take their carving to the next level by making their own feet for bird or waterfowl carvings from scratch. Although I do not have an immediate need for such information I wanted to learn the process for future use.

John has been carving for over 25 years and is both a sculptor and an instructor. He has won over 20 ‘Best Of Show’ titles and in 2006 he had a second place finish with his miniature carving, ‘Mourning Doves’, in the World Level at the Ward Worlds championship. He was also accepted into the 1999 and 2003 juried exhibition, ‘Birds In Art’. His wildlife sculptures are displayed in several art galleries across Canada and the United States.

Prior to taking up carving full-time John worked as a bird of prey trainer and a wildlife biologist (he received an honors degree in wildlife biology from the University of Guelph).

Here is a photo of John and his sculpture titled ‘Akwesasne’, which is a Mohawk word meaning, appropriately enough, ‘land where the partridge drums’:

Continue reading 'Sitting In On A John Leeder Workshop'

This month’s meeting of the Atlantic Woodworkers Association brought us back to Mill Supply for a tour of their new bandsaw blade manufacturing facility.

Mill Supply recently acquired the Hakansson Industries Eastern Canadian distributorship for making bandsaw blades and they were proud show us the new shop, the blade making process and the blades available.

Hakansson is a Swedish manufacturer of saw blades and is widely recognized as the most technically advanced bandsaw blade available. Mill Supply is now carrying on the Hakansson tradition and will be the largest bandsaw welding centre/supplier in Atlantic Canada.

We were given an in-depth overview of the blade making process, blade makeup, the different types of blades available, the types of machines used and several demonstrations of how the blades are made. Some members even ordered blades and watched them being made!

Here are some photos taken of the shop and manufacturing process:

Continue reading 'A Bandsaw Bonanza For The AWA'

This past weekend the NSWCAA’s 20th Annual Atlantic Wildlife Carving Competition And Show was held and what a competition and showing it was! There were hundreds of beautiful wildlife carvings in a wide range of styles and experience levels.

This is a competition that has been held every year since the fall of 1989 and is open to all carvers. Ribbons, trophies and prizes are awarded in Youth, Novice, Intermediate and Open classes. Judges for the competition are invited from across Canada and The United States and are master carvers and world class authorities on wildlife art.

The judge for this year’s competition was Ward World winner, John Leeder. John is a full-time sculptor and a part-time carving instructor. He has been carving for over 25 years with notable carvings such as ‘Mourning Doves’ and ‘Barnyard Gang’.

The Nova Scotia Wildlife Carvers and Artists Association (NSWCAA) was formed in 1989 and now has members throughout the Maritimes and Newfoundland. Some club members have advanced to world class artists, bringing home ribbons from the Ward World Competition in Ocean City, Maryland.

Here are a lot of photos of the competition entries:

Continue reading '2009 NSWCAA Carving Competition'

Well, another successful Woodworkers Safety Week comes to a close. It was a fantastic week for woodworkers to gain information on a variety of safety aspects related to woodworking.

Woodworking Safety Week is an annual event that attempts to bring shop safety to the forefront of our daily activities.

This was the second annual woodworking safety event which began last year after Marc Spagnuola announced that the first week of May was to be Woodworking Safety week. This was quickly embraced by the woodworking community and subsequently by woodworkers world-wide.

The woodworking community at large works together by writing blog articles, having forum discussions, creating video and podcasts, introducing new products and more with a focus on safety.

Here are some of the articles that were distributed this past week:

Continue reading 'Safety Week 2009 In Retrospect'